IS-2 (mod.1944): The Polar Bear In Berlin

The IS-2 (1944) is a Soviet heavy tank. It has adequate armour which rivals the Tiger II and a powerful cannon that overpowers the US 90mm M3. These characteristics make it a good sniper. Additionally, its great BR-471B and BR-471D rounds can cause overpressure and knock out most foes with one single shot. When correctly played with, the IS-2 (1944) will become a huge threat to your enemies. Although its 20+ sec long reload can be frustrating, it is still a tank worthy of playing.

Armour

The IS-2 (1944) has adequate frontal armour. The upper hull armour is a piece of 100 mm thick cast homogeneous armour placed at a steep 60-degree angle, providing an effective thickness of up to 250 mm. This piece of armour is thick enough to withstand the German 128mm Pak44 cannon, the American 90mm T15E1 cannon, etc. But HEAT shells and APDS rounds still pose a danger to the IS-2 (1944). The 90mm lower frontal plate provides about 130mm of effective thickness and can’t protect you from most cannons. But with the “Add-on armour” modification, the tracks will give you extra protection of the lower plate. To get better protection, you can angle a little while not showing your side armour.

The IS-2 (1944) also has 100mm~130mm of side armour (upper), and 90mm of side armour (lower). It protects against small-calibre guns, but it almost means nothing when facing guns with bigger calibres. The rear armour is 60mm thick, weaker than the side armour, but still enough to block autocannons.

The turret armour is weak for a heavy tank. The 100mm turret front, sides and back can block the American 76mm and the German KwK36 at an angle. However, anything with more than 170mm of penetration can go through the turret armour with ease and knock out the crew.

Survivability

Here is an overview of the IS-2(1944)'s survivability by analysing the deaths of it.

• Crew Loss: The crew compartment of the IS-2 (1944) is very crowded. Just one penetrating shot can knock out its crew and send it back to the hangar.
• Ammo Explosion: This is a common death. The ammo of the IS-2 (1944) is put in two parts: charges and projectiles. They are everywhere in the crew compartment, which makes it easy to be hit. Watch your ammo count, and don't take too much ammo. It is recommended to take 11 (+17) shells in order to keep the centre floor rack empty.

Armament

The IS-2 (1944) uses the 122mm D-25T cannon, which is extremely powerful. The D-25T has enough penetration to rival the German KwK 43 and has even more explosive filler. It can knock out most vehicles in one, single, devastating shot. The vertical guidance is terrible (-3/+20), which means it can't fight effectively in hilly terrain. When aiming horizontally, the turret can rotate up to 12 degrees a second, and the vertical rotation is 4 degrees a second, both pretty slow. The biggest problem is the reloading rate of the D-25T cannon. After firing, it needs to reload for 21 seconds, making it almost impossible to deal with multiple enemies. Think twice before firing.

To deal with specific enemies

• Tiger II (H): This is a common and hard enemy to deal with. Due to its fast-firing and hard-hitting main armament, avoid fighting it close-up. Its main weak spot is the turret cheek, which is only 185mm thick.
• Ferdinand: Go for the angled armour at the sides of the lower front plate; this will disable Ferdinand's engine and/or driver so you can flank and finish it off.
• Jagdtiger: Try hitting the Jagdtiger's lower frontal plate. You have a good chance of disabling its transmission, or even better, knocking out its crew in one shot.
• Ho-Ri Production: You cannot reliably penetrate or damage this tank frontally. You can try disabling the cannon barrel, and then flanking as your best option.
• T34/T29: Shoot at its turret ring or the lower frontal plate, you can penetrate them easily. You can also shoot the upper frontal plate when you are using the BR-471B round.
• T28/T95: You can only penetrate the cupolas on top of the tank. If they're hidden or you are unsure about the shot, you can try hitting the cannon barrel and running away.
• T26E5/T26E1: You can shoot at its turret ring and the hull MG port. The two bumps on the lower frontal plate are also an option if you have a good enough shot.

Ammo

The IS-2 (1944) can use four different kinds of ammo: the BR-471 APHE, the BR-471 APHEBC, the BR-471D APCBC, and the OF-471 HE. Here is some guidance on these ammo.

• The BR-471 is your stock round; It has enough penetration and enough explosive filler to cause overpressure. It is not as good as the two other AP rounds, but it is good for stock grind.
• The BR-471B is better than its predecessor, the BR-471. The BR-471B performs better at long ranges. It also performs better when engaging tanks with angled armour. Overall, it is a good AP round. 
• The BR-471D is the best round you can get. It has 230mm of maximum penetration and performs best at long ranges. It has worse performance when it comes to penetrating angled armour, but still enough. It has less explosive filler though, but still can cause overpressure. 
• The OF-471 is your HE round. It is great for a tank HE shell with 37mm of penetration. It is excellent for dealing with light armoured vehicles. As a bonus, it can even overpressure Tigers and Panthers, which sometimes comes in handy.

Machine Gun

There is a 12.7mm DShK machine gun near the commander cupola. It is good at killing open-top and lightly armoured vehicles, breaking down tracks, and setting aircraft on fire or sniping their pilots. But watch your ammo count, the 12.7mm DShK MG only has 250 rounds (50 rounds per belt). There is also a coaxial-mounted 7.62 DT machine gun. This small-calibre gun can be used to mark enemies in realistic battles and to locate enemies through smoke.

Mobility

The IS-2 (1944) has good mobility as a 46-ton heavy tank: between 39 km/h (forward) and 15 km/h (backward). The IS-2 (1944) needs some time to pick up speed. Even though the IS-2 (1944) uses single current transmission, the thick tracks can still provide good handling when turning.

In battle, the IS-2 (1944) can easily speed up to 30 km/h, and can still turn easily at that speed. But some obstacles can slow the tank down significantly, so try to break them down with your MG.

Its reverse speed is excellent. The IS-2 (1944) can retreat for reloading and repairs. It is a great advantage in combat.

So, How To Play?

Play a support role when using the IS-2 (1944). Your 122mm gun can take out many tanks even at long ranges. Your heavy armour can withstand many shots too. These two outstanding features makes the IS-2 (1944) a great sniper and heavy armament supporter. However, things will get challenging when it comes to close-quarter combat. The 20-second reload proves to be a big problem at CQB. As a result, think twice about which enemy you should take out first and hide after firing. When your team is losing the game, the IS-2 (1944) 's disadvantages will get exposed significantly: The 20-second reload can't effectively stop the advance of your enemies. Thus your weaker side and back armour can't earn time for your weapon reload. Find a place to hide and snipe your enemies one-by-one. 

Here are some roles the IS-2 (1944) can perform:

Your powerful 122mm D-25T cannon can knock out most tanks in one shot. Why not be a sniper? Find a bush or a rock at the edge of the map to hide your weak spots, then dig in! But be sure to look around once in a while for light tanks, they can cause a lot of trouble to snipers. Remember, after taking out some enemies, change places, you don't want to be bombed.

Want to be a flanker? No problem! The IS-2 (1944) has decent speed for a heavy tank. It can go to the side of your enemies and give them some hard shots. You probably won't meet multiple enemies, so you will have time to reload your cannon. But be careful, flanking is dangerous, someone might try to flank the flanker, so watch out when you hear enemy movement.

Thank You For Reading!