In the summer of 1943, as the sun began to rise across the vast expanses of the Russian steppe, the Elefant, a colossal German tank destroyer of around 65 tons, thundered onto the stage of the Battle of Kursk.

Despite its extreme weight and plodding maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour, the heavily armored behemoth rolled with the first wave. Moving slowly through the landscape, these Mammoths of steel took positions on a hill that provided excellent visibility and unveiled their lethal arsenal: Krupp’s latest development, the 8.8-centimeter Pak 43, Germany’s most potent anti-tank gun ever developed.

Moments later, an entire unit of Elephants opened fire in unison, their guns echoing across the battlefield. The Pak’s rounds quickly found their targets, an array of Soviet T-34s, and destroyed them with one swift hit.
Other Elephants charged with the infantry, assaulting the Soviet perimeter. The sloped armor turned the Elefant into an invulnerable juggernaut against small arms fire, and shrapnel.

The symphony of destruction dispatched T-34s and KV-1s one after another, increasing the Elephant’s impressive kill ratio to over 10 per tank with every new wave the Soviets launched. It was poised to change everything for Germany. No enemy tank should have been safe from the Elefant’s beastly gun, yet it was about to spiral out of control…