First of all, it doesn’t make sense for a 6.0 M26 Pershing and even other medium and light armored vehicles to withstand or just be registered as a ‘HIT’ from a HESH round with 22kg of TNT, which, in full and proper functionality, would completely destroy any part of these vehicles.
You and I are tired of firing HESH rounds at lightly or moderately armored vehicles, only to get a ‘HIT’ or temporarily disable the tracks or machine gun, no matter where it is. The truth is, HESH rounds are broken, and we need Gaijin to rework how they function—not to make them overpowered, but to make them actually do what they were designed to do.
HESH (High-Explosive Squash Head) rounds are designed to attack armored vehicles in a way that’s different from traditional high-explosive or armor-piercing rounds. Here’s how they work :
Impact and spreading: When a HESH round hits an armored surface, its warhead, made from a plastic-like material, ‘squashes’ against the armor, spreading the explosive into a thin layer over the external surface of the target.
Detonation: The explosive then detonates, creating an intense shockwave that is transmitted through the vehicle’s armor.
Internal fragmentation: This shockwave causes internal spalling, generating lethal shrapnel inside the vehicle. The effect is devastating for the crew, even if the armor isn’t fully penetrated."
This is exactly why it makes no sense that HESH rounds are so ineffective in-game. Their real-life function should be accurately represented, creating spalling and internal damage as intended, instead of just causing superficial 'hits.
The problem is that the final stage doesn’t work. Not only does it fail to do its job in 60% of shots, but it also doesn’t cause the expected internal fragmentation. How many times have you fired at the side of a medium or heavy vehicle with no more than 60-80 mm of armor, only for your HESH round to do nothing but temporarily disable the tracks? The simple impact of a HESH round should be enough to knock out a crew. These rounds were designed for the destruction of bunkers, where the armor thickness of the structures exceeds meters of reinforced concrete and steel."
It’s frustrating when such an impactful and historically accurate mechanic isn’t implemented properly in-game
Leave your thoughts in the comments; this is my opinion on HESH rounds in the game right now. They are neither usable nor reliable in many situations, and when they do ‘work,’ consider it luck or a blessing from the Snail God.
Trying something about this problem …
