ISU-152
Assault Gun · USSR
The 152 mm: one hit wrecks a medium and badly hurts a heavy. A 12 s reload, 16 rounds and a 6° arc each way: fire from cover, then back off while the gun reloads.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | USSR |
| Role | Tank destroyer (TD) |
| Modelled variant | ISU-152 (1944, 152 mm ML-20S) |
| Price | 940 credits |
| Team stock | 1 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 1210 |
| Main gun | 590 damage per AP shot, 12 s reload |
| Speed | 35 km/h on roads, 17.5 km/h off-road |
| View range | 230 m |
| Ability (B) | Ammo Drop |
| Garage ratings | Armour 3/10 · Firepower 7/10 · Mobility 7/10 · Spotting 7/10 |
History
The ISU-152 was a Soviet heavy self-propelled gun on the IS tank chassis, carrying the 152 mm ML-20S gun-howitzer. Its enormous shell earned it the nickname "Zveroboy" (beast killer) because it could destroy German heavy tanks, but its main job was demolishing fortifications and strongpoints. About 1,900 were built from late 1943.
The ISU-152 was very slow to reload, carried only 20 rounds and had a limited gun traverse, but nothing could stand up to a direct hit. ISU-152s fought in the 1944-45 offensives, including the assault on the Seelow Heights and the street fighting in Berlin.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is bottom 5 for road speed (#33 of 35); top 5 for shot damage (#1 of 35); bottom 5 for reload (#35 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 1210. Damage taken multiplier: 0.99 (effective HP 1222).
- Track repair: 9 s.
| Zone | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone |
|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 0.58 | 1,317 |
| Hull side | 0.62 | 1,232 |
| Hull rear | 1.3 | 588 |
| Roof | 1.25 | 611 |
| Turret front | 0.58 | 1,317 |
| Turret side | 0.67 | 1,140 |
| Turret rear | 1.3 | 588 |
Main gun
- Mount: casemate, gun arc ±6° of the hull centreline at 16°/s; turn the hull to aim further.
- Elevation +20° / depression -3°, at 16°/s.
- Reload: 12 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 2,950.
- Accuracy: 0.06° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.76 s, move bloom 0.09.
- 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 | 590 | 30 | 3 m | 600 m/s | 0.52 | 10 | - |
| Heavy High Explosive | HE | 384 | 295 | 9.6 m | 655 m/s | 0.474 | 6 | 2.11 |
The penetration threshold is the thinnest zone multiplier the shell gets through: zones below it stop the shell (10 % damage for AP, 20 % for HE). See how the numbers work.
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 28 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Panther, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, Jagdpanther.
- 17 of the other 34 vehicles' AP get through its hull front. Safe from the front against: M4 Sherman, M3A1 Stuart, Panzer II Luchs, Panzer III Ausf. L, T-34/76, Cromwell, Churchill VII, KV-1, M32 TRV, M24 Chaffee, Sd.Kfz. 250/9, T-70M, T-60, SU-76M, M3 Lee, 75 mm GMC M3, Stuart V "Honey".
- Sides, rears and roofs are thinner on every vehicle; see each page's zone table.
Secondary weapons and equipment
- No working roof machine gun.
- Smoke: 1 salvo, each recharges in 40 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 35 km/h on roads, 17.5 km/h off-road (50 %), reverse 7 km/h, acceleration 2.8 m/s².
- Turn rate 29°/s (17°/s at top speed). Mass 46,000 kg. Engine start 3.5 s.
Special ability (B)
Ammo Drop: drops a crate behind the tank; team-mates who drive over it within 60 s get 50 % of their full shell and smoke load back (once each). Ready 30 s after the round goes live, once per round; another use costs 150 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): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 4).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 8 |
| Effective HP | 8 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 10 |
| Turret front armour | 11 |
| Road speed | 33 |
| Off-road speed | 29 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 1 |
| Damage per minute | 22 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 35 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 6 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 29 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 25 |
| View range | 25 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 12 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 5 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | ISU-152 (1944, 152 mm ML-20S) |
| Length with gun | 9.05 m |
| Hull length | 6.77 m |
| Width | 3.07 m |
| Height | 2.48 m |
Sources used for the model: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISU-152 (width 3.07, height 2.48, gun right of centre, 6 road wheels, rear sprocket, external tanks); GlobalSecurity https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/isu-152.htm (length 9.05); OnTheWayModels review https://mail.onthewaymodels.com/reviews/Zvezda/Alexander%20Kolbasov%20Zvevda%20ISU-152.htm (armoured hull 6543 mm, track 650 mm, wheels 550 mm); hull 6.77 m = IS-series hull with fenders
In-game model: 8.37 m long (gun included) × 3.15 m wide × 2.54 m high (antenna excluded), 6,786 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
