IS-2
Heavy Tank · USSR
The 122 mm: the biggest hit on the WW2 field, from the thickest hull front. Two-piece ammunition means a 12 s reload and only 16 rounds, and 3° of depression: make every shot count.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | USSR |
| Role | Heavy tank (HT) |
| Modelled variant | IS-2 (1944) |
| Price | 1,125 credits |
| Team stock | 1 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 1400 |
| Main gun | 468 damage per AP shot, 12 s reload |
| Speed | 37 km/h on roads, 15.2 km/h off-road |
| View range | 200 m |
| Ability (B) | Artillery |
| Garage ratings | Armour 5/10 · Firepower 6/10 · Mobility 7/10 · Spotting 6/10 |
History
The IS-2, named after Joseph Stalin, was the Soviet heavy breakthrough tank of 1944-45. Its 122 mm D-25T gun fired a huge shell that could wreck a Panther or Tiger even when it did not fully penetrate, and was devastating against fortifications. The price was a two-piece round and a slow reload, and only 28 rounds were carried.
About 3,850 were built. IS-2s were organised in Guards heavy tank regiments that led assaults through fortified lines, including the Seelow Heights and the streets of Berlin in April 1945.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is top 5 for hit points (#2 of 35); top 5 for effective hp (#2 of 35); top 5 for hull front armour (#1 of 35); bottom 5 for road speed (#31 of 35); bottom 5 for off-road speed (#31 of 35); top 5 for shot damage (#2 of 35); bottom 5 for damage per minute (#31 of 35); bottom 5 for reload (#34 of 35); bottom 5 for turret / gun traverse speed (#32 of 35); bottom 5 for view range (#33 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 1400. Damage taken multiplier: 0.8 (effective HP 1750).
- Tracks: a hit on the running gear breaks a track 60 % of the time (the hit does no damage); the crew repairs it in 16 s.
| Zone | Real plate | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone | AP of the other 34 vehicles that gets through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 120 mm at 60° (240 mm) | 0.4 | 2,734 | 2 |
| Hull side | 90 mm at 15° (93 mm) | 0.62 | 1,764 | 17 |
| Hull rear | 60 mm at 49° (92 mm) | 0.62 | 1,764 | 17 |
| Roof | 30 mm | 1.03 | 1,062 | 34 |
| Turret front | 100 mm | 0.6 | 1,823 | 17 |
| Turret side | 100 mm at 20° (106 mm) | 0.58 | 1,886 | 17 |
| Turret rear | 100 mm at 30° (116 mm) | 0.56 | 1,953 | 17 |
Real plate: the thickness of the real vehicle's armour there, and its slope from vertical with the line-of-sight thickness in brackets; each zone's multiplier is worked out from it (see how the numbers work). The last column counts square-on hits under 100 m.
Main gun
- Mount: turret, 360° traverse at 12°/s.
- Elevation +20° / depression -3°, at 14°/s.
- Reload: 12 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 2,340.
- Accuracy: 0.065° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.68 s, move bloom 0.045.
- Gunner's sight: TSh-17, 4x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy Armour Piercing | AP | 468 | 30 | 3 m | 800 m/s | 0.49 | 10 | - |
| Heavy High Explosive | HE | 304 | 234 | 8.1 m | 800 m/s | 0.599 | 6 | 1.67 |
The penetration threshold is the lowest zone multiplier (the thickest armour) the shell still gets through: zones below it stop the shell (10 % damage for AP, 20 % for HE). See how the numbers work.
HE and the crew: every direct hit shakes the crew (slower reload and traverse, a wider aim circle) for about 2.1 s when the plate stops it and 3 s when it bursts through. It is big enough to knock crew members out of their seats even when the plate stops it.
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 33 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger II.
- 2 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: Tiger I, M4 Sherman, Panther, M3A1 Stuart, Panzer II Luchs, Panzer III Ausf. L, T-34/76, T-34-85, Panzer IV Ausf. H, Cromwell, Sherman Firefly, M26 Pershing, Churchill VII, KV-1, M10 Wolverine, M18 Hellcat, StuG III Ausf. G, SU-100, ISU-152, M32 TRV, M24 Chaffee, Sd.Kfz. 250/9, T-70M, T-60, Marder III, SU-76M, M36 Jackson, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer, M3 Lee, 75 mm GMC M3, Stuart V "Honey", 17pdr SP Achilles.
- From the side, 17 of them get through its hull side; from behind, 17 get through its hull rear (every zone is in the table above).
Secondary weapons and equipment
- No working roof machine gun.
- Smoke: 1 salvo, each recharges in 60 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 37 km/h on roads, 15.2 km/h off-road (41 %), reverse 7.4 km/h, acceleration 2.8 m/s².
- Turn rate 29°/s (17°/s at top speed). Mass 46,000 kg. Engine start 4.5 s.
Special ability (B)
Artillery: an eight-shell barrage on any point within 1,000 m, 8 s after red smoke marks it; the shells hit tank roofs and wreck buildings. Ready 90 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 400 credits.
Where it appears
Players can take it on all seven WW2 maps, on either team. The AI fields it on:
- Seelow Heights 1945, Blue (Allied side): 2x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 2).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 2 |
| Effective HP | 2 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 1 |
| Turret front armour | 10 |
| Road speed | 31 |
| Off-road speed | 31 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 2 |
| Damage per minute | 31 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 34 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 15 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 21 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 32 |
| View range | 33 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 9 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 2 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | IS-2 (1944) |
| Length with gun | 9.9 m |
| Hull length | 6.77 m |
| Width | 3.09 m |
| Height | 2.73 m |
Sources used for the model: the-blueprints.com IS-2 vector drawing 9900 x 3090 x 2730 (https://www.the-blueprints.com/vectordrawings/show/4531/is_2/ preview; https://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/tanks/ww2-tanks-soviet-union/21370/view/is-2_stalin_1944/); Wikipedia IS-2 9.90 x 3.09 x 2.73 m (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IS-2); armedconflicts.com hull 6770 mm, track 650 mm (https://www.armedconflicts.com/IS-2-t1120)
In-game model: 9.73 m long (gun included) × 3.12 m wide × 2.67 m high (antenna excluded), 6,008 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
