The T-34-57 (1943) is a premium Soviet medium tank. It boasts a hard-hitting 57 millimetre ZIS-4M gun and enhanced turret armour, up to 106 millimetres, compared to its counterpart, the techtree T-34-57. It bears a visual resemblance to the T-34 (1942 model) with a hexagon-shaped turret. It also retains the good sloped armour and speed of the T-34 family, whilst also having a lethal and quick reloading cannon, and is a must-have for any experienced Soviet player.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great turret traverse speed, which makes the tank effective in close-quarters combat. | Poor survivability- a single shot that penetrates will often knock out the tank, as it has only 4 crewmembers. |
| Has access to APCR rounds, which increase penetration up to 177 millimeters. | Bad gun depression of only -5 makes fighting in hilly terrain difficult. |
| Can reach speeds of up to 49 kilometres per hour, rivalling some light tanks. | Bad anti-air capabilities, with only a coaxial machine gun available as a secondary weapon. |
| Strong 57 millimetre cannon with high penetration and a short reload speed of about 5 seconds. | Poor post-penetration damage due to the small calibre and little explosive mass. |
| Armour is increased to 53 millimetres on the turret plating, compared to 45 millimeters on the techtree T-34-57, and the same 45 millimeters of sloped frontal armour. The turret cheeks also provide additional armour, making penetration harder. | Weakspots are easily exploitable, such as a shell penetrating around the turret ring or gun breech often critically disabling the tank. The upper side armour is only 40 millimetres thick and lower side armour is 45 millimeters. |
Armour
The T-34-57 (1943) has 45 millimeters of sloped frontal hull armour, 45 millimeters of lower side armour and 40 millimetres of angled armour on the side plate, which are generally easy to penetrate for most tanks. Its turret boasts two 53 millimetre plates of armour that overlap, but is the main weakpoint of the tank, and will often be exploited by U.S. vehicles like the T14. This is due to their usual penetration of 103 millimetres being more than enough to penetrate and knock out most crew members.
Survivability
Generally, the survivability of the T-34-57 (1943) is poor, with a well-aimed shot usually destroying the tank. However, the sloped armour on the hull should protect the driver, allowing you to escape and recover, so angling is very important in order to cover your weakpoints like your side armour.
Armament
The T-34-57 (1943)'s gun, a ZIS-4M prototype, has superb penetration of up to 145 millimetres, but has quite lackluster post-penetration damage due to the small 57 millimetre calibre. However, it is fast to reload, meaning that you will have to aim at weakspots and potentially shoot more than once to destroy a tank, rather than disable it, since you should reload faster than most enemies. It also comes with a 7.62 millimetre machine gun, which can be lethal against lightly armoured vehicles but is difficult to use for anti-air purposes, due to its coaxial status.
It also has a variety of shells to choose from, having a few more than the standard T-34-57 techtree variant. Generally, most of them should be used to an extent in order to combat any type of vehicle you come across, with a 5 second reload being very useful against foes.
- BR-271 — a standard APHEBC round with about 142 millimetres of penetration. It is a very good shell for most vehicles overall, and is personally the one you should take the most of, but has only 14g of explosive mass, meaning more than one or a well-placed shot may be needed to destroy enemies.
- O-271 — a HE shell that is quite niche, and is very effective against lightly-armoured or open-topped vehicles- around five should be enough to quickly switch to against a lighter foe.
- BR-271K — an APHE round that has better explosive mass but 2-3 millimetres less penetration than the BR-271- these are best used in close-quarters combat, where the worse penetration of the shell will be less important, but are generally less useful than the APHEBC round.
- BR-271P — a late-war APCR round that can penetrate up to about 177 millimetres of armour, making it effective against tougher enemies like the Tiger I or Panther D in uptiers. However, the small size of the round means little damage will be done if penetration is successful, so around five to ten of these shells should be enough.
Mobility
The T-34-57 (1943) has very good mobility like most T-34s, being able to reach speeds of some light tanks, or about 49 kilometres per hour when driving forwards, but has a inadequate 7 kilometres per hour reversal speed, making ambushes risky. The tank’s manoeuvrability is good, allowing you to dodge some shots from enemies, and has a 500 horsepower engine, which compensates for its 30 ton weight, giving it a power to weight ratio of 16.7 hp/t and good acceleration speeds.
Playstyles
Due to the T-34-57 (1943) having good forward acceleration, it is easy to reach areas where you can flank the enemy and attack weakspots, as leading charges is ill-advised due to your lack of armour; let your teammates engage the main flashpoints.
Generally, you should try to use your agility to escape dangerous situations or try to position into angling, but be aware of your turret being an easy shot for most tanks, making angling redundant. Since your caliber is low (57 mm) you will often need more than one shot to finish off a tank, so target key crew members to immobilize enemies.
Overall, the T-34-57 (1943) is a well-rounded medium tank that pairs well with other tanks at its battle rating, and players who have used the T-34-57 extensively should be able to adapt to the careful playstyle that the tank rewards. With an emphasis on aggressive flanking, you should be able to beat your enemies to strategic spots and fire the first shot.
And remember, never let your enemies know the Motherland’s next move!
