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Tactics How to Handle T34/76s

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Jhaxavier

Grizzled Veteran
Oct 9, 2006
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#1
Basically, this is a quick guide on how to properly use the T34/76.

Do's:

-Use your tank's speed to outmaneuver the enemy and confuse them. T34/76s and small, early war tanks are quite fast.
- ANGLE YOUR TANK whenever you get into a frontal slugmatch. This is your best bet for survival since your frontal armor can hardly stand much, especially against heavier tanks.
- If you're faced up with a heavy tank like an IS-2 or a Tiger, back up away from it while staying angled. Even better, angle your tank to minimize damage then race for cover when they reload.
- USE FLANKING TACTICS. A well-crewed pair of T34s or any tank can slip behind the enemy advance using simply their speed, land cover, and forest cover (e.g. Black Day July) and destroy most of their advance just because they can have a unblocked shot at their engines.
- Stay in packs. This heightens your chances of survival and effectiveness when faced with a heavier tank or other tanks.
- Use the tank for hit and run tactics. Not as good as a flank, but better than a straight slugfest. Best balance of both worlds.

Do Not's:

- Engage in a slugfest with a tank larger than you (even if you're with other friendly tanks). This is a common application of T34/76s, which mostly ends with their quick demise. Your usual T34/85 or an IS-2 is for this purpose; a /76's armour cannot usually stand up for long against a heavier tank, even if you're angled. Also, other enemy tanks ganging up on your T34/76 often proves disastrous.
- Go in cities, towns, or other cramped areas. T34/76s stand almost no chance against Panzerfausts or PTRDs to the engine.

Other Tactics:

- Mad Rush: Appear at first to engage in a slugfest with a tank. Angle your tank as to not get killed in the first couple seconds of shooting. After he fires (and hopefully doesn't damage your tank too badly), hit the gas and blaze past him and turn around after you get a good distance from him (and don't forget to angle your tank!). The goal is to get a shot at his rear engine. This is best done with a gunner and a driver.
- Defensive Advance: Advance on the enemy tank, but try not to directly go for it, instead ofsetting your tank's direction by 45 degrees or so, to have his shells bounce off your tanks and waste valuable moving time (can be done with other tanks I reckon). While you drive forward, try to angle your tank relative to his gun at the same time, so keep adjusting.
***

I got most of my experience with the T34 from games of BDJ, where all the Russians get are fast, lesser armoured tanks which hardly stand up to slugfests, but are incredibly practical in the map for destorying the German advance from behind.

Anyway, C&C are welcome. :)
 
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#7
Try "Medium Tanks" which is what the T-34 series are.

The IS-2 and Tiger are "Heavy Tanks". The Panther...well, that one's debatable, but I'd say it's a heavy tank. Possibly a heavily armed medium. As I understand it, the difference between heavy tanks and MBTs is the role they play, not simply their armor/armament. An MBT, is more about the role a tank plays within the whole armored force, rather than about its armor/weapons. Much of that comes from the way WWII tank doctrine worked early on where there was a much wider variety of armored vehicles (IE: infantry tanks, assault guns, tank destroyers, breakthrough tanks, scout tanks, etc.). The MBT (again, as I understand it) is part of a more homogenized armor force that performs multiple tasks.

We only really have one light tank in the game -- the T-60. You can't really discuss light tank tactics in this game, given that (a) scouting is usually worthless, and (b) light tanks aren't exactly designed for anti-tank warfare. They're usually anti-infantry and light vehicle, and can take on some lighter emplacements.

Early-war tank doctrine (when light tanks were far more common) is completely different from what we're used to, even in the German army. But that's a whole other discussion.
 
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#13
LemoN said:
id say the Pz4 and the T34 are MBT's
and not the Tiger or IS2

MBT means main battle tank...
so that means the backbone of the tankflotilla

id also consider the Panther as a MBT 1944+
Click to expand...

Not exactly. It refers more to the role that the tank plays, and as compared to the rest of the armor being produced.

The MBT concept doesn't really come into fruition until around the 1950s/1960s when armor forces become far more homogenized. In WWII, there was more distinction based on weight, and there was a lot more separation of roles. Although the medium tanks like the M4A3 and T-34 and Pz IV models do a lot of the jobs of an MBT, they're still part of a very diversified armor system that also includes breakthrough heavy tanks like the IS-2, Pershing, and Tiger (and arguably the Panther), and lighter recon tanks like the BT series, Pz II (depending on timeframe), and M3 scout tanks. And don't forget your assault guns and tank destroyers like Jagdpanzers, M-36 Jacksons, and the later SU-series of vehicles.

Then you've got the British who had a totally different system of cruisers and infantry tanks (which turned out to be a pretty crappy doctrine that they ended up abandoning).

By contrast, an MBT is supposed to do all those jobs, and those that it doesn't perform are relegated to other vehicles besides tanks (IE: armored cars for scouting, APCs for troop transportation, etc.).




And yes, jhaxavier, just because I'm nitpicking the terminology you used, don't think that your advice isn't good. All the points you made are dead-on as far as how to survive in a T-34 when going up against a Tiger or Panther (or for that matter, a Pz IV going up against an IS-2). :)
 
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#14
LOL, as an Axis player seeing somebody talk about the T-34/76 as a light tank brings a mirthful, yet bitter tear into my eye.

That machine is a beast and the T-34/85 is even more terrible! The BT-series were the most common Soviet light tanks (or, well, fast tanks), just as the U.S. M5 Stuarts - not the T-34 series.

And stop talking about it being "lightly" armoured. Try driving around in a PzIII and you'll know what light armour is. :rolleyes:
 
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#15
Pz III has lighter armor than most tanks (except the T-60), but it's got other things going for it like LIGHTING fast reloads and a low profile (as far as German tanks go, anyway).

If we ever start seeing more long-range tank battles -- that take advantage of the 3000m viewdistance change, I mean -- low profile will count for a LOT.
 
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#17
One trick I like to use (when team tanking) to approach and flank an enemy tank is to fire HE rounds in FRONT of the tank. They kind of act as smoke rounds (although not as long-lasting) because of the plume of dirt they kick up. It can blind a tank momentarily, or at least make him take a second to correct his aim. Just don't forget to have switched back to AP for the reload when you get to flanking position. ;)
 
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#18
Solo4114 very nice idea, I have many times lamented the lack of smoke ammo for tanks, sometimes when I am commander I get out of tank and lay a smoke screen to cover my tank.

But that HE trick to try and flank is a good one, needs just the right moment to be ready with it and to use it correctly :), although doing damage to enemy tank isn't bad either...
 
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#19
Yeah, you can get a similar effect if you hit an HE shell right on the front of the tank, but it may not last as long as the dust plume from a shot that lands in front. I can't recall if AP rounds kick up the same amount of dust as an HE round. If they do, I'd recommend using AP only.

This is mostly useful on maps like BDJ where it's a T-34 vs. a Tiger or a Pz III vs. a T34 (I think the Pz IIIs have HE shells on that one). You also need a fair bit of space to do your flanking and you need to know that your AP shells have no chance of penetrating at the range you're firing. If all of that's true, blind the enemy until you can get close enough to damage him.

On any of the official maps, the range is usually so close that flanking is damn near impossible anyway, and is largely pointless.
 
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