Multi The World Of Tanks thread

Having plaid a silly number of battles, I would echo all of DraigUK's comments.

In the public version of WoT I'm mostly driving mediums where my number priority if taking out enemy SPGs as quickly as possible and heavy TDs, whose biggest enemy is SPGs because most mediums and heavies can't hurt me from the front.

Another thing to consider is that SPGs are the most fragile (lowest armour and hit points) of any class, so are also a quick and easy kill. It's far more use to your team (generally) to take out several SPGs than chip away a few percent health from a non-aggresive camping heavy (your SPGs and TDS will take him down from miles away).

 

IS-7 driver here, need to correct you. IS-7 faces you head on, he can penetrate you almost every time, you struggle to penetrate because of the shape of the IS-7, you die

Agree with you about the order though, kill the glass canons first.

 

Thanks for the confirmation folks. I'm rather glad to see I'm not the only one going by the comparative losses rule when playing.

Your target priorities seem very similar to my own, first priority is always the enemy SPG except under very rare circumstances. After that I tend to go for the TDs but give priority to anything that's been softened up already if I think I can one shot it. With around 15 seconds between shots (10 for reload, 5 for aim) and only 18 shells to go around I try to make them count. Wounded or lower tier TDs are generally first, heavies up to tier 8 at 30% or less (20% or less for tiers 9 and 10) then any medium. Other than that I'll generally soften up the opposing heavies. I tend to ignore the lights unless they threaten arty or are capping. Besides, they're a bugger to hit with anything other than direct fire.

2 tanks side by side are an almost irresistible target though, 3 or more bunched up are just asking for it. Even a non penetrating hit deals around 490 damage and with splash around it for about 245 I generally consider it worth a shell that doesn't guarantee a kill.

It isn't about the kill count (although it is nice when it's 5+) but more about getting the most benefit from each shot.

I'm fairly confident with arty now (900+ battles so far, 500+ with arty) but the general tactics and priorities with the other types often mystify me. Every pointer I can get is useful.

 

That's probably the most important thing that players (new and many experienced) either don't know or are too arrogant to realise. I salute you

Its whether your team wins, that is important, not you.

I don't care about my kill count, what I care about it my how many of shots do damage. So many players spread their fire around when your team stands a far greater chance of winning (thus netting YOU more XP and more credits) if you concentrate your fire on 1-2 targets.

 

Indeed - I used to get a lot of flak from players when in my vk45 I wouldn't take the last 10% of a tank anyone could kill (when in a group) because I'd use my ammo on the harder tanks with more health. Everyone's too focussed on kills, it's about neutering the enemy and using your firepower effectively.

 

If a Maus driver goes head on with a IS7 and lets you pen him he deserves to die. IS7 will die before Maus unless Maus is very hurt and IS7 is full health. IS7 is easy to penetrate. Very easy, from many angles.

Angle Maus and it is very difficult for IS7 to pen Maus. I have IS7 also btw.

 

Neither tank should be allowing a 1 on 1 even fight.

 

I've seen it happen fairly often when they push through a relatively undefended area. When I can do something about it (i.e. not blown up, have ammo left and there isn't a higher priority target in view) then I'll generally pop a shell or two in to shift the odds in our direction as there's no way a tier 10 should get through our lines unmolested.

A few comments I'd like to make regarding arty for newer players, based on abuse and flames I've received in the chat channel (not from anyone here, I hasten to add):

• Ranges at lower tiers are not infinite. Some arty move up to close the distance, others stay put and simply wait - it is very much down to the player. Tiers 1 to 3 on all trees generally have this restriction (the Wespe is the exception). I'm only up to tier 3 USSR and USA, tier 5 German so far so can't speak for higher tiers yet.
  
  
• It is a ballistic shell, not an orbital strike. Line of fire/line of sight matters. If your target is tucked behind a mucking great rock/building/hill and you want support please lure them out so we can send them a high explosive hello rather than go behind yourself. We generally don't have the ammo or the rate of fire to use splash damage to flush them out for you. The arc varies dependant on SPG but the rule usually is that if they are close behind something we can't hit them.
  
  
• If you can't see it, we can't hit it. This is usually true but not always. If you don't spot it we can't tell where they are. Going hull down in cover is great for survivability but if they disappear off your map they aren't on ours either. The only time many of us use speculative fire is against enemy arty. If you spot it and we kill it you get half the XP and cash as well as a better chance of survival. Even a near miss usually takes out their tracks so you can then often flank and kill - especially true for tank destroyers.
  
  
• If arty pings a target don't ram it. Many arty players will ping a target to let you know who they're shooting at. This is particularly important in a mass furball. We do not use precision munitions, we do not have an abort button for the shell. This means that anywhere between 1 and 4 seconds from that ping there will be an HE shell landing in that region. Always remember "Incoming fire has right of way" and that should you choose to ram that target you will most likely get hit too. In some instances you will prevent the enemy tank from being hit at all and take the full damage yourself. Personally I've not had many blue on blues (and no team fatalities - yet) but a 15cm HE shell up the jacksie is likely to ruin your day. Please consider this before making that heroic charge.
  
  
• If your arty has just been pillaged by the other team it's usually not their fault. At close range an SPG is a big gun on shopping trolley wheels stuffed inside a baked bean tin. Slow, unwieldy and with no armour to speak of. If an enemy tank gets through we're toast. Should you see a runner, please stop them. If they get too close you will have no fire support while we reposition (if we're not knocked out) as the arty on the other side will be zeroing in on where we were last spotted. We in the mean time will be working on "How not to be seen" and finding another bush to cower behind camouflaged ready spot.
  
  
• Aim and reload times are slow. I have a relatively fast fire rate for a good damage tier 5 SPG - 4 shots per minute on average. 10 - 12 seconds for a reload, 5 seconds to aim. This is with a fully tricked out Hummel and 100% crew. Others will generally be slower and the fire rate goes down as the tier goes up. Most of us will re target while reloading but if we have to turn the hull as well it may take a while. Please allow time for us to get the shots in rather than expecting a continual barrage.
  
  
• Call for support. "Arty please!" and a target or map ping help indicate where we might be needed. I generally support the main push automatically and then pick off their defenders when visible but if you spot a flanker you suspect is getting through unnoticed then call for support. We may already be on it but it never hurts on a just in case basis. If you see "No LOS" come back at you, please see comments above regarding line of sight and cover.

Good arty is a useful resource for your team but it's not a magic finger of death where we point and say "You die!", it has its own share of limitations. Bad arty, unfortunately all too common and we all have off days, can just seem to be a wasted slot on your team but even then it keeps the opposing arty off your backs quite often as most of us will switch to counter battery once an opposing SPG is detected. Expect a mix of the two and you shouldn't be too far off.

Longer term players will already know all of this but when I started playing I certainly didn't and often wondered what the point of SPGs was when they appeared not to do anything. Then I started playing one. As I'm focussing on artillery I reckoned it was worth some explanation of what we can and can't do for you. Hopefully this is of use to those getting started and doesn't come across as patronising in any way, that certainly is not my intention.

 

This.
I get the feeling most people who moan about arty have never actually played and SPG so have no idea about the limitations.
I think most people think because it is a top down view that it is like God mode. It is pretty far from that.
To get a good result from arty your team has to consider them and use them i.e. keep the enemy lit up.

Playing an SPG certainly gives you a better perspective of the game and even improves your survivability when playing a non-arty tank. It also gives an insight into where they might be hiding. I have found there are limited good starting positions on most maps, or at least the same spots seemed to get picked by most SPGers.

Also arty's contribution to the match can often go overlooked as on many occasions we are hitting and pinning down targets without getting the kills, which are often taken by the more frequent firing tanks.

I always go for enemy arty as soon as they light up, TD after them, if there is no more urgent target within range and hittable.

Also don't think that if there are 5 of you left and only 2 arty on the other side that it is a done deal.

 

I also promised one of my nephews an arty primer which I've finally typed up this afternoon. He's watched while I've played and is determined to go down the arty line (once I've finished building the PC for him and he gets to play - spares being put to a good use. E2140 with 2GB Ram and either a 2600 or a 9400, I'm not sure what would be better yet. He does get a 20" Formac display with it as well though). It runs to 4 and a bit pages of A4 though so I can't just stick it in a thread and is aimed at a 14 year old (admittedly one with a rather strange sense of humour - what can I say? It's genetic!) but if anyone wants a copy PM me with an address to send it to and I will.

Advance warning - the title is "Playing With Big Guns - A Beginner's Guide to Artillery". Somewhat silly and definitely not an in depth guide but it is, after all, intended as a starter for a teenager. If I'd stuck with the numbers and explained the full mechanics he'd switch off after the first paragraph. Covered subjects are role, position, aiming, targets, damage and direct fire (aka "Panic!").

I would have attached it to the post but I don't think I can here and have no web storage (this whole "internets" thing is still mostly a mystery to me) but I'll email it on request. It's a 13 kb RTF file with no instances of .run or similar so shouldn't be blocked for script by any mail server.

The detailled guide is a work in progress for when my nephew has played for a while and will be an evolving document as I definitely don't know it all (I never will) and I've yet to go in to specifics regarding maps e.g. where not to place yourself on Ruinberg (learnt the hard way - speculative fire when it's right is a bitch!), good lurking spots on Campinovka, where you're least likely to get dead on Ensk or Himmelsdorf but can still do some good as arty etc.

I'm still learning much of it myself and I'm definitely no authority but I haven't been playing long enough yet to forget what it was like when I bought my first SPG.

 

If only other players knew all these things....

In beta I persued the USA SPG tree. now I'm working on the Russians... SU5 to the SU 8 is such a big grind! especially for a none premium and getting around 4-500XP only when you win! (when you lose its only around 65 if your lucky)

Any advice? I'm on 31 wins for 73 battles with my SU5... relatively poor compared to the rest of my battles.

 

Could any of the more experienced players offer some advice on equipment please? In the Beta I got to the VK4502 but for some reason I never got any equipment for my tanks...

I now have a KV-1S and am going for the KV-13 and IS, got the biggest gun and am now grinding the 100kxp for IS+KV-13. What equipment if any should I get? I am premium and at the moment have about 900k credits in the bank if that helps. Was thinking rammer, spall liner and vents/gun laying drive, but not sure if it's worth it.

EDIT: If it helps I generally play long range sniper (as I'm a glass cannon). So that probably suggests the vents then?

 

Vent/rammer/gun layer is the maximum damage setup
other option would be replace layer with spall liner if you're dieing to art often
ths kv-is is meant to be a mobile tank though so that shouldn't be a major problem

for 10 gold per module you can demount modules so you can transfer them to the is once you've unlocked that for a very small fee
otherwise when you sell the tank you'll get half there value

 

Xye, I expect that you have a shedload more time in game than I do (you played in the beta? I'm not worthy! Grandmother, eggs springs to mind) but I've just started using my SU-5 tonight. I have the 122mm now and am going for the 152mm cannon. The grind looks to be about the same as the US and German trees. 43k XP can be quite the drag with anything. Keep at it, drop shells where they'll hurt most and remember that good artillery frequently decides who wins or loses.

 

As you're heading up the USSR heavy tree and medium trees, its important that you can fire accurately on the move, as the USSR guns are much less accurate than the US/German guns. Therefore I'd recommend the gun layer. The rammer is also a good idea for any tank, with the spall liner a close second as the larger you get, the more likely you are to picked on by the enemy's arty.

 

Thanks for help mucgoo and Lizard, I think I'll go with vent and rammer and then decide later between layer and spall. Is it worth getting at this point though when I have 900k credits? I can't get both but would even 1 be worth it?

 

I've been playing on and off since it went public, kind of a battle or 2 a day with each tank to take advantage of the double XP for first win of the day.

Beta was good fun as we got 200 gold a day then we could convert XP to free XP on elite tanks. So grinding wasn't such a ball ache when you could do it in something you liked.

Mainly my M2 Which I've kept this time as well. Only thing that can overtake it is BT2 but the M2 can out turn it. Brilliant training tank I often get 800XP and 7 kills in it. tier 1 tanks 3-4 shots dead.

 

I decided to take a break from the USSR medium grind and went for USSR artillery. This was due to the fact that I had already researched the engines and radios on the medium branch, that are required on the artillery branch.

The post Grimloon has made above is very impressive. Artillery does get a lot of abuse in game for "not doing its job" but that is mostly by players who have never even tried to play that particular class.

I believe I might have something to add to that post regarding artillery positioning. That it is, it is not wise to position yourself on the brow of a hill in direct line of sight. It is far better to setup just below the brow where you cannot be shot at directly.

Once again artillery is subject to the balance issue. I've has players shout at me in game asking why I haven't killed that Tiger with one shot with my Tier 3 Arty! I was having some problems with Tier 3 USSR arty actually hurting a US T1 heavy. It would appear that is only possible with the best gun (howitzer) on the research tree, assuming your only using standard ammunition.

The only issue I am having at the moment is gaining experience to use for research. Gaining points to research with arty seems to be a nightmare compared to using light/medium/heavy tanks. can anyone offer any tips as to how I can gain more xp other than just knocking out and damaging more tanks?

Also, can anyone offer any tips as to where the best place to drop shells is on particular tanks. As I rule I always aim at the engine to the rear of most tanks, is that the best place for maximum damage?

 

You've got it pretty much spot on in my experience peptide - go for the engine deck.

Haven't found a way to boost xp with arties yet, I'm doing the painful 40k grind from M7 Priest to M41, but it's such a slog! Some battles, even though I get good hits on 6-8 tanks, I get 100xp. Not good.

 

CP: I also aim as best i can for the engine area. The best possible way though is to play loads of different tanks so you can learn where their armour is thinnest.... that way you know where to hit them when you see them instictively.

Unfortunately I haven't played the likes of IS4's and Tigers so just have to shoot and hope.

The particular skill in an SPG is firing at moving targets. Estimating where they will be and how long it will take your shell to drop on to them