KV-2

232px

nation | class | tier

Battle Tier

1234567891011

Overview
Mouse over "" for more information
[Client Values; Actual values in ]

0

Cost

health Hit Points

0/0Expression error: Unexpected < operator./Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". t Weight Limit

Crew

The indicated vehicles not found.

Mobility

engine Engine Power

/ km/h Speed Limit

traverse Traverse

Expression error: Unexpected < operator.Expression error: Unexpected < operator. hp/t Power/Wt Ratio

NoNo Pivot

Armor

// mm Hull Armor

//Unable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::top|armorturretfront/Unable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::top|armorturretside/Unable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::top|armorturretback mm Turret Armor

Armament

Shells

0/0/0

Shell Cost

//Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|damage1/Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|damage2/Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|damage3 HP Damage

//Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|penetration1/Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|penetration2/Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|penetration3 mm Penetration

Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". r/m Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". r/m Rate of Fire

Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". Damage Per Minute

Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". m Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". m Accuracy

Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". s Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". s Aim time

Unable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::stock|turrettraverseUnable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::top|turrettraverse deg/s Turret Traverse

0° Gun Arc

-°/+°-Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|depression°/+Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|elevation° Elevation Arc

Unable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::stock|maxammoUnable to match configuration for query: gun:kv-2::top|maxammo rounds Ammo Capacity

General

Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable".Expression error: Unrecognized word "unable". % Chance of Fire

Unable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::stock|viewrange m Unable to match configuration for query: turret:kv-2::top|viewrange m View Range

Unable to match configuration for query: radio:kv-2::stock|distance m Unable to match configuration for query: radio:kv-2::top|distance m Signal Range

Values are Stock - click for Top

File:Anno.png

0

The <value_unset_error> is a [[|]] tier .

<value_unset_error>

Known as the "King of Derp", the KV-2 shares the same chassis as the KV-1, but features an extremely large turret designed specifically for mounting the 152 mm M-10 howitzer. When stock, the KV-2 is equipped the 122mm U-11 howitzer, previously available on the KV-1 with a very slight rate of fire increase. When fully upgraded, the KV-2 is able to mount the 152mm M-10 howitzer. This gun is extremely powerful, but is hindered by very long reload time, low accuracy, and poor penetration. Nevertheless, the KV-2 was, prior to the matchmaking change in 0.7.5, one of the tier 6 tanks that could remain useful in even Tier 10 battles. Its armor remains unchanged from the KV-1; at Tier 6, its armor is no longer the formidable barrier it was at tier 5, but remains in-line with other Tier 6 tanks. The turret is extremely heavy, but fortunately, this tank does have an engine upgrade available to help compensate.

The <value_unset_error> marks the end of its line.

Modules / Available Equipment and Consumables

Modules

Guns

Tier	Gun	Penetration (mm)	Damage (HP)	Rate of fire (rounds/minute)	Dispersion (m/100m)	Aiming time (s)		Weight (kg)	Price ()
	<value_unset_error>			0	0	0			0

Engines

Tier	Engine	Engine Power (hp)	Chance of Fire on Impact (%)		Weight (kg)	Price ()
	<value_unset_error>		0			0

Suspensions

Tier	Suspension	Load Limit (т)	Traverse Speed (gr/sec)	R_min		Weight (kg)	Price ()
	<value_unset_error>	0					0

Radios

Tier	Radio	Signal Range (m)		Weight (kg)	Price ()
	<value_unset_error>				0

Compatible Equipment

Compatible Consumables

Player Opinion

Pros and Cons

Pros:

152mm gun can be mounted from start and HE can one shot nearly all tier sixes or below, some tier sevens & rarely tier eights
152mm HE can splash multiple targets and do heavy damage through armour, remaining effective against high tier opponents.
152mm HE good at killing enemy crew and damaging modules. Fear factor can affect enemy players reactions.
Good rate of fire and penetration with the 107mm ZiS-6
Very strong mantlet and strong tracks can absorb shots if angled correctly.

Cons:

Low speed, large and tall silhouette and terrible maneuverability and tier five armour makes it an easy target.
Poor view range and poor accuracy and aim time on all gun options makes sniping very hard.
Poor soft stats on 152mm and matching turret. Slow reload, slower turret traverse and poor gun depression hamper performance.
At mercy of RNG - 152mm damage fluctuates wildly, very prone to gun and turret ring damage.
Turret's flat surfaces are more easily penetrated than the KV-1's. Priority target for enemy SPGs.

Performance

In the right hands, this can be a very powerful tank, capable of fighting against Tier-8 tanks with proper application of its strengths and weaknesses. This tank can be used as a close range brawler using the incredibly powerful M-10 howitzer and as support tank from the second line with the powerful 107mm ZiS-6, although the T-150 is able to use the ZiS-6 to better effect. The most basic and most important lesson is: never venture alone. Stay close to your allies. You will need them to cover you while you reload. They can also pick off any light tanks that attempt to circle you. However, a KV-2 can reliably hold down a corner on its own, mostly due to the threat of the fearsome 152mm gun. Do not judge the KV-2 by its "derp" turret, as it is an extremely dangerous tank.

Since this tank's upgrade to a tier 6, it has made a massive impact on medium tank companies. This tank is actually much more effective in TC's than it is in standard battle, since it will be facing tanks at or below its tier. Out of the three Soviet tier 6 heavies, however, the KV-2 is considered the weakest by most players, simply because of the fact that it is so incredibly slow and sluggish when compared to the KV-1S and even the T-150. The best advice for this situation is, again, to fight with teammates and never lead attacks, especially if you are packing the 152mm. Also, keep in mind that the KV-2's extremely large profile, slow speed and fearsome reputation makes it a tempting and a priority target, so caution must be taken when crossing open fields or crucial choke points, and be sure to always keep your back clear and a safe escape route in plan.

Another thing to note about the KV-2 is that the color of the reticle does not really matter. The massive damage of the 152mm HE shell means that every enemy is almost guaranteed to receive damage even without penetrations, with the shell usually dealing about 300 if it doesn't penetrate, reduced by enemy armor thickness and slope. The damage is so massive that the HE shell can damage the T95 from the front. If it does penetrate though, the tank on the receiving end of the shell is usually blown off the map and hurled into the sun or has a large chunk of health missing together with a crippled crew and damaged modules.

To achieve this, you need to take note of where on your opponents to hit for big damage. Usually, if in doubt, go for hull sides or from high ground onto top armour, where armour is thinner than 85mm and penetration is readily achieved. However, certain opponents are highly vulnerable to the KV-2's gun:

It goes without saying that tier 4 tanks, tier 5 tank destroyers (excluding the AT 2) and tier 5 mediums will be almost always instantly killed with a direct hit from the 152mm howitzer.
KV-1, KV-1S and KV-2 can be killed by hitting driver's hatch in front armor. Flat parts of KV-2 turret armor are also weak as well as KV-1S sides.
Vehicles with thin armor, such as Nashorns, Dicker Maxes and M18 Hellcats, will be instantly destroyed in one shot.
Churchill I (with upgraded turret) and Churchill III can be killed hitting their turret, or, even better, get to their sides, as they are big, flat and very weak. This goes the same for the Churchill VII
French tanks are a good choice of target; their weaker armour makes them vulnerable to HE. ARL 44 has very weak sides and turret side. However, beware of their speed and autoloaders, and do not try this frontally against their AMX AC series tank destroyers.
The T1 Heavy Tank and M6 have vulnerable 40mm hull sides. A shot there is almost certain death for them.
All of Germany's 30 ton prototypes have bad armour from the front and the HE shell should penetrate fully.
Should you be lucky enough to close the gap on a Pz.Kpfw. V Panther, but he's facing you, aim for the lower glacis or the machine gun weakspot. The upper front plate is a 50/50 tossup. The lower glacis aiming strategy is also applicable for the Jagdpanther.
VK 36.01 (H), Tiger, Tiger II and Ferdinand have vulnerable sides and HE should do maximum damage.
Consider ARL V39s and Churchill Gun Carriers easy meat for the howitzer, especially the former.
SU-100Y and SU-152 can be penetrated by hitting front armor next to gun mantlet

If you aren't facing any of these, but the tank has bad side turret armour (80mm or so), have your backup distract the enemy, wait for them to rotate the turret towards your support, then unleash the derp onto their turret side. If you're lucky, you'll blow their ammo rack up or penetrate through the thin side armour for massive damage. A dead gunner or loader is a bonus.

Note that it's rare, but possible, for a tank with a heavily armoured gun mantlet to "no sell" a HE round - avoid firing directly at the mantlet on tanks with very good turret armour.

While having a 100% crew and full set of equipment helps all tanks, the KV-2 is particularly aggravating to drive if using a fresh 75% crew. Consider a Rammer and GLD mandatory. Vents and a crew with the Brothers in Arms skill are very helpful as well. Because of this, the KV-2 is not recommended as the first tank to unlock and purchase from the KV-1. It's best to come back once you have a good crew to move to it, and the credits to afford the expensive equipment.

Early Research

The V-2K engine and the 10RK radio carry over from the KV-1 and should be installed immediately upon purchasing this tank.
Begin by researching either the 152 mm M-10 or the 107 mm ZiS-6. The stock suspension can handle the weight and the second turret isn't required.
Next upgrade the suspension.
Go from there.

Suggested Equipment

Historical Info

KV-2 tank, the most heavily armored tank at the beginning of the WW2

The KV-1 entered in service in December 1939 and was tested during the Russo-Finnish war (The Winter War). During this war, the high command issued that the Red Army had an urgent need for a heavy tank equipped with a more powerful armament to destroy the enemy fortifications (bunkers...). Four KV-1 were diverted to be tested with the heavy howitzer of 152 mm. They were the engineers of the KTZ which was charged to realize this conversion. After only two weeks, the project was finalized on paper. Initially it was the howitzer of 152 mm model 1909/1930 which was selected but the latter was quickly replaced by M-10 model 1938/1940, more modern. Of course, to accommodate this imposing weapon, a new turret (MT-1) was to be created.

At the beginning of 1941, the project was renamed KV-2. The imposing turret of the KV-2 was assembled on the hull of a KV tank experimental with double turrets. The first tests on this machine had been carried out on February 10, 1940. The tests on defence works were excellent and the KV-2 was thus accepted for the production.

In the late 1930 the Russians began developing "artillery tank" variants of some of their existing designs, such as the T-26 and BT-7. The T-26A proved a failure, but the cavalry BT-7A was more successful and limited production was undertaken. These tanks meant to provide high-explosive fire support to the regular BT tanks. With the introduction of the T-34 with its dual purpose 76mm gun, the idea of separate "artillery tanks" began to die out, by the experience in the Russian-Finnish Winter War prompted a brief revival using the KV tank. In their early assaults on the Mannerheim Line in January 1940 the Soviets found that even their new, experimental heavy tanks, the SMK, T-100 and KV-1, were unable to smash the well-built Finnish bunkers. The Kirovsky works in Leningrad received an urgent request for a bunker-buster, and in a remarkably short time they responded with the KV-2, armed with a 152mm howitzer. A prototype KV-2 was rushed to the front in February 1940, and successfully wrecked a number of Finnish bunkers near the town of Summa. Having proved the principle, the Red Army placed a large order for the type. The early KV-2 model 1939 was perhaps the most ungainly tank of its generation. The huge turret owed its bulk to a simple fact of life; because it used the existing KV-1 turret ring the howitzer's recoil could not be contained within its restricted diameter. By siting the trunnions well above the turret ring, the breech was given ample room to recoil at all angles of elevation without risking striking the turret ring armour, or the floor of the turret bustle. The turret was a simple, almost crude, assembly of flat welded plates forming the front, sides, rear and roof, while the turret ring was guarded by curved plates fore and aft. The howitzer trunnions were guarded by huge "D-plates" reinforced by three triangular webs on each side, the whole assembly being bolted to the turret front. The turret rear had a detachable Vee-plate which could be unbolted to allow the howitzer to be more easily removed for servicing, or replacement. The secondary armament was a single DT machine gun, mounted co-axially above to the right of the howitzer. For anti-aircraft defence, another DT could be rigged on the ring of the commander's hatch. The 152mm howitzer was sighted by a telescope built into the upper left side of the mantlet "box". Close-in defence was provided by plug-and-chain pistol ports in both sides of the turret, and flanking the howitzer-removal panel of the rear. Vision devices were extremely limited. One observation periscope was provided for the commander, and two vision slits appeared in the sides of the turret. A pair of episcopes covered the rear quarters, providing a method of aiming a pistol or sub-machine gun through the rear ports. The gunner's sole vision device was his gunsight telescope,leaving him heavily dependent on his commander for gunnery orders.

Production

A total of 330 specimens of the KV-2 were produced in 1940-1941in LKZ (Leningrad). Two models were created. The KV-1A (model 1940) had a too heavy turret which could be moved only on flat ground. The production of this model was abandoned end 1941. The KV-2B had a larger mantlet with a rounded shield. It weighed 4 tons more than model A and some were equipped with flame thrower. The KV-2B was carried out starting from the hull of the KV-1A. During the production, an additional machine-gun was installed.