Let's talk about the T-34-3, the Tier 8 Premium Chinese medium tank, for a moment. In many ways it feels like a Russian MT, but it's just kinda worse.
What's good on the tank?
The best things about the tank are the alpha and the armor.
The T-34-3 hits hard, 390 alpha with standard rounds, if you hit (which is a big if) and if you pen (which can be an even bigger if). The gun handling is pretty poor so you'll want to get close, but when you do land a shot it takes some big chunks of HP.
And with the armor you can get closer than you think. The 200mm on the front of the turret doesn't sound like a lot but it's surprisingly trollish. I routinely bounce 1500-2000 in a game. It probably helps that unlike some heavies people aren't afraid to shoot at you and they aren't as anxious to press 2.
You can bully lower tiers, including most heavies. I even had a 6-kill game in it earlier today on Overlord, in a Tier 8/7/6 battle.
What's bad on the tank?
Pretty much everything else.
The most noticeable problem is the gun handling. The .39 dispersion is bad and often feels even worse than that...maybe because nothing it fires has better than 800m/s shell velocity. Even if you hit though, the standard penetration is only 196, and feels much worse than that in battle. I had an all tier 8 game today where this was my final line:
And most of the shots I fired there were gold rounds. I had a crit-no-damage against an EVEN 90 and bounced two gold rounds off the flat SIDE of a 703.
This leads to the next problem - it's not an especially good credit maker. That's because the ammo is expensive, especially considering how ineffective it is. You'll pay 1,025 for standard rounds and an eye-watering 5,600 for gold rounds. Compare that to the Type 59 where standard rounds are 252 and gold are 4,400. Even the 274a where standard rounds are 1,010 and gold rounds are 4,000 is a much better credit earner because the gun is so much more effective, you're reaping a lot more damage per shot.
You'll want to run v-stabs, improved rotation, or improved aiming (maybe all three!) just to try and make up for the sloppy gun handling. You'll want a rammer too, the 13 second between misses or bounces isn't fun. I run vents, rammer, improved rotation on mine, but considering swapping in v-stabs.
Aim time feels longer than the 2.3 seconds it's listed at.
Mobility is pretty meh. Top speed is 50 but with a specific power around 14.5 it feels sluggish. Not sure it's worth equipping a turbo, since the gun handling needs all the help it can get. Good excuse to grind the field mods since you'll want the engine power boost.
View range isn't great, without any spotting equipment I can only get it up to about 420m unless I run food. Camo is ok, for a medium, but not special.
Conclusion
T-34-3 might be one of the worst Tier 8 premium MTs. There just aren't enough equipment slots to make up for its many shortcomings. Maybe with food and a six-skill crew it would be good, otherwise I think it's barely playable unless it's top tier.
If you have the choice, get a Obj. 274a, CS-52 lis, Progetto, even the Primo Victoria and you'll probably have more fun.
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