Maus

"Developed from june 1942 through July 1944, with two prototypes produced, only one of which received a turret and armament." The Maus is a German tier 10 heavy tank.

Maus
Turret: tier 10 Maus

Turret Armor: 260/210/210

Traverse Speed (deg/sec): 16

View Range (m): 400

Gun: tier 10 12,8 cm Kw.K. 44 L/55

Rate of Fire (rounds/min): 4.03

Penetration: 246/311/65

Damage: 490/490/630

Aiming Time (sec): 2.10

Accuracy: 0.36

Engine: tier 10 DB 603 A2

Engine Power (h.p.): 1750

Tracks: tier 10 Maus

Traverse speed (deg/sec): 15

Radio: tier 10 10WSc

Signal Range (m): 720

Pros

 * Absolutely monstrous all-around armor (best overall in the game), best tank for sidescraping
 * Thickest side and rear armor in the game, even without angling its practically immune to some tier 8 tanks, combined with extremely thick side armor and tracks it is almost impossible to damage and track a Maus at the same time, with the exception of some very high penetration rounds
 * Single largest HP pool in the game at 3000
 * Heaviest tank in the game, makes even small collisions with enemy tanks do decent damage and in turn minimizes incoming ramming damage
 * Extremely low dispersion loss when turning turret and generally good accuracy on move.
 * Engine has the highest horsepower in the game (1750), can push the wrecks of any tank with ease (except another Maus or Mauschen)

Cons

 * Low penetration for its tier, though good gun handling, accuracy and APCR rounds make up for it
 * Huge silhouette and terrible camo values; priority target for SPGs
 * Turret isn't that hard to penetrate frontally at cheeks with premium or high pen ammo
 * Very poor overall mobility, extremely sluggish on hill
 * Rear mounted turret can sometimes be limiting when coming out from corners, when not sidescraping

The heaviest (although no longer largest) 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 12.8cm 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 10 SPGs will become frustrated when faced with dealing relatively minimal damage to the Maus as opposed to other, less armored tanks. Especially if the Maus is fitted with a superheavy 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.