KV-1
Heavy Tank · USSR
An early-war fortress. Small guns bounce off it, but its 76 mm struggles against the later armour and the turret is slow: hold a lane and let the lighter tanks come to you.
(the vehicle's description in the garage)
At a glance
| Nation | USSR |
| Role | Heavy tank (HT) |
| Modelled variant | KV-1 (1942, cast turret) |
| Price | 850 credits |
| Team stock | 2 per five-player team (scales with team size) |
| Hit points | 1220 |
| Main gun | 285 damage per AP shot, 7.9 s reload |
| Speed | 34 km/h on roads, 13.9 km/h off-road |
| View range | 200 m |
| Ability (B) | Artillery |
| Garage ratings | Armour 4/10 · Firepower 4/10 · Mobility 7/10 · Spotting 6/10 |
History
The KV-1, named after Kliment Voroshilov, was the Soviet heavy tank of 1941-42. With armour of 75 mm and more, it was almost impossible for German tank and anti-tank guns of 1941 to knock out, and single KVs held up German columns for hours. The 1942 version shown in the game has a cast turret and the 76.2 mm ZiS-5 gun.
The KV-1 was heavy, unreliable in its transmission and no better armed than the much cheaper T-34, so production shifted to the T-34 and later the IS tanks. KVs fought at Stalingrad and were still present at Kursk in 1943.
In Armor Heads
Compared with the other 34 WW2 vehicles, it is bottom 5 for road speed (#34 of 35); bottom 5 for off-road speed (#34 of 35); bottom 5 for damage per minute (#32 of 35); bottom 5 for view range (#35 of 35).
Survivability
- Hit points: 1220. Damage taken multiplier: 0.99 (effective HP 1232).
- Track repair: 12 s.
| Zone | Damage multiplier (lower = thicker) | Raw shell damage to destroy through this zone |
|---|---|---|
| Hull front | 0.58 | 1,328 |
| Hull side | 0.68 | 1,133 |
| Hull rear | 1.3 | 592 |
| Roof | 1.25 | 616 |
| Turret front | 0.58 | 1,328 |
| Turret side | 0.62 | 1,242 |
| Turret rear | 1.3 | 592 |
Main gun
- Mount: turret, 360° traverse at 18°/s.
- Elevation +25° / depression -5°, at 14°/s.
- Reload: 7.9 s.
- Damage per minute (AP): 2,165.
- Accuracy: 0.065° dispersion when settled, aim time 1.68 s, move bloom 0.045.
- Gunner's sight: TMFD-7, 2.5x (binoculars 6x / 10x / 15x).
| Shell | Type | Damage | Splash | Blast radius | Muzzle velocity | Penetration threshold | Rounds | Crew shock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armour Piercing | AP | 285 | 20 | 2.5 m | 662 m/s | 0.66 | 38 | - |
| High Explosive | HE | 185 | 142 | 5.8 m | 680 m/s | 0.984 | 19 | 1.02 |
| 76 mm BR-350P APCR | APCR | 214 | 10 | 2.5 m | 965 m/s | 0.37 | bought (key 3) | - |
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.
APCR (76 mm BR-350P APCR) is bought in the garage, not issued: 3 rounds for 200 credits, at most 6 carried, from a team stock of 3 per player for the whole match (never resupplied). It gets through far thicker plate than the AP up close but loses its punch quickly with range:
| Range | AP needs | APCR needs | AP damage | APCR damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 0.66 | 0.37 | 285 | 214 |
| 300 m | 0.66 | 0.47 | 262 | 167 |
| 500 m | 0.66 | 0.66 | 239 | 120 |
| 700 m | 0.66 | 0.82 | 228 | 96 |
Matchups (AP against the hull front, square-on, under 100 m)
- Its AP gets through the hull front of 19 of the other 34 vehicles. It is stopped by: Tiger I, M4 Sherman, Panther, T-34/76, T-34-85, Sherman Firefly, M26 Pershing, Tiger II, IS-2, Churchill VII, SU-100, Jagdpanther, ISU-152, M32 TRV, Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer.
- 18 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, 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 60 s.
Mobility
- Running gear: tracks (pivot turns).
- Top speed 34 km/h on roads, 13.9 km/h off-road (41 %), reverse 6.8 km/h, acceleration 3.2 m/s².
- Turn rate 32°/s (19°/s at top speed). Mass 46,400 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:
- Prokhorovka 1943, Blue (Allied side): 1x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 7).
- Stalingrad 1942, Blue (Allied side): 2x in an 8-vehicle line-up (first at position 3).
Where it ranks (1 = best of 35)
| Stat | Rank |
|---|---|
| Hit points | 7 |
| Effective HP | 7 |
| Hull front armour (lower multiplier = thicker) | 9 |
| Turret front armour | 10 |
| Road speed | 34 |
| Off-road speed | 34 |
| Shot damage (AP) | 12 |
| Damage per minute | 32 |
| Reload (shortest first) | 30 |
| Accuracy (smallest dispersion first) | 17 |
| Aim time (fastest first) | 23 |
| Turret / gun traverse speed | 20 |
| View range | 35 |
| AP penetration (lower threshold = goes through more) | 23 |
| Price (1 = most expensive) | 8 |
The real vehicle
| Variant | KV-1 (1942, cast turret) |
| Length with gun | 6.75 m |
| Hull length | 6.675 m |
| Width | 3.32 m |
| Height | 2.71 m |
Sources used for the model: ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/КВ-1 (hull 6675 mm, width 3320, height 2710, track 700 mm, ZiS-5 L/41.6); en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KV_tank_family (6.75 x 3.32 x 2.71 m); gun overhang from the-blueprints.com KV-1 1942 side view (72120)
In-game model: 6.87 m long (gun included) × 3.32 m wide × 2.62 m high (antenna excluded), 6,216 triangles, built at true scale.
Images
Renders of the in-game model in a plain nation colour (the game paints its camouflage at runtime).
