The Dumbest Soviet Heavy Tank

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The Soviet SMK heavy tank is quite a strange vehicle. Its hull is similar to the KV-1, but it has two turrets with a 76mm and 45mm respectively. Personally, I am not a huge fan of it. Its armor is quite poor and the extra cannon isn't very useful. I wonder why Gaijin put it at 3.7 when the vastly superior KV-1E is at 4.0.
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The Dumbest Soviet Heavy Tank

[@dakotahondalock5621]

The fact that the ammo is modeled as 1 module instead of individual pieces of ammo makes it so infuriating when you’re shot and lose all your 76mm ammo

[@VarenvelDarakus]

you think that but there are some light russian tanks who each shell is modeled , but each is seperate ammo rack , back in the day i played it anything who hits would ammo rack you as each shell would calculate it exploding seperatly , so what normaly would be 20 or 40% chance , now you have 7 times 20% chance being calculated

[@dakotahondalock5621]

1:43 an example for those who might be wondering what I’m taking about

[@chickenpurple6704]

Usually I lose my entire tank when I get shot. Am I just really unlucky with this thing's ammo rack or am I doing something wrong?

[@dakotahondalock5621]

@@chickenpurple6704 no the tank is just not a friendly tank to play for anybody

[@thewhitehousevietsubarchiv2625]

Idk which is scarier, a chance of losing all the ammo or a chance of Russian tanks still being alive after get shot at the ammo.

[@popinmo]

This is the type of tank a kid would draw it's just two tanks stacked on top of each other

[@leonardolejarde467]

yeah

[@eliaspanayi3465]

Tank²

[@glorytoidk595]

They had to improvise after the great purge

[@StazherEzhov]

Well, the Soviet designers from the Kirov factory just tried to squeeze something else out of the concept of multi-turreted tanks. Although, in the end, the winner was still the KV-1, which performed "out of the competition program", which was completely developed on an initiative basis on the same chassis as the SMK.

[@Journey_Awaits]

Beeg tank = capitalist scared

[@objectriddimy61]

the SMK has the most fragile ammo rack ever, it explodes like a nuke even when it turns slightly yellow lmao

[@FrancoITA505]

I have never exploded with this vehicle and have been using it for 2 months, maybe I'm lucky

[@battleranger1202]

Can't wait for the kv5

[@exceptionalanimations1508]

in my experience it'll just disappear after eating 3 75mm APHE rounds

[@weebdestroyer7649]

ARL-44's ammo is the same if not way worse. 37mm APHE could pen the turret and somehow set the ammo off.

[@hunlepto2239]

@@weebdestroyer7649 I had tons of shots where my whole turret crew was annihilated, but my ammo was intact, so I digress. I had no problem surviving in my beuatiful ARL-44.

[@DeInHo77]

Spookston, thanks to you, I now describe unfortunate situations (war thunder or otherwise) as “suboptimal”

[@crono2366]

Glad I'm not the only one that has adopted Spookston mannerisms

[@blockstacker5614]

I've been employing humorous understatement even before becoming a viewer, does that mean I'm special?

[@arustwat7766]

I like to call other people " buddy " like ' hey buddy, can you stop ramming me ? ' even tho I never use mic or voice chat or can even communicate with them at all thanks to spookston lol

[@mcchicken1849]

Same here.

[@duvagr007]

I do the same but with OddBawz's "Not ideal"

[@TheWhoamaters]

A massive chunk of shrapnel from a KV-2 turret rips through the crew with enough velocity to make everyone in the turret a casualty. Turret crew "Must've been the wind"

[@theoneandonlyartyom]

hey spookston you should play the ikv 72, a neutral traverse casemate with 20 degrees of gun depression flinging a shell filled with 270g of tnt to an unsuspecting level 2 is priceless

[@davidmay9956]

With his and mine history of *CAS* I could never get more than a few kills

[@n1co2017]

why would you use the APHE round over the AP the APHE has like over 20mm's less pen.

[@theoneandonlyartyom]

@@n1co2017 because at 1.7 you can pen everything with the aphe, besides its he filler is massive which is a 100% one shot kill

[@n1co2017]

@@theoneandonlyartyom from experience the AP is very good at killing stuff and the APHE doesn't pen everything sometimes i run into problems especially in uptiers.

[@estoboi6811]

@@n1co2017 thats why you pack extra AP for when you cant pen something, APHE is extremely good

[@captain_duck4863]

When one turret doesn’t work. Add a second one

[@theoneandonlyartyom]

two turrets didnt work either

[@venandi7396]

try three turrets

[@zarandadam1718]

*T-35 sounds intensifies*

[@MPdude237]

3:01 Not anymore. 3 or 4 years back the Ostwind used to have 64mm of Flat pen at point blank range but got nerfed to 49mm to bring it in line with the other German 37mm guns whose penetration was determined by the De-Marte equation instead of official values. And more recently, the winds of change update did a similar thing to the German 20mm HVAP (new pen 48mm) and all AP rounds for the MK-103 guns (Down from 70 and 90mm to 58 and 77mm for the AP and HVAP rounds respectively). So unless the Ostwind gets some sort of lucky shot in it cannot penetrate any of the KV tanks including the SMK at all.

[@spehhhsssmarineer8961]

Dude, getting shot by anything in a Sherman is an immediate death sentence.

[@MPdude237]

@@spehhhsssmarineer8961 Explain. Although I don’t play Sherman’s, they are tough tanks to fight at 3.0-4.3 from the front if you don’t have a high-pen gun. And they it is spacious enough that rounds with smaller filler, like the German Shells, don’t reliably one shot the tank. Another thing, what prompted you to discuss the Sherman when I was discussing the Ostwind and KV tanks?

[@Cheesycat0]

Ye german spaas are useless ageins any tank that isn't open top or very lighty armoured

[@spehhhsssmarineer8961]

@@MPdude237 To start, most German and Soviet tanks at 3.0-4.0 easily one-shot the Sherman through the front, this is for M4, M4A1, and M4A3 (105). You bring up a good point about it being spacious, but because you can’t chose where ammo goes in the hull all of my ammo ends up in the front-right half of the tank where it is easily hit. Idk why I brought up the Sherman, I think I just saw you mention the KV and got pissed because I despise fighting that *thing*.

[@spehhhsssmarineer8961]

@@MPdude237 also, an Ostwind killed my Sherman. So I was definitely just mad.

[@o-hogameplay185]

it's ammo rack is modeled as one piece. same as on the premium t-34-57, basically all 45mm russian lights, and 47mm japanese lights (as well as some 75mm ones). it can make your ammo rack soak up a shell, and just disappear, or on the other hand, hit by one tiny shrapnel and explode

[@JamesErath]

I LOVE the SMK. I think you're being harsh on it; it seemed like you were doing very well with it. Sure, it doesn't have as much armor as a KV-1m but its faster in a straight line, has two guns (which are way better when aimed selected separately), and can weirdly climb a lot of obstacles most other tanks can't. It's a fun vehicle to play.

[@FatherGrigori]

The subraisse would be cool to see, same with Lorraine 40t, I've fell in love with them

[@nicolassanchez1194]

There’s a surblinde video from him

[@ALuckyCrane]

You should try the T-26E1-1 Super Pershing or the regular M-26 when you get the chance. They both seem plain but in their respective tiers, or in the case with the latter in a down tier, they can perform really well.

[@michaelbeale559]

I deeply miss the Super Pershing at 6.3. Was such a good counter to the Tiger II (P) and IS-2.

[@barryallenporter8127]

Super pershing is useless at 6.7, lives most of the time at 7.3

[@ALuckyCrane]

@@barryallenporter8127 personally that's my case with the Jagdtiger rather than the Super Pershing.

[@Tanks.With.Teeth.Malloy]

I have asked for the super Pershing for weeks now. Ty for joining me. 🎉

[@Ten-Thousand-Bees]

​@@ALuckyCrane that's the case with any 6.7 vehicle really, tough i still think the US gets the short end of the stick because half their 6.7 use the awful 90mm gun that can't pen shit

[@Offical_LadaRiva_1982]

If you want overpressure, try the Ho-ro, it's low tier br, and high damage HE.

[@czerwony1420]

swedish meatball launcher is superior

[@ducksonplays4190]

@@czerwony1420 15cm sIG 33 bfl (Sturmpanzer II) is even better

[@caralho5237]

I think its hilarious how the PZIV dies with a direct hit to pretty much anywhere, but to kill a kv1 you need to sacrifice your firstborn to gaijin

[@MrWeenuk21]

did you mean shoot the lfp and ammo rack/crew kill every single time? the 50mm destroys kv1s. what else could you need

[@haatonofthebasementoutofth276]

Have you ever tried shooting a PZIV with British ap shells? You might as well get a surprise how a 89mm of pen on a Soviet tank can pen and kill it (i know aphe) while a 122mm of pen on a british tank can't even damage the entire turret crew.

[@caralho5237]

@@MrWeenuk21 KV-1: Angles slightly You: Guess i'll die Now try facing the KV-1 with an american tank. They're legit impenetrable from the front(especially if they have bushes), impenetrable from the side if they're slightly angled, or if you hit a track and impenetrable from the back if the turrent is also a bit angled. And guess what, they can pen your UFP even without going for weakspots, because apcbc. They're literally the only reason i bring the m10 out. Incredibly overpowered tank, and that's without mentioning the german KV1, which doesn't face german guns at all

[@Belinuts]

​@Caralho brother the kv has frontal weakspots 2.7 tanks can pen

[@T.Hebert]

@@caralho5237 Literally a skill issue. The kvs have a massive weak spot right on the centre of the hull.

[@The_25th_Dragon]

I love the SMK. I always seem to do well with it. Especially after the 45mm ammo disappeared like 3 major patches ago.

[@marcotovarortega1266]

21 seconds after upload nice. The smk is one of my favorites, glad you playded it.

[@ampa-3612]

It is another day to ask for the ASU-85, my dudes.

[@rawchicken3463]

I second this

[@punnkk]

I third this

[@adamackley4165]

wut about the 57?

[@happyguy333]

You mentioned the Churchill and being surprised how easy it was to pen frontally. I'd love to see you actually play a game in that thing and see what you can do with it.

[@bearings3949]

i love the silly goober cats that are just pleasant little suprises through the video. Great video all round and keep up the good work!! :)

[@mmmhphcynical2184]

Your videos always bring a smile to my face, even when i've had a bad day they never fail to make me smile. When i feed the snail, i always use your link bc you deserve it. luv u

[@mousegaming4537]

Can you play the M2A2 at 1.0? It’s a very fun And chill tank thats also extremely unique due to its lack of a cannon. I also personally think it’s history is cool, also fun fact, It was sometimes dubbed the “Mae West” you could guess why lmao.

[@SirSulyvahn]

you fight bots in 1.0 bro

[@nelugavrau2649]

You could try the Yag-10, Good damage, pretty high pen for it's tier

[@123123boobies]

Yes but annoying as hell to use. Things got a full size patio on the back lol

[@commisaryarreck3974]

​@@123123boobies I'd complain about depression Also rank 2 so a no go for grinding

[@Skip.8221]

It’s so fun pulling up to people and broadsiding them with both cannons (and then getting evaporated by the inevitable ammorack)

[@TheEgyptianBeast]

Your energy when playing this super frustrating game, is awesome. You never get mad, but when I play I end up raging so hard (without quitting) Keep up this type of good contagious energy 😊

[@t2av159]

brain dead teamates make me rage

[@darealbrinerecords1318]

You should try out the R3 T106, its really fun to play with how fast it is, just gotta watch your ammo.

[@breizhrudie4757]

You should try out the AML-90. It's a very good gremlin tank, small and speedy, it's espcially fun in urban areas for drive bys.

[@badkitsune6663]

I am so Unbelievably wasted rn and your videos are still awesome Spookeystin. Very cool, much entertain. This took like 18 attempts. Heck

[@justforfuns9457]

Gaijin actually coded the game to release tear gas when you drive through smoke

[@CWHistory07]

Hey spookston, you should try the M2A2 Mae West. Very weird tank.

[@Train115]

It can be surprisingly good, I dont use it with anything above its br. I can bounce a good amount, but thats usually just 37mm guns, not larger 75s. I do wanna see the T-100 in the game, because it *looks* like it would have better armor but I dont really know.

[@airsoftpopcorn]

If you want to see its armor, just look at the su-100y hull. The su-100y was built on the t100 hull. It has worse armor than the smk

[@Sadness45678]

M o r e Interstellar music! Also, I really appreciate your videos spookston. Honestly. You somehow give me the wish to play this God forsaken game

[@rounakrai8187]

one way i love countering sherman sealclubbers is, if you go onto the armor inspector for the early shermans, you can see a think (I think 38mm) plate right of the cannon. love shooting them there, its so satisfying.

[@averagejohann8225]

I remember grinding for the SMK, I really like it. The second turret really helps for light vehicles and follow up shots.

[@TheTankerCat]

It’s a premium you can’t grind for it

[@averagejohann8225]

@@TheTankerCat It was on sale in the season shop when I bought it

[@TheTankerCat]

@@averagejohann8225 you still can’t grind for it

[@averagejohann8225]

@@TheTankerCat I grinded the battle pass and challenges to buy the SMK from the warbond shop

[@alexlesko6901]

Finally love your vids man❤️

[@rasmusjonsson1348]

Fun fact, the SMK:s ammo rack is modeled with a full load, so even if you take fewer shells then a full load it does not matter, when someone hits the rack you go boom. Thanks for the video, I hop they update the model with a corrected rack.

[@blockstacker5614]

"we need a new heavy to replace the t35" -makes SMK "did we not learn our lesson? make it shorter and lose the small turret!"

[@Ali-Rose1]

Again. Great video and it helps me ignore my parents arguing. Thanks for the content!!

[@Poop-qz9yn]

4:22 funnily enough I have the same thing, when there is dirt on my glasses my eyes start to itch for some reason

[@kileytingey6828]

Smk is one of my favorites mainly because I enjoy big tanks, and the double tap is really good

[@davemcravedj]

It makes me happy the rear MG is modelled and can be used on the back of main turret. Bind a key to select machine gun and hit it twice and you even get a scope for the Dshk

[@NGXII]

Your sound effects reminded me to try out the new cursed Halo mod that just released

[@connor22abrams4]

SMK was my first ever premium and I used to play arcade exclusively back then, it was fun.

[@jakerulesgaming1124]

You’re getting closer to the ZIS-30. I like where this is going

[@captain_alex6371]

Love your vids man

[@b312n.v9]

Love the SMK but something I hope to see you do a video on is the Sturm Emil

[@RaptorMaitre]

That aeiiiii at 2:52 remains forever in my head

[@user-ib9lm1kl4d]

Spookston be like: "How far away is that vehicle?" (proceeds to one shot it) "About that far."

[@RandomCT164]

That combine Metro death sound gets me everytime

[@joefalko3756]

The best part about this video is seeing whenever you’re firing over a hill you see the main gun hit the target but the secondary shot just buries itself in the hill 10 feet in front of you

[@MarshmaloWarrior]

For those who are interested in some of the history of the SMK. When the soviets decided they needed a new heavy tank to replace the T-35(yes, the land-battleship) two tanks where chosen to build as prototypes, the SMK and the T-100(really hoping we can have this in-game some day). The two prototypes where sent to Finland in the midle of the winter war. The SMK was ultimatly chosen and entered production with some changes to the design, mainly removing the frontal turret and redesigning to add thicker armor, renamed to the KV-1.

[@makowithamiata6901]

Great example of the "spookston effect" in action!

[@foxythepiratefox8678]

Hello spookston, im not stopping untill i see the video You fully should play the Black Prince since you love slow tanks so much:)

[@kunakornhasegawa415]

After a day with volumetric screwing me over again and again it's nice to see Spookston's funny edits lol

[@thewingedporpoise]

"I need to keep cliff bars in my office. And by office I mean bedroom." is the truest statement ever said... oh what a mood

[@blackberet9997]

I'd love to see you play the T44-122, since there don't seem to be many videos of people playing it, and it looks pretty goofy visually

[@turtleant120]

I just started the game this week and stumbled on the Spj fm/43-44 and it's hilarious. Would love to see a video on that one

[@kylemelder5118]

About that engine hit... I've noticed that most all US tanks don't have the engine compartment wall modeled, meaning APHE blowing up there will kill or damage crew. The only US tanks with the wall modeled are at HEAT-FS or Dart tiers, where all it does is create more spall.

[@largelobster6996]

Need to see you play the chunky Class 3. The suffering will be immense

[@theredrisen9520]

Ever since I've started watching spookston videos I've started using the phrase "this is sub-optimal" whenever I play WT.

[@Loketairsoft]

SMK is really good tank in my opinion, i always enjoy to play this. The two turrets are insane!

[@tacticsdoge]

bro that tank looks so goofy to the point that I couldn't contain myself if I actually saw it in game

[@Ampex_]

“This situation is *very* suboptimal” -Spookston

[@AceTheMM]

Really hope we get the T-100s or KV-U0 in the tech tree some time in the future. Would be nice to have more tech tree landships or multigun tanks.

[@derf5045]

i'd love to see you try the ikv 103, i always love uptiering it

[@XSpamDragonX]

This thing is pretty funny until your gunner replaces your dead loader and you can't fire anymore.

[@dylanoconnor1458]

Definitely think you should give the Swedish spj if you haven’t played it on the channel recently, it’s your typical HE bonk gun but it is so much fun

[@invert1x]

Since Spookston mentioned this tank in a previous video, I wanna see him play the Ka-Chi since he said it was a pretty good premium.

[@dickc.normus2406]

I've never seen this thing in profile before, I always thought the turrets were right on top of one another for the longest time.

[@rubybaron6392]

7:47 made me mad i love the sherman 105 as it was the first tank that touched my heart i even bought expert crew for it

[@doge9176]

you have played a lot of soviet vehicles lately so i don't expect you to play as many over the coming videos. But i would really like if you made a video on the Bmp-3 since it's basically the best bmp excluding the bmp-2m since the Bmp-3 actually has a reverse gear.

[@PineCone227_]

The strategy for the 45mm is to load APCR in it as it has higher pen than the 76mm

[@thebeastmk2]

Cliff bars are so good

[@CptJack-ws8nz]

one way to contribute to the effectiveness of the SMK is if you seperated the second cannon to a seperate bind so that you won't shoot your seconday cannon when its not nessecary and also prevents you from wasting ammo on it

[@luuksleutel8915]

You cannot watch a Spookston video without hearing the boo-whomp sound effect at least once.

[@zettabitepragmara4031]

We need "suboptimal" and "not ideal" or "this is rather unfortunate" merch

[@SemoventeDa]

You should play the Semovente 75/46 M43, it's a Jagdpanzer IV but with extra sauce and pizza covering providing this thing with a good amount of bad experiences for who faces it, despite being overshadowed a lot. (Day 25)

[@malekiththewitchking2799]

Hey look that's me. As I mentioned from the community post, I really don't know why I latched onto the SMK to have you play it. It really just kinda happened and it will never happen again.

[@Valvecomplete]

Now I gotta know what Spookston's favorite cliff bar flavor is.

[@miterkat]

That was an awesome gameplay of the SMK i still find some people rush in thinking its like the KV-1 just to die with a random headshot on the tall turret also please give the L3/33 a try

[@plum_pie6402]

sick tonk. good vid.

[@Major_Bomber187]

day 24: gotta try it, the Waffentrager is calling your name 😉😌 loved the video! keep them going!

[@ashleyhamman]

The SMK is at its best in a meme lineup. It's about the same BR as the KV-2. Depending on how long you've played the game, you might also have a second KV-2 and the BT-7 with the 76, which sounds like a great time.

[@thatoneblueguy]

the soviets must have imported some crack and went like “wHat iF… wE hAve 2 tURREts!”

[@amarsarkar8687]

Me in a restaurant and the waiter asking 'your order sir' Me: 'bring the kv 2 on the table'

[@yummypiee6981]

The main issue with the smk is the turn radius and the curved armour on the rear turret barbette. Other than that hilarious tank

[@SovietRusalka]

Hey Spookston! Would love it if you could play the SU-122P! It was very underrated way back when it was introduced, I think it still is today and I don't see a lot of'em out today.

[@airsoftpopcorn]

You don’t see a lot of them because it is terrible, its reload is not bad for a russian 122, but it has horrible gun depression, even for a russian tank

[@dukeofwar1003]

The APCR for the 45 mm is actually quite handy to take by the way

[@Wertop78]

You should play the Bt7A F32 seems like you‘d enjoy it :)

[@santoast24]

The Italian P40 can be a lot of fun, its decently speedy, got a good gun, decent armour, and theres so few of them most people dont know where to shoot, worth playin

[@mateoturic2140]

YaG-10 would be an interesting truck for you, crazy gun, good reload, great post pen damage, and an optical rangefinder at 3.3. Speed and depression are the biggest drawbacks.

[@gibraltarproductions8402]

Keep up the good work

[@crankykransky2979]

I found out this morning that you can over pressure pz4s with the chaffees he shell if you hit them in the roof. Did not expect to survive that game.

[@landonroberson1417]

I would love to see you play the black prince

[@deepspacewanderer9897]

9:39 afaik you get shown on the spawn radar when you get shown a red zone around enemy spawn on your minimap

[@rawchicken3463]

I like to imagine that the correct way of saying the SMKs name is how the principal from South park says mmmk, except you have an s infront

[@gamersunite7968]

I saw this once out in the wild on my team and it was the first death

[@eriahbranton3675]

This whole video was spookston making gremlin noises I swear

[@Micharlus]

6:58 You can always pen any Churchill by shooting in the vent on his side. The armor there is so nonexistent that you can even pen it with HE or your coaxial.

[@gelatinousturncoat]

Would like to see SU122-54 or a revisit of the BMD-4 now that it has IRST.

[@Hosenfuhrer]

I took the SMK to a test drive with full ammo load, and the 45mm ammo was there. behind the hull machine gunner. When I took the EXACT ammo load you had at 7:37 the rack disappears completely. The rack holds 56 rounds, the full ammo cap for the 45mm is 300, and if you load 255 rounds it disappears completely. This is noted in the wiki page of the tank, but Gaijiggles isn't interested to do anyhting about it I guess.