Know if you can pen it, if you can't, don’t bother trying: All this will lead to is the tier 5 getting yet another kill to his tally and increase his steel wall count, so why waste ammo on what you can't hurt.



All this will lead to is the tier 5 getting yet another kill to his tally and increase his steel wall count, so why waste ammo on what you can't hurt. If you do come across one call for arty: Tier 5 heavies tend to be sluggish at best (15-25kmh average) and can be hit far easier for arty to hit than a 50kmh light tank. They tend to do slightly better than you at hurting it too.



Tier 5 heavies tend to be sluggish at best (15-25kmh average) and can be hit far easier for arty to hit than a 50kmh light tank. They tend to do slightly better than you at hurting it too. If you don’t wish to fight him just run away: As stated above chances are you are far faster than said tier 5, so just book it should you feel the need. Speed is your armor at this tier.



As stated above chances are you are far faster than said tier 5, so just book it should you feel the need. Speed is your armor at this tier. If he does hit you, run away, you get no second chances: The BDR G1B and KV-1 are exception to this as they can both access a high (300+) damage gun., otherwise the first shot probably won't kill you, the second will.



The BDR G1B and KV-1 are exception to this as they can both access a high (300+) damage gun., otherwise the first shot won't kill you, the second will. Find an easier target: There’s bound to be one somewhere, I usually never see more than 3 heavies per team; so find a tier 4, or even better, another tier 3 to shoot at.



There’s bound to be one somewhere, I usually never see more than 3 heavies per team; so find a tier 4, or even better, another tier 3 to shoot at. Attempt to cap if the final enemy is a tier 5 heavy: Death-or-Glory final kills on tier 5 heavies never end well for tier 3’s, and it’ll mean more exp if you live.



Death-or-Glory final kills on tier 5 heavies never end well for tier 3’s, and it’ll mean more exp if you live. If you must shoot them, shoot the rear hull, and never shoot the turret and use any available cover : Cover is critical here, if he can't hit you, he can’t hurt you. Rear hull armor tends to be the weak spot of every tank; the engine is also there. I’ll be covering this a bit more in-depth below. (As to why point 7 isn't spaced like the others, I have no clue, and after seeing every trick I know to fix it fail, I can't be bothered anymore...)



Cover is critical here, if he can't hit you, he can’t hurt you. Rear hull armor tends to be the weak spot of every tank; the engine is also there. I’ll be covering this a bit more in-depth below. (As to why point 7 isn't spaced like the others, I have no clue, and after seeing every trick I know to fix it fail, I can't be bothered anymore...) Never try to solo a tier 5 heavy: Obvious as this seems I’ve seen it done far too often; always work with at least one other higher tier tank. The only exception to this rule is if you want to try and distract said tier 5 from shooting your arty or friendly cappers.



Obvious as this seems I’ve seen it done far too often; always work with at least one other higher tier tank. The only exception to this rule is if you want to try and distract said tier 5 from shooting your arty or friendly cappers. If you’re determined to do something, try for a perma-track: How to pull this off successfully is to find tall enough cover that the tier 5 needs to drive around to hit you. Scope in to where his tracks are and hammer them repeatedly the moment they enter your view and just keep hammering the track; this tends to tick most heavies off a fair bit.



How to pull this off successfully is to find tall enough cover that the tier 5 needs to drive around to hit you. Scope in to where his tracks are and hammer them repeatedly the moment they enter your view and just keep hammering the track; this tends to tick most heavies off a fair bit. Issues regarding perma-tracking: Be aware however that you need to be sure that he can’t shoot you from that position and may use a repair kit. Also be aware that while not moving both of you are fair game for the other spg’s. I would advise practicing this in a training room with a friend before attempting it in a pub match.

one

BDR G1B:

Churchill I:

Churchill III:

T14:

T1 Heavy:

KV-1:

will

may

At some point in the game we’ll all inevitably end up in this situation so I’ve written this guide with a few key points on what to do and not do should this happen to you.Now, as most of you are aware of (hopefully) premium shells are purchasable by credits nowadays and are usually the only way a tier 3 will harm a tier 5.Tier 3 premium round penetration ranges from 78-121mm with the howitzer tanks (M2 medium and Cruiser 2) getting 110mm of pen, albeit with reduced damage. This doesn’t mean you need to use all premium ammo, but carrying a few (20-40, though even 5 isn’t a bad idea) will certainly help.Be aware that to somehow solo a tier 5 heavy in a tier 3 will require at least 20+ shells fortier 5 at full HP. Go for an injured one first if one has less health.The shell cost in credits is usually 800 a shell for the smaller tanks and 2000 a shell for the howitzer tanks.That being said lets take a look at the tier 5’s specifically and see whether and where a premium round needs to be used and when not to bother at all.This is done on the presumption that you are fighting an elited tank, hence the 2turret data will only be provided unless the first turret is better armored.Turret 80/70/60, Hull 60/40/60With only 40mm side hull armor and 60mm rear this tank is a special case to the shoot the rear rule. The turret is very thinly armored compared to other tier 5 heavies and can be easily penned with prem. rounds almost everywhere but the gun mantlet.Verdict: Don’t use gold unless desperate, just hammer the side hull as it has almost no armor there. Be aware that the BDR G1B does get access to a gun that will one-shot most tier 3’s, so avoid getting hit.Turret 1 101/89/89, Turret 2 89/89/76, Hull 89/63/76The other of the two tanks that has better rear than side hull armor, the Churchill I’s first turret is better armored than the second. You will most likely need premium rounds to fight this tank; the sole exception to this is the T-46 mounting the 45mm VT-42; a gun which possesses 75mm of pen with regular AP shells.Verdict: Use of gold probably required, the tank is very slow however, so just run if you don’t seem to be making a noticeable difference.Turret 88/88/76, Hull 176/76/50Firstly, it should be rather obvious here that you’ll never pen the front hull period; so don’t even bother.This tank differs from other tier 5’s by that it possesses a low damage-very fast-firing gun for its tier. With a full crew, rammer, BIA, and vents a Churchill III can spew out rounds at a rate of 1 every 2 seconds.The tank, while slightly faster than the other Churchill, shares it’s weakness of practically no traverse speed; however, like the other tank, it has a fairly fast turret traverse of 34dg/s. Note that ammo-racking aside, the Churchill III will never be able to one-shot you; it’s all the following shells that will kill you.Verdict: This is probably the hardest tier 5 to fight in a tier 3 due to its insane fire rate. Shoot rear hull if you can, but otherwise stay away, it’ll never catch you.Turret 101/101/101, Hull 50/50/50First off, don’t be fooled by the 50 all-around hull armor on the T14, the front armor is very sloped and the rear is slightly sloped-this tank is harder to pen than it looks.Nonetheless, most tier 3 gold shells will pen the rear and side hull armor without too much difficulty. Like the T1 this tank has a fairly fast firing gun, though with .46 accuracy it rather inaccurate at range compared to other tanks.Verdict: Use extreme caution with the T14 as with a top speed of 34 kmh, it’s quite fast for its tier. Use cover and try to snipe it, just be aware that it has slightly more HP than other tier 5’s due to being a premium tank.Turret 102/83/83, Hull 83/44/41The T1 Heavy, like the T14 above, can also reach 34kmh, and is the other “fast” tier 5 heavy. Its gun is just like the T14’s only slightly improved in all categories. This tank has a massive side profile that leads to easy hits however, and being a heavy means it can’t turn on a dime.Verdict: Probably the “easiest” tier 5 heavy to fight in a tier 3 light; if your shooting side or rear hull armor you probably don’t even need gold rounds. Just be aware of its speed.Turret 110/110/110, Hull 75/75/70The Demon of most tier 5 matches since times immemorial (sometime in April 2011 for me) the KV-1 is a nightmare for tier 3’s to fight.There are usually two main type of KV-1, short-barreled and long-barreled, short-barreled being armed with a 122mm howitzer with a fire rate of 5.5 rpm thatkill you if it connects directly, and long-barreled being armed with an 85mm with a fire rate of 12 rpm that will 2-shot you.Gold round anywhere on the hullpen but check what the gun’s gold pen value is first (the M3 Stuart gets only 78-might as well be useless, whereas the Cruiser 4 gets 101-just enough).Verdict: Err…fight something else. To be honest if you have to fight a KV-1, use lots of cover and time your shot for when he’s reloading. Ignore it unless necessary as everything else on the enemy team will be easier to kill.On a random off-side there is one tier 3 medium that can pen the KV-1 s turret using gold shells, this being the Medium Mark 3 with 121 pen on its last gun. Seeing, however, as the tank is quite large, the gun does only 45 points of damage on average and that it possesses the armor of a tier 1, I would ill-advise trying this.Note that a lot of the above can apply to tier 4’s as well as tier 3 Td’s. Being the second guide I’ve done, this one being a bit…easier on the eyes than the first (Learn from your mistakes, easiest way to get better at tanks and guides). Feel free to point out any errors, I will attempt to correct them, and comment and advise this guide to other if you feel it’s been worth your time.

Edited by GCobley, Jan 06 2013 - 04:30.