KV-1 Guide

Main Characteristics
Tank type: Russian tier 5 heavy tank
HP: 590 (640 with the upgraded turret)
Cost: 390.000 credits
XP required to research: 13.500

Introduction:
For most players the KV-1 is the first heavy tank they play. It has a total different playstyle then it’s predecessor, the t-28 which was a fast but fragile sniper/flanker. This thing is slow as balls. It’s armor is very good, but not impenetrable. From my experience most new players have a lot of trouble getting used to the KV-1. In this guide I will mainly focus on what to do and what to avoid.

Strong points:
+ Incredibly well armored on all sides
+ A good selection of guns, which caters to many playstyles and preferences
+ You can research 4 different branches from the kv-1 (2 heavy lines, the medium line and the artillery line)
+ Makes a good amount of profits

Weak points:
- Very slow
- Bad turning speed and turret traverse
- Low camouflage rating
- Very bad view range
- Lowest hp of all tier 5 heavies (but still a lot more then T5 meds)

Role:
The role of the kv-1 on the battlefield is that of a breakthrough tank. You can take the hits so you should lead the charge. Also the kv-1 is an excellent defender of choke points. The kv-1 performs optimal in cities with lots of cover, artillery protection and lots of close combat battles. When your bottom tier play more cautiously. Let the IS’s and T29’s lead the charge. Follow close behind or better from a slightly different angle. In these battles your armor won’t save you, but your gun still packs a punch.

Upgrade path:
The stock KV-1 is terrible. It is incredibly slow and the gun leaves much to be desired especially in terms of penetration. I hope you have researched the M-17F engine from the T-28. If not research it first. Second research the 57mm 413 gun to get a much needed boost to your penetration. Then research the tracks (Mod. 1941). Now research the upgraded turret. The next step all depends on your gun preference: Go for either the 85mm F30 or the 122mm U-11 derp gun. If your gun of choice is the 57mm skip this step. Finally research the 10RK radio and the top engine.

Gun Selection:
The KV-1 doesn’t have 1 best gun like most tanks. It instead has 3 good guns with varying characteristics:
85mm F-30: This is the most allround gun of the three. It has a good 120mm penetration and deals a nice chunk of damage (160 average). With 12 rounds per minute it has decent DPM (damage per minute). It’s drawbacks are the long aiming time and bad accuracy. Most KV-1 drivers prefer this gun.
122mm U-11: If you like derping stuff this is the gun for you. With HE shells your guaranteed to do damage on hit and if you manage to penetrate you can deal an insane 450 average damage. However, this gun suffers from all derp gun drawbacks (terrible accuracy, bad rate of fire, long aiming time and slow shell velocity)
57mm 413: With 85 average damage and 112mm of penetration this gun looks quite pale next to the 85mm. But take into account the incredible rate of fire (over 26 rounds per minute) giving it a DPM of over 2200. Combined with a faster aiming time and a much better accuracy this gun is much more effective for sniping then the 85mm.

Armor
The armor on the KV-1 is it strongest point. It is so good that most tier 4 lights have trouble penetrating your unangled rear! Most tier 2-3 spg’s have trouble doing damage to you. However the KV-1 can turn quickly to a smoldering wreck if you play It recklessly. Learning to utilize your armor to the maximum will increase your survivability more than anything. And will earn you a bunch of steel wall medals along the way. So here are a few tips:

Always show your front armor to the enemy tank! Due to the slopes on the front your armor isn’t a mere 75mm but can increase to over 120 mm effective armor making it capable of stopping nearly all tier 5 guns. Your front armor is the part that makes the baddies bounce, not your side. So always show your front towards the enemy! So what do you do when a medium comes racing in from behind? You turn your gun around and start aiming? No! Turn your butt around and start laughing when he tries to hit you with his puny gun (provided there weren’t a myriad of sneaky td’s shooting you from the start)!

Angle your tank! Just showing your front to the enemy isn’t good enough. To really start bouncing shells and making the armor even more thick you need to angle your tank. About 30 degrees will do. If your facing an enemy that shoots High Explosive shells you’d want to angle even more for like 45 degrees. The reason for that is your tracks are so huge, they eat HE shells for breakfast and save your precious hp. But how do I angle my armor? That is simple. First you point your gun towards the enemy. Second look on the picture of your tank in the bottom left corner. Now turn your hull but keep pointing your gun on the enemy until it looks something like this image:



And voila you’re properly angled!
Know your weakspots! There are some parts of armor on the mighty kv-1 that aren’t exactly mighty. Knowledge of these weakspots will help you kill enemy kv-1’s but more importantly it gives you the opportunity to hide them! The most important parts on the front are:

The lower frontal glacis/plate (when not angled)
The machine gun port and drivers viewport on the upper frontal glacis
More information on weakspots here: http://wotguru.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/KV1_Front.jpg

As you can see most of these weakspots are on the hull. So hiding your hull behind a tank wreck makes you a lot harder to kill! Most maps have plenty of places where you can hide your tank partially. So keep your eyes open and utilize them!

More Tips and Tricks
Avoid Forests and open terrains. The kv-1 is a big tank and therefore has a very bad camouflage rating. Combined with a very short view range you will nearly always be spotted before you spot the enemy. As a result you will get killed while the enemy remains invisible. So try to avoid forests and open fields at all costs. Your playground are cities and choke points. If you have to cross an open place take the path with the most cover or else the fastest route.
Plan Ahead. Because the kv-1 is so slow you really have to plan ahead. Seeing the enemy breaching your lines of defense? You really need to go back immediately to stop them from capping. So keep an eye on your minimap and react quickly. Your speed also makes it hard to switch sides, so when you start the match always choose the route where the most enemies are likely to appear.
It’s dangerous to go alone. A kv-1 is a formidable tank but can easily be killed when it doesn’t have backup. Without backup you can easily be flanked and swarmed.

Pimping your tank
To give your kv-1 an extra punch here are some recommendations:

Equipment
Rammer --> improved Ventilation --> Binoculars
On tier 5 most tanks don’t have great view ranges so I find an extra +25% view range invaluable. You can’t shoot what you can’t see. However you can switch it for an enhanced gun laying drive if you don’t like it.

Consumables
Just use the standard repair kit, medic kit and a fire extinguisher. A kv-1 can be shot on fire quite easily if you shoot at the rear hull and the sides. So if you get engine fire regularly you are showing your sides way too often. A good kv-1 driver rarely has engine fires.

Crew Skills
Commander: Sixth Sense --> Recon --> Brothers in Arms
Gunner: Repair --> Snap Shot --> Brothers in Arms
Driver: Repair -->Smooth Ride--> Brothers in Arms
Radio Operator: Repair --> Situational Awareness --> Brothers in Arms
Loader: Repair --> Adrenaline Rush --> Brothers in Arms
Repair is a must have because your tracks get shot so often. The increased view range skills are very useful if you get out in the open and the accuracy skills help a lot when you need to shoot a flanker. I consider these skills more useful then BiA because they specifically help with dealing some tricky situations. For the loader I’d take Adrenaline Rush over Safe Stowage because in my experience I don’t get ammo rack hits often.


Originally written by azenjood

Just what I needed to read right now.. that is wonderfull thank you.