Target area and Ammunition

Shoot at the weakest armored part.

As a rule of thumb :- 

• The front hull is the thickest armored part, followed by the front turret. 
• The rear hull has the thinnest armor. 
• German tanks - aim for the turret as most German tanks have thinner turret armor. Except for Ausf. B, Maus and Panther which are weaker in the hull. 
• Russian and US tanks - always aim for the hull. The M6, for example, has 44mm hull armor vs 83mm turret armor (almost 2x thicker). 

The angle at which your shell impacts the enemy armor is very important. 90 degrees impact provides the highest chance of penetration. If the impact was not at 90 degrees, your shell needs to penetrate thicker than the published stat. 

Consider this. An armor plate with 50mm thickness would have an effective thickness when subjected to penetration at :- 

• 90 degrees - 50 mm 
• 45 degrees - 71 mm 
• 35 degrees - 87mm 

Sloped armor increases the effective armor thickness.

Tank destroyers and other tanks that have sloping armor have a higher effective thickness than the published stat. That is of course unless you hit at a 90 degree angle 

When shooting at targets moving past you, it is necessary to aim ahead of the spot where you want to hit. Using manual aim is an absolute must for this. There are a few factor to consider :

• the speed and angle of the moving target. The faster      the speed, and higher the angle (maximum 90 degrees), the more lead is      required. 
• the distance from you. 
• the shell type you are using. AP has higher velocity than HE. Therefore, HE needs more lead time. 

Typically loaded in all tanks. Solid shot with no explosive core.

Identical to AP, but with greater reliability to penetrate.

Developed later in World War 2 to help penetrate increased armor thickness.

Developed later in World War 2 to help penetrate increased armor thickness. Not effective against spaced armor.

Developed later in World War 2 to help penetrate increased armor thickness. Gun barrels vary the effective range of this round. Sometimes known as Hyper Velocity Armor Piercing (HVAP). American & British tanks used this term.

Not developed until the end of the war and improved upon after the war. This is one of the most effective rounds developed. This is the standard form of ammunition used in modern tanks.

This original optics was developed by Germany for their armored fighting vehicles during World War 2. To use it properly, the gunner must know the size of the target. The large triangle measures 4 mils or 4 meters wide @ 1Km at the bottom of the triangle. The small triangles measure 2 mils or 2 meters @ 1Km. The distance between each triangle top point is 4m wide @1Km. Thus, a t34 is 8m long. The length of the t34 would cover 3 triangle tips left to right @ 1Km.

 Working in progress 

Working in progress