How to counter-arty in World of Tanks

Hi all, I decided to knock off some arty missions recently - plus I've been feeling lazy and not wanting to drive around too much. So basically just clicking the map with the occasional short drive has been kind of relaxing. I thought I'd share a couple of tips, especially on how to counter-arty.

What is counter-arty?

Counter-arty is when you, in an arty, actively hunt and try to kill the enemy arty. It's the most fun (and impactful) when the enemy arty is unspotted; in part because that feels like an accomplishment - figuring out where they are and landing a kill shot - and because it's probably early enough in the game that taking out an enemy arty may actually be impactful for your team. 

This works best when there are at least 2-3 arty (more chances to find one; plus your team isn't quite as dependent on you for fire support) but it can work with just 1 arty too.

You have a few tools at your disposal to do it and I'll talk about a few here.

Map Knowledge

First off is map knowledge. There are certain maps where there are very limited places where the arty like to go. Mines is a good example - they're almost always going to be in the corner behind their spawn. When you only have to look at maybe 3 or 4 squares it makes it a lot easier to find them.

Serene Coast is another example: On the North spawn arty are mostly going to be in the trees behind the spawn. Every now and then you get an ambitious one who drives out to A3 or D0, but mostly you're going to find them in the A6-A8 trees, or over in C9.

The South spawn arty are even more limited. Generally you just find them in K4/K5. Sometimes one will drive over to J2. Now and then you'll find one who goes over to the K8 area. 

Note: It's not a bad idea to just check the spawn itself, by the way, a lot of times arty players don't bother with their keyboard hardly at all and will barely leave the spawn unless they absolutely have to.

New to arty and not sure where arty usually go?

No problem. Next time you're playing, or watching a streamer play, just take note of where the arty on your team go. Pretty soon you'll notice that arty tend to go to the same basic places on every map.

Landscaping

Now that you know the general areas to look, you should start looking there right away. Often I won't move from my spawn point initially because I want to spot signs of enemy arty getting into their positions. One of the best signs of that can be them knocking over trees, fences, buildings, or other stuff.

I'll often jump right into the overhead view and right-click the map where the enemy arty positions are likely to be. That jumps my camera there immediately. Once I've got my camera there I will usually press "G" to shift into Trajectory view (it's that view where you're looking sort of at an angle instead of directly overhead). In Trajectory view it can be easier to spot trees falling and other telltale signs of something moving around. Also you can zoom back further in Trajectory view so you can see more of the map at once.

When I spot a tree go down in a typical arty spot I'll zoom in a bit on that spot and wait...do any other trees around it go down? At some point I'm comfortable that I've got a good clue where they are, and I'll switch back to overhead view and wait...

Tracers

When an arty fires their tracer is visible to other arty for a brief moment. When I'm doing counter-arty a lot of it is spent just watching an area, might be no bigger than a few bushes, waiting to see if I can spot a tracer coming out. If I do, and I feel like I can identify the spot where it came from, I'll aim just behind that spot and fire.

Sometimes I see the tracer, but I'm not 100% sure the EXACT spot where it originated, so I may wait for him to reload and fire again. Good arty players often move between shots - even if only 20m left or right - but most arty players don't.

Be patient. Since most arty don't move much once you've found him, you don't usually need to rush the shot. 

When he fires again I should have his position pretty well identified, and I can aim carefully and fire.

Pings

Good players on your team who get hit by arty will often ping the map to indicate where the arty shot came from. Pay attention to those; it gives you a clue of where to look for tracers.

It can be handy to have an idea of how long the reload time of the enemy arty is.  All the Tier 8 arty reload in basically 25-35 seconds, for example. So if a teammate pings and indicates the FV207 just hit them from the K3 direction, look at K3 and anticipate you might see a tracer in about...25 minus 10 (flight time of the shot + time for teammate to ping), maybe 15 seconds or so.

See how it's done

Here's a good example. On Live Oaks in my Crusader SP. I'm on NE spawn and I know that SW spawn arty usually go to the K2 trees, or down into the ditch around G1. About 15 seconds into the battle I'm looking at the K2 trees and I see a tree go down. I move my camera to that spot, switch back to overhead view and wait. 

Here's where you have to be patient. Especially at the start of the battle if none of your team are spotted the enemy arty probably won't be firing yet, because they're waiting for a target. But about 55 seconds in, the first enemy tanks get spotted by our guys...so it's not unreasonable to think our guys are probably starting to get spotted too.

Sure enough about 8 seconds later I see his tracer come out a few meters from where I'm aiming. I shift over, pause, and fire. Got them...M44 dead. 1 minute and 10 seconds into the battle. Poor guy only got the one shot off.

(You might want to open this video in full-screen mode; easier to see)

How often does this work?

I'd guess I probably succesfully counter at least one enemy arty in ~35% of my arty battles. On a recent Westfield battle I countered both of the enemy arty - neither had been spotted yet.

Even when I don't kill them, though, I often discover in the post-game stats that I landed critical hits, tracked them, took out crew members, stunned them...all of which contributes to my team having a better chance to win.

Last thoughts

There are a couple of tanks where this doesn't work as well. The mid/low-tier Brits, for example, have very limited range. The FV304 almost has to be up with the TDs to hit anything, so it's harder to predict where they're going to be. Likewise they can be harder to counter with because you have to get within a few hundred yards of the enemy arty positions and at that range you're probably in the middle of the enemy HTs and MTs.

Good arty players won't even wait to see their shot land, they'll fire and immediately be relocating a bit to the left or right specifically to avoid getting countered like this. Those players are harder to counter, of course, but you can do it. If you see the tracer come out, wait a moment and watch for nearby trees or fences to be knocked down, suggesting he's relocating - and in what direction. When you see the next tracer come out if you're already loaded you can try and fire fast, hoping to get lucky, or you can wait and see if you can spot the pattern.

Some arty players work in roughly a triangle. Fire, move to the next corner of the triangle (20-30m away). Fire, move to the next corner (20-30m away). Fire, move back to the original corner, repeat. You need a bit of luck, but if you KNOW he's moving after every shot you can try to guess where he's likely to be next, and pre-emptively fire there after 10 seconds or so. 

Fortunately most arty players aren't good enough to do that. They'll sit on the same spot the whole game if they don't have a reason to move.

Another thing you can do in arty is try blind-firing common spots other tanks go. For example: on Steppes you know that South spawn TDs like to sit on the hill at F0. Especially if you see a tree go down up there, put a blind shot or two in. Good chance you'll get a hit.

On Berlin you'll almost always hit something blind firing K4 or K7 (depending on which side you're on). How do you know when to do it? Well, if your MTs and TDs have taken position on the K line chances are theirs have too.

But aren't you neglecting the easier targets?

To be clear I don't EXCLUSIVELY counter-arty. If an enemy HT is spotted in the open I'll shift target and go after him. Likewise I'm often chasing a specific mission (like "Stun 3 with 1 shot") so I'm always watching for chances to land shots on enemies to complete that mission.

But if you've played arty you know that there are often long seconds when you're reloading, or nothing is spotted, or all the spotted enemies are in places where you don't have a shot. Rather than just staring sadly at an enemy you can't hit, why not jump over and see if you can find an enemy arty.

Give it a shot. Your team really likes seeing that an enemy arty has been killed early in the battle. Especially if it was an arty that was giving them trouble and they'd just pinged his location.

Got other tips for counter-arty to share? Leave them in the comments below!

GLHF!