Guide to the USSR Tier 8 heavy tank IS-M in World of Tanks

Hello everyone and welcome to aces.gg! Today in the guide we will talk about the most controversial tank introduced into WoT with update 0.9.22. Yes, today in the guide we will analyze the IS-M!

IS-M can be opened from a level 7 tank, and after it in the development branch comes Object 705 and the top of the entire tree of “Soviet sneakers” - Object 705A!

What's new

As you remember, we initially planned to adapt Object 430 to the current conditions of random battles, add heavy tanks with a rear turret and rebalance the Object 263 branch to make the research tree more consistent.

We carefully analyzed your feedback and collected statistics after a series of tests. And now Soviet medium tanks with a rear turret are turning into an independent branch, and the Object 430, together with the new Object 430U vehicle, will form a new branch of assault vehicles.

Regarding the addition of the TT and Tank Destroyer branches, the additional data we received proved that both branches fit well into the game and will have a positive impact on game balance.

Let's take a closer look at the changes in Update 9.22.

Changes in the branch of medium tanks of the USSR

Just recently we announced a rebalance of the ST branches. After a series of game tests, we changed the branch from the A-43 vehicle: the “Object 430U” was added to the game (which we will talk about a little later), and other vehicles changed levels. Thus, “Object 430” (which remained in the shadow of its “brothers” T-62A and Object 140) moved to level IX in the branch with a traditional turret arrangement - now it comes after the T-44 in the research tree.

A powerful 122-mm gun with high one-time damage, mounted on the T-44 tank, will become a distinctive feature of the entire line of medium tanks of the USSR. By the way, she doesn’t have a top-end car yet. We are still deciding on the candidate who is best suited for this role.

Advice: by the time a new vehicle appears in the branch of medium tanks with a rear-mounted ST turret, you can accumulate experience for the Object 430 Option II.

Object 430U

The task of the “Object 430U” is to give the enemy a good beating with its 122 mm gun with a one-time damage of 440 units. Although it will take longer to reload, this vehicle will be a great addition to any ST platoon.

The thickness of the armor in the upper frontal part and the turret can reach values of 320 and 380 mm, respectively, while the hatches are quite well protected. However, this does not mean that you are invulnerable. Enemy tank destroyers or tank destroyers can still penetrate your armor, especially if they target the 180 mm thick lower frontal part.

The fairly agile Object 430U, with its speed of 50 km/h, is not the fastest medium tank. However, good dynamics will be extremely useful in the heat of battle.

How to play ST-1

You need to play this tank using all its advantages, namely armor and firepower. In these characteristics, the council is superior to single-level machines.

It is most comfortable to play ST-1 on city maps, since this is where its full potential will be revealed. This will be comfortable to do both behind embankments and behind houses. Almost all cities have mounds of rubbish or ruins that will allow the ST-1 to take a position to play from the tower. With its turret, a Soviet heavy tank will be able to hold back shells from even the most powerful guns in the game, so in such positions you don’t have to think about danger.

The body, of course, is less armored, but here you will need to connect the chassis a little. By turning the body, only skilled opponents will be able to penetrate, knowing the weak zones, and even then, this will not happen often. It is also almost impossible to break through the board's sides. When the council tanks with its sides, covering the lower armor plate, the enemy will have practically no options how to retreat.

Of course, such a powerful weapon at level 9 will not be accurate, so it will only be effective at medium and close distances. But ST-1 is not a sniper sitting at the base. This is a technique for breaking through enemy positions. Playing at the top, on the council you can safely rush into battle in the 1st line, but you don’t need to overdo it and expose the stern and sides. It is best to slowly but confidently deal damage from the safety of standing behind a house or embankment. In such a situation, even if it is not possible to break through the defense, then it will certainly not be possible to get through the council. This tank is prized among players as it has level 10 stats.

Another advantage of the TT can be considered the vertical declination angles of the gun -10 degrees, which is unusual for Soviet technology. With such angles, you can safely play on terrain, and the tower will be completely safe. Since the body of the council is low, there will be no problems at all with hiding it on hills

In urban locations this quality is not so important, since they have strong sides and embankments, but in open areas it is recommended to always stick to hills or ravines

The disadvantages include the dynamics of the ST-1. But with such a booking, this is not surprising. Of course, the TT will be more comfortable in urban buildings than in the desert or steppe.

Nowadays, it is too difficult to play with heavy vehicles on open maps, since an accurate self-propelled gun will regularly deal damage while keeping the tank stunned. But you can at least somehow resist this. All artillery on the map occupies positions not far from the base, and these positions are often the same. When playing on a heavy tank, you need to look at the possible route of arrival of the projectile and try to create an obstacle for it. These could be hills or houses in the village. Nowadays, almost all TTs arrange firefights in places more protected from artillery fire.

The ST-1's visibility is standard for the heavy class - 380 m. Of course, it can be improved with the help of the "radio interception" and "eagle eye" skills, as well as the "coated optics" equipment, but the tank will remain dependent on allied fireflies. Fully upgraded skills will only help you detect enemy tanks at medium distances.

In general, the ST-1 is a real heavy tank, which has fairly strong armor and a powerful weapon. Using this technique, you can safely press the flanks and push the enemy back to the base. Even if left alone with several enemy tanks, the council will have every chance of victory, in any case, this technique will hold out for a long time. Moreover, the tank is adapted to any map. In the city it has no equal in terms of the thickness of the sides, and on open maps you can always use declination angles and play from the tower.

New heavy tanks of the USSR

Heavy tanks of the USSR are solid vehicles that do their job well. In 9.22 we will slightly diversify their ranks by adding the heavily armored close combat vehicle "Object 705A".

The vehicle will lead a new alternative branch of heavy tanks of the USSR. It will start with the IS-M vehicle at level VIII, followed by the Object 705 at level IX. A common feature of all three vehicles is the rear position of the turret, which will determine the gameplay on these tanks.

The classic IP will serve as the starting point for the future branch.

Object 705A

“Object 705A” is a unique machine. Its role on the battlefield is quite easy to determine, especially considering that it is equipped with a 152mm gun capable of dealing 650 damage per shot. However, this weapon will be effective at medium and close range.

With a visibility of 390 m, this tank will not be able to successfully fire from a long distance; it is most effective in close combat.

The Object 705A is ideal for head-on combat and is capable of withstanding a lot thanks to its upper frontal part, the reduced thickness of which reaches 340 mm. However, the thickness of the NLD is only 244 mm, so it should be placed at an angle or hidden behind a cover.

The weight of the Object 705A is about 100 tons, so it accelerates slowly. However, the engine power is enough to get this beast where it needs to go on time.

Performance characteristics of the IS-M tank

So, what we have: good damage per minute at level 8, poor mobility, good turret rotation speed, terrible visibility, good HP. Just as the developers are positioning this branch, this is a melee assault tank; all performance characteristics hint at this. We will not be able to highlight the enemy and will not be able to quickly change flanks in battle, which is why we are faced with a typical representative of a tank of one direction. But what can stop us from fulfilling this role?!

Rebalance of tank destroyers of the USSR

After rebalancing the alternative branch of the USSR tank destroyer, the vehicles will receive a new specialization. The branch begins with the SU-100M1 at level VII, followed by the SU-101, followed by Object 263. And at level X there will be “Object 268 Option 4”.

As in the ST and TT branches, the guns of these tank destroyers will also be located in the rear. In addition, these vehicles will be distinguished by good mobility, low maneuverability and durable frontal armor. Created for attack, they should be in the forefront of the attack, where they can have the maximum influence on the outcome of the battle.

Object 268 Option 4

The new top tank destroyer represents the entire branch. This vehicle will be most effective in a group attack. Mobility (50 km/h) and good speed will allow you to take a comfortable position, however, low maneuverability means that this tank destroyer depends on the support of its allies, otherwise enemy tanks will be able to “twist” it.

Historical reference

Main article
:
History of the IS-6
The project of the IS-6 heavy tank (object 252, 253) was developed at pilot plant No. 100 in Chelyabinsk in the first half of 1944. The main feature of this combat vehicle was the use of an electromechanical transmission.

In accordance with the decision of the State Defense Committee, by order of the People's Commissar of the Tank Industry of June 8, 1944, Uralmashzavod, together with plant No. 100, was entrusted with the production of drawings and production of prototypes of the IS-6 heavy tank. The main design work had already been completed by plant No. 100, a significant part of which fell on the share of Uralmash designers, since the production of working drawings was carried out here.

The production of prototypes was carried out by both factories with the assembly and debugging of tanks at the Uralmashplant. In the fall of 1944, after factory tests, the IS-6 tank, along with a second set of parts and a spare hull, was sent to Kubinka for comparative tests of new heavy tanks manufactured by tank factories.

Both IS-6 tanks, after factory testing, entered comparative testing of new heavy tanks at the NIBT training ground located in Kubinka. They were inferior in armor protection to the Object 701, without surpassing it in firepower and mobility. "Object 252" with a mechanical transmission, with the exception of armor protection, did not have any advantages over other heavy tanks. The installation of an electric transmission made it easier to control the Object 253 tank and was supposed to improve its maneuverability. However, this did not happen due to the large mass of both the tank itself and the electric transmission, as well as due to the low reliability of the latter. The design of the machine turned out to be too bulky, plus the cooling system took too much power. It was decided to stop further work on both machines.

Balancer improvements

In update 9.22, the balancer will allow you to get into different types of combat more often than you noted. This means that in the next random battle, the chance of getting into a type of battle you have already been in (standard, assault, counter or pitched battle) will be lower.

This change will allow you to avoid getting into the same type of battle several times in a row (this applies most of all to general battles). However, getting into a general battle through combat is still possible.

To maximize the effectiveness of the new mechanics, the balancer needs data for the last 50 battles you played after the release of version 9.22.

NOTE: If you wait too long to fight, the balancer may add additional combat types to the ones you selected. If you wait longer than 50 seconds, the balancer will send you to the first available battle of any type.

New season of ranked battles

The new season will consist of only one stage lasting 21 days and 15 ranks. Rank 5, 10 and 13 cannot be lost in case of defeat. We've also revised the rewards: reaching Rank 9 will reward you with 1,500 Bonds. In addition, the higher the rank, the greater the reward will be.

Server unavailability

Game servers will be unavailable on February 6 from 3:30 to 11:30 (Moscow time) due to the release of the update. We recommend that you refrain from making payments at this time.

Also, on February 6, from 3:30 to 10:30 (Moscow time), the Clan Portal will be unavailable. In addition, on February 6th, “Offensives” will not be carried out in Fortified Areas.

Premium account and compensation

Players who have a premium account or other temporary services (for example, camouflage) active at the time of the start of technical work will be compensated for a day of premium account and/or a day of using services starting from February 6 at 3:30 (Moscow time) according to the rules. If you want to make in-game purchases, please wait until the servers start.

We hope you enjoy the new USSR vehicles and improved balancer. Don't forget to check out the forum and share your opinion with us!

Changes to Ranked Battles

The new season of Ranked Battles will start a little later than the release of update 9.22. The start of the season will be announced separately.
The season now lasts 21 days and is not divided into stages
The number of ranks has been increased from 5 to 15.
The conditions for obtaining chevrons have been reworked:
The top 10 players on the winning team and the player ranked first in experience on the losing team will receive one chevron.
The top 3 players on the winning team receive an additional chevron.
Players who took 11th–15th places on the winning team and 2nd–5th places on the losing team retain the chevron.
Players who took 6th–15th places on the losing team lose their chevron.
A new feature has been added - rank protection. Some ranks will be protected, which will have durability points.
The home screen interface of the Ranked Battle mode has been redesigned to correctly display information about fifteen ranks.
The interface of the rewards screen for ranks and for the entire season has been redesigned. It is now accessible from the home screen and includes:
information about rewards for each rank;
information about rewards at the end of the season.
The visualization of vehicle ranks has been changed - now these are rank points. The principle of earning rank points has not changed.
The display of vehicle ranks from the vehicle panel has been removed, and in vehicle achievements they have been replaced with rank points.
The interface for progressing by vehicle ranks has been redesigned: now, when you reach the maximum rank, you will see the number of rank points earned in the Hangar.
The interface of the leaderboard in the Ranked Battle mode has been redesigned.
The new season of ranked battles will begin a little later than the release of version 9.22. The start of the season will be announced separately.

Historical reference

Main article
:
History of the IS-4
The main idea for creating a new Soviet heavy tank was the idea of the possibility of installing more powerful artillery systems on this vehicle than those on the IS-2. Therefore, the experimental Object 701 was made in three versions with different guns: D-25T, S-34-II and the 100-mm high-power S-34-I cannon.

Testing of the vehicles took place until the fall of 1944. And as usual, it revealed a lot of design flaws. But the vehicle also had one undeniable advantage: its 160 mm frontal armor could not be penetrated by any tank or anti-tank gun, either Soviet or German-made. Of the gun systems, the 122-mm S-34-II cannon performed best.

At the end of 1944, two more cars were produced, on which a modernized transmission was installed. After testing these vehicles, it was considered that the tank was quite ready for mass production. All that remained was to decide with what weapon to release it.

Oddly enough, the S-34-II gun was never recommended for installation in a production vehicle. The prevailing point of view was that to solve the problems that tank forces now face, the 122-mm D-25T gun already mastered in production is quite sufficient, and to arm a new generation heavy tank it is necessary to switch to guns of 130 mm or even 152 mm caliber (an attempt The installation of a 130 mm cannon was done on the IS-7 tank).

In April 1945, the tank was put into service and put into mass production under the designation IS-4. The body of the vehicle was welded, and the turret was cast with variable armor thickness. In addition to the mentioned 122 mm D-25T cannon, the armament included a coaxial 12.7 mm machine gun. The same machine gun was installed as an anti-aircraft machine gun on a turret above the loader's hatch. One of the features of the vehicle was the original ammunition rack. In the IS-4, shells were placed in special metal cassettes. The tank had a planetary transmission and an individual torsion bar suspension. The tank crew consisted of 4 people. The power plant on the car was a V-12 diesel engine with a power of 750 hp. With this engine, the tank could accelerate to 43 km/h on the highway.

Serial production of the IS-4 continued until 1949. And mostly these machines served in the Far East.

During operation, it turned out that the mass of the tank exceeded the carrying capacity of most bridges and transport platforms. It was this reason that actually buried the idea of building vehicles weighing more than 50 tons. The IS-4 was taken out of service and put into long-term storage, and then removed from service. After which it was often used at training grounds as a target.

Changes in vehicle parameters

Vehicles announced in the research tree:
Tier X vehicle, next to the T-10.
Tier X vehicle, next to the “Object 430 Option II”.
The announced vehicle will be represented in the research tree with a special symbol, so you will know that in the next updates the corresponding vehicle will be added at the place of the announcement.

With the release of version 9.22, the FCM 50 t tank will be removed from the in-game store.

Cars added:

IS-M (VIII level)
Object 430U (instead of Object 430 X level)
Object 268 Option 4 (instead of Object 263 X level)
Object 257 (level IX)
Object 263 (IX level)
Object 430 (IX level)
Object 705 (IX level)
Object 705A (X level)

Cars removed:

Object 263 (X level)
Object 430 (X level)
SU-122-54 (tier IX)

Changing the parameters of military equipment:

VIII T-54 first sample:

The power of the V-44 engine was increased from 520 to 760 hp. With.

T-44-100:

The dispersion of the gun due to movement and rotation of the chassis has been reduced by 40%.
The maximum reverse speed has been increased from 20 to 23 km/h.
Engine power increased from 520 to 760 hp. With.

T-44-100M:

Engine power increased from 520 to 760 hp. With.

VIII T-44-100 (P):

The dispersion of the gun due to movement and rotation of the chassis has been reduced by 40%.
The maximum reverse speed has been increased from 20 to 23 km/h.
Engine power increased from 520 to 760 hp. With.

VIII T-44:

The dispersion of the gun due to the movement and rotation of the T-44 chassis has been reduced by 20%.
The dispersion of the gun due to the movement and rotation of the T-44M chassis has been reduced by 22%.
The maximum reverse speed has been increased from 20 to 23 km/h.
The power of the V-54-6 engine was increased from 680 to 760 hp. With.

VIII SU-101:

The 122 mm D-25S mod. gun was replaced. 1944 for the 122 mm D-25-SU-101 gun with the following performance characteristics:
Elevation angle 18.3 degrees.
Declination angle 3 degrees.
Dispersion at 100 m is 0.44 m.
Reload time 11.1 s.
Mixing time 2.5 s.
UBR-471 damage 390, armor penetration 210 mm.
BR-471D damage 390, armor penetration 248 mm.
UOF-471 damage 530, armor penetration 64 mm.
The ammunition has not changed.
The dispersion of the gun due to the movement and rotation of the SU-101 chassis has been reduced by 33%.
The dispersion of the gun due to the movement and rotation of the SU-102 chassis has been reduced by 37%.
The turning speed of the SU-101 chassis has been reduced from 34 to 23 degrees/s.
The turning speed of the SU-102 chassis has been reduced from 36 to 25 degrees/s.
Gun dispersion 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944 increased from 0.35 to 0.4 m per 100 m.
The dispersion of the 100 mm D-54S gun has been increased from 0.35 to 0.39 m per 100 m.
The dispersion of the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been increased from 0.37 to 0.42 m per 100 m.
Gun dispersion 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944, when turning the barrel, it is increased by 25%.
The dispersion of the 100 mm D-54S gun when rotating the barrel has been increased by 25%.
The dispersion of the 122 mm M62-S2 gun when rotating the barrel has been reduced by 25%.
Reload time for 100 mm D-10S gun mod. 1944 increased from 6.2 to 7.1 s.
The reload time of the 100 mm D-54S gun has been increased from 6.7 to 9.1 s.
The reload time of the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been increased from 12 to 12.6 s.
Aiming time for the 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944 increased from 1.7 to 2.3 s.
The aiming time of the 100 mm D-54S gun has been increased from 2.1 to 2.3 s.
The aiming time of the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been reduced from 3.1 to 2.5 s.
The viewing range of the SU-101 turret has been reduced from 380 to 350 m.
The SU-101 turret traverse speed has been reduced from 44 to 26 deg/s.
The hull armor has been strengthened.
The speed of the UOF-472 projectile for the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been reduced by 10%.
The speed of the BR-472 projectile for the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been reduced by 10%.
The speed of the BK-9 projectile for the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been reduced by 8%.
Gun declination angle 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944 increased from 2.3 to 3 degrees.
The declination angle of the 100 mm D-54S gun has been increased from 2.3 to 3 degrees.
The depression angle of the 122 mm M62-S2 gun has been increased from 2.2 to 3 degrees.
Horizontal pointing angles for 100 mm D-10S guns mod. 1944 and 100 mm D-54S increased from −9.3/9.3 to −10/12 degrees.
The horizontal guidance angles of the 122 mm M62-S2 gun have been increased from −7.3/7.3 to −10/12 degrees.
The maximum reverse speed has been increased from 16 to 18 km/h.
The durability of the SU-101 increased from 990 to 1100 units.

VII SU-100M1:

The dispersion of the gun due to the movement and rotation of the SU-100M1 chassis has been reduced by 30%.
The dispersion of the gun due to the movement and rotation of the SU-100M1 Bis chassis has been reduced by 33%.
The turning speed of the SU-100M1 chassis has been reduced from 32 to 23 deg/s.
The turning speed of the SU-100M1 Bis chassis has been reduced from 34 to 25 deg/s.
Gun dispersion 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944 increased from 0.37 to 0.42 m per 100 m.
The dispersion of the 100 mm LB-1S gun has been changed from 0.33 to 0.41 m per 100 m.
Gun dispersion 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944, when turning the barrel, it is increased by 25%.
The dispersion of the 100 mm LB-1S gun when rotating the barrel has been increased by 25%.
Reload time for 100 mm D-10S gun mod. 1944 reduced from 7.3 to 7.1 s.
The reload time of the 100 mm LB-1S gun has been increased from 5.9 to 7.1 s.
Aiming time for the 100 mm D-10S mod. 1944 increased from 2 to 2.3 s.
The aiming time of the 100 mm LB-1S gun has been increased from 1.7 to 2.3 s.
The viewing range of the SU-100M1 turret has been reduced from 360 to 350 m.
The SU-100M1 turret traverse speed has been reduced from 44 to 26 deg/s.
The hull armor has been strengthened.
The armor penetration of the UBR-412P projectile for the 100 mm LB-1S gun has been increased from 235 to 258 mm.
The armor penetration of the UBR-412 projectile for the 100 mm LB-1S gun has been increased from 183 to 212 mm.
Horizontal pointing angles for 100 mm D-10S guns mod. 1944 and 100 mm LB-1S increased from −8/8 to −12/12 degrees.
The maximum forward speed has been increased from 50 to 54 km/h.
The maximum reverse speed has been increased from 14 to 16 km/h.
The durability of the SU-100M1 has increased from 830 to 850 units.

Equipment converted to HD:

IV AMX 40.

Equipment for IS-M

Regarding what equipment to take for the IS-M tank, everything is quite simple. The main task is to minimize our main disadvantages as much as possible and enhance our advantages, so the choice will be as follows: • – will allow us to increase our already decent DPM and use the gorgeous alpha more often. • – an oblique weapon often causes inconvenience, and increasing the aiming speed can slightly improve comfort. • – an excellent opportunity to increase visibility to acceptable values. The last point is not an axiom, the IS-M tank WoT also does well with, which boosts all characteristics. Here everyone must decide for themselves what is more important to them.