The circles on the mini map explained

On your mini map in the bottom right hand corner of your screen, you can see three different circles. I will explain the meaning of these here, and how you can and should use them. (If you by any chance cannot see the mini map, press the “m” key to turn it on.)
This is a screenshot of a mini map:

World of tanks mini map

As you can see, there are three circles on it:

1. The closest circle, which is green, shows your current view range. Any enemy tank inside that circle, will be visible to you and your team mates, unless the tank is behind a rock or building, or if it is inside a bush.
2. The middle circle, the white one, shows the maximum view range in the game, which is 454 meters. If you have a good crew, and a tank with good view range, the green and white circle will have the same distance from your tank. (They show almost as one circle.)
3. The third circle is the render range, which is the range where tanks spotted by one of your teammates will be visible also to you, even if the tank is outside your view range.

How to use bushes – video tutorial

A while ago – quite a long while ago, actually – I wrote about how to use bushes. Recently, I discovered a great video tutorial by Sir Havoc, where you can see what I described in action. Here, take a look:    

As a matter of fact, just the day before I found this, I used some of it’s “mechanics”, so to speak. I was playing on Prokhorovka. Our team spawned to the south, so I went on top of the hill to the east. I got there a while before my team, so I waited in a bush in case someone from a higher tier came up the opposite way.

Within seconds, an enemy Cromwell rushed towards me, but stopped halfway inside a bush, trying not to be detected from the west. He could not see me, just 60 – 70 metres away. I did NOT fire at him, because that would have meant that I would be detected. He got destroyed within a few seconds, due to my spotting. Just before he was killed, I took a shot and fell back. One important kill secured, and I got a lot of assistance damage.