Depends on the situation. A smoke shell can do the job of a HE round in some situations with the addition of smoke. Of course the smoke is also glitched at times... And its pen is awfull... On my panzer 4 F2 I use smoke shells or HEAT vs AA and smoke shells vs sniping positions.
I once destroyed my friend, who was using an open top SPAA, with a smoke shell in a custom battle. I have also shot down a plane in a test drive using a smoke shell. It's really funny, because the smoke just stays in the air, where you hit the plane.
Patric Zahalka, it wasnt only the HESH nerf, HESH does damage at normal to the armor it strikes meaning the angled plates force the spalling downwards and not affecting crew in the turret as much. Penetration wise at 30 degrees that HESH nerf didnt affect the Fv4005 because the penetration of the round is so large.
Where is the APCRHEATSHCBCDSFSSS (armor piercing composite rigid high explosive anti tank squash head capped ballistic capped discarding sabo fin stabilized smoke shell)
So it takes some other RU-vidr like over 5 Months to make a Part 2 To his video, Meanwhile this video exsists and it is of equal quality and has twice the quantity. Thanks for this video.
Russian tanks don't fire normal rounds. They fire a combination of every shell in the game in 1 shot. That way they can kill anything they shoot no problem. Basically mini nukes in the shells lol.
@@daniel3231995 In wot shells don't quite have the same mechanics, you don't account for shell drop or range, just angle of hit and if the shell is premium or not
EDIT 1: APCR (despire higher ricochet slope) performs worse on angled armor since short projectiles suffers more from de-normalisation. EDIT 2: APFSDS has the most damaging spalling of all non exploding projectiles.
HowToPlay1337 I'm only 30 seconds in and I absolutely love your video. The clips on the right at 0:29 help a massive amount when trying to understand this. Thank you!
Il do it for you. APHE, great for messing up ammo racks. Delayed Fuse HE, Great for messing up hull sections (Only germany has these). Timed fuse HE, Airburst. Great for taking out planes and small boats behind cover (Russia only). Radio fuse HE, Airburst that explodes only within a certain proximity of a metal object large enough (Plane. Also US only). And that racks up all of the shells in the cut so far... We also have regular HE that just does the delayed fuse HE's job but worse.
Excellent Explained man. My favorite type of Shell is HESH with his Amazing way of Demolishing armor. "Why not mounting a Cannon on a Tank Chassis? Thats why we got HESH Captain!"
Already have it Mate,and I have the Rest of the UK Aswell. I really hope they add the Churchill AVRE. also you forgot Rockets,aka Katyusha,Panzerwerfer and Cromwell RP-3.
Yeah was thinking about rockets but end up with the idea that it's just another way to deliver destruction to an enemy since the warhead is usual HE or HEAT.
HowToPlay1337 I thought AP standard was better at penetrating slopes because of it's shape. In your video it seems APCR is better in all cases except for range?
I hope you guys are aware that APHE 360° sphere of death is massively exaggerated and doesn't word IRL like that at all. Most kills in WT with APHE are total BS bc of that, and it is easily the single most broken thing in WT GF. The main damage source should be spalling just like it's with solid shot now. Burst charge should just prevent overpenetrations and break up of shell in the tank. Solid Shells sometimes shattered inside tanks, and HE was to make sure they did, but in no way do 50g of explosives encased in a thick 75mm AP shell kill 5 people. The British did tests with a 113gs of pentolite (~175g of TNT) inside an APC, and put 5 sheep inside. They all survived and only suffered eardrum damage. And none of this 'muh overpressure, muh explosive blast' nonsense
Yeah, something like that. As far as I understand, some explosive charge won't really make a shot more deadly, because it's a massive hunk of metal hitting a tank at few hundreds km/h. It already causes lot of spalling, so will a bit of explosive that also makes shot less penetrative cause it to do more damage? Not sure, but it probably won't. I guess that's the reason why APHE shells weren't used much after WWII and APDS is the main tank killer now. The thing is, will APHE even be used ingame over solid AP if they'll have same destructive power? WT actually isn't really realistic that much and some kills are such a BS, especially artillery ones. Also look at a comet maybe, which, AFAIK, was considered very good tank, is so bad in WT, I can't see how it's even tiny bit usefull, considering it's just a cromwell with better gun at much higher BR. Guess people who wanna play british tanks just gonna suffer till higher BRs
I cannot tell you how much I thank you man for making this video because I never understood what all those shell types meant and what they did 👍⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
APDS - practice shell capable of penetrating armor, yet safe to use as does no post-pen damage whatsoever. So safe you can impact a crew member, or ammo rack directly, and no one will be injured.
Saving this video for personal reminder and for anyone who wants to learn in War Thunder! One of the better and SIMPLEST videos explaining ammo types I've seen so far! Thank you. :)
Most artillery rockets use HE. Anti-tank missiles, on the other hand, usually use HEAT. Anti-air rockets and anti-air missiles (not yet in-game) almost exclusively use HE.
I've learned things about WT from this video that I haven't learned in 3-4 years of playing tanks, godamn. Also the way this video was presented reminds me of those old US military and civilian instructional videos where you have simple, straightforward graphics, simple straightforward to-the-point narration and no unnecessary deviations or flashiness that deviates from the main point the video is trying to make. These make for the best kinds of instructional videos.
Firstly, thanks for the extremely detailed and helpful explanation on shell types! I learnt some new things while watching and is certainly worth the time. By the way comrade, Stalin approve of using glorious Stronk KV2 to explain HE.
Well, in my experience this is how I use my shells: *Shrapnel shells* for pre BR 3.0 tanks and side shots for pre 4.0 tanks. Great for destroying trucks and other light AA vehicles, because fuse sensitivity is like 10mm or less. And they make the biggest boom for caliber. *HESH* to russian pre 8.0 mediums & All AA. (They still aren't that reliable) Centurion AVRE & FV4005 kill their targets with any direct hit. *APHE* to do most of the dirty work (One shots, especially from the side.) Some lighter more special weapons have bad APHE for tier. (PT-76 is a good example, 110mm of pen and can tackle targets from the side at close range. HEAT works better. At least for me, because I know ammo rack positions of most of the medium BR tanks.) *HEAT* if good enough APHE isn't available. (Knowing ammo rack positions help a lot with heat.) Not _so_ usable after 9.0, because everything has HEAT protection. (used to have like 1000 silver cost per HEAT-FS shell, so APDS/APHE was cheaper option.) *Solid AP* If APHE isn't available or if you need more pen to tackle heavy targets. (When APCR isn't available) *APCR/HVAP* I carry a few if I have to rumble with heavy tanks in CQC and can't flank. Need multiple shots to kill heavy tank with them and I use them mainly to disable gunner/cannon breech and retreat out of danger. *APDS/APDSFS* If good enough APHE or HEAT isn't available and if going over 9.0. APDS is notably inaccurate. _IE:_ King Tiger vs Any British tank at over 1,8km away. Keep your aim at center of the KT's hull and your shots land around commanders cupola and lower frontal plate. High velocity makes it easier to aim at long distances. (More of the aim lines cover the target so miscalculating distance has less effect, because you can have around 4-7 lines at your target.) *Guided rockets* Same effect as with HEAT shells, but they have enough BOOM to penetrate most targets frontally. Even after 9.0. Aim at their ammo racks and watch the fireworks. BR 10.0 tanks have the best HEAT protection and knowing weakspots helps a lot. *Smoke Shells* Self explanatory. Hinders enemies & *YOUR* ability to see through. Some nasty sniper sitting in a good covered position? Shoot a smoke shell in front of him and he can't see, but you can drive past him or push yourself closer. Shooting smoke closer to you hinders your ability to see possible enemies advancing to your position. And lastly: ordinary HE. Usually good for light AA vehicles, because they will detonate on impact with anything hard. Not worth to carry around, because HEAT has same effect with light AA trucks and if enemy tank comes around, you'll be left pretty much defenseless with HE loaded. (Even the low tier German HEAT can buy you enough time to reload APHE shell) Big cannons (KV-2, SU/ISU 152, HO-RO, Sturmpanzer II, brumbär & other over 120mm cannons) Have deadly HE shells, because they have enough pen to go through hull and turret roof armor. Just hit lower part of gun mantlet or any cupola and you'll kill or cripple your target. Everything in this comment is debatable and your personal preference/skill and other factors might make other shell better than mentioned in this list. Happy hunting!
i'ts called tank polygon, can be found in war thunder live where users can create their own custom missions. this is really usefull work and that guy updates his polygon every update with new vehicles (you will not be able to drive vehicles you don't own) link: live.warthunder.com/post/291945/en/
@Dounce if you haven't researched a vehicle you cannot take it into the test range. Also, some vehicles are unavailable as the creator hasn't added some yet.
Actually you have to understand that angle of attack and angle of armor are not one and the same. So befor the last patch or so, whenever warthunder told you that a shell will riccochet at 40° angle of attack it meant 90° - 40° = armor angle (50°). So take a look again and see that all HVAP and Sabot shells will riccochet much earlier.
I initially thought the mic was a bit choppy, and almost didn't watch this. But I'm glad I did, because it was actually a very informative and useful video! Especially explaining what APHECBC stands for, lol
Incredibly solid video, thank you so much for making this! Definitely going to my favorites :) (and yes I subbed!) It's infinitely better than the one posted by Gaijin on their channel. Yours is easier to understand, much more complete, and has much better video footages to explain what you're saying. _PS: have you got a pop filter for your microphone? it's great way to improve the audio quality without having to immediately go for a Yeti._
In my experience with War Thunder, Smoke rounds are the best for getting the maximum frags per game. They simply smoke the enemy crew to death. It is hillarious to see a tank die that way. They are often confused as to what haappened and accuse you of hacks. Also they don't explode your ammo rack. You Never Die. I remember a match where I used my T29 with all smoke shells load out leading to 15 kills and 2 respawns! 7/10 would recommend all smoke shell loadout!
Fantastic work, this video really nails everything down. Now I finally have something to simply link to other people instead of trying to explain stuff I didn't fully understand. Now you just need to do an armor guide so people understand how angling works as well as stuff like explosive reactive (ERA), spaced armor, and composities, as well as their interactions with all the shell types.....
APHE is wrong. Or at least irl. It doesn't send HE shrapnel in all directions, it only increases the angle from the shell's path. The TNT doesn't have enough energy to overcome the kinetic energy of the shell.
Yea. The APHE is is supposed to increase the shells shrapnel radius when detonating in the tank. Currently In game thats not the case sadly, thats why AP of all types with HE usually one shots tanks ingame. Like irl the tnt cant overcome the shells velocity and should only increase the shells shrapnel cone instead of a 360° shrapnel spread. That would increase tank surviability alot.
In real life, APDSFS and HEAT are either death or nothing. If HEAT goes through, the jet of molten copper pretty much fries everything inside. Crew at least, if not ammo. Same goes for sabots. The sheer amount of kinetical energy is turned into heat, which burns everyone inside. But both shells have their problems. HEAT could be deflected by contact armor and even pasive armor makes it really tough for HEATs. Sabots are kinda bet on lottery. The energies upon impact are so huge, that many thing could go wrong. Due to bad angle, the penetrator could riccochet or break. Modern armors are made by layers. When sabot goes through each different layer, it makes shock waves, which can lead to break or riccochet of sabot. So even if shooter hits enemy just right, he can never be 100% sure, if he kills them. You can never simulate this in WT, but they still did really good job. Much better than WoT and its HPs.
Little correction: APFSDS does not bounce, they shatter. But you can only do that to some older APFSDS with very high angle plate (like the Abrams UFP)
At 10:10 you mention how the "centrifugal" force disperses the shells energy. I believe you meant Centripetal Force, for that centrifugal force is actually a made up force and is not real.
I understand the dilema, however, in my brain it would be ok to describe it a centrifugal force in this case, cause its the mass trying to follow a straight line that causes the loss of effectiveness, not the force keeping it in. Not absolutely sure about this though.
This was an excellent video! I already play tier 6 tanks religiously so this was not something I needed to watch but I still learned something. I didn’t know using HE on a machine gun turret would also work that’s very clever! You did a wonderful job this is easily the go to video for new people learning shells
The best shell normally is the APHE cause it has an explosive filter inside which oneshots the enemy. But with the french introduction to the game and the AP buff
Did i hear 'centrifugal force' in this.... it doesn't exist, the fragments of the shell spread out because they maintain their velocity at the point of shell explosion. Say its spinning at 30 rad/s for a 0.1m diameter shell, at the point of explosion, each fragment will keep moving at its velocity at the point of explosion, in this case about 3m/s + any additional velocity provided by an explosive inside the shell. Before the shell fragments, CENTRIPETAL force keeps the velocities of the (soon to be) fragments rotating, but this ceases to exist once the shell fragments. Nice video anyway, maybe i'll get a few more kills now since i know what shells actually work best against what targets...
he was referring to the effects of centrifugal force upon the jet of a shaped charge, which is quite well documented. Maybe do some research and report back here.
Centrifugal force straight-up doesn't exist. It's an illusion used to simplify physics to explain things to people who don't understand physics. AmbitiousButRubbish is correct, as he uses vector addition to describe the effects.
@@veritasabsoluta4285 First. Line. "In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference." In science, words like "fictitious", "pseudo" and "appears" mean that whatever phenomenon they describe isn't real.
Hello! Excellent video really very good. It has become clear to me how each ammunition works, it has been a while since I needed a video like that. I congratulate you and you won a subscriber
I really appreciate your video , which was well made. I know most of the points you made or the facts. But I was frustrated and maybe to lazy to figure . Lol I also learned a few tricks I did not realize. Thank you for a great video.
Just play the Ho Ro or Strumpanzer. Nothing like nuking a post-WWII tank with one of them. Lol. And they are great against a Maus. Brummbar/KV2 is just as effective as well. I use the HE shell for them. You will die a lot but it is so much fun taking out an IS-6, T-54, T-62 or Maus with your little derp tank with a big gun. I have been trying out the HEAT on the Strumpanzer and Brummbar, I have very good luck with the HEAT on a little Strumpanzer. I can only imagine the swearing from the person I take out with that little tank.
There are some "hidden" features in this game's -broken- shell mechanics, when you shoot a fin-stabilized Sabot and penetrates a target, it makes smaller spalling just like a regular APDS/APCR, but, if the shell goes through a module and *penetrates it* (the game has hidden module armor, this can be noticed when inspecting Gun Breaches in open top vehicles or tracks/wheels), it will make even more shrapnel, sometimes making even more spalling than your regular Solid Shot can do, although RNG affects the secondary shrapnel, so it's really spread out, and the primary spalling caused by the shell, can pierce a crew member and hit another behind him, causing smaller damage. Now the HEAT-FS shell has some mechanics aswell, it works kinda like a Solid Shot, when it hits and explodes, it will make shrapnel and this shrapnel will penetrate the tank's armor, the stream of heat will go on, carrying with it the previous spalling it made until it hits a module, again, like the FS Sabot, if it penetrates the module and not lose energy, it will make multiple clouds of shrapnel inside the vehicle, the HEAT-FS shell is more effective against a tank's turret because there's ammo and/or smaller modules, this is exactly why almost every vehicle with ERA is almost only on the turret, the second spalling can also be noted if you shoot a turret ring, it will always go through it and create a secondary cloud, making almost the same damage (76mm HEAT-FS) as a 120mm Solid Shot will do.
Your grammar isn't quite right at times, but I could understand you perfectly every time. This is a very high quality video, a rare sight these days! You deserve many more views than you got, youtube should be promoting quality content like this.
All youtube is promoting are some bad RU-vidrs that somehow managed to get so many subscribers and only care to help them because youtube mostly care about money
I want to thank you very much for this video. I have always discounted the Hi explosive shell and not carry them in my tanks. Now after watching this video it gave me some great ideas on how to use them in fighting light armored vehicles.
I dont carry them in my tanks as well. If you face a lot of trucks at first tiers than it may be useful but for most tier 4/5 tanks its a waste of ammo space
![📘 Tank Shells Guide [War Thunder ammo types explained]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
