iB055
February 12 2015 10:41 AM
Member
18594
battles
This guide is an original creation by me. All the info in this has been gathered by me through trawling the forums and various wot wikis, along with YouTube videos. It has been made to give my clan members ideas on how to play in clan wars. But the general public can use it too.
This guide is divided into 6 parts:
heavy tanks
medium tanks
tank destroyers
battle tatics
at the beginning
ammo guide
short hand commands
Heavy tanks
These make up the backbone of the team. The job of a heavy is to soak up hits by angling and deflecting the shots while dealing damage in return. You should not attempt to scout or snipe (British heavies are the exception for sniping, as is the is8 for scouting). Flanking in a heavy is vastly frowned upon (again, the is8 is an exception) due to the lack of speed heavies face that prevents them from reaching a fight in time to do any damage. However, speedy tanks like the is8 or the is3 can pull this off. But doing so while you are top tier is not recommended. The heavy should wait till tanks are spotted, and move to engage important targets, leaving the mediums free to scout. This lets the tank destroyers then help you out by firing on visible tanks. Remember, your job is to soak up hits, not to get all the kills nor do the majority of the damage. Don't be in a hurry to get a kill, this may very well end up with you being killed. Angling and sidescraping are some of the most important techniques to master in a heavy tank. I recommend using a strong tank like the kv-1s to practise on. It's a very forgiving tank and has the armor to use both techniques effectively. I will not go into detail on how to do either of these manoeuvres as videos of them can be found easily.
Medium Tanks
Mediums are important as they relay information on the position of the enemy tanks. They shouldn't attempt to brawl or take part in direct fighting 1v1. Their armor is thin and their guns don't have high pen. At the start of a game, mediums should go up to vantage points and try to spot incoming tanks. Firing then will give away your position so it's not recommended. Upon spotting retreat to safety and let the big boys take over. You are then free to form a wolf pack with any other mediums and take the flank. Key techniques to learn in a medium are the circle of death, the run and gun and peek a boo. The Cromwell is recommended to practise these in as it's a very fast tank that behaves exactly as a medium should. For clarification on any of these techniques, post a request below and ill get to you.
flanking in a medium should be done in a pack or when the enemy is distracted. try to not flank a lone tank that isn't shooting at anything. They will shoot you instead. The whole point of flanking is to deal damage to group of tanks from two directions. This will cause some panic and confusion amongst the tanks which can render them unable to work as a group. It's best to start flanking after you have done some initial spots to get a rough idea of how the enemy is distributed. This will save you from running into the brunt of the enemy team. It's also good to wait till the heavies have engaged the tanks before flanking as the targets will then be distracted.
Tank Destroyers
The big guns. These often have minimal maneuverability combine with the highest penning and damaging guns in the team. TDs should initially move to get a good sniping spot and lay in wait till targets arrive. Most TDs have great camo values that make them extremely hard to see, with the highest camo rating going to the obj family. This , combined with a fantastic view range enable TDs to see the opposition before they get seen themselves. Under no circumstances should a td attempt to flank or spot, for obvious reasons (no armor or mobility, for the idiots out there). Once a target has been spotted, ask the heavies to pull back so you have a clear line of sight. If even then you can't reliably pen the tank, relocate to a better position. Being careful to not expose more than you have to. Make use of cover as much as you can to really abuse that camo rating. Upon firing, pull back to avoid getting spotted,don't wait till you get hit, TDs don't have the hp to engage a target that shoots back at you. If a medium arrives on the scene, pull back immediately and spam the help button. Then back up to a corner and try to track the medium. Never ever knowingly confront a medium if you don't have to. Not even one on low hp. All it takes is one missed shot for him to circle you and from then on its a world of pain.
Below is a link to td gun comparison.
Battle Tatics
This a list of good practises that can help you win:
- Never engage tanks that you know you can't pen. Like the e75 while in an is6. Instead, try for a sneaky tracking shot to help out your TDs. Or flank around to put some shots in their back.
-Aim for critical weakspots such as the engines on German tanks or the ammoracks for Soviet tanks. Info on these can be found online or on a handy app called tank inspector. Module damage can cripple the thanks so that they can be easily taken out. It's possible to shoot he at a TDs gun, even though no damage will be seen to the tanks hp, you can destroy their gun. Leaving them unable to shoot.
-Hold back shots if you can't find a weakspot. This is the number one mistake I see people doing. If you see a sidescraping e75, I don't care are what tank you are using, you cannot reliably pen him. Wait till he comes out to take a shot before shooting him, and make sure to aim for weakspots.
-Look at the map. That map is there for a reason. Use it. Once you have demolished a flank, don't head directly to the enemy base in search of more tanks when they are so clearly at your base. Pay attention, situational awareness is important. You can't just pot someone the moment you see them and derp around waiting for someone else. You have to hunt them down.
-Don't be afraid to take a hit. If one of your teammates is low on hp, go in front of them and take some hits so that they can retreat. A dead ally is a useles ally. There's no point in you having hp if you don't have the gun or the backup needed to face something tough. This is especially important for heavy tanks, you have all that hp for a reason. To protect your allies.
-Practise focusing fire with your friend. If one of you spots a target, then hit the attacking "x" button so your allies know who to shoot at. The combined damage dealt by all those guns firing at one particular tank is very likely to eliminate them before they get a single shot off. This is also a great way for a td to let their allies know that they have backup. This can encourage them to draw the target out into the open to let the td have easy access.
-Don't ignore enemy tanks low on hp. A live tank is a dangerous tank. If you see a tank on 1hp, don't ignore it just because you don't think it can do much. It can still fire, it can still kill you.
-Use he. He is underrated. This ammo type has low pen but high alpha but many people simply have no idea how to use it. He works by essentially ripping apart chunks of armor. This enables it to do module damage and splash damage. I have 5-10 rounds of he loaded on all my tanks. Sometimes more. If presented with the rear of an e5 or the side of a Russian medium, load he and watch them scream. It's also useful for tracking shots and base recaps as the splash damage will get most tanks, regardless of armour.
He is also effective against heavily armoured tanks such as the e100. If you see a low health e100, simply load he and shoot just about anywhere to take him out.
- If you get hit once as a td, relocate immediately. The shooter will keep his gun trained there and might fire blind shots.
- If you are doing the peek a boo and you see a gun pointing your way, move to a new position. Chances are, the enemy's gun will be pointing at the same place.
- Never ever sit next to a td. The lack of a turret means that TDs have to move their hull around to engage targets. It's very stupid of you to gridlock them in place by parking next to them and prevent them from doing their job.
"This is not a parking simulator"- Dix_Neuf, 2015
-Look around you to be aware of approaching danger. Activate the lookout area from settings and use it to swipe around while reloading to check your flank. If you spot any tanks coming from behind, either alert their presence to your allies or break off the current engagement to take care of it. Never allow yourself to get surrounded. Always break off the weakest flank and protect your rear.
At the beginning
At the start of every battle you are given at least 5 seconds to ready yourself. use this time to formulate a strategy by looking at the team lists and the map you are in. For example, it's pretty obvious by now that you are likely to find tds camping near their bases in malinovka. And is8s will often flank if mediums are absent, and some tier 8 will follow him. Little habits like this can be taken advantage of. Try to think where each member of the enemy team would go. when the players start moving, look around go back up the weakest flank. But only of you are in the right vehicle for the job. It's no use following that lone t44 if you in a e100. I hope I have given you enough food for thought on this topic. I may add to it in the future.
Ammo Guide
Ap- this is the standard ammo for most tanks. Ap is cheap and reliable. It has normalisation so armor can be over matched. This means that if the armour is angled so that the effective thickness is 200mm, something like heat would bounce off, even though it had 300mm of pen. But if the the ap has 200mm of pen, it will go through.
Use ap in most situations. as long as you aim for weakspots, it will get the job done.
He- this is cheaper than ap, has higher damage, but lower pen. it has a unique property know as splash damage. Which is observed when he is shot into a cluster of tanks. All the tanks in the immediate vicinity will be damaged. He works by ripping g armor apart. This means that it can negate tough armour, but will still do no damage to highly armoured parts like the turret of an is7. As a rule, if you can't pen with ap, use he. If you can pen with he, use he. It's also worth noting that since he is very likely to do some damage no matter what, it's very useful for base resets. He can damage modules easily, so use it for tracking.
Apcr- premium rounds for most tanks, but serves as regular ammo for top tier mediums. Apcr has the same damage as ap, but higher pen (but loses pen over distance). It also has normalisation. Which gives it an edge over heat. Use apcr for those moments when it's do or die.
Heat- this has the highest pen of any ammo, but does not have normalisation. so if it hits an angled surface, it's likely to bounce off. Heat is also eaten by tracks so any shots fired there will do no damage the same is true for spaced armor. So don't bother shooting the is7 in the side with this.the best thing about heat is that it doesn't lose pen over distance. So it's great for long distance sniping since ap will not always pen.
Hesh- this is unique to the British tanks. Hesh is the ultimate ammo. It combines the pen of ap with the damage of he. But it's very unreliable and will often bounce. It's very fussy about where it hits. The slightest angle might throw it off.
Short Hand Commands
This is a list of commands that can be used to inform allies without the need for whole sentences. The list will be updated upon receiving material.
Fl- flank left
Fr- flank right
Cm- cover me
Pb- pull back
Gc- get cover
Cr- coming from right
Cl- coming from left
Cb- coming from behind
This concludes my guide. I hope you learned something new. Any feed back or advice is appreciated. If you think i did a good job, please upvote this so it gets pinned.
Thank you for reading and i wish you the best on the battlefield.
iB055
This guide is an original creation by me. All the info in this has been gathered by me through trawling the forums and various wot wikis, along with YouTube videos. It has been made to give my clan members ideas on how to play in clan wars. But the general public can use it too.
This guide is divided into 6 parts:
Heavy tanks
These make up the backbone of the team. The job of a heavy is to soak up hits by angling and deflecting the shots while dealing damage in return. You should not attempt to scout or snipe (British heavies are the exception for sniping, as is the is8 for scouting). Flanking in a heavy is vastly frowned upon (again, the is8 is an exception) due to the lack of speed heavies face that prevents them from reaching a fight in time to do any damage. However, speedy tanks like the is8 or the is3 can pull this off. But doing so while you are top tier is not recommended. The heavy should wait till tanks are spotted, and move to engage important targets, leaving the mediums free to scout. This lets the tank destroyers then help you out by firing on visible tanks. Remember, your job is to soak up hits, not to get all the kills nor do the majority of the damage. Don't be in a hurry to get a kill, this may very well end up with you being killed. Angling and sidescraping are some of the most important techniques to master in a heavy tank. I recommend using a strong tank like the kv-1s to practise on. It's a very forgiving tank and has the armor to use both techniques effectively. I will not go into detail on how to do either of these manoeuvres as videos of them can be found easily.
Medium Tanks
Mediums are important as they relay information on the position of the enemy tanks. They shouldn't attempt to brawl or take part in direct fighting 1v1. Their armor is thin and their guns don't have high pen. At the start of a game, mediums should go up to vantage points and try to spot incoming tanks. Firing then will give away your position so it's not recommended. Upon spotting retreat to safety and let the big boys take over. You are then free to form a wolf pack with any other mediums and take the flank. Key techniques to learn in a medium are the circle of death, the run and gun and peek a boo. The Cromwell is recommended to practise these in as it's a very fast tank that behaves exactly as a medium should. For clarification on any of these techniques, post a request below and ill get to you. flanking in a medium should be done in a pack or when the enemy is distracted. try to not flank a lone tank that isn't shooting at anything. They will shoot you instead. The whole point of flanking is to deal damage to group of tanks from two directions. This will cause some panic and confusion amongst the tanks which can render them unable to work as a group. It's best to start flanking after you have done some initial spots to get a rough idea of how the enemy is distributed. This will save you from running into the brunt of the enemy team. It's also good to wait till the heavies have engaged the tanks before flanking as the targets will then be distracted.
Tank Destroyers
The big guns. These often have minimal maneuverability combine with the highest penning and damaging guns in the team. TDs should initially move to get a good sniping spot and lay in wait till targets arrive. Most TDs have great camo values that make them extremely hard to see, with the highest camo rating going to the obj family. This , combined with a fantastic view range enable TDs to see the opposition before they get seen themselves. Under no circumstances should a td attempt to flank or spot, for obvious reasons (no armor or mobility, for the idiots out there). Once a target has been spotted, ask the heavies to pull back so you have a clear line of sight. If even then you can't reliably pen the tank, relocate to a better position. Being careful to not expose more than you have to. Make use of cover as much as you can to really abuse that camo rating. Upon firing, pull back to avoid getting spotted,don't wait till you get hit, TDs don't have the hp to engage a target that shoots back at you. If a medium arrives on the scene, pull back immediately and spam the help button. Then back up to a corner and try to track the medium. Never ever knowingly confront a medium if you don't have to. Not even one on low hp. All it takes is one missed shot for him to circle you and from then on its a world of pain. Below is a link to td gun comparison.
Battle Tatics
This a list of good practises that can help you win:
- Never engage tanks that you know you can't pen. Like the e75 while in an is6. Instead, try for a sneaky tracking shot to help out your TDs. Or flank around to put some shots in their back.
-Aim for critical weakspots such as the engines on German tanks or the ammoracks for Soviet tanks. Info on these can be found online or on a handy app called tank inspector. Module damage can cripple the thanks so that they can be easily taken out. It's possible to shoot he at a TDs gun, even though no damage will be seen to the tanks hp, you can destroy their gun. Leaving them unable to shoot.
-Hold back shots if you can't find a weakspot. This is the number one mistake I see people doing. If you see a sidescraping e75, I don't care are what tank you are using, you cannot reliably pen him. Wait till he comes out to take a shot before shooting him, and make sure to aim for weakspots.
-Look at the map. That map is there for a reason. Use it. Once you have demolished a flank, don't head directly to the enemy base in search of more tanks when they are so clearly at your base. Pay attention, situational awareness is important. You can't just pot someone the moment you see them and derp around waiting for someone else. You have to hunt them down.
-Don't be afraid to take a hit. If one of your teammates is low on hp, go in front of them and take some hits so that they can retreat. A dead ally is a useles ally. There's no point in you having hp if you don't have the gun or the backup needed to face something tough. This is especially important for heavy tanks, you have all that hp for a reason. To protect your allies.
-Practise focusing fire with your friend. If one of you spots a target, then hit the attacking "x" button so your allies know who to shoot at. The combined damage dealt by all those guns firing at one particular tank is very likely to eliminate them before they get a single shot off. This is also a great way for a td to let their allies know that they have backup. This can encourage them to draw the target out into the open to let the td have easy access.
-Don't ignore enemy tanks low on hp. A live tank is a dangerous tank. If you see a tank on 1hp, don't ignore it just because you don't think it can do much. It can still fire, it can still kill you.
-Use he. He is underrated. This ammo type has low pen but high alpha but many people simply have no idea how to use it. He works by essentially ripping apart chunks of armor. This enables it to do module damage and splash damage. I have 5-10 rounds of he loaded on all my tanks. Sometimes more. If presented with the rear of an e5 or the side of a Russian medium, load he and watch them scream. It's also useful for tracking shots and base recaps as the splash damage will get most tanks, regardless of armour. He is also effective against heavily armoured tanks such as the e100. If you see a low health e100, simply load he and shoot just about anywhere to take him out.
- If you get hit once as a td, relocate immediately. The shooter will keep his gun trained there and might fire blind shots.
- If you are doing the peek a boo and you see a gun pointing your way, move to a new position. Chances are, the enemy's gun will be pointing at the same place.
- Never ever sit next to a td. The lack of a turret means that TDs have to move their hull around to engage targets. It's very stupid of you to gridlock them in place by parking next to them and prevent them from doing their job. "This is not a parking simulator"- Dix_Neuf, 2015
-Look around you to be aware of approaching danger. Activate the lookout area from settings and use it to swipe around while reloading to check your flank. If you spot any tanks coming from behind, either alert their presence to your allies or break off the current engagement to take care of it. Never allow yourself to get surrounded. Always break off the weakest flank and protect your rear.
At the beginning
At the start of every battle you are given at least 5 seconds to ready yourself. use this time to formulate a strategy by looking at the team lists and the map you are in. For example, it's pretty obvious by now that you are likely to find tds camping near their bases in malinovka. And is8s will often flank if mediums are absent, and some tier 8 will follow him. Little habits like this can be taken advantage of. Try to think where each member of the enemy team would go. when the players start moving, look around go back up the weakest flank. But only of you are in the right vehicle for the job. It's no use following that lone t44 if you in a e100. I hope I have given you enough food for thought on this topic. I may add to it in the future.
Ammo Guide
Ap- this is the standard ammo for most tanks. Ap is cheap and reliable. It has normalisation so armor can be over matched. This means that if the armour is angled so that the effective thickness is 200mm, something like heat would bounce off, even though it had 300mm of pen. But if the the ap has 200mm of pen, it will go through. Use ap in most situations. as long as you aim for weakspots, it will get the job done.
He- this is cheaper than ap, has higher damage, but lower pen. it has a unique property know as splash damage. Which is observed when he is shot into a cluster of tanks. All the tanks in the immediate vicinity will be damaged. He works by ripping g armor apart. This means that it can negate tough armour, but will still do no damage to highly armoured parts like the turret of an is7. As a rule, if you can't pen with ap, use he. If you can pen with he, use he. It's also worth noting that since he is very likely to do some damage no matter what, it's very useful for base resets. He can damage modules easily, so use it for tracking.
Apcr- premium rounds for most tanks, but serves as regular ammo for top tier mediums. Apcr has the same damage as ap, but higher pen (but loses pen over distance). It also has normalisation. Which gives it an edge over heat. Use apcr for those moments when it's do or die.
Heat- this has the highest pen of any ammo, but does not have normalisation. so if it hits an angled surface, it's likely to bounce off. Heat is also eaten by tracks so any shots fired there will do no damage the same is true for spaced armor. So don't bother shooting the is7 in the side with this.the best thing about heat is that it doesn't lose pen over distance. So it's great for long distance sniping since ap will not always pen.
Hesh- this is unique to the British tanks. Hesh is the ultimate ammo. It combines the pen of ap with the damage of he. But it's very unreliable and will often bounce. It's very fussy about where it hits. The slightest angle might throw it off.
Short Hand Commands
This is a list of commands that can be used to inform allies without the need for whole sentences. The list will be updated upon receiving material.
Fl- flank left
Fr- flank right
Cm- cover me
Pb- pull back
Gc- get cover
Cr- coming from right
Cl- coming from left
Cb- coming from behind
This concludes my guide. I hope you learned something new. Any feed back or advice is appreciated. If you think i did a good job, please upvote this so it gets pinned. Thank you for reading and i wish you the best on the battlefield.
iB055