Is-7 8.0 armor update
Fine, less work for me…
So, no improvement for the IS-7 lower plate in 8.0, moreover, it even lost some compared to the live version. What we get in 8.0 is a tougher angled UFP but a bit weaker LFP.
Why is that is anybody’s guess. I think, this has something to do with the WG-type game balancing. German Tier X heavies won’t get competitive guns, but with such ninja nerfs the company generate a weak spot for them. The lower hull armor in 8.0 is kinda historical now. It behaves as a 150 thick plate at 53 degrees from vertical slope should, but this very same armor was definitely stronger before (and it is on live).
The good news in the bad news are that our previous and revised for 7.5 head-on armor scheme needed only minimal modification. I would like to let a note for the Russian bias chanting crow though. The pike nose of the IS-7 in 8.0 does not benefit from the “in-built” lateral angle as it should have, like the IS-3 or IS-8 does in the game on live.
It’s like 150 mm thick armor with 65 degrees slope from vertical or 300/355 mm WoT-equivalent armor vs AP/HEAT. No benefit from the head-on optimised pike shape at all, nada, nothing, but it still has the disadvantages (the effective armor loss when angled). In fact, the IS-7 has the most downgraded armor compared to the historical ever in WoT.
The general rules of IS-7 armor-facing tactics in 8.0
- The upper front plate keeps its immunity against Tier X tank guns at /- 15 degrees. These guns start to penetrate it above that.
- The exposed part of the 95 mm thick lower side hull between the running wheels and the reinforced upper side hull is vulnerable from 25 degrees side angle (65 minus 5 degrees impact) against frontal shots at high angle. This value is most similar to the T110E5.
- Range can help the armor of the IS-7 in two way. You can drive close enough (20 meters or less) to hide your lower hull from the depressed gun of a turreted/very tall opponent, or you can keep your distance (100 meters or more) to increase your armor efficiency. The weak spots are hard to hit even with accurate guns at that range.
- 120 mm HEAT with 380 average penetration can penetrate the front hull anywhere and it can pierce wider part of the front turret than AP. The IS-7 is less armored against gold ammo from the front than the T110E5.
IS-7 upper hull vulnerability at different angles
