Japanese QA – Answers

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Answering: Daigensui (“the Mother of Japanese tanks”) :)

Hello everyone,

Yesterday, Daigensui promised to answer some questions and here are the results. Keep in mind that she can’t say everything, especially when it comes to ingame matters – due to agreements with WG.

1. Regarding Japanese tanks – what will be their specifics in World of Tanks? How will they differ from other branches?

Balancing isn’t really my jurisdiction, since I’m mostly working with the historical research area. Still, from what I’ve been hearing, generally we’re looking at vehicles with good terrain passibility, good depression (-10° minimum except for a few exceptions), lower penetration but higher alpha when compared to same caliber guns, and possibly generally good camouflage.

2.How soon (if at all) can we expect the heavy line?

I don’t schedule the releases, so basically I cannot say. I am working on those two lines at the moment in the research capacity.

3. What do you anticipate as the projected armaments for the different tiers of heavy tanks? As they are expected to be “mobile bunkers”?

Still working on the heavy tank, so cannot answer for now. Generally, they will be mobile bunkers, probably armed with high penetration guns (different from the light or medium lines). Japan had quite a few guns which, interestingly, outclassed Soviets guns of similar caliber while having been developed decades before. They were not utilized, however, due to the lack of need (Japan was fighting an enemy which was highly underdeveloped) and lack of industrial capacity.

4. What will be the characteristics of the tier 10 medium tank, the STB1, compared to T-62A?

I would say it’s a 105 mm armored T-62A, with less armor in the hull and lower penetration in exchange for greater firepower.

5. Do you think there will also be a tank destroyer line?

See answer to question 2.

6. It is widely know that Japanese classification of medium tanks differed from the standard of other nations. Therefore a Chi-Ha in the Japanese tree is a medium tank where in reality it was only a light tank compared to something like M4 or PzIV. Performance-wise, can we expect these tanks to be somewhere like fake mediums (at least the lower tree tanks) as the Crusader is balanced in the game?

It is difficult to say that the Japanese system was different from other standards, given how the vehicles were classified by standards of when they were developed. Just because later vehicles like M4 Sherman or Pz.Kpfw. IV used standards of their days does not mean Japanese standards were different. This is shown in the latter Chi-Nu/Chi-To/Chi-Ri.

7. Was there ever an autoloading, fully oscillating turret that the Japanese developed?

Oscillating, no. Autoloading (in the sense of WoT’s autoloader), yes.

8. Are there any suitable candidates for the high (VI-VIII) tier light tanks?

There are, but we’re trying to see how they would fit into things.

9. What was the military doctrine in regards to how the Imperial Japanese army used tanks?

Basically, infantry support until the Shermans came along. This topic would require a separate post which I will not be doing.

10. Will in your opinion these tanks be implemented?

1.Type 89
2.Experiment Type 1
3.Type 5 Chi-Ri 2
4.Type 61 Kai ( Or will we see the tier 9 ST-A1 gets 105mm? )

Yes, maybe (need more data), maybe (although skeptical for various reasons), yes

11. Will the STB feature hydro pneumatic suspension to give it its gun depression, or will it be done via buffing the depression of the gun itself – or will they leave it without compensation?

Can’t say about the suspension, since that’s a purely techical aspect which I have no notification of. However, regardless of it, I personally support a -6° depression for the turret, for both historical and balancing reasons.

12. What will the Type 61′s penetration be like in the game?

Assuming we go with the historical gun 90 mm Tank Gun Type 61 (and not the conceptual 105 mm upgunned Kai), it has been calculated to 217 mm.

13. Have you found tier IV and V candidates for the heavy branch?

Wait for future updates.

14. Will the japanese have premium captured tanks too? (or rather, CAN they?)

Not really my call, although personally I don’t like captured tanks.

15. In a previous FTR article, it was commented that the Japanese flag (white field, red circle) was not used in Japanese tanks (with one known exception), and so you (Daigensui) informed Wargaming. Now we can see in the trailer that all the Japanese tanks have this flag painted on their turrets. So, what’s gonna happen at the end? Which will be the symbol of the Japanese tanks?

Still discussing things, although given how that’s done with a completely different department (which does its own things and I have trouble knowing what they are doing), I’m not sure how things will turn out. If nothing is changed, expect the Hinomaru to be the insignia.

16. How popular do you think the Japanese will be? And how playable? Will there be any top tier tank considered useful in CW? (just some subjective opinion I guess)

I would expect STB-1 to be a competitor with T-62A.

17. What shell types did the Japanese mostly use? As in, apart from the L7 clone on the tier10, will we be getting heat-gold or apcr-gold?

APHE with occasional AP shots and Ta-Tan (HEAT). APCR was not developed/used.

18. Is there any chance of national consumables?

I have my candidates, but the decision is done by a different department (which personally I do not trust).

19. Is it possible that there are candidates for high tier Japanese tanks that have autoloaders? If so can you cite the name of the tanks and their specifications and their probability of being implemented in the game?

Only one autoloader: Chi-Ri’s 7.5 cm Autoloading Tank Gun Type 5

20. Are there any posible tanks for high tier premium? (7,8 tier)

There is a Tier VIII medium premium candidate.

21. I’m rather interested in the Japanese super-heavy designs. Doesn’t seem to be necesarily well armored, but the guns look promising, and we all know how much fun the TOG II style of play can be. :P Are there enough possible designs for a full, or at least a partial branch of super heavies?

Wait for future updates.

22. Will the light minibranch be expanded in the future or it will stay as it is?

See answer to question 8.

23. Will there be japanese arty?

Obviously.

24. Who was building tanks? Were there companies like in Germany? Or the state was building them like in USSR?

Companies, mainly Mitsubishi with Hino on the side.

25. How is the gun depression of the Japanese tanks?

-10° minimum except for a few exceptions

26. Did the Japanese capture many American/Commonwealth tanks during the war? Did the Germans contribution heavily to their armoured industry towards the end of the war? Did they ever run any bizarre trials by mounting Japanese guns on captured/loaned equipment?

Several, mainly Stuarts. Almost no real contribution or influence. Not really my area of interest.

27. What of the rumors that the Japanese built and actually deployed a super heavy tank? I heard it got stuck on a beach so they blew it up. And how many different types were under proposal? Army and Navy had their own versions, right? Would that make enough for two separate lines?

Wait for future updates.

28. Why the NC27? Wouldnt the Experimental Number 1 tank have been a better choice?

Lack of data on the armor scheme. Aside from that, Otsu-Gata was heavily modified by the IJA, so it is a clear improvement over the usual FT variants.

29. These tanks seem to not be very spacious and comfortable for their crews, is it so? Could this be considered as a weakness for Japanese tanks?

They were good enough for the crew.

30. What is the average crew count on Japanese tanks? Do they often differ from each other in this aspect or are they pretty much uniform?

Early/small vehicles were four, late-war were five, postwar were four.

31. As you know, the Chi-ha already exists as a chinese light. What differences do you expect between the Japanese version and the captured Chinese version, besides the known camo rating difference?

We’ll see.

32. Would you please reveal some details on tier 10 heavy Japaneese tank? The one with 40 wheels and tracks meters and half wide.

No.

33. Will the STB-1 come with its original autoloader?

Loading assisting device, not autoloader. People need to differentiate between those two.

34. What kind of elite configurations can we expect from the Japanese tanks? Will they be historical, or will they be “extrapolations” of fitting better guns that were never put in IRL, like the long 88 in a Tiger or the L/100 in the Panther?

All of the initially released vehicles will have their historically mounted guns as their elite configuration, with the exception of Type 61 Kai (105 mm gun was planned, but cancelled with the start of the STB program). Side note: 8,8 cm KwK 43 L/71 was actually tested on Tiger. Germany didn’t start manufacturing that version since Tiger Ausf. B was coming up.

35. A while back SoukouDragon wrote an article about the CHi-Ri and mentioned that there were no plans to miunt the 88 L56 in it and the turret was so large in order to accommodate for an autoloaded 75 mm. The same article also mentiones the type 5 88mm gun that could fit into the turret. Did the devs ignore those options or is it possible we will see them on the Chi-Ri ingame?

The developers and I have decided not to use the gun unless it is required for balancing purposes. However, I’m pretty sure that a gun which is marginally better than the ingame 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 is not going to help against Tier IX vehicles.

36. How many variants of the O-I were there and what were the differences between them? I heard something like 100-ton and 120-ton variant, but nothing specific. Also, which tiers could they fit?

Wait for future updates.

122 thoughts on “Japanese QA – Answers”

  1. So it sounds like the STB-1 would be somewhere between the T-62A and Leopard 1, with a “not-quite-autoloader” loader assist device thrown in. Is that about the gist of it?

      • Amazing ROF i supose, with that loading assist device. But higher alpha. How high would be the DPM in comparison with Leopard and T62A? Or would they be equal like same DPM with less shots fired?

          • You do realize that both number you just gave us would make EVERY other medium in game obsolete, and i find that kind of insulting and even with the “LOW” penetration of -10mm vs the other mediums in game it should never ever get past 2800DPM.

            • Wont ever have more dpm than unnerfed Patton III. We’ve seen that. The fact that japs have good depression makes it even more unlikely.

            • While Kankou/Daigensui is very knowledgeable in the tanks themselves, her capacity to understand “game-balance” is incredibly limited, as per her stats, and by her discussions when related to balance in the game. This has been noted many times, and she has taken a massive flaming on the NA forums to the same amount. When you want a back history on something, you listen to her. When she starts talking “balance”, it’s best to just skip it.

          • I find it quite insulting that the t-54/t-62a have the DPM they have, even though they have those cramped crew compartments which imo should somewhat hinder their DPM…

            • And i find it insulting that the 105 mm guns get 70 more damage than the 100 mm guns with only a 5 mm difference in calibre . How terrible .

            • totally agreed. if ru tanks can have such a ROF with such crappy space for the Crew, a leo1 clone with loading assistant should be able bring the same ROF…

            • I find it insulting that 105s do 10 less damage than 120mm cannons. And russian tanks should not fire that fast, the turret was absolutely tiny, of course the crew were usually smaller people than of other countries.

            • You do know that T-55 had better volume per crewmen ratio than M103, I’ve never saw anybody whining about M103 ergonomics.

            • You know that M103 is a very good tank for its tier while the T62A is plain op?
              It has good speed, very good agility, it has very good turret armor to work with, it has low profile, it has great camo value, it has precise gun, it has awesome rate of fire.

              So this tank can scout, snipe and brawl!

              Now take the Leo1
              It has great speed, good agility, terrible turret armor, slightly higher profile, slightly worse camo value, it has precise gun, but rate of fire is unterwhelming.
              So there is no field in which the T62A can not outperform Leo1.

              As they can not make the turret armor thicker the only way to put Leo1 on par with T62A and BatChat is to increase rate of fire.

              And WG should finally get an idea for the British T10 Medium – FV4202 is a JOKE!

        • you do realize that that is potential dpm ? The shots actually have to pen and not bounce/ crit hit in order to achieve the maximum dpm. the tier v t-34 has amazing dmg but in a tier 7 game will rarely reach it.

          • And yet all the mediums have potential DPM lower then 2700 except the t-62a which is russian. And you want japanese to have 300+ more DPM then other 105mm guns? Epic thinking there Sherlock will be so balanced. Oh and i forgot to mention the t-62a turret like? which none of the other 105s have?

            • The only way to balance that facestomping combination of alpha and dpm would be some extreme neutering of other stats . Already it is slated to be mobile.
              This dpm will not make it past the test server . Historically the IS 7 had 8 rpm with a “loading assist device” which works out to 4k +dpm ,But we don’t have that do we ?

            • 62а’s dpm is very difficult to turn into damage. You wont be able to have that much average damage on 62a than on the 105mm meds apart from probably the brit (which is garbage).

            • He’s perfectly right.
              The only reason the T62A sees use in clan wars is the massive amount of DPM it can output.
              The only reason a Leopard sees use in clan wars is because of it’s speed, relative stealthyness, and ease of use in sniping.

              This vehicle, if Diagensuishi gets his way, will potentially replace BOTH of them.
              Talk about powercreep of the highest order.

              You may think it’s difficult to put this “potential DPM” to use in a pub game, and it probably is, but put this tank into the hands of a competent CW player, or a blue/purple, and everyone is screwed.

              I hope Serb has an ounce of sense in him.

            • 2900 dpm?

              cool maybe a medium that is of equal worth to heavy

              CW is suposed to be more that hevy v hevy

            • Obj140/T62A is not only good because of its gun. The whole mix of speed, agility, armor, camo and gun make it so freakin OP!

              If you want speed you take the BC25 as it also packs a nice punch burst dmg!

              Leo1 is nearly out of the race in CW, same as M48, M60 and FV4202.

              Bullshit balancing by WG as usual. Drive russian tanks or autoloaders or die!

    • Yeah, that company is insane in the good way, they created Planes, Tanks, probably warships as well as possibly Subs, the list goes on and on. I like that company mainly for the Japanese Dogfighter Plane aka the Zeroes.

      • producing war machines makes your company a good one. BASF is also great, Cyclon B comes to mind. never stop learning here.

    • They’ve been struggling in the automotive world now for some time, and were bailed out. Which is a shame, because the Lancer Evolution is one of the greatest cars ever made considering it’s performance-to-money ratio.

  3. So, low pen meds and high pen heavies. Just like the rest of the WoT tanks until t9. Sure I get it they run out of original things to do but this is pretty lackluster.

    • Truly horrible that the entire concept of a heavy tank up to tier 9 (end war and right after that), was to mount a more powerful gun then was possible with the smaller, lighter designs of the medium tanks. Really irritating that most of the tank fielding armies had pretty much the same concept. How dare they ??? Does nobody innovate anymore ?!?!?!

      • Apparently the HT-large gun problem was the fact that popular 100 or 105mm guns received more advanced ammunition while they couldn’t get them cause of 2-piece ammo. But what do I know huh?

      • Hoi Daigensui,
        reading that you are the Japanese tank lady for WarGaming I want to ask if there is an equivalent person for German tanks?

        • A German tank lady ? She would be scary to meet in an alley with bad lighting.
          Or in an alley with good lighting.
          Or at the beach.
          Damn, the images you put in my head ….

          • Glad to hear, are there any plans to remove the mg nest weak spots on the Panther tank lines UFP, as they are removed on Tiger2 based on the data of Doyle/Spielberger?

            Or do they also plan to give the small/better armored cupola to the Panther tank lines turrets as well?

            Also how did you get in contact with the according WG persons? I was telling them about the incorrect gun depression values for ages in the forums and but now they finally applied them into the game.

            I had also some material on German camo which was forwarded by overlord back in the day, yet WG still did not implement some basic designs.

            • Haven’t talked about it.

              We’ll see. Can you show me the difference (send me a PM on the NA forums, I’ll leave a space open for you.)

              WG came to me, with their main developer for Japanese tanks registering on the NA forums specifically to recruit me.

              Camouflage isn’t really my front. Still, send them to me. BTW, seems like Overload isn’t as large a force as he was in the past, but I try to stay out of internal politics (since I’m already spending most of my cards on the German buffs).

            • Erm will take some time longer as I have to wait 24h to post and iirc then maybe have to post 30 times and/or play like 10 battles to send messanges to you Daigensui.

              Well there is an Asian saying: “One way is patience” or as we say in German: “Gut Ding will Weile haben” ;)

            • Ok, got my US account runnin… but your Message box is full!

              Daigensuiiiii! wahhhhhhhhhh >.<

              ;p no srsly would be cool if you send me an pm how to contact ya!

              Cheers
              Ry0

  4. Interesting, the Japanese did not use sub-caliber ammunition, though I presume this only applies to wartime tanks?

  5. ….Well, that rather bland. Some good info but more interesting question can’t be answered yet by Daigensui. Too bad.

  6. 32. Would you please reveal some details on tier 10 heavy Japaneese tank? The one with 40 wheels and tracks meters and half wide.

    No.

    I think you would be a great match for SerB

    • Everybody ought to know it’s “Would you kindly” if you want someone to do it, not “Would you please”.

      • Please accept the fact that there are a lot of people here whose mother tongue is not English. “Please” instead of “kindly” is only a minor mistake, it will not ruin your life I guess.

          • Grew up and have lived most of my life, as well as traveled, in the Deep South. Never heard anyone use the word ‘kindly’ in place of ‘please’.

            • Same here…

              You’re obviously not familiar with Daigensui, are you? She’s pretty much an authority on everything, and never hesitates to demonstrate her “knowledge.” If she’s not sure, she simply retorts with an arrogant, rude statement. She’s well-loved on the NA Forum for her polished interpersonal skills.

  7. @daigensui How hard can it be to answer in a more polite way, when people ask about if there will be any arty just answer “yes”, instead of “obviously” making the asker look like a fool. Answering “wait for future updates” pisses me off also, answer: “Yes, I will show them all to you in a future update”.

    Other then that good Q.A.

    • Maybe it’s a language thingy….
      When i read it, it was with a positive and enjoying undertone, but that could be just me :3

      • It’s not a language thing. Daigensui is incredibly rude and brash. Her knowledge whilst extensive is tempered by a terrible attitude to anyone asking questions and her crazy desire for a Tier 10 medium which given the stats she suggests would ROFLSTOMP every other vehicle in the game.

    • Would you rather have had SerB answer all these questions instead of Daigensui And keep in mind she probably doesn’t know anything other than what info she gives to WG she doesn’t even know what tanks they will implement untill they are implemented. I mean look at how well informed WGNA and WGEU staff is. And they are actual WG employees.

      • “she doesn’t even know what tanks they will implement untill they are implemented.”

        I do know, since I’m the one basically making the tree at the moment.

  8. Thank you, for taking the time to answer our questions Daigensui :3
    As you surely noticed there are people who can’t wait for the Japanese tank’s arrival :)

  9. Daigensui, congratulations on getting the Devs to listen to you, and well done on a lot of hard research.

    Just wish we could get the Dev’s to listen to us.

  10. About the size of the tanks and crew comfort:
    Have you ever been to japan? They are like one and a half meter tall, no exceptions.

    I heard that while they were conducting tests on an M3 lee something went wrong and it blew up, killing all 42 crew members

    • They were a mite taller than that when I was there, and I’ve seen a Japanese tourist girl who rivaled my height (~180cm); fifty-odd years of rising standards of living and improving nutrition is widely noted to do wonders to average height.
      ‘Course, we’re talking about the situation *before* the postwar affluence here…

  11. 15 questions about the heavies which can’t be answered [ Wait for the updates ] and a question about the arty..? :/

    Other than that, good..

    you missed my question :(

  14. What are the chances of WG making/having to make radical changes to the Japanese tech tree in the future? (like the Lorraine 40t or VK30.01 retiering or having to temporarily have a line of tanks that’s missing a tank like the latest Soviet line)

  15. Daigensui, how realistic is it for a prototype (STA-1) to come after the production type (Type 61)?

  16. How did you learn all this great stuff about Japanese tanks? Aside from getting some one on one time with a restored type 95 I haven’t been able to find much in-depth info on Japanese tanks outside of some of the stuff written by Steven Zaloga (and all the other books I find seem just repeat the whole chi-ha vs sherman thing)

  18. OK, why does this person offer himself for a Q&A and then acts all self entitled about it? Seriously, is this a Serb trend or something? When I asked about the STB-1 autoloader its obvious I was talking about the WOT sense of autoloader, after all, it’s the game we are talking about. If documents report that the STB-1 originally used or was planned to use a autoloader, or assistant loading mechanism or whatever, then it’s safe to assume it might use a “WOT autoloader®” and to ask such question, without getting a patronizing reply that ends up not even answering the question in the first place. Mostly informative post nevertheless.

    • Because Daigensui has probably the worst personal attitude on the whole NA forums, that’s why. Any time someone dares ask a question she is rude and obnoxious.
      Personally other than some research she has done nothing but harm to the whole Japanese tree and Japanese players in general as she is the most vocal of them.

      • First, if you are one that deals with the public you should know that even in this age of twitter, not all of us read every word you write around the web. It may come as a surprise to you but you are not a celebrity whom everyone keeps tabs on, So an article revised by you 20 days ago might not have been read by everyone, and so, even considering that everyone would, again if you are one that deals with public you should know better, and just redirect them to such post in the answer.
        Second, the Type 74 featured a LAD system as well as a fourth crew member (the loader) because the japanese built autoloader planned for the L7 cannon, and used in the STB-1 phase was considered too expensive and complex, so they replaced it for a “standard” L7 cannon and added 1 crew member for loading purposes. So yeah, you see, it was a valid question assuming we hadn’t already read that post where you state it’s probable features.

        • Dealing with the public? Who do you think I am, or for that matter who do you think you people are? I’m not an employee of WG, and you people are not under my service.

          More importantly, your writing on STB-1/Type 74 shows you know nothing (STB-1 had a four member crew from the start, and it was always loading assisting device, not an autoloader). Perhaps that’s why you feel I’m rude when I just lay the true facts without any fluff.

          • I am one of the people who you offered to answer some questions which you condescendingly did (unnecessarily if I may add, like I said, a simple redirect would do).

  20. So much butthurt (and not just here) with Daigensui’s “attitude”. I’ve learned that she just doesn’t bother beating around the bush. People, most typically ‘Muricans, can’t handle bluntness. Sad, so much more to life :P

      • I don’t see any rudeness in Dai’s responses. But then, I’ve seen how the readers of ftr has reacted and will continue to react, so I think once in awhile they’ll need the rudeness.

        Thanks for the Q&A, looking forward to another medium tank climb.

      • Internet slang that means American. Now it is fairly common in use depending on what websites you are on, but originally it was meant as a petty insult by individuals with no other means of redeeming themselves (as exampled by DeathMongrel apparently).

    • It’s not the bluntness, granted this new recognition does not help Daigensui’s inflated ego. It’s the fact that Daigensui has a historical background, but proposes terrible balancing ideas, despite being a below average player (see: suggested STB-1 DPM of 3100). Daigensui should just stay a historical expert and not pretend to have enough of a grasp on game fundamentals to determine tank balance.

      • An awful lot of people with barely any idea of how the game works, or how to play it, are constantly offering their suggestions for balance (default format: “XYZ is OP, nerf it nao”).
        Whether your accusation can be considered legitimate or not I don’t really see why Daig shouldn’t voice her opinion like anyone else.

        • She can voice it to her heart content. Just like some of us will always call out her bullshit when we see it. You don’t even have to go very far…just check the shitstorm on NA forum. She is the the analog of the WG’s alleged “Russian bias”.

          • Yeah, since the fact I worked for the German buffs of 0.8.8 and refuse to play Soviet trash is an indication of my being the WG’s alleged “Russian bias”.

            Pitiful Wehraboos will always be pitiful.

            • Who said anything about the German? I’m saying you have an obvious bias(given your huge inflated ego, you’re probably oblivious to this) on how the Japanese line should be balance. Something that you have no business of meddling with. You have consistently shown poor understanding of the game’s mechanic. Do the playerbase really want someone like that to influence the most important aspect of the game?

    • This. Not quite the asshole SerB can be on his worse days, but certainly rivals him in non-answers. And there isn’t even any NDA to consider.

  22. Thank you for answering questions #29 and #30.!

    And OMG so many good questions, thanks to everybody that did these, amazing article.! I’m quite excited already for the jap tree.!!!

  23. Since Daigensui didn’t feel like answering some of the questions about the Japanese heavy tank programs (at end tier specifically), I’ll provide an answer based on the info I have available.

    The tanks referred to as “superheavies” and the one with “40 road wheels and 1.5 meter wide tracks” refers to two different designs called the O-I. There were two designs, a 120 metric ton design for the Army and a 200 metric ton design for the Navy. Supposedly one of the Army’s version was built and sent to Manchuria, where it disappeared and was never seen again (I’m thinking it got stuck in some mud somewhere and had to be abandoned; there’s a REASON you don’t see superheavy tanks today).

    That being said, from my understanding the O-Is were supposed to be multi-turreted, the O-I 120 t having a 105 mm main gun in the main turret and two smaller turrets with 75 mm guns. The O-I 200 t was supposed to have the same main gun iirc, but would have had two more turrets with 75 mm guns.

    Essentially, the O-Is were mobile fortresses, and if you think the MAUS is immobile, well…the O-Is were probably even worse than the Maus in that regard.

  24. To be honest, I expected a bit more substantive answers. Instead we get SerB type answers…”we’ll see”, “see answer 8″, etc…I’m rather disappointed overall.

  25. Daigensui thank you for volunteering your time. I enjoyed the Q&A and look forward to seeing the tanks in game.
    cheers.