8.8 Impressions – Part 1: Russians

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Hello everyone,

just wanted to write down a few impressions, for those who are interested in my opinion. I tested with 100 percent crews and full equipment setup. As general changes, you can expect a LOT slower interface for some reason (everything gets these “delays”, like lags), very annoying. Especially the new Service record tab does that. Battles take longer to load. However, FXAA framerate improved for me, the games are pretty smooth right now.

I’ll start with Soviet tanks.

A-43

Pretty standard Soviet vehicle. It’s fairly mobile (feels more mobile than the T-43 or T-34/85), with decent frontal armor, which is compensated by worse guns. The top gun is either long 57mm or 76mm S-54. With that being said, if you like to keep your distance, the 57mm is DEFINITELY a better choice: it is more accurate, fires fast like hell and the gold shells have very good penetration. The depression is quite good and overall, I was quite happy with this vehicle. It doesn’t accelerate too fast, but it’s not a slowpoke either. I was very satisfied. In a dogfight with VK3002M, if you get close, he has no chance.

My rating: 7/10

A-44

Well, this vehicle has definitely issues – probably the type of you expect from a rear turret vehicle. I am not used to this setup (I try to avoid such tanks actively), so I did have some problems with it. First, the frontal armor is FAR from thick, it can’t take a beating at all. Second, for some reason, it takes a LOT of engine damage (yep, and fires). If you think Germans have it bad, wait till you see this sucker. You’ll have to stay back and support, because in close combat, you are dead with a capital D. The tank is extremely sluggish and its only saving grace is the massive 107mm gun, that HURTS – but that’s about it, it’s not accurate and by the time it aims properly, your grandkids will play around your feet. Hulldown is obviously impossible, as the depression makes you wanna strangle SerB (or that guy who came up with the design) with bare hands.

Overall, I dislike this vehicle and I suspect many others will too. On medium ranges it is marginally effective however, if you manage to hit anything.

My rating: 4/10

Object 416

So, you expected a tier 8 AMX ELC? How terrible… you sure as hell aren’t getting it. Without further ado, Object 416 is probably one of the least comfortable tanks in the entire game to play. It looks sleek and fast, but it’s anything but – it’s VERY sluggish (even in elite configuration, 100 percent crew and equipment). The armor is kinda paper. But then there’s the tier 9 gun. It’s devastating – and I mean it. Awesome rate of fire, decent accuracy, good damage. However, there’s a catch: the tank has practically 0 depression, just like the A-44 (even worse in fact). The ammo for the 2nd gun is also HIDEOUSLY expensive, more than the ammo of Object 140 for example (1200 creds per round). On the plus side, it’s very low and it has awesome camo factor, from what I can tell. Conclusion: it’s not a medium tank, for all intents and purposes, this vehicle is a tank destroyer – and a very specialized at that. You have to learn good spots, that will offset your 0 depression handicap. You can’t move too much, because the vehicle has a HUGE side silhouette (it’s long) and it’s very fragile. The turret doesn’t rotate 360 degrees (only like 150, 75 to each side), so forget any circling.

To be quite honest, I don’t know what to think of it. As a medium tank, it’s completely hopeless. As a tank destroyer, however (with camo net and everything), it could be okay. Time will tell.

My rating: 5/10

Object 140

My problem with rating the Object 140 is that I have never played the T-62A, so I can’t compare them really. It feels a bit sluggish, even with a 100 percent crew, kinda like the T-54, the gun is good of course and the armor can’t be properly tested with everyone firing gold rounds, so I’d say it’s a very decent medium, but I dare not evaluate it.

Part 2 (Germans) will come later.

65 thoughts on “8.8 Impressions – Part 1: Russians”

  2. Just faced the DW2 in my matilda, 3 shots to side of me and none penetrated. One was using prem rounds, and still could not penetrate me. Not a great heavy really.

  3. On the 416…
    Didn’t the gun historically depress to -5 degrees, and the turret was fully traversable? Seems like I saw both these things somewhere…

    Welp, the lack of depression and silly psuedo-turret are dealbreakers for me. If I wanted to drive a tank destroyer, I would….probably drive a tank destroyer. God knows the Soviet tree has enough of them, all with at least a few degrees of gun depression.

  4. About the Object 416:
    If you are used to the su-100m and su-101, you will love this tank. I loved both of the previous mentiones (64% WR random battles only). I tested the Object 416 and it is very much like it. Fast relocation with hard, fast punches.
    It is not as bad as you assume, SIlentStalker ;-)

    • Agree. I was testing this tank quite long and i think that this tank is really very good. Never played SU-101 or that branch, but this tank fit to me very fast. Was doing some tests and i have to say it´s hybrid – medium and TD. Nice speed and mobility. Gun – the best gun on tier 8 mediums. 2400dmg/min. Quite worse that Su-101, but Angle is something like 150-160° . Comparing to TD – is fast, lower, more HP, maybe the same camo factor, a little worse dmg/min like TD has 2600 . After some time fo testing i have to say that on random this tank will be a little bit OP. i had one duel on training vs E-50. i detracked him and i received one shot. then i was circling, yes circling is easy. He bounced the turret 3 times and one penetration with gold. 1on1 is this tank really very powerful, so low profile and second turret strong. With your rating i would give him 8/10 .
      Its cons are 150-160°angle, weak hull armour, 0°depression
      pros – gun (penetration, dmg, dmg/min, accuracy) , mobility, camo factor, very low profile

  5. I’m so glad the Devs had to get this line of Russian paper project tanks in the game. It’s not like the French could have used some more tanks. Or all of the British tanks that ACTUALLY EXISTED that haven’t been put in the game yet. Or the whole Japanese tree.

    • Well the problem is that WG isnt french or british developer. Soviet archives are much easier to dig than others for them.

    • These tanks ACTUALLY EXISTED .. Bitch more .. Many players were looking forward too this .

    • What part of “WIP” and “It’s Done When It’s Done” is too complex for you, Markie?

  6. >the 57mm is DEFINITELY a better choice: it is more accurate, fires fast like hell

    does it shoot faster than T34 on tier 5?

      • Faster firing on low-alpha guns is always nice, especially when they’re under tier…

        Look at the 40mm 2pdr on the Matilda II. Stupidly high fire rate combined with its squeezebore adapter to boost penetration and shell speed make the otherwise tier 3ish gun into something worth using.

        Doubt a fire rate boost is going to do as much for the 57mm as it does for the 2pdr (due to 112 pen being on the low end of things at tier 6), but every bit helps, especially if the tank is fast enough to circle around to weaker armor.

        • 76 mm was better choice for me. 57 loads faster than aims so its worse overall on long distances. Plus 76 is not the same as t34 it is buffed and extra Penn really helped.

  7. 140 is as same as T-62A – only little bit smaller.
    On those mediums – yeah, pretty much same scores.
    A-43 is the most fun of those new meds (very fast).

    • Woras, I agree.

      I have around 600 battles in the t62a, which I love. The Obj 140 is almost identical. It is slightly faster, same sluggishness on hills but glides around once moving. The gun is exactly the same. It is impossible to judge the extra cupola on the turret but I am assuming that it adds another weak spot.

      So, if you want a carbobn-copy T62a for when you t62a is locked for CWs this is the tank for you…..if, like me, you have the T62a, I see little point in getting it.

      At least there will be no dilemmas about which T10 to go for after t54 as they are the same tank.

      • Well, I was confident getting 140 but now……I thought its gonna be more armored than T-62A, but it is exact copy.
        Probably not worth it – and T-62A is more sexy.

        • Keep in mind that if you play clan wars this tank is awesome.
          Basically you will have 2x T62a.

    • not sure if you guys played the same tanks…
      The a43 seems to me like the worst of the new meds… its like a more sluggish cromwell with much worse gun and comparable armor.

      The a44 i consider a great surprise… when angled, bouncing everything up to 180 penetration (unless they hit lower glacis), manouvres and is as fast as t62a, the gun depression is workable, aimtime is shit, but with that alpha/penetration who gives a fuck.

      Obj 416 i find underwhelming… if it could rotate the turret 360° id be able to overlook the 0 gun depression, zero armor and every shot being a crew/module damage. Im not saying its a shit tank, im just saying that its a shit medium, which i wanted it to be… this tank is a TD.

      Obj 140… well, a faster less manoeuvrable t62a with shittier turret and less shitty hull armor that has the same gun while having a different sound of fire (the fuck?)

      • A-43 is damn fast. Proper medium.
        A-44 – you said it, aim time sucks.
        416 – two things good for that tank – gun and height.
        140 – somehow I find it slower than T-62A.

        • it might be damn fast, but cromwell is faster and turns faster while having better gun and gun depression :D as such i consider a43 not to be a t6 medium worth keeping. If the top gun (or even the 57mm) had 19 (30) rof, then id consider it an interesting tank

    • What I found (140 vs t62):
      Mobility: same, 140 might have been a little tiny bit faster. (+ higher top speed)
      Traverse /turret traverse: 140 turns a tiny little bit faster. T62 turret is much faster.
      Gun: same. However, I found the accuracy on the move to be much better on the T62.
      Armor: same. 140 is smaller, however the cupola is much easier to penetrate (62 VS 140: 140 couldn’t pen the 62 cupola from 10 shots, while the 62 didn’t bounce on the 140 cupola even once. However, the other cupola (left from the front) is hard to crack.)
      Mantlet: the 62 gun mantlet can be penetrated from the front, the 62 couldn’t penetrate the 140s mantlet this way.
      Overall yes, I would say It’s like you have a red and a silver Porsche. Or 2 T62A for CW.

  8. Should have just introduced German TD’s instead of this unfinished shit-tank line…

    • Come on, do you really think that only German tank lovers play this game? A lot people out there love Soviet, US, UK… tanks. They just don’t cry that much. You don’t want these shit tanks? You don’t have to play them. But in a thread where people talk about them, you shouldn’t bring your shit TDs in. There are better places for you.

      • Yes, of course, they should introduce one hundred tanks to please all whiners. And I’m pretty damn sure even then someone would whine because didn’t get wheeled scout cars, modern MBTs or Star Wars tanks.

  9. >for all intents and purposes, this vehicle is a tank destroyer
    In fact I’m pretty much sure that you mentioned in one article some time ago that it got reclassified as tank destroyer, because it was way too cramped to fire on the move.

    • The_chieftan actually saw this tank .. He commented that it has better crew comforts than the t 54 . And he wishes that it would have been put into service .

  10. Ok, I’ve tried the new medium and since everyone seems interested in a direct comparison with T-62A let’s break it down. The tank itself is lower, better camo factor (about 2-3m difference on 400 view range). Armor is nearly the same, however Obj 140 front is more sloped (more ricochets), there is however a big minus for Obj 140 – commander and gunner cupolas are huge and easy to hit. I’ve also experienced a lot more ammo rack damage than T62A, the tank also has a fuel tank behind the front armor so expect fires from hits to the front. Mobility is nearly identical, Obj 140 a little faster on a straight, spins a little slower. The gun is the same as the one on T62A, but has 0.01 lower accuracy and 0.1 slower aim time, same rate of fire and identical ammo amount (50 rounds both). Gun depression seems better than T62A but I’m not sure. It’s also worth noting that Obj 140 suffers almost no aim circle increase on turret traverse.

  11. Object 140 has absolutely nothing over T-62A. Oh yes it has! 2 paper glaring weakspots on it’s turret!

    Some people say wait for test 2. Are you drunk? they said it’s going to be unique! whats the fucking point of changing its stats in test 2, when they could have made its stats unique NOW. Then judge them and tweak in test 2.

    Im am quite dissapointed by it. Was readying my T-54 eager to grind the way to Object 140. Not anymore. Waste of time. Il stick to my T-62.

    • yes, i feel the same… i even have 90k xp on t54 as i believed it would be different and better than t62a. But its pretty much the same in the end. Now im wondering whether i should just convert those 90k to free xp or just finish it and get the 140 anyway

  12. A44 good ramming machine, if you played E50
    Obj416 is a sniper medium, much like panthers and centurions! yes it has its disadvantages!
    Obj140 is basically like T62 but with T54 speed!

    use this info to their advantage, i for one already enjoy A44 and 416, as for 140, too much like T62

    • Disadvantages are fine. Every tank should have them, to balance out.

      *Crippling* disadvantages are bad. 0 depression is taking things a bit too far. Having the best gun in the world doesn’t mean crap if inch-high bumps in the terrain prevent you from getting it on target.

  14. 140=T62A…played them both on TS only but they are pretty much the same tanks…literally….tried T8 416…gun depression=almost useless tanks in many situations….as far as the germans…E75 is a bit more slughish to accelerate but its traverse is much better now and 40 km/h is decent when you have slight downhill to accelerate…overall i find all the changes quite balanced….little tweaks expected

  18. Will the part 2 include not only new and repurposed German tanks, but also the rebalanced ones (mainly Panthers)?
    Or maybe someone who actually played on a test server could tell me how do Panthers perform without top engines? Is it really like they promised, and mobility hadn’t decreased?

  19. I’ve played the A-43, A-44 and Obj 416 so far. The first reminds me of the Cromwell. The second is a weird little vehicle. It’s kind of a level ground brawler. build up speed, use it to get past you’re enemy’s stop and blast them at point blank range. I can see people driving this thing “stupid agressive”. Obj 416, IDK. The limit traverse kinda sucks. Not to mention I drove it off a cliff on Tundra the second time I had it. Haven’t played the last one yet.

  20. Having gotten home and actually played now, I can offer a couple opinions:

    A-43: reminds me strongly of the PzIII/IV.
    The 57mm fires at 26 rounds a minute, pretty ridiculously fast. If fast guns aren’t your thing, it can mount the S-54 as well, but this’ll lower overall DPS.
    Ground resistance seems ok, power:weight is 21ish so it moves fairly quickly.
    Armor is crap, gun depression is *ok*.

    Verdict: it’ll make a pretty alright grind tank, I don’t plan on keeping it myself.

    A-44: skipped for now.

    Object 416: Mixed feelings. Note that the following is with my Matilda IV’s crew, retrained; all four have camo trained, commander has sixth sense, driver has offroad driving, gunner has snap shot. Also had camo paint on, stabilizer/vents/rammer.
    Gun depression forward is -3 degrees (and is unlikely to get better unless they change the model, the barrel lies down on the hood fully depressed as it is), and doesn’t get any better to the sides, which is irritating to say the least.
    Turret traverse is alright, I would say SS is right about the 75 degrees to each side. Being able to fully traverse it would be really, really nice though. Traversal speed is very good for such a huge turret ring.
    The gun is excellent; good alpha, good pen, accurate, reloads quickly, aims in reasonably quickly.
    Ground resistance seems good, power:weight is “only” about 16.5 but despite that it gets to and cruises at its speed limit pretty quick. Maneuverability is exceptionally good for such a long vehicle, it’ll spin like a top if you want it to. Of course, the lowish power:weight does bite it in the ass a bit when it comes to hills, but thanks to the low ground resistance it’s tolerable.
    Armor is garbage in every way. As someone noted above, if you’re hit, particularly in the back, you WILL take module/crew damage. Not sure how bouncy the turret front is, since every time I’ve been hit people have gone for the comparatively big, thin hull :v
    Finally, the camo rating. It is very stealthy for a medium. I was sitting 250m away from a mix of enemy heavies and mediums in bush cover, blazing away, and none of them ever spotted me. This was *without* a camo net, I imagine fitting it with one would make it even more ridiculous.

    Verdict: It wants to be a good tank, it really does. But dear god, that gun depression is crap, and thanks to the limited traverse and not gaining any further depression to the sides, there’s really no way around it. Like SS said above, finding the spots that are “just right” for it is going to be an essential. It IS quick and maneuverable enough to flank big stuff though and/or run with a pack with other mediums, though, so that’s always an option.
    Probably going to grind up to it and keep it, because gun depression and turret traverse aside, I really like how it handles.

  21. I tried Germans: 2801 has nerfed mobility, 3601 has nerfed mobility and turnrate, dpm stays about same after konisch rof and damage change, but now stock turret is useless. Tiger is now turreted td( at least good in something), panther 2 got 0.5 rof and 0.2 aimtime buff, but got heavier to 54ton- schmalturm got proper weight 7700kg and hull is 12tons heavier. Despite buffed traverse and turret speed overall they are as before, but tank is much more slughish due to 12 hp/ ton ratio instead of 17. same for e50 and tiger 2 – and its top gun got aimtime nerf to 2.5 along with rof buff to 5.77. Overall these tanks are nerfed, not rebalanced imo. If stats stay as now, I will sell them all and buy indien. It is much better than “buffed/rebalanced” panther2. I could think about keeping it if it would get same rof as tiger h, but ofc it won’t! And e50 armour change is rather shitty

      • e50 and panther 2 got GR buff from 1.2/1.3/2.3 to 0.8/1.0/2.1
        tiger 2 minimal buff from 1.1/1.4/2.3 to 1.0/1.2/2.3
        2801 no changes here but fleels slower, has 0.9/1.0/1.9 while wz 131 has 0.6/0.7/1.4 – 30% better!
        afkpanther no changes in GR 0.7/0.8/1.8
        3601 nerf from 1.1/1.4/2.7 to 1.2/1.4/2.9 and -33% in horsepower creeples it hard – it is heavy now, so take away all mobility it had when labelled as medium, nerf turnate even more, and it will surely be still balanced. it got ZERO buffs to compensate lower mobility, only 8,8 gun got same rof as in 3001P 8.12 ->8.7

        • SS please delete my earlier posts to not double info.

          2801
          turnrate nerf from 48 to 46
          increase in weight to 26,8 tons
          7,5 L48 rof buff to 17,65
          no changes in GR but feels slower, has 0.9/1.0/1.9 while wz 131 has 0.6/0.7/1.4 – 30% better
          it is now pz 3/4 with derp and screwed MM. time to switch for pz IV

          3601
          both turret and hull traverse nerfed to 24,
          konisch dps nerf to 135, rof buff to 14.29 dpm stays about same in top turret
          8,8 gun got same rof as in 3001P 8.12 ->8.7
          new stock turret is useless – no armour, lower rof and 24 turnrate instead old 42.
          100 hp more – 950 now
          GR nerf from 1.1/1.4/2.7 to 1.2/1.4/2.9 and -33% in horsepower creeples it hard
          – it is heavy now, so take away all mobility it had when labelled as medium, nerf turnate even more, and it will surely be still balanced. it got ZERO buffs to compensate lower mobility

          Afkpanther
          konisch rof increase to 15, dps decrease to 135 – little dpm buff to 2025
          still shitty tank, especially as scout. If u like it, better buy PZV/M10 – no X tiers.

          panther 2
          88 L71 got 0.5 rof buff to 8.22 and 0.2 aimtime to 2.7
          got heavier to 54ton- schmalturm got proper weight 7700kg and hull is 12tons heavier.
          GR buff from 1.2/1.3/2.3 to 0.8/1.0/2.1 Despite buffed traverse and turret (turret 30 and hull 36) overall they are as before, but tank is much more sluggish due to 12.65 hp/ ton ratio instead of 17.70
          ill switch for indien which has better depression and is now much more mobile. IMO with these stats P2 should get 9.5 rof and 2.5 aimtime

          e50
          traverse buff to 30 turret, 32 hull
          GR buff from 1.2/1.3/2.3 to 0.8/1.0/2.1
          with 900hp engine goes 50km/h max on flat
          more sluggish, similar to current tiger 2, but faster
          im not sure armour change to 150/100 UFP/LFP is good or bad, it depends on terrain.

          tiger 2
          turnrate buff- 27 turret, 28 hull
          top gun got aimtime nerf to 2.5, rof buff to 5.77
          88L71 aimtime and rof buff to 8.96 and 2.3s
          GR minimal buff from 1.1/1.4/2.3 to 1.0/1.2/2.3,
          goes about 35 on flat, is more sluggish but not so much affected as panther 2 or e50

  22. In case anyone’s interested, the terrain resistances for the rear-turret tanks’ top suspensions are 0.7, 0.8 and 1.6 for road/offroad/swamp respectively. Pretty sure those are the lowest in the game, and explain why the tanks move decently despite middling power:weight.

    Speaking of said tanks, I’ve been playing the A-44 for the last hour, and it’s actually pretty good. The gun, while taking forever in a day to aim in, is downright nasty when it hits and reloads rather quickly. Armor’s crap on paper, but in the couple tier 7 fights I’ve been in I’ve actually bounced a few shots, so it’s not completely unreliable like the 416′s is. And saving the best for last: the turret is fully traversable, making things like poking your butt around corners to take shots pretty darn easy.

    At this point, I’m finding it more fun to play than the 416, which makes me sad because I like how the 416 looks a lot more :\

    Oh, another notable thing: the A-44 and 416 both have -3 depression, the A-44 seems to be limited to 2.5 or 2 in the front. It also felt a lot easier to use the terrible gun depression on the A-44, probably because the tank sits higher and the turret traverse is more flexible…