[Review] Skoda T 56

The Czechslovakian Heavy Tank line has come to World of Tanks in v1.14. The signature features of these vehicles are a powerful two-shot autoloader, set in a well-protected turret ringed by tough spaced armour and the ability to safely play from either a hull-down or reverse side-scraping position. As is customary for the introduction of new tank lines, a new Tier VIII Premium Vehicle joins the party: Skoda T 56. This article will review the technical and gameplay characteristics of this vehicle.

The One-Two Punch gets an Upgrade

A number of vehicles have entered World of Tanks in recent times with two-shot autoloaders. On the face of it, many players wondered "What the hell am I going to do with a two-shot mag?". As it turns out, quite alot! The intra-clip reloads of these guns are typically quite short, potentially allowing a much more effective trade with the enemy. Specifically, you might bounce or eat an enemy shell but give them double the fun in return before slipping back into cover to reload. The combined "alpha-bomb potential" of a fast two-shot burst can be quite crippling, and leave an enemy vehicle with very few hitpoints with which to trade for the rest of the battle. We have seen this most notably with the Tier VIII Premium French Medium Tank, Bat.-Chatillon Bourrasque and its brutal delivery of 720HP damage in two seconds, although it was the French wheeled Light Tank EBR 75 FL 10 that started the trend abusing lightly-armoured opponents with its high-penetration HE shells. Skoda T56 takes the firepower of these two vehicles and amps it up to a level befitting of a Heavy Tank, with its 130mm main armament delivering two shots in 3.5 seconds. Your choice of shells as follows:

Standard AP 460HP 208mm (others in class range 300-390HP, 190-232mm pen)

Premium AP 460HP 248mm (others in class range 300-390HP, 270-299mm pen)

HE 640HP 68mm (others in class range 400-530HP, 50-105mm pen)

While the penetration of either of Skoda T 56's shells are at the lower end of the spectrum, this order of damage-per-shot destruction is completely unrivalled among the other Tier VIII premium autoloading Heavy Tanks. Even Obj. 703 II (122) can only muster 390HP damage per shot. With a base clip reload of 23.97sec, it takes pole position on damage per minute among all Tier VIII premium autoloading HT's. Played from a position of support with team-mates to cover the reloads, Skoda T 56 can exact a heavy toll on the enemy team and can easily hold its down in a 1v1 situation.

Gun handling leaves much to be desired, with 0.40m/100m dispersion and a 2.88s base aim time meaning you won't be pixel-sniping beyond short ranges. The enterprising Skoda T 56 will either be supporting the brawl at close range or looking for flanking shots beyond that. With these sorts of engagements in mind, I've equipped my Skoda T 56 with Improved Ventilation and Vertical Stabilisers. Combined with a Brothers in Arms Crew, these pieces of kit will limit base dispersion to 0.38m/100m and keep the spread of shells to a minimum when breaking cover to catch a hapless foe on the reload. Speaking of reload, this setup reduces base reload to 22.38sec yielding a respectable (for an auto-loader) 2,096DPM.

Armour for All Occasions

Skoda T 56 has adequate protection to bait and bounce shells in a variety of situations, be it playing from hull-down or reverse-sidescraping.

Hull-down positions utilise the fantastic turret of Skoda T 56. Gun depression of 8 degrees, and a normal armour thickness of 220mm plus some generous slabs of 50mm thick spaced armour will make penetration of the turret face with <280mm AP/APCR penetration a hard ask while HEAT shell-equipped opponents will be forced to pin-point hits to the gunsight (220mm) or cuploa (170mm).

Reverse side-scraping is also a highly reliable tactic to bait shots. While the toolboxes are just for decoration, 70mm of side armour will prevent any nasty over-matching while auto-bouncing any kinetic rounds the enemy has to offer at a 25degree sidescrape

Protection of the hull front is key to utilising the armour profile of this vehicle. Its 100mm upper and 85mm lower frontal plates offer limited protection and can be reliably penetrated with anything exceeding 180mm penetration. This means even Tier VI opponents need to be treated with respect when breaking cover. Note the graphic below and the "sea of green" the frontal hull becomes in a 25-degree reverse sidescrape, oblique front and 8-degree hulldown position.

Mobility

Compared to the rather zippy Italian Bisonte C45 and American T77 with 48-50km/h forward speed, Skoda T 56 pulls up to rear at a sluggish 35km/hr. Mounting a Turbocharger is therefore essential to ensure opportunities to loose a 920HP clip are not missed because the Czech failed to come about in time to catch an enemy on the reload. The +2km/hr improvement on the 15km/hr base reverse speed also doesn't hurt when returning to cover to reload the magazine.

Despite a low forward speed, Skoda T 56 boasts above-average acceleration compared to its peers thanks to the power-to-weight ratio granted by its 650HP engine. This can help keep the turret weak-spots "mobile". Turret and Hull Traverse also remain on par with other auto-loading Tier VIII Premium Heavy Tanks.

Counters and Overall Performance

Players trying to counter Skoda T 56 should do so with extreme caution, as the tank has few downsides when played correctly. Taking a lazy shot at a Skoda T 56's turret weakspot or an angled side has a reasonable chance of failure, and if not supported you can earn yourself a 920HP deficit to your hitpoint pool in return as it abuses you on the reload. You cannot let its auto-loader status fool you into thinking it has poor DPM, as it remains above-average in this respect among all Tier VIII Medium and Heavy Tanks and has a reasonable chance of coming out on top in a 1v1 engagement. Like Bourrasque, Skoda T 56 excels at either landing killing bursts or making sure targetted vehicles have minimal capacity to influence the remainder of the game. Breaking cover while on less than 1000HP to engage Skoda T 56 could mean a quick ride to the garage with an expensive repair-bill in hand, if not by the Skoda then certainly by anything supporting it.

Fortunately its sub-par mobility, poor gun-handling and fragile frontal armour will relegate its offensive capabilities to an opportunistic game of "Peek-a-boom-boom". Denied opportunities to engage reloading or low-HP enemies from a position of support or defense, Skoda T56 has significantly less of an impact on the battlefield. They can easily become bottled up if you don't rise to their bait.

Gameplay Review

See Also

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