IS-2 No.321
Contents
Description
The IS-2 No.321 is a gift rank IV Soviet heavy tank with a battle rating of 6.7 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Wind of Change" as a reward for the Legend of Victory event.
General info
General info
Survivability and armour
The armour, while having a nigh-impenetrable front plate and a decent turret, has many weak spots. Additional logs on the side of the tank provide some protection against low power HEAT shells.
First, there is the right part of the turret because while on the left side the gun mantlet is connected to the turret armour, there is no mantlet on the right-hand side, so it has just half the thickness of the left side.
Next, we have the lower glacis, which is a very prominent target, with very little armour for its BR (~130 mm effective thickness). Shots of a German 88 mm or an American 90 mm will wreak your IS-2 (1944).
Last but not least, we have the driver's hatch. While not as prominent as the first two mentioned, many experienced players will go for a shot right here, when you are hull-down. With around 120 mm effective thickness, it is really easy to penetrate even with small guns such as the American 76 mm and has a devastating effect on your tank.
Armour type:
| Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull | ___ mm | ___ mm Top ___ mm Bottom |
___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Turret | ___ - ___ mm Turret front ___ mm Gun mantlet |
___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm | ___ - ___ mm |
| Cupola | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm | ___ mm |
Notes:
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 | 40 | 16 | 46 | 0.15 | 671 | 992 | 14.57 | 21.47 |
| Realistic | 38 | 15 | 460 | 520 | 9.99 | 11.26 | ||
The forward and reverse acceleration on the IS-2 No.321 is quite superb even when stock. However, the IS-2 No.321 suffers especially when attempting to turn. Speed will bleed out very quickly when turning, this can lead to difficulty when attempting to turn at low speed and so will require the tank to move forwards until it reaches a good speed to turn adequately to respond to any targets not at the direct hull front.
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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When researching the first modifications, it's a priority to research Parts and FPE (you may want to activate several universal back-ups to be able to respawn twice in one match if you really wish to upgrade this vehicle quickly).
General stock advice:
- Don't show your rear to any enemies, because a single fire will be your death.
- Your gun is still very effective, so don't be afraid to attack enemies frontally, just make sure to aim for weak spots if possible.
- Shooting at planes in Arcade with your machine gun (or main gun) and scoring some hits can often award you a kill if the plane crashes, which grants points.
- Play as a support tank - push with your team and let them take fire, then poke out and take your shots, then retreat back into cover.
- Try to push into objectives with your team to gain those points as well.
Mobility
| Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
| Arcade | 40 | 16 | 46.2 | 671 | 992 | 14.52 | 21.47 |
| Realistic | 38 | 15 | 460 | 520 | 9.96 | 11.26 | |
Modifications and economy
| Mobility | Protection | Firepower | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Armaments
Main armament
| 122 mm D-25T | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
| Arcade | 28 | -3°/+20° | ±180° | N/A | 11.3 | 15.7 | 19.0 | 21.1 | 22.4 | 27.04 | 23.92 | 22.05 | 20.80 |
| Realistic | 8.3 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.0 | ||||||||
Ammunition
| 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-471 | APHE | 205 | 201 | 183 | 162 | 144 | 128 |
| BR-471B | APHEBC | 205 | 203 | 191 | 178 | 166 | 155 |
| OF-471 | HE | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 | 37 |
| Shell details | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile Mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive Mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | ||
| 0% | 50% | 100% | |||||||
| BR-471 | APHE | 795 | 25 | 1.2 | 19 | 246.4 | 47° | 60° | 65° |
| BR-471B | APHEBC | 795 | 25 | 1.2 | 19 | 246.4 | 48° | 63° | 71° |
| OF-471 | HE | 800 | 25 | 0 | 0.1 | 3,600 | 79° | 80° | 81° |
Ammo racks
| Full ammo |
Ammo part |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
6th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | Projectiles Propellants |
13 (+15) 27 (+1) |
1 (+27) 24 (+4) |
N/A 21 (+7) |
N/A 11 (+17) |
N/A 6 (+22) |
N/A 1 (+27) |
No |
Notes:
- The IS-2 No.321 uses two-piece ammunition, composed of projectiles (yellow) and propellant bags (orange). Both have separate racks.
- Shells are modeled individually and disappear after having been shot or loaded.
- Centre floor rack emptied: 11 (+17) shells.
Machine guns
| 12.7 mm DShK | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Pintle | 250 (50) | 600 | -10°/+60° | ±180° |
| 7.62 mm DT | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
| Coaxial | 1,890 (63) | 600 | N/A | N/A |
Usage in battles
Describe the tactics of playing in the vehicle, the features of using vehicles in the team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view but instead give the reader food for thought. Describe the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Powerful 122 mm gun with enough explosive filler to knock out a tank with a single penetrating shot.
- Large calibre gives round good overmatching mechanics against most front armour of medium tanks.
- Upper hull plate is thickly armored and angled, able to resist most shells with the exception of HEAT or APDS.
- Relatively good mobility and top speed for a heavy tank, with a faster reverse speed as well to withdraw quickly.
- Roof mounted machine gun can help defend against lightly-armoured vehicles or low-flying aircraft.
Cons:
- Long reload speed makes follow-up shots slow
- Has front armour weak points in the turret and lower glacis.
- Hull armour construction makes angling difficult due to weaker hull sides and cheeks
- Cramped interior compartment can likely knock out entire crew or ignite ammunition in a single shot.
- Poor -3 degree depression prohibits the usage of many hull-down fighting positions
- No add-on spaced armour compared to the original IS-2 (1944).
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
| USSR heavy tanks | |
|---|---|
| KV-1 | KV-1 (L-11) · KV-1 (ZiS-5) · KV-1E · KV-1S |
| KV-2 | KV-2 (1939) · KV-2 (1940) · KV-2 (ZiS-6) |
| Other KVs | KV-85 · KV-122 · KV-220 |
| IS-1/2 | IS-1 · IS-2 · IS-2 (1944) · IS-2 No.321 · IS-2 "Revenge" · Object 248 |
| Other IS tanks | IS-3 · IS-4M · IS-6 · IS-7 |
| T-10 | T-10A · T-10M |
| Multi-turreted | T-35 · SMK |
| Other | Object 279 |
| Lend-Lease | ▂MK-II "Matilda" |
