The 112. At first glance, it appears to be a rather typical Tier VIII heavy tank.
It’s sturdy and maneuverable, armed with a blunt club instead of a gun.
You may not see why someone would need this tank at all when there’s the IS-6.
You drive it and it feels pretty much the same.
But you also get the strange feeling that this tank has a few secrets.
In part, the similarities with the IS-6 are real.
The 112 was a Chinese attempt at improving the Soviet IS-6.
Let’s start with the guns.
Regardless of what the engineers changed for the 112,
the gun is essentially a twin of the IS-6's.
And, to be honest, the 112’s gun therefore suffers the same drawbacks.
Usually, accuracy is tested by trap shooting.
And for our clay pigeons, we’ll be using E-25s.
You might run out of patience before you run out of ammo.
The gun can be quite accurate.
The Chinese gave the 112 a sniper view range of 380 meters.
That’s 30 meters more than the IS-6’s view range.
But that aim time… 3.4 seconds.
You’ll have trouble tracking moving targets.
You’re better off stopping and waiting for them to run into your gunsight.
You can address this disadvantage with equipment and crew skills.
The Enhanced Gun Laying Drive is a must have.
Next, the Vertical Stabilizer.
Third, the always-useful Rammer.
Aim time can also be improved with crew skills: Snap Shot and Smooth Ride.
The E-25 loses half its HP if you hit it.
The 112's alpha damage is a huge 390.
That's great... on paper.
In practice, the AP shells' low armor penetration is a problem.
However, situational use of premium ammo unlocks the hidden potential of the gun.
APCR shells make driving the IS-6 a real pleasure,
whereas with the 112 you have to be a more precise
because it carries HEAT rounds.
Yes, they are more powerful than the IS-6’s APCR shells:
250 mm of armor penetration compared to 217.
But if you hit a track, a side skirt, or a gun,
that penetration becomes useless.
That’s why you need to aim.
So how do you do it with such low accuracy?
If a gun resembles a club,
you’re going to need to batter your opponent at point-blank range.
And you can’t do that without protection.
That’s where the 112’s armor comes in.
For the test of durability, we have a perfect location.
We call it a Line of…
…Shame.
Here are the fierce warriors of the sandbox.
For Tier VIII heavies, they should be a piece of cake.
But what if there are 20 of them?
Will the armor of the heavies withstand this onslaught?
The shells bounce off the IS-6’s sides like raindrops.
That’s right, the armor is good there—100 mm, well sloped.
But the Chinese didn’t think that their heavy tank could get into such trouble.
Its sides are thinner. They have only 80 mm of armor, set with almost no slope.
Ouch! The Chinese heavy is burning!
A shell penetrated its thin lower glacis plate and hit a fuel tank.
The light tanks have found its most vulnerable spot.
To avoid catching fire, you could fill your fuel tanks with CO2.
But you only get three equipment slots, so you’ll have to choose:
sacrifice gun handling or run a higher risk of fire.
But true endurance includes the ability to keep fighting, even when damaged.
Let’s see how the battered tanks withstand further hits.
Fire! The 112's 240 mm thick turret bounces the shell off.
Another bounce!
And another!
The upper glacis plate survives the attack as well.
It has 120 mm of sloped armor. The front of the 112 is as hard as rock.
And what about the IS-6?
Its turret isn’t as tough. So, who has the last laugh now?
Not much can be said for the 112's mobility.
The speed is 45 km/h and the traverse speed is 26 degrees per second.
Its dynamics are neither its trump card nor its weakness so no need to worry about it.
It’s much more important to know how to deal with an attack and strike back.
For that, you need to see it in battle.
The 112 has one very important advantage.
It’s almost always in the top of the list. It never has to fight Tier X vehicles.
But with great power comes great responsibility.
The Chinese heavy should play its role as reliable shield of the attacking group.
The first piece of advice: don’t think about shooting
until you get into a good position.
Search for a place where you can cover your lower glacis plate,
and the enemy can’t shoot you from the side.
However, hilly terrain doesn’t suit the 112, because its gun depression is poor.
There are more convenient positions in the town.
The 112 will be a master of the situation.
Unlike the IS-6, it can make use of hull angling.
The simple shape of the nose won’t expose any weak spots
if you turn your hull a bit, as it does for the IS-6.
Secondly, you can trust your turret. For the opponents you’ll meet,
it will be very difficult to penetrate.
Only the hatches are vulnerable.
Wiggle the hull from time to time to throw off the enemy’s aim.
So, you need to draw enemy fire and just force them to waste their time and shells.
If it were not for the 112’s turret,
it would be hard to survive long enough to aim.
But as it is, it works.
Of course, failing to penetrate an enemy vehicle
after taking so long to aim can make it feel like the 112 should be in Tier VII,
where its gun seems to belong.
But then, you bounce a TD’s shell and realize
that this is almost like having a Tier IX vehicle in Tier VIII.
That’s what your opponents are feeling.
This is a tank that can truly tank.
The 112 is a heavily reworked IS-6.
But it’s still familiar. And maybe a little better.
Good luck on the battlefield!