Main page

I owned a Leopard once, back when I only had about 500 games and expected every tank to destroy everything it came across. With good play the Luchs was still capable of taking on anything at teir III and some damaged tier IVs, so I had no reason to expect the Leopard to be any different. The main reason I got a Leopard in the first place is because it looked like a Panther, a tank that I've always thought to be the coolest thing on the battlefield. My first impression when driving it was that the miniature panther lookalike had gone rather heavy on the chocolate and pies, because it certainly wasn't in a hurry to accelerate. A weight of 20 tons (same as AMX 40) confirmed my suspicions. The thing is supposed to weigh 16 tons isn't it?! Being a the noob I was at the time, I disregarded the raw stats of the gun and decided it might work to shoot at more targets, including higher tier ones I'd never seen before. It didn't end well, mostly because shooting breaks cover even if the gun you're firing is utterly useless against the target it's aimed at. I stuck to grinding the Leopard hoping that fully upgraded it would be better. However, even with all the upgrades mounted I was still less than impressed with what still looked like an obese panther-wannabe, so I sold it to get credits to buy an M3 Lee (go figure).

Recently I decided that with the skills and strategies I've developed since way back then I might be able to make the Leopard work. I needed some variation from a mostly autoloader lineup anyways and the Leopard is at least cheap to buy and equip. In my first drive I again noticed the tank felt less than fast, although it does turn quickly. Equipped with a camo net and binocs I headed to look for a decent scouting location with a bush big enough to hide the Leopard's fat arse (you can tell I wasn't necessarily excited about the prospect of passive scouting) and then waited anxiously. The first thing to come rolling down the road was a Lowe, but it didn't take long for him to get shot to smithereens by my teammates when he didn't see me once (I was wise enough not to fire at him). I spotted a few other enemy tanks coming the same direction, and since the situation was getting a bit hot for me I beat a (relatively) hasty retreat while they were distracted firing at our T-50 (again, go figure). I set up at a few more locations later in the match and eventually did make a run to kill the enemy arty (one Priest). I figured that was hardly much of an accomplishment and that my rewards for the match would reflect a mediocre performance, but no, I got over 500 xp and nearly 20,000 credits....

Ever since I've started employing those tactics the Leopard just seems to have come alive. I've pretty much stopped firing the (still rather useless) gun except at artillery and targets that I know are very thinly armored (T-28 anyone?), and tend to ram artillery as well as shoot them if I do get an opportunity to go arty hunting in the first place. The the other day, I had a hilarious time chasing down a Panzer III for almost a minute. Granted, the "chubby baby Panther" (as one of my clan mates dubbed it after hearing my description of it) could barely keep up with the medium tank of it's own tier, but the backside of a Panzer III is one of the few things the 50mm L/60 will shoot straight through. Although the tank still feels a bit fat and lazy to drive, months of playing the French AMX lights have taught me a lot on how to sneak about without being seen, and even the Leopard can become pretty much invisible when I take the right routes. I've had some players ask me over the chat how on Earth I got to them without being seen. While it still isn't my favorite tank then, the Leopard has definitely started to grow on me.

I know this tank gets quite a bit of hate and complaints on the forums, which is understandable since it does feel like a disappointment initially and it takes quite a bit of work to make it shine. However since I've come to enjoy the tank now I've made this thread for people to share some of their favorite experiences with the "chubby baby Panther", playing with it or against it. What are some of the most best moments, kills, arty runs, scouting locations, and anything else you've found/gotten/used in your Leopard?
Edited by Scorpion_Strike, Aug 07 2012 - 14:49.

everything ppl do now in 502s i used to do in Leo

i think i have a like 680 av exp in it, best battle was 2500+ exp

gold shells for Leo pen just about everything ;)

I grinded the Leo a long time ago, and of course I sold it to get to the next tank. But a friend of mine started playing WOT and I started to buy again all my low tiers to platoon with him as he grinded. When he got to the P IV I thought it was time to sell my low tiers again, cause he had soared and showed no interest in keep playing them, as usual. I had the Leopard and he had the Pna. I must admit I was ONE BATTLE away to sell my Leopard. Then I played one more, and I won...I played another one, same joy and results. In short, my Leo has the best winning ratio of all my tanks, 52% as we read.  I bought it a permanent camo, as I do to reward every tank that earned it and I will never sell.

Still have a long road ahead with it, a lot to learn.

Thanks for the post.

I played the Leo back last year around September/October time. Only played 10 or so games with it before selling it. (I was new to game and like an idiot I wasted a lot of time and credits tank hopping from tree to tree.

Bought it back today and used a little Free XP to get all the upgrades and well, here's my first game with it since all those months ago.

Battle: Prokhorovka 09 August 2012 17:59:08
Vehicle: VK 1602 Leopard
Experience received: 970
Credits received: 25,890
Battle Achievements: Mastery Badge: "1st Class"

Not bad, and it's certainly a good first impression for a revisit to this ace looking little tank.

My favorite.....55% win rate, an awesome passive scout (equipped correctly).....just wish it didnt bleed speed in any kind of turn....

I have a Leo but we don't get along very well. Like you said, after enjoying the agility and firepower of the Luchs the Leo seemed like a downgrade in every single aspect, plus the ridiculous matchmaker didn't make things any better at all. I'd like to give it another opportunity as I haven't sold it yet, but must ask, what is the fun of passive scouting? More importantly, what makes it better than other tanks at it? It barely improves the view range of its predecessor, and doesn't seem much faster to get in position either.

if passive scouting is not your thing, then the Leo might not be for you......you don't have the zig-zag ability of the 50 or 50-2, nor the firepower of the Chaffee......

I run elited, camo net, binos, and vents......crew skills are to max out view range.......

the Leo doing well is VERY map dependent.......city maps are hard because it negates your view range.....

So having got the Light tank bug by playing my Type 62 and ELC I just bout a Leo for the and played it for the first time in since the tier 5 lights came out (I sold it after 12 games previously , hated it)

Threw my Pz 38H commander in, binocs + coated optics + vents , malinovka standard battle I sat in a bush and then did some killing afterwards...

Victory!
Battle: Malinovka Wednesday, September 05, 2012 7:43:53 AM
Vehicle: VK 1602 Leopard
Experience received: 2,898 (x2 for the first victory each day)
Credits received: 33,246
Battle Achievements: Master Gunner, Sharpshooter, Mastery Badge: "Ace Tanker"



Wish I had replays turned on, was fun.

also, not that I really used it this match, but I decided to use gasoline as a consumable.....risky I know, with these 20% fire German engines.
Edited by Antosha_, Sep 05 2012 - 12:55.

Just had a really fun game in my Leo the other day.  At Ensk, I sort of did a little passive scouting from a bush early.  Then I moved forward to active scout.  Uncovered two JP4s and a higher tiered Russian heavy.  I finished one of the tds off myself, and spent some ammo bouncing off that heavy.   Ended with a kill, good exp and creds.  It's a fun little tank.  I like the description chubby baby panther.  That fits.

Good post, in fact....such a good post it made me totally re-think my Leopard. So I got some camo - the crew were already training camo as it was, and next battle I found some bushes the map was Highway. Sure enough 9 tanks went town and I thought the lemming train was going to cost us - however we had a GwPanther and a Hummel and a Black Prince who had a brain and they pointed north.

I just sat and trembled hoping my camo was really going to stop all those big tier 8s from seeing me - so the enemy came. I targetted and hit my "requesting fire" button over and over again for about 5 mins. Arty were epic and kept on killing the enemy. I moved up to the base and did the same again.

After we won, the summary sheet came up .... and my reward was....... 38k credits and 776xp - without premium! Passive scouting ftw  
I'm sure that match was an exception and I'll never get anything like that again - but without reading this post - I wouldn't have played the way I did and learned a new strat.

Thank you Scorpion Strike.

 Moononu, on Nov 24 2012 - 13:24, said:

If you're good at passive scouting, then you can get scores like that every once in a while. It requires good map knowledge. Glad the post helped you though, I'm now very much enjoying the VK2801.

I've kind of had the scouting bug for a couple months now and have been grinding the light tank lines. I'm currently grinding a M5, a Leopard, and a T-50 and so far the Leo is my favorite.

The M5 is zippy, has a close-range derp gun, and is pretty fragile. Something about the way speed and turning match up on it.... I don't know, it's good, but I don't gel with it all that well. And to take full advantage of the gun, you really want to get in closer than I want to as a scout. Still, I've put up some really big damage on some tanks with it.

The T-50 is king for active scouting. When I just feel like - "screw it, I'm just going to troll the enemy team till I die" kind of mood. But honestly, I don't really see doing the clown-car routine in front of half the enemy guns as really the best sort of scouting anyway. Survivability is way down with that routine anyway - even if the T-50 pulls it off better than the other two. Honestly, the T-50 is just a bit more responsive than really matches my style. I tend to overcorrect a lot. After a few games, I get used to it, but it's still more turning than I really want.

Leopard is more under control and predictable for me to use than the other two. Good top speed, and armor that can actually take a couple hits without having a crisis on you. Guns I don't care much about since as a scout I don't use them except on artillery and T-28s and such. Besides, the main weapon of a Leo in my opinion is just as much its front fender as its gun. This is a nice ramming tank. I still remember in Ruinberg running down the street and head-on colliding with a 90% T-50 and killing him at a loss of only about 40% in return. Nice anti-scout for this reason. Just ram that A-20 making a beeline for the arty and solve the problem.

I tend to try and get an advanced position in cover on the map and then wait it out until I've counted where all the enemy are on the map. Once I know there is a gap, I rush through and spot the arty. Mainly, I just try and find a conservative place to spot everything on one flank, and then settle in for a delayed rush on whatever needs to happen in the late game. My main goal is to be reasonably useful for the early stages of the game, and then come out of lurking in the late-game to charge on the enemy base, reset cap at my base, kill arty, hit a KV1 in the butt, or just play spotter for the TD and 2 arty who are all that is left of our team late-game.

Scouts are game-winners if they survive late game, and the Leo does just fine at this. They also do great at rushing to forward observation posts and just sitting there. Which is how I like to play.

And if they need to active scout the center at Prohorovka, I've found a Leo can pretty much do this just as well as an M5 or a T-50. Honestly, if you play the terrain at Sand River, or Prohorovka, or Steppes right, the advantages of a T-50 over a Leo while active scouting are negligible in my opinion.