I started playing war thunder for about a month now. I am in the USSR tech tree. I didn’t want to research the heavy tank line at first since I had fun with the light tanks and medium tanks. But, around battle ratting 4-6 I saw so many players using heavy tanks like they were invulnerable. So, I thought I’d give them a try.
But, when I started playing heavy tanks, I seem to get killed more easily. When others use heavy tanks, whether its the Tigers, Churchills or in my case, the KV-1 and 2, I almost never seem to be able to destroy them, even medium tanks. I think I’ve never actually managed to destroy a VK-3002, my shots just bounce off it, and its not even a heavy tank.
I hate the slow reload rate and speed since I usually prefer faster gameplay, but I was willing to tolerate them because of the stronger guns and thicker armour. But, I still get killed easily even my medium and light tanks. I had some fun with the KV-2 which does seem quite invulnerable, but it simply didn’t suit my playstyle because its reload speed is way too slow. But, I expected the KV-1 variants to be better because when I see other players use them, they almost always get lots of kills and not get killed easily.
So, what am I doing wrong? Is there a specific way you should play heavy tanks that I’m missing? Are you supposed to carry a specific type of shell? I always carry APHE type shells since they seem to be the best.
It’s not your fault, like you said, the tanks may just not fit your playstyle. Warthunder is also a game that favors light or highly mobile tanks over heavier ones in general, and it can be a large transition to go from fast placed flanking gameplay to anything different. I would have to see your gameplay to give you any advice on what to do, I don’t play the KV-1, but I think it is a good brawler, so if you can try to engage in close range city fights, you may see better results? If yu decide to try this Mae sure you have some form of stereo sound, whether it’s headphones or an actual surround sound setup
Edit* as @EpicChicken22 said, it is important to only use heavy tanks at their correct BR. I typically avoid spawning a heavy tank if I get a full uptier as well because everything will be able to pen me easily
As Epic mentioned it sounds like you’re bringing lower br tanks into higher br games. When you make your set only include vehicles in the br range you want to play. If you’re focusing on a KV don’t include vehicles with a higher br than the KV. The calculation on match making will still have you “uptiered” most of the time but that’s the game design. At least you wont see anything more than “one up” in the game.
Some maps favor light tanks and some favor heavies. Most maps force both sides to face each other along three (maybe four) corridors. This often means limited opportunities to flank and the tanks with the better frontal armor and guns win. This is a very general statement and obviously there are many factors. Maybe the most important is don’t extend out beyond where you have support on your flanks and be patient.
Beyond that if your team is getting wiped out you’re going to get wiped out too. There are various reasons for that but, games like that say nothing about your skill.
So, as I understand it from all the replies, heavy tanks can be easily destroyed by anything at its equivalent BR? Usually the heavy tank has the highest BR in my lineup. Doesn’t that just make them not worth the grind since it just means they are slower and longer to reload, while even a light tank with higher speed and lesser reload times can pen them.
Are there any good heavy tanks down the line from KV-1 that are worth grinding towards? I heard a lot of complaints about the IS-3 in this forum so I imagine it doesn’t get any better later on.
I looked through some Youtube tutorials where they gave tips. One of the tips was to angle your tank, sincle angling towards the enemy especially with Soviet sloped armour tanks make the less liable to be penned. I saw this actually work out when I shoot at angled tanks and get deflected. Yet, when I angle my tanks, I still get taken out, often from impossible angles that simply shouldn’t work.
I guess heavy tanks just aren’t worth the grind then? For my third vehicle, should I switch to SPAA or tank destroyers, or are there any good tanks down the tech tree if I keep grinding the heavy tank line?
The later Russian heavies suffer from crippling reload speeds, around 15 secs with a max/ expert crew for the FASTER ones, but the bigger issue is as has been mentioned the uptiers into things with HEAT-FS and the HE slingers that make armour irrelavent.
one trick I have seen people use (especially with the maus) is to only pull it if you are the highest BR in the match, also pulling heavies later in the match once people have lost their more powerful tanks as they tend to pull those first.
beyond that learning YOUR weak spots are as important as the enemies so you can try to avoid exposing them (at least as much as possible.
ultimately you will want to grind it for the obj 435 and the T-80s
Come back to them later. They can be deadly in city maps but avoid open terrain or too many hills. I absolutely hate the churchill but on rare occasion you can troll someone with it because if the enemy uses the wrong shells he’ll keep bouncing. Most times though, they’ll set you on fire, destroy your engine and kill your crew. I’ve played ground realistic battles for 5 years and I mainly prefer fast vehicles and tanks that shoot quickly, including spaa vehicles.
I never angle and I have no idea which soviet tanks have the sloped armour, I just shoot things lol. Most people play timid, even in a heavy tank, but I’ll sneak to the flanks and shoot the enemy with spaa.
You’d need a big cannon, so normally an SPG is required to do good damage against a heavy tank, but even a BR 3.3 M10 can do damage especially if it hits the KV 2 in the side of the turret. I don’t do armour analysis but I have a good feel for what will do damage. M10 is deadly against a lot of thick armour, probably does serious damage to 4.0 and 5.0 if sniping. BR 3.7 sherman isn’t so good at penetrating heavy tank armour but the more powerful models of sherman will slice through.
Don’t look at your BR, check the size of the cannon that’s shooting. Japan has that funny little Chi Ha Long Gun at br 3.0 and that will cripple 4.0 and 5.0 German tanks, it’s just that Chi Ha is very slow and vulnerable when moving:
That’s the point of the br format, but vehicles within a br range “one up and one down” still have strengths and weaknesses. In general, I’d much rather be in a Tiger than a Sherman at the same br. Similarly I’d much rather be in a KV than a Sherman or a PZ at the same br. I’m going to one shot kill the Shermans and PZ all day while in many cases my Tiger or KV is going to bounce more shots and require multiple hits to kill. (Assuming your playing smart) Additionally, heavies are going to survive a lot more CAS then light and mediums do. At some point though, your success is not the vehicle your in its how you play it. The vehicle does not make the player…
Yes, WT demonstrates the history of armor evolution and there comes a point where armor didn’t keep up with the weapons. The IS-3, the Maus, the Tortoise etc all become not able perform when in battles where they dont enjoy a significant down tier. When faster, quicker reloading vehicles can pen you easily, carrying all the armor around while being slower and suffering log reloads is not a fun experience.
In closing, having played a long time and having all the vehicles I want, I find the most fun is found in the 4.7 to 6.7 br range. The maps and the game mechanics seem to work best in this range.