KV-1S Komroti is a Soviet Tank unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
One of the most fearsome tanks encountered by the Nazis during Fall Barbarossa, the Kliment Voroshilov was the result of a competition to replace the T-35 multiturreted heavy tank. Selected after extesnive testing during the Winter War in Finland, the KV was ordered into production in 1939, with an initial request for 50 KVs. A rush request for a self-propelled howitzer in 1940 resulted in the creation of the KV-2 152mm self-propelled howitzer on the KV chassis. The original tank was redesignated KV-1.
The tank was a thickly armored beast with a torsion-bar suspension, wide tracks, and capable armament for the time, capable of taking on any tank in the Nazi arsenal. However, it had several flaws: Although it was invulnerable to almost any anti-tank weapon of the time, save the 88mm anti-aircraft guns, it was quite vulnerable to itself: The tank was heavier than most tanks of the time, at 45 tons, had an unreliable transmission, was difficult to steer, and most importantly, had particularly poor ergonomics, even for Soviet tanks.
As such, when its advantage in armor was nullified circa 1943 and the T-34 proved to be just as good and much cheaper than it, the KV series was discontinued, replaced in regular roles by the T-34 and by the IS series as a heavy tank. Before that, though, over 5 000 tanks were produced.
The KV-1S was a lightened version of the KV-1 with thinner armor and a smaller, lower turret meant to increase its speed. The shift to a planetary transmission improved reliability, while the regenerative geared steering made it easier to control. Although over 1 300 were produced, the loss of its distinctive heavy armor coupled with the high price tag per unit called into question the point of having a heavy tank that does not have heavy armor and is in effect a slower, more expensive version of the T-34.
260th Guards Tank Regiment was equipped with a mixture of Churchill tanks along with KV series tanks. In game this regiment supported Podv. Gruppa Vyborg.
82th Tank Regiment has a mixture of Churchill tanks along with KV-1S tanks served in the liberation of Tallinn.
Strategy[ | ]
Notes[ | ]
- The slogan painted on the tank is За Родину! or For the Motherland! (Russia was commonly referred to as the Motherland in propaganda).