Overview
This guide is not about how to use the at rifle or where to shoot the tanks. There are a lot of great and useful guides about that and i’ll make sure to link them.I just wanna help new players (or inexperienced ATs) by tips from my own experience and tips others gave me as well
Introduction
You are a silent hunter. You should move unnoticed and put fear in the tankers’ hearts. Let your terror keep them back and their attention drawn from your important troops. Your job is not to fight infantry. That’s what your team is for. You have a huuuge rifle with very few bullets, so make them count and don’t waste them on infantry. You might need all of them against tanks later.
Flanking
Very important. You can’t just take a tank head on with enemy squads looking straight in your direction as well. Sure you can get lucky and lay down some shots before getting killed. If you are even more lucky, you can inflict damage to the tank or straight up destroy it.
Flanking is important for 2 reasons:
First you will be out of most of the enemies’ line of sight (including the tank). You have a big muzzle flash that basically goes like “Hey i’m here, shoot me”. Enemies will notice it and you’ll become an easy high priority target for them to protect their tank. If you flank them, they’ll have to look for you wasting precious time while you are obliterating their big strong rolling boom-boom thingy.
Second, tanks are easier to damage and kill from the side. Especially the russians.
Also flanking is the only way to get up close to a tank with your explosives. NEVER run at a tank head on, only if you are in throwing range perhaps. There are 2 mgs and a big deadly cannon looking forward and you could get mowed down far before throwing your explosives. Not to mention enemy infantry nearby.
Flanking is hard, slow, needs patience, but it’s very rewarding.
Here I flanked the entire Russian team and NOONE expected me to be there. Neither did the tank to their mistake. Got lucky and only had to lay down one shot in a weak point.
To fight or not to fight, and taking the shot
Remember. You are a tank hunter, not a man-hunter. You should stay hidden and move unnoticed at all times. Do not fight and kill enemies if not necessary, especially behind their lines. If you kill just one guy, he may call you out and now the whole enemy team will know where you are and they’ll sure make a move and get you. And you just wasted a good opportunity and have to run all the way again through the fight.
Let them pass if they didn’t see you. It’s your team’s job to fight them. Although if you see the commander especially near the radio, send him to the otherworld. And then relocate…very quickly.
Only fight enemes who noticed you/are aiming/shooting at you.
One guy was running straight at me while I was laying on the ground and he only noticed me a few meters in front so whilst I didn’t want to shoot him, I had to at the last moment.
Pro tip: Unlock the nagant’s suppressor as soon as you can. It’ll still be audible but you’ll have way less chance of being heard. I’ve managed to flank and take down a whole squad on Myshkova, cause noone could tell where the shots are coming from while being super close.
Here I managed to flank the entire enemy team without a single shot and by letting them pass me only just a few meters away sometimes.
The result can be seen above
Fighting tanks is all about dicipline and patience.
If you are finally in shooting position but getting suppressed, or can’t get a goot shot at the tank, just wait. Wait until suppression goes away and for the fire to stop. Discipline. If you are facing a tank laying on the ground and you see it’s shooting in your direction, don’t sh#t yourself. It might have not even noticed you and it’s sooting someone else way behind you or just suppressing a point. Wait until you have a stable sight picture and can take precise aim at a weak point. Don’t start spraying hoping you will hit something, cause that’s a dead giveaway both for the tank and the surrounding infantry. Your shots count. They are loud, bright and very noticeable. ONLY shoot when you are sure you will hit a critical point. Tankers also have an indicator of where the shot came from. I’ve managed to get a lot of one shots on tanks by simply being calm and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
If you know there is a tank behind ‘that’ corner or it is behind the smoke screen again, wait. Wait until it shows you a part worth shooting or wait until you can make out it’s silhouette in the smoke.
If you still can’t get a good shot on it, dont worry, it will move soon and give you an opportunity
Just imagine how frustrating it must be to peacefully roll out and then a sharp eyed boi with a big rifle instantly sends you to heaven then takes you to hell.
Positioning and movement
First of all: Flank Flank Flank! Use the knowledge I gave you above
And now think. Where would you be as a tank? Where would you expect enemy tank hunters to hide? It’s all about psychology and reverse psychology. Flanks are watched by enemies most of the time so be very careful. Use your surroundings. Hide. Every bush, every tree, every pile of grass might raise your life expectancy and help you stay hidden. Move in short bursts and stay the f out of open areas. Crawl when needed (you’ll need it a lot)
This is when teamwork comes into place. There might be another AT or engineer or straight up armor going in for the enemy tank. Move somewhere and harass the tank. You’ll draw it’s attention while others can move up to counter the tank. Or vica versa. Someone is harassing the tank, it’s not looking in your direction, perhaps neither enemy infantry. Move up and unleash hell on it by anything you’ve got.
Position yourself the best way to lay down critical hits. Flanks, elevations, moving up close and personal. Also worth noting. Sometimes the most obvious locations are the least obvious. Noone would expect you to be right in the open or straight in their face so they won’t even look there.
Relocate often. Shoot a clip at the tank maybe, reload and then find another location. Relocate after EVERY kill. Doesn’t matter if it’s infantry, or a tank. Just get the hell outta there. It’s even better if there are ammo points nearby. Visit them often but be careful for enemies also going in to resupply.
Alert your teammates where you are to avoid friendly fire at distance. Also pay attention to friendly artillery.
Stay away from popular areas and obvious covers (such as cap zones, windows, sandbags, obstacles, map strongholds). Tanks regularly bomb those areas with HE shells. Infantry will watch those locations.
If there are no enemy tanks around currently (cause perhaps you were so good, you made the tanker ragequit), throw your at rifle, pick up anything you find and move with your team, be there in the cap zones. At least you’ll rank up your AT class faster.
For example the T-34s only weak point from the front are 2 little points on the turret ring under the turret’s edge. If you shoot it head on, it will kill the commander or the gunner but that’s it. If you shoot it from an elevated position, your bullet can fly through the interior and maybe hit a critical part as said before. Try to aim across the interior for best results. You can even take down a tank with one shot if you are lucky.
But seriously. Move up as close as you can. The AT rifle is more effective the closer you are.
Summary
So let’s summarize what we’ve learnt
-Flank
-Do not fight, only when necessary
-Be quiet
-Hide
-Move and stay hidden
-Find good vantage points
-Take your shot
-If you can, work with your team
And the most important: Keep moving! Use everything you’ve got.
You HAVE to take that tank down even if you die. Worth it.
Epilogue
I hope this guide was helpful, also tips and critics are welcome.
I’ll maybe extend it later if I get even more experienced, or add screenshots of different situations if i’ll have the time to take some.
For the weakspots, critical hit zones and using the rifle itself check out the following guides:
How to kill tanks with an AT rifle, a manual. by LugNut
[link]
Aiming Weapons & Hitting Tanks by Praxius
[link]
The Complete Guide to AntiTank Rifles by the living legend himself: General Sir Anthony C H Melchett
[link]
These guides helped me a lot in using the rifle and fighting the tank itself
Also HIGHLY RECOMMEND this map by nymets1104 for practice
[link]
It’s a masterpiece