IS-7

The IS-7 (also known as the ИС-7) is a heavily armored vehicle that has been become an icon among tank games, no matter the era. If a variant isn't present in certain title, the tank itself is often discussed on the associated forums.

Before I discovered World of Tanks, I had seen the IS-7 mentioned in a few books and magazines over the previous years, usually short articles with very little details. I had a very rough and incomplete understanding of what this tank was all about and a vague idea why it never proceeded into full production. However, once I started to read more about this fearsome Soviet vehicle on the WOT forums after I first joined, I wanted it, mostly based on the hyped term "Stalinium."

My original timing in the game couldn't have been more perfect. There was talk and rumors of the Soviet line being split and I if I happened to acquire the tier X IS-7 before that event took place, I could double my rewards with a second tier X later (more on that at a later date). Needless to say, my race to the top began and just before the 7.3 update dropped in May of 2012, I pulled it off.

Back then, the tank was totally worth it. Mirroring the tier VII premium Challenger 1 Wolf in Armored Warfare, I would roll onto the upper tiered battles and laugh as player's shots bounced off my nearly impenetrable armor. It was those other players who knew exactly where to shoot and other that relied on premium ammunition that forced me back.

Despite the time and effort, I played the tank less and less, eventually sold it and became more concerned with advancing up other lines and spending more time in the was-a-tier-IX-now-a-tier-X IS-4.

A few years later, I was inspired to buy my IS-7 back, after completing the requirements to earn a rental version for the highly controversial "Rampage Mode" from September 2015. Like before, I played it because it was an "old-new" feeling, but it didn't last. My days in World of Tanks were waning already and the events of the times didn't prompt me to want to spend a lot of time there anymore.

Part "thumb in the eye" and part marketing ploy (much like the Type-59 Legend of Christmas 2015), Armored Warfare brought out their own version of the IS-7 in October of 2016. Trading a position of being a top tiered tank from one game, to being a lower tiered vehicle in another hasn't really hurt this vehicle in my eyes. The tier III offering plays very much like the tier X counterpart I remembered from WOT. However, it feels like Obsidian managed to recapture the original "fun factor" I first experienced, so long ago now.

In fact, here is a video that was a little more than reminiscent of those WOT days....