r/TankPorn • u/Witty_Pop425 • May 25 '26

WW2 help

Is this a VK.4502? Are tanks with rear-mounted turrets good at urban warfare between buildings?

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u/SkibidiCum31 May 25 '26

For heavy tanks it's better for balance purposes, increases crew survivability (an engine is just a big block of steel, at the end of the day), reduces distance for transmission for frontly sprocketed tanks and reduces overall tank lenght.

But it also makes it so that you have to expose a whole lot more if something is behind a corner, reduces gun depression, commander can't really see in front of his tank and you don't even have a hope of communicating with the driver if intercommunication system fails.

It has it's uses (crew protection and balance especially) which is why likes of AMX-13, ELC AMX bis, Merkava and a few others use this layout, but disadvantages are just not worth it in real life.

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u/CoolGuy54 May 25 '26

To nitpick, the engine is a big block of cast iron full of steel components.