Maus

Maus

Maus

Germany

V Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
8.0	7.7	7.7

Class:

Heavy tank

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Description

The Pz.Kpfw. Maus is a Rank V German heavy tank with a battle rating of 8.0 (AB) and 7.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update 1.47 "Big Guns". The Maus is the definitive tank of heavy armour in Rank V and is one of the largest tanks in-game, if not the largest. The Maus can be a menace in the battlefield and conversely also a bullet magnet, a double-edged sword that must be played correctly or else fall victim to heavy enemy fire.

The "Maus" lives up to its reputation as mobile bunker. The dual guns do great damage, however against high rank tanks it is best to use the 128 mm main gun. It is important to protect the back armour on the Maus and to make sure it does not get out flanked. Preferable used at long range and choke points. Best used as an armoured beast able to kill and take any shot.

Speed on the vehicle is roughly 20 kph. The sheer mass of the vehicle and its speed makes the mobility difference from road to off-road negligible. The vehicle can actually turn pretty fast once at Gear 6, which is better than the Jagdtiger and some other Rank V heavy counterparts. Keep that in mind and use it as advantage in CQC.

The 128 mm is a great gun in-game, very accurate and perfect for mid to long range engagements. The reload is very good too for its caliber (23 sec stock) that is a big advantage versus IS-4s, because the Maus has three seconds for an extra shot. KwK44 has the best penetration value of any APHE shell ingame. However, the APCR and HEAT shells of the T-54 and late US vehicles surpasses it. Damage wise the 128mm PzGr.43 is equivalent to the 122mm BR-471 of the D-25T, where penetration usually means a kill.

Coaxial LMG? Pff, that's for normal tanks (But it is there anyway). On the Maus everything is bigger. The short 75 mounted alongside the main 128 originally served as anti-infantry and soft target weapon of choice. In War Thunder this vehicle types are either not found on the battlefield or as latter only on certain maps. It comes without question that the 75mm should be used against AAA, trucks and SPAA. However, the HEAT shell can be used to harass the enemy, lure them out/in of cover, or just damage medium tank's sides (T-54 and M46 do not exceed 80mm of armour) and tracks. In addition the secondary cannon has a good reload rate of around 5 sec, thus it can be used to kill light tanks and SPAA without wasting the precious 128 mm ammo for more heavily armoured targets.

General info

Survivability and armour

Armour type:

• Rolled homogeneous armour
• Cast homogeneous armour (Gun mantlet)

Armour	Front	Sides	Rear	Roof
Hull	200 mm (55°) Front glacis 200 mm (35°) Lower glacis	180 mm Top 100 mm Bottom 300 mm Weld joints	150 mm (36°) Top 150 mm (31°) Bottom	50 mm General area 100 mm Front roof
Turret	220 mm (3-53°)Turret front 240 mm Gun mantlet	200 mm (30°)	200 mm (15°)	60 mm

Notes:

• Armour on the Maus is quite complex, and definitely does not end with the above mentioned values
  • Gun mantlet is 240 mm thick and nicely rounded, right around both guns the armour is 300 mm thick
  • Tracks at the front are protected by 100+60 mm plates (100mm basic plate + attached tracks)
  • Behind the frontal upper plate on deck armour, there are many 60mm highly sloped plates of armour, protecting the engine vents and turret ring from HEAT/HE shells and some smallcalibre fire
  • Frontal part of the belly is also 100 mm thick (Would be probably good against mines/other explosives), the rest is 50mm
  • Deck armour in front of these plates is also strenghtened to an impressive 100 mm
  • Side armour is split to two parts, top with 180 mm and bottom with 100 mm + tracks
  • Even inside the tank there is armour - there are many 20 mm plates inside the tank, separating crew compartments from variuos modules, and partially protecting the interior from shrapnels that penetrated the tank from other areas
    • One plate is at the rear of the tank, between the enormous transmission and the fighting compartment
    • Second one is more to the front, separating fighting compartment from the middle-mouted Engine and its radiators
    • Third is in the front between the driver's compartment and the Engine
    • Around the driver there are many more 20mm plates, adding some protection to Fuel Tanks located there

Mobility

Mobility characteristic
Weight (tons)	Add-on Armor weight (tons)	Max speed (km/h)
188.0	N/A	22 (AB)
		20.7 (RB/SB)
Engine power (horsepower)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	1,549	____
Realistic/Simulator	1,061	____
Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded
Arcade	8.24	__.__
Realistic/Simulator	5.64	__.__

Armaments

Main armament

128 mm KwK 44
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
68			-7°/+23°	±180°	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	4.50	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	4.50	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
23.6	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
PzGr	APC	266	264	237	207	180	157
PzGr 43	APCBC	269	267	253	237	222	208
Sprgr	HE	36	36	36	36	36	36

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
PzGr	APC	930	28	0.8	28	786.5	-1°	48°	63°	71°
PzGr 43	APCBC	930	28	0.8	28	786.5	+4°	48°	63°	71°
Sprgr	HE	750	28	0.1	0.5	3,700	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Ammo racks for the Maus.

Ammo parts	Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	5th rack empty	6th rack empty	7th rack empty	8th rack empty	9th rack empty	10th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
Projectiles Propellants	68 68	62 (+6) 62 (+6)	55 (+13) 55 (+13)	50 (+18) 50 (+18)	45 (+23) 45 (+23)	39 (+29) 39 (+29)	33 (+35) 33 (+35)	25 (+43) 25 (+43)	17 (+51) 17 (+51)	9 (+59) 9 (+59)	1 (+67) 1 (+67)	no

Turret empty: 45 (+23)

Additional armament

75 mm KwK 44
Coaxial mount
Capacity			Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance	Stabilizer
68			N/A	N/A	N/A
Turret rotation speed (°/s)
Mode	Stock	Upgraded	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
Arcade	11.30	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Realistic	11.30	_.__	_.__	_.__	_.__
Reloading rate (seconds)
Stock	Prior + Full crew	Prior + Expert qualif.	Prior + Ace qualif.
4.80	_.__	_.__	_.__

Ammunition

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Penetration in mm @ 90°
		10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
Hl.Gr. 38B	HEAT	80	80	80	80	80	80
Hl.Gr. 38C	HEAT	100	100	100	100	100	100
Sprgr. 34	HE	10	10	10	10	10	10

Shell details
Ammunition	Type of warhead	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
								0%	50%	100%
Hl.Gr. 38B	HEAT	450	4.4	0.0	0.1	872.1	+0°	62°	69°	73°
Hl.Gr. 38C	HEAT	450	4.8	0.0	0.1	875.5	+0°	62°	69°	73°
Sprgr. 34	HE	570	5.7	0.1	0.1	715	+0°	79°	80°	81°

Ammo racks

Full ammo	1st rack empty	2nd rack empty	3rd rack empty	4th rack empty	Visual discrepancy
100	76 (+24)	51 (+49)	26 (+74)	1 (+99)	no

Turret empty: 76 (+24)

Machine guns

7.92 mm MG 34
Coaxial mount
Capacity (Belt capacity)				Fire rate (shots/minute)	Vertical guidance	Horizontal guidance
1,000 (150)				900	N/A	N/A

Usage in the battles

Versus heavy tanks the Maus has all the advantages. While slower it can make up for this in close combat thanks to the good turn rate of both tracks and turret. Just quickly angle the Maus (both turret and hull!) and turn it invincible. Try angling the front drive wheel at the enemy tank and turn your turret so that your armour is at ~45 degrees to then enemy fire. The only threat are other high-calibre tanks like the M103, but the M103's HEAT is limited in damage potential due the big empty spaces inside the tank.

Versus medium tanks the Panzerkampfwagen VIII can fight in close combat (CQC) with its great turret rotation speed, but at the cost of exposing the side armour and getting flanked, this should be kept as one's last and or only option. Distance is the ally of the Maus, which should be easy to do considering that the topspeed is 20kph.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Most armoured tank of the game.
• Nigh invincible, if angled properly.
• Capable of soaking a large amount of damage.
• Powerful 128 mm cannon.
• Nigh invulnerable to arty and large HE shells.
• Very resilient to bombs and rockets.
• Access to smoke grenade.
• Surprisingly good off-road manoeuvrability.
• Secondary 75 mm coaxial cannon to use when 128 mm is not necessary.
• Turns pretty well in high gear movement or in neutral steer.
• Very difficult to immobilize.
• Turret sides are strong as, if not stronger than, the front of the turret.

Cons:

• Very slow, but still faster than the T28/95.
• Takes a while to reach the action zone.
• Requires a good teamwork to perform adequately.
• Slow turret rotation.
• The sides of the Maus is littered with ammo racks.
• 128 mm gun is not competitive in matches above 8.0.
• Very loud engine, players with 3D sound will be able to locate you just by listening to your engine.
• Vulnerable at all ranges to end rank American and Russian tanks using Sabot and HEAT rounds.
• Extremely heavy, makes towing near impossible unless it is another Maus.
• Vulnerable to 152 mm HE.
• Resilient to bombs, but a large bomb will still have a high chance to destroy the Maus.
• Optics have very little zoom, difficult to hit at long ranges.
• Big target for Anti-tank Guided Missile (ATGM).

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the ground vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

Development

This monster of a tank started development in 1942 on the suggestion of Ferdinand Porsche to Hitler, which was approved. The first prototype was to be completed by 1943 and the project vehicle was designated the Mammut (Mammoth). The name changed in December 1942 to Mäuschen (Little Mouse), then once more to the Maus (Mouse) in February 1943, which stayed as its designation (and perhaps proving that Germany does have a sense of humor).

The prototype used Ferdinand's "electric transmission" that was previously used on the rejected Tiger(P), the vehicle would be powered by a MB 517 diesel engine. The Maus has a suspension design with 24 wheels on each side, 2 per bogie with two bogies side by side and six bogies lining up from front and back. The armour was perhaps the most defining feature at 220 mm thick at the hull front, the sides and rear were 190 mm thick. The turret was even thicker at 240 mm on the front and 200 mm on the sides and rear. The vehicle was to also have a 128 mm KwK 44 main gun with a 75 mm KwK 44 gun as a coaxial. The overwhelming design was approximated to weight 100 tons.

The production plan was to have the prototype completed by mid-1943 and for 10 vehicles per month after the prototype delivery. Work would be divided between Krupp and Alkett for the production of the machine. The wooden model of the tank was presented on May 1943 to Hitler. It was then approved for production and 150 of them were to be built. With the final design finished, it was estimated to weight 188 tons now. Though Hitler and his peers saw it with much favor, Heinz Guderian criticised the Maus design because there was a lack of machine guns, thus it was extremely vulnerable to infantry attacks at close-quarters for the same reason as the Ferdinand tank destroyer. The anti-infantry problem was solved with the addition of a coaxial machine gun and a Nahverteidigungswaffe dischargers, firing smoke or high-explosive shells in its surrounding area, installed on the turret.

Production and cancellation

Two prototypes of the Maus were made in 1943 and 1944. The first one, called V1 was turretless and assembled by Alkett in December 1943, it was fitted with a mock turret that helped finalise the turret design in 1944. Here they determine the Maus was definitely too heavy for any bridges in existence so the Maus would ford rivers with a snorkel. The second prototype called V2 by Alkett again had the first produced Maus turret attached with the 128 mm gun, coaxial 75 mm gun, and coaxial machine gun. In July 1944, Krupp was producing four more hulls, but these were scrapped and the whole project stopped on August 1944, though tests with the V2 continued. The weight of the tank meant that the power-to-weight ratio was extremely poor, resulting in the Maus' ideal speed of about 8 miles per hour maximum in ideal conditions.

However by 1944, the Red Army was advancing deeper and deeper into what was previously German-controlled territory. The vision that the Red Army might capture the testing grounds of the Maus prototypes and the prototypes themselves seem to come closer to reality. The Germans were forced to destroy the prototypes to prevent their capture by the Soviets, placing charges onto the V2 prototype (the V1 was only a hull so it wasn't combat-effective). The second prototype had the entire hull damaged as there was ammunition still in the tank when the charges went off, but the turret was mostly intact. The Russians captured the damaged prototypes and held them until the end of the war. After World War II, the Soviet Commander of Armoured and Mechanized troops ordered for the V1 hull to be attached with the turret from the V2 prototype. They had to use six Sd.Kfz. 9, the largest half-track vehicles produced by Germany, to move the 55 ton turret to the hull. The fixed prototype was sent back to the Soviet Union for testing and arrive on May 4, 1946. Once this is done, the prototype was sent to Kubinka Tank museum where it lays today on display for the public.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Maus from live.warthunder
  • "Haus Maus Skin (Direct Painted)" by Face_OF_Insanity
  • "Girls und Panzer Black Forest Peak " by CmdNomad
  • "(Semihistorical) Maus Prototyp" by Tiger_VI
  • "fictional sPzAbt 502 "Octopus Camouflage"" by JoKeR_BvB09

Videos

History

Gameplay

Tank overview & introduction "War Thunder - Mighty Maus" by TheDevildogGamer

Early dev-server footage "War Thunder TANKS! MAUS GAMEPLAY - 30 Tanks VS MAUS!" by PhlyDaily

"War Thunder Maus Tank Ace - The Mighty Mouse in RB - War Thunder Tanks 1.47" by BaronVonGamez

Read also

[Devblog] Panzerkampfwagen VIII «Maus»
Official War Thunder forum article: [Historical] Panzerkampfwagen VIII "Maus", Part I, Part II, and Part III

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.

Germany heavy tanks
Tiger 1 (Henschel)	Tiger H1 · Tiger E · ␠Tiger
Tiger 1 (Porsche)	VK 45.01 (P) · Pz.Bef.Wg.VI P
Tiger 2	Tiger II (P) · Tiger II (H) · Tiger II (H) Sla.16 · Tiger II (10.5 cm Kw.K)
Super heavy tanks	Maus · E-100
Trophies
Great Britain	▀Pz.Kpfw. Churchill
USSR	▀KV-IB · ▀KW I C 756 (r) · ▀KW II 754 (r)