Imagine if we got the best Pvkv with APDS, roof armor, and better engine. Pvkv m/43 (1954) - The best of both worlds
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the pvkv has a 3.8s reload. And lets be honest’ that tank isn’t particualrly good, so using that as a benchmark has some flaws.
It can be drastically improved but still amount to nothing. ~85-90mm of effective armor doesn’t even block most 4.0 guns at range. Everything stronger than a M4A2 or KV-1 will punch right through. I’ve bounced more rounds in the Strv 74 due to the high amounts of sloping than I have with the Pvkv (Which isn’t a lot, but still).
More gun elevation is nice to have in the rare moments when you need it, but it’s not critical most of the time. +15 degrees is also plenty, generally.
Presuming both are hulldown, they have almost the same silloheutte. Both have that huge forehead that sticks out over cover unless you’re using all 15 degrees. Which is something the 74 is better at, since having the turret means you can position yourself more easily on ridges to get as much gun depression as possible.
I’ll give you that one, but that’s up to Gaijin at the end of the day.
No it doesn’t. The Delat Torn is the only autoloaded one, at 3.5 seconds per shot.
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Its worth considering that the american 75mm and russian 76mm are still quite common at the BR, as well as it having enough armor to be safe from (i think) all autocannons/AA it can run across, and that is quite a big difference.
And hey, if you are playing around tall hills (as you should) with either of these, that extra 5 degrees could save you from from that guy on top of the hill!
it was very fine on 5.7 before all the decompression, now it is even better on the “new” 5.7. It has great depression, great round, and gets scouting. It is everything you would want for a 5.7 sniper tank to be.
Except it is slower than a tiger or panther and its profile is HUGE. Getting to said sniping spot is difficult due to the speed and profile and its very easy to get caught out by the actual good light tanks. Combine that with short rod APDS bad postpen and longer reload and its not very good at sniping. Compare to the 5.3 brit challenger. Challenger is WAY faster, better round, and has 6.7s reload rather than 8.5s. I do think the strv has better postpen by a bit, but its hard to compare how much. Yeah, the strv isn’t close to 5.7 material.
Never had problems with its mobility, it is enough to reach sniping spot and that should be your goal. Profile means nothing since with that depression you can hide behind hill too steep for any other tank. APDS is comparable to chally and pens everything on its BR with decent post pen to knock out whatever you are aiming at. Only real advantage is that reload but I say I will take extra reverse for that one second.
Now additionally:
You get nice APHE that helps a lot with lighter armor or finishing stuff.
Scouting, airstrike for extra rewards
Extra reverse speed to get behind cover
Wonky turret armor that can ricochet plenty of rounds.
Strv is fine where it is, it plays well into niche role and with a right spot it will excel at it.
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Ah yes, the ‘playes a niche role’.
Aka any other tank probably does the same thing.
158 pen APHE at 5.7 isn’t a selling point. You are facing 6.3-6.7 russia and germany every game. There are very few light vehicles that you will be encounting on a consistant basis.
When you have to bring up airstrike rewards as a justification for a tank… oof
Reverse speed isn’t significantly better than most of its competition. Its average, not a selling point.
‘wonky turret’ that is 30mm of armor… yeah, you aren’t bouncing anything on that you would bounce off a PT76 . That is armor, thats a spall promoter.
M36B2 is a far better sniper, and exists in 4 nation’s trees at 5.7.
VK 3002 is a better sniper at 5.0
SA-50 is a better sniper at 5.0
Waffentrager is a better sniper at 5.7 with almost as much APHE pen as the Strv-74 gets APDS.
So you are sitting on the bottom rungs of the ‘sniper’ role.
That leaves you… scouting? But you are as slow as a heavy. So you can’t take adavntage of flanks or get into positions where scouting shows your team more than they can see. Certainly ‘niche’ in terms of flawed design.
Literally nothing stopping this tank from dropping a BR or two. The problems are inherent in the design and dropping those BRs isn’t going to unbalance any BR under it. Its obviously not up to the capabilities of its own BR. Keeping it at its curent BR is like justifying a tank due to its APCR pen. You have a big number that no one cares about.
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Hell, the pvkv m/43 1963 is better as a sniper.
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Just went out and played a few games in the thing, and it is fine where it is. Its not a “traditional” light tank but fills the same role as the later IKV-91 and is quite comfortable in its position alongside the T-34/85
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