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I've been playing the game War Thunder recently. It is common knowledge in the game that angling a tank's armor, even slightly, will significantly increase the effectiveness of protection against enemy fire. This led me to wonder: was the concept of angling tank armor consciously employed or recognized as a doctrine during World War II?

I understand that sloped armor, such as that used on the German Panther or the Soviet T-34, was designed to increase the chances of deflecting incoming rounds by creating an oblique impact angle. It seems that tank designers during the war were aware of this concept, as it effectively increased the thickness of the armor relative to the incoming shot. However, I’m curious if there was formal military doctrine that instructed tank crews to actively angle their vehicles in combat to take advantage of this phenomenon, or if this was more of a result of battlefield improvisation or tactical adaptation?

Were there any notable examples where angling armor was explicitly trained for or utilized in combat?

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Yes, there was doctrine.

Reddit says

There is definitely a section in the TigerFibel that discusses angles at which the tiger can be penetrated and by what. I did Google quickly but can't find a good link. I can't remember but I think it does mention some angling of the frontal armour to maximise its effectiveness,. . .

The Tigerfibel, and the best translation I can find. Page 80 covers using angle to improve armor effectiveness.

On that link the images are in German, but there is an English translation at the very bottom (outside the frame, easy to miss)

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    Link seems to go to images from a German copy. I have no German, but a Google translation of one bit of pg 80 gave me "If you move your tank vertically, it will be 10 cm thick and can withstand all calibers up to 7.5 cm inclusive. But if you stand over the corner and move it diagonally, then it is 13 cm thick. However, a shell that hits at an angle penetrates much less than one that hits vertically." There's also a lot of illustrations of this diagonal vs. head on distance principle using the idea of slicing through a sausage.
    – T.E.D. ♦
    Commented 8 hours ago
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    ... I had a houseguest who took German in Highschool look it over, but they couldn't do nearly as well as Google with it. They said if it had said something like "This is my moped" they could do it. :-)
    – T.E.D. ♦
    Commented 8 hours ago
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A historian YT answered that:

He references Tiger WW-II manuals which cites angling as standard procedure - "you should point meal times towards the enemy". I guess Germans didn't have lunch at 12:00?

And explains that modern tanks don't angle, because their side armor is much weaker than frontal armor, thus one should point the front towards the enemy.

I remember reading about a Panther WW-II manual, which also ordered NOT to angle, because the panther's side armor was weaker and angling was not worthy the hassle.

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  • On times for lunch in Europe, the norm many places over there is breakfast around 8-9pm, lunch around 1-3pm, and dinner any time from about 6-10pm. This was the case even a century ago. The use of ‘meal times’ is still contextually strange though.
    – Austin Hemmelgarn
    Commented 2 hours ago
  • Do modern tanks have the appropriate "This Side Towards Enemy" labeling?
    – Mark
    Commented 41 mins ago

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