For some context, HESH stands for High Explosive Squash Head. It's primarily used by the British Army who still hold a premium over this ammunition type even to this day. In real life, HESH is essentially a shell filled with Plastic Explosive. Upon impact against the hull of an enemy tank, the HESH shell squashes against the surface of the tank like a cow pat. A secondary fuse than ignites the plastic explosive which detonates, sending shock-waves throughout the tank's hull causing pieces of hot metal (known as spall) to be projected off the interior wall at high velocity killing the crew, igniting the ammunition or fuel etc. etc. So basically in real-life HESH does not have to pierce armour to do damage.
However, I'm not here to talk to you chaps here about the real-life workings of HESH, you can Google that yourselves. I'm here to discuss how HESH works in game and when or when not to use HESH as well as where to aim for when using HESH against certain vehicles.
So let us begin chaps!
What is HESH exactly in World of Tanks and what does it do?
HESH ammunition is the premium and standard ammunition used only by certain British Tanks. Tanks in WOT (PC) which use HESH as their premium ammunition are the Centurion 7/1 tier 9 Medium tank, The FV4202 Tier 10 British Medium tank, The FV215B Tier 10 heavy tank, The Charioteer tier 8 British Tank Destroyer, The FV215B 183 tier 10 British Tank Destroyer, and the FV4005 Stage II Tier 10 British Tank Destroyer.
In World of Tanks and World of Tanks Blitz, HESH ammo differs greatly to it's real life equivalent. In game, HESH ammunition functions as a High-Explosive shell...but with a much higher penetration value than regular HE ammunition. This is unique to the British Line of tanks. While most other tank's utilize APCR or HEAT as their premium ammunition for that extra penetration, HESH forgoes that extra penetration for increased damage instead.
For example. The Penetration value of HESH on the Centurion 7/1 is 210 mm compared to the 105mm of penetration it has on regular HE shells.
But Ed, that sucks! What's the point of having a premium ammunition which doesn't have that extra penetration I need to pen that <insert heavily armoured tank name> frontally?
For some people used to just switching over to premium shells when they cannot penetrate a target, HESH will seem like a terrible choice of premium ammunition compared to HEAT or APCR. However, I don't see it that way. Sure you won't be penning E100 or E75's frontally with HESH. But you will be a menace to any tank out on the battlefield showing their flank to you or are generally poorly armoured. Against these tanks, HESH can be absolutely devastating allowing you to finish off those tanks much faster than had you been using standard ammunition.
Neat! what else should I know about HESH?
Since HESH is basically HE ammo. It goes without saying that it is subject to the same game mechanics as HE ammo itself. Like HE, HESH is not subject to normalization, and like HE, if HESH penetrates the armour of an enemy tank, it will detonate inside and more likely damage any crew members and modules. If HESH fails to penetrate the armor, it will still explode outside the hull dealing minor splash damage. The downside to HESH having the same attributes as HE ammo is that its damage will be mitigated upon hitting spaced armor or tracks. Which can sometimes be very frustrating to players. Well this guide will help you to determine when it's best to use HESH and which tanks can it potentially devastate!
EdAWACS's words of advice when firing HESH.
- Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever fire HESH ammunition from long range or snipe enemy tanks with HESH. At these ranges it's much more difficult to hit weak spots. If you fire HESH at range, you could potentially waste a very valuable shot in a game where every shot counts. Only use HESH at point-blank ranges where you can easily target weak-spots, increasing your chances of dealing massive damage.
- HESH requires a generally flat surface to hit in order to deal the full damage specifications listed on the shell. Avoid aiming at well angled, curved, or other not at all flat surfaces unless the penetration of your HESH shell greatly over-matches the armor's effective thickness even when sloped.
- Take your time to aim shots carefully when firing HESH. Avoid firing Clutch with HESH. Take your time and aim well. Trust me, It is worth it to aim well with a shell that costs 5200 credits per shot.
- If the frontal armor of an enemy tank is too thick and the side armor of the tank is covered by tracks mostly, than the best option is to aim for the back of the tank in the engine deck.
Now that you know this much about HESH, Let's look over which vehicles HESH are much more effective against than others.
German Tanks:
German tanks are some of my favourite targets to utilize HESH against since they have relative large profiles and have nice flat side turret armor and hull armor not covered by tracks. This makes it relatively easy to use HESH against German tanks if you know where to aim.
Heavy Tanks:
Tiger 1:
Tiger P:
Tiger 2:
VK4502A:
Spoiler
E75:
VK4502B:
E100:
Maus:
Tank Destroyers:
JagdPanther:
Ferdinand:
Jagdtiger:
Jagdpanzer E100:
Medium Tanks:
Panther:
Panther 2
E50:
E50M:
American Tanks:
American Tanks are my third favorite tanks to fire HESH at due to their weak side and rear armour. However when it comes to HESH, American tanks are a bit trickier to damage, especially from the side armor of most American tanks are covered with tracks which if you had read earlier, mitigates the full damage of HESH. But with careful aim and patience as well as applying some of the concepts I mentioned above, you can damage them with no problem.
Heavy Tanks:
T29:
T32:
M103:
T110E5.
Edited by EdAWACSdenyY, 22 September 2015 - 06:04 PM.