Diary of a Steel Wall in the Game - Maus

Endgame Achievements Received: High Caliber, Steel Wall, Bruiser, Spotter, Hand of God, Duelist, Fire for Effect, Fighter, Shellproof Game Statistics: Map: Fisherman’s Bay Player: xshrek_x [MAG1K] Damage: 9393 Damage blocked by armor: 9080 Damage due to the player’s assistance: 2792 The Maus is a German tier 10 heavy tank. Developed from June 1942 through July 1944, with two prototypes produced, only one of which received a turret and armament. The heaviest (although, thanks to the Type 5 Heavy, no longer biggest) tank in World of Tanks, the Maus is certainly a mammoth tank, with the largest health pool of any other vehicle currently in the game. Combining that immense hitpoint count with some of the thickest tank armor around means that if an enemy vehicles gun lacks any significant penetration capability, fighting the Maus will not go well. However, the lack of sloping anywhere on the tank, except for the frontal armor, can allow tank guns with adequate penetration to punch through the sides and rear with relative ease; even more so if the Maus is not angled properly. Additionally, weaknesses in the frontal armor such as the lower glacis plate are fairly large and can be reliably targeted. Another weakness when engaging this tank from the front is to shoot at its turret “cheeks“ because despite their sloped appearance and high armor values, the turret cheeks are mostly flat mid center and will rarely withstand a shell with sufficient penetration. This can be quite difficult to achieve, however, if the driver turns the turret away to angle the armor. In fact, most of the aforementioned weaknesses can be negated by simply positioning the tank in a way that makes incoming shells impact at an angle. The main gun is similar to the 130mm cannon of the IS-7, dealing the same amount of damage but sacrificing penetration for improved accuracy. The low damage output of the 12.8 cm gun means that the Maus is best served as a team’s front line vanguard, forcing a breakthrough and drawing the bulk of enemy fire while it’s teammates follow through and return fire back at the attackers. The maneuverability of the Maus is what one would expect from a super heavy tank - slow and cumbersome. This makes the Maus a favored target of artillery although even tier X SPGs will become frustrated when faced with dealing relatively minimal damage to the Maus as opposed to other, less armored tanks. Especially so if the Maus is fitted with reinforced spall liner. Overall the Maus is definitely a front line combatant and should be used as such. Advancing on enemy positions while protecting it’s teammates with it’s impressive armor will ensure a confident assault and will significantly increase your odds of success. As of patch , the Maus received a significant buff to its performance. Its turret front became even more armored, allowing for a significantly lesser amount of angling in order to maximize the armor’s performance as well as the removal of the glaring track weakspots located behind the “mud flaps“ in the front of the tank. The gun of the Maus was not left out in the cold either. It’s DPM, dispersion values, accuracy and aim time were all majorly improved. In it’s current iteration, the Maus is a tremendous threat to any team and can overrun defenses as well as repel attacks with extraordinary efficiency. The Maus marks the end of its German heavy line. Send your wot replays at: woftanksreplays(@) Only link from privately (secret) uploaded wotreplays website (Make available by direct link only) or I accept the replays sent as a mail attachment that has not been uploaded to the wotreplays website.