Confronting the enemy in a face-to-face tank battle is an honorable and sometimes heroic task, and its outcome depends on a combination of survivability, firepower, and mobility.
Having thick armor, you can afford a positional firefight with the enemy, and if it is not dense enough – use constant maneuvering to evade enemy fire.
A completely different battle tactic must be used when fighting on a self-propelled artillery unit, which often inflicts more damage on enemies than all allied tanks combined.
What are the best SPGs at each level in World of Tanks, their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages will be discussed below.
Don't forget to redeem World of Tanks codes to get bonuses in the game. They come in two types: invite codes for new players and bonus codes for veterans. If you have any difficulties, use the instructions about registration with bonuses in World of Tanks.
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Level II – SU-18
The distinctive feature of the Soviet SU-18 tracked artillery unit is its extremely compact dimensions, thanks to which any bush can become a reliable shelter and firing point for enemy vehicles.
Having a good for its level II unit damage of 180 units, this weapon can inflict up to 1350 units of damage during a minute of combat if the enemy is close enough for a targeted hit.
The SU-18’s view range is only 260 meters, and the maximum distance to which you can send a shell does not exceed 500 meters, so to actively participate in the battle, you will need to follow the advancing allies and change ambush locations.
Due to the low maximum speed of 22 km/h and poor mobility, keeping up with the main forces of allies will be difficult. Still, you will have to do it all the time unless other players take the role of bait and bring the enemies to the distance of the SPGs aiming shot.
The SU-18’s survivability is nominal because, with a hull armor thickness of 16 / 16 / 16, any hit is enough for the survivability of 140 units to end suddenly.
The only salvation is hiding in the foliage of bushes and camouflage, which can be improved thanks to the “Camouflage Net” module.
Mounted firing allows you to target enemies hiding behind obstacles from the direct fire of other tanks.
Compact, low-visibility, rapid-fire self-propelled artillery, capable of inflicting huge damage on enemy vehicles for its level, but due to poor maneuverability and low survivability will be destroyed on the first hit.
Level III – Lorraine 39L AM
The French Lorraine 39L AM self-propelled artillery unit is a Level III weapon with a narrow tracked base that allows it to squeeze into narrow passages inaccessible to other vehicles and set up ambushes.
The indirect fire method allows the French SPGs to reach enemies behind most obstacles, which is used as a defense against conventional tank guns.
The long-range of the Lorraine 39L AM makes it possible to provide effective artillery support to the main allied attacking forces, which is the only tactic available for this weapon because the thin hull armor (20 / 9 / 16) often does not allow it to withstand even one hit without lethal outcome with the survivability of 215 units.
The French self-propelled unit’s maximum speed of 37 km/h can be reached in 20 seconds, which makes it possible to maneuver and change positions for attack quite quickly.
A significant advantage of the French SPGs is their high unit damage of 410 units, comparable to the hit damage of level V—IV heavy tanks. Still, due to the long reload time of 20.5 seconds, the Lorraine 39L AM’s firepower is only 1200 units per minute.
Additional negative factors are:
- Long aiming time of 5.5 seconds.
- Accuracy decreases by 80 cm for every 100 meters away from the target.
- Slow turning speed:
- hull – 22 degrees per second;
- gun at 14 degrees per second.
Conclusion: This is an excellent self-propelled artillery unit for its level. It has excellent unit damage but cannot cause significant damage due to the long reloading time. Its compact dimensions allow you to find a shelter inaccessible to other vehicles, and its fairly high speed makes it possible to maneuver across the battlefield.
Level IV – M37
Noteworthy is the American tracked artillery unit M37, which belongs to Level IV and differs from its “classmates” by its wide horizontal gun pointing angle, which allows it to cover most of the area of a standard location.
To maximize the effectiveness of this weapon, it will be necessary to improve its components, installing as many as possible:
- level IV tracks and engine;
- a level X radio station;
- level V main gun with a caliber of 105 mm.
The M37 can inflict a single 410 damage and penetrate 27mm thick armor at maximum configuration. Combined with a reload time of 15 seconds, the U.S. SPGs can inflict 1640 units of damage within a minute.
Targeting of this weapon takes 5 seconds, and projectile dispersion leaves much to be desired and is 0.8/100 meters.
The 275-unit total survivability allows it to withstand a single indirect hit, which results in penetration of the armor, which is 12 mm on all sides of the hull.
The M37’s poor survivability is compensated for by its high top speed of 56.3 km/h. It can be reached within 40 seconds, allowing it to move quickly across the map and change firing positions using vegetation and buildings as camouflage.
Summary: This is an excellent artillery unit with high firepower. It can engage the enemy at long range and quickly change camouflaged firing positions if necessary.
Level V – AMX 13 105 AM
The AMX 13 105 AM tracked self-propelled artillery unit of the V level in service with the French Army was developed based on the AMX-B tank and is the fastest moving unit in its class.
Thanks to its speed limit of 60 km/h, which can be reached in 34 seconds of straight-line movement from a standing position, it can quickly change its combat position at the slightest sign of detection by the enemy to avoid a direct collision.
Maneuvering for this type of weapon is an essential element of tactics because its low survivability of 290 will allow it to withstand a maximum of one target hit, which will penetrate 40 / 20 / 15 mm thick armor.
However, when ambushed in a thicket of vegetation, AMX 13 105 AM will be able to unpleasantly surprise opponents with damage of 445 units, with each targeted hit penetrating the armor to a thickness of 30 mm. Combined with the 105mm gun reloading in 14 seconds and aiming in 5 seconds, the AMX 13 105 AM has a firepower of 1907, comparable to heavy tanks of similar and higher levels.
The accuracy of the AMX 13 105 AM is lower than that of tanks, but better than that of lower level SPGs and the projectile dispersion is only 69 cm for every 100 meters of distance to the enemy.
Conclusion: The high speed makes the French SPGs very maneuverable and allows them to inflict serious damage on the enemy while periodically changing position to evade fire and shorten the range.
Level VI – M44
The American representative of self-propelled artillery, M44, is level VI. It is characterized by the ability to stun enemies for 6 to 10 seconds, which partially compensates for the long reloading time of 27 seconds.
If the ammunition were to be changed faster, the firepower could be twice as high as the available 1,111 units for a single 500-unit damage.
Other features of the firepower meter unit also leave much to be desired, including:
- 6.2 seconds of information time;
- projectile dispersion, which reaches 0.8/100 meters.
But the range allows the M44 to cover opponents all over the map of the standard location, after a complete modernization of components.
Partial compensation for the low firepower is the high straight-line speed, which can reach 56.3 km/h with an acceleration time of 26 seconds.
While the speed is not bad, it is difficult to call this unit highly maneuverable due to its low angular velocities (deg/second):
- rotation – 22;
- horizontal guidance – 9.
In addition to compensating for the low damage, maneuvering is vital to avoid damage because the survivability of 315 units with 12mm armor will be enough at best for one hit in passing.
The technique is interesting and unusual, but in the totality of its characteristics is weak enough to consider it as a source of serious artillery support against tanks of similar level.
Level VII – G.W.Panther
The best representative of the UAS among the vehicles of the VII level is the German representative of this type of weapon – G.W.Panther, for which several equipment modifications are provided:
- tracks and gun VII level;
- level VI engine;
- radio of IX level.
The German SPGs can do 600 damage with a single aimed hit, but because they take 27 seconds to reload, their firepower does not exceed 1,333 damage per minute. The damage is low for a level VII weapon, partially offset by the 9.9—to 18-second stun accompanying hits.
The G.W. Panther’s aiming time is 5.1 seconds, shorter than most SPGs, and the projectile spread is only 64 cm for every 100 meters of distance to the target.
The survivability of the German SPGs is traditionally low for this type of weapon. It is only 360 units, which, combined with 50 / 30 / 20 mm armor, will not survive more than one hit.
To avoid destruction, the typical tactic of the G.W.Panther is the frequent change of firing positions due to its high mobility, which for the G.W.Panther is:
- speed limit – 46 km/h;
- acceleration time to maximum – 37 seconds;
- turning speed – 26 deg/sec;
- horizontal guidance speed – 10 deg/s.
Summary: It is not the best unit for inflicting serious damage to enemies, but it is capable of hitting enemy tanks through almost the entire map of standard size, which, combined with knowledge of the routes of movement of equipment, can be a decisive factor.
Level VIII – M40/M43
American representative of the M40/M43 self-propelled artillery, considered to be the best among the Level VIII weapons, if you perform all available modifications to the parts:
- install tracks and main gun of level VIII;
- successively upgrade the engine to levels V and VI;
- equip the cockpit with a level X radio.
Once the 8-inch gun is installed, the M40/M43 can do a single 900-unit damage accompanied by an enemy stun lasting 12.6 to 28 seconds. This partially compensates for the gun’s 46-second reload time, preventing it from doing more than 1173 units of damage per minute.
Other components of firepower:
- gun separation time – 5.3 seconds;
- projectile dispersion – 0.77/100 meters;
- magazine capacity – 16 pcs.
The M40/M43’s survivability is 400 units, and the armor thickness is 108 / 12 / 12. This means there is no chance of surviving more than one hit, and at the first signs of enemy detection, it is necessary to change position.
Mobility should help to change position and evade collision with the enemy, but its performance leaves much to be desired:
- Maximum speed – 38.6 km/h reached in 20 seconds.
- Angular velocity (degrees per second):
- hull – 22;
- barrel, 10.
Conclusion: It is not a bad option to fire at the enemy from cover at a long range with the ability to stun, which allies can use to destroy an immobilized unit.
Level IX – M53/M55
The best representative of self-propelled artillery units at Level IX is the American M53/M55, intermediate on the technology tree between the M40/M43 and the NMC T92.
This UAS’s unit damage is 900, and the enemy is stunned for some time—from 12.6 to 28 seconds. Due to the long reload time of 42 seconds and aiming for 5.2 seconds, the firepower is only 1,285 units per minute.
The signal range is 750 meters, allowing you to hit enemies across the map, but adjusted for projectile dispersion of 0.75/100 meters.
The survivability reserve of 450 units is enough for a single hit, which will penetrate the “cardboard” armor of 25 / 12 / 12 mm thickness, which means that to survive, you need to maneuver using mobility indicators:
- a top speed of 56.3 km/h with acceleration in 28 seconds;
- turning speeds of 24 and 10 degrees per second for the hull and gun, respectively.
This unit can inflict high unit damage combined with stun opponents, as well as move around the location at high speed, changing combat position in time and significantly affecting the overall outcome of the battle.
Level X – Conqueror GC
One of the best representatives of self-propelled artillery units of X level is the Conqueror Gun Carriage, which served with the British Army.
This weapon can deal 1000 damage per hit and is accompanied by a stunning effect that lasts from 13.2 to 33 seconds.
Despite the very high unit damage, the Conqueror GC has firepower of only 1304 units per minute due to a combination of associated characteristics:
- Duration:
- 46 seconds to reload;
- 6.1 seconds of aiming time.
- Low accuracy due to a spread of 1.08/100 m.
- Number of shells – 24 pcs.
Like other SPGs, the Conqueror GC has a low survivability of 530. Combined with thin armor of 130 / 50 / 76 mm, it can withstand a couple of tangential hits or a single aimed hit if you are lucky.
Given the vulnerability of the unit, it requires constant maneuvering and changing stealthy firing positions, which is difficult to do given the mediocre maneuverability characteristics:
- it can only accelerate to 34.3 km/h and takes 15 seconds to do so;
- the angular rotation rate of the hull and gun is 24 and 8 degrees per second, respectively.
High unit damage and stun ability can be useful for the team, if you know well the movement routes of the enemies and constantly change your own location.
Level X – Object 261
The best representative of the class of self-propelled artillery units is Soviet Object 261, which belongs to the X level and allows you to get coupons for in-game events.
The firepower of these SPGs is 1500 units per minute and consists of the following indicators:
- Single Shot damage – 800 units.
- Duration:
- Stun – 11.6 to 29 seconds;
- 4.5 seconds.
- Projectile spread – 0.59/100 meters.
- The ammunition load is 20 rounds.
The survivability of the Object 261 is nominal because the 510 available in the stock will be enough for only two tangential hits, as the direct fire will not withstand armor thickness of 75 / 50 / 30 mm.
The 50 km/h speed, which takes only 23 seconds to accelerate, helps avoid collision with the enemy.
Conclusion: This is a very worthy unit for artillery fire against enemies. It has relatively high firepower and good mobility, allowing successful maneuvering across the battlefield.
