Ricochet
A shell deflecting off a plate without any penetration check, which happens beyond 70 degrees for most shells and 85 for HEAT.
Also known as bounce, deflection.
Past the ricochet angle the shell is turned aside regardless of how much penetration it had. This is not a failed penetration, it is no attempt at one, which is why an enormous gun can be deflected by thin, steeply sloped plating.
Armor-piercing and APCR ricochet beyond 70 degrees, HEAT beyond 85, and high explosive never does. A ricocheting shell keeps travelling and can strike another part of the same vehicle, occasionally penetrating on the second contact.
The exception is overmatch: a shell three times the plate's thickness cannot ricochet at all.
Related terms
OvermatchThe rule that a shell with a caliber at least three times a plate's thickness cannot ricochet off it, no matter the angle.Effective armorThe thickness a shell actually has to defeat once the angle of the plate is accounted for, which is what penetration is compared against.AnglingTurning a vehicle so incoming shells meet its plates at an angle, multiplying effective armor without changing a single stat.Damage blockedPotential damage that hit the player's armor and failed to penetrate, the ledger entry for playing a heavily armored vehicle well.