A Guide to Defeating Russian Tanks (Unfinnished)

Everyone uses their own tricks and tactics, meaning this guide will not apply to most players. This is on the tanks themselves, not the players, not all Russian tanks are overpowered. Russian mains still posses skill, and not all rely on the tanks themselves to to do the dirty work.

This guide also has no relation to the current war, many new players use Russian and German tanks because they require less skill than other nations.

THIS GUIDE INFO WILL BE BASED UPON REALISTIC BATTLES.

The BT-5 is one of Russia's reserve vehicles, and like most other 1.0 tanks it has light armour, the thickest of which is 20mm.

The danger it poses:
It is most known for its high mobility and reasonable gun, allowing it to easily reach points while quickly eliminating/disabling any tanks it happens to see. Its front armour is also oddly shaped, meaning that it can have a higher overall thickness than expected. It poses the most threat to tanks with slow turret turning rates, and tank destroyers without turrets, as it can quickly get behind them before they can destroy it. Most Russian mains know this.

Its Ammunition:
A tanks performance depends massively on its ammunition, and the BT-5's ammunition is not to be underestimated. It has 2 different rounds, the BR-240, and the BR-240SP. The difference between the two is that the BR-240 possesses explosive filler, meaning that it is much more dangerous if you have a densely packed tank. This is because the explosive filler makes the round explode outward in every direction, instead of just the direction it's facing.

Explosive filler rounds:

The other is the BR-240SP, unlike the regular BR-240, it trades its explosive filler for slightly better penetration. It poses little threat unless you get shot in either the front or an area on your side with important parts, like your crew members. It is an armour piercing ballistic capped shell. Ballistic shells:
Its Flaws:
For every Tank's upside, it has a downside. A major downside that can be easily exploited, is its ammunition: this is because it is stored in easy to penetrate places.
Its ammunition is located in the back of its turret and its frontal sides. It is also located at the very bottom of the tank. Explosive filler ammunition is especially effective against the ammo in the back of its head, as it is all clustered with a small space in the middle. If a shot is fired into the space in the middle, its shrapnel will hit all of the ammunition around it, maximising the chance of destroying it. Its armour is also especially weak, allowing SPAAs equipped with auto-cannons with 20mm penetration or more to easily destroy it. Its front is incredibly vulnerable to ballistic capped shells. However, if a ballistic capped shell hits the glass on the front of its driver's optics, it will not explode, removing the majority of its damaging capabilities. The odds of this happening are slim though.

Recap of what to look out for:

• Its speed, allowing it to reach points and sometimes dodge fire.
  
• Its powerful gun, allowing it to quickly eliminate tanks.
  
• Its oddly shaped frontal armour, which can sometimes deflect rounds at extreme angles.
  
• Its high amount of ammunition, which may seem like a flaw, but it also allows it to stay in the battle field longer than other tanks.

The T-26 is often considered the weakest Russian tank, as even though it uses the same ammunition as the BT-5 and posses the same level of armour, it is slower. It also has 205 rounds of ammunition. While this may seem like a good thing, like already established with the BT-5, this makes them more vulnerable.

The danger it poses:
The T-26 is similar to the BT-5 in many ways, it has the same ammunition, armour and gun. It can often blend in with trees and bushes in realistic mode, and its gun poses the same threat as the BT-5's. Meaning that it can easily kill stocky tank if it aims at their weak points. Like most light tanks, it's still fast and can quickly reach points and blend in with the greenery.

Its ammunition:
Due to it using the exact same ammunition as the BT-5, there is not much to talk about here, however there are still some things to note. Unlike other tank rounds, the Br-240 is easily capable of punching through radiators, components known for soaking up rounds. This means that they can easily disable all components in the back of a tank, (transmission, engine, fuel).

Its flaws:
The T-26 is stockier than the BT-5, meaning that it is more likely to be completely destroyed with a single shot. If your in a vulnerable tank, destroying their cannon breach/barrel will prevent them from firing. Afterwards, they can then be easily destroyed without the threat of them retaliating. Like the BT-5, a large amount of its ammunition is stored in the back of its turret.
A single shot to the back of its turret will likely detonate the ammunition, destroying the tank. This explosion can sometimes destroy other lightly armoured vehicles next to the explosion. Recap of what to look out for:

• Its Speed.
  
• Its effective gun.
  
• Its ability to blend in with foliage.

The T-26-4 is basically a more powerful, and uglier version of the T-26. However, it does have different ammunition, which we'll talk about soon.

The threat it posses:
The T-26-4 has lower overall armour compared to other 1.0 Russian tanks, but its cannon is more powerful, as such, it can often take on larger tanks like the LVT(A)(1) and the M2.
This means that players who rely on bullet sponge tanks must be more wary of these tanks, as they can disable many of their components in a single shot.

Its ammunition:
The T-26-4 posses 2 different rounds to choose from, the BR-350A (MD-5-fuze) and the OF-350M. The BR-350A is the equivalent of the BR-240, except with much lower penetration and more explosive filler. It is equally deadly to most light-medium tanks, as already discussed with the BT-5 and the T-26. The other is a high explosive round, meaning that it has minimal penetration but an immense amount of explosive filler (around 6x the amount of the BR-350A). This means that it can instantly destroy a tank if it penetrates its armour. Due to most 1.0 players having 10mm armour or less on their tanks, this makes the rounds especially dangerous.

Its flaws:
Much of its ammunition is stored in its left side, allowing for it to be easily killed. It also has little crew members, meaning that it is easier to kill than other tanks. It is extremely vulnerable to high explosive ammunition, meaning that it can easily be killed by tank destroyers.
The area where its ammunition is stored:
Recap of what to look out for:

• Its powerful ammunition.
  
• Its ability to blend in with foliage.

The GAZ-AAA is Russia's base AA (anti air). It is extremely lightly armour, as it is not made for front line combat, instead, it is built for shooting down planes.

The danger it poses: (against planes)
The GAZ-AAA is certainly not the best 1.0 AA out there, however it still does the job. A mistake many plane players make, is that they try to straf/bomb AAs. This allows them a clear shot on you, meaning that you will most likely die before you can hit them. A powerful tactic, is to hover near your target AA and attempt to see what direction they are faced by watching them fire at any other nearby friendly planes. Then, you can attack them from behind, this tactic becomes less useful when there other enemy AAs in the area.

The danger it poses: (against tanks)
Almost none, just shoot them and they'll die.

Its Weak Points:

Recap of what to look out for when in a plane:

• Its 4 machine guns, which are capable of tearing wings apart.

The BT-7 is the research-able unit after the BT-5. It has better armour and weaponry, and due to its turret using welded armour, this allowed it to be much more curved than the BT-5. This effectively increases the armour on the turret.

The danger it poses:
Even with the improved armour on the front and turret, its protection is still abysmal, and it will likely be destroyed to a single well placed shot. The main challenge that comes from facing them is trying to shoot them before they shoot you, as their powerful gun and excellent ammunition means that they can penetrate your amour, even at extreme angles. They have a reputation to soak up auto-cannon rounds when at an angle, due to their tracks and track armour. They have the same amount of crew members as the BT-5, meaning that they are just as vulnerable. A single shot to the turret can immediately down a BT-7, due to it only having 3 crew members.

Its ammunition
It uses the same ammunition as the BT-5, as well as the same gun.

Its flaws:

The BT-7 is similar to the BT-5 in several ways, how ever the main differences are its slightly better armour, and its mobility. Other than that, most tactics for the BT-5 will also work with the BT-7. Like the BT-5, a large portion of its ammunition is stored in the back of its turret, making the back of its turret vulnerable to attacks from behind. It is also densely packed, similar to the BT-5, meaning that it can easily be taken out with a single well placed shot. A shot to the back of its hull will likely destroy its engine or transmission/fuel, depending on the angle. Recap of what to look out for:

• Its Speed, which is exactly the same as the BT-5.
  
• Its improved armour.
  
• Its ability to blend in with foliage.

The SU-5-1 is the first tank destroyer obtained in the Russian tech tree (excluding event vehicles).

The Danger it Poses:
The SU-5-1 only possesses 8 rounds of ammunition, and low armour. But its makes up for this with its powerful gun and low profile, allowing it to hide behind bushes, rocks, houses and trees. The name "Tank Destroyer" speaks for its self, these tanks are specialised in destroying tanks quickly, they put all of their power into their gun and ammunition. They often have minimal protection unless their- meaning that they can be easily killed if they miss their shot, as they often has slow reloads.

Its ammunition:
The SU-5-1 uses the BR-350A (MD-5 Fuse) and the BR-350SP. The main difference between the SU-5-1's ammunition and others is that it had a higher penetration. Other than this, there is no difference.

Its Flaws:
It has extremely low protection, to the point that it can be killed with machine gun rounds. It is particularly vulnerable to air attacks, as the majority of its crew is in out back, out in the open.
A single shot to the side is likely to destroy it, if not, it will critical damage at least Due to its low armour, high explosive rounds will obliterate it. It doesn't have a turret meaning that if both of its tracks are destroyed, it will completely unable to target you unless your in front of it. If its barrel / cannon breach is destroyed, it will be unable to fire. Shots to its hull are not advisable, as the engine and radiator are likely to soak up much of the damage, and the majority of the crew are in the back. Recap of what to look out for:

• Its low profile, allowing it to hide in bushes and behind rocks.
  
• Its powerful gun, allowing it to instantly destroy most tanks.
  
• Its ability to camouflage with foliage (like most Russian tanks).

The T-28 1938 is the next unit that can be researched after the T-26. The T-28 is quite the opposite of the previous unit. It is the largest BR 1.3 tank in the Russian tech tree.

The danger it poses:
The T-28 is a large tank, with a large crew. This means that it can often take multiple shots before being destroyed. It is large and slow, but it has better armour than the BT-7, being around 20-30mm. It also has 2 machine gun turrets on the front, allowing it to provide distraction fire if an enemy is attacking a teammate. It can easily destroy any light tank if their unable to disable it cannon, due to its odd shape, HE rounds are less effective against them. Having a crew of 6, and it being able to survive with only 2 crew members (gunner and driver), it can easily soak up many rounds before being destroyed. Its gun barrel is quite short, making it even harder to disable its gun.

Its ammunition:
Because it uses the same turret and gun as the T-26-4, it also uses the same ammunition, being the BR-350A (MD-5 fuse) and the OF-350M. The BR-350A is an extremely powerful round, being able to completely knock out even the T-28 (1938).

Its flaws:
It is large, and slow making it a big target. It also has a slow turret turn rate, making it vulnerable from the back, as long as it's turret is facing the front. Fast tanks can attempt to flank it while others try to knock out its crew, even though it may seem like a large threat, it can easily be destroyed with a well placed shot.

The T-60 is the next vehicle in the T-26-4's tech tree, despite this, they share the same BR and danger. The danger it poses:
It's classified as a light tank, but is slightly slower than the BT-5 and BT-7 but has improved armour. Unlike most of the tanks in its BR, instead of a cannon, the T-60 possesses an Auto-cannon, which can be fitted with several different belts (ammunition). It has a fast fire rate, and reasonable AP (Armour Penetration). It can even kill some tanks almost 4X its BR (M24 at BR 3.7) from the front. Its also capable of shooting down planes, although due to its low gun elevation, its less effective than dedicated AA vehicles. It has a high speed (rougly between the BT-5 and the T-26), a small engine, and a small profile, making it extremely hard to get a hit in on it. Due to its high speed, it can often get behind tanks and quickly disable/destroy them before they can react.
Its ammunition:
The T-60's main gun has 3 different belts; 20mm FI, which is a High Explosive round with extremely limited armour penetration, the highest of which is 3mm. Due to this, it is best used against open crew members, or planes.
20mm FI:
Its other rounds are much more effective, the 20mm AP-I is its first AP round, it has a max armour penetration of 24mm, which is enough to kill most tanks when hitting their unarmoured parts/certain areas.
20mm AP-I:
Its other AP round, the AP-I API, is the same as the the 20mm AP-I, but it has a higher muzzle velocity, (92 more than the 20mm AP-I).
AP-I API:

Its Flaws:
It has only 2 crew members, meaning that if one dies the tank will instantly be knocked out, the tank is also quite small, meaning that one effective shot can quickly knock it out as well. Despite having an AP level higher than a lot of tanks at BR 1.0, its round still do little damage, and are likely to ricochet against angled armour.

The GAZ-AAA (DshK) is the next research-able vehicle in Russia's AA (anti Air) tech tree.
The danger it poses:
The GAZ-AAA (DshK) only has one gun compared to the GAZ-AAA (4M)'s 4, but it is slightly more powerful. Other than its gun, the GAZ-AAA (DshK) uses the same truck base as the GAZ-AAA (4M), meaning that it has the same armour, engine and crew. Its machine-gun is heavier than the GAZ-AAA (4M), and can be used to kill lightly armoured vehicles from the side and back, allowing it to somewhat fend for itself. It is incredibly fast, with a max speed of 65Km/h, sometimes allowing it to dodge fire and potentially fatal enemy shots. It max also survive multiple solid shot rounds, if they aren't aimed right, this combined with its fast speed, makes it viable to shoot out its tires or engine.
Its Ammunition: