The Kliment Voroshilov (KV) tanks are a series of Soviet heavy tanks named after the Soviet defence commissar and politician Kliment Voroshilov who operated with the Red Army during World War II. The KV tanks were known for their heavy armour protection during the early stages of the war, especially during the first year of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. In certain situations, even a single KV-1 or KV-2 supported by infantry could halt German formations. The German Wehrmacht at that time rarely deployed its tanks against KVs, as their own armament was too poor to deal with the "Russischer Koloss" – "Russian Colossus".[4]
The KV tanks were practically immune to the 3.7 cm KwK 36 and howitzer-like, short-barreled 7.5 cm KwK 37 guns mounted, respectively, on the early Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks fielded by the invading German forces. Until the Germans developed more effective guns, the KV-1 was invulnerable to almost any German weapon except the 8.8 cm Flak gun.[5]
Prior to the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, about 500 of the over 22,000 tanks then in Soviet service were of the KV-1 type. As the war progressed, it became evident that there was little sense in producing the expensive KV tanks, as the T-34 medium tank performed better (or at least equally well) in all practical respects. In fact the only advantage the KV had over the T-34/76 was its larger and roomier three-man turret.[6] Later in the war, the KV series became a base for the development of the IS (Iosif Stalin) series of tanks and self-propelled guns.
Description from Wikipedia:
KV-5 (Object 225) - A cancelled project for a super-heavy tank. Armament was to be a 107 mm ZiS-6 gun in a large turret and a machine gun in a small secondary turret. Weight was projected as about 100 tons, and the tank was to have 150–180 mm of armour. Project development began in June 1941, however was cancelled due to the Siege of Leningrad, in which all developmental operations at the Kirov Plant were halted. The project fell out of favour from the more advanced heavy tank designs, and no prototype was built.
Description from video-game WOT:
Development began in June 1941 at the Leningrad Kirov Plant and was completed by August, but plans were interrupted due to the complicated situation on the front. The KV-5 was to utilize some components of the KV-1. A new turret was designed, incorporating the 107-mm ZIS-6 gun. Two roadwheels and a single support roller were to be added on each side. A new 1,200 h.p. diesel engine was being developed for the vehicle, however it was not completed in time and was replaced with two V-2K engines.
This tank is known for its many weakspots as well as its impotent but fast-firing 107 ZiS-6M. It's surprisingly fast for a heavy tank, which tends to come in handy when you fail to pen your opponents.
Being extremely heavy and featuring a high top speed enables ramming of other tanks - adding to the damage output.
The KV-5 was buffed in 9.2. This buff was received badly by the community, and largely viewed as a pointless attempt at improving things that were fine while failing to address the core issues. This is in large part due to the KV-5's status as a 'veteran tank', that unlike the Type 59 has yet to see any competitive buffs.
There are many weak spots on this tank, which even after buffs to the armor model (9.2) means that you'll bounce close to nothing in an 'aimed brawl'. There are also a lot of flat surfaces of the turret. Granted that your extremely non-meta penetration values (both for AP and APCR) allows you to do anything but ding your opponent, the KV-5 can certainly be a force to be reckoned with. Just not against T9s, or even most T8 heavies. Or hulldown medium tanks, for that matter. Oh, and you probably won't spot any 'vision gaming' tank destroyers either.
In short, the KV-5 is an Swiss cheese roadblock that can work well if it doesn't face any armour. Does fit an aggressive playstyle rather well, but not worth your hard-earned money. This tank was removed from the in game store with the introduction of version 0.7.5.
