Basic Guide to T-34/85 and IS-1

A basic guide of how to use the T-34/85 and IS-1 (Mostly the T-34/85)

Introduction

This guide is not ment to tell you exactly how you can and should play both of these tanks, it's only a "useful" guide to anyone who is having trouble with either of these vehicles or is getting ready to get them, which I very highly suggest getting both of these.

The T-34/85 in particular is an extremely flexable tank that can fit many roles needed to secure victory for you teammates.


This guide is ment only for Realistic Battles and slight amounts of Simulator Battles.
If you play Arcade Battles, you can still use some of these tactics but you may be mostly out of luck.
Now, on with the show.

The T-34/85 (D-5T Cannon)

Weighing in at 30.9 tonnes, with a max speed of 55 km/h and boasting an 85mm D-5T tank cannon, comes the T-34/85, the former USSR's main medium tank of the later half of the Second World War.

Historically this tank was the solution to the new german Panzerkampfwagen VI Tigers and Panzerkampfwagen V Panthers. (or at least it was when it was finally built, the SU-85 was the first solution)
In War Thunder it serves as at medium tank at the Battle Rating of 5.3, and it's one of the most popular tanks in the entire game.


At this battle rating, you have the GMC M18 Hellcat with it's blazing top speed of 72 km/h, the A30 Challenger with it's Armor-piercing Capped Balistic Capped rounds that can penetrate up to 168mm of Rolled Homogenous at 100 meters, and well just about any other tank with more than 5 degrees of gun depression, the thing is that the T-34/85 combines just about every good aspect of other tanks, and put them into the masterpiece of some potato farmer's factory work, but it still comes out as a univerally feared tank by Allies and Axis alike, no matter how many potatos were eaten on it during lunch break!

The main tanks you'll want to worry about when commanding thsi tank is the Panzerkampfwagn VI Tiger, Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, M4A3E8, GMC M18 Hellcat, A34 Comet, and M4A3E2.

On the turret, armor has increased from the earlier models of T-34s, from 53mm to 90mm, it won't turn it into a hulldown monster that eats every sell that it comes across it, but it will help with tanks with weakers guns such as the M4A3E2 Jumbo. The mobility is better than some lights tanks, and might even catch rusing M18s that go down slower or longer pathways, don't count on winning those races for caps or strategic positions, they'll generally get there first, but that's when you can deploy this tanks gun.
The D-5T cannon has one simply rule: if it penetrates, it's going to do major damage.
With the BR-36A penetrating 136mm of rolled homogeneous armor at 100 meters, and packing 164 grams of explosive filler, with this gun you are a an extremely deadly enemy to Tigers at close range and still being a revailing threat at mid ranges. If you manage to get a flanking shot on just about any tank in the game, it means almost ceratin death, and perhaps a quick trip to the forums.

The tank itself can be played as either two main roles: a Close-Mid range brawler or a flanker.
While your gun is amazing, not everything is going to allow that shell to go through so easily, examples would be the Panther's front plate, and the Jumbo Sherman in general, unless you hit in a slightly angled side, the MG port or at very close ranges, the upper front plate. The Churchill Mk VII is almost invincible frontally to you, only in the Machine Gun port and turret ring can you defeat the mighty English heavy.

The other version of the T-34/85, the T-34/85 with the ZIS-S-53 cannon and the T-34/85E, gain mininal differences and upgrades to the original tank, paying a price of upping the Battle Rating to 5.7, which in my opinion, makes these tanks worse than the T-34/85 (D-5T), but these tanks are no way bad in any remarks, they're still useful and extremely viable, even when bringing a tank of 6.3 or 6.0 Battle Rating.

Iosif Stalin 85 (IS-1)

Weighting only 44 tons, less than the KV-1, and having a max speed of 44 km/h, comes the IS-1, or JS-1 if you hate the Russian language.

Historically after the KV-1 proved to be inferior to the T-34 and after a Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger was captured, it was discovered that their 76.2mm guns extremely ineffective against it's armor, and several stopgaps to defeat the Tigers and Panthers, such as the SU-85 and KV-85, which comtained the same turret on the IS-1 and in 1943 the IS-1 went into production.

The strategy for the IS-1 compared to the T-34/85 isn't that different, except the new armor makes flanking almost impossible, and makes the IS-1 almost solely a brawler, a brawler that runs off he tears of M4 Shermans and M18 Hellcats.
The IS-1 doesn't have the strongest armor, but the thing is that the IS-1 is almost completely covered in armor 90mm< of rolled homogenous armor, which while doesn't make it very resillient against tanks iwith large calibre guns such as the Panther's KwK 42 and the Pak43 on the Nashorn, what this does do however makes the M1 cannon on the 76mm M4 Shermans and M18 Hellcat extremely ineffective against you, only being able to penetrate the gun mantlet, even with Armor-piercing and Armor-Piercing Composite Rigid.
Compared to the T-34/85, the IS-1 plays like a heavier T-34/85, allowing more aggressive tactics and a MASSIVELY improved reverse speed, which is a staple of the Isoif Stalin tanks.

The IS-1 and IS-2 are both equally useful, even when IS-2 is at 5.7, and 5.3, still if you dislike the long reload of the IS-2, it's perfectly fine to keep the IS-1, but I do highy reccomend getting the IS-2, as the IS-1 starts to become obsolete while the IS-2 and it's 122mm cannon is still viable at 8.3, even if it's missing the later BR-471D shell.

Summary

While they're not the uncontested best tanks at 5.3, the T-34/85 and IS-1 are still both extremely effective and fun tanks, and for once you don't have to pay money more importantly!



Honestly because this is the first every guide i've made, I have no idea if this is quality or not, feeback and criticism is very welcome! Please I want to improve.