Mid-War takes you to 1942-43 during the North African Campaign. The desert was the perfect stage for tank battles to play out. With flat open spaces, tanks could utilise their mobility to conduct fluid attacks.
The Germans have outstanding Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks that gave them the superiority throughout most of the North African campaign. It was also here in the Desert that they discovered an alternative use for the fearsome FlaK36 8.8cm Anti-aircraft gun, known to the Allies as the 88.
The Panzer IIIs were the main tanks of the Afrika Korps. They were a perfect balance of armour, mobility and firepower at that point of the war. Outranging the British tank guns, the Panzer IIs could pick off their British adversary before they could get into range to return effective fire.
The British have a strong presence in North Africa but had mainly inferior cruiser tanks for most of the battles so far. Now, re-armed with the new M3 Grants and M4 Shermans from their US Allies, they finally have a tank that can take the fight to the Germans and Italians.
The Crusader, which had struggled against the German panzers, were given a new lease of life when it was upgraded with the new 6-pdr gun. While it's armour was not as thick as the Panzer IIIs and IVs, it was now just as capable to take them out with the new gun. Primarily used as a scout tank, German tankers would be wise not to underestimate this adversary.
After studying the captured Tiger 131, the British developed the 17-Pounder Anti-tank Gun. However, production of the 17-pounder was slow and there were limited units in North Africa. Utilise them wisely.
The M3 Lee was a compromise in design to allow rapid production to fulfil the need for a medium tank. While having considerable firepower and adequate armour, the main weapon was mounted on a WWI-era sponson. This limited its traverse and exposed the hull when shooting. Nonetheless, the tank was welcomed addition to the army's arsenal.
The Semovente Assault Gun was intended originally to be used to support infantry as a close-assault artillery platform but when it was upgrade with a larger gun, it proved to be an effective tank-killer. With a low silhouette and deadly gun, it soon became the defacto tank on the Italian army.
Much like the FlaK36, the Cannone da 90/53 was designed to be an anti-aircraft gun but was soon modified onto a Lancia 3Ro Flatbed truck to be used in the anti-tank role. It was capable of destroying any Allied Tank up to 1000m.
Blitzkrieg is a term used to describe a method of offensive warfare designed to strike a swift, focused blow at an enemy using mobile, maneuverable forces, including armored tanks and air support. Such an attack ideally leads to a quick victory, limiting the loss of soldiers and artillery. Most famously, blitzkrieg describes the successful tactics used by Nazi Germany in the early years of World War II, as German forces swept through Poland, Norway, Belgium, Holland and France with astonishing speed and force.
In the wake of their defeat in World War I, German military leaders determined that a lack of mobile, maneuverable forces and flexible tactics had led that conflict to bog down in the deadly attrition of trench warfare.
In 1941, German forces again employed blitzkrieg tactics in their invasion of the Soviet Union, expecting a short campaign like the one they had enjoyed in Western Europe the previous spring. But the strategy proved less successful against the highly organized and well-armed Soviet defenses, and by 1943 Germany had been forced into a defensive war on all fronts.
Rather than a completely new form of warfare, the strategy Germany followed in May and June 1940 had much in common with the strategy it employed at the outset of World War I, when strategists like Alfred von Schlieffen determined Germany should aim to defeat its enemies quickly and decisively, as it was ill-suited to win a long and drawn-out conflict against larger, better-prepared forces.
But unlike in 1914-18, German forces fighting in 1939-40 had the benefit of new military technology developed or improved in the 1920s and 1930s, including tanks, motor vehicles, aircraft and radios. These new tools, combined with an emphasis on speed, mobility, focused attacks and encirclements, enabled the Wehrmacht to turn traditional military tactics into a devastatingly modern brand of warfare.
After blitzkrieg failed in the Soviet invasion, however, Hitler and German military leaders distanced themselves from the concept, claiming it was an invention of their enemies; Hitler himself denied he had ever used the word.
The Allies adapted blitzkrieg to their own advantage by the end of World War II, including in the Battle of Stalingrad and the European operations commanded by U.S. General George Patton in 1944. Patton had carefully studied the German campaigns against Poland and France and also favored quick, decisive action as a way to avoid more costly, drawn-out conflicts.
Don't knock down trees! It gives the enemy your location even if they can't see your tank and tells the enemy arty where you are hiding. Sometimes, on maps with lots of open range, you should knock trees down to hide in their brush.
Scouting is a key feature in World of Tanks. Scouting is where a tank spots a tank or tanks on the enemy team. This role can be filled by any tank, but it is best carried out by the light tanks in battles, due to their speed, view range, and camo that no other tank can match. It is not recommended to play any scout lines unless the player is well familiarized with the game mechanics. A good key feature to being a scout is having good radio communications. A light tank without a good radio is a burden to the team so be sure to check out the upgrades for each light tank that you use before battle. Another good idea for scouting is to wait for the Artillery to get into place, that way they have a chance to be in position to take out any enemy tanks that you may run into while out scouting ahead of everyone.
Use the terrain to your advantage. "Fire from Cover" or "Fire and Cover" (a.k.a. "Peek-a-boo"). Find solid cover, such as a building, rock, hill or tank corpse. Duck out to fire, then pull back behind cover while reloading. This way you can deal damage and be protected while you reload.
Use the terrain to your advantage. You can protect yourself while still returning fire from a "hull down" position using a hill or ridge. This means the hull of your tank is below the ridge line and only your turret is exposed. Duck out to fire, then pull back behind cover while reloading. Note that this is the preferred strategy for American tanks which are designed with better-than-average turret armor and gun depression for the price of less-than-average hull armor.
Tanks cresting a ridge are particularly vulnerable. They expose the weak underside of their glacis plate without being able to return fire. Tracking (destroying the tracks of) high priority tanks when they're atop the ridge allows allies to shoot them when they're exposed and helpless to retreat.
Flank your enemy's weak sides and rear, especially against slower targets. Tanks have heavy armor up front, lighter armor on the sides and are weakest in the rear. A quick medium tank may be able to outmatch a stronger heavy tank by simply outmaneuvering it and firing at its weakest points while avoiding its slowly rotating turret. This is particularly effective in one-on-one combat on open ground where there's little cover.
Note that the T-34 is charging straight at the Tiger, which allows the Tiger to shoot off the T-34's tracks. Flanking ingame is best done with two smaller tanks against one heavier tank, allowing one of the lighter tanks to get close while the heavy tank destroys the other flanker. In more hilly maps a lone medium tank can successfully flank a heavy tank from the side if able to approach the target unnoticed.
Don't allow yourself to be flanked - one-on-one. When engaging a single enemy that's trying to flank you, continue to turn and face him while reversing. This will force him to make a wider turn than you, exposing his weaker side armor while he must penetrate your thick front armor. This is especially important when driving non-turreted tank destroyers, which have thick frontal armor and a fixed, powerful cannon.
Don't allow yourself to be flanked - multiple targets / forward threat (more common). When multiple enemies are attempting to flank you or you're about to be flanked while there's the threat of enemy fire from forward your position, simply reverse, keeping your front armor facing the most serious threat (whether that be one of the flanking tanks or a sniping tank directly in front). This will delay the enemy from flanking your rear, allowing you to get shots off in the mean time. Remember to concentrate your damage on one target until it's gone or you are.
By tracking your enemy, you'll "stop them in their tracks." Tracking (short for "De-Tracking"), or destroying the tracks, renders a tank immobile until the crew is able to repair it. You can track a tank by ramming it (dependent on the speed and weight of the "rammer" and "rammed") or firing upon the tracks. Tracking high priority targets in the open will make them vulnerable to artillery fire. If you have teammates behind you in a lane (like on a city map) and a tank pops out from a building/street in front of you...track it! Every tank sitting behind you can get a free shot, track it again, and hopefully destroy it before it can get behind cover again.
Attacking tank destroyers from the front can mean certain death due to their often both thick and sloped frontal armor and powerful forward-locked gun, but their weak side and rear armor and inability to shoot in any direction but forward means tracking them and maneuvering around them can make for an easy kill. Note that some US, UK and German tank destroyers are equipped with slowly turning turrets, meaning you'll still have to move in a circle around your target, though due to the slow turrets, these TDs are still not much of a threat if tracked.
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