T-34-85 No.215
Contents
Description
The T-34-85 No.215 is a premium rank IV Chinese medium tank
with a battle rating of 5.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update 1.95 "Northern Wind" in the Lunar New Year Sale 2020.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret roof)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Turret, Cupola, Driver's hatch, Machine gun port)
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 45 mm (60°) Front glacis 45 mm (60°) Lower glacis 75 mm (60°) Driver's hatch 65 mm (30°) Machine gun port |
45 mm (39-40°) Top 45 mm Bottom |
45 mm (47-49°) Top 45 mm (46°) Bottom |
20 mm |
Turret | 90 mm (1-69°) Turret front 90 + 40 mm (8-61°) Gun mantlet |
75 mm (19-22°) Front 2/3rd 52 mm (13-19°) Rear 1/3rd |
52 mm (9°) | 20 mm |
Armour | Sides | Roof | ||
Cupola | 90 mm | 20 mm |
Notes:
- The gun mantlet has 90 mm in front with additional small and thin 40 mm plates on the sides of the gun. See here.
- Suspensions wheels are 20 mm thick and tracks are 18 mm thick
The armour layout of the T-34-85 N0.215 is virtually identical to the T-34-85. The hull armour, while well angled, is very thin for its rank and can be penetrated by nearly any tank cannon. Creative use of angling can still lead to the occasional bounce. The 90 mm thick turret is also thin for its rank, but the good sloping on the sides can also lead to bounces with some luck.
The T-34-85 has very poor survivability due to the fact that all 5 crew members are packed close to each other. A hull penetration will likely knock out all of them. However, inexperienced players that face this tank will often shoot the lower hull part of the driver hatch, which is infamous for being surprisingly resilient.
Any enemy vehicle around the T-34-85's BR bracket can destroy it if it can get a solid shot on the hull armour. Beware when exposing hull when coming out to take a shot on an enemy, someone is bound to be watching for the T-34-85 and they won't be afraid to plant a shell into the 45 mm hull armour.
Mobility
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | AoA | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | |
Arcade | 62 | 10 | 32 | 0.2 | 775 | 954 | 24.22 | 29.63 |
Realistic | 55 | 9 | 442 | 500 | 13.81 | 15.53 |
Armaments
Main armament
The T-34-85 No.215 is equipped with the fantastic ZiS-S-53 cannon, with penetrates about 145 mm on the close range with the stock BR365K round. This might not be enough to fight Tiger IIs frontally, but it works perfectly with other tanks, which are less armoured or you can engage them from the side. The gun depression is like on many other soviet (based) vehicles quite poor, with only 5° there are no hull-down manoeuvres possible.85 mm ZIS-S-53 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 60 | -5°/+22° | ±180° | N/A | 23.8 | __._ | __._ | __._ | __._ | 9.6 | __.__ | __.__ | 7.4 |
Realistic | 14.9 | __._ | __._ | __._ | 25.0 |
Ammunition
The stock round is the BR365K which has 148 mm of penetration on close range. The APHE round has a very good one-shot-potential with 48g of A-IX-2(73.92g of TNT equivalent).
The second round, the BR365A, only has about 135 mm penetration on point-blank, in exchange for improved penetration against sloped armor. This makes it more effective than the BR365K when shooting at angling M4A3E2's and Panthers. Also, instead of having 48g, it has 164g TNT of explosives inside the shell. This increases the post-penetration effect dramatically.
APCR is also available, but keep in mind that it hates sloped armour and it has very poor post-penetration damage.
This BR365-P penetrates about 195mm of RHA on close range.
The HE-shell is called O-365K. With 660g of TNT inside it performs pretty good against trucks&halftrucks.
Penetration statistics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
BR-365A | APHEBC | 135 | 133 | 125 | 115 | 106 | 97 |
BR-365K | APHE | 148 | 143 | 126 | 106 | 90 | 77 |
BR-365P | APCR | 195 | 187 | 154 | 120 | 94 | 74 |
O-365K | HE | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Shell details | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Normalisation at 30° from horizontal |
Ricochet | ||
0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||
BR-365A | APHEBC | 792 | 9.2 | 1.2 | 14.0 | 164 | +4.0° | 48° | 63° | 71° |
BR-365K | APHE | 792 | 9.2 | 1.2 | 14.0 | 73.92 | -1.0° | 47° | 60° | 65° |
BR-365P | APCR | 1,050 | 4.99 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +1.5° | 66° | 70° | 72° |
O-365K | HE | 793 | 9.54 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 660 | +0.0° | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
60 | 51 (+9) | 41 (+19) | 31 (+29) | 21 (+39) | 11 (+49) | 1 (+59) | no |
Turret empty: 24 (+12)
Machine guns
The MG on the T-34-85, the 7.62mm DT, is quite ineffective in most scenarios due to its poor penetration. It can only disable completely exposed crews on vehicles like M16. When it comes to lightly armored tanks (eg. M18, Sd.kfz.234/2) this MG will struggle to pierce their thin armor plates.7.62 mm DT | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt capacity) |
Rate of fire (shots/minute) |
Vertical guidance |
Horizontal guidance |
Coaxial | 1,890 (63) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
The T-34-85's best playstyle is that of a flanker. Due to its high mobility, fast turret traverse, and a capable cannon with excellent post-penetration damage, the T-34-85 fills this role perfectly. Since the turret is so tall, it makes combat behind low obstacles difficult, as the turret segment above the main gun is visible. The T-34-85's other playstyle can be as a support tank, by keeping up with more protected vehicles like the IS-2 and supplement firepower while their heavy armament reloads.
The T-34-85 would not make a very suitable short-range brawler though even with the 85 mm gun as the gun has a rather tedious reload for the specific playstyle and the T-34's armour is very poor at its BR. With that, the T-34-85 would tend to be able to fire one shot at a close enemy before it gets taken out by other enemies nearby. However, it is understandable that the situation is unavoidable, so it is recommended to stay steady by firing one shot at an unsuspecting enemy at close range before retreating to reload, evading enemy shots.
While the T-34-85 Gai is a fairly well-rounded tank, its poor armor and high speed mean that one should play it more like a light tank than a medium. The gun is very lethal but the penetration is not particularly good, so it is better to flank and go for side shots, which can instantly knock out all but the largest and most spacious opponents. During frontal engagements, Tiger Is should be shot in the flat portions of the hull (avoiding the driver's port), Panthers should be shot in the turret (in the less curved portion of the mantlet) or possibly in the lower glacis, and non-Jumbo Shermans can generally be shot anywhere. The Tiger II (P) is only vulnerable in a small portion of the turret cheeks and the Tiger II (H) is essentially frontally immune, so for these kinds of targets, circle around to get a good look at the hull sides and let the slope modifiers take care of the rest. Watch out for American tanks like the M4A3 (76) W and T25, as they have vertical stabilizers and can often shoot first if they are aware of you.
Tactics
In AB, you should play this tank like any other T-34. Push because you have a pretty well-rounded tank and will generally be able to adapt to whatever situation that develops. The AB meta generally favors more heavily armed and armored tanks due to the presence of markers making flanking and ambushes more difficult, so play carefully and take advantage of your high mobility.
In RB, play this tank offensively yet carefully. Use your speed and keep up with your teammates, or alternatively play it like a light tank and go on long flanks. If one decides to use the T-34 as a main battle tank, it's advisable to hide the hull as well as possible which has the weakest armour. Unfortunately, most heavy tanks like the Tiger II are nearly invulnerable from the front, but many mediums and even Cold War MBT's can still be destroyed. At this rank bracket, however, its speed, turret location, and poor armour push it towards a flanking role, away from the 1940-43 main battle comfort zone. The gun is still very potent, and the ammunition often knocks out nearly the entire crew, but the increases in armour of enemy vehicles necessitate learning their weakspots. The gun is generally accurate and most shells retain their velocity even into far ranges -- at 1000 meters a Tiger I can be destroyed with a frontal hit.
In SB, play this tank very cautiously because the optics aren't that good and most of the time you will face tanks from pretty far distances. Panthers generally have better optics than you so try to avoid encounters with Panthers or Tigers.
Modules
Tier | Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | Tracks | Parts | Horizontal Drive | BR-365A | |
II | Suspension | Brake System | FPE | Adjustment of Fire | |
III | Filters | Crew Replenishment | Elevation Mechanism | BR-365P | |
IV | Transmission | Engine | Add-on Armor | Artillery Support | |
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Excellent gun with adequate penetration, destructive damage and good reload rate
- 56 km/h top speed and great manoeuvrability allows it to reposition easily
- 5-man crew increases survivalility
- Access to BR-365P APCR to effectively penetrate tough tanks up cloes (M4A3E2s, Tigers & Panthers)
- Has two types of AP for players to choose: BR-365K with higher pen but less TNT, and BR-365A with less pen but plenty of TNT
- Similar playstyle with the previous T-34s which is beginner-friendly
- Fast turret traverse to easily deal with targets from multiple directions
- Sloped hull and round frontal turret might bounce small caliber shells
Cons:
- Armour is fairly useless in its BR
- 5 degrees gun depression is below average
- A bit below average penetration with standard ammo
- High profile. Since the turret is so tall, it makes combat behind low obstacles difficult, as the turret segment above the main gun is visible
- Awkward to place bushes on upper front hull due to the obstruction of MG port and driver's optics
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the vehicle in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main
template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>
, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />
. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===
, also if applicable).
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the vehicles;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the tank;
- other literature.
China medium tanks | |
---|---|
ZTZ59 | Type 59 · ZTZ59A · ZTZ59D1 |
ZTZ69 | Type 69 · Type 69-IIa |
ZTZ88/96 | ZTZ88A · ZTZ88B |
ZTZ96 · ZTZ96A · ZTZ96A (P) | |
ZTZ99 | ZTZ99-II · ZTZ99-III |
ZTZ99A | ZTZ99A · WZ1001(E) LCT |
Export series | MBT-2000 · VT4A1 |
ROC | CM11 |
Other | Т-34-85 Gai · Object 122MT "MC" |
Bangladesh | T-69 II G |
Japan | ␗Chi-Ha · ␗Chi-Ha Kai |
Pakistan | Al-Khalid-I |
USA | ␗M4A4 · ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · ␗M4A1 (75) W · ␗M48A1 · ␗M60A3 TTS |
USSR | ␗T-34 (1943) · ␗Т-34-85 (S-53) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545 |
China premium ground vehicles | |
---|---|
Light tanks | T-26 No.531 · ␗M3A3 (1st PTG) · ␗M41A3 · M64 · WMA301 |
Medium tanks | ␗M4A4 (1st PTG) · T-34-85 No.215 · Т-62 №545 · ZTZ59A · Type 69-IIa · T-69 II G · ZTZ96A (P) · Al-Khalid-I |
Heavy tanks | IS-2 No.402 |