Ammo types
AP:
This is the most basic ammo type which most tanks have, most have it as standard. It is also the best ammo type on any tank due to its flexibility.
AP is a very flexible round, having average shell velocity (speed), 5 degrees of normalization, the best overmatch ability of any shell, and the ability to penetrate module and spaced armour. This shell bounces on armour angled at 70 degrees.
APCR:
This is often a premium ammo round on many tanks, but many tanks also have it as a standard round.
This shell is similar to AP, but less flexible, having high shell velocity, but only 2 degrees of normalization, its overmatch ability is worse than AP but it can still overmatch, and it can penetrate module and spaced armour. APCR generally loses a lot of penetration at distances.
HEAT:
HEAT is nearly always a premium round, very few tanks have this as standard ammo. Compared to AP and APCR, its the lest flexible ammo type.
HEAT is very unreliable against module/spaced armour, generally has average to low shell velocity, it can’t normalize or overmatch, but it doesn’t ricochet at any angle.
While AP or APCR can easily be shot at basically anywhere on an enemy tank, with HEAT you have to try and avoid shooting tracks, the gun, or any spaced armour. HEAT also cannot pass through destructible objects on the map.
HE:
HE is the least flexible shell, even less than HEAT. Its also the most different shell, doing more damage than the 3 other shells, but compensates with terrible usability compared to the other 3.
HE cannot penetrate spaced armour or module armour (HEAT can, but isn’t very effective), it generally has the lowest shell velocity out of these shells, it can’t normalize or overmatch, and it can’t ricochet. HE also detonates on destructible objects on the map. HE can still cause damage even if not penetrating the enemy.
HE is usually best used against larger and flatter armour plates to avoid it accidentally detonating on thicker armour or on module or spaced armour.
HE sub types:
All HE ammo in the game is HE, the shells all perform and act in the same way. There are some variations which have either increased penetration or alpha damage, such as the ones below:
Premium HE – BZ-68, BZ-75.
Premium “HESH” – Conway, FV4202, FV215B 183, etc.
Cheap “HESH” – Tortoise, Conqueror, etc.
“HEP” – RU 251, HWK 30, Kunze Panzer, etc.
These are all just shell names, HEP, HESH, and Premium HE are all just HE shells with either changed alpha damage or increased penetration. There are also some guns with “HEP” or “HESH” as shell names, but don’t have increased penetration or damage, such as FV4005, 121B, Leopard 1, Progetto 65, etc.
(You can check the shell name by clicking on the shell in the ammo selection tab in the garage.)
One exception is the T49, which has a standard HE round (normal penetration & alpha) in the premium ammo slot. Technically its premium HE, but it doesn’t have increased penetration.
Ammo loadout
Most tanks have an ammo loadout of 3 shells, these shells being standard ammo/premium ammo/HE ammo.
Standard ammo:
This is your basic ammo type. On nearly all tanks in the game, this shell causes more damage than the premium ammo, and less damage than the HE shell. This shell is usually AP or APCR, and is a free ammo type (costs 0 credits).
On the majority of tanks this should be your default shell to use in battle, it has the most optimal penetration for its alpha damage. Also on the majority of tanks, the standard ammo shell does more damage than the premium ammo shell.
Premium ammo:
This ammo is “premium” since it costs a premium price to use it. Usually these shells have higher penetration than standard ammo, but deal less damage. Premium ammo does cost credits, usually quite a high amount.
Generally premium ammo does roughly 15% less damage than the standard ammo on a tank
A few tanks in the game have lower penetration on premium ammo, but higher damage (often this is an HE-type shell, but it can also be AP). The T49, BZ-68, BZ-75, FV215B 183, Conway, Charioteer, Centurion 7/1, FV4202 all have such an ammo loadout.
HE ammo:
HE ammo is the most different ammo type out of these 3 shells. It has extremely low penetration compared to standard ammo, but high damage. It can also still deal damage even when not penetrating enemy armour (referred to as splash damage). HE ammo is a free shell type (costs 0 credits).
Generally HE ammo does roughly 25% more damage than the standard ammo on a tank (though there are quite a few exceptions).
The most common ammo loadouts in game are the following:
-AP/APCR/HE
-AP/HEAT/HE
-APCR/APCR/HE
-APCR/HEAT/HE
Some less common ammo loadouts would include HEAT as the standard shell, or a HE-type shell as a premium shell. Only a few tanks don’t have HE, or lack a premium round.
Ammo usage in battle:
The default shell you use should be the shell with the lowest penetration (not counting standard HE), but the highest damage (again not counting standard HE).
For example on a FV215b 183, which has AP/HESH/HE ammo loadout, the AP has 300mm penetration but less damage, and HESH has 220mm penetration but more damage. On this tank the default shell would be that premium HESH shell.
On tanks with more normal ammo loadout, the default ammo is usually just standard AP or APCR, not the premium shell.
The premium shell should only be used against enemies which you know you can’t penetrate with the standard shell. There’s no point to default to the higher penetration shell before you can actually determine the need for it. Only use the premium shell when the enemy isn’t penetrable to your standard ammo.
(Of course, this role is switched with tanks like the FV215b 183, where the actual premium shell (HESH) has less penetration but more damage, but the standard ammo (AP) has more penetration.)
The HE shell should be used situationally. Some tanks will have terrible HE, which can’t penetrate anything at their tier (such as the Pawlack tank or Gravedigger), and other tanks have really impressive HE which can penetrate even the sides of some tanks in their tier (such as the SU-152, T110E4, Kpz.07 RH, etc).
Using HE generally requires good knowledge of the HE’s penetration level, and the armour thicknesses of enemy tank’s side and rear armour.
To learn the thicknesses of armour plates, its easiest to use an online armour viewer. You can also use trial-and-error, switch to HE, and if the armour shows up as red or yellow highlight, then its not penetrable, if its a clear/grey highlight, then its penetrable.
Using this shell type effectively is something that sets apart average players from great players, since effective HE shell use greatly boosts damage in battles.
Ammo in an autoloader
To reload a magazine while you still have some shells remaining in the magazine:
-Press “C” on PC devices.
-Double tap the ammo you currently have loaded on mobile devices.
Switching to ammo with low shell count:
Sometimes in an autoloader, you might run low on a certain ammo type. If there are fewer shells left in your tank than the capacity of your magazine, the magazine won’t reload to full.
For example:
The AMX 50 B has a 4 shell magazine. If you only have 3 APCR shells left, then when you reload, you will only have 3 shells in the magazine. You can’t switch to another ammo type to gain back that extra shell, and if you reload to full (4 shells) and then switch to APCR, one shell is automatically removed from the magazine.
Basically don’t switch to an ammo type that you’re running low on in an autoloader or auto-reloader, since it removes that shell. Its a rare situation but it does sometimes happen.
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