High-tier USSR Mediums, Maus, Type 5 Heavy, Object 252U, etc. – we’re all familiar with the most popular cool kids out there. They’re so commonly seen due to their very high power level and typical low skill floor, but what tanks are out there that have some hidden potential unknown to the world?
Any statistics based on win rate or frequency of occurrence are from vBAddict, and use statistics across servers for the past 30 days.
A-43
Coming within the bottom 25% of Tanks played in the past month, we have the A-43. This Tier 6 Russian Medium Tank is certainly not a popular one, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s weak. You can still reach the T-54 via this route so you’re not limited in options, and the tank itself is pretty excellent.
Your armor profile doesn’t really exist, you can’t trade shots very well (especially with my preferred choice of gun, the 57mm), and you’ll struggle to penetrate enemies without the use of APCR ammunition due to the low penetration values. Furthermore the A-43 certainly isn’t a Ridgeline Warrior with a measly 5 degrees of gun depression. That’s where the disadvantages end.
Considering we’re down at Tier 6, low penetration isn’t too much of an issue as nothing really has much in the way of armor anyway and if you are struggling, then the very high-penetration APCR can largely make up for that. 0.33 base dispersion with a phenomenal aiming time and solid soft stats allows the A-43 to constantly keep its reticle down to a minimum, enabling it to absolutely shred them with the ridiculous DPM values it gets. Not only this, but the mobility is Light Tank level with effective hull and turret traverse speeds exceeding 50 degrees per second, a top speed limit of 55 km/h, and a power-to-weight ratio of over 22 hp/t.