And you can have a hell of a lot of fun, if you don’t obsess too much, for exactly zero money in this game. The lower tiers are a hoot, as the imbalances in matchmaking don’t get lethal until around T5. Lots of good fun to be had there. And if you’re reasonably patient, even grinding up doesn’t have to be bad. It’s not a race; just play the matches for double experience and whenever you feel like it (treat the game like a break playing Solitaire on Windows) and eventually, by the time you die, you too will have an IS-7 or a Maus!
JoshV
3302
I hate the StugIII. It has very little armor or HP for its tier, and yet it’s top gun doesn’t have the range, damage or penetration to stand back and snipe effectively versus the tanks it tends to get thrown up against. The only thing is has going for it is a decent speed for an AT.
I’m mostly comparing it to my KV, which has a better gun, more HP, more armor, and basically cleans house when its top tier, but can still put dents in other tanks when its not. I also have a panzerIV, which has more armor, more HP, and even though the stats are nearly the same for the gun, it’s not an AT so tends to get thrown into more normalized fights where the gun is more effective.
Best use of the StugIII is as a scout-killer. It’s extremely fast and agile and has the ability to get in and out of an area very quickly.
Interesting. One of the things I like about this game is how differently people react to the tanks. I like the StuG, don’t like the KV. The StuG, when upgraded, is fast, small, and with the 10.5cm mini-derp can blast most things around its tier. The KV is a dog unless upgraded all the way, and is way too slow for my tastes. And the best guns require that aesthetic abomination of a box turret.
ShivaX
3305
Plus its easy to shoot that turret from orbit with just about any weapon.
Stug is a beast, but it can’t take a hit. With the L70 you should rarely be close enough to be in much danger. Of course getting tossed into a T9 match is going to suck, but thats true of everything.
JoshV
3306
I’ll try the 10.5, i was trying the 7,5 at the top. But the Hetzer had that 10.5, and more armor, and a lower tier, so was better able to take advantage of it. I fear the 10.5 is just too inaccurate, which forces you to close…which the stug doesn’t have the armor or HP to survive. Part of the issue is that TDs are tossed into higher tier matches more regularly, tier V TDs max out at 7 on the upper end, while Heavies max out at 6.
The KV will routinely get me kills, its long range Zis gun can hurt heavies above its tier, and annihilate everything at its tier or lower. I agree, it’s ugly and slow though.
Edit: My bias may also be related to the skill levels of my tanks as well.
Nah, it’s all good–that’s why there are different tanks! I find the StuG too fragile for slugging it out–I either snipe with the long gun or run around as fast as possible (it’s pretty nimble for a TD) with the derp gun. You’re going to die a lot but to me it’s pretty entertaining.
mk56
3308
Put me in the pro-KV camp as well. The game itself actually really clicked for me when I got the KV. I had fun in the lower tiers, but in the KV I felt I was playing the “heavy” game, which I enjoy because it fits my play style. I tend towards aggression, advancement, and going toe-to-toe, and take a lot of hits so I do better with lots of armor.
I also played the Stug all the way through to the JagdPz, and while I didn’t mind it, I also felt too fragile relative to the power of the gun, which I didn’t love except for the fast reload times. The thing I hated most about the Stug, though it is true of a lot of TDs, is the slow reverse speed. The Stug is fast going forward, but annoyingly slow backing up which got me killed a lot.
I did like the Stug more than the SU-85 because I did much better at sniping due to the better accuracy.
Just had a game in my T29. I killed two tanks: a T2 light (!) and a T-44. Matchmaker FTW.
I like the Marder as a vehicle, but getting stuck at the bottom of the list 19 times out of 20 gets old in a hurry.
I have a laugh when I join a battle in my fully upgraded KV-3 and appear at the bottom of the list and then my team tells me to go scout. I hope they are patient. ;)
Some correction here:
Penetration with HE rounds is subject to the same ±25% variance as AP rounds. So you won’t always get 85mm penetration with that gun, but a range of 63.75mm to 106.25mm.
The same applies to HE damage, which also has a ±25% variance. So you also won’t always get 910 damage, but a range of 682.5 to 1137.5 (assuming penetration).
Needless to say this can be both a blessing and a curse. :)
The difference between HE and AP rounds is that the former’s penetration power does not degrade with range. AP rounds lose 20% of their penetration at 500 meters (linear progression, 5% loss for every 100m starting at 100 meters). HE rounds are immune to this.
pyrhic
3313
I like a lot of different vehicles, for a lot of different reasons - i think my main criteria is that they do well in the role. Thus, i really like the KV with the derp gun - it’s a slow, methodical, beast with punishing damage - with it, i can damage anything in the game. The Panzer 3 is fast, maneuverable, and can take some good damage while dealing out some decent(if not killing) hits. The T-28 is a monster for its tier - combining speed, a killer gun, but weak armor in a general powerhouse.
Counter to this are tanks like the t-34 don’t do anything for me - they dont hit hard, they dont move that fast…they’re just…a speedbump on the road to a purpose.
Your assessment rather matches mine, though I have less patience with the KV. I am really disappointed with the T-34, which should be a solid tank but really is meh. Even with the (ahistorical but effective) long 57mm, it’s at best a scout killer or heavy scout. The T-34-85, though, once upgraded, is an effective and fun medium at least. I love the PzKw III, though, and the T-28 with that same 57 is nasty, if as big as a barge (and about as ugly).
I do love the visuals of the game, though. As a guy who has his basement festooned with both a collection of replica medieval weapons and a host of diecast tanks in various scales and sizes (much to my wife’s chagrin), I just love looking at tanks and stuff.
Ditto. They have put a lot of effort into the tank detail in WoT. I also love my historical tanks. :)
Dejin
3316
The T-34 is unfortunately quite fragile, but it’s definitely got better speed or maneuverability than the M4 Sherman or the Pzkw IV. I think it’s a bit better than the III/IV as well, but I haven’t spent all that much time with the III/IV for a full evaluation. I agree the T-34 works best as a scout with a very sharp stinger.
I don’t really like the T-34-85. I find it rather sluggish. The T-34-85 has the same hull armour as the T-34, so it shares a lot of it’s problems (assuming your opponent knows to aim for the hull). It does have some very decent guns available though.
The T-43 OTOH is a great tank and a lot of fun. It’s got very good speed and decent maneuverability. It’s got the same good guns as the T-34-85, and it seems to be quite tough.
Me three. Love having all these tanks that I grew up reading about.
Huh. My experience with the russian medium line was completely different. I love the T-34. It’s one of my favorite tanks at tier 5. The T-34-85 i found fun, but not as fun as the T-34. The T-43 I could not stand playing and it was a painful grind to the T-44, which was the first tank I found as fun as the T-34.
Why do you say the 57 mm is ahistorical? There were 2 modifications of that gun used in T-34. The earlier ZiS-4 (featured in the game) had issues with reliability and high production costs but it was installed on some tanks in 1941. The later modification, ZiS-4M, was much improved and some T-34 armed with this gun were deployed in 1943. T-34-57 were pretty rare though and not that effective in their role.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-34:
T-34/57: Fewer than 324 T-34s in 1941 and 1943–44 were fitted with the [COLOR=#0000ff]ZiS-4[/COLOR] or the ZIS-4M high-velocity 57 mm gun to be used as tank hunters.[COLOR=#0000ff][40][/COLOR] Some of them took part in the [COLOR=#0000ff]Battle of Moscow[/COLOR].
More info can be found here (Google translator might be required :)): http://www.tanki-russia.ru/srednie-tanki/t-34-57-1941.html
Damn, you are right, I completely forgot about the randomizer in that post.
Oh and I always wanted to mention (there was a question about it earlier) that the HE rounds can also ricochet, same as the AP ones.
Actually both KV and Stug get thrown against as high as tier 8 tanks.
I love my Stug III, IIRC I’ve had over 200 matches in it and was using it to generate the “free” exp to help in upgrading stock tanks. Partly, my Stug enjoyment probably comes from the fact that my two “main” tanks are IS-3 and Ferdi and the nimble Stug provides me with a completely different playstyle. I really enjoy it. I use the long 75 mm BTW, I hate inaccuracy of the the 105 mm gun.
As was mentioned, it has to be played completely differently from all other TD’s, it’s more of a scout/scout killer/arty killer/flanker. I usually spend the first couple of minutes of a match at our flag to have a look around (who goes where) as well as in case if any enemy scouts come for our arty. In lower tier matches, Stug III is a beast, I routinely solo-kill the derp-gun-armed-KV’s. Other (low tier) enemies usually require 2-3 hits and Stug’s rate of fire is very high.
In a high tier match, I might go and help our side by hitting enemies that are already involved in a firefight, scout a little, etc. When I see an opportunity, I try and slip into their base to kill their arty and start capping the flag.
As you said, Stug is fast and nimble, you have to use it when driving it.
I liked the KV as well but it’s a completely different kind of beast. :)
