Shells. WOT shells – HEAT shells, high-explosive, fragmentation shells, all types of shells Wot shells characteristics

Hello, this is the second issue of the Golden Bolt program, about the nuances and tricks of the World Of Tanks game. Let's not waste time, let's go!

But did you know that from the same gun, shells fly out at different speeds?

Their speed does not depend on randomness, it is constant. The developers took pity on us in this matter. You can easily shoot, making a lead depending on the speed of the enemy and the distance to him. But the speed depends on the type of projectile, and not only the speed.

Each type of projectile has its own peculiarity. In total, the game features 5 types of shells: 2 types of basic (armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation) - bought for silver and 3 types of premium (sub-caliber, cumulative, high-explosive fragmentation (prem)) - bought for gold. But after the release of patch 0.7.5, for proper balancing, for many MT (medium tanks) of level 10, sub-caliber shells became available for silver, retaining all the advantages of a premium shell.

I decided to test all these types of projectiles for their speed. To do this, I needed all the shots in 16x (16x) slow motion with a frequency of 30 frames per second and count the number of frames spent on the flight of each projectile. The range to the target was 200 meters.

The results are interesting. The flight of an armor-piercing projectile took 136 frames, and the approximate speed of the projectiles was 706 ms. The flight of the sub-caliber took only 88 frames, and the approximate speed of the projectiles was 1092 ms. The test of other types of shells showed a speed identical to armor-piercing ones. I want to draw your attention to the fact that the numbers indicated in this video were obtained empirically and may not correspond to the real characteristics. But it is quite obvious that sub-caliber shells fly much faster than other types, due to which they have greater armor penetration. It is worth considering this when shooting at a long distance at a moving target, because the lead should be taken no less than, for example, shooting with armor-piercing ones.

But that's not all I wanted to tell you about shells in this issue. There is another type of premium shells that have normal speed, but, like sub-caliber shells, high armor penetration. And another feature of this type of projectile is that it never ricochets. This is a cumulative projectile.

The fact is that when it comes into contact with an obstacle, an explosive is detonated and a cumulative jet burns through the armor at high speed. Therefore, you will never hear the word “ricochet” from the crew commander, although at very extreme angles you can hear the phrase “armor is not broken”, even from the most lightly armored tanks, which shocks many players: “How could a flea not be penetrated by a premium shell ? But knowing the mechanics of the game, you cease to be surprised at this.

Also, high-explosive shells never ricochet, they have significantly lower armor penetration, but the highest potential damage in case of penetration. And in case of non-penetration, the projectile simply explodes outside the tank, causing damage in the radius of the explosion. Moreover, the thinner the armor, the more damage he will receive. And if the armor within the fragmentation radius is extremely large, then you can even hear from the crew commander “didn’t break through”, which also causes a storm of indignation among many players who did not expect such a dirty trick from a high-explosive shell.

Of course, this is not all that can be said about shells, but I did not have such a goal. The main thing is that from this short issue you have learned something new and useful about the game.

The next issue will be really hot, because we will talk about the fire and everything connected with it.

Share and win from 100 gold

BB, BP, OF, KS - these letter combinations are probably known to all tankers from World of Tanks, but maybe

BB, BP, OF, KS- these letter combinations are probably known to all tankers from World of Tanks, but maybe not everyone knows their meaning - nothing more than the names of the types of shells presented in the game. It's no secret that WOT claims to be realism and historicity, to some extent, respectively, the types of ammunition of our tanks and their features were not taken from the ceiling. If Google and Wikipedia did not help, then read here. We will talk further about what each “bullet” is in reality and in the game.

BB, or armor-piercing - probably the most common type of projectile in the game. It is a metal core without explosive, the main task of which, as the name implies, is to pierce armor. It is to pierce, only due to the kinetic impact, i.e. impact. In reality, there is more than one type of armor-piercing shells (chamber, solid, dumb-headed, etc.), but in the game "bb-shka" is, in fact, a simple blank without any special effects and clarifications. Such a projectile inflicts damage on an opponent's tank only when it penetrates.

Armor-piercing shells in World of Tanks from their counterparts from real life, got such a feature as the loss of speed as the flight range, and with it the armor penetration. In other words, the farther to the target, the more likely it is to hear “Didn’t break through!”. According to the developers, the flight speed of armor-piercing shells in the game does not exceed 1000 m/s.

The so-called “normalization” effect was introduced into the mechanics of the action of armor-piercing shells in the game World of Tanks - the shell turns perpendicular to the armor when it hits the armor plate at an angle in order to reduce its reduced thickness. For simple BB-Necks, the normalization is 4–5 degrees.

BP, or armor-piercing sub-caliber - by and large, one of the subspecies of armor-piercing shells, but in the game it is made into a separate type with its own characteristics. The peculiarity of a real sub-caliber projectile is that it consists of two parts: a body (or pallet), most often of a coil form, in which there is a “bullet”, which should directly penetrate the armor. The diameter of this "bullet" is less than the diameter of the gun barrel. This design contributes to an increase in the initial speed of the projectile, read increases armor penetration. Roughly speaking, a sub-caliber projectile is a large bullet with a huge flight speed.

In the game, BPs have the same principle of operation as BBs. Only the developers “fastened” the AP shells with a flight speed of more than 1500 m / s, respectively, greater armor penetration compared to simple armor-piercing ones, but sub-caliber ones are more prone to loss of penetration with distance and their normalization is only 2 degrees.

In the world of WOT, these AP shells most often have a "premium" status (with the exception of those used on high-level guns). Yes, yes, this is the same "gold" which is now being shot for how much in vain.

OF, or high-explosive (or simply "land mine", although actually not quite a land mine) - the most common and universal type of ammunition in real life, and quite specific and narrowly profiled in World of Tanks. This projectile carries a certain amount of explosive, which naturally explodes when the projectile contacts the target. Simply put, its function is to explode and hit everything around with fragments, and not to pierce, unlike armor-piercing counterparts.

In the game, this function is implemented accordingly - HE has low armor penetration, coupled with high potential damage. If the armor is not pierced, a high-explosive fragmentation projectile explodes on the armor and does little damage (the thicker the armor, the less, the more often you will hear “Hit!”), Extremely little compared to the armor-piercing counterpart. True, there is a small caveat here - it is worth mentioning the premium so-called armor-piercing HESH shells, which are found on British high-level guns and have a very good armor penetration rate, but they are rather an exception to the rule.

Thanks to the fragmentation option (the terms “splash” and “Covered!” Do they mean anything?), the “land mine” can damage several targets at the same time, it has a more developed ability to damage tank modules and crew members than the aforementioned bullets, it does not ricochet and its armor penetration is not lost with distance, although the initial flight speed is inferior to all other types of shells.

The specificity of this type of ammunition makes it advisable to use it only on large-caliber guns (mainly on self-propelled guns), or against lightly armored targets. Also, due to the fact that “land mines” almost always cause damage when hit, they are used to break off the capture and finish off opponents with a small number of hit points, and for this they carry only a couple of pieces with them in battle. True, inexperienced players quite often mistakenly load the entire HE ammo load instead of BB-shek, because they are misled by a larger number in the “damage” column compared to their fellow ammo loaders.

KS, or a cumulative projectile, the "impact force" of which is a directed cumulative jet, which is formed as a result of the explosion of the projectile filling when it encounters any obstacle. The cumulatives precisely pierce the armor due to the high pressure created by the jet, and not, as is often mistakenly believed, burn through it. CSs, both in reality and in the game, are characterized by very high armor penetration rates, which is why they are presented in WOT only as high-cost premium shells.

HEAT shells are probably the most specific type of shells in World of Tanks: armor penetration does not decrease with distance, they can ricochet only in rare cases (at an angle of more than 80 degrees), the normalization rule does not apply to them, the flight speed is lower than that of armor-piercing shells, and when meeting with any screen, they lose their effectiveness - after all, formally, all the energy of the jet goes virtually nowhere. The latter has long been a real scourge of the CS, because in update 0.8.6 the developers have established new rules for penetration with HEATs, according to which the tracks are also a screen for them, i.e. it will not work to break through the caterpillar with damage. In short, the COP is a gold that you still need to be able to use.

So we went through the types of shells presented in World of Tanks. Of course, if you wish, you can write a book on this topic, but this is enough for a start. I hope this article will help you punch and bend.

Cheat sheet for shells from real life, but also relevant for WOT.

We have collected statistics from World of Tanks for all combat vehicles presented in the game.

We analyzed all the tanks according to 24 main indicators and collected their key characteristics in tables. Below you will see a comparison of the performance characteristics of tanks in terms of damage, movement speed, penetration, durability, muzzle velocity, power and armor thickness.

Tank comparison

The data in the tables are distributed by characteristics and represent the top lines of the list of all WOT tanks, sorted by the selected indicator.

Damage per minute DMP

The most dangerous tanks in World of Tanks in terms of maximum damage per minute of battle. The shorter the meeting with these war machines face to face, the greater the chance of survival.

Place	Name	Class	Level	gun	DPM
1	Tortoise	fri-sau	9	120 mm AT Gun L1A1	3380,28
2	Strv 103B	fri-sau	10	10,5 cm kan strv 103 L/62	3342,86
3	ISU-122S	fri-sau	7	122 mm D-25S mod. 1944	3162,16
4	SU-152	fri-sau	7	122 mm D-25S mod. 1944	3162,16
5	T57 Heavy	tt	10	120mm Gun T179	3096,77
6	Object 263	fri-sau	10	130mm S-70A	3084,11
7	Conway	fri-sau	9	120 mm AT Gun L1A1	3076,92
8	T18	fri-sau	2	Browning MG caliber .50 HB, M2	3021,46

By maximum speed

The fastest tanks are presented in the table in terms of maximum movement speed. Gaining a given speed tanks for different times. Here we compared tanks in terms of movement speed on the map in the World of Tanks.

Also, in terms of maximum speed, the last two places from the table are not inferior to light tanks T-50-2, A-20 and T2 Light.

By armor penetration

Not a single enemy will line up against tanks from this table. It contains combat vehicles capable of penetrating the thickest frontal armor with a high degree of probability. It is better to defend yourself from shots of such equipment behind obstacles.

Place	Name	Class	Level	gun	Penetration, mm	One-time damage, hp
1	FV215b 183	fri-sau	10	183 mm L4	310	1150
2	FV4005	fri-sau	10	183 mm L4	310	1150
3	Strv 103B	fri-sau	10	10,5 cm kan strv 103 L/62	308	390
4	Strv 103-0	fri-sau	9	10,5 cm kan strv 103 L/62	308	390
5	Object 268	fri-sau	10	152mm M-64	303	750
6	Object 268 5	fri-sau	10	152mm M-53	303	750
7	Jg.Pz. E 100	fri-sau	10	17cm Pack	299	1050
8	T110E3	fri-sau	10	155 mm AT Gun T7E2	295	750

By margin of safety

These tanks are unmatched in terms of hit points. Often, to destroy any of the tanks from the strength table, you will need more than one tank of ammunition!

Place	Name	Class	Level	Hitpoints	Weight, kg
1	Mouse	tt	10	3200	188680
2	Type 5 Heavy	tt	10	2900	149700
3	E 100	tt	10	2700	129390
4	FV215b	tt	10	2500	69700
5	IS-4	tt	10	2500	59724
6	Pz.Kpfw. VII	tt	10	2500	119730
7	VK 72.01K	tt	10	2500	119700
8	113	tt	10	2300	44700

The following tanks also have 2300 hp in World of Tanks: 113 BO and Mauschen.

Projectile speed

Here, the leaders among WoT tanks in terms of the maximum muzzle velocity of the fired projectile. Against these tanks, it will not be possible to slip between buildings at a great distance. Hitting shells from such tanks has a high chance of penetrating armor.

Place	Name	Class	Level	Speed, m/s
1	(R)T-62A	st	10	1535
2	Object 140	st	10	1535
3	Object 430	st	10	1535
4	Object 907	st	10	1535
5	T-22 med.	st	10	1535
6	T-62A	st	10	1535
7	AMX 30B	st	10	1535
8	AMX30	st	9	1525

Also, the AMX Cda 105 tank has an initial projectile velocity of 1525 meters / s.

Engine power to weight ratio

This table shows the characteristics of tanks, which are ways to gain maximum speed faster than others. Their engine power often exceeds the required one. On such tanks it is good to conduct reconnaissance or move among many opponents. Preemptive shots on tanks from the table below have little chance of success. It is best to hit these combat vehicles with a shot in the forehead or at the moment when the tank is standing still.

According to the thickness of the hull armor

The list of the most protected tanks in World of Tanks crowns the comparative tables of characteristics. There are no tanks that can be easily penetrated. All equipment is protected and has incredible frontal armor, which only a few of all combat vehicles from the world of tanks are able to break through. Fighting them head-on is the most unpromising idea. This technique is designed for tanking in the front ranks at a great distance, as well as for positional battles.

Place	Name	Class	Level	Forehead, mm	Board, mm	Feed, mm
1	T95	fri-sau	9	305	152	50
2	Type 5 Heavy	tt	10	270	160	150
3	T110E3	fri-sau	10	305	76	38
4	Type 4 Heavy	tt	9	250	140	150
5	Pz.Kpfw. VII	tt	10	240	160	120
6	VK 72.01K	tt	10	240	160	120
7	Tortoise	fri-sau	9	228	152	101
8	AT 15	fri-sau	8	228	152	101

Before the start of the battle, shells must be loaded into the tank. Without them, the tank will not be able to shoot and, accordingly, will be useless. The number of shells that can be loaded into a tank depends on the type of tanks in WoT, or rather on the type of gun (caliber) and turret. Different types of projectiles have different properties.

Regular projectiles

Armor-piercing (AP) shells

Armor-piercing shells are the main type of shells that can be fired by almost any weapon. This projectile deals damage only in case of armor penetration enemy (accompanied by the messages "Penetration" and "There is a penetration"). Also he can damage modules or crew, if it hits the right place (accompanied by the messages "Hit" and "There is a hit"). In the event that the projectile's penetrating power is not enough, it will not penetrate armor and will not deal damage (accompanied by the message "Did not penetrate"). If the projectile hits the armor at too sharp an angle, it will ricochet and also do no damage (accompanied by the message "Ricochet").

High-explosive fragmentation shells - have the biggest potential damage, but insignificant armor penetration. If the shell penetrates the armor, it explodes inside the tank, dealing maximum damage and additional damage to modules or crew from the explosion. A high-explosive fragmentation projectile does not have to penetrate the target's armor - if it does not penetrate, it will explode on the tank's armor, causing less damage than when it penetrates. The damage in this case depends on the thickness of the armor - the thicker the armor, the more damage from the explosion it extinguishes. In addition, tank shields also absorb damage from explosions of high-explosive shells, and the slope of the armor does not affect, nor does its reduced value. High-explosive shells can also damage multiple tanks at the same time, as the explosion has a certain range. Tank shells have a smaller high-explosive action radius, self-propelled gun shells have a maximum one. It is also worth noting that only when firing high-explosive shells there is an opportunity to receive the Bombardier award!

Sub-caliber (BP) shells

Sub-caliber shells are the main type of shells for most tier 10 medium tanks, some tier 9 medium tanks and light T71 , M41 Walker Bulldog , as well as M4A1 Revalorisé , IS-5 , IS-3 with MZ , T26E5 . The principle of operation is similar to armor-piercing. They are distinguished by increased armor penetration and a higher projectile flight speed, but they lose more in penetration with distance and have lower normalization (they lose their effectiveness more when firing at an angle to the armor).

Improved Projectiles

Sub-caliber (BP) shells

Sub-caliber shells are the most common premium shells in the game, installed in almost any weapon. The principle of operation is similar to armor-piercing. They are distinguished by increased armor penetration, but have lower normalization (they lose their effectiveness more when firing at an angle to the armor).

Cumulative (CC) projectiles

What are cumulative projectiles? These are improved shells for many tanks in the game, with the exception of shells for the top gun of the T49 light tank and the Ikv 103 tank destroyer, which are not improved. Their penetration is noticeably higher than that of standard armor-piercing shells, and the damage dealt is at the level of armor-piercing shells for the same gun. The penetration effect is achieved not due to the kinetic energy of the projectile (as in the AP or BP), but due to the energy of the cumulative jet, which is formed when an explosive of a certain shape is detonated at a certain distance from the armor. They are not subject to the normalization rule, three calibers, and do not lose armor penetration with distance, but quickly lose armor penetration when they hit the screen.

A detailed device of the cumulative projectile is presented on Wikipedia.

High-explosive (HE) projectiles

These shells differ from conventional high-explosive shells either by a larger explosion radius (when playing on self-propelled guns) or increased armor penetration (HESH shells on some British guns). It is also worth noting that only when firing high-explosive shells is it possible to receive the Bombardier award.

Armor-piercing (AP) shells

Armor-piercing premium shells are found on several vehicles in the game and differ from regular armor-piercing shells either by increased armor penetration at the same damage ( 152 mm M-10 ( "type":"Cannon", "mark": "152 mm M-10", "data": ( "Level": "VI", "Penetration": "110/136/86 mm", "Damage" : "700/700/910 HP", "Average damage per minute": "1750/1750/2275 HP/min", "Rate of fire": "2.5 rounds/min", "Reload time": "24 s", " Spread": "0.6m/100m", "Adjustment": "4s", "Weight": "2300kg", "Price": "60000" ) )) and most of the guns of Japanese tanks, or lower armor penetration with higher damage ( 130 mm B-13-S2 ( "type":"Gun", "mark": "130 mm B-13-S2", "data": ( "Level": "VIII", "Penetration": "196/171/65 mm", " Damage": "440/510/580 units", "Average damage per minute": "1650/1913/2175 units/min", "Rate of fire": "3.75 rds/min", "Reload time": "16 s" , "Dispersion": "0.38 m/100m", "Adjustment": "2.9 s", "Weight": "5290 kg", "Price": "147000" ) )).

Penetration rules for HEAT rounds

Update 0.8.6 introduces new penetration rules for HEAT shells:

• A HEAT projectile can now ricochet when a projectile hits armor at an angle of 85 degrees or more. When ricocheting, the armor penetration of a ricocheted HEAT projectile does not drop.
• After the first penetration of the armor, the ricochet can no longer work (due to the formation of a cumulative jet).
• After the first armor penetration, the projectile begins to lose armor penetration at the following rate: 5% of the remaining armor penetration after penetration - per 10 cm of space traversed by the projectile (50% - per 1 meter of free space from the screen to the armor).
• After each penetration of the armor, the armor penetration of the projectile is reduced by an amount equal to the thickness of the armor, taking into account the angle of the armor relative to the projectile's flight path.
• Now the tracks are also a screen for HEAT rounds.

Ricochet change in update 0.9.3

• Now, when the projectile ricochets, the projectile does not disappear, but continues its movement along a new trajectory, and the armor-piercing and sub-caliber projectiles lose 25% of armor penetration, while the armor penetration of the HEAT projectile does not change.

Shell tracer colors

• High-explosive fragmentation - the longest tracers, a noticeable orange color.
• Sub-caliber - light, short and transparent tracers.
• Armor-piercing - similar to sub-caliber ones, but noticeable better (longer, lifetime and less transparency).
• Cumulative - yellow and the thinnest.

What type of projectile to use?

Basic rules when choosing between armor-piercing and high-explosive fragmentation shells:

• Use armor-piercing shells against tanks of your level; high-explosive fragmentation shells against tanks with weak armor or self-propelled guns with open cabins.
• Use armor-piercing shells in long-barreled and small-caliber guns; high-explosive fragmentation - in short-barreled and large-caliber. Using HE shells of small caliber is pointless - they often do not penetrate, therefore - they do not cause damage.
• Use high-explosive fragmentation shells at any angle, do not fire armor-piercing shells at a sharp angle to the enemy's armor.
• Targeting vulnerable areas and shooting at right angles to the armor is also useful for HE - this increases the likelihood of breaking through the armor and taking full damage.
• HE shells have a high chance of dealing low but guaranteed damage even with no armor penetration, so they can be used effectively to break a hold from a base and finish off opponents with a low margin of safety.

For example, the 152mm M-10 gun on the KV-2 tank is large-caliber and short-barreled. The larger the caliber of the projectile, the more explosive it contains and the more damage it does. But due to the short length of the gun barrel, the projectile flies out at a very low initial velocity, which leads to low penetration, accuracy and flight range. Under such conditions, an armor-piercing projectile, which requires an accurate hit, becomes ineffective, and a high-explosive fragmentation should be used.

Detailed view of projectiles

Many complain about the low speed of the projectile in the game. Like, you shoot, the projectile flies to itself, and the target manages to leave. It seems like this does not happen in life, KVG came up with all this.

We need to dispel this myth. We climb into the most banal Wikipedia, find an article about the T-34 (probably the most popular tank in WoT) and pull out the following line from there:

The main armament of the T-34 early releases (1940 - early 1941) was a 76-mm gun model 1938/39 (L-11). The length of the gun barrel is 30.5 calibers / 2324 mm, the initial speed of the armor-piercing projectile is 612 m/s.

What is 612 m/s? For comparison, the speed of sound is 340.29 m/s. Those. when lightning strikes 340 meters from us, we will hear thunder only a second later. Accordingly, when fired from the T-34 gun at a distance of the same 340 meters, the projectile will reach the target in 0.5 (5) (5 in the period) seconds. Is this timing correct? In reality, no. There is air resistance, the projectile does not fly in a straight line, but very much in a parabola. Therefore, the flight time of the projectile will be even longer. I willingly believe that the ballistic model in the World of Tanks is greatly simplified to reduce the load on clusters.

Let's take rough rounding for simplicity and clarity. Suppose a projectile flies 300 meters in 0.6 seconds, 200 meters in 0.4 seconds, and 100 meters in 0.2 seconds. What is 0.2 seconds? That's quite a lot. With a pulse of 80 beats per minute in your heart, the ventricles will contract. The engine of a Formula 1 car will make 63 revolutions. A professional counter-strike player will have time to react to the appearance of the target and make a headshot. The M4 Sherman tank at a speed of 44 km / h will have time to drive 12 meters with a little - two lengths of its hull. And another 0.2 seconds is quite noticeable by the human brain. In the heat of battle, they may well seem like an eternity.

Let's move on to artillery. It's even more interesting here. When fired at 600 meters, the projectile flies for more than a second. And it is right. Since the projectile flies along a parabola, gaining and losing altitude. The path of the projectile is 1.5-2 times greater than the distance to the target. The situation in the game seems artificial and strained, but when you start counting the numbers, you realize that it is close to reality to the necessary extent.

What follows from all this? When firing, you must take into account the speed of your own projectile, the speed of the target and the distance to it. In practice, of course, no one does the calculations. They shoot by eye. Alas, most of our horned colleagues do not know how to pre-empt. They hit the silhouette of a moving tank and are surprised they miss. That is why the T-50-2 moped causes anal burning - few people understand that it is necessary to shoot in front of him, and not at him. This information is not new for experienced players, but will help beginners - I hope.

Yes, if anything - I will be online only tomorrow. Alas, I can’t take a shit in the comments today. Please be understanding