Conceptually, the TS-5 is a turretless assault tank destroyer with strong armor and a powerful gun. There are enough similar cars in the game, and the Americans have the most of them. This nation has a whole branch of cars with a similar playstyle: T28, T95 and T110E3. However, there are some nuances that do not allow putting the TS-5 on a par with these upgraded tank destroyers, although the premium vehicle even looks like self-propelled guns from the branch.
The device turned out to be rather ambiguous, however, most of the players agreed to classify this American turtle as a “weak” premium.
Characteristics of the tank
Weapons and firepower
A really powerful gun was stuck on a self-propelled gun. A classic American 120 mm club is installed here, which, on average, bites off 400 HP from the enemy per shot. This is not very much, but the problem of low one-time damage is solved simply by crazy damage per minute. More than three thousand units — these are tough indicators, allowing even the TT-9 to break in less than a minute.
This is also helped by the excellent armor penetration, which the car inherited from American strands. Usually, PT-8s are issued with alternative barrels with a weaker gold, which can be seen in the upgraded T28 and T28 Prot. But the TS-5 was lucky, and it got not only an excellent AP shell with high penetration, but also burning cumulatives, penetrating 340 millimeters. For them, any classmate will be gray. And many strong guys of the ninth level will also not be able to take a hit against such cumuls.
Shooting comfort is not very good, which is a clear reference to close combat. At long distances, shells fly crookedly, but at close range or at medium distances you can hit.
The main problem of the gun — its elevation angles. Just 5 degrees. It's not bad. It's horrible! With such EHV, any terrain will be your opponent, and the sight can jump due to any bump that you accidentally ran into.
Armor and security
Base HP: 1200 units.
NLD: 200–260 mm (the closer to the gun, the less armor) + weak armor triangles of 135 mm.
Cabin: 270-330 mm + commander's hatch 160 mm.
Hull sides: 105 mm.
Stern: 63 mm.
The same ambiguity of the TS-5 lies in the armor. According to the figures, the car is quite strong, has only a couple of relatively weak points and can survive on the front line. However, the whole joke is where these very places are located. For example, the weak part of the NLD of 200 millimeters is not at the bottom, but closer to the gun.
In other words, you simply cannot find a comfortable position to stand and take a punch.
Absolutely always in battle, you either substitute the weak part of the NLD, where any heavy tank of level 8 breaks through you, or someone aims a hatch. A you won't live long without tanking, because the margin of safety is small.
Speed and mobility
As it turned out, the TS-5 tanks not very well. Yes, he can withstand a lot of random hits and takes out about 800-1000 blocked damage on average from fights. But this is not enough for an assault anti-aircraft gun. And with such armor, the car rides slowly. The maximum speed is 26 km / h, she picks it up and maintains it. It literally crawls back at a speed of 12 km / h.
Specific power is rather weak, but typical for tanks of this type.
So we often get ready to miss the skirmishes and die from light, medium and even some heavy tanks that will turn us around.
The best equipment and gear
Equipment — standard. The usual repair in the first slot to repair knocked-out modules and tracks. Universal strap in the second slot — in case a crew member is critted, set on fire or the module is knocked out again. Adrenaline in the third slot to briefly improve the already good rate of fire.
Ammunition — standard. Classic ammo layout — it's a big extra ration, big gas and a protective kit. However, the TS-5 doesn't collect crits very much, so the set can be replaced with a small extra ration or even small gasoline. It is better to try all the options and decide which one will be comfortable for you personally.
Equipment — standard. We stick “left” equipment into all slots of firepower — rammer, drives and stabilizer.
In the first survivability slot we put modified modules that will increase the HP of modules and caterpillars. For the TS-5, this is important, because the rollers will often try to knock you down. Second slot — equipment for a margin of safety, because armor will not help. Third slot — box to repair faster.
We install optics, tweaked engine speeds and something of our choice in specialization slots, nothing new here.
Ammunition — 40 shells. The vehicle has a high rate of fire and is able to shoot out the entire ammo, but the enemy is unlikely to have enough HP to absorb all this damage. Because shells are usually enough.
Due to the high armor penetration, you can not lean on gold cumulatives. Throw in 8-12 pieces for extreme cases (for example, on the King Tiger or on E 75). Add a couple of HEs to pierce cardboard or finish off shots. Season with armor-piercing. Pilaf is ready.
How to play TS-5
TS-5 — assault self-propelled gun, with an oblique gun, but not very strong. Because of this, it is quite difficult to play on it. Usually not the strongest tanks play from a comfortable gun and good mobility, but our American bottle is forced to get out.
If you managed to take a comfortable terrain (which is almost impossible on this machine) or an embankment — no questions. You exchange fire and implement a barrel with good damage per minute.
However, most often you will have to win back not an assault tank, but a support tank that keeps behind the backs of the allies.
If you get to the top, you can try to get impudent due to damage per minute, the main thing is not to bully too much on heaves and high-alpha PTs, as they will quickly leave you short. But against the ninth level, you will have to sit in ambush and wait until the inaccurate heavy is substituted, since you can inflict damage on anyone.
Pros and cons of a tank
Pros:
- High DPM. 3132 damage per minute — this is the fifth line of the rating among all cars of the eighth level. And even among the nines, we are in the top ten among more than 150 cars.
- Excellent armor penetration. In a way, even redundant. If you wish, you can easily fight with any opponents, even on armor-piercing ones, but gold cumulatives open up many opportunities. For example, on gold, you can shoot Emil II into the tower, Italian PTs into the top sheet, Tiger II into the silhouette, and so on.
Cons:
- Terrible UVN. five degrees — it's disgusting. It is doubly disgusting to see five degrees on a self-propelled gun, on which it is impossible to substitute NLD.
- Weak mobility. This is not 20 kilometers that T28 or AT 15 do, but this is still not enough for a comfortable game.
- Unstable Armor. If the TS-5 is not targeted, it will tank. Therefore, sometimes the idea of \uXNUMXb\uXNUMXbpushing the flank may seem good to you, and you will push the sneaker into the floor. And sometimes it can even work. Or it may not work, nothing can be predicted. And it's annoying.
Conclusions
TS-5 in WoT Blitz came out at the time of its hype in a full-fledged desktop version of tanks. And the players expected a strong assault vehicle with a powerful gun that could effectively hold or push through the flanks.
However, we got something strange. The gun is slanting and DPM-noe, as expected, which means you need to go and crush the flanks. Mobility is not a gift, but you can live. But the whole image of an assault self-propelled gun collapsed when they started punching you not only through the hatch, but also right under the gun. In an area that is simply impossible to hide if you are firing.
As a result, the TS-5 was dubbed a cactus and left to gather dust in the hangar until better times. And generally justified. You can play this American self-propelled gun, but it's too stressful.
