Jagdtiger

Bolt Action: Jagdtiger

The Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B, known as the Jagdtiger, was the heaviest tank to see service in World War II. Developed late in the conflict, only around 80 actually saw service, the first in September 1944.

Germany, like many other nations, made use of existing tank designs to create self-propelled guns and tank destroyers. The Jagdtiger was a colossal example of this practice – the Germans desired to up-gun the feared Tiger II by mounting the 128mm Pak 44 gun into a purpose-built armoured casemate on the lengthened King Tiger chassis. 150 units were ordered to counter increasingly powerful Soviet armour – the Pak more than capable of penetrating Allied armour.

Weighing in at 71 tonnes, the behemoth had almost 10 inches of armour on the front of its casemate, making it one of the best-protected tanks of the war. All that weight and protection came at the cost of reliability, however. Many roads and bridges simply couldn’t take its weight. This, plus increasing shortages of spare parts and fuel, prevented the Jagdtiger from reaching its full potential.

At the heart of the Jagdtiger was the 128mm PaK 44 anti-tank gun. Renowned for its long-range capabilities, the Jagdtiger was rightly feared. However, the gun’s limited traverse meant the tank had to pivot to target the enemy, and the two-part ammunition required an additional crewman to load. To represent this in Bolt Action, the 128mm Pak 44 does not suffer a -1 penetration penalty when shooting at targets over half range.

Only two German heavy Panzerjäger Battalions included Jagdtigers, the 512th Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion and the 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion. One company of the 512th Battalion was commanded by famed tank ace Otto Carius, who is credited with destroying over 150 tanks and a similar number of anti-tank guns – he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The accompanying waterslide transfer sheet features Carius’ decals.

Box contains one plastic tank, unit card, vehicle damage markers and a decal sheet.

Models supplied unassembled and unpainted.