Autoloader
The Autoloader (Automatic Loader) is piece of equipment built into certain tanks that takes the place of Human Loaders and allows for fewer crew members in a tank. All of the autoloaders in the game load shells into a rotating drum, from which the shells can be fired in rapid succession, similar to the way a revolver based hand gun works. Oscillating turrets were often used in conjunction with autoloaders as they provided the space necessary to put in an autoloader. As a result, all tanks in-game that use an autoloader use an oscillating turret as well, although the AMX 12t has a different design of its oscillating turret than the other oscillating turrets on other autoloader tanks.
Theoretically it should be possible to stop the autoloader and fire before the drum is fully refilled, if necessary, but this is not possible in the game. Some modern (not in game) autoloaders draw ammunition directly from the ammo rack, eliminating the drum from the process. When designed with an autoloader from the outset, (rather than a refit or afterthought) the tank can be physically smaller and lighter than a tank with a Human Loader due to the smaller interior space requirements resulting from having a smaller crew.
In-Game Use
An Autoloader as shown in-game. 4 out of 6 shells are left in the drum.
Autoloaders in World of Tanks are designed to reload a rotating drum, which in turn allows up to 10 shells to be fired quickly, with only a few seconds separation between shots. Once the drum has been emptied, the drum is reloaded by the autoloader, which can take up to almost a minute to do. This allows for a large amount of damage in a short period of time and combined with high speed can be a very deadly combination. The main downfall, however, is the drum’s very long reload time. During this time, the tank is unable to fire and is an easy target for other tanks. Pressing the C key in-game will reload the drum before it runs out of shells.
Autoloader Equipped Tanks
The autoloader is built into certain tanks; as a result they are not reliant on which gun you are using. The following tanks incorporate an autoloader:
- Light tanks
- 59-16 - A 5 round drum for its last gun.
- WZ-131 - A 5 round drum for its stock gun.
- AMX 12t - A 6 round drum for all of its guns.
- AMX 13 75 - A 6 round drum for all of its guns.
- T71 - A 6 round drum for all of its guns.
- AMX 13 90 - A 6 round drum for all of its guns.
- Medium Tanks
- T69 - A 5 round drum for its 76mm and a 4 round drum for its 90mm gun.
- Lorraine 40 t - A 6 round drum for all of its guns.
- T54E1 - A 5 round drum for its 90mm and a 4 round drum for its 105mm gun.
- Bat Chatillon 25 t - A 6 round drum for its 90mm and 100mm guns and a 5 round drum for its 105mm gun.
- Heavy Tanks
- AMX 50 100 - A 6 round drum for all of its guns.
- AMX 50 120 - A 6 round drum for its 90mm and 100mm guns and a 4 round drum for its 120mm gun.
- AMX 50B - A 4 round drum.
- T57 Heavy Tank - A 4 round drum.
- Tank Destroyers
- AT 7 - A 10 round drum for its 57mm gun.
- AMX 50 Foch (155) - A 3 round drum.
- Self-Propelled Guns
- Bat Chatillon 155 - A 4 round drum.
Semi-Automatic Cannon
The following guns are used on tanks that do not have autoloaders, but do have a magazine. The in-game play style is identical to those used with autoloaders. The only difference is that the reload speed is affected by the Human Loader.
Autocannon
An Autocannon as shown in-game. 2 bursts of 5 shells each are left in the magazine.
Auto-Cannons (Automatic Cannons) in World of Tanks act very similarly to autoloaders. The main difference is that they fire bursts of low-caliber shells at a time, instead of one of higher caliber. For example, on the Renault FT, its 13.2mm gun loads a magazine of 15 shells and every time you fire it shoots a burst of 5 shells in quick succession. After all 3 bursts of 5 shells have been used, the Loader replaces the 15-shell magazine. As far as the player is concerned, this procedure is handled the same as when a standard cannon is reloaded. Another main difference is that they are based on what gun you are using and not what tank you're in, unlike autoloaders. Most tanks with autocannons also have a choice of regular cannons available. Pressing the C key in-game will reload the gun without having finished all the shells in the magazine.
Autocannons usually lack good penetration performance. As a result, they are usually found on lower tier tanks with none being available past Tier 5. We include machine guns here even though technically they are not autocannons.
Autocannons
American Guns
Tier |
Name |
Ammo |
Damage |
Penetration |
Rate of Fire |
Accuracy |
Aim Time |
Price |
Weight |
Compatibility |
01I |
.50 caliber MG HB M2 |
00000018001800 |
0008 8 HP |
0022 22 mm |
08541-10785.41-107.62 r/m |
0005700000000.57 m |
1.7--1.7s |
0020002000 |
0007070 kg |
M2 Light Tank |
02II |
20 mm Hispano-Suiza Birgikt Gun |
00360-1200360-1200 |
0012 12/12 HP |
0030 30/41 mm |
07317-10873.17-108.43 r/m |
0005000000000.5 m |
1.5-1.91.5-1.9s |
0026002600 |
0006868 kg |
T1 Cunningham, M2 Light Tank, T2 Medium Tank, M3 Stuart, M5 Stuart |
02II |
20 mm Hispano Suiza Birgikt Gun M1 |
00000012001200 |
0012 12/12 HP |
0030 30/41 mm |
09934099.34 r/m |
0005000000000.5 m |
1.7--1.7s |
0 |
0006868 kg |
T2 Light Tank |
British Guns
Tier |
Name |
Ammo |
Damage |
Penetration |
Rate of Fire |
Accuracy |
Aim Time |
Price |
Weight |
Compatibility |
01I |
Machine Gun BESA |
000360-400360-400 |
0009 9 HP |
0025 25 mm |
07609-10276.09-102.38 r/m |
0005300005600.53-0.56 m |
1.7-21.7-2s |
0019001900 |
0007070 kg |
Vickers Medium Mk. I, Cruiser Mk. III |
04IV |
40 mm Pom Pom |
000160-200160-200 |
0045 45/45/60 HP |
0049 49/71/23 mm |
03429-3634.29-36.92 r/m |
000410000430.41-.43 m |
1.7-1.91.7-1.9s |
02000020000 |
00160160 kg |
Cruiser Mk. IV, Cruiser Mk. II, Covenanter |
04IV |
QF 40 mm Mk. VI |
0000000120120 |
0050 50/50/60 HP |
0063 63/101/23 mm |
32-3582032-35.82 r/m |
0003900004100.39-0.41 m |
1.9--1.9s |
02400024000 |
00470470 kg |
Cruiser Mk. IV, Covenanter |
German Guns
Tier |
Name |
Ammo |
Damage |
Penetration |
Rate of Fire |
Accuracy |
Aim Time |
Price |
Weight |
Compatibility |
01I |
2 cm Breda |
0000000420420 |
0011 11/11 HP |
0030 30/47 mm |
09796-11797.96-117.07 r/m |
0005300000000.53 m |
1.8--1.8s |
0019701970 |
0007070 kg |
Leichttraktor, Pz.Kpfw. I |
01I |
2 cm KwK 30 L/55 |
000260-320260-320 |
0011 11/11 HP |
0023 23/46 mm |
09633-10296.33-102.94 r/m |
0005900000000.59 m |
1.7--1.7s |
0021302130 |
0007070 kg |
Pz.Kpfw. I, Pz.Kpfw. 35 (t), Pz.Kpfw. II |
01I |
2 cm KwK 38 L/55 |
000260-420260-420 |
0011 11/11 HP |
0023 23/46 mm |
10909-130109.09-130.43 r/m |
0005700000000.57 m |
1.4-1.71.4-1.7s |
0019201920 |
0007070 kg |
Leichttraktor, Pz.Kpfw. I, Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. C, Pz.Kpfw. II, Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. G, Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. A, Pz.Kpfw. II Luchs |
02II |
2 cm Flak 38 L/112 |
000260-600260-600 |
0011 11/11 HP |
0039 39/51 mm |
10909-162109.09-162.16 r/m |
0004500000000.45 m |
1.3-1.61.3-1.6s |
0031603160 |
00110110 kg |
Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. C, Pz.Kpfw. II, Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. G, Pz.Kpfw. 35 (t), Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t), Pz.Kpfw. III Ausf. A, Pz.Kpfw. II Luchs, Pz.Kpfw. III, Pz.Kpfw. 38 (t) n.A., VK 16.02 Leopard |
02II |
7.92 mm Mauser E.W. 141 |
0000000640640 |
0008 8/8 HP |
0033 33/43 mm |
253520253.52 r/m |
0004500000000.45 m |
1.3--1.3s |
0032003200 |
0003030 kg |
Pz.Kpfw. I Ausf. C |
05V |
3 cm M.K. 103 |
000180-360180-360 |
0030 30/30/40 HP |
0095 95/110/15 mm |
0232-3923.2-39.5 r/m |
0004600005000.46-0.50 m |
1.7-2.31.7-2.3s |
03350033500 |
00141141 kg |
VK 16.02 Leopard, Pz.Kpfw. II Luchs, Pz.Kpfw. II Ausf. G |
French Guns
Tier |
Name |
Ammo |
Damage |
Penetration |
Rate of Fire |
Accuracy |
Aim Time |
Price |
Weight |
Compatibility |
01I |
13.2 mm Hotchkiss mle. 1930 |
000420-720420-720 |
0008 8/8 HP |
0023 23/36 mm |
07397-18673.97-186.21 r/m |
0005800000000.58 m |
2----2s |
0015001500 |
0007070 kg |
RenaultFT, D1 |
02II |
25 mm automatique mle. 1936 |
0000000400400 |
0020 20/20 HP |
0050 50/75 mm |
06259062.59 r/m |
0004300000000.43 m |
1.7--1.7s |
0065006500 |
0007070 kg |
RenaultFT AC |
Soviet Guns
Tier |
Name |
Ammo |
Damage |
Penetration |
Rate of Fire |
Accuracy |
Aim Time |
Price |
Weight |
Compatibility |
01I |
20 mm TNSh |
000320-420320-420 |
0010 10/10 HP |
0028 28/39 mm |
09023-11490.23-114.29 r/m |
0005300000000.53 m |
1.7-1.91.7-1.9s |
0023802380 |
0006868 kg |
MS-1, BT-2 |
02II |
23 mm VJa |
000225-480225-480 |
0012 12/12 HP |
0030 30/42 mm |
08182-11481.82-114.29 r/m |
0005400000000.54 m |
1.6-1.91.6-1.9s |
0027502750 |
0007171 kg |
MS-1, BT-2, T-26, BT-7 |
05V |
37 mm Automatic SH-37 |
000120-180120-180 |
0040 40/40/50 HP |
0046 46/62/19 mm |
00637-1296.37-129.81 r/m |
0004500000000.45 m |
2.3--2.3s |
02698026980 |
00200200 kg |
T-46, A-20, T-50, T-50-2 |