World of Tanks Mark III

[Vendetta]

Not for now, it's probably eventually going to get what happened to the Pz.IVS and turn into a tier 7 premium heavy with the 122, and get a copy of the D10T at tier 6 instead.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Eh, like I said, I know I'm in the minority with the T-150. I get great use out of it, but that's a hard earned skill. And I do try and avoid 1S' unless I'm certain I can use that slight advantage in reload to take them down first (generally only if I bounce their first shot...which CAN happen, though its a very big luck thing).

[Esquire]

Huh. I've always found my T-150 able to beat KV-1Ss one-on-one, or at least often enough that I don't mind attacking them. Maybe part of it is that nobody expects much from it?

[Skywalker_T-65]

Probably. I rarely have problems, I just avoid them out of habit...easier targets and all.

[Esquire]

True. Just had my first game with the KV-4, and I think something similar may be going on - I managed to kill one of whatever the Chinese IS-3 is by just rolling right up and pumping shells into his turret hatch. Remember, kids, superiority is no excuse not to pay attention!

[Vendetta]

On the other hand, I've point blank brawled a KV-4 in my T-34-2 because it's too short for the KV-4 to shoot....

[krakonfour]

I got the 107mm for the KV-4 and boy is it an improvement!
As for beating IS-3 players.... well, they are the guys who went up from the KV-1 to the KV-1S and tried getting the tanks everyone named as OP. Pro tip: It's not the tak which creates the Win Ration, but the player.... I'm guessing half the players I nailed through the turret roof didn't even know the weakspot existed.

Anyways, the fate of the KV-1S is still up in the air, but an interview with SerB by russian players in a café says that:
-KV-1S will have the 122 gun removed, and will be pushed down to tier 5 with less hitpoints and armor.
-KV-1S will have a version that stays in tier 6, keeping the 122mm but with nerfed mobility.

Both tanks are of course inferior to the current version, so enjoy it while it lasts. I for one am looking forward to the introductiopn of a 100mm gun for the tier 6 version, since it destroys the noob's camp/one-shot/hide gameplay and improves a good players gameplay by rendering him less helpless during the reload.

[Simon_Jester]

It also restores the convention of the KV-1S as being sort of a... "medium-heavy" tank, because medium tanks typically have guns that emphasize DPS and (in general) accuracy at the expense of alpha-strike potential.

[Zwinmar]

Most of the time I feel like I'm shooting a smoothbore musket (i.e."one goes high, one goes low, don't know where the other one goes")

Other than that I am debating on going down one of several lines: American, British or Nazi heavy, or maybe Nazi medium (have the pz III/IV), or going down a TD line. I like the British TD's so far, good guns and armor but glacially slow vice the U.S. which are paper thin. I'm in teir V tanks for the most part by the way.

[Darth Yoshi]

Are you taking the time to aim? I've never had that problem, even with the relatively inaccurate howitzers, unless I was using an SPG or going for an extreme range shot.

[Zwinmar]

yeah, that is where I notice it the most.

[Vendetta]

Early tier vehicles tend not to have a great amount of accuracy, but they aim quite fast and fire quite fast, so you can overcome that.

As for your vehicle choices,

US heavies are powerful and quite easy to use, especially from tier 7 up. (The tier 5 and 6 ones are good enough, but not nearly as formidable as the later models). I'd reccommend starting here or with the Russian heavies, which are also very easy to use.

German mediums are a bit specialist, they're generally snipers once you hit tier 7, but with the Panther line placing more emphasis on survivability and the Leopard line on mobility and camouflage. If you go for German meds I would say go through the early heavies first so you unlock the 7,5cm L/70 gun, which will be your standard weapon on the tier 6 mediums.

German heavies have just been buffed, but they're still largely supporting vehicles.

British heavies are a very mixed bag, British tanks have very low alpha until tier 9, but tend to get adequate or better penetration.

[krakonfour]

The US heavies are great, but I recommend you skip the T1 Heavy if you can. It's just not good enough when compared to the KV-1 or the T-49 in the same tier. It is however much better than the Churchill. The Churchill has no armor, poor mobility and bad gun depression with the top gun, so it doesn't even get to use its high pen/alpha.

Of course, there is a reason the French Potata aka BDR is rated the worst, so at least it's a plus for the Churchill.

My point is, skip the T1 and go for the M6. It actually has good armor and a great gun. Plus, it is pretty heavy, so it'll ram quite a few tanks to death.

German mediums.... torture. The VK3001P, the VK3002D, it's pure, insufferable grind through slow tanks with bad guns and no armor that try to be heavies without the hitpoints or the guns. The Panther is an average sniper, in fact, because penetration and accuracy are useless if you simply do not do enough damage. It's a horrid line until you strike the excellent tier 8 machines.

As for the British heavies... well you already have my opinion on the Churchill. The tier 6 and 7 are pretty much the same: Armor the cannot use, inadequate guns (good god the Churchill 7 is horrible in every way) and poor mobility make the grind horrendous. The tier 8 Caern and the following tanks however are great vehicles that fit the mobility/dpm gameplay of medium tanks.

[Xess]

The US heavies are great, but I recommend you skip the T1 Heavy if you can. It's just not good enough when compared to the KV-1 or the T-49 in the same tier. It is however much better than the Churchill. The Churchill has no armor, poor mobility and bad gun depression with the top gun, so it doesn't even get to use its high pen/alpha.

Of course, there is a reason the French Potata aka BDR is rated the worst, so at least it's a plus for the Churchill.

My point is, skip the T1 and go for the M6. It actually has good armor and a great gun. Plus, it is pretty heavy, so it'll ram quite a few tanks to death.

German mediums.... torture. The VK3001P, the VK3002D, it's pure, insufferable grind through slow tanks with bad guns and no armor that try to be heavies without the hitpoints or the guns. The Panther is an average sniper, in fact, because penetration and accuracy are useless if you simply do not do enough damage. It's a horrid line until you strike the excellent tier 8 machines.

As for the British heavies... well you already have my opinion on the Churchill. The tier 6 and 7 are pretty much the same: Armor the cannot use, inadequate guns (good god the Churchill 7 is horrible in every way) and poor mobility make the grind horrendous. The tier 8 Caern and the following tanks however are great vehicles that fit the mobility/dpm gameplay of medium tanks.

I have to disagree with a lot of your points. I found the Churchill to be a great tank that was quite fun to play, same with the BDR G1 B and T1 heavy. I haven't played the Church 7 enough to comment on it, but I think the VK 3002 is a blast to play. I enjoyed if far more than the Panther.

EDIT: I also really liked the B1 bis so maybe I'm the weird one here.

[Imperial528]

I didn't necessarily enjoy the T1 Heavy, at least not enough to keep it, but it was fun while it lasted. Unlike the M6, it is actually well armored for its tier. (The M6 is by stats, but it has an obvious frontal weak spot that is not as, well, weak on a tier V) Also, it's good to research the top engine while in the T1 Heavy, since it makes both the T1 and M6 absolute beasts when it comes to ramming and murdering enemy mediums, things they both excel at. Though the T1 can actually trade shots with enemy heavies at the tier, yes, even the KV-1, whereas the M6 has to go more into medium mode.

Churchill I is pretty good, especially since most tier 4s have trouble penetrating the weak turret, and lots of tier 5 players make the mistake of going for the regular weak spot of the driver's slot, which is not as weak at all on the Churchill I. Churchill 7 is kind of a cursed tank in my experience. In games with terrible players it absorbs shots like nothing, but also lacks the mobility to actually carry the team to victory. In a match with competent players its weak spots are known as are its limitations, and it is still damn slow.

Now, the BP is well armored, has a far superior armament, and while still slow, is much more maneuverable due to a better engine. It's not the best tier 7 heavy, but it is in no way a bad tank.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I've gotten great mileage out of the T1 against KV-1's. But...and this is important...I know all the weaknesses of the KV like the back of my hand, considering it is my second favorite tank (behind the T-150). So, fighting them in the T1 is a bit different for me than the average player new to Tier 5.

Church...I liked it well enough, but even with my taste leaning towards slow tanks, it was a bit too slow for my tastes. The top-gun is fairly decent, if you don't mind the relatively low alpha, and the armor isn't THAT bad, at least not frontally. Protect your turret, learn your angles, and you can bounce a surprising amount of shots in that thing.

German meds: I've only gotten as far as the Indien Panzer (I went for the DB as opposed to the Panther), but it was fun enough. Even the DB (30.02D) was a fun tank, at least it was for me.

[Vendetta]

The Churchill I is OK as long as you only have to fight idiots in it, otherwise they just shoot the turret and you're in a DPM race. Now, the Churchill has good effective DPM due to its good penetration for the tier and high rate of fire so it can win DPM races, but the thing about DPM races is that you lose health doing them so they're a bit of a mug's game.

Churchill 7 needs to fire gold to be effective a lot of the time, because it can't control anything else due to its slow speed and its basic pen is woeful.


(PS T1 Heavy is secretly OK as well, it's got workable DPM and as long as you can keep the front pointed at things and reasonably angled it will surprise people with its bounciness. Good engine power as well. The M6 really needs the 90mm gun to work, it's painful before that, but great when you have it.)

[The Vortex Empire]

Churchill VII is one of the most unpleasant grinds I've ever done. If there's one tank I recommend skipping, that's it.

BDR G1B was actually pretty decent, the gun is excellent for tier 5.

[krakonfour]

True, the BDR has an excellent gun, but it is a sniper tank (courtesy of wet paper towel armor), and how many players know how to snipe? Hoe many players know how to snipe with 135mm of pen?

[Agent Sorchus]

I wouldn't call the BDR a sniper so much as it is weirdly able to use parts of the battlefield no other tank can thanks to it's tall turret and high gun mount. Nothing like putting rounds into churchill turrets peaking over cover so high their guns can't even point up far enough to strike back.

[The Vortex Empire]

True, the BDR has an excellent gun, but it is a sniper tank (courtesy of wet paper towel armor), and how many players know how to snipe? Hoe many players know how to snipe with 135mm of pen?

If average player skill was relevant to how good any given tank is, every tank in the game would be a piece of shit.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Oh so true.

[Dominus Atheos]

I love my T1 heavy, I think it's way better then the KV-1.

http://wotreplays.com/site/385770?secre ... 2007370552

http://wotreplays.com/site/385772?secre ... 2007370552

http://wotreplays.com/site/385773?secre ... 2007370552

http://wotreplays.com/site/385774?secre ... 2007370552

[krakonfour]

Oh, another plus for the T1 Heavy: It leads to the M103 and T110E5, the best high tier heavies for randoms.

[Esquire]

Defeat
Battle: Swamp 10/16/2013 3:25:23 PM
Vehicle: IS
Experience received: 1,240
Credits received: 35,655
Battle Achievements: Top Gun, Reaper, Radley-Walters's Medal

Lost by one extra tank capping... I really could have used this as a doubled victory. Oh well.