Your Favorite Tank of WW2

[PanzerJaeger]

I havent made one of these in a very long time.

Note that this is not "The best tank of WW2", as that would enivitably narrow it down to a very few types.

Which is your favorite and why?

Edit: Some had to be cut and some from the lesser combatants didnt make it on due to poll limitations. If your favorite is not on the list please name it anyway. I think Ive covered all the usual favorites plus many that are probably no one's favorite. :P

[King Kurt]

I would say that including Centurions, Pershings and IS3s is pushing it a bit as they were not WW2 tanks. The IS3 was the closest and that only appeared in the victory parade.
As for my favourite, it has to be the T34/76 simply for the impact it made. It is the definitive tank in that it's combination of armour, mobility and gun was the model for all future tanks, even up to today. It was simply the qunitesential design which shaped all others. Other tanks might have been individually better - for example the Panther - but they had been designed with the T34 in mind as a role model.
The other aspect of the T34 was its ruggedness - no need for a full workshop to be following this tank around - it just ran and ran.
To my mind the T34/76 was the perfect combination of firepower, armour and mobility for its day, was unlikely to breakdown and was so cheap and easy to produce you could have thousands of them - what more could you ask for.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Pershings were WWII tanks from what I've heard. I believe they entered service late in the war as heavy tanks and then later evolved into the first MBT of the American army, the M48/M60 series that just happens to have been given so many numbers and designations, and modifications ranging from small additions to whole new turrets that I am not entirely sure you'd call it the same tank.

Anyway I would go with the Panther, it was an excellent tank and I'd rather have been in a Panther than pretty much anything else because it combined good firepower, engineering, optics and all that in a way that I don't think any other tank did. On a mass scale other tanks that were easier to produce and maintain would be better, but I'd still rather fight in a Panther than a T-34/85 for example.

[Stig]

The Matilda, nice and slow

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/unitedki.../tetrarch.html
This one is one of my favourites too

[King Kurt]

I stand corrected - apparently the Pershing snuck in at the very end of the war - apparently the yanks were going to make do with the Sherman, but changed their minds after the battle of the Bulge - I wonder why!!!

[RabidGibbon]

I always have a soft spot for the French B1 Bis, more for the terrible runaround they used to give me playing Panzer General on my old playstation than for anything they did in real life, although I understand in the right circumstances they could be quite formidable.

[caravel]

The Mk V Panther is probably the forefather of all modern tanks and it's firepower, mobility and protection were very well balanced. A brilliant design. The T34/85 is a close second.

[Stig]

I always have a soft spot for the French B1 Bis, more for the terrible runaround they used to give me playing Panzer General on my old playstation than for anything they did in real life, although I understand in the right circumstances they could be quite formidable.

I know nothing about the names but is it the same as the SOMUA?
SOMUA:

the French DLM's (divisions légères mécaniques) possessing about 174 tanks each, including the good SOMUA; the Germans with about 300 light and medium tanks each, none of them equal to the SOMUA in armament or armour.

[AggonyDuck]

No it's a different tank. The Char B1 is a heavy tank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char_B1

Personally I like the Panzer IV. It might not the be the best tank out of the bunch, but it looked damn cool, especially the later versions with the long barreled gun.

[Wallas]

Not one the list since it isn't a tank actually but StuG 3G.

It had a nice frontal armour when it was issued. It also had a good cannon with nice optics. And most of all it was a sensible desing among the german über expensive tanks.

Another reason is that they where the finnish armoured forces back bone in the end of the continuation war.

BTW. IF you want to see several of those tanks well modelled in a good realistic simulation try www.wwiionline.com

[Del Arroyo]

The Panzerkampfwagen V or Panther, because it's cool.

[yesdachi]

The Maus would have been sweet if ever completed/production ready but I will say the Panzer IV because there were so many of them, and the Tiger would be my second choice because of all the fantastic stories I have heard about them or encounters with them. I wish the US would have made better tanks back in the day, its tough to brag about the Sherman. “oh ya, well the Sherman would have been great in… in… WWI!

[Monarch]

M4 Crocodile Sherman.

Because its flamy :o

[The Wizard]

The Mk V Panther is probably the forefather of all modern tanks and it's firepower, mobility and protection were very well balanced. A brilliant design. The T34/85 is a close second.

Seconded. Two beautiful and highly influential machines of war.

And, of course, the Sherman. Can't sweat a true workhorse.

[Mount Suribachi]

I stand corrected - apparently the Pershing snuck in at the very end of the war - apparently the yanks were going to make do with the Sherman, but changed their minds after the battle of the Bulge - I wonder why!!!

They would actually have had them earlier, but that would have meant changing the training schedules which were geared towards the Sherman, by that point the US Army was focussed on getting as much men and materiel to the front, quality was a secondary issue (hence reduced training times etc)

its tough to brag about the Sherman. “oh ya, well the Sherman would have been great in… in… WWI!

Thats slightly unfair. It was a good tank in 1942 & 1943 when the British used it in the desert. Indeed, it was the first MBT that British had that was the equal of the German PzIIIs and IVs, with its mobility, armour and gun it matched them in every department. Hell, just having a gun that was bigger than the puny 2 pounder AND could fire a HE shell was a massive upgrade for us! And throughout the war it remained what it started as - a match for the IIIs & IVs, the latter remaining a staple of German armour till the end but dominated by the Vs & VI.

My favourite? Y'know, I don't know if I really have one, I can see the good and bad in most tanks so I'm a bit too objective about it. Probly the T-34/76 for being the first to get all the bits right.

[Kagemusha]

Im glad this thread is not about best tank,but favourite.My all time favourite is Panzer VI the Tiger. I know it had many flaws like very slow turret,but the sheer terror it caused with its 88mm cannon and strong armor earns it to be my favourite heavy tank of WWII.

[Fisherking]

Ok,Ok, I was a tanker, something you never, or I never quite got over. Of the choices offered I would take the Pz V for it's punch. You just have to love that gun. It also had the best optics and late models even had IR. Nothing is perfect but this one comes close in a notional way any how.

[PanzerJaeger]

The Tiger is my favorite.

It was definately not the perfect tank, far from it, but it embodied the very spirit of the panzer corps. As was mentioned, the fear it wrought on both fronts was tangible, and certainly justifiable.

Really though, what made the Tiger such threat was its crew - the best of the best - that knew and understood each and every strength and weakness of the beast and used that to their advantage.

There are accounts of tigers going up against seemingly insurmountable odds and coming out on top. Villers bocage being one of the more famous on the Western front.

[Mount Suribachi]

Of the choices offered I would take the Pz V for it's punch. You just have to love that gun. It also had the best optics

The captured Panthers the British put into use ("Cuckoos"), the one thing their crews raved about was the quality of the optics. German binoculars were also highly prized pieces of loot.

[Flavius Clemens]

The Panther. It was the iconic tank of the war comics of my childhood.

[Marquis of Roland]

If I were the leader of a country, I'd pick T-34. It was available at the start of the war and effective throughout, was powerful and reliable, relatively cheap to produce/upgrade, and simple to operate.

If I actually had to operate the tank myself, I'd pick the Tiger I. I don't know if any other tank was safer to be in than a Tiger, if there is one let me know and I'll choose that one

[PanzerJaeger]

If there were no bridges to cross and you were lucky with gearboxes, id recommend the King Tiger.

[AntiochusIII]

The T-34/76 won that war. Naturally, it's my favorite. It represents everything...Soviet in that war. Rugged, determined, dangerously sharp blade beneath that rustic trappings, and very practical. Oh, and plentiful. They come rolling and rolling and even the best German tankers get overwhelmed eventually.

The magnificent Panther is the close second, for sheer all-round quality. It's not as cumbersome as the Tigers are and beats the T-34/76 and T-34/85 for a one-on-one; the Sherman don't even enter the comparison.

If I have to sit on a tank in the battlefield of Kursk, though. I'd choose a Challenger 2

[English assassin]

The Bob Semple, no contest. http://mailer.fsu.edu/~akirk/tanks/n...ewzealand.html Feel the power !

I like my tanks eccentric. So here's a vote for the T35, (five turrets, eat that Mr Tiger) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-35 the T 40 (you'll believe a tank can float. And very likely sink) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-40) and the T 50 (aha, how cute, its a baby T34) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-50_tank

[percy13]

Tiger for me. not exactly the war winning tank of the T34 but it just looks so gorgeous and damned scary. And that awesome 88mm.

[Samurai Waki]

I've always had an especially soft spot for the KV II, when I was about 13 I played a WWII Miniatures game, and was given the lone command of a KV II. The opposite players rolled into the scenario with a few Panzers and other light mechanized vehicles, I was responsible for knocking out 2 Panzers and 4 Half Tracks. It was a glorious moment indeed.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Picked Chaffee because it's cute. Woulda voted for a StuG if it was up there.

Though not effective against actual tanks, the M24 would be a good infantry support choice for third world countries, or New Jersey when I take over.

[Jubilation T Cornpone]

The Cromwell.A mediocre performing tank but it looked clean and businesslike. No other reason.

[naut]

The Mk V Panther is probably the forefather of all modern tanks and it's firepower, mobility and protection were very well balanced. A brilliant design. The T34/85 is a close second.

Exactly.

[Hepcat]

I have always had a thing for the Tiger tank.
I'm not sure why, I have just always liked them, even though there were better tanks in the war.