Original Article (German) by @'AlexMorphium'
Translated by: @Amaunet85
History:
The history of the T30 in World of Tanks is exceptional and unique, because initially this TD was meant to be a tier 10 Heavy Tank in the American tech-tree. Instead, this tank has been moved to a newly added tank-destroyer line with turrets. This tank is actually a further evolution of the T29, T32 and T34 (this premium tier 8 heavy tank was formerly a tier 9 heavy) and thus has a similar gameplay and similar design. The turret and the tracks are actually the same as those of the T34. Therefore, the characteristics and the playfulness of the T30 are very identical to those of the T34.
Advantages of the tank:
The turret of the tank is, of course, one of the advantages, especially considering it's a tank destroyer. This turret is very heavily armoured (297 mm in its face) and though slowly, the turret turns the whole 360°. The top gun 155mm AT GUN 77 (identical to the top gun of T95) has very good penetration values: 276mm with the AP, 320mm with APCR. Both types of ammunition have an average damage of 640 HP. In addition, the penetration value of HE is 90mm and those shots can damage a tank for about 960 HP - which usually equals about half a tank.
Together, this grants you the ability to safely go up against heavily armoured tanks when it comes to damaging them. This gun has similarities with the top gun of E75. When you unlock the tank, you get the top gun of the T28 Prototype - the 120mm AT GUN T7 (248mm penetration with AP, 297mm with APCR and an average damage of 400 HP per shot. This weapon is reminiscent of that of the T34). This makes for very pleasant gameplay as well, and an effortless grind to reach the top gun.
The gun depression of the cannon is the same as that of T34 and is -10° downwards and 15° upwards. This means that the gun can shoot down at a steep angle and this tells us the kind of tactics you can go for with this tank. To unlock this tank you need 145,000 experience points, which is the lowest number of XP required of all the tier 9 TD's as well as all T9 Heavy tanks (except for the Conqueror, which requires only 110,000 XP).
The sight is just like any other tank destroyers on this tier - 250m, which is why optics could be a good choice here, when it comes to equipment (+ 10% -> 275m).
The disadvantages of the tank:
The speed and agility of this tank are moderate at best (maximum speed of 35 km/h, turret rotation 16°/s, tank rotation 21°/s ). People can perform the circle-of-death on you and often try to do just that. So this tank is clearly not designed for close combat with the medium tanks or with the fast Heavies (IS, IS-3, IS-8, T110E5 and M103). The frontal armour has very low values for its tier and the "ricochet-unfriendly" construction of the hull also shows us that we should avoid having the tank in melee.
The probability that your engine is set on fire is very high: 20%. You will not want to show the rear of your tank (where your engine is) to the enemy, if you want to avoid being set on fire all the time. And even if you would get lucky and wouldn't be smoking, you will most likely have an engine failure, cutting your speed by a large margin, if you're not stopped altogether.
The rate of fire is the lowest of all the TD on this tier (3.52 rounds/min).
The firepower is the worst among the TD's. To compare, the Jagdtiger has a DPM of approximately 3045.2 HP,while that of the T30 is only 2252.8 HP.
The tank is very large, and the armour on the sides of the turret as well as the armour in the hull are quite bad, meaning you must not go out in the open showing the enemy your sides or turn your turret away from them while battling them. In addition, the T30 has a hatch on the turret, which can be very easily shot with accurate gun (for example E50 on the same level is not a problem to be taken lightly).
Consumables and Equipment:
The cannon is the most important part of our tank and therefore you will want to improve it slightly. When it comes to equipment, it is advisable to buy a rammer (which will increase your DPM), a gun laying drive (considering it takes you 3 seconds to aim (which is bad)) and either vents or optics. If you decide on vents, then do so only in combination with Cola as a consumable. This will improve your crew abilities by 15% overall and will get you a lot of bonuses, such as the fact that you'll be able to see things from further away, your rate of fire will increase and your tank will turn faster.
As consumables the multi purpose restoration pack, the crate of Cola (if you have you chosen for the vents) / repair kit (if you have decided on the optics) and adrenaline are recommended. An extra fire extinguisher isn't needed, because this is already in the multi purpose restoration pack. If you catch fire too often, you're doing something wrong. Adrenaline allows you to take on any tier X-tank (except E100 and mouse), but the use of adrenaline depends entirely on your playing style.
Tactics and Conclusion:
This is a high-level TD, and you will often be top-tier, or in the worst case mid tier.When you understand that the tank is more of a heavy than a tank destroyer, you should drive it as follows:
Drive it in the second or third row of the heavy-direction in battle. You'll support the heavy tanks by your average damage of 640 per shot and you have to make sure every single shot counts (i.e. peek out a little earlier from your cover, just before your reload ends, so you have time to aim).
You must use the Hull-down tactic, so that the opponent can only see the face of your turret. Use hills and the gun depression of the cannon, while the hull remains hidden. Use small jerking movements (drive back and forth tiny distances repeatedly) so that the opponent has a hard time targetting your hatch.
Do not forget that you can not face off against TD's of tiers IX and X in the same way. Their penetration is far higher than the 297mm of your turret's face. Therefore always consider the situation, take both your own situation, your team's situation and the enemies' situation into account. You must not to run at the enemy at full speed and at the same time you should not go camping in the bushes near your spawn. You must not forget that you are actually driving a heavy, which has been remade into a tank destroyer for whatever reason in this game. Plays the role of a heavy and the T30 will be a joy to drive. In addition, if you could never drive the T34 properly, remember that with the stock-gun, the T30 is basically a T34, though it has slightly worse mobility, but instead does have better sight, and better characteristics of the (top) gun.
Source: forum.wotblitz.ru/index.php?/topic/15969-/#Title0
Amaunet's notes on the tank:
The T30 is a very powerful tank, and one of my personal favourites. Using cover wisely, you can deal a lot of damage in a battle. It's actually worth taking a little damage if it means you can aim fully before shooting (this does not mean be reckless, it means peek carefully and keep as much of yourself behind cover as you can). With the chunks of health you take off per shot, you will want to make every shot count, because it will be over 15 seconds before you can fire another one.
It platoons well with almost every type of tank. It's mobile enough not to lag behind too much if your partner is driving a med, powerful enough to support heavies, and versatile enough (because of the turret) to work with other tank destroyers. It even works well in a platoon with another T30, because together you can destroy just about any tank with two rounds each. But the best tanks to platoon it with are the mortal enemies you'll meet on the battlefield, such as the T54 and the M103 for example, because they will be able to best support you, and you them, if you work together.
I use Rammer, Vents and GLD on this tank for equipment, and the multi-purpose restoration pack, Cola and Adrenaline as consumables. The Rammer means I can shoot more, the GLD means I aim faster. The Vents combined with the Cola mean my tank responds more quickly to everything I do. And because of that reload time and the lightness of your armour, you will want this tank that runs as smoothly as possible.
That being said, this tank eats money, even without the Cola. It's hard to make a good profit with it - even when you use premium account - but that also has to do with the fact that Cola costs a lot. It's worth the investment though, and you can always rely on the T34 to earn you credits very quickly so you can drive the T30 without worries.
I've nicknamed it the Wasp mostly because it stings like a <insert naughty word here> and it can do so repeatedly. This was the first tier IX tank that I dared solo in without worrying too much, because of its amazing firepower, the more or less diamond turret, and the completely amazing gun depression. Used wisely, it is a true beast of a tank.
Translated by: @Amaunet85
T30 – A Déjà-vu
History:
The history of the T30 in World of Tanks is exceptional and unique, because initially this TD was meant to be a tier 10 Heavy Tank in the American tech-tree. Instead, this tank has been moved to a newly added tank-destroyer line with turrets. This tank is actually a further evolution of the T29, T32 and T34 (this premium tier 8 heavy tank was formerly a tier 9 heavy) and thus has a similar gameplay and similar design. The turret and the tracks are actually the same as those of the T34. Therefore, the characteristics and the playfulness of the T30 are very identical to those of the T34.
Advantages of the tank:
The turret of the tank is, of course, one of the advantages, especially considering it's a tank destroyer. This turret is very heavily armoured (297 mm in its face) and though slowly, the turret turns the whole 360°. The top gun 155mm AT GUN 77 (identical to the top gun of T95) has very good penetration values: 276mm with the AP, 320mm with APCR. Both types of ammunition have an average damage of 640 HP. In addition, the penetration value of HE is 90mm and those shots can damage a tank for about 960 HP - which usually equals about half a tank.
Together, this grants you the ability to safely go up against heavily armoured tanks when it comes to damaging them. This gun has similarities with the top gun of E75. When you unlock the tank, you get the top gun of the T28 Prototype - the 120mm AT GUN T7 (248mm penetration with AP, 297mm with APCR and an average damage of 400 HP per shot. This weapon is reminiscent of that of the T34). This makes for very pleasant gameplay as well, and an effortless grind to reach the top gun.
The gun depression of the cannon is the same as that of T34 and is -10° downwards and 15° upwards. This means that the gun can shoot down at a steep angle and this tells us the kind of tactics you can go for with this tank. To unlock this tank you need 145,000 experience points, which is the lowest number of XP required of all the tier 9 TD's as well as all T9 Heavy tanks (except for the Conqueror, which requires only 110,000 XP).
The sight is just like any other tank destroyers on this tier - 250m, which is why optics could be a good choice here, when it comes to equipment (+ 10% -> 275m).
The disadvantages of the tank:
The speed and agility of this tank are moderate at best (maximum speed of 35 km/h, turret rotation 16°/s, tank rotation 21°/s ). People can perform the circle-of-death on you and often try to do just that. So this tank is clearly not designed for close combat with the medium tanks or with the fast Heavies (IS, IS-3, IS-8, T110E5 and M103). The frontal armour has very low values for its tier and the "ricochet-unfriendly" construction of the hull also shows us that we should avoid having the tank in melee.
The probability that your engine is set on fire is very high: 20%. You will not want to show the rear of your tank (where your engine is) to the enemy, if you want to avoid being set on fire all the time. And even if you would get lucky and wouldn't be smoking, you will most likely have an engine failure, cutting your speed by a large margin, if you're not stopped altogether.
The rate of fire is the lowest of all the TD on this tier (3.52 rounds/min).
The firepower is the worst among the TD's. To compare, the Jagdtiger has a DPM of approximately 3045.2 HP,while that of the T30 is only 2252.8 HP.
The tank is very large, and the armour on the sides of the turret as well as the armour in the hull are quite bad, meaning you must not go out in the open showing the enemy your sides or turn your turret away from them while battling them. In addition, the T30 has a hatch on the turret, which can be very easily shot with accurate gun (for example E50 on the same level is not a problem to be taken lightly).
Consumables and Equipment:
The cannon is the most important part of our tank and therefore you will want to improve it slightly. When it comes to equipment, it is advisable to buy a rammer (which will increase your DPM), a gun laying drive (considering it takes you 3 seconds to aim (which is bad)) and either vents or optics. If you decide on vents, then do so only in combination with Cola as a consumable. This will improve your crew abilities by 15% overall and will get you a lot of bonuses, such as the fact that you'll be able to see things from further away, your rate of fire will increase and your tank will turn faster.
As consumables the multi purpose restoration pack, the crate of Cola (if you have you chosen for the vents) / repair kit (if you have decided on the optics) and adrenaline are recommended. An extra fire extinguisher isn't needed, because this is already in the multi purpose restoration pack. If you catch fire too often, you're doing something wrong. Adrenaline allows you to take on any tier X-tank (except E100 and mouse), but the use of adrenaline depends entirely on your playing style.
Tactics and Conclusion:
This is a high-level TD, and you will often be top-tier, or in the worst case mid tier.When you understand that the tank is more of a heavy than a tank destroyer, you should drive it as follows:
Drive it in the second or third row of the heavy-direction in battle. You'll support the heavy tanks by your average damage of 640 per shot and you have to make sure every single shot counts (i.e. peek out a little earlier from your cover, just before your reload ends, so you have time to aim).
You must use the Hull-down tactic, so that the opponent can only see the face of your turret. Use hills and the gun depression of the cannon, while the hull remains hidden. Use small jerking movements (drive back and forth tiny distances repeatedly) so that the opponent has a hard time targetting your hatch.
Do not forget that you can not face off against TD's of tiers IX and X in the same way. Their penetration is far higher than the 297mm of your turret's face. Therefore always consider the situation, take both your own situation, your team's situation and the enemies' situation into account. You must not to run at the enemy at full speed and at the same time you should not go camping in the bushes near your spawn. You must not forget that you are actually driving a heavy, which has been remade into a tank destroyer for whatever reason in this game. Plays the role of a heavy and the T30 will be a joy to drive. In addition, if you could never drive the T34 properly, remember that with the stock-gun, the T30 is basically a T34, though it has slightly worse mobility, but instead does have better sight, and better characteristics of the (top) gun.
Source: forum.wotblitz.ru/index.php?/topic/15969-/#Title0
Amaunet's notes on the tank:
The T30 is a very powerful tank, and one of my personal favourites. Using cover wisely, you can deal a lot of damage in a battle. It's actually worth taking a little damage if it means you can aim fully before shooting (this does not mean be reckless, it means peek carefully and keep as much of yourself behind cover as you can). With the chunks of health you take off per shot, you will want to make every shot count, because it will be over 15 seconds before you can fire another one.
It platoons well with almost every type of tank. It's mobile enough not to lag behind too much if your partner is driving a med, powerful enough to support heavies, and versatile enough (because of the turret) to work with other tank destroyers. It even works well in a platoon with another T30, because together you can destroy just about any tank with two rounds each. But the best tanks to platoon it with are the mortal enemies you'll meet on the battlefield, such as the T54 and the M103 for example, because they will be able to best support you, and you them, if you work together.
I use Rammer, Vents and GLD on this tank for equipment, and the multi-purpose restoration pack, Cola and Adrenaline as consumables. The Rammer means I can shoot more, the GLD means I aim faster. The Vents combined with the Cola mean my tank responds more quickly to everything I do. And because of that reload time and the lightness of your armour, you will want this tank that runs as smoothly as possible.
That being said, this tank eats money, even without the Cola. It's hard to make a good profit with it - even when you use premium account - but that also has to do with the fact that Cola costs a lot. It's worth the investment though, and you can always rely on the T34 to earn you credits very quickly so you can drive the T30 without worries.
I've nicknamed it the Wasp mostly because it stings like a <insert naughty word here> and it can do so repeatedly. This was the first tier IX tank that I dared solo in without worrying too much, because of its amazing firepower, the more or less diamond turret, and the completely amazing gun depression. Used wisely, it is a true beast of a tank.
