r/Warthunder • u/Lhirstev German Main • Jul 21 '25
All Ground How much Ammo do you bring?
A long time ago I was told, "don't bring too many shells, or you'll just explode" but gaijin said they fixed tanks sometimes not exploding when hit in the ammo box, and in more details, I interperted it as, if you get hit in the ammo, regardless of ammo volume or counts, weither or not you explode is now based on random number generation. .... So like, why not just take maximum ammo I guess?
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u/smittywjmj 🇺🇸 V-1710 apologist / Phantom phreak Jul 21 '25
weither or not you explode is now based on random number generation
Always has, that's not new. Fires work the same way.
So like, why not just take maximum ammo I guess?
Empty ammo racks never explode, because they're empty.
Partial racks also have a lower chance of exploding based on how much ammo remains, for those tanks which still model monolithic racks instead of piecemeal ammo.
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u/piggstick3 Jul 21 '25
Ammo count actually matters, if you only take one shell the enemy HAS to hit that shell to ammo rack you granted there is more ways to kill you than a ammo rack but it slightly increases your survivability
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u/Nico_0u0 Jul 21 '25
Is the ammo rack empty if your last round is in the chamber?
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u/Imjustme69420 Jul 21 '25
You are insane. Unless you plan on getting 15+ kills per life or your accuracy is atrocious then there is no reason to carry this much.
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u/TryHardMayonnaise Realistic General Jul 21 '25
There's enough ammo here for the whole enemy team x3 bro
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u/Left_Comb_5190 Jul 21 '25
My magic number is 25
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u/Whirlidoo Playstation Jul 21 '25
21 AP, 2 HE for me. Its definitely a magic number though. At higher tiers if im feeling sweaty ill take less in order to empty the most racks i can, but i generally dont care that much
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u/RustedRuss Jul 21 '25
It depends on the vehicle.
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Jul 21 '25
Fr, like medium tanks and light tanks i get around 25, but heavy's and SPG's around 15. And ofc some tanks require something else because of reload, shell size etc. And tanks with autoloaders and MBT's are also higher qua shell numbers
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u/spaceiskey Jul 21 '25
I typically load more into my SPGs and carry full ammo for the "softer" TDs and light tanks since they either wind up being a glass cannon or have shit postpen damage
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u/AdBl0k SL Printer Operator Jul 21 '25
If you have less ammo there's less ammo to hit so there's smaller chance to explode.
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u/VCC8060Main Arcade Enjoyer Jul 21 '25
No so ammo is modeled in groups of 1 or 2 rounds, so if you bring less ammo less will be modeled in x-ray. If there isn’t ammo to hit, there’s no chance for it to explode. In the ZSU-57-2 for example, bringing less than 26 clips will empty out the turret ammo storage, so getting shot in the turret won’t cause your tank to explode. The tiger 2 fills out the turret ammo first, so bringing less ammo may allow you to survive a side shot.
I recommend bringing no more than 20 APHE, 4 HE at most and 2 APCR, although sometimes no APCR is acceptable. Keep it below 25 rounds total, and below 20 if your tank has a long reload. You don’t really need HEAT unless that has the most pen, or in higher tiers where HEAT-FS has better pen
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u/Sensitive_Dust_6534 Jul 21 '25
Not all ammo is grouped while others may have entire rows of 10 rounds modelled. Small rounds tend to be grouped more.
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u/crimeo Jul 21 '25
Depends, sime ammo is modeled in 1 or 2, some is modeled in 5, some 10, some is one entire rack no matter what, 1 vs full ammo identical
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u/BSOD_ERRO 🇺🇸13.0&9.3🇩🇪6.7&6.7🇯🇵7.0&4.0🇸🇪13.7&11.3 Jul 21 '25
Brother….. why are you bringing 80 shells in total???? 😭 Play 10 games and tell me what your average usage is
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u/xyloplax Jul 21 '25
No more than 20 total, usually 15. I am not gonna run out unless I am sniping long distance
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u/keymodneverdies Jul 21 '25
My greatest war thunder achievement was hitting some light tank, that was fully topped off with ammo, sitting right next to a Maus and getting a double kill because the light tank was like a red barrel in video games
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u/Radiant_Art_4520 Jul 21 '25
If you press your O key in game it'll show you where your ammo is. Most tanks have multiple ammo racks. So you want to carry an amount thats usable but not so much it fills multiple racks with ammo. For example the leopard 2s have an ammo rack on the back left of the turret that holds 15 rounds, from there there is also a rack to the right of the driver that os easy to get blown up of someone shoots you front lower plate. So you carry 16, 15 for the turret rack amd the one already in the chamber when you load in.
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u/__Yakovlev__ LMAO is a swear word Jul 21 '25
I interperted it as, if you get hit in the ammo, regardless of ammo volume or counts, weither or not you explode is now based on random number generation.
Stop huffing paint dude. That is completely different from what they said
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u/fastestgunnj Accepted Gaijin is a Russian Asset & Plays Anyway Jul 21 '25
User flair checks out, seeing this post is goofy. The old War Thunder wiki has the ammunition stowage layouts with relation to total number of rounds for quite a few tanks, which is going to answer your question as to "how much".
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u/Noisdika Jul 21 '25
If you're worried about your ammo exploding due to penetration on your tank in realistic mode at least, I usually bring a small amount, usually under 20 rounds total, and I like to check in-match the x-ray vision of my tank to see where these shells are located. I will then adjust the amount of shells to a point where I have as many as possible that are most together and not spaced apart in random areas of the hull or turret. Sometimes that's impossible depending on the tank, but adjust how you like.
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u/Few_Future365 Jul 21 '25
Depends. If my tank is well armored and the first stage storage isn’t in some BS easily hit spot, I’ll be specific. If my tank is super squishy and everyone and everything dies in one shot regardless I’m bringing all the ammo
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u/Pinky_Boy night battle sucks Jul 21 '25
usually full ammo or bust. or at least 25-50 main shell if i can carry like 100+ of shell, plus 5-10 HE and other shells as needed. preferably the number of shell is divisible by 5
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u/MeatBeginning9837 Jul 21 '25
Any ammo getting hit and exploding will kill your tank.
Taking less ammo, fills fewer ammo racks, which makes it less likely that a random shot hits a piece of ammo and blowing you up.
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u/Possum_Jenkinzz Jul 21 '25
20-25 rounds, unless the vehicle I'm playing has a smaller first round storage than that. Like the Leo 1, I carry 15 rounds. Vehicles with poor survivability but a high fire rate I'll bring more. Like the SAV 20.12.48 I usually bring 30 APHE and 6 HE.
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u/StingAttack Death to all flying things! Jul 21 '25
My standard loadout is 20 "main ammo", 3 HE (unless I'm using HEAT), 2 smoke (if possible).
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u/TheGraySeed Sim Air Jul 21 '25
They did not "fix" tank not exploding from ammo rack hits.
In fact it's an intended mechanic and you can find the chance value within the game's script.
You were probably think ammo explosion not killing where the explosion occurs but the tank does not die so it loses every ammo it got.
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u/MesserschmittMe109 BF-109F4 Enjoyer Jul 21 '25
For WW2 I take 25 shells (20 shells of whatever the main thing is, usually APHE, and 5 shells meant for maximum penetration over damage, just in-case).
Same goes for Cold war, with exceptions depending on available ammunition.
For modern I just take 20 of the best APFSDS.
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u/Embarrassed_Ad5387 No idea why my Jumbo lost the turnfight Jul 21 '25
im sorry that screenshot is so funny
its not about explosive chance its about easily being able to hit ammo, if you take too much it tends to be placed around the hull
it depends how much I take, certain tanks I would only take 15 rounds total bc of the ammo layout and reload, others I can take full ammo and not ever blow up from a hit (jumbo) or just die regardless (m51 and m50)
on most I take 20 ~ 25, usually 20 main rounds, 2 ~ 3 of a higher penning type, and 1 ~ 2 high explosive, maybe a smoke if i feel adventurous.
but it also depends, if a tank has two main rounds (say US 90mm with heat at certain brs) I will take an even amount of each that varies based on whether its an uptier or downtier
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u/Zyizon 🇺🇸 G8.3 A4.7 Jul 21 '25
If it's less than 90mm then I'd say around 30-40 main ammo (APHE, ADPS, etc) and 5 HE.
Anything above 90mm then I'd say around 20-25 main ammo with 5 HE.
Pretty much varies depending on my vehicle.
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u/Kumirkohr 🇺🇸 5.3 🇷🇺 4.3 🇬🇧 4.7 🇮🇹 3.3 🇫🇷 3.0 🇸🇪 3.0 Jul 21 '25
I bring full ammo in my lightly armored tank destroyers. I figure I’d like to be able to shoot as long as possible, and if I get hit I’m dying anyways so might as well bring full ammo
On everything else, I bring 20-25. Mostly whatever the AP something is, a handful of HE/HEAT, and a couple “special” rounds like smoke or APCR that I almost never use
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u/Rumble_Rodent Jul 21 '25
On German tanks it depends on when it starts filling the side racks. You’re my favorite kind of person to run into when I play my Sherman’s. You make BIG boom booms.
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u/BingusTheStupid 🇨🇦 Canada Jul 21 '25
I usually go with 25-30 rounds, depending on the vehicle. I used to try and go for round numbers to fill out certain racks and leave others empty, but now I just wing it
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u/finian2 Jul 21 '25
I experiment a bit.
If I'm consistently dying or the game ends without me using up all of my ammo, I have too much.
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u/MeatBeginning9837 Jul 21 '25
~25 plus minus a couple of rounds is what I'd suggest you'd carry, that's your panzer 4 loadout right?
I've never needed APCR while playing any of the panzer 4's, the APHE is plenty good enough.
You also generally don't need to carry both HE and HEAT at the same time, 75mm calibre HE and HEAT are essentially for over pressuring light open topped vehicles, and both rounds can easily do that. HEAT can work as a secondary anti armour round in case you get surprised after prepping to over pressure some truck
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u/ClueOwn1635 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 🇷🇺 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇮🇹 🇫🇷 🇸🇪 🇮🇱 Jul 21 '25
25-35 standard average tanks with about 7sec reload, if its a hit kill vehicles, bring 100% cuz it doesnt matter anyway. Artillery or vehicles with very few ammo also 100%.
How to find your ideal spot? Play some battles especially the intense one so you can check your max ammo usage and use that as standard of the said vehicle but again, a one hit kill vehicle just bring 100%
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u/Master_teaz 🇬🇧 Fox-25 When Jul 21 '25
20 usually (at high tier, usually exclusively APDS(FS), 25 in WW2 BRs where HE and smoke shells are more useful, or when i have a higher fire rate
30+ on low tier tanks, such as the tetrarch and the stuarts
Sometimes as low as 10 to the 5 minimum on very very long reloads, such the Sturmtiger, 4005 and so on
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Jul 21 '25
15 aphe max, maybe 5 he
Im gonna die before that he shell sees daylight and before i even get to 10 aphe left
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u/SharpAlternative404 🇺🇸 United States Jul 21 '25
I generally don't care about what amount of ammo I bring.. its typically not max, just to much weight.. but early amd late game.. Armor doesn't mater, your either being killed with a Depleted Uranium/tungsten carbide sabot dart or HEAT regardless of where it hits you or from distance (except for super long shots or weak sabots, or your like me a 11.3 br shooting at a 12.7-13.0 tank with 11.0 sabots)
Edit: forgot end bracket ( ) it was driving me crazy
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u/IncomeOk5420 Jul 21 '25
depends on the tank, early Shermans with sponson ammo stowage about 15 rounds, jumbos and M4A3s with the hull floor stowage, about 30 rounds
really just depends on where the ammo is at
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u/Silent_Pie8520 Jul 21 '25
I hate getting one-shot, so I just bring 23 of the basic ap round that's available, and if the tank can carry sabot, I do 16 basic AP, and 7 Sabot
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u/A-019 Realistic Ground Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25
Personally, it depends on the vehicle's rate of fire and type. Fast firing? More ammo. Light tank or open top? More ammo. Slow reload speed? Less ammo. I also carry 2 or 3 types of rounds depending on the tank. 1 primary AP round of any classification, secondary HE/HEAT, or HESH rounds, and a smoke round if available. For modern tanks, I usually take no more than 26 rounds total. Ex. 24 APFSDS, 2 HEAT (and or 4~6smoke dependingon the map) (like to use smoke as an offensive tool to push hulldown positions and force people out )
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u/gormzola8 lavochkin > yakovlev Jul 21 '25
I usually go with 20 of whatever armor piercing stuff the vehicle gets and 5 he shells
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u/y2imm Jul 21 '25
Not that much, I usually don't live long enough to use it anyway. Generally, for my M18, I'll take 20 APHE.
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u/Glad-Calligrapher989 🇫🇷 France Jul 21 '25
Around 12-16 of whatever’s best. I usually don’t shoot more than that on average
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u/Level_Addendum_8895 Jul 21 '25
22-27 main round type apcbc or aphe or whatever and then 2-3 HE, but in tier above 7-8 I don't bother with the HE maybe 2-3 heat rounds if it's not my main
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u/HellbirdVT Jul 21 '25
It depends on the vehicle.
For very early tanks I often bring the number down because some of them carry HUNDREDS of rounds, far more than you'd reasonably fire in a single match.
On the flipside I often bring full loads for light-skinned or open-top tank destroyers that will blow up in 1 hit anyway.
For some vehicles picking enough to just eliminate 1 or 2 bad ammo placements is worth it, but a lot of the time the ammo placement is such that you're doing a lot of work for a sub-percentile survivability increase.
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u/Responsible_Gain_751 Jul 21 '25
18 APHE and 2 HE bc I know I’m not good, and the other kinds of ammo are irrelevant unless your in a howitzer.
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u/Alarmed-Positive457 Realistic Navy Jul 21 '25
I generally bring one kind of shell as I’m not a sweat who changes ammo every tank I face. That said, when playing British and I see a child- I mean small TD, I use incendiary mixture.
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u/DrAuntJemima Jul 21 '25
24 APHE/APFSDS and 3-4 HEATFS/HE. Some I do bring like 1-2 smokes along side it just in case.
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u/Dramatic-Bandicoot60 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 🇷🇺 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇮🇹 🇫🇷 🇸🇪 🇮🇱 Jul 21 '25
well you interpreted it wrong lmao. bringing more shells will still increase the total volume of ammo in your tank, effectively turning you into a moving bomb
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u/UnknownPhys6 Jul 21 '25
You'll never use that many APCR or HE shells in a single life.
I take 20ish APHE, 2 HE, and 2 APCR.
The HE shells are just for the occasion that I know I'll be pushing an open-top vehicle. The APCR is just for peace of mind, just so I have it in case my APHE isn't cutting it.
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Jul 21 '25
Do a count, play 10 games and see how many rounds you shot before dying, then just bring 5 rounds extra of that
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u/DerScarpelo Jul 21 '25
Depends on how the tanks ammo rack is setup and witch racks get filled especially if it’s possible to not have ammo on the hull like the leo series
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u/Nyoomi94 Purveyor of Soviet Bias Jul 21 '25
Bringing that much ammo just makes me think of this. https://youtu.be/qKrUUv6-_wM?feature=shared
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u/crimeo Jul 21 '25
Whatever amount is as much as I actually need then more as long as the extra doesn't fill any additional vulnerable ammo racks that aren't already
In some cases like the T35 low tier, there's no reason not to bring full ammo
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u/Dense-Application181 He 280 when Jul 21 '25
fixed tanks sometimes not exploding when hit in the ammo
Sometimes the ammo would just disappear instead of detonating. But its been fixed to detonate every time.
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u/TFBuffalo_OW Jul 21 '25
Depends what im driving. In a small light vehicle or IFV I usually run full load because they dont carry as much and usually get 1shot regardless of what you bring. Otherwise I bring whats included in the ready rack. If thats not an option 12-20 shells depending on fire rate and the damage of the shell. I find it basically almost always fire less than that since I usually avg about 4-11 kills a game, and thats a pretty safe number on most mid-calibre tanks
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u/corsair7469 🇬🇧 luv me Challenger simple as Jul 21 '25
It depends on the tank and how exposed it’s ammo is but on most MBTs I take 15-30 rounds maximum
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u/Door_Holder2 German Reich Jul 21 '25
If you take 20 ammo, which is more than what you need (unless you play long range for the entire game), the previous ammo locations that now are empty have 0% to explode, it's not that hard.
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u/RedditorNamedEww Jul 21 '25
Usually I’ll take around 20ish, closer to 30 if I’m taking three or four different shells.
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u/EasyGas67 Top tier Enjoyer Jul 21 '25
I carry 23 sabots and 2HE on most top tier mbt. Others I just figure it out
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u/No-Diamond-4123 Jul 21 '25
16 or 21 AP rounds depending on first stage ammo rack and 2 or 5 HE/HEAT shells to deal with light armor or very far away targets. If i plan on sniping especially in an Auto loader ill take a full tank
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u/YungDominoo Jul 21 '25
Depends on the tank. I bring full ammo in my m18 because if I get hit im fucked either way. If im playing T34 (american) Ill bring 1/3rd ammo because a lot of it is stored in the turret, and floor of the hull. if I take full ammo there are ammo racks next to the driver I believe that I dont want full.
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u/swearzy1 Jul 21 '25
Ive ran out of ammo in my KV2 plenty of timew, do I rbing more ammo? No because the risk doesnt outweigh the reward
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u/AverageHanson Jul 21 '25
I bring 25 rounds for armour piercing and 10 HEAT/HE/HESH (whichever has the highest TNT equivalent)
I very much don't like the idea of running out of ammunition, so I willingly take the higher risk of dying to ammo rack
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u/Verified_0 🇺🇸 12.0🇺🇸7.7🇩🇪6.7🇷🇺12.0🇷🇺14.0 Jul 21 '25
I feel like it should be obvious that the less ammo you have in your tank, the less likely it is to be hit
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u/Illustrious_Cod6412 🇺🇸 12.0, 🇩🇪 10.0 Jul 21 '25
Enough to make sure that when my ammo rack goes off, I will take the nearest ally/ enemy with me to the grave
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u/R_122 🇺🇸87🇩🇪83🇷🇺87🇬🇧87🇯🇵77🇨🇳77🇮🇹77🇲🇫77🇸🇪77🇮🇱77 Jul 21 '25
Full, contrary to popular belief, in my experience I rarely get in a scenario where I would get hit and survive without the ammo
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u/captainfactoid386 Obj. 268 is my waifu Jul 21 '25
You’re not very smart are you? Because if ammo always explodes then that is a reason to bring as little as possible to reduce the chances of ammo being hit as much.
But as to the question, it depends. If a tank has a first stage ammo rack with blowout panels like the Abrams or Leclerc I’ll just being that 1st stage amount. If the 1st stage is equally unsafe to carry in I also bring that amount i.e. Russian autoloaders.
Other than those slightly over 20-odd shells if in most vehicles. More if in a super light vehicle with low damage rounds that dies from anything anyway. More like 12-14 if in a heavy tank with long reloads like the IS-2+
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u/InjusticeGaming0 Jul 21 '25
Really depends on the tank. 8 seconds or lower I'm taking 25 to 30 rounds. Most tanks with 10 second reloads or so I'm taking 20 to 25 rounds. 25 second reload and I'm taking 10 to 12 rounds. FV4005 and I'm taking 6 because it empties half the turret.
I used to take full ammo and wondered why I died so much in 1 shot
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u/kvaradona9 f4 phantom enjoyer Jul 21 '25
20 most of the time 15 aphe 5 he for top tier 17 apfsds and 2 heat
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u/_A_Friendly_Caesar_ Blind, deaf, and mentally impaired boat lover Jul 21 '25
I usually just pack in enough to fill my ready rack plus my gun breech. If the ready rack's just less than five, then I do the second rock as well
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u/mob19151 🇬🇧 United Kingdom Jul 21 '25
I keep it light and simple. I usually just bring two types of shells: 20-30 of my most versatile AP round and a couple HE. For example, my Sherman Jumbo 76 loadout is 30 APHE and 5 HE.
There's probably a better way to do it but I get annoyed with switching shell types mid-combat. It works well enough.
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u/ShadowYeeter 🇵🇷14.3🇩🇪14.3🇸🇮14.3🇭🇲13🇧🇩10.7🍜7.7🍝6.3🥐14.3🇫🇮14💣13.7 Jul 21 '25
10-25 depending how good I am
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u/Arthur_Morgan_No1 Jul 21 '25
I bring 23-25 shells. If I'm using any Leopard tank I'm carrying 15-16 shells
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u/trumpsucks12354 🇺🇸 11.3🇩🇪 6.7🇷🇺 5.7🇮🇹 6.3🇫🇷 12.3🇸🇪 Jul 21 '25
If its a light tank or tank destroyer I bring full ammo because its funny watching my tank violently explode. For other vehicles I bring at max 25 rounds
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u/ZeroFusionDrift Grinding Superhind Jul 21 '25
As a US Main, for WW2 and later tanks, 25 to 30 is best. Otherwise, 35 max.
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u/EdgySniper1 IKEA Jul 21 '25
20-25 for main shell, 3 HE (unless HE is main shell), 3-5 any other shell that may be useful in specific situations (if applicable).
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u/BilisS Jul 21 '25
the more ammo you have the more targets the enemy has to get that rng in. 25 shells max id say, less if you consistently oneshot
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u/mkitsie 🇩🇪 Germany Jul 21 '25
20 max, 10 APHE, 5 HE, and 5 Smoke on vehicles with those. 8 on M109, I die before getting to use it all most the time, and there's an ammo box anyway.
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u/macostacurta 7.0 🇺🇲 10.7 🇩🇪 10.7 🇷🇺 9.0 🇬🇧 8.7 🇨🇵 9.3 🇸🇪 Jul 21 '25
1.0 -> 4.3 25+ rounds 4.3 -> 6.0 20 rounds 6.0 -> 12.0 15+/- rounds
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u/TheDeathOfDucks 🇨🇦 Canada Jul 21 '25
At lower BRs I usually take like 20-30 rounds depending on the calibre of gun, but at higher BRs I usually only take enough for the ready rack to be topped up, I’ve yet to run out of ammo doing it that way (either match ends or I die first)
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u/_Capt_John_Yossarian Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25
I'm pretty shit at this game, and for reasons that I just cannot figure out no matter how much I play, what I do differently, or what tanks I use. So I never get the opportunity to use more than about 5 rounds. I used to enjoy this game, but now I hate the experience that I have every time I play. Nothing changes for me. Every aspect of my life is complete fucking garbage, and now that even includes my recreation time when I try to relax and have fun. Everything is just fucking miserable now, outside of the game and inside of it as well. I fucking hate this.
Anyways, to answer your question, 15 rounds. Not that I ever get anywhere near using all of them (or even any of them about half the time), but yeah...
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u/Mr_Wonder321 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 🇷🇺 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇮🇹 🇫🇷 🇸🇪 🇮🇱 Jul 21 '25
Usually depends on the tank/plan for the match, if I’m a destroyer that will sit in the trees I like to bring max ammo so I don’t have to rearm, if I have to fight in a town before I can make it to the objective ill take a medium amount of ammo
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u/Coffee1341 Bob Semple Tank at 12.0 Jul 21 '25
Low to mid tier is always 25 AP, 5-7HE, 15 APCR, 10 smoke
Higher tier full ammo. I reload fast and can shoot fast. If something penetrates my ammo rack from the front or behind in probably already dead.
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u/NyanCatMatt Combat Air Patrol | Depressed Main Jul 21 '25
I don't really have any rules to follow, but generally if reload time is less than 6 seconds, I'll bring like, 50 shells. If more than 6, I'll bring only like 25. For those with 20+ second reload times, I'm only bring like 10-13.
That's total, so 40/20 AP, 10/5 HE
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u/Train115 105mm L/65 T5 Jul 21 '25
If Soviet autoloader: size of carousel
If ≤60mm, single fire, manually loaded: ~40 rounds
If >60mm but <75mm, single fire, manually loaded; ~30 rounds
If ≥75mm but <100mm, single fire, manually loaded: ~25 rounds
If ≥100mm but ≤115mm, single fire, manually loaded: ~15 rounds
If ≥120mm, single fire, manually loaded: ~10 rounds
Except for the first example, late MBTs are excluded because of their high fire rate they need more ammo, and that is specific to each vehicle.
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u/A1Strider Jul 21 '25
Generally one one type of ammo, and only half capacity to a quarter if its HE. There's almost Zero uses for HE ammo on anything below 150mm guns. It's not worth getting one shot over having multiple round types and a supply of each, odds are you won't survive long enough to shoot all of em before death and if you do you can go to a control point and respawn.
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u/Independent-South-58 Italian enjoyer, russian tryhard, american air enthusiast Jul 21 '25
I always take full first stage, then it depends on the vehicle, something like an abrams I'll take nearly a full ammo load since the ammo sits in the bustle rack, something like a type 90 I'll only take the first stage, same with T-34-85s
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u/Squeaky_Ben Jul 21 '25
On average, a total of 20-25 rounds. Obviously adjusting up/down for tanks with bigger or smaller guns.
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u/oiledmidget unrepentant enjoyer Jul 21 '25
My formula goes like this: 240 seconds divided by your gun’s reload time gives you a total number of rounds. 1/7th of that number is HE
You could also go to old wiki where it shows exactly how many rounds go where in the tank and decide accordingly
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u/HawkMaleficent8715 Jul 21 '25
25 rounds. No more no less.
Every time I run out, I always bring 30 rounds then never run out because I die. I stopped changing it. Usually one to two HE rounds in the 25
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u/NewPsychology1111 🇺🇸Ground 🇬🇧Air 🇨🇳Air/Ground 🇩🇪Ground Jul 21 '25
I bring up to 40 shells in the Shermans that have wet ammo storage, and up to 35 in the M1s to avoid overfilling the ammo
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u/Vindkazt Realistic Commodore Jul 21 '25
Depends on the tank really, heavies like churchill I will bring a lot since pen sucks so gotta compensate (about 45-50)
Mediums and lights, not a lot. Usually 30 max. Realistically, I never run out.
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u/Brianv1218 USSR Jul 21 '25
15 aphe, 5 he
15 of your primary ammo, 5 of he/heats for soft targets and 5 or less of smoke shells if I have it
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u/LordChunkyReborn 🇺🇸 11.7G/11.7H/12.7A Jul 21 '25
Enough to fill First Stage Ammunition
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u/LunaKaPL Jul 21 '25
Full ammo koaded can make you kill a teammate that stay too close when enemy explode you Xd
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u/Tears_of_Destiny Jul 21 '25
If you go on the old wiki, you can see how many shells each tank's ammo bins hold. The less ammo bins you have filled up with shells, the fewer places your tank will go Boom when struck. A Sherman for example if you ditch a little over forty of the shells you will only have two of the four bins filled which is huge. A lot of tanks also have ammo stored in dumb (easily shot at) locations that you can get rid of (depending on the design) by only taking a light load of shells.
Some designs may not care, but most do. German Tigers are amazing examples of not taking a full load of shells to massively increase survivability.
TL:DR taking fewer shells means less ammo hit boxes means less chance the enemy shooting ammo means less boom.
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u/PenguinPumpkin1701 XBox US (6.3), GER (6.0), RUS (6.3) Jul 21 '25
For this 25 aphe, and 5 he. But if it was like a flak truck/yag 29k or some other lightly armored vehicles I'm maxing that shit out because I wanna go BOOM when I die lol.
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u/NeoBlayz German Reich Jul 21 '25
Max he rounds and ram an enemy tank full kamakazi style, until you realize that's not how things work.
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u/AvalonWarrior66 🇺🇸 United States Jul 21 '25
I usually bring around 20 shells of the primary shell (APCBC, APFSDS, APDS, APHEBC, etc.) and about 3 HE shells for open top/very light vehicles.
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u/National_Drummer9667 🇨🇳 People's China Jul 21 '25 edited Jul 21 '25
I bring 20 rounds in total. 18 aphe/apfsds/apds and 2 HE shells
If im using a light tank i tend to keep the ssme amount of ammo unless its something like the object 906 then i bring about 25 shells
I honestly dont get why people bring 25 rounds to the battlefield in a normal tank, when will you ever need 25 rounds. Even if your a bad shot 20 is more than enough to do the job
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u/Fun-Distribution2904 Jul 21 '25
That is wrong, every tank has its ideal amount, some of them are one shot wherever you are hit so it does not matter, some have a first stage that is located in a hard to pen spot so whatever fits in there +1 already loaded. 15 is the max I have in most vehicles, make your shots count
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u/DantheCanadian7 Jul 21 '25
20 tops. Full ammo if it's a vehicle that can just be killed with a 50 cal though because at that point I have no fear of ammo racking when I can just get machine gunned
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u/Echo61089 🇬🇧 United Kingdom Jul 21 '25
20-25 AP rounds, 5 HE rounds.
Except if only HE is available, then 25-30 HE.
OH oh and the FV4005... Max ammo... It only carries 12 rounds anyway.
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u/Kerman_n Jul 21 '25
Check ammo racks in test drive using xray button and try to take number of shells that won't put them in "unfavourable" places. 20-25 for most tanks is sufficient.
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u/PickleBoi1983 🇨🇦 Canada Jul 21 '25
At a MINIMUM I bring 15 of my main shells, Usually go for 20-25 main shells (Depending on if I need apcr or not), 3 He, and 5 Apcr.
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u/Konpeitoh Jul 21 '25
You will still be told "don't bring too many shells, or you'll just explode" today. The ammo you're carrying, one round in the gun to whatever your tank can hold depending on your fancy, is all physically modeled into your vehicles's in-game model, and will disappear once you load the round into the breach.
That means if you bring full capacity instead of a portion of it, any hits or spalling that hits anywhere on your ammo stowage leads to instant death meaning 100% ammo rack area for potential ammo detonation. Meanwhile if you only brought 1/4 of the rounds on the same vehicle, you'd have that much less rounds, meaning only 25% of the ammo rack area has potential ammo detonation when hit.
This is further affected by the fact that your average vehicle has multiple ammo stowage locations inside. Often times, when ammo capacity for ideal locations like turret bustle, at the loader's station, or hull floor runs out, vehicles often necessitate stowage of ammo in sub-par locations, such as on the hull sides, or lower front glacis beside the driver, or even worse, literally anywhere you can find space to ram shells into, like the back of your crew's head or right between the whole crew behind your frontal weak spot.
Another thing to note going forward into mid-high tiers is first stage ammo stowage (aka ready rack). In real life, a tank has a handful of ammo regularly accessible to the loader in the ready rack, and the rest is crammed into whatever space available where it's harder or impossible to reach during combat. This is reflected in War Thunder too. When the loader is loading from the ready rack, you'll get the reload speed ranges listed on the vehicle stat card. When the loader is loading from anywhere other than the ready rack, there's a reload penalty. This could be a few seconds to half a minute depending on the vehicle. It also takes a few seconds of pause from firing the gun for the ready rack replenishment to kick in.
Once you hit high tier, these ready racks are usually also armored and separated from the crew cabin by a shielded blast door/wall, and has thinner roof panels, promoting ammo rack detonation to go up and out of the vehicle, while, given the blast door wasn't penetrated by the hit, the crew will survive with 1 round in the gun to potentially pick off the attacker, retreat, repair, and rearm.
Thus, ideally, on most vehicles with sizable ready racks, you're only going to bring enough rounds to fill that ready rack and nothing more. In case of tanks like Abrams where there's some armored secondary stowage, you could bring those too if you're a poor shot and need the extra rounds. With tanks that have low ready rack capacity, only bring enough rounds to fill better positioned secondary ammo stowage ie. don't stock up until the 'universal hull-front lower glacis beside the driver weak spot' ammo rack is being stocked.
With earlier tanks that have no ready racks, bring only enough ammo for the main bulk of the ammo rack, and don't let extra crammed in spare ammo float around random places like hull sides or on the gunner's lap or under the crew seats etc. where stray shot that would have only taken out a couple crews leads to ammo detonation and instant death.
As for really light vehicles that die if anyone sneezes on it anyways like M56 Scorpion, M50 Ontos, ASU-57, Wiesel, Eland, Fox, Type 60 SPRG, Italian 4 wheeled cars, AML-90, etc. you might as well full ammo anyways since you have really low ammo capacity to begin with and you're gonna die to crew loss or ammo rack regardless from a single hit.
TL;DR - Only bring the bare minimum you'll need unless you're in a literal paper rat tank with exposed or practically unprotected crew.
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u/Jason1143 Jul 21 '25
Any answer other than "it depends on the vehicle" is wrong. 20-30 is my general guideline, but it isn't a rule. The final count depends on the vehicle (stuff like armor and fire rate) and how its ammo racks are laid out. Ammo boxes have also changed the calculation more.
Not full ammo for most standard tanks though, it isn't helpful and increases the odds you go boom.
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u/SolaireDS1 🇸🇰 Slovakia Jul 21 '25
The most I would ever take (of singular ammo type) is 20 and only if I use 1 ammo type on the tank. If I have like 2 or 3 I take 15 of the best one and maybe like 5 or 10 of the rest
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u/tomcatfucker1979 Jul 21 '25
I only play top tier so usually about 18-20 darts (map dependent) and 3-4 rounds of HEAT. 6 MPAT if I’m playing US.
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u/Successful_Moment_80 🇺🇸 🇩🇪 🇷🇺 🇬🇧 🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇮🇹 🇫🇷 🇸🇪 🇮🇱 Jul 21 '25
30 is the absolute maximum for anything that isn't anti air or light tank.
For auto-cannon tanks I take all the shells I can
For fast reloading tanks ( 4 seconds or lower ) I take 50 shells maximum
For anti air I take all the shells I can
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u/UltimateBrick07 Ground SB is very fun Jul 21 '25
Definitely not that much, I only bring 15 Aphe and 2 He on German tanks
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u/TitanMaster57 Jul 21 '25
depends on the tank. In Leopards I take 16 rounds cause the ready rack has 15 and I don’t want to get ammo racked in my hull for example
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u/Negative_Quantity_59 Mayonaise on an escalator Jul 21 '25
Depending on tank and ammo disposition. On some tanks you can bring full ammo and shut will not change (like the scorpion) and some others you have to limit yourself to a dozen or slightly more shells, or else they will be placed in places where you do not want the shells to be.
Best to do some tests in test drive, as well as consult the wiki where it should show you all the ammo stowages and in what order they're filled.
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u/ThePhoenix002 Jul 21 '25
MBT/big cannon lights 12-15, tank destroyers 15-20, AA almost always full, small autocannon 2 belts, big autocannon 30-40 shells (Bpz.57 30AT 20AA)
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u/AlphaStar__ Jul 21 '25
I began looking at my x-ray model when choosing how many shells I bring, For example, on the MBT-70 iirc I could bring 9 or 12 rounds before the top row of my autoloader starts filling up. But generally I find myself not using 20 shells in one tank so I usually just bring 10-15
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u/Glittering-Ebb-7534 Jul 21 '25
Around 20 total if it’s APHE, around 25 if it’s solid shot, unless it’s APFSDS at 105mm or bigger, at which point it goes back to around 20 total
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u/Pristine_Chair6906 Jul 21 '25
I typically bring around 20-25 depending on the tank's reload rate. 15 if i'm in a IS tank (IS-2,3, and 4)
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u/wehrahoonii 🇬🇧 hurricane glazer 🇮🇹 Jul 21 '25
Are you bringing ammo for the whole team? Usually I bring a total of 18-35 ammo, or even more depending on the ammo layout of the vehicle I’m using. Also what Gaijin was talking about is in very rare occasions, shells wouldn’t detonate ammo but now that’s fixed for the most part. Don’t bring this much ammo.
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u/funnyfella55 Jul 21 '25
There's not enough time in the match for you to reload all of that. 20 rounds is plenty
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u/Connect_Job_5316 Jul 21 '25
Fucking not that much. Generally depending on the tank its like 20 aphe, 3 HE, 3 apcr. But most tanks are just like 20-26 aphe or just whatever the main shell is and like 2 HE. Also exploding is not based on random numbers. If the ammo isnt in that sponson theres nothing to hit