I feel a lot of people have vastly different opinions on whats considered “survivability”.
An example I’ve come across is the abrams is about as survivable as a t80 when not hull down sense getting penned from the front will almost always result in both the engine and turret traverse being destroyed, leading to death.
Some people say that the fact they survive the first shot in general is better Survivability, Some people say it doesn’t matter as the follow up shot will almost always kill you.
But what are your guys opinions on what it is?
Survivability comes from many different things.
Armor: is an obvious one, if you can’t get penned you can’t die. But also have so little armor rounds don’t fuse or spall is an advantage too. Having a more well armored tank forces people to look for weakspots and decreases their reaction time a bit, works much better at longer ranges were weakspot hunting becomes a pixel hunt, less effective at closer ranges.
Crew size/ layout: if you lose crew you die, having more spaced out crew is an advantage when a shot pens you. Obviously having more crew is advantageous. Things like the zsu bmd at 6.0 for russia has guys crammed in it like a clown car which helps survivability.
Mobility: Being able to get out bad situations, or get into good ones quickly. Exposing yourself for shorter times when taking a shot etc. Mobility isn’t just how fast you go, but how quickly you reverse or accelerate which helps in quick repositioning when reacting to non forward threats, or taking shots quickly.
Gun Depression: More depression lets you play more positions on the map, and it lets you expose less of your turret when taking shots. Good gun depression + Reverse works very well for peaking over a hill taking a shot then reversing back into hard cover, being exposed for a shorter amount of time when doing this grants a good deal of survivability.
Ammo layout: Some tanks can hide all their ammo in blowout panels like the leopard, where some are forced to keep their racks open or have it all in an autoloader.
Modules: Things like engine location can help, merkava, tam, etc. with front engine layout it acts like a spall absorber. Though some cases these situations can increase spall and have the opposite effect. Obviously things like spall liner increase survivability greatly. Lack of modules is also a bonus, and why things like the 2s38 become a lot less cancerous with much more internals being modeled.
Profile/weakspot size: Lower profile helps you hide better, and usually means smaller weakspots. In terms of hiding some lower profile tanks get ruined by pintel mounts making them significantly taller though. Smaller wakspots are obviously a bonus. Profile also affects one shot modules like ammo, for instance the lower profile autoloader in the t90 can help you survive lfp shots that would otherwise kill you in a t80 with the taller autoloader.
Other things like reload can help you survive better especially in 1vX situations. Some things works well against CAS like ERA/APS. Gun handling can save you for instance when someone comes from behind and you are able to turn your gun around fast enough to shoot before he does.
5 Likes
personally i only really care if my armor can stop autocannons and weaker guns/rounds at the BR for mediums and MBT’s. crew layout and number does help. Mobility is more offensively focused imo but has its uses in defence (RIP M60 reverse gear). so does gun depression. Ammo layout you can usually positively affect with the amount of ammo you bring, but autoloaders do have issues with this. APS is something I really wish more US tanks had.
i dont really believe that being able to take more hits really matters for survivability, i mean if you get hit in engine, transmission, breech, barrel, gunner, ring, elevation, hydraulics, or FCS your pretty screwed for the most part. ive taken like 10+ hits in an M47 in an 8.3 match but i couldnt do anything after the first shot
5x 405 error
Turret armor is also useful for hill peaking, but ya otherwise I don’t think it matters as much as a lot of people seem to think it does. DU hull for abrams for instance would be a BR increase probably for not much benefit gameplay wise.
its the resistance to weaker rounds and smaller caliber guns that i like about possibly getting a DU hull.
Doesn’t the hull already stop things like the 2s38? Its the turret ring thats the major problem. I’m also pretty sure I can’t LFP abrams with 2s38 like I can leopards or T series.
yeah but a DU hull would probably be fully resistant to like 3BM42 and the best ATGM’s which is pretty nice
