Best way to take out a KV-1?

[Criisp]

hello guys! so i have been playing alot of war thunder lately, and i really dont have any problems of finding ways to take out diffrent tanks. there is only one tank im having a hard time taking out and that is of course the KV-1. i know that history has told us that this tank is a beast and the germans had alot of problems with taking out this tank.

so the question is what should i do against a KV-1? where do i want to aim my shoots? what type of rounds should i use? as a reminder i play as the germans! :)

[SirJustin90]

If you dont have the penetration hit the tracks then try to reach its side. That being said with the right pentration searching around on AB mode will help find weaknesses, often at the turrets horizontal drive... again it varies on angles, types of rounds and penetration.

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by Criisp ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ:

where do i want to aim my shoots?

- turret "cheeks" to the lower left and right of the gun mantlet bulge when it faces you
- turret ring in between the turret and the hull.
- when the hull faces you without much of an extra angle, the upper and lower front; the highly-sloped part in between is usually immune
- side and rear armour are fair game as long as it's not angled much relative to you

what type of rounds should i use? as a reminder i play as the germans! :)

PzGr. 39 or an equivalent AP shot with explosive filler should be your standard ammo on all German tanks, because it combines good penetration power with the highest damage potential you can get on German ammo. As an added bonus, many German tanks have this ammunition right from the start.

Only use the PzGr. 40 APCR when you absolutely need that extra penetration power against flat, unangled armour, and beware that you're going to do little damage, so aim precisely at what you want to knock out (preferably crew).
Meanwhile, the HlGr.38 is basically useless. The only real exceptions are short-barreled guns like on the Panzer IV up to the F1, and the StuG III A, where it takes the place of the PzGr. 40 in terms of how you use it.

[Clyde]

I tend to aim around the second from front wheel area in the tracks, likely to set off a gas tank or ammo there with a direct side shot.

[PyroPaul]

Originally posted by SirJustin:

If you dont have the penetration hit the tracks then try to reach its side. That being said with the right pentration searching around on AB mode will help find weaknesses, often at the turrets horizontal drive... again it varies on angles, types of rounds and penetration.

not as good as people think...

the KV-1 has 75mm thick armor all around, with the Thinnest point being the Rear of the tank - at 60-70mm thick. And while that may seem to be like the best location to go for, most of your rounds will get ate by the engine block - not killing the crew nor incapacitating the tank.

Ironically, it is usually best to just take it head on.
APCR or HEAT short barrel pz. IV's aiming for the right side turret ring will usually kill the gunner and break it's ability to rotate, making it much less of a threat.

a second round in the dead center of the hull (right below the gun) caps the driver and commander if you're lucky... after which you just need to wait till you see the turret moving again and you put a 3rd round into that turret ring and kill the gunner replacement.

Gunner. Driver. Gunner replacement - and between the 3 rounds fired you should kill the commander at some point - killing 4/5 and crew killing the tank.

After the Pz. III J and Pz. IV F1 you should start getting high velocity PzGr 39 rounds which can penetrate +75mm of armor greatly reducing the threat the KV poses... and following the above process will be just as good, if not better (aim for Gunner, Driver, Gunner) killing the crew in the turret, then the crew in the hull and will empty the tank in often just 2 rounds.