Penning Frontal Armor in Tier 8: Is the Tank Bad or am I?

[Wuewue Gumi]

So I got the Vk 45.02 A and I REALLY do not like this tank. every foe I come across. Red, red, RED. Unless I can catch them from the side/rear, I can NEVER seem to pen anything for $hit. Not even other 45.02 As.

Now a few things to keep in mind. I'm only at about 52%ish percent crew. I have not yet any upgrades or equipment. But this seems like BAD DESIGN. Up until this tank, I have never had more trouble with overall penetration on the default guns. and this is without upgrades on the other tanks I've had.

But it seems with every passing tier, Armor becomes more and more dense and seemingly impossible to pen from the front.

Now maybe there's something I'm not doing right. Maybe the tank is just garbage without upgrades (and if that's the case, why bother?). Maybe tier 8 is just ridiculous. I'm actually Very lost here.

EDIT: Tbh, I'm just trying to get to the Maus. I wasn't per say planning on investing in this tank (of course I said the same about the Tiger P and found out that I liked it a lot)

[graystripe]

the best gun for that tank is

Gun 8,8 cm Kw.K. 43 L/71. (this is the 2nd gun and the first gun upgrade)

also, here is one thing you have to take note

1) tier 8 tanks will face tier 7, tier 8 and tier 9 tanks.

your first gun for that tank won't be able to penetrate most of the tier 9 tanks as well as tier 8 tanks.

you will need to flank the enemy tanks until you get the 2nd gun onwards

without any upgrades, you will take extremely long to get maus tier 10 tank.

[404_Gordon_Not_Found]

VK 45.02A has a horrible stock grind, and it's not A frontline heavy, more like A heavium, ie you bully mediums

I personally use the 10.5cm gun

[Wuewue Gumi]

But is this just bad design? Almost every other tank I've tried (even tier 6 tanks against tier 7s which seem super imbalanced) have been able to pen at least SOME of the competition with the default gun. But the 45.02 A... I can't seem to pen anything with this gun (albeit from the side/rear)

I have considered that maybe it's just not my playstyle, but I do not like this tank one bit

[graystripe]

Originally posted by M'aiq The Liar:

But is this just bad design? Almost every other tank I've tried (even tier 6 tanks against tier 7s which seem super imbalanced) have been able to pen at least SOME of the competition with the default gun. But the 45.02 A... I can't seem to pen anything with this gun (albeit from the side/rear)

I have considered that maybe it's just not my playstyle, but I do not like this tank one bit

it is not bad design, you are just plain unlucky.

there are tanks that have higher front armor compare to your first gun for the tank you mention in your original post.

e.g front armor 200, your gun's average penetration is 150, can never penetrate the front at all.

it takes skill to pilot every single tank you want to use to play for this game.

[Ezzeydi Himself]

52% crew ? there is something called 75% crew training and it cost few money instead of gold

[CamelHey]

It’s the tank’s problem here. VK has nearly the worst pen of all heavies in its tier, nearly of all in the tier. Luckily it’s pretty fast when fully upgraded so you’re able to flank.

[Wuewue Gumi]

What Im also wondering is should I even bother to invest in this tank? Since mostly, Im just trying to make a straight shot for the Maus

[Vermilion]

Ground though the vk45a, and I can tell you it's certainly not a gem of a tank. I was most successful with the 10.5cm gun and either followed medium tanks or played as a 2nd line heavy. be sure to carry prammo, as it can hardly pierce any decently armored tank's weakspots A big tip is to not play on hills or other bumpy/inclined areas, as the gun's depression is weak. Trust me, the vk45b is certainly worth the pain.

[Verboxe]

Oh dear... where to start.
1-ALWAYS buy %75 crew for your tank. Tanks with %50 crew are only acceptable until tier 4.
2-Ignore the dude and his 88mm gun recommendation, he doesnt know what he is talking about.
3-Your comment about being unable to penetrate other armored tier 8 tanks were alright but not being able to penetrate other VK 45As is worrisome.You need to learn aiming, get familiar with tanks of tier 7-8 and at the least have an idea or two about every single tanks weakspot.
4-You are not really at fault here. VK 45A is designated as a heavy but actually it is a medium tank with lots of armor. Blame Wargaming for poorly classing tanks with no regards to game balance.
5-Most tier 8 stocks are bad and tier 9 stocks are horrible regardless off your skill level. Accumulating free xp to research vital modules like gun, turret and engine will save you from a lot of potential stress.
6-You are right about armor. It will even get harder to pen stuff from the front. Fun fact: IS-7 turret is invincible from front.

[Verboxe]

My conclusion: Unfortunately you dont seem to possess an adequate level of basic skills let alone having the experience required for driving a Maus. Return to tier 5 and look for basic guides. Play multiple tank lines from tier 5 to tier 8. Learn angling, equipment, armor, ammunition types,sidescraping and intermediate level positioning. If you dont do these then you are very likely to be subject to lots of insults and abuse as tier 10 players dont have much tolerance towards unexperienced players. Oh and I have 4500 WN8 on VK 45A. Another post of advicing and willy waving completed.

[Wuewue Gumi]

Originally posted by Sleepy Uni:

My conclusion: Unfortunately you dont seem to possess an adequate level of basic skills let alone having the experience required for driving a Maus. Return to tier 5 and look for basic guides. Play multiple tank lines from tier 5 to tier 8. Learn angling, equipment, armor, ammunition types,sidescraping and intermediate level positioning. If you dont do these then you are very likely to be subject to lots of insults and abuse as tier 10 players dont have much tolerance towards unexperienced players. Oh and I have 4500 WN8 on VK 45A. Another post of advicing and willy waving completed.

I appreciate your info, but your assumptions of my skill level are insulting. You basically just told me what the raging keyboard kids do in a more sophisticated way.
I know about equipment, ammo types, I sidescrape a lot myself. Angling Im a little more inexperienced on, I'll give you that. But you act as I am a noob when I typically get praised as an effective player

1. I meant the FRONT of other VK armor. And penning tier 7s is no problem when Im against them.
2. If you think I am so incompetent, then how do you think I got this far? I'm not a wallet warrior.
3. I haven't invested much in this tank because Im just passing by it at the moment

[Wuewue Gumi]

And another thing. If I am such a noob in your eyes, Do you think I would be talking about such discussions in a civilized way instead of crying like the 10 yr old keyboard warriors do?

Just because I haven't purchased equipment for it doesn't mean I know nothing about it. I was preserving my silver and stars at the time.

I actually do pretty d@mn well in my Tiger P, thank you very much. and it's only at 81% crew. I have about 15+ tanks in my garage, buddy. I don't wanna hear about "Return to tier 5".

[Verboxe]

Return to this thread when you hit 50 wr/ 2k average damage ceiling in your Maus.

[Wuewue Gumi]

Originally posted by Sleepy Uni:

Return to this thread when you hit 50 wr/ 2k average damage ceiling in your Maus.

in the Maus alone? not sure what you're implying, but I also have over 2000 battles on me and my WR is about 50-56% give or take

[Ezzeydi Himself]

Originally posted by Sleepy Uni:

Oh dear... where to start.
1-ALWAYS buy %75 crew for your tank. Tanks with %50 crew are only acceptable until tier 4.
2-Ignore the dude and his 88mm gun recommendation, he doesnt know what he is talking about.
3-Your comment about being unable to penetrate other armored tier 8 tanks were alright but not being able to penetrate other VK 45As is worrisome.You need to learn aiming, get familiar with tanks of tier 7-8 and at the least have an idea or two about every single tanks weakspot.
4-You are not really at fault here. VK 45A is designated as a heavy but actually it is a medium tank with lots of armor. Blame Wargaming for poorly classing tanks with no regards to game balance.
5-Most tier 8 stocks are bad and tier 9 stocks are horrible regardless off your skill level. Accumulating free xp to research vital modules like gun, turret and engine will save you from a lot of potential stress.
6-You are right about armor. It will even get harder to pen stuff from the front. Fun fact: IS-7 turret is invincible from front.

with prem ammo and high pentrating ap of fv 183 and obj 268 it can be penned near the gun
the only impennable turret is is4 turret