The Game Plan: Basic Team Battle Line-Ups

Welcome to The Game Plan! If you’ve ever struggled to find the perfect tank line-up for your team battles, take heart – Robin from PVP Super Friends is here to inspire you with some of his top picks for the 7/54 format. Many of these tanks have featured prominently in the recent Season I Finals and Grand Finals! Plus, watch this space for an upcoming special feature on one of the most popular vehicles in the recent league tournaments – can you guess what it is?

World of Tanks’ new 7/54 format has made players think differently about their tanks. There are other considerations to be made, and these decisions are game-changing. Tanks like the AMX 50 100 have been pushed out on open maps in favour of more mobile and dangerous light tanks like the T-54 Lightweight. This article hopes to answer where tanks fit in the new format, and where we are going from here.

On city maps, the IS-3 and AMX 50 100 for Tier 8 Heavy tanks are still the best choice. On Tier 7 you probably want to bring the IS-2 Berlin and T29. On Tier 6 you might want to get the Heavy Tank No. VI or Japanese Tiger I. The Japanese Tiger brings hit points and a decent gun, and it can deal plenty of damage in the right hands, but its role is to soak damage. The IS-2 Berlin is probably the strongest choice for a Tier 7 right now. It can be played much like an IS-3, with strong alpha damage, but it can be somewhat soft. The T29 fills the role of a hull-down defender with nearly the same damage potential as its big brother, the T32.

Open maps have always had a flexibility in tank choices. Back in the days of 7/42 players used the AMX 13 90 and Pershing. Now teams are getting the T-54 Lightweight and Ru 251 for Tier 8, and LTTB and the latest addition to the game Spähpanzer SP I C on Tier 7. LTTB isn’t a keen choice for tank commanders in the League, but during The Grand Finals 2015 it proved itself to be quite effective, especially in a Light tank brawl. The Spähpanzer SP I C is a nasty tank. Its 90mm 3-shot autoloader gun has the second-best penetration and alpha for AP in Tier 7, and its small size and good camo rating make it a good passive Scout.

Artillery has seen some play in the League recently – previously, it was either able to do enough damage to help decide the fights, or was wholly ineffective. But now many teams are using artillery with success. Most common are the FV304 and M44, and sometimes in Tier 7 the G.W. Panther if the commander is audacious enough to add it into their line-up. The FV304 is a safe bet, though. Its high gun arc really helps in certain situations.

So the hunt for the perfect line-up continues, and judging from the matches in WGL APAC-Asia, it’s clear that teams are still searching for the best strategies and tanks for 7/54.