Hull down
Sitting behind a rise so only the turret is exposed, using gun depression to shoot over it while the hull stays protected.
Also known as hulldown, hull-down position.
A hull down position hides everything a shell could usefully hit. The hull, the tracks and the lower plate are behind terrain, and the only target left is a turret that on most heavy tanks is the thickest armor they own.
It depends entirely on gun depression. A vehicle that can drop its gun ten degrees can shoot from behind a shallow rise, one with five degrees has to expose its hull to reach the same target, so depression is what decides which ridges belong to whom.
The counters are a cupola, high explosive, artillery, and getting an angle that turns the ridge into open ground.
Related terms
Gun depressionHow far below horizontal a gun can point, which decides whether a vehicle can shoot over a crest without exposing its hull.Ridge lineThe crest of a hill, which conceals everything behind it and can be fought over only by vehicles with the depression to shoot across it.CupolaThe raised commander's hatch on top of a turret, often the only part of a hull down vehicle that can be hit.Damage blockedPotential damage that hit the player's armor and failed to penetrate, the ledger entry for playing a heavily armored vehicle well.TurretThe rotating housing for the gun, whose armor and traverse speed decide how a vehicle fights from cover.