how do you use kv1 properly?

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Posts: 647

I love this tanks, its a breath of fresh air from su85 spam/isu152 spam. so im interested in buying the dlc for it. but how do I actually use this?

I have had these tanks used against me, but they dont seem to be very effective, I can hold them at bay with panzergrens and pschrecks + a p4, while the kv1 misses every shot on my panzergrens.

so it seems that for a heavy tank, they are merely a manpower sink or my perception of using them is wrong.

therefore, how do you actually use them?

Posts: 1637

Its a meat shield. It takes a beating for your other armor. Its good to pair with an SU85 because although it has armor and hps of a heavy it has a stock t34 gun. I.e. nor more pen than a ptrs rifle.

5 Mar 2015, 21:57 PMREforever

The PTRS's are fine as they are. Whenever i'm up against Guard Infantry, I always have to be careful with my vehicles or the Guards will completely destroy them. Good range, good damage and fairly cheap; if anything, the PTRS should nerfed since it's ridiculously good for the price. Even in the hands of Conscripts, the PTRS's are extremely potent.

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Posts: 934

Yeah the KV1 is a great damage sponge and I feel it complements T4 Soviets perfectly. It can safetly scout for SU-85's due to the huge amount of damage it can receive, even if the Ostheer player does a well timed multiple unit AT strike.

The doctrine in general also allows for Katushya/SU-76 to do well as recon run is available but you can always peak in and out with KV-1 to find that sweet point to arty on.

In general you want your KV-1 to stop when its firing at infantry so you increase your accuracy, but obviously if your tank is at risk keep moving. When it comes to tank combat, such as P4 and Ostwinds the KV1 generally wins. I primarily use it to safely block the path of flanking P4's which pose a threat to my SU-85. I use them like a ram that does not cripple my own tank, yet completely prevents an armour advance. The longer your KV-1 draws out the engagement, the more damage you SU-85 will deal out.

Posts: 647

seems like a good complement to the soviet army, ill go buy it and check it out.

Posts: 2838 | Subs: 3

I've retreated squads at the sight of the KV-1 because I thought it was a KV-8 on first glance D: So, it has that useful, psych-out factor against nubs like me.

Posts: 1003

Use KV-1 with ZiS-3 behind.

Posts: 344

The RNG gods must hate me, because AI P4s eat the KV for lunch. That said, it's likely a very good compliment with SU-85s. With the ZiS-3, the KV-1s total lack of AI effectiveness (it seems to scatter more than the T-34, though iirc they have the same cannon...wat?) leaves the ZiS open to attack and capture. The SU-85 can at least escape.

Pocketsize: "I can't wait till they add british to CoH: O; the extreme forces leveled by the new imbalances will create a black hole around the servers that destroys half of Canada."

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Posts: 574

KV-1s are awesome and I highly encourage you to use them at least one in every half a dozen games. They are fun to use, can take a real beating and are very cost effective.

They also make the first set of Russian ToW missions much easier than they are otherwise.

If only we had a commander with KV-1s and T-34/85s...