Actual Tank Tactics Tested In War Thunder!

Actual Tank Commander tests real tank tactics in War Thunder! The basics of hull down tactics and proper use of smoke are essential in tank combat. But how well do they actually work in War Thunder? Let's find out!
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[@brucebanner52]

Please remove the Kangaroo from the vehicles as it's easy to tell you are NOT Australian from your accent and even if our cucked government has allowed you, a foreigner, to live here that does not entitle you to our culture. Again, remove all Australian signifiers and flags from your vehicle as you don't represent us and you are a traitor to your homeland and we don't respect that. Cheers.

[@PanzerPaw]

Lmao racist got triggered. Brb, adding more roos.

[@camperhater1014]

@@PanzerPawDon't worry mate. Since he has revoked your right to use the roo. I'll give it back

[@shronkler1994]

STOP WHAT IS THIS ☠️☠️☠️

[@ethanwenters8369]

this has to be a some kind of joke

[@IkarusGhostI]

@@PanzerPaw W reply

[@yigityasar6397]

Panzer carefully treading the line between classified information and universal knowledge.

[@PanzerPaw]

Absolutely. I'm very careful about that. ;)

[@PanzerPaw]

Wrong country lol

[@Skill_1ssue]

@@PanzerPawMINDEF would like to know your location

[@rainmaker7667]

We are watching 😶‍🌫️

[@jamesshedinn]

@@PanzerPawtruly a real war thunder player

[@hiphip4808]

Id like to say that the Abrams is built for Hull down combat as well, was showing my father who was an M1 Tanker, War Thunder and he basically acted as my commander and taught me a lot about the Abrams and its tactics.

[@likeabossftwboyee]

cool dad

[@PanzerPaw]

Oh absolutely. It's fair to say most Western designed tanks are. The Leopard 2 is just what I'd consider most specialised at hull down combat. But that said, all of them are well equipped to do it too. Also, kudos to your dad!

[@dinosaure_jr4595]

My dad was on the German Raketenjagdpanzer2(hot) and he always said “oh yeah… in the trainings we always ‘killed’ the leopards from kilometres way before they could have seen us”

[@hiphip4808]

@@PanzerPaw I’m genuinely interested in what makes the leopard specialized for that, I’m not going to argue with a Leopard tanker about the doctrine it’s built around, I’m just genuinely curious.

[@EasyAL_YT]

​​@@hiphip4808Light Hull armour, heavy turret armour, very nimble tank with good reverse gear and turret depression angles.

[@finnhayes4521]

PanzerPaw: "like the challenger 2" *shows the challenger 1*

[@PanzerPaw]

Oops lol

[@Vegemite_Warrior]

The Aussie internet is appaling, it sucks when I am trying to grind war thunder and suddenly my panzer 4 turns into a bf 109.

[@PanzerPaw]

Definitely some of the worst I've ever used. Needs upgrading for sure.

[@arcamean785]

"The best defense is to not be hit in the first place", armor is useful when you can't avoid being shot but sometimes specially in war thunder having no armor means shells will over penetrate and not detonate.

[@adventurer7579]

HE says hi

[@thecommenter9678]

The real issue with IRL tactics is that the objectives are very gamey. Leading to the NEED for reckless tactics. You can't just wait around all day. Nor do you have the vital infantry support most armored vehicles rely on.

[@nebitno6955]

I would rather have actual air or artillery support which would enable you to attack in coordination with your team. Combined warfare but still only vehicles and , offensive ones like tanks and artillery, drones and planes, defensive ones like air defence, tank destroyers etc.. Infantry would be too much. What do you arm them with? Give them regular rifles and guns and they are useless against armored vehicles. Give them rpgs, minelayers, ability to dig trenches and they are op. More stuff and strategy yea, but only vehicles and aircraft for me

[@thecommenter9678]

@@nebitno6955 "What do you arm them with?" *0_0 World War II online sapper PTSD intensifies* Sorry was having a moment... =D

[@nebitno6955]

​@@thecommenter9678 shovels also turned out to be great infantry equipment 😂

[@nebitno6955]

Jokes aside game is fun but grindy, could be much more entertaining with different objectives in games other than take point a/b/c and more combat strategies. All the best

[@thecommenter9678]

@@nebitno6955 Agreed, but we won't likely see that. I enjoy it despite that though.

[@zuultheburninator1915]

If you want a true real experience to showcase, try sim battles. It’s my favorite mode and it takes alot of patience to play as your view is locked to the zoomed in 3rd person(think commander looking out of turret hatch), gunner, and commander CITV(I use it a lot thanks to thermals). Be really good to see you try it sometime!

[@PanzerPaw]

I've had a lot of people mention it so I'll definitely consider trying it for a video at some point.

[@zuultheburninator1915]

@@PanzerPaw it’s a good time, make sure you bind commanders view, and make sure you bind commanders override in the options, then you can fire the main gun from the commanders CITV. Otherwise I’m a new viewer, like your content, keep it up!

[@PanzerPaw]

Oh really? Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to check my controls for sim mode then

[@zuultheburninator1915]

@@PanzerPaw you can use Commanders override and CITV in any mode, there’s even an option to keybind the drivers view so you can sit in the drivers spot if your really into it, I don’t do drivers mode though, cool but not needed for me. There’s a lot of options people don’t see, like being able to manually shift the transmission and all that jazz.

[@hiphip4808]

The Ka52 that just took off

[@MrSqueasil]

I use the bradley like i used to when i drove and gunned one back in the day, wait... nevermind maps arent near big enough

[@Vincent98987]

Usermissions exist

[@sephirothbahamut245]

Pro tip: where you attach the towing cable matters, the phyisics while towing take that into account. When you attached to the friendly's turret side you put him at major risk causing him to lift and turn sideways. In that situation it'd be better to attach the towing line to the rear of his hull, so when towing him he wouldn't rotate that much and you wouldn't cause his hull to rise up. One of the reasons I rarely activate the tow when I'm in danger is that I literally can't trust teammates to not put me in more danger while towing. Don't be that kind of teammate :)

[@PanzerPaw]

Yeah I just didn't want to go up on the crest where he was already getting hit

[@FreePalestine07462]

Bro almost leaked another classified document on leopard😂

[@PanzerPaw]

Where?

[@FreePalestine07462]

@@PanzerPaw you were talking about the armor 1:15 or Im dumb

[@PanzerPaw]

LOL You mean the part where I literally said I wasn't going to talk about it?

[@FreePalestine07462]

@@PanzerPaw yeah and I said “almost”😂

[@dasidiotentv8253]

I love doing a "Mental pressure tactic" where when one enemy knows where i am and i want his position across hundreds of meters. I first try bait him into shooting and directly after fire start pushing his position and do count seconds for what his reload might be plus 0.5-1 second of reaction to aim and fire. Because he missed the first shot and i start pushing him, most people will start to stress and mostly miss there shots when moving randomly towards because they dont take their time to shoot and want to kill asap. Works great in WW2-Cold war.

[@yelectric1893]

Like the T34 movie lol

[@dasidiotentv8253]

@@yelectric1893 kinda, i Just did similar Things years before the movie came out IT Just depends on the Situation wich Terrain, what Tank U are in and what U are facing.

[@dasidiotentv8253]

@@micaheiber1419your comment rememberd me when i killed an IS-2 oneshot frontal with an anti Air (that AmX 13 anti Air) i nearly Fell Out my Chair laughing 😅

[@foyledsoul706]

This is literally just the 3-5 second rush infantry tactic you learn in BCT. Never occurred to me to apply it to the game

[@h5skb4ru41]

I do tend to use smoke to bait them into shooting towards it. Sound often gives me away but... very clueless players will unload their mgs into it then bam. I reposition and get them from another position. Sometimes, its far better to scatter them

[@thedog2123]

Now I'd like to see ya with a squad doing this kind of tactics

[@dimesadozen1545]

Those berm drills were beautifully executed 😊. It's fun using real tactics in war thunder because it can definitely get amazing results on certain maps.

[@Gastell0]

3:30 - It's not that manual gear is the problem, but rather the combination of: 1. Change of velocity - It's a tank, it's heavy, it has a lot of mass to stop and then start moving 2. Change of velocity requires engine power - engines get very loud and hot when you need a lot of power to change velocity - loud is bad, hot is bad

[@MrSqueasil]

All i hear is, driver up, gunner send it, driver back.

[@bakunawa6134]

Setting aside the game's questionable physics I always play like this because I find it more fun and it works so well in my type 74 I subbed!

[@S1su]

Best kind of WT vids

[@Frost_x_NB]

Yes!!!! More videos like this. Just subscribed looking forward to more actual tank guide/tactic videos. My tank gameplay is struggling

[@manxhu6610]

lovely to see. i was a gunner in the leopard 1A5 back in 96 to 99... :) Your tactics are on point..

[@Talishar]

The Abrams and Challenger have the same doctrine as the Leopard series. Their optimal engagement and configuration is for hull down combat. The Challenger fits in this to a T as its slower than all other modern MBTs with a scarily weak hull but a very strong turret. It holds the record for the longest gun kill for a tank (vs ATGMs) which it was in a more defensive position. The Abrams doesn't usually lead the charge, it has IFVs and other scout vehicles performing recon ahead of it. Again, its gun depression is very impressive. The doctrine you describe is actually the old Soviet doctrine. It's the reason why their tanks have terrible gun depression and built to naturally be more squat. While Abrams have been more aggressively deployed in the Gulf War, it was because the enemy armor it faced was so over classed as to be considered nearly worthless from a frontal engagement. Especially since the Abrams in that war were engaging Iraqi tanks from beyond their optic range.

[@Orodreth888]

I always play my tanks the way they were intended to be used. That usually means I get insulted each match.

[@oddy1637]

🤓

[@WeirdOneyt]

Hey panzerpaw I don’t watch you much but your video are great to watch and I think it’s amazing to see a real tanker play a military sim game like war thunder, keep making videos.

[@zimmre423]

great vid! you should try this in sim next for the added realism of not having the 3rd person camera!

[@moemoechan44]

I tried in my leopard 2a6 and 2a5 my performance [and survivability when cas is not present] slightly improved the fire and reposition while hulldown but cas is still chewing my ass

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Sollution: get a squad mate that loves driving SPAAGs and SPSAMs 😉

[@TotallyNotAFox]

The Leopard 2 is basically an oversized sniper rifle, and playing it like that is very effective

[@mrsteel250]

I’d bet the tactics work better in simulator mode than RB, would love to see it!

[@Chad_Thundernuts]

When I started playing I only played Japan and it was difficult but it taught me the value in not getting hit, and how to try and make sure that doesn't happen. I never like to rely on my armour. I've always thought that getting hit in the first place already means you messed up. It's good to know that translates IRL as well.

[@connivingkhajiit]

Survivability onion

[@jamesharris4695]

3:00 that red alert death sound😂

[@TheMatadrum]

Love the Red Alert sound bytes when you get a kill.

[@Dredgno]

I actually use real life tactics in the game and it is quite affective, my grind has been quite enjoyable doing so.

[@leleutube5141]

i love the death SFX taken From C&C tibwar 1

[@dixievfd55]

I always remember that smoke works both ways. It's kind of like jamming in Falcon and DCS. Sure the enemy can't lock onto you, but now everyone and their dog knows you're there and has a bearing on you.

[@ironhead6357]

Hey Panzer, I have a question. The Leopard 2 you were in had a ready rack right? During combat, when the gun was fired, was the ready rack replenished during firing?

[@PanzerPaw]

Excellent question. So, the 'ready rack' in the turret is what we referred to as an "ammo bunker" and since the hull rack was all the way at the front, the only way for the loader to easily reload it would be is the turret was traversed to the 3 o'clock position or thereabouts. So, you'd only really be able to do it out of combat and definitely not while on the firing position.

[@ironhead6357]

@@PanzerPaw My man, you are a legend! Thanks so much!!

[@FlatBread1]

​@@PanzerPawTread carefully dude, don't let them know too much

[@747simmer4]

@@FlatBread1i agree but this fact was common knowledge i thought

[@PanzerPaw]

It is. There's actually declassified photos of the interior available online now and you can basically see how it would have to be done.

[@allenliu8820]

i think it is very important for people to do hull down correctly time and time again do i see people just pull back and peak at the same spot when i do hull down i shoot and reverse and peak somewhere else to catch them off guard and if the place isn't good, i just take a shot and pop smoke and back off to a more advantageous position

[@warnedkibbles7179]

Nice to see the shooting effort against helos or slow flying aircraft. Important capability in nowadays tanks is the dynamic lead make it a lot easier to hit a moving target.

[@mthwOF]

I have only watched like 3 mins, and i instantly love it. Great work. This is a goldmine

[@DyeSlyne]

Blitzkrieg tactics with some friends would be a nice tactic.

[@Somedude_jdjdi]

Shame it won’t work in war thunder because it’s Strategy and not a tactic

[@DyeSlyne]

@@Somedude_jdjdi Yeah but using tactics used in the Blitzkrieg strategy

[@Somedude_jdjdi]

@@DyeSlynefair point

[@olex2999]

you'd need infantry pouring behind the broken defensive line for it to be blitzkrieg. it might work in enlisted

[@cyanideeuphoria2606]

I wanna point my friend to this, as they were an Abrams commander, but they are also a GWOT combat vet and they have a tough time with their ptsd

[@berserkskeleton762]

I like how this man puts in death sounds from different games every time he dies or gets a kill. Nice little easter egg ;>

[@kidpagronprimsank05]

While you might not trained for it, but wonder what are tactics when fighting in very thick foliage in AFV?

[@PanzerPaw]

Fight around it at range. Don't go into it if you can avoid it. Trees especially can severely restrict your movement after all.

[@glamrockyeb285]

My thought process is that smoke makes your weak-points invisible and therefore you are harder to kill

[@CalgarGTX]

If terrain allows you should always peek and reverse with some sort of left to right or right to left angle too, adds another dimension they need to worry about to aim.

[@funwithmagnus8570]

The realism comes down to if you actually die or not when a dart comes ripping through your tank at Mach Jesus.

[@fredtehbinman]

This vid is really good, you should so more tips and tutorial videos.

[@Akira_Nishi]

It's really cool to see a Leo 2 commander doing what he does best, harrassing the enemy with sabo and binos! With all that said, I hope to see your dinky neat little tank from the skies someday. 🫡 Cheers, from SG.

[@johnathanburke4872]

I call moving up and down the slope/hill poping shots poptarting

[@Tentacl]

The issue with sound, inteligent or actual RL tactics in WT GRB is mission lenght, respawns, map distances and urgency. A team with people hellbent in pressing and respawning instead of leaving the game, rushing for the first part of the game until they hold more caps, usually wins, unless you're talking really small high tier gales (like 6v6 with everyone in thermals, laser rangefinder APFSDS tanks and with helis and jets with TV missiles as CAS).

[@machinech183]

You reverse to prevent getting shot in your relatively unarmored ass. As a former TC for the Abrams I love you trying this out. Well done.

[@Aethryision]

I loved to played like this in sim with the leos. sadly you only could play it once a week and not a lot people played it. And when you have a rl, you played once a month. I had a insane KD rate with the Leo 2A5, over 10 to 1.

[@grumpydave7329]

Learning to angle my tank with the edge of cover like a building or something has helped me a bit. Basically, not sticking my nose out to get a shot. I let the shot come to my line of sight instead and that can help you survive a few more minutes lol.

[@PanzerPaw]

Yeah corners are tricky, you want to expose as little as possible but eh, it's tough. And also rounding corners and being able to get the gun around quickly enough is tough too. It's why I don't like urban stuff as much lol

[@linussyren9221]

06:30 Just play SIM, then you will only face USSR/China in top battle mixed battles. (And a lot of mig-29/ka50/52)

[@leuritavares]

It would be cool to see this tactics in simulation battles with a squad

[@ActuallyEarth]

Hey PanzerPaw! I love your content and comparing your experience to my dad's. He was a gunner on a M3A2 DS Bradley during Desert Storm and the 2001 Iraq War. Anyways, some of the music you used I've heard a lot and could never get the name of. What music did you use around the 13-minute mark? I hope you take care!

[@yesfan157]

The gurgle yell at 10:46 almost made me spit-take! haha

[@sulpert]

Nice, information video❤

[@boomerix]

Real life tactics work for Air battles. There are actually a lot of video guides on youtube on how to be better in Air Combat in War Thunder that all use real life tactics and training material.

[@tsuaririndoku]

Most Morden MBTs usually designed to be a Hulldown vehicle because they need to be a small target as possible. Tank doesn’t need armor. Soil is the best Armor, it will prevent enemy rounds hitting you plus a concealment.

[@Shermanjumbo11]

I did used the leopard 2 tactic with a sherman in Berlin map and it was very effective

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Some Shermans are really good at hull down combat =)

[@schishne7546]

Id love to see you with a group vs another group in simlator with tank tactics utilized

[@dixievfd55]

He was looking at you with that bank, but also dropping flares like they would in real life while resetting from a gun run.

[@daniel_f4050]

The poking out from the same cover position over and over again has got to be the most common sin against proper combat tactics seen in War Thunder. *I’m not counting the headlong rush into capture points or suicidal charges by SPAA against multiple tanks. *

[@stupedbeats]

Next video: Actual Warthunder Tactics Tested in the Real Battlefield

[@pyromaniacal13]

5:44 Take potshots on planes, because you cannot replace the joy when you nail it.

[@eillswim]

You have the reactions of a drunk hippo dude 😂 Few times you literally shoot at a dead tank... Well after it's already dead 😂

[@GruberTD]

really nice and interesting

[@iamd3ad_ang3l10]

I had to subscribe again for the 5th time 😭😭😭😭 love the content

[@PanzerPaw]

Yeah KZbin can be a little glitchy at times

[@alexchapman3995]

Important tactic to keep in mind if you’re going hull down in the Leopard 2, or several other MBTs. You can switch from the binocular view to the commander’s sight by pushing left ctrl. The commander’s sight is lower than the binocular view so you have to expose more of your tank to use it. However most of the late game MBTs have thermal imaging and a greater amount of zoom than the binoculars which is great for spotting at range or in weather conditions that obscure vision. The commander’s sight can also slave gun controls so you don’t have to switch to the gunner’s sight to fire. Because it’s mounted on top of the tank, at long range (1500+ meters) you can range and fire the gun and only expose the barrel and commander’s sight.

[@PanzerPaw]

Good point! Very useful on the later Leo variants with Thermals for the commander sights. 2A4 unfortunately didn't have it :(

[@alexchapman3995]

@@PanzerPaw I didn’t realize the 2A4 didn’t have commander sights. That’s a bummer. The AMX-10 has them at 8.3 excluding the thermals and on big maps you can go hull down and lob shots over ridge lines and you’re basically invisible.

[@PanzerPaw]

Oh it has the commander sights. It just doesn't have thermals

[@Macovic]

Yeah done this a lot gaming. Unusual video. Great

[@hydrodrift]

It seems like the leopard tanks get played a lot on this channel(I love seeing the leopard in action) so I’m just gonna subscribe and call it a day.

[@Alext0250]

Yeah, the guy was a tanker in one. So he truly likes it , which in turn gives us more Leo moments :3

[@F1ery2023]

you should use these tactics in the same tank in simulator battles. im interested to see how you would do as you were once in a tank like this just wasnt a video game look at things

[@Datatropic]

Not sure where in Aus you are, but in Sydney on Optus I can get my ping to WT's SA servers down to 160-170 from 230-240 by using a VPN. I use ProtonVPN but presumably any could work, I assume that it bypasses some dodgy routing somewhere.

[@w.dgaming1060]

could you try the tactics with teamates?

[@allenliu8820]

they buffed the range of the gepard from the previous 2.5km to the one stated on wikipedia of 5.5km it makes it a much more deadly spaa now, but sadly it doesnt get ahead ammo which would make it even deadlier

[@cedert743]

I love how you can see that this guy is actually knowledgable in what he's doing, he makes mistakes and doesnt hide them but he immediatly realizes what he did wrong and explains to us why not to do that, love the video

[@engineersmith]

Honestly in CtA you can do some combined arms stuff and probably a bit more than you can in WT

[@RealNotallGaming]

11:52 LOSAT M8 has 5km range .... forced to stay at 700mt range because small maps ... and i remember to you all that vehicles are chosen after the strategy saw terrain characteristics, so in term of realism that vehicle will never see that map :))))

[@MZIH]

Can’t wait to do this in my ww2 Russian tank. I don’t see where this will go wrong

[@xlgapelsin6173]

*gun depression has left the chat*

[@justasimplegamer129]

I need a squad to try this in cold war tanks. That has my attention.

[@Mattsunx]

UFP is tragic in game but at least the Leo 2sg looks menacing. Hi from 3div.

[@FreePalestine07462]

What was your role in the leopard in irl?

[@PanzerPaw]

Do you mean my role? I was a commander but TCs train every role too.

[@FreePalestine07462]

@@PanzerPaw cool, since I was a kid I wanted to have your job, but in my country you have to be using t72m which I don’t like, we have 321 m1 Abrams they don’t give them to new tank drivers

[@RaptorSidewinder]

@@FreePalestine07462Poland?

[@FreePalestine07462]

@@RaptorSidewinder nah Iraq

[@RaptorSidewinder]

@@FreePalestine07462 oh ok cool

[@tenacious_b7648]

You should do these video with a variety of vehicles from several BR.

[@sacraacala6561]

genuine question do you also wish you could get 120mm smoke rounds to blind the enemy there really nice at low teir and feel they could do well at highger br

[@MrPeperoni79]

In the actual German army tank simulator, they indeed train shooting down helos as well. If there is a helo, the whole company will stop what it is doing right now and all will shoot on the helo.

[@pensive7270]

10:30 I can imagine it's something about failing to pull out in time :p

[@robloxmemedudes]

There's not enough kangaroos. Please add more or I will be suing you.

[@Duvstep910]

correction: you reverse to keep the front armor (the strongest armor) pointed at the target

[@gunslinger1911a1]

Death Before Dismount! Keep up the good work you Aussie Tread Head.

[@JacKnife3705]

6:26 i think the main reason is because the german tech tree has both west and east german vehicles and so germany is kinda in a weird position where its on both sides.

[@Oberkaptain]

STRV 122 PLSS does it even better with the pop up commander sight.

[@benrose771]

Just a idea but I think it’ll be cool if you and some of your friends got into a squad and use some tactics as if you had teammates to cover you whilst moving etc

[@soldat88hun]

there are only so much good spots on a 1kmx1km map... like I get it, I should reposition after every single shot, but chances are, just moving to another spot is also going to get you killed

[@ciandoran6592]

just incase you didnt know you really should reboot your router in its settings on a browser atleast once a month depending on usage if you dont do this it will make connection a lot worse

[@PanzerPaw]

I already do this and it doesn't change

[@ciandoran6592]

@@PanzerPaw ahh ok sorry if it seemed like i was tryna be superior or some shid i didnt mean it in that way and btw great vids really enjoyed this one

[@PanzerPaw]

No worries at all! Internet here just isn't the best and it's frustrating.

[@ciandoran6592]

could be soon it gets better ireland just got 1 gig fibre recently so who knows fingers crossed for you i know the pain @@PanzerPaw

[@DTC-ex7wg]

... but Challengers were also designed for "Ridgeline combat", as were Chally 2s, and Chieftains. Thats one of the main reasons Engines have not been a major priority for the UK MOD, i.e. underpowered engines and very heavy tanks.

[@theslicer775]

17:20 "hello there" but this time you didnt have to face 4 lightsabers

[@H2OSakanaIsMyOshi]

Hey panzer, did you only serve at home/never saw combat? I'd be terrified of getting hit by an ATGM or a bomb from a plane. As a tanker, did you have this same fear?

[@legostarwarskid5459]

awesome video, but can you do a full squad next time? :)

[@lbald489]

More dynamic weather would be good

[@branraisin684]

Don’t know your background but your casual “as I was” is very indicative as at least prior service lmao

[@aluxtaiwan2691]

That's how I play the game, and the most of the modern western tactics in general are just snipe. I only rush into city in something like jumbo Sherman.