Tank Crew and Crew Knockout Explained

Frustrated over why your crew seems to stop functioning at the most crucial moments? We look at the organic elements of your tank, how they affect the tank's performance, what happens when they get wounded and how you can use this to your advantage in tank battles.

Crew Overview

Unlike in World of Tanks, your vehicle in War Thunder Ground Forces isn't an empty shell driven by spirits and magic. Your crew is a dynamic part of your tank and are vital in the tank's operation. And, just like how your tank modules can become damaged, your tank crew will sustain wounds and become incapacitated during battle.

To check the layout of your tank and crew positions, use the 3D view in the hangar (the cube-icon on the left-hand side).


You can also check your tank damage by holding the O key in battle.


Modules and crew members that have been disabled have a red outline. Crew members can take partial damage and are coloured accordingly (green = light wounds, red = heavy wounds). The higher the crew's Vitality stat, the more damage they can take before being knocked out, and the faster they can recover from light wounds.

Crew Roles

A typical tank has five crew positions:

• Commander
  
• Gunner
  
• Loader
  
• Driver
  
• Machine Gunner / Radio Operator

The commander provides cohesion to the tank crew. Losing the commander results in performance penalties. If the tank has a pintle-mounted MG, it cannot be fired without a commander.

The gunner fires the main weapon and rotates the turret. If the gunner is disabled, the tank cannot fire or move its turret.

The loader reloads the main weapon. If the loader is incapacitated, the loading process stops until the loader is replaced. If the loader is not replaced, there is a massive penalty to reloading time.

The driver controls the tank's movement. If the driver is disabled, the tank becomes immobilised until he is replaced.

The remaining crew slots are usually for the radio operator and machine gunners. These don't really play a role in War Thunder and are expendable crew members and replacements.

Note that not all tanks have five crew members. For tanks with smaller crews, one member may take on multiple roles, such as in the T-70.


Tanks with extra crew will usually have excessive numbers of machine gunners.

Crew Knockout

Tanks are disabled in two ways:

• Critically damaging a vital part of the tank (ammunition, fuel tank), causing an explosion
  
• Having less than two conscious crew members

The latter is what results in the "Crew knocked out" death. Despite what it may suggest, you do not have to kill all crew members. If a tank has one remaining crew member, that tank is considered inoperable.

Crew Replacement

One of the lesser-known functions of the tank crew is that they actually move around and replace dead crew members. This is because the tank requires certain crew members in certain positions to operate, and the game prioritises certain roles more than others. The priority list is as follows:

1) Driver and Gunner
2) Loader
3) Commander
4) Radio Operator, Machine Gunner, etc.

The Driver, Gunner and Loader are the three key positions that make the core function of the tank. If any of these three are knocked out, the lowest available crew member will fill that spot.

For example, if the Driver is knocked out, the tank will be immobilised. In this time, the Machine Gunner will move to the Driver's position and assume that role, albeit in a less effective manner. If both the Driver and the Machine Gunner is killed, the Commander will take the Driver's role. In these cases, the replacement crew member physically vacates their original position, meaning that there is no longer a Commander or Radio Operator / Machine Gunner.

If the Commander or Machine Gunner are knocked out, they are not replaced.

Due to this mechanic, the Driver, Gunner and Loader will always be the last three positions that are filled. If the Loader is killed, the Gunner will do both roles, resulting in a massive reloading speed penalty.

If the Driver and the Gunner are two remaining crew members, the tank is knocked out if either one of them are killed. The tank must have a Driver and Gunner at all times.

What This Means

More Crew = Better Survivability

As all crew members will be utilised in each role as needed, tanks with more crew members can take more crew hits. This explains why the M2 Medium Tank can be very stubborn after taking numerous critical hits, as it has plenty of extra crew members to fill in the key roles.

In contrast, tanks with only 2 or 3 crew members are much more susceptible to being knocked out. Tanks like the Russian T-70 only have two crew, so a single hit is likely to knock it out. Some AA guns only have 2 or 3 crew, so sending a shell into the driver's cabin is often enough to silence the gun.

This is also the reason why fast light tanks such as the M22 Locust can easily knock themselves out if they drive into a wall. As multiple crew members can be incapacitated, the thinly protected 3-man Locust is likely to eliminate itself if 2/3 of its crew if they bang their heads too hard.

Situational Advantage

If you keep track of which crew members you have knocked out, you can better understand the advantages you have and avoid making unnecessary decisions. A tank cannot shoot back at you if their loader and/or gunner has been killed. You have a few seconds of immunity while their crew members are switching seats.

Repeated Hits

If you're specifically aiming for certain crew, it's probably best to avoid going for the Machine Gunner or the Loader. This is because these positions are likely to be empty during battle as they have replaced wounded crew. If you make a habit of aiming for the driver side, you can continually knock out the driver, forcing the tank to stop and shuffle its crew to fill this role. If the loader has to move, the tank cannot shoot as the reload process is reset. Since the driver and gunner positions must always be filled, you can eliminate a tank by firing and penetrating the same spot to kill the same crew position. This is especially true if you're using ACPR rounds, which have minimal fragmentation and require more precise shot placement.

Easy Kills

Some tanks have huge weaknesses due to the way their crew is positioned. The StuG is the prime example.

Although seeing the StuG pointing at you can be spooky, it's actually the easiest way to kill the tank. The reason is that 3/4 of its crew are located on the driver side: the commander and the gunner both sit in a straight line behind the driver. A penetrating shot through the driver's port can kill all three of these crew members, resulting in a one-shot kill.


Even if only two crew members get killed, it is very likely that the driver and the gunner will die due to their placement. This means the StuG cannot move or fire until the other crew move positions. By the time they do so, a second penetrating shot in the same position will likely finish off the remaining crew.

Frontal engagements are no longer scary

While a side-attack is still favourable as it exposes more of the tank's weaker armour and vital modules, it's usually easier to take out multiple crew members with a penetrating shot from the front. It's actually quite dangerous for a tank to expose itself, as a single penetrating hit can cripple half your crew. This means that hitting the driver's port or the centre of the front plate, if you can penetrate it, has a high probability of crippling or destroying the tank.

[Tom Peters]

@Stalker Yeah, rage on about who knows what and then suggest playing a *singleplayer* tank game instead. I'm sure that's what all War Thunder players want to do; fight mindless AI.

You have fun with that permanent early access experience.

[RawrKitteh]

There's swedish tonks that can have just 1 crew now.

[Pants2Tight]

nice guide

[nusensei]

@igigo You cannot stop the crew replenishment on auto-activating on the last man.

[HAG]

How can i disable the auto crew replacement, this thing kill me many time in my IS1 just because my driver dont want to retreat the tank

[BoneFiend]

Thanks Viridis.

[nusensei]

@BigGuns Vitality should be maxed out first for all your crew - they can absorb more shrapnel damage and won't die so easily to running into terrain. Repair is also high priority. Depending on your tank, you may want to also max out Reload Speed and/or Driving. Leadership is also good for providing a % bonus for all skills.

[BoneFiend]

can you later explain what the crew skills do and which one is worth investing xp in?

[TheSilverSword]

This was so useful in destroying StuGs and even Soviet TDs. Many thanks for all of the kills ;]

[Ideas]

Great guide, but I am still trying to comprehend how bushes can kill the entire crew of a panther going 25kph