Gunthar~SPARTA~ Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Text in green added by Custard as I thought it might help, Hope thats ok Gunthar Upper Glacis: The upper frontal hull armour plate of a tank. Lower Glacis: Lower frontal hull armour on a tank, usually weaker. Mantlet: The armour section surrounding the gun. Usually strongest part of a tank. (IS-7's mantlet armour reaches approx. 350mm!) MG Mount: Location where a machine gun is mounted on a tank for local defence against infantry. Usually have weaker armour. Cupola: Dome shaped structure used by commander/crew to enter/exit tank. Some cupolas have observation slits for the commander. Usually have significantly weaker armour. Viewport: Device used by crew members to see the outside world, may/may not result in hull damage depending on the tank. Upper Superstructure: Some German tank destroyers have two different armour values, one for the hull and one for the upper part. This is the upper part. Stabsfeldwebel Otto Carius demonstrates. 1. Situational Awareness for Dummies I often load into games and hear "they have tank X, we better not go that way!!" This is pure, rank madness. The simple truth is SOMEONE on your team will have to blunt and repel the most dangerous tanks on the other side. Its not like the problem will just go away if you ignore it -- what will happen is a few of your pugs will stumble in and die stupidly, and then you lose. As dumb as they are, keeping your pugs alive despite their best efforts to die stupidly is key to victory. Knowing that, the question should never be how to avoid the main threat of the opponent, but rather how YOU can eliminate it. For example, if you are on Himmelsdorf and they have 3x T-54s to your T8 heavies, think about what they will do. They have two choices -- rush hill, or wolfpack tracks. If you go hill, you will probably meet them and die to their superior mobility on the hill or find nothing there and be unable to get back in time. If you try to ignore/avoid them, they will probably crash behind your backline within a few moments. But on the other hand, if you set up a defensive perimeter right around your cap point, their wolfpack will probably degenerate into peekaboo brawling right around the cap...and that's a fight you can win. I firmly believe the best way to improve your win rate is to identify the primary threat of your enemies, and then meet it on terms favorable to you. 2. Cloaking TDs and Using Bushes Properly The camo system has many quirks...but the one you need to understand the most is when bushes are in effect. ALL of your tank needs to be covered by the bush to get the camo bonus (turn the camera around to be sure no corner is sticking out). The trick to firing without being seen is this. If you are not spotting, sit behind the bushes. You can tell if you are far enough back if the bush is solid, not transparent. At that point you will not be able to see, but as long as some one else is spotting you can see them by radio and fire with much less chance of being seen. If you ARE the spotter, sit barely in the bush (right on the line of transparent and solid, with the bush transparent). When you see a target, back up until the bush is solid. The target will remain lit for 6 seconds, but at this point you can fire and still have reduced chance of being seen. After you fire, wait 8 seconds, then pull back into the bush. Using this method, you can get the best of both worlds and rain hell down on your opponents unseen. Sit BEHIND bushes, not in them when possible. 3. Mediums are NOT scouts You've read the tip -- "Mediums are built to deliver a thrust, then relocate." Few people really get that. Most mediums either play like faster, poorly armored heavies or worse, like too high tier, slow scouts. A medium can do either of those jobs in a pinch, but your best role is completely different. Mediums have excellent firepower -- typically not quite enough to reliably penetrate the biggest heavies from the front, but more than enough to rip them apart from the side with excellent dps/accuracy/aiming. This is perfect for flank attacks. This much is obvious, but how can you get effective flank attacks? The question is timing and position. DO NOT RUSH in front. You are not a scout. Likewise, DO NOT camp/snipe. Instead, move either just behind the main force or off to one side on a flanking path. Wait patiently, until the main forces engage. When the heavies start to clash, they will rough each other up. They will focus hard, playing peekaboo...and suddenly paths open all over the map. You can dart behind them, often unleashing massive damage before they realize you are there (and even if they turn, you and the heavies take turns playing hammer and anvil on them). You may rush completely uncontested to arty. You may move up to a position to proximity spot and pop them now and then. Opportunity abounds. Flank attack, hit weak areas, fill tactical gaps. That is the way of the Medium. 4. Light tanks...the hated redheaded stepchild...who can dominate games Light tanks in high tier games are scouts, not damage dealers. Realize that and plan on it. Digging rounds into a heavy only means you will die, as you give your position away. Instead, learn to passive scout. For gear, you need binocs, coated optics (yes, both on the same tank), and then either camo net, vent, or upgraded suspension (better movement on bad terrain). Next priority is a camo crew. Once you have these things, the next step is to find a good place to sit and light up key areas unseen. For example, on the artic map in ~G4 there is a ridge with a bush. This is a fairly poor place to snipe from, as its exposed to arty...but since you won't fire your gun, you will never be seen...and can light up ALL of the paths to your base, locking your enemy into place! Sit there and let your teammates rip them apart, and once teams get worn out make an arty rush or simply escort the heavies in and take a shot for them. It helps more than you know! Don't suiscout, passive scout! 5. Smashing Face and Winning Brawls Many fights come down to a straightforward brawl. You and a few tanks vs. a few bad guy tanks, all popping out behind cover and trading shots. Tank on tank, best man wins. This is one of the cores of WOT fighting, and you NEED to be able to swing these fights in your favor even when you cannot get a tactical advantage. Here's some ideas how: A. Know Weak points. People make this way more complex than it needs to be. Here are the weak points that matter: - All tanks: shoot the butt and sides - T-29 and clones: shoot the body, then the ears - KV-5: shoot the r2d2 turret - T-44/54/59: Hit the side of the turret to ammo rack them. - German heavies: shoot the bottom plate, also hit irregularities in the turret - Last resort: fire on anything other than a flat piece of metal (hatch, viewport, etc) - In general: Be very good at hitting the target's tracks without firing underneath them. B. Know when/how to facehug. Facehugging is when you drive your tank right into the enemy and sit right in front of them. Typically, this is done because they can't lower their gun enough to hit you at all (such as a mouse vs a T-54) or to force them to shoot your heavily armored turret instead of your body. Use this to your advantage, and when the situation allows get up in their face and use your advantage. C. Know when to use HE. If you have less than a 1/3 chance of penetrating, use HE. Is you are fighting someone who is in a very good hull down position or good defensive position, use HE. This will drive them out of the good position very often, allowing you to use better ammo. Also, use HE to finish very low targets without fear of a bounce. D. Patience. You don't have to pop around a corner to shoot every time you reload. If you are outnumbered 5 to 3, just wait. If they expose themselves, shoot them. If not, just wait them out and let your team win on another front. Likewise, after a second or two of watching your spot, many will turn their guns elsewhere...allowing you to pop out without a gun on you. E. If you are popping around to hit them, be very, very fast. Don't be afraid to use autoaim or preaim in snipe mode, then pop out, hit them very fast and pop back. You need to be so fast at this that even when they know where you are they often miss and/or the viewing system doesn't update fast enough for them to see you. Not my post just copied it from somewhere else. Edited January 21, 2012 by custard~SPARTA~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skaz~SPARTA~ Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 no arty tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custard~SPARTA~ Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I know I am somewhat annoyed with WOT because I chose to upgrade 2 tanks at the same time that suk balls it's a good game and this post is very good info. Arty tip, patience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunthar~SPARTA~ Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 no arty tips? Yes, hit esc and exit battle because you are a tool and should go play Hello Kitty online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MH6~SPARTA~ Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yes, hit esc and exit battle because you are a tool and should go play Hello Kitty online. Haha I knew that was coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunthar~SPARTA~ Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 THIS GUIDE ASSUMES YOU ARE FACING THE TANK FROM THE FRONT. Left side assumes your left, and the opposing tank's right side, and vice versa. Tanks lower than tier 10 will have turret weaknesses for upgraded and stock turrets. Tier X Heavy Tanks Maus Hull: Lower glacis, there is a small rectangular block that can be hit and penetrated easily by tier 10 guns as long as the Maus driver does not angle his hull. Ammo rack is located under the turret. Turret: Shoot the round side beside the mantlet. Armour here is 220mm rounded. As long as the Maus driver does not turn his turret away and you have a good non angled shot, it will go through with tier 10 guns. It is possible to try to shoot the lower rounded part of the turret to attempt to ricochet it into the upper engine deck. However this is unreliable. Ammo rack is located in the rear half the turret. E-100 Hull: Lower glacis, guns with ~200mm penetration can hit through if it is unangled. Do not shoot the lower glacis if you are within 50m of the E-100, as it will be too angled (60 degrees) for you to penetrate. Instead, use the turret weakness. Ammo rack is in the rear portion of the turret, similar to Maus. Turret: The range finder bar on top of the turret. There is an extremely flat part of the frontal turret where the turret mates with the chassis. Armour there is unknown, presumably 240mm, but has no vertical angle. IS-7 Hull: Driver's viewport on the flatter part of the upper glacis. Lower glacis plate at far range, do not shoot it at close range, you will be shooting down at it and it will be highly angled. Avoid shooting the seam of the V, where it is extremely hard to penetrate. Behind the two headlights lie the ammo rack as well. It is also possible to hit the ammo rack if you hit the lower glacis. Turret: High penetration guns like the 152mm BL-10, 155mm T7, and Pak 44/2 L61 can penetrate the frontal turret at short range quite easily. Just try not to hit the mantlet. Commander's cupola on the left side of the turret is another viable option at close range. T30 Hull: lol. Ammo rack is under the turret. Turret: The left and right area beside the mantlet can be penetrated by extremely high powered guns like 130mm S-70 unangled, if the T30 turns away even a bit, any tier 10 gun will penetrate. 152mm BL-10 CAN penetrate the mantlet, but it's not recommended. Commander's cupola is another choice if being facehugged. The small triangular area above the mantlet is also a good spot if being facehugged. Ammo rack is located in the back of the turret. Tier IX Heavy Tanks VK 4502 Ausf. B Hull: Lower glacis plate, it is still 170mm like upper glacis, but it is less angled. Tier 9 guns like 10,5cm Kwk 46 L68 can penetrate 50% of the time unangled. If angled, it is hard to hit through it, even with tier 10 guns like 120mm/12,8cm Kwk 44 L55. Ammo rack is located in the rear of the hull, where the spare track links are located. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola, try not to hit the rangefinder in front of it. High powered guns like 155mm T7 and 152mm BL-10 can penetrate turret frontally if fired head on without angle. Ammo rack is on the rear half the turret. Stock Turret: Same armour as the Maus turret, hit the rounded front turret armour beside the mantlet. Cupola is still weak. Ammo rack is in the rear half of the turret. E-75 Hull: Lower glacis (120mm). Avoid shooting the upper glacis if possible, as that can bounce 12,8cm Kwk 44 shots unangled, angled it can bounce 152mm BL-10s. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola, the two rangefinders on the side of the turret. Ammo rack is in the rear half of the turret. Stock Turret: Commander's cupola. Guns with greater than 200mm penetration can hit through frontal turret, as long as you do not hit the mantlet. Ammo rack is in the rear half of the turret. IS-4 Hull: Lower glacis plate at medium/long range, where the spare track links are located. Ammo rack is located behind the headlights (hmm...), and also to the right of the lower glacis, where there is two (!) rounds stored. Shooting it at close range results in bounce/non penetration due to angle. Driver's plate is located in the middle of the frontal glacis plate. It's ~120mm thick and can be penetrated even by a Tiger I's 8,8cm L71. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola on the right side. BL-10, T7, and Pak44/2 can penetrate frontal turret if you shoot the rounded area beside the mantlet. Ammo rack is located in the rear right of the turret. (If turret rear is facing you.) Stock Turret: Frontal turret armour is a joke. Ballshaped range finder can be penetrated with ease. Tiger I can penetrate frontal turret if you aim beside the mantlet and hit the rounded area. T34 Hull: See T30. Upgraded Turret: See T30, but rear turret armour is now not a good place to hit due to additional armour plating. Rear turret still houses the ammo rack. Stock Turret: See T30. Medium Tanks E-50 Hull: Lower glacis. Ammo rack is underneath the turret. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola, rangefinders. Stock Turret: Anywhere but mantlet. T-54 Hull: Hull can be penetrated anywhere by any guns above 200mm penetration, as long as the driver does not angle his T-54. If so, you can shoot the flimsy side armour. Ammo rack is located behind the headlights (Gee wizz.) to the left of the tank. Upgraded Turret: Commander and loader's cupolas are easy penetration at close range. You can actually penetrate the frontal turret with 225mm penetration guns with 50% probability if you aim directly at the gun. Ammo rack is located in the back of the turret as well. Stock Turret: Same as above. Patton Hull: lol. Ammo rack is underneath the turret. Upgraded Turret: Try to hit the hull, otherwise, hit the cupola or the area beside the mantlet. Stock Turret: Anywhere but the mantlet (square part) Tank Destroyers Jagdtiger Hull: Same weaknesses as Tiger II, but lower glacis is only 100mm instead of 120mm. MG ball mount can be penetrated by 8,8cm L56. Ammo rack is located on the side of the superstructure, where the Balkenkruz is. Superstructure: None. BL-10, T7, Pak44/2 can penetrate upper superstructure if it's medium/close range and the Jagdtiger is not angled. But usually you can shoot the lower/upper glacis plate. Mantlet is impenetrable, do not hit it. Object 704 Hull: Lower glacis, area above the Red Star. Armour is only 120mm @ 60 degrees. ~187mm with shell normalization. Do not hit the mantlet, It's more than 300mm there. There is are two highly angled plates that count as side armour. From the front, it is too angled for most guns to penetrate. You CAN penetrate if the 704 happens to not face you. T95 Hull: Lower glacis is very situational, it's extremely hard to hit barring point blank ranges, not to mention it's still ~200mm, then you'd be right in front of his gun. The two cupolas are easy weakspots to hit. The two triangle areas on either side of the main hull in the front can also be hit. Tier VIII Heavy Tanks Tiger II Hull: Lower glacis is rated at 120mm. There are ancedoctal evidence of the MG mount being weaker, I haven't noticed it due to it being easier to hit the lower glacis. Ammo rack is under the turret. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola. Gun. (That's right) Shooting the gun directly will do damage to the tank as well as damaging the gun. Probably a bug. Ammo rack is located in the rear half of the turret. Stock Turret: lol. This turret is a joke. Anywhere but the mantlet you will penetrate. Ammo rack is same as above. VK4502 Ausf. A Hull: Lower glacis. Upgraded Turret: Same as Tiger II. Gun damage bug is not verified. Stock Turret: Same as Tiger II. IS-3 Hull: Same as IS-7, lower glacis is weaker than the rest. Avoid shooting the pike head on. If facehugging, the driver's viewing prism/port is a weakness. Ammo rack is under the turret. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola. Guns with more than 225mm penetration can penetration ~50% of the time. Not recommended due to high chance of bounce. Ammo rack located in rear of turret. Stock Turret: Mantlet, commander's cupola. T32 Hull: This thing is rather good despite what people say. Lower side glacis is very hard to hit. The MG port and driver/radioman's hatches are weakspots. Ammo rack is under the turret. Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola at very close range (very high chance of ricochet), HE shells, gold rounds or high powered guns (245mm+) can penetrate the gun hole. Stock Turret: lol Medium Tanks Panther II Hull: Lower glacis, MG port (Leopard at full speed managed to knock my radioman out). Ammo rack is above the...take a guess. Upgraded Turret: Anywhere except mantlet. Stock Turret: lol T-44 Hull: Same weaknesses at T-54. Ammo rack located in the exact same spot everywhere. Upgraded Turret: Mantlet is rather weak. Stock Turret: Mantlet. Pershing Hull: Lower glacis, MG port. The raised square portion right in the middle of two crew hatches. Ammo rack underneath the turret. Turrets: Anywhere but mantlet. Tank Destroyers Ferdinand Hull: Lower glacis, area where the...headlights are. Superstructure: None, but any gun with 225mm penetration or above will penetrate if the Ferdinand is not angled and if the shot does not hit the mantlet. Ammo rack is located in the side armour section behind the Balkenkruz. ISU-152 Hull: This tank destroyer is not burdened by silly things like armour. T28 Hull: Same as T95, hit the cupolas or flank. Lower glacis is much weaker than the upper superstructure. Premium Tanks Lowe Hull: Lower side glacis. Turret: Commander's cupola, anywhere that's not the mantlet. The area below the mantlet is especially good, as you may jam his turret traverse. KV-5 Hull: Radioman's MG turret, aka R2D2, lower side glacis. Turret: Commander's cupola. M6A2E1 Hull: This tank has almost no weakspots frontally, the only area that is weak is the area where the driver's viewport is. The only reason it is weak is because it ain't sloped. Guns with 200mm+ penetration can hit through here, but less likely if the driver angles his armour. Turret: Area above the mantlet. All in all, it's easier to fire HE or flank it. Even guns like the 12,8cm Pak 44 sometimes has difficulties penetrating this tank frontally. Turret ring is vulnerable to close range hits. Type 59 Hull: Same as T-44. Ammo rack location is the same spot. Turret: Exactly the same as T-54's upgraded turret, except the side turret is much weaker. Tier VII Heavy Tanks Tiger I Hull/Turrets: Armour? In MY Tiger I? It's more likely than you think. You should penetrate every shot with guns with 120mm+ penetration unless the Tiger angles his armour. Anyhow, MG mount, driver's viewport and commander's cupola. Ammo rack is located in the side sponsons above the tracks underneath the turret. Tiger P Hull: Try to shoot the turret instead. But if you absolutely have to shoot it for some reason, it has exactly the same frontal weakness as a Ferdinand, with the addition of a driver's viewport. Turrets: Should be able to penetrate easily, zero angle 100/120mm isn't much. However there are some areas where mantlet stacks with frontal turret armour. Commander's cupola. IS Hull: Lower glacis, where the track links are. Avoid shooting the sloped section on the front, even though it's only 60mm, it is angled at 70 (!) degrees from vertical, making it 174mm effective, or 120mm with normalization. Even then it is more likely to ricochet your shot. Turrets: Mantlet, commander's cupola. T29 Hull: At this tier, it's rather good. Shoot lower side glacis or the MG mount. Crew hatches are another good spot. Ammo rack underneath the turret. Upgraded Turret: Same as T30, but the two "ear" rangefinders can be penetrated with ease. Rear half houses the ammo rack. Stock Turret: Same as T30 Medium Tanks VK 3002 DB Hull: Lower glacis Upgraded Turret: Everywhere but mantlet. Stock Turret: Anywhere. T-43 Hull: The big square hatch for the driver. Lower glacis Upgraded Turret: Anywhere. Stock Turret: Anywhere. T20 Hull/Turrets: This medium tank is also not encumbered by ridiculous things like steel plating. Tank Destroyers Jagdpanther Hull: Lower glacis, MG mount. Try not to hit the mantlet. SU-152 Hull: See ISU-152 T25 AT Hull: Anywhere but the mantlet. Requests VK 3601 Hull: MG mount, driver's viewport Upgraded Turret: Commander's cupola Stock Turret: Commander's cupola KV-3 Hull: MG mount, driver's viewport, lower glacis. For driver's viewport, you might get a zero damage critical because of the vodka fueled driver. After the first critical, you should start doing hull damage. Upgraded Turret: Mantlet if he is facing you. I'd avoid shooting it. Commander's cupola. Stock Turret: Mantlet. Commander's MG turret. KV Hull: MG mount, driver's viewport, lower glacis. This tank is quite well armoured all round, but similar tiered guns can penetrate well barring bad angles. Upgraded Turret: Shoot the flat parts that are not part of the mantlet. The turret is quite high off the hull, you can hit the traverse mechanism quite easily as well. Ammo rack is located in the rear, below the huge square crew hatch. Stock Turret: Shoot hull instead, frontal stock turret has few non sloped parts, and rounded mantlet bounces quite a few shots. T1 Heavy Hull: Area where the hull MG mount is, driver's viewport. This area is not exactly weak, but it is not sloped so you can easily penetrate with guns above 120mm penetration. Upgraded Turret: Easier to just shoot hull. Stock Turret: Commander's cupola. 38H735 (f) [aka Hotchkiss] Hull: Driver's hatch, lower glacis (knocks out engine if penetrated) Turret: Commander's hatch. Gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
custard~SPARTA~ Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Gunthar I edited the first post, I added the first para to help with the terminology. Hope that is ok Custard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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