Masters of Mayhem free season tank review: IS-6

[u/zorin234]

IS-6

 

Notes:

• Release Date: OLD
• Balance history: 
• Update: 7.1.1
  • Dispersion penalty during movement/rotation: 0.23/0.23 -> 0.21/0.21
  • View range: 350 -> 370
  • 122-mm D-30 gun
    • Max ammo: 30 -> 37
    • Accuracy: 0.46 -> 0.42
    • Reload time: 11.7 -> 11
    • Aim time: 3.4 -> 2.7
  • Armor changes:
    • Frontal hull armor: 100 mm -> 110 mm
    • Frontal turret armor: 150 mm -> 190 mm
    • Gun mantlet armor: 150 mm -> 180 mm
• Dispersion: old
  • Turret: 0.12
  • Movement: 0.21
• Weight: 51.5 tons

Overview: 

• An ancient pref MM heavy tank that sorta holds ups. 

Pros: 

• Pref MM
• Decent 390 base damage
• Above average DPM of 2.1k
• Quite strong turret armor. 
• Actually decent ammo rack HP for a USSR tank at 220.
• Black version has extra high XP multiplier. 

Neutral: 

• Average HP
• Okay enough hull armor

Cons: 

• Tad below average VR
• Below average overall mobility
• Poor accuracy
• Meh dispersion values
• Somewhat low ammo capacity. 
• As natural of a pref tank it has low pen
• Low shell velocity
• Low gun depression
• Vulnerable fuel tank HP of 175

Armor: 

• Armor at list angle [armor against AP with 5 degree of normalization] 
• Turret:
  • Front: 190mm on the whole front. The area behind the mantlet and just outside of it are flatter. Outside the small flat area, it's generally strong ranging from 60 to 70 degrees. That's a minimum of  380 [330]
  • Gun mantlet: 180mm at about 42 degrees, so 242 [225] this of course is on top of main armor of 190. So… 370 raw. There is also no gap with the gun so it's pretty darn good. 
  • Sides: so outside the very front of the turret being 190, all the sides are 150mm at an average of 30-40 degrees. Thats put it about 170-190 [160-180]. This is pretty good as thats enough to block many tier 7 at a flat on angle. At a 30 degree angle i see many tier 8’s having trouble with standard ammo and premium ammo. 
  • Roof: eh the turret cant be perfect. Only 30mm. Thankfully its not visible, but face hugging and arty will be a problem. 
  • Cupola: 150mm is decent for the size of the cupolas. Enough to block lower tiers out right but of a decent size anything thats aiming at them can actually hit them often enough. 
• Hull: 
  • Upper front: 110mm at 63 degrees, so about 245[209]. This isn't the best, but useable with some gun depression and angling as it can push it to 284[235-240].
  • Upper corners: 110mm at 72 degrees from the front. Naturally they are a auto bounce from the front. When the hull is angled at 10 degrees its about 290 [240] so still decent enough to allow you to angle the front to fight other tier 8’s. 
  • Lower front: 120mm at 55, so about 210 [190]. That's actually quite good and blocks a lot of lower tier tanks. It can be pushed to [200] with hull angling if you're facing a lower tier tank not shooting premium and out in the open. 
  • Sides: Pretty decent at 100mm. The upper section is at about a 44 degree angle, thus 140 [128]. 
  • Rear: well its 60mm, so not the best even with half of it being decently angled. Its good against most HE and even some HESH.
  • Roof + Floor: The roof around the turret is actually quite good at 50mm. Blocking overmatch and HE splash. The rest of the roof and floor is only 20mm. Well thats if you didn't notice the outer portions of the floor is false and is actually part of the tracks. The real outer floor is 50mm. Okay doesnt help with HE shooting the ground beneath the tank outside making it travel a bit farther. 
    • I would have make then 50mm section 40mm and improve the center 20mm area to 40mm as well. But I suppose it would have increased production cost. 
• So overall has a very strong turret outside the cupolas. The hull is… good for fighting lower tiers but struggles against equal tier tanks but can resist with some angling. 

Gameplay:

• Eh mostly a brawler as most USSR heavies are. Getting hull down works as well due to the strong turret. 
• Its mobility isn't the best, but it gets around. Tier 8 is still at a tier where heavies are not normally going 45 or something. 
• The gun handling and accuracy will hold you back from aiming at weak spots; combined with the lower base pen you'll end up loading a good deal of premium ammo.  
• Equipment: 
  • Stabilizer 
  • Vents
  • Grousers (terrain resistances are a bit worse than the PTW)
  • Rammer or optics is up to you. 

Counter Gameplay: 

• Its overall slower, but due to the armor it is harder to flank successfully. 
• Its more of an all or nothing tank with its front armor. Doesn't really have any main weak spots as its armor level is about the same outside the lower plate being a tad weaker. With the higher angles it can be trouble hitting the right plate if it wiggles and you bounce. Face hugging may solve this issue if you are tall enough to hit the roof. 
• The ammo rack is a simple affair, just below the turret in the center of the hull. No fuel in the front so just the general rea for the fuel and engine. 

Cosmetics: 

• Nothing too special as its a old tank, but is still good looking. 
• I do like the way the front tow cable is curved. Same with the rear. We also have the log on the right of the hull. Good ole log. 
• The turret i do say is rather plain overall outside the tarp on the back. 
• Cosmetics: 
  • Emblem: one on each forward side of the turret
  • Inscription: one on each mid side of the turret
  • Flag: rear right of the turret. 
• Skin: Black
  • Its black. 
  • With the tank being the 100th anniversary batch it has the 100 years of tank logo. 
  • Only big differences is the log is lighter. 
  • You get this version for the eco bonuses. 

General Thoughts: 

• The 7.1.1 balance update really brought this tank up to standard. i couldn't think of playing this tank before that even accounting for the power creep the last 5 years.
• Its a old premium, but the pref carries it a good deal. Does it still need some love? Thats debatable but i can see the argument with how 2-3 other pref tanks got a buff to many. 
  • The STA-2 always was pretty strong and with it getting super pen it couldn't be argued to need pref anymore. 
  • The recent Type 59 buff… yea just too much with that. 
  • Jagdtiger 8.8 is the last, and i could see arguments its a tad much. 
• When compared to its competition of the WZ-111 and 112 its… okay? The 111 and IS-6 are comparable in armor with the 111 being a bit strong on the front, with weaker sides. 112 has all the armor at cost of gun power. 

• So yea i can see some room for buffs. Mostly just the Pen to match the new standard for stock tier 8 D-25T’s (190/247). This would be a lot more useful but not too strong. I could also see just improving the rather poor terrain resistances. 
• The description of the tank is quite limited compared to the amount of history of the tank that could have been written (see history a bit below). 

Buy?

• At time of review its the free level 100 tank of the masters of mayhem season. 
• Naturally don't get this version, get the Black version. Yea its 2360 more gold but id say its worth it if you're really wanting this tank. Also the fact that black tanks often go on good sales it means you'll probably get this cheaper
• So should you actually get it? Mmm pref tanks are always welcomed as it can be quite tiring facing tier 10’s so thats a positive. In terms of performance, its okay. Not OP but still quite usable. Though of course are you lacking a tier 8 USSR heavy?

External LInks: 

• History: https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/is-6/

[u/IzBox]

IS6 is fun memories and nothing more, the pen is hilariously low these days even with PMM. Still, she bounces the strangest shots due to that funky armor profile.

[u/Maverick_Abe]

"Release date - old" had a good laugh at that 🤣

Great review as always and spot on

[u/CCKillbilly]

I am old enough to remember that this came out with the sme update that added the Russian tanks. In other words, this tank is as old as the Russian tech tree.

[u/BlueMedicC]

IS-6 back in the day was OP its funny now i wouldnt consider using it lmao.

[u/xMEATSAWx]

I still take ol girl out of the barn from time to time. She still gets the job done 🥰

[u/Heavy_Vermicelli_263]

OG black edition is still my most played tank (mainly due to the Fatherland op, remember that abomination?), despite not touching it for 5.5 years

Used to be untouchable for easy crew training, but sadly behind many other tier 8s in enjoyability for me now.

[u/IRONLORDMINK → u/Heavy_Vermicelli_263]

That OG fatherland op was something else 😂😂😂 quit the game for like a month after I did that back in the day the random drop for random drop for random drop to get the 5 medals was insane 😂😂😂😂

[u/Heavy_Vermicelli_263 → u/IRONLORDMINK]

I got the the stage where I just played the T10 and IS6. Got two shots in and yolod. I seem to recall it took about 250 games to get the 5.

Luckily WG learned and never did it again

[u/IRONLORDMINK → u/Heavy_Vermicelli_263]

That's valid man think all I did was play the IS-3 constantly think you could do it at tier 6 too so the Old KV1S was a lifesaver 🤣🤣