Rheinmetall Skorpion

The Skorpion G is a tier 8 German turreted TD. It plays as a sniper at the back of the map, having a great gun but quite an awkward gun platform. It has poor armour and decent but unimpressive mobility.

Armour

(The Skorpion G in the images is using Improved Assembly)

vs 67mm HE
Upper plate 47mm
Lower plate 61mm
Turret 18-25mm

Hull side armour is 16mm, very weak and easily penetrable to any HE shell.

Armour vs tier all 7-9 enemies:

The Skorpion has the 2nd thinnest armour in tier 8, only just beating the Rhm.-B. WT by a small margin. Every single tank can penetrate the Skorpion with HE frontally.
The turret is large and every HE shell will go through, the hull is also large but will stand up to HE with under 50mm of penetration.
The tank has an extremely large side profile and every HE shell that you face (including the 20mm pen from Gravedigger) will easily penetrate its armour.
AP also has no problem whatsoever. This tank will never bounce any shells as there is no area of its armour (other than the upper and lower plate) that can even achieve an auto-ricochet without being an overmatch.

Gun

The Skorpion G mounts a 12,8 cm (128mm) gun

-Alpha damage is 460 on AP, 390 on APCR, and 600 on HE
-It has a 9.7s reload giving it 2849 DPM
-Penetration on AP is 246mm, APCR is 311mm, and HE is 65mm.
-Aim time is 3.0s/3.2s
-Dispersion is 0.290/0.261
–Gun handling is 0.18/0.18/0.1, or 0.15/0.15/0.09 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -6 degrees
-The gun arc of this tank is +180/-180, so it has a fully traversable turret, one of only 4 TDs in tier 8 with such a feature.

The gun of the Skorpion is one of the best on a TD in tier 8. It has everything, great accuracy, fast aim time, great gun handling, good penetration, good DPM, and good alpha damage.
It has one major downside though, this gun is mounted on a very fat and weak Panther hull, and it has a very poor -6 gun depression. The tank really struggles to aim downwards, especially when you have to face a tank in close-quarters. Unless you are on flat ground to your enemy, it often can’t actually properly aim onto them; this isn’t too big of a problem most of the time though as you should be sniping far from the enemies.

Mobility

-Top speed is a very good 55km/h forwards, and a great -20km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 41.5 deg/s on hard terrain, and 38 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 17.7 hp/t, it has a decent 761hp engine for its 43 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 16.1 hp/t on hard terrain, and 14.8 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are very good, at 1.1/1.2/1.6

Though the Skorpion G may look fast with that top speed, its really not. It moves like it shows with the in-game stats, quite low traverse speed and mediocre acceleration mean that the Skorpion really struggles to reach its 55km top speed. Its able to get to 45km/h quite easily, but it really starts to struggle after that.
The -20km/h reverse speed is a very nice feature to have on any TD, especially one with a fully traversable turret.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

The Skorpion G has no special consumables or provisions.

Gun Rammer:
There is no need to use calibrated shells on this tank at all, it already has great base penetration, very good premium penetration, and due to good accuracy it does not struggle to hit weakpoints. There is no reason to use calibrated shells on this tank at all.
Use gun rammer, it gives this tank quite impressive DPM of 2849, with a 9.7s reload and 460 alpha.

Camouflage Net:
The Skorpion G is primarily a sniping tank destroyer. Having a higher camo rating will always benefit this tank, not only as sometimes needs to be active and relocate (and thus need to have good camo rating), but also because it should be your allies who spot for you.
The Skorpion G has one of the lowest camo ratings of any tier 8 TD, it is the 3rd lowest when stationary, and it is the lowest when it shoots.
Using a camo net will increase the camo rating of this tank from 45% to 59% when stationary, from 39% to 46% when moving, and from 7% to 9% after a shot. Its still a poor camo rating, but when your main gameplay is to try remain unspotted, a camo net is absoloutely madatory.

Improved Assembly:
Considering this tank has not got any armour at all, theres no reason to be taking enhanced armour on it. Use improved assembly, it eill improve this tank’s HP from 1150 up to 1219.

Vertical Stabilizer:
As the Skorpion G already has the best base dispersion in tier 8, it does not need to use refined gun. It may play as a sniper TD, but it does occasionally need to be active, either to reposition or to support allies. When the dispersion is already as good as it is on this tank (0.290), it would be more beneficial to improve its gun handling with vertical stabilizer, especially as this tank has a fully rotatable turret.

Gameplay advice

Skorpion G can be compared to other sniper TD’s for its gameplay, tanks like the SU-130PM, Jadgpanther II, or Rhm.-B. WT.
While similar in some aspects, the Skorpion can’t play nearly as aggressively as the SU-130PM or the Jagdpanther II, its only similar to them in their sniping aspects of gameplay and their guns.
Due to the Skorpion’s turret and its armour, its more like a Rhm.-B. WT, just with better mobility and a much better gun.

Main gameplay:
The Skorpion mainly just needs to find a bush and sit behind it. Its camo rating is very poor for a TD, so it can’t really be on the second line without getting immediately spotted.
Always pull back after a shot, as your camo rating will drop to almost nothing when you shoot. This tank is extremely large and easy to hit, it also doesn’t have the highest HP, so don’t risk it.
Relocate when you don’t have a shot. This tank does have mobility for a reason, and while its not impressive compared to the fastest TDs, its still definitely not bad overall. You can change positions relatively quickly, or even rush to the frontline and finish off an enemy for your team; then you can push around and flank the enemies.

Occasionally the Skorpion G can play like a support medium tank, in this sense its like the SU-130PM and the Jagdpanther II, however you can’t be as aggressive as those two tanks.
-The SU is a much smaller tank and has far better camo rating, also an auto-ricochet upper plate.
-The Jagdpanther II has much higher DPM and just doesn’t get destroyed by HE.

Play the tank like a faster Rhm, or like a less aggressive SU/Jagdpanther II.
The Skorpion kind of fits into its own niche as its not quite fitting into either of the categories of the above tanks, yet that niche is what makes it different tank to play.

Overall

Overall the Skorpion G is a great tank. It has the perfect gun for any situation, its almost always aimed in, even after you move. Its got high DPM, a fast reload, great accuracy, and a fully traversable turret with pretty decent mobility. It only really has a few downsides, the camo rating, gun depression, and lack of armour.
These downsides can be mitigated just by playing carefully and correctly. The lack of armour doesn’t matter if you never get spotted in the first place, and its camo rating won’t affect it much if you use a bush and are far enough away from enemies.
Unfortunately though, the Skorpion is just overshadowed. What tank destroyer doesn’t have a great gun? Just because the Skorpion’s gun is slightly better than its competition, doesn’t make it a better tank. It sacrifices so much statistically in areas other than the gun, it limits the tank greatly in battle situations.

Is it worth getting?

While the Skorpion is a very good tank, and can very easily perform well, it is definitely not worth getting.
This is because SU-130PM does what this tank does, just better. The SU may sacrifice some DPM and a little bit of accuracy, but in exchange it gains so much flexibility in battle, armour, gun depression, camo rating, mobility, and aim time. This all amounts to the SU just being able to put out damage more often and consistently than the Skorpion, even though its actual DPM is slightly lower.
The SU is also usually a much cheaper tank, and its easier to play as well. Unless you are a skilled player looking for a bit of a challenge in a tank, there would be no reason to buy a Skorpion when the SU-130PM is just both better and cheaper.
It is unfortunate for the Skorpion that it lives in the SU’s shadow, but it is by no means a bad tank. Its still definitely one of the better TDs in tier 8.

The Skorpion G is worth 8,500 gold. It has a great gun and decent mobility. Its gun would make it the perfect sniper, but its mounted on a very awkward platform of a Panther tank.
This causes the Skorpion a multitude of problems: weak armour, large size, poor camo rating; but pretty decent mobility and a fully traversable turret.
Its a good sniper tank, but not perfect. Its a decent support tank, but gets spotted and shredded easily if you expose yourself.

Most recently sold for:

10,000 gold (Tank only) – October 2022
Blitzfair Auction – December 2022
8,500 gold (Tank only) – September 2023
8,500 gold/£14.99 (Full bundle) – August 2024

“Stinging” camo: 2D, costs 1,450 gold

Historical info:

The Skorpion is a real tank design.
Similar to the Steyr Waffenträger, Rheinmetall-Borsig Waffenträger, Waffenträger auf Panzer IV, and the Geschützwagen Panzer V; the Skorpion was designed as a vehicle to transport heavy artillery armaments.

It means that it was meant to essentially drive the gun from one location to another, however the gun mounts were designed to be capable of being fired from the chassis of the tank.

The Panther hull in particular had multiple designs proposed by Rheinmetall-Borsig, and the Skorpion is just one of them.

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