Let's Take A Look: E 100

This article will feature a historical look at the Tier X German heavy tank, the E 100. I will also be looking at its role in World Of Tanks, including its stats, player opinions, and proposing changes where applicable. This blog is dated a of patch 0.9.10

Notice: This article uses third-party sources for its information. While I have no reason to doubt the credibility of these other sources, it's possible their information is not completely accurate. That said, I make sure to use numerous sources so I can cross-reference them and curb misinformation.

The incomplete E 100 chassis sits outside after being captured by the Allies. [1; pg. 70]

Short Summary: The E 100 is in almost every respect, the same tank as the Tiger-Maus. It was born to be a competitor to Porsche and their Maus, and like Family Guy, it returned for some reason after being cancelled the first time. But it wouldn't see a functioning prototype due to the war ending before it could be completed. The E 100 we see in-game is, while a bit unhistorical, a good representation of the actual tank.

If the Maus is a bus, the E 100 is a bus with curves. The E 100 is one of the few vehicles that can really claim the title of a super-heavy tank. Weighing nearly 130 metric tons, it's got a respectable amount of speed and mobility for its size, and its top 15 cm Kwk L/38 gun produces has the highest damage output of its peers. Second only to the Type 5 Heavy, its upper plate has the highest effective armor of around 350mm (the Type 5 Heavy's slanted plate has around 400mm of armor and the Maus comes in third at around 300mm). It's not hard to see why this tank is appealing to so many in World Of Tanks, but it's also got a few glaring disadvantages.

The history of this tank is actually quite funny. It really shows just how persistent Krupp was as a company.

In September of 1942, Wa Prüf 6 met with Krupp to discuss the company's involvement in Porsche's 150 ton Panzer project [1; pg. 51] It was here when the idea came up for Krupp to produce their own 150 ton Panzer as a competitor to Porsche. Krupp was eager, and two months later they submitted their proposal, which utilized drive train components of Henschel's Tiger II and a prototype Maus turret. This was a simplified version of Porsche's Maus designs and resulted in the 130 ton Tiger-Maus.

Krupp proposed that their Tiger-Maus be developed in parallel with the Porsche-Maus. While Wa Prüf 6 maintained that a Maus built with Tiger components would be extremely useful, they wished to avoid having two parallel projects after experience gained from the VK 45.01 development. Krupp was told to drop their Tiger-Maus project. But Krupp went around the Wa Prüf 6 and ended up getting the question of the Tiger-Maus brought directly to Hitler in December of 1942. Even then, after a thorough analysis of the two projects, Hitler only accepted the Porsche design for production [1; pg. 53]. However, Krupp would still keep their original role in developing the Porsche-Maus turret.

E 100 chassis drawing with a projection of the E 100 turm mounted. [1; pg. 69]

Two years later in March of 1944, Porsche learned that the Maus II turret design was being adopted by Krupp for the E 100, a new design by Adler as part of the of the Entwicklung series. Further inspection showed that Adler was using Krupp's Tiger-Maus drawings as the basis of the E 100. In a meeting with the Wa Prüf 6, Oberbaurat Kniepkamp (the Wa Prüf 6 member who concieved of the Entwicklung series) was asked why Adler—a company with no prior experience designing panzer turrets or panzer chassis—was using Krupp's Tiger-Maus design for the E 100 after Hitler himself rejected the plan. Kniepkamp expressed that he thought Krupp was too overburdened with other work at the time, and that they had rushed the design of the Tiger-Maus. So he gave it Adler to further refine in spring of 1943. However, the only thing Adler had changed by 1944 was the suspension.

Internal discussions at Wa Prüf 6 brought about rumors that Kniepkamp was deceiving Wa Prüf 6, that Adler's E 100 was an original design and different from the Tiger-Maus. However, Wa Prüf 6 was able to be convinced that this speculation wasn't true. Whether or not Krupp had any hand in this is uncertain [1; pg. 53]. In any case, development was allowed to continue in its current form.

Side Note: What's the deal with the hyphens? Sometimes you see the tank labeled as "E-100", and other times it's seen as "E 100". Heck, for a time the E 100, E 75, E 50, and E 25 were all hyphenated in-game. But really, there's no difference. It changes from source to source.

Like the Tiger-Maus before it, the E 100 had the option of carrying a 15 cm KwK L/37 or a 12,8 cm Kwk 44 L/55. While it was designed to have a 600hp Maybach HL 230 P30 V12, when the tank was captured this same engine was being rated at 700hp [1; pg 54]. Upgrades to this engine could push it to 900hp. This engine was also to be standard on the E 50 and E 75 [2; pg. 157]. Its upper and lower frontal plates were 200mm and 150mm respectively, angled at 60° and 52° from the vertical respectively. Its rear plate was also 150mm and angled at 30°. The track shields, while never pictured on the chassis to my knowledge, were 60mm thick [3].

But a functional E 100 prototype would not be completed by the time the war in Europe came to a close. Only a partial hull had been completed by the time the Allies captured the factory the tank was being built at.

Unfinished E 100 chassis on a special bed for transport. [2; pg. 155]

So, how does the E 100 compare to real life versus what we see in World Of Tanks? Well, to say the very least, its very popular 15 cm top gun, while having the highest damage output of an Tier X heavy tank, has the worst standard penetration value of its peers. Its lengthy reload speed is workable, but this lackluster penetration results in more players loading premium shells. It's even something a lot of players heavily advise. Like all the time.

• Rule #1 of the E-100, HEAT rounds only unless the entire enemy team is french tanks. -/u/ashakar
• Always use gold rounds. -/u/jtypin
• When in doubt, load some HEAT ammunition. You need to hit flat spots without excessive angling. -/u/Seclorum

And these are just a few of many comments gathered by posts in the World Of Tanks subreddit (I'd use the official forums but the search function there always gives me a bad time). Not to mention there's always the ramblings in the in-game chat about premium ammo spam. Whenever I confront an enemy E 100 in-game, I've come to anticipate that they'll be firing premium rounds. And when the E 100's 15 cm gun has the second best nominal penetration of all premium shells for Tier X heavy tanks, combined with that average damage and lackluster AP penetration, it's not hard to see the appeal in firing premium HEAT shells all the time.

But, why is that? Well, the big reason for the lacking AP penetration is the gun itself. It's not something Wargaming just decided on for giggles. It's a pattern seen throughout the game: a gun with a barrel length of 37 calibers (the "L/37" in 15 cm KwK L/37) should have a low muzzle velocity. There is simply not enough barrel to propel the shell at such a speed it can be given very good penetration values. This is also why guns like the 8,8 cm Kwk 43 L/71 were so much more effective on the battlefield than the 8,8 cm Kwk 36 L/56. Also, because of the way HEAT shells work, it makes sense for a 15 cm HEAT shell to have such a high penetration value. The bigger the shell, the more HEAT penetration, and this is reflected in-game.

E_100.gif

However, I seem to be in the minority camp that the E 100 doesn't need to fire HEAT shells to be an effective tank. I've found that AP shells are typically more than adequate against any tank I'd encounter, save for the most armored tanks. In fact, the only time the E 100 seems to struggle is when it's going face-to-face with other heavily armored tanks.

In any case, regardless of opinion, the HEAT shell is one of only two grievances players seem to have about this tank. The other (and the same holds true for the Jadgpanzer E 100), is its relatively thin lower plate. This is an odd complaint, because it has one of the strongest lower front plates of all Tier X heavy tanks. At about 235mm of effective thickness from the front, it just barely trails behind the IS-4's 240mm and the Maus's 245mm. With the exception of the Type 5 Heavy, all other heavy tanks trail it. It's even better than every Tier X tank destroyer's lower front plate. Head-to-head, the E 100 has a strong chance of penetrating most enemy tanks' lower front plates with even its lackluster AP shells. It's odd to me to see players bemoan the E-100's lower front plate. Any changes to it would make the tank more unhistorical than it already is.

But how historically accurate is the E 100 in game? The following image provided in Panzer Tracts No.6-3 gives us an accurate look of this tank's real data.

Click the image for a larger view. [1; pg. 72]

Compared to World Of Tanks (stats also taken from tanks.gg), the in-game version is:

1. 7 km/h faster
2. Uses an engine that would necessitate a complete redesign of the E 100
3. Because of #2, the Power-to-Weight ratio is almost twice as much as describe here
4. The in-game tank is also almost six tons heavier
5. Turret side armor is 70mm thicker in-game

So a more historical configuration would nearly halve the turret side armor and make the tank much slower and less maneuverable than it currently is. This would be a pretty significant nerf, one that makes this tank more like the Maus, but with a slightly faster top speed and worse armor. The E 100 could make for a decent Tier IX tank, if we were to downgrade it for a better historical representation. There are several modules available for it, and we can merge the Tiger-Maus with the E 100. But then, what do we do for the space left behind at Tier X?

In that previous list, I mentioned at #2 that the in-game E 100 engine would necessitate a redesign of the tank to fit. This redesign would move the engine compartment into the front of the tank, pushing the turret to the back of the tank and resulting in an entirely new E 100. Imagine the Jagdpanther E 100, but with a rotating superstructure. Also, it could reach 40 km/h [1; pg 54]

But we'll get to this design and an E 100 rebalance at a later date. For the role the E 100 has right now, I think it's pretty well balanced even though it's current configuration is unhistorical. Like all high-tier German heavy tanks, it's slow and carries a high-damage gun, and it's unique enough to set it apart from its peers.

Until next time,

— ThatTrafficCone [NA]

Sources:

[1] Jentz, Thomas L. & Doyle, Hillary L. Panzer Tracts No.6-3 Schwere Panzerkampfwagen Maus and E 100 2008
[2] Spielberger, Walter J. AFV/Weapons Profiles: Elefant and Maus (+ E-100) 1973
[3] Chamberlain, Peter & Doyle, Hillary L. Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two pg. 149; 1993