Tank T54E1, the so-called "Hamster", not so long ago received a role change on the battlefield. Previously, he belonged to the class of medium tanks. Now he was transferred to heavy and he is closer to the role of his descendant - T57 Heavy. How much this affected him in a random house - let's try to figure it out. At the same time, we can compare them with tanks similar in gameplay.
Hello tankers! With you Wotpack and a review of the American heavy tank T54EX1 after patch 1.9 in World of Tanks.
TTX T54E1
Brief overview of the characteristics and changes of the T54E1 after the rebalance
Since this is now a heavy tank, you should pay attention to one of the main points for this class of vehicles - its armor:
As seen, no armor was added to this tank, and what exactly was his transfer to the class of heavy tanks is not entirely clear. The forehead of the hull can still beat off something, it is very reminiscent of the one that is also on T57 heavy, and on the T110E5, and on the M103, but the sides are terrible. Unlike Hevik, he cannot tank from them. Despite the presence of bevels covered by caterpillars, they do not give the right to rely on rebound or non-penetration, since their nominal thickness is insufficient. In addition, it has a much more vulnerable roller - it can be pierced through it even from the T-44 armor-piercing gun.
armor scheme T54E1
Hamster cheeks put a fat cross on the armor of his entire tower. If at Khevik they make their way only to the area at the very shoulder strap of the tower, then at Hamster the cheeks are sewn to the left and to the right of the gun too. If the enemy enters the side, and T54EX1 jammed the tower, which constantly happens during the game, then he can easily halve our hero or even pick him up.
In a collision with heavy tanks and tank destroyers, he will have to swallow shells. However, he got a little HP boost - now he has 1850 durability points, which will allow him to live longer by 1-2 shots. For a drummer, this is important, as it will allow you not only to shoot back, but to distribute a full-fledged drum once again per fight.
So what were the changes in his performance characteristics, who would say that it was heavy? It turns out that in a change in mobility. If earlier he had a maximum speed of 43 km / h, and he quickly gained it, which allowed him to take a number of positions first and throw a drum on fast and lightly armored TTs that came to the position at the beginning of the battle without allies, now you should not hope for this.
now this full-fledged heavy in dynamics and he rides in a group with other strands, you should not count on a free gold drum distributed at the beginning of the battle and half the enemy’s TT. Its maximum speed is 35 km/h.
The specific power of the motor was left unchanged - as before, it is almost fifteen horses per ton. The turret rotates worse, already 36 degrees per second, the tank will constantly receive the cheeks and side of the turret, the UVN is normal, but not a record -8 degrees, many of its rivals will be better, that is, for a full-fledged shooting from the terrain and count on many positions for shooting not worth it, the tank is better played from an ally, the corpse of an allied tank, an embankment, etc.
There are also positive changes. To him upnuli weapon. Improved stabilization, but only from the movement, from the rotation of the tower, it remained unchanged. She also remained unchanged from turning in place. However, this allows him to play the swing more actively and give him the opportunity to distribute the drum completely without receiving anything in return.
Penetration is a sick trait of the old Hamster. If earlier 210 mm was only enough to penetrate the side, and it was played on full gold, now 248 mm is enough to butt with heavy classmates.
Ammunition characteristics:
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The main shell is armor-piercing, a gold subcaliber - this compares favorably with Hevik, in which the cumulative gold makes it impossible to put a drum on the rink and distribute a drum through the rink, you have to carry both types of shells. Penetration of gold 310 mm. Alpha is still 390, there are 4 projectiles in the drum, which reload 36 seconds, reload inside the drum 2.22 seconds. Potentially this the tank is able to inject 1560 damage in 6.66 seconds, this is a lot and practically brings it closer to the top of this branch. There is the same penetration, but the gold is cumulative and a little better, and the drum is already a little “angrier”.
If earlier the tank was played only on gold, now everything is better, and to play on it you don’t need to iron arable land and city streets with caterpillars of dull prem tanks on long winter evenings, it is quite capable of providing for itself, and only with an unsuccessful game goes into minuses. The tank, however, is not blind - a view of 400 meters allows it to notice the enemy in advance and play from the camp, from the bushes, although it is not intended for this.
Not superfluous to mention its convergence time - 2.9, and accuracy - 0.38. This clearly indicates that the tank is intended for close combat and will not be brought down between shots, as well as T57 heavy. To fully realize a drum with full mixing, it will take 8.7 seconds, that is, 15-20% more than with incomplete mixing.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The main advantage T54EX1 - his drum. It involves playing at close range and helping allies - heavy tanks. Hamster is able to pour four projectiles into the enemy in less than ten seconds, this allows you to avoid taking damage in return. His dynamics became like a heavy one, however, penetration increased - on the same T57 heavy in battles with dozens, it is quite enough, and the Hamster gets to the sevens, which he will sew in any projection, but you still shouldn’t indulge too much and shoot masks on the auto-aim. Additional benefit - 1560 drum damage and 390 damage per shot.
At the tank well armored gun mantlet, and exposing only its uppermost part above the hill, you can work on the hatches. The Hamster himself has a small hatch, and it is difficult to aim at the roof of the tower. So both Khomyak and Khevik can tank under certain conditions. For those who used to play T110EX5 the tanking technique on this tank should be familiar, when the hull is not set up in a reverse rhombus, but hiding the front roller, they drive out, resting the front roller in a corner.
Thanks to the tower, strongly shifted forward, this makes it possible to get non-penetration and not turn cheeks, or turn only a small part of them. However, who am I kidding - even in this case, the Hamster will be sewn into the tower. Don't count on his armor., she, like Hevik, is more random, and only a few adherents of this tank can confidently beat off shells on it, this requires a lot of game practice.
Drum T54EX1 all the same cannot be classified as fast, like on Hevik or Skoda. He cannot distribute the drum, kite the enemy, and when he comes out to give a shot, distribute the second one. To him need allies, for the enemy to shoot at them. His damage per minute is not too high, but not the worst either - a little more than 2k in the bare state and about 2300 with pumped perks, Coca-Cola, ventilation.
Also, the very specificity of the drum suggests a more frequent game from the camp, since the long drum is still not so good when playing at close range - the tank is defenseless for 36 seconds, if 3-4 TTs of the enemy fall on it, they will not leave him during this time wet place. T54EX1 will be the #1 target on cooldown.
Another bad quality is his mobility and size. As expected, the tank began to suffer more from artillery. No armor was added to the roof of the tower, so high-level artillery can throw him with penetration, with arson, with crits of three crew members - everything you like.
Т54Е1 in stock configuration
A few words should be said about the stock T54EX1. It is played only on a sub-caliber gold with a penetration of 250 mm, 181 mm at the ninth level is just ridiculous. He has five charges in the drum, the same accuracy, mixing, reloading inside the drum 2 seconds, the entire drum - 25 seconds. Shot damage - 240 units. Its hull and turret remain the same as in the top, the engine is slightly worse.
To minimize costs, you should go through a stock tank for x2, it is especially beneficial with a tank premium account, which will allow you to apply a daily bonus and open a weapon in a couple of days, and if you play x3-x4 during the event, then in one day. Well, or you can just pour in free experience, most do.
Equipment for T54E1
Should soon appear in the main game client equipment 2.0. Nevertheless, based on the analysis of the Sandbox test and the information provided by the developers, there is no need to significantly change anything in the equipment of this combat vehicle. As before, it will be collected exclusively for damage:
- reinforced aiming drives;
- improved ventilation;
- vertical stabilizer.
Equipment
Equipment for the tank:
- you should definitely take it with you first-aid kit и belt, better gold,
- but if the owner is greedy and does not want to spend a lot of silver for his beloved Hamster, then ordinary ones can be used.
- roll with cola follows only when playing for the maximum result, performing some kind of LBZ, taking marks.
The tank often burns. Some pump fire extinguishing on it, in this case the owner of the tank has a choice - to put a box of cola on it or ride with two belts. The second repair allows you to repair something else, the tank is quite critical, especially after the attack of enemy artillerymen, when they suddenly decided to please him with three of them. Riding with Coke without fire extinguishing is for the fearless. An automatic fire extinguisher is the choice of reasonable heroes.
Crew Perks
The crew, by the way, he has four people: commander, driver, gunner and loader. This distribution of roles makes it easy to retrain him for the next branch tank, especially since that one is also heavy. A crew with three perks looks like this:
In the future, you can download firefighting and ride with a cola or two rims.
Regarding the pumping of perks, the first repair is taken by everyone. After that, the perks are reset, the commander is given Sixth sense, gunner - Smooth turn, driver - Smooth running, charging - Contactless ammo rack, and then everyone starts downloading repairs again.
Thus, a full crew for a tank with 3 perks will cost the owner 800 gold for two drops. Well, or you can be patient until the brotherhood is pumped up, and ride on a bare repair and a lamp with the first perk, this will affect the quality of the game, but not too much. The absence of a non-contact ammunition loader from the loader will be most acutely felt.
Perk Importance Repair for critical tanks it is difficult to overestimate. It not only allows you to speed up the repair of tracks, but also reduces the possibility of an engine knocked out in the "red" or an exploded ammo rack, as well as the likelihood of a tank fire.
How to play on T54E1
As already mentioned, the Hamster is a full-fledged heavy. You should ride it on the position of heavy tanks. So, everything is standard here regarding the siding - there are not so many positions for cords on all maps where you can go.
It’s better not to go to Himmelsdorf’s “banana” - the Hamster will stand idle while positioning in this direction, it’s better then to go up the hill and suffer from artillery. At the same time, if the allies agreed to rush the banana and squeeze under the enemy positions at the beginning of the battle, then the Hamster should go there.
Let's look at the final configuration, taking into account the above recommendations:
The basis of the tactics of the game on T54EX1 - Is position selection. You should always look where you can roll back behind cover - whether it will be an allied tank, a house, a rock, a hill. The bushes are not a shelter for him, the disguise of the car is almost zero. You need to unload the drum only next to the shelter, then go to reload.
At the same time, you need to look to see if the enemies can lock you up, preventing you from moving. You need to calculate the battle one step ahead. You need to think about what will happen when the ally ends, and change your position in advance before that. The more a drummer lives, the more he distributes drums to the enemy.
VG also has an excellent video where they teach drum tank shooting tactics on the official channel, you should first of all familiarize yourself with it.
T54E1 has a "long" drum. That is, one that recharges a significant amount of time. This must be taken into account when playing this tank. Sometimes on it, especially in the absence of any actions on the map and a small amount of HP, you should win back from the camp, shooting from a distance.
In any case, it is better to prefer standing to an active game, albeit a dangerous one. In battles where the sides are facing each other, where there is no close range of collision, this machine can not realize itself. This is a pronounced support tank.
Recommendations for playing in a platoon
It is best played with a platoon of three, for example, two T-10s, fast heavys, and T54EX1. If the owner of the tank has comprehended the zen of tanking with such a hull and knows how not to turn his cheeks, then you can play two or three T54EX1. It is desirable that both co-platoons could do this, and also be able to cover each other, taking into account who will be charged first or has already been discharged, as in platoon Bats. But this is already the next level, it’s hard to find such a co-platoon, it would be best to rely on ordinary tanks with armor that are not inferior to him in terms of dynamics.
Comparison with competitors
It is worth recognizing that Hamster has few competitors - from the strands, these are AMX 50-120 and Emil II. Given the disgusting AMX cannon and the complete lack of armor in the turret, as well as the fact that he is not played in a heavy group, the Hamster definitely outperforms him as a heavy tank, but will lose to him when standing on open maps. But the Swede is more pleasant to play in all respects.
Of the "drum-like" can still be called IS-3-II. This tank has better armor and a resemblance of a drum for two shells, while each barrel is loaded separately. Shotgun feels better than T54EX1 as a tank that supports pushing directions, but two platoon Hamsters are better than two platoon Double-Barrels, as they are able to go out for free and pick up almost any heavy load in the game. Unless, of course, they hit and break through.
Conclusion
The rating of the tank is a solid "four". This vehicle cannot be fully used as an assault vehicle, but it is quite suitable as the main damage dealer in the team. Its low DPM and unreliable armor let it down a bit, but overall the car is good. In the hands of an experienced player, it is already played without gold, if you know the vulnerable zones of other tanks.
Video reviews T54E1
