Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Tier 8 Clan Wars: Tanks and Basics

Tier 8 Clan Wars is the first level of competitive play that is really fun and diverse. Tier 6 is dominated by a few tanks and basically two strategies, heavies on city maps and lights/mediums on more open locations. Tier 8 brings about a more dynamic setup with more health to play around with. It no longer is based upon whoever shoots first, wins. I want to give you all a guide to help understand the basics about how tanks should be played and what tanks should be used. Keep in mind that I am only really going to go over tanks that are usable on all maps, not including TDs, Mediums,  or artillery because these tanks are specific but here is a list of some good ones: JP2, Charioteer, Ferdinand, FCM 50t, AMX 50 100, OBJ 416, Pershing, M40/43, and Lorr. 155 51.

The AMX 50 100 is not included in my overall "top tanks" due to its inability to stay within the fight and only really being successful in certain situations and on certain maps. Also, artillery is only really helpful on open maps. The Pershing can be useful as a faster T32, and the 416 is a useful tank destroyer medium. The Ferdinand is a helpful as a heavy support in certain situations and the JP2/Charioteer are the best snipers of the tier. Finally, the FCM is a good fast heavy to destroy light tanks due to its high health and troll armor. On to the tanks:


Lights:
All lights are useful at this tier, except for the T49.

RU 251/M41 90- These tanks are both excellent for DPM as well as penetration (on HEAT and HE) at long distance. They have depression but lack armor, so they are best suited for mid range combat and support roles. It is important to bring these tanks in a lineup that also includes T54 Lightweights to allow them to take the hits for the German lights. They are basically best for the more open maps, or on maps where you need better DPM lights to support heavies.

T-54 Lightweight- This is currently considered the best light tank for the tier due to its armor and similar gun to equal tier lights. While it struggles with sniping, it is adept at brawling and carries APCR (does not have as much pen as WZ however) which allows it to fight spaced armor and tracks well. Its turret is fantastic, and it can tank some shots with some luck. This should be the bulk of your  fast tank lineup as it is the most versatile light tank, but any team should be at least half heavies.

AMX 13 90- This tank has the most specific role, mostly to do burst damage and then retreat into cover. It is mostly useful on maps where there will be a large light tank brawl such as Westfield or Swamp. It cannot tank damage or snipe, but can support in close quarters. It is also worthwhile to now that the APCR ammunition has great penetration. This machine does have a long reload so it makes it less useful in most lineups, but helpful on some maps. It also probably does better in pairs, rather than as a solo support tank.

WZ-132- This is a tank that sort of combines the T-54 Light and the RU 251 as it is fit for sniping and has a lack of depression. This is a really quick tank that is best used as a backup tank for when your others are locked out due to deaths in clan wars. It does have HE resistant armor, unlike its German counterpart, but is inferior to the lightweight in brawling and to the RU for sniping.

Heavies:
Only the IS-3 and T32 are really viable for this class.

IS-3- This is the pinnacle Russian heavy with excellent side armor, good turret, and good mobility. It can reverse side-scrape as well as tank shots while hull down. It does have a small weak-point but it is hard to hit on a regular basis. The speed allows it to traverse the larger maps quickly and flank enemies or engage them in unique positions. It is the best city tank of the tier and only second when fighting on ridge-lines, to the T32.

T32- This is the true ridge-line warrior of the tier with a near impenetrable turret and decent gun, it can rip apart its enemies quickly, albeit with less alpha damage then an IS-3. It could be compared to the T34, but is much faster and has better DPM. It also has decent hull armor which can pull off some ricochets when angled properly. This is really only suited for ridge engagements due to its depression.


These are my thoughts on some of the individual tanks and their uses for Tier 8 Clan Wars, I will post later about strategy on maps!

-Spirtwalker

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