World of Tanks II: Fighting, Bragging, Raging Edition - All aboard the Lemming Train!

[Leon]

Just a little nitpicking: ramming damage(taken and dealt) has more to do with the weight of both vehicles and the speed than anything.

And having armour (and a spall liner) helps reduce that damage and the Hellcat is light compared to most things it faces.

The KV vs Hell cat example has a tank that at most weighs 18t hitting one that weighs at most 47.8t

[Rustic Dude]

I am just not so sure armor is used in the ramming equation. It just happens that heavier tanks tend to have more armor too, so they are good battering rams and ramming one of them means you get spattered on it, regardless if you rammed its front or its back.

[psilontech]

Running around in my PzIV, waiting for my AMX 12t to get out of a battle I was one-shot by a derp KV-2. This lead me to dusting off the brute from the little-used corner or my garage, mounting the derpcannon and taking it for a stroll.

Ended up in a tier-nine match with it, making me glad I was derping around - Finished off a Jagdtiger from 12% health before hiding around a corner to reload. Lo and behold as soon as I reload an E-75 rounds the corner of the street chasing a T32 - I take aim at the side of his turret, smack his ammo rack (I guess that's where it is) and one-shotted him to hell from 91% health!

I promptly apologized, knowing how frustrating the damn derpcannon can be from the other end of the barrel.

[Leon]

Hmm yes i looked it up and Armour hasn't much to do with it but larger mass has a lot to do with it. The rammer will likely suffer as much as the target if they are not as heavy.

This i post after a game where i won the game by pasting to a SU-26 into a bunker with a ram with my SU-85.

[Eldariel]

Running around in my PzIV, waiting for my AMX 12t to get out of a battle I was one-shot by a derp KV-2. This lead me to dusting off the brute from the little-used corner or my garage, mounting the derpcannon and taking it for a stroll.

Ended up in a tier-nine match with it, making me glad I was derping around - Finished off a Jagdtiger from 12% health before hiding around a corner to reload. Lo and behold as soon as I reload an E-75 rounds the corner of the street chasing a T32 - I take aim at the side of his turret, smack his ammo rack (I guess that's where it is) and one-shotted him to hell from 91% health!

I promptly apologized, knowing how frustrating the damn derpcannon can be from the other end of the barrel.

I'm more and more inclined to think it's the Tier 6 Heavy I'm going to keep. With Tier 6 MM wanting to constantly throw me to Tier 10 games, it's the only way to be sure I'll be relevant and damn if it isn't satisfying to blast a T95 through the back armor for 900.

[Priest33]

So after a bit of grinding (was still fun tho) I got into the next teir of tanks, and all I can say is I hope the person that designed the t-28 was shot. This tank is more like a block of units on the side with a kid's toy gun pew pewing at people. Not only is the thing huge, it cant turn to save its life, has so many glaring weak spots that I dont see how anyone that drove this survived, and whilst its "fast" in a straight line it cant traverse hill. With every fiber of my being, I hate this tank.

My mate stated that it gets better with the "big gun" but honnestly I'd rather just grind to the next level of tank and ignore this traversty all together.

[Eldariel]

So after a bit of grinding (was still fun tho) I got into the next teir of tanks, and all I can say is I hope the person that designed the t-28 was shot. This tank is more like a block of units on the side with a kid's toy gun pew pewing at people. Not only is the thing huge, it cant turn to save its life, has so many glaring weak spots that I dont see how anyone that drove this survived, and whilst its "fast" in a straight line it cant traverse hill. With every fiber of my being, I hate this tank.

My mate stated that it gets better with the "big gun" but honnestly I'd rather just grind to the next level of tank and ignore this traversty all together.

The best gun you get for it is amazing. Put into perspective, it's better than the best gun for T-34 on many statistics (and you can get T-34's best gun on T-28 too; the 85mm does way more DPM and has higher penetration tho, but the ZiS-4 is obscenely accurate)! It starts off terrible but fully upgraded T-28 is, while a paper-armored moving weak spot, also a fast, powerful damage platform with just plain obscene damage and decent accuracy.

It'll require you to practice up on the art of playing a medium tank; it's not a frontliner by any stretch of imagination. But when deployed as a Med in a flank using its mobility, or as a midrange gunner using its penetration, it's devastating.

[Priest33]

I'll be honest, im more then happy to get the big gun for this, 85mm I think? but really the tank itself is so large that unless you are on a map with decent cover against equal or one teir higher tanks, I just cant see how it can work. So far in my.. 10ish games with it I have been last on the list for most and up against t5-7 tanks that have the mobility to equal this tank or are low profile enough that they can hit me whilst I cant hit them. I guess it will just take practice to get the hang of in the end, but I really am not enjoying this tank at all.

The t-34 atleast has a low profile and somewhat sloped armor, even if its best gun doesnt match the damage output of the t-28. I mean the t-28 is even bigger then the k1-IS and that tank walks all over the t-28. I guess MM might dislike the fact that I currently have an overall win rating of 66% and is trying to match me with harder people?

[Eldariel]

I'll be honest, im more then happy to get the big gun for this, 85mm I think? but really the tank itself is so large that unless you are on a map with decent cover against equal or one teir higher tanks, I just cant see how it can work. So far in my.. 10ish games with it I have been last on the list for most and up against t5-7 tanks that have the mobility to equal this tank or are low profile enough that they can hit me whilst I cant hit them. I guess it will just take practice to get the hang of in the end, but I really am not enjoying this tank at all.

The t-34 atleast has a low profile and somewhat sloped armor, even if its best gun doesnt match the damage output of the t-28. I mean the t-28 is even bigger then the k1-IS and that tank walks all over the t-28. I guess MM might dislike the fact that I currently have an overall win rating of 66% and is trying to match me with harder people?

MM doesn't account for your win rate (unfortunately). You have no idea how vexing it is to play with those players who have managed 10k games with 45% win rate for very obvious reasons. This game could really use a forced tutorial about the basics...

But yeah, T-28 is inconveniently shaped but well armed. I'm not saying it's better than T-34 but if you engage with it at a recent range or against already engaged targets from the flanks, you can use its gun to wreak havoc. It's not PzIV or T-34 to be sure, but it's IMHO the best Tier 4 medium tank in the game (immensely better than M3 Lee and significantly better than PzIII, which has some armor but no firepower; and yeah, better than B1 & AMX 40 too - worse than just about all the TDs of its tier IMHO tho).

[Reaver225]

The best gun you get for it is amazing. Put into perspective, it's better than the best gun for T-34 on many statistics (and you can get T-34's best gun on T-28 too; the 85mm does way more DPM and has higher penetration tho, but the ZiS-4 is obscenely accurate)! It starts off terrible but fully upgraded T-28 is, while a paper-armored moving weak spot, also a fast, powerful damage platform with just plain obscene damage and decent accuracy.

It'll require you to practice up on the art of playing a medium tank; it's not a frontliner by any stretch of imagination. But when deployed as a Med in a flank using its mobility, or as a midrange gunner using its penetration, it's devastating.

Seconding this so very hard. If I were able I'd bring up my screenshots of wiping out entire swathes of enemies who underestimate me in my T-28. It is not quite as zippy to start with, no. Train your crew to 75% and upgrade tracks and engine, watch yourself zip to 45+ mph in no time. While you will always have arty-thin paper armour when you get that ZiS-4 cannon you will be able to destroy even KV-3s from the side, and most tanks your tier in 23-4 shots from any angle whatsoever - you'll pen everything in a relatively zippy tank. You'll see.

My T-28 is a joy to brawl in, dancing about isolated heavies to slowly rip them apart shell by shell while I dodge around them. Occasionally you get one or two-shotted, but you get that with all tanks. At least you'll learn plenty about cover being the best armour.

[otakuryoga]

i actually make t-28's a pretty high priority
--just because they are so easy to take out for the amount of pain they can potentially cause

[Renegade Paladin]

Well, I have the American medium tree capped out. Just researched the last module on the Patton.

[Priest33]

Do you guys advise to keep going down the tech tree and unlocking tanks or should I focus on the tanks I have an maxing them out?

Not having an issue with money or xp for doing this, just wondering if it was a good idea or not.

[Samuel Sturm]

I think I finally figured out how to play the T-50. Run around with HE and shoot whatever you're closest to. Never stop moving.

Spoiler

Show

I consider that a good game, how about you?

Incidentally, I'm on the NA server as Samuel_Sturm, if anyone wants to play. If you look me up, keep in mind I've been grinding the french tanks. /wince

[psilontech]

I've been having fun with my T-50 and grinding through the french tanks as well. I might look you up.

Going to have to try that HE thing. You using the tier five *dat dat dat!* *Rat Tat!* gun there?

[Samuel Sturm]

I've been having fun with my T-50 and grinding through the french tanks as well. I might look you up.

Going to have to try that HE thing. You using the tier five *dat dat dat!* *Rat Tat!* gun there?

No, I'm using the 57mm ZiS-8. Fits my playstyle better. O, and the one kill on the opposing T-50 there? Tracked him and then rammed him from behind. Cracked half my team up, and some of theirs. It happened on top of the hill in the open area, so there were shells flying _everywhere_. So much fun / scary as heck.

[Erloas]

Tonight has been... bad. I think I've went about 4 wins to about 8 losses tonight, almost always a low tier tank for the match and just keep getting killed really quickly. Its been most annoying.

I'm also erloas on the US server.

[Brother Oni]

MM doesn't account for your win rate (unfortunately). You have no idea how vexing it is to play with those players who have managed 10k games with 45% win rate for very obvious reasons. This game could really use a forced tutorial about the basics...

Do you mind pointing me in the direction of a good role guide then?

I'm starting to get the idea of light and medium tanks (take out softer targets, don't get involved in toe to toe slugging matches with heavier tanks) and SPGs (once I found the L-Shift = bombard mode), but I cannot get my head around Tank destroyers.

I'm figuring stay well back and snipe, but since I can't find a listed range for cannons except on SPGs, I can't figure out what ranges I can engage at.

[groz_nez]

Do you guys advise to keep going down the tech tree and unlocking tanks or should I focus on the tanks I have an maxing them out?

Not having an issue with money or xp for doing this, just wondering if it was a good idea or not.

Personally I would say it depends about your personal preferences. I'm still playing MS-1 (almost have 100% crew in it). Lower tier tanks almost always make profit from matches and if you like them I'd say keep playing them. I would also suggest, that you try get higher tier tanks as there are many fun tanks to play in higher tiers. Also the roles of different types of tanks become much clearer in higher tier matches. Especially higher tier arty can be extremely fun, when you blast 1,1k hp with one shot from tier 10 T110E5.

Do you mind pointing me in the direction of a good role guide then?

I'm starting to get the idea of light and medium tanks (take out softer targets, don't get involved in toe to toe slugging matches with heavier tanks) and SPGs (once I found the L-Shift = bombard mode), but I cannot get my head around Tank destroyers.

I'm figuring stay well back and snipe, but since I can't find a listed range for cannons except on SPGs, I can't figure out what ranges I can engage at.

First of all here is some common basic strategy tips:
http://wiki.worldoftanks.eu/Tactics

Secondly even though I haven't played very high tier TDs, I can say that hiding behind bushes or cover is usually the best way to play TDs. That in mind you shouldn't be afraid to change locations if situation calls for it, like your other flank is being overrun. Also learning weak spots on heavier tanks can be life saver because some cases you might not be able to penetrate their frontal armor from straight ahead.

Lastly I don't think SPG cannon ranges can be found anywhere in in-game stats. I would suggest checking wiki (http://wiki.worldoftanks.eu/Main_Page) if they mention anything about range in the page for specific artillery. Also I suggest checking the so called fragmentation scatter value (can be found on the tool tip when hovering cursor over the artillery in garage). It can be also found in tank calculator (check ammunition stats in there). This value tells how big is your artillery shell blast radius. Basically that is the area in which your shell can do damage. It can help determine whether artillery which has more inaccurate gun is actually lousier or not.

Hope this helps.

Edit: Just found this piece of advice http://worldoftanks.eu/game/guide/en.../tanks-tactics which is basically what you asked for.

[Brother Oni]

Lastly I don't think SPG cannon ranges can be found anywhere in in-game stats. I would suggest checking wiki (http://wiki.worldoftanks.eu/Main_Page) if they mention anything about range in the page for specific artillery. Also I suggest checking the so called fragmentation scatter value (can be found on the tool tip when hovering cursor over the artillery in garage). It can be also found in tank calculator (check ammunition stats in there). This value tells how big is your artillery shell blast radius. Basically that is the area in which your shell can do damage. It can help determine whether artillery which has more inaccurate gun is actually lousier or not.

Sorry, I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding. SPG ranges are easy to find - see how far you can hit while in bombard mode (about 600m for the bison and sturmpanzer II).
I just don't know the ranges for all the other tanks - the only stat I can find is an 'accuracy at 100m' value.

The main reason I'm asking is that I've recently picked up the M2 American medium tank and fitted it with the 75mm Howitzer, which only has 2 listed penetration/damage ranges. Does that mean it can't reach long range, or are two of the ranges merged together or some other combination?

Thanks for the other guides, I'll browse through them.

Edit: Never mind, the #/#/# values are for penetration and damage at 100m for the different ammo types, not ranges. Still can't find a reference to effective weapon ranges though.

[Eldariel]

Sorry, I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding. SPG ranges are easy to find - see how far you can hit while in bombard mode (about 600m for the bison and sturmpanzer II).
I just don't know the ranges for all the other tanks - the only stat I can find is an 'accuracy at 100m' value.

The main reason I'm asking is that I've recently picked up the M2 American medium tank and fitted it with the 75mm Howitzer, which only has 2 listed penetration/damage ranges. Does that mean it can't reach long range, or are two of the ranges merged together or some other combination?

Thanks for the other guides, I'll browse through them.

Edit: Never mind, the #/#/# values are for penetration and damage at 100m for the different ammo types, not ranges. Still can't find a reference to effective weapon ranges though.

There's no such thing for anything but SPGs. Even for SPGs, the statistics are not listed anywhere in-game; you actually have to go see 'em for yourself. I think Tier 2s, Sturmpanzer & SU-26 and the worse guns for Wespe & M36 and Tier 4s have the 600m range and the rest have 1200m (not quite sufficient for corner-to-corner fire on some maps).

Your view range is your attack range (well, you can shoot beyond your view range but basically, as long as there's no physical obstacle between you and the target you can shoot). Though some weapons become unbearably inaccurate soon enough and just about any cannon has trouble hitting consistently at extreme ranges. So...yeah, if you see someone, don't be afraid to try and shoot 'em especially if your shells aren't terribly expensive (they aren't early on). The better the crew and the more accurate the gun, the better your chances of course.

Mind, your penetration decreases by range though so if you don't have solid penetration, it can be hard to penetrate heavier armor at long ranges. This is why ideal sniper tanks have good penetration and accuracy for their tier, such as Panzer IV's top gun.

[Grif]

I can list the ranges for the Russian SPG tree at least.

SU-18: 600m
SU-26: 600m
SU-5: 600m
SU-8: 900m
SU-14: 1200m

[Leon]

The main reason I'm asking is that I've recently picked up the M2 American medium tank and fitted it with the 75mm Howitzer, which only has 2 listed penetration/damage ranges. Does that mean it can't reach long range, or are two of the ranges merged together or some other combination?
.

HE Shells and HEAT Shells (Standard and Premium Ammo respectively)

As to ranges the longest shot i have hit with my 152mm is 525m - took 25% off a KV-5

[Reaver225]

In general, for turretless TDs hide in a bush, shoot anyone far away. However, what you really want to do is get in a position where you can hit tank sides while your own front is protected.

And make sure arty can't hit you. TDs are great for arty to whack from the sides.

With regards to range/penetration, the power does drop off for AP shells at range, but not for HE (as it doesn't matter how far you shoot a bomb at someone, it'll still blow up the same).

But what is FAR more important is hitting the enemy head-on. The more at an angle you hit the enemy, the more armour you have to penetrate to get inside. Hitting the front at 90 degrees is better than hitting the side at 2 degrees - the shot will just bounce off, or it'll have to go through more armour.

If you're perpendicular to a tank and you've got got an evacuation plan, take a shot. You might just penetrate that armour.

[Jonzac]

Just got the long 105mm for my Tiger II...and I'm giddy. Like a school girl with Justin Beber tickets. I'm hitting and penetrating IS-4s and other Tier Xs

Picked up premium account for the week so I'll be on a bunch. I'm going to get taht T-34/85 before the week is over.

[Leon]

The Odds of that... 2 Battles tonight where there were 3 Azures. The first the other two were on the other side and then we were all on the same side a couple of games later (Kaze and Ice were platooned but i still didn't expect to see them again so it was good)

[Grif]

Just got my Ace Tanker for my M18. Life's good.

[Jonzac]

Just got the long 105mm for my Tiger II...and I'm giddy. Like a school girl with Justin Beber tickets. I'm hitting and penetrating IS-4s and other Tier Xs

Picked up premium account for the week so I'll be on a bunch. I'm going to get taht T-34/85 before the week is over.

[Grif]

The best gun you get for it is amazing. Put into perspective, it's better than the best gun for T-34 on many statistics (and you can get T-34's best gun on T-28 too; the 85mm does way more DPM and has higher penetration tho, but the ZiS-4 is obscenely accurate)! It starts off terrible but fully upgraded T-28 is, while a paper-armored moving weak spot, also a fast, powerful damage platform with just plain obscene damage and decent accuracy.

It'll require you to practice up on the art of playing a medium tank; it's not a frontliner by any stretch of imagination. But when deployed as a Med in a flank using its mobility, or as a midrange gunner using its penetration, it's devastating.

Just saw this. I third any suggestion that you use the ZiS-4 on the T-28 or T-34, when you get it later on. This thing is an absolute beast and I have destroyed more than my fair share of unwary heavies who thought their armour would protect them. (Especially those annoying KV-2s that mounts the 152mm. Jesus, you can't even make a mistake against those things.)

Also, got a Top Gun with my T-50 for some reason. Apparently it can duke it out with same tier mediums and lights as well. Can't pen a KV, but well, I don't plan on going up against heavies anyway.

[Priest33]

So after slogging my way to the 85mm cannon for the t-28, fighting losing battles in constant games vs 5+ tier 7 vehicles (one game I had was vs 8 tier 7 vehicles, and 4 tier 6), the first game that I get to try this is against all teir 4/3/2 vehicles. I sat back and raked in 7 kills. Then quickly apologised to the enemy team and I know how they felt.

Will have to see how this gun does in the tier 7 games.