World of Tanks Primer: Volume Two
So maybe you did not enjoy playing the role of scout, tempting fate by trying to find the enemy and rely on your team to take care of them for you. Maybe you tried to roll a medium tank into their team only to be caught in a crossfire with no heavy tanks around to help soak damage. Maybe you’ve chosen to be that heavy tank that soaks damage.
The Heavy Tank
This tank is exactly what the name implies: A moving fortress on two treads. Featuring easily the best armor of the game and able to soak damage from most light and medium tanks, the heavy is the tank to play if you want to be in the middle of the fight and come out alive. Thus, the play style for the heavy tank is simple: Be the front line.
If you are one of, or the only, heavy tank for your team you should be advancing at the head of a column of tanks into a congested part of the map. For example, by the lead when going down a valley or around the corner of a terrain piece that you know will be under the watch of enemies. If you take shots immediately, you will likely still be above half-hp and able to back into cover. You’re sort of an early warning system that an area is being watched, as you can take the shots and live to tell the tale.
On the opposite of this, do not rush forward blindly with no one behind you. You may be a rolling piece of armor in the eyes of other tanks, but you are not immortal. Just because you are able to soak the damage from multiple tanks does not mean you can sit and kill them all as a heavy. You need others following you and supporting you to win the battle.
If you always envision yourself as the player who hides out of sight and picks off the enemy, there is a tank just for you.
The Tank Destroyer
Here is the role that runs contrary to most of the others in the play style. You are not a tank that advances more than necessary. The most beneficial way to play a TD is to pick a good spot of cover, and watch one of the paths the enemy is likely to take.
Cover applies to the TD more than any other tank, as the TD hosts the largest front-to-side armor gap in the game. This means that if you take a hit in the front, you have a good armor value and will likely live. If shot in the sides or back though, kiss your tank bye. So it is extremely important to position your tank in a way that blocks off as much incoming fire as possible. Blocking arty is also very important, as you don’t move that much as a TD (you want to stay still to have the most accurate shots), so plant your tank as close as possible to a rock or building that is between you and the enemy. If you have a wedge between houses or rocks, stick your barrel through it with a smile and wait for something to come into your sights. This is the most effective way to play TD in my opinion.
Really enjoyed the screenshots!