Hello everyone,
in part 1, I wrote about the new Japanese medium tanks. Now I will write about the light tanks and the Soviet two medium tanks. Same rules apply as in part 1 – 100 percent crew, full equipment. As for my experience with light and medium tanks: I did play the Chaffee branch, worked okay for me – and currently I am running mostly the T-54 tank, which does not work too well, but not too bad either.
Tier 2 LT Type 95 Ha-Go
The first thing that comes to my mind when talking about this little tank is “compact” and solid. The tank itself is tiny (how the hell did three people fit in, I have no idea), but well armed. You basically have a choice of two guns: the 37mm (40 PEN, 45 DAM, 26,09 ROF, 0,44 ACC) or the 57mm (29 PEN, 75 DAM, 17,65 ROF and 0,5 ACC). I tried both and both require a different gamestyle. The 37mm is an all-rounder and I feel more comfortable with it. Its accuracy is poor, but it fires quickly and it shells fly reasonably fast too. It works, unless you are trying to shoot at 200m in full speed. The 57mm is basically a derpgun: it has an option to fire either 29 PEN and 75 DAM AP shots, or 28 PEN and 95 DAM HE. In my opinion the AP shells work better, because they are predictable. The very low penetration is of course a problem when encountering stuff above tier 2, but against tier 2 and 3 opponents, the 57mm shots can cause real devastation, IF they hit. The gun is extremely inaccurate, the shells fly via high arcs and they fly slow. Sniping is not an option (unless the target just stands there) and you won’t hit any moving targets at all, close combat works the best. The AP shells IMHO work better than the HE ones: HE ones get a LOT of “eaten” shells and shells that damage targets only partially because spaced armor/tracks get it etc.
But of course, in close combat you are very vulnerable. Ha-Go is slow – very slow. While its maximum speed is theoretically sufficient (40 km/h), weak engine (135hp) and probably poor terrain passability make it accelerate slowly and it’s not maneuverable either, BT-2 will run in circles around you. Ha-Go is definitely inferior to BT-2 overall, it is both outmaneuvered and outgunned. The armor is of course negligible (although the 35mm thick turret sometimes has some troll bounces), everything will cut through you like a butter, especially machineguns and low caliber autocannons are dangerous. My advice would be to stay in 2nd line and support your brawlers by precise 37mm fire, while advancing slowly.
SS Rating: 6/10
Tier 3 LT Type 98 Ke-Ni
Definitely an improvement. This tier 3 light tank is not bad. It’s quite maneuverable and fast, it accelerates well (could be better, but it’s sufficient) and on flat surface it reaches its maximum speed (50km/h) quite fast. The armor is of course negligible again (16mm hull, 35mm turret), but it has an improved 37mm cannon, that is much better than the one of Ha-Go: improved penetration (58), same ROF, much better accuracy (0,37) – with that, you can deal with anything of your tier and tier below. Tier 5 armor of course poses a problem, but you are not there to knock out KV tanks. I discovered this vehicle works well as a passive scout: it seems to have very good camo factor and with 310m viewrange (and binoculars + camo net), it is quite difficult to spot. I like it. Of course, it’s not a “main battle tank”, but against other light tanks it can stand its ground. It’s very vulnerable to rapidfire autocannons though, beware of those.
SS Rating: 7/10
Tier 4 LT Type 5 Ke-Ho
So… this is tank that’s big as a medium tank and slower than medium tanks of its tier. With a 57mm gun. Oh yes, and it has scout matchmaking. You can probably see where this is going. My personal opinion is that this tank is atrocious. It’s a scout (on live server, you will probably get into tier 4 battles about as often as in Panzer 38tNA), but unlike the Panzer 38tNA, it’s big as a house and definitely not easy to hide. It’s also heavy for a light tank (10,5t) and underpowered (150hp engine). Well, 150 horsepower doesn’t sound that bad, but it’s a SCOUT: Panzer 38tNA has 274 hp for its elite 12 tons.
Ke-Ho can barely reach its top speed (50 km/h) on flat surface, but any hills or boggy terrain will slow you down tremendously. It also turns slowly: technically it has 60 deg/s tracks, but in reality, it cannot even outturn a Hetzer properly. It’s way too slow to be an active scout and way too big to be a passive one. Passive scouting might work better than active, but you won’t outrun anyone and the 57mm gun (while somewhat better than the 50mm L/60) is not stellar either. It’s reasonably accurate, fires well and it can deal with threats on your own tier, but against tier 5 or even 6 it is hopeless.
I have a really bad feeling that this tank will become the “new A20/Pz38tNA” and if you want to get to top Japanese tiers, you’d be better off taking the medium line and save yourself the nerves.
SS Rating 2/10
Tier 9 MT Object 430 Version II
Actually, as much as I hate rear turretted tanks, this one is not so bad. I had some fun playing this vehicle and I think it actually works reasonably well, considering its design. You probably already noticed it’s very flat, which makes it a small target in theory (in game it however doesn’t matter so much, because when you’re going uphill or downhill, this advantage is negated. It has very poor depression and elevation for both available guns (-4/+16) and its turret actually turns only 90 degrees to each side. That however is compensated by the fact that the turret is practically invulnerable (248mm frontal armor) and the frontal armor is 120mm thick (under 65 degrees IIRC). I’d compare it to the T-54 frontal plate. Of course, on test server everyone fires gold ammunition, so it’s hard to test it properly, but I think it will work. There are two guns available (both 100mm) and the choice is the same as in T-54: either you take the (stock) gun that has only 201 pen (the other is the T-54 D-54 gun with 218 pen, if you unlocked it on T-54, you will have it here), but aims faster (2,3s), fires faster (7,89 when compared to 7,5 of the other gun) and has the same gold ammo (330 pen). Personally, I think that the stock gun is the clear winner, just like most people go for the D-10T2S instead of the D-54 on T-54. Mobility is not bad either – the tank has a 580hp 5TD engine, not bad. It drives quite fast even on flat surface (maximum speed is 55 km/h).
Of course, the limited turret traverse pretty much prevents you from brawling. IMHO it’s a tank destroyer, “disguised” as a medium tank. It doesn’t have the TD camo bonus, but camouflage seems to be very good too, I had good success with it when sniping at distance. Definitely not as bad as I was afraid.
SS Rating: 7/10
Tier 10 MT Object 430
Well… what can we say about a tank that was here two times already? Object 430 at first glance is not very different from Object 140 and T-62A gameplay wise. It has decent frontal plate (120mm), thick turret (248mm), the same 100mm gun as Object 140 and T-62A (U-8TS) with the same depression and same elevation. The differences are subtle and overall this vehicle can be counted as another “T-62A”. It smaller than both the T-62A and Object 140 and with its flimsy-looking suspension it doesn’t look very threatening. Make no mistake though, it’s a dangerous opponent – but somehow, considering its similiarity to the previous tanks and the fact you have to grind over three rear-turret tanks in a row to get it, I don’t think there will be too many of them around. Personally, I prefer the T-62A.
SS Rating: 7/10
Interesting.
Hmm, is that a good or bad “interesting”? :P
And here I thought the Tier 4 LT Type 5 Ke-Ho was fine… Suppose I need to try the MT Tier 4.
I love all the people Ive seen trying to defend the Ke-Ho by trying to say it doesn’t have scout MM
It does have scout MM I think, unless they change it during the test. Just that on test server it gets thrown preferentially into tier 4 battles.
I can confirm the scout MM: being thrown into a Tier 8 battle, I did quite well, but it’s still easily destroyed, because you can’t run away (poor acceleration).
that’s the only real huge flaw the thing has though. once you get to 50 you keep it rather well. see my post about light tank mm below for my whole opinion.
Going the rear turret russian medium line is going to be the most productive grind you can do in this game. I have no real exp with the a44 but both the a 43 and the object 416 are really solid tanks. The object 416 being FAR better than the T44.
wait, how do you know that 416 is better than T-44 if you don’t know how’s A-44?
I for myself can’t say that 416 is better or worse, it’s a different category of a tank. T-44 can brawl 416 into pieces like TD’s but 416 has superior firepower.
free exped past the a44. Brawling wont really help the t44 when the 416 has 2500 dpm
I can’t understand people using free xp to skip tanks… Ok, I’ve free xped AMX40, but that was a nightmare. A-44 is a tool of destruction when used properly, it’s a nut cracker of tier 7.
Well, since more than a half of 416 is a blind spot, it’s really easy to brawl it. Being tracked means death for it and T-44 can afford using one shell to track 416.
Obj 416 reminds me of Hellcat – fast tank with great gun, but it’s paper and it’s turret isn’t that great (Hellcat slow traverse speed, 416 75 degree traverse). I’d say that 416 is a TD/medium hybrid, not a pure medium.
I use it when I can to pass tanks I don’t enjoy playing or can’t get the hang of. Since we ARE playing a game and all, and games are usually intended to be fun…why play a tank that I don’t like?
In that vein, consider: for about $8, you can get 1500 gold, which will convert 37500exp. An hour’s wage and some time in another tank that you actually like to potentially save many hours playing a tank that, to you, is terrible/you can’t do well in. Of course, it’ll usually take more than 37500 to get past stuff above tier 6, but you get the idea.
It’s all about time efficiency and having fun playing a GAME.
Wat he said, time is money 2 :)
The A-44 is pretty terrible compared to either the O416 or O430v2. The gun is cripplingly inaccurate and take a long time to aim, the gun depression is pretty much useless due to a combination of there not being much to start with and the tank being pretty tall, and the armor is negligible. It CAN be made to work, but it’s very situational.
If you’re going to free-exp past a tank in this line, I would definitely passing the A-44. I didn’t care for the A-43 at all either, mainly because of the tier 4 guns, but it’s workable in a far greater range of circumstances than the A-44 is. The A-44 is just…meh, overall.
Looks like the A-44 wasn’t made for you. I’ve managed to wake a beast out of this tank. The accuracy and aim time were a problem until I didn’t find out that this tank is just not meant to play a sniper role at all. Unless on el Halluf where you have lost of time to aim actually. It has to hit on close range, using surprise as the most valueable factor. And sometimes I was really surprised how it’s armor worked – bouncing long 88 one shot after another for example.
My WN7 on A-44 is 1718 after 186 battles.
No argument here. The primary problem I have with using it at close-range is the height+lack of gun depression, I think. It’s just awkward as hell to get into a good firing position, since every little undulation in the ground throws the gun skyward.
I do recall one time on Fisherman’s Bay, I managed to repeatedly sidescrape and bounce a T32′s shots, so I guess saying that that armor is “negligible” IS exaggerating a bit. Pretty sure that guy never once tried to fire at my turret, though. *shrugs*
Anyway, glad to hear that it’s working for you. It just…doesn’t for me.
Is it just me or the 430 camo seems terrible depite its size,i have 100%camo,BIA,and painted camo but i still get spotted much more easely then when im in my 140.
Ke-Ho is a scout?
0_0
We can only hope that in the live server it does not get scout MM.
So? Scouts are awesome. see post below.
SS, you forgot about Tier 1 – Renault Otsu!
Nobody cares, since most people will just free XP it. It does have the most armor on Tier 1 and insane gun depression, but is slower than Medium 1.
The only thing the Tier 1 has going for it against other tier 1′s is the armor and radio. Which even then is not 30mm everywhere and most Tier 1′s can pen 30mm anyways. The radio is the only truely impressive thing on the Tier 1. Sadly it is not as fast as the Loltracktor or T1 Cunningham so it will be hard for that radio to be put to use. It also has iirc less view range then either of the two mentioned Tier 1′s.
Camo value remains to be seen. (Pun intended)
IF and a big IF the camo value is pretty good (better then MS-1) it might be useful from time to time.
Just going by height, it’s slightly taller than the MS-1 and slightly shorter than the Loltraktor. I imagine it’ll have camo around 14.5%/11%ish/3.5%. It definitely overall has a smaller, sleeker profile than the French FT, which has 13.7%/10.3%/4.0%.
‘course, WG assigns camo based on silhouette AND arbitrary balance decisions, so it might turn out to be higher or lower. Who knows~
I’d like to point out that while it doesn’t happen constantly, the FT does bounce shots every now and then, and it has what…18mm of armor? Also keep in mind that a good number of engagements happen at more than 100m, and tier 1 guns are all fairly inaccurate (harder to hit flat armor). All that combined with some angling (accidental or not) is going to make the hull pretty much invulnerable to tier 1 AP at range. ‘course, the turret is still comparatively weak, but eh. 2/3 of the tank’s silhouette is hull.
Gun depression with top gun is -17. Combined with tier 1 guns’ inaccuracy, at range it’s going to be stupidly difficult to hit at range in hilly terrain.
Really, it promises to be at least “interesting”.
I do run the FT 75 BS (rammer and vents) and it will bounce quite a bit. But it still dies easily. But I have high hopes for the Tier 1.
Am I the only one, who thinks it’s time to get rid of the scout mm for those poor tier 4 lights? Especially since we have tier 7 and 8 lights, that can both scout and deal some nice dmg?
I would hate the nerfs my beloved scouts get more than I would love the mm change.
As I said before on youtube:
You’re not a scout driver are you? The 59-16 has the worst pen and damage out of all of the tier 6 lights and I wreaked havoc on a poor t110e5 in one game. As for the tier 4s? That m5 derp tracks many an enemy tank, and OBLITERATES many an arty, t49, hellcat, and waffle line td. Not to mention the fact it pwns other scouts.
The luchs has a 90 pen 300 damage machine gun. let that sink in….. Sunk in? good.
Luchs pwns.
T-50? It may no longer be overendowed with speed, but it turns so quickly it can VERY easily circle many a heavy tank to death, and its small size makes it perfect for hugging.
M5a1? Not my preffered light, but the people I’ve asked why they like it say its gun is amazing for a tier 4 scout. It also has better engine power than its American counterpart. Shocking, I know. the Chinese usually have less.
The amx 12t has nothing to complain about. If driven properly it’s another pwnage scout machine. You shouldn’t ever shoot at the front of a t110e5 though. LOL
T71 pwns everything. nuff said.
I pwn with wz 131, I have stock gun.
I don’t have wz 132.
The t21 wasn’t bad. I didn’t like it but I had a good score in it. most of my dislike probably stemmed from its shape. I also had many, many, many, lucky bounces in this tank.
I will be the first one to complain chaffee can’t function in tier 10. However despite my greivances, that’s a lie. The chaffee isn’t an active scout, and I like to move too much. Thus my failure at tier 10 with chaffee. but when I’ve played it like a sniper- I greatly succeed.
I tried to play leopard, found it shockingly different than luchs. sold it because I was too much of an idiot to try to learn a new playstyle.
Vk2801 Don’t have yet, no comment. I suspect it will be a fun derpage machine.
Aufklarungspanzer Panther. Do not have. no comment.
AMX 13 75 do not have, no comment.
AMX 13 90 same^
Mt-25. I played this on test. WOW the t-50-2 nerf whiners are many. this thing is REALLY fast. and very maneuverable. It’s not the t-50-2 ROCKET, but it’s balanced and fun. the tier 5 machine gun is hilarious(with like 40 shots), but majorly underpenned and should never be used in any serious circumstances.(THE ACPR HAS 62 PEN. WHAAAAAA)
The 75mm gun is VERY accurate. so the low pen of 112 is well compensated. This is a sniper.
It also has surprisingly ok armour.
I can’t remember if there were any more, but here’s my opinion.
Take it with a grain of salt, but light tanks are my favorite tanks, and I personally love the role light tanks carry. I also love shattering that role in a thousand pieces by doing high damage in mine by being an opportunist.
The challenge and thrill of taking a light out against higher tiers is exhilarating.
Its also the reason I love hybrid tanks like m7 and pz III/IV that most people hated. Honestly? those are awesome tanks. And m7 has a permanent home in my garage.
I hope you don’t take my argument as an offence. But I think you’re wrong.
If you made scouts have lower mm you’d have to nerf the speed. and then No-one would play my favorite type of tanks. :(
Added notes about type 5 Ke-Ho: its acceleration isn’t fast, but its camo seems rather amazingly good. It also has good enough soft stats that it WILL reach 50 kph.
It also does turn reasonably well. Did he test this thing with 100% crew? if not shame.
Its gun is better than the gun on the m5a1 that some light drivers seem to love. 6 more penetration really helps.
Binocs and camo seems the way to go, as it is with most of the Japanese line. Its gun is dangerous, and should be feared.
Ammo count seems to be a small problem. there are only 60 rounds.
This thing is more than maneuverable enough to circle around the tier 8 tanks.
I overtook an e-25 and annihilated him while I ran at 50kph(which really isn’t hard to get to) and circled him. This thing is NOT slow. it accelerates only marginally slower than t-50 (Which also isn’t slow, whiners), due to its soft stats.
Ke-Ho is a very stealthy tank. I like it. Whether or not I will keep it depends on how it performs on live.
Its downside is slow acceleration. But really, as long as you don’t treat it like a tank that gets into situations it needs to be gone from in two miliseconds- then the acceleration will get you to 50 and keep you there rather well.
Side note on a-20, pz38NA:
A-20 I will admit, has a pretty bad lot in life as a pure dedicated scout.
But the pz38NA is a pretty great passive scout I’ve heard. however if it gets in its own tier I’ve heard it gets steel walls. The positive reviews I’ve heard for pz38NA are very bright.
Oh reread. He did test with 100% crew. ignore that part of my post.
you forgot the ELC AMX :D
I never played it but my brother did, and I usually see a lot of good-performing ELCs.. imo it is the best scout ever!
No, you’re not.
adding to the visual changes… i just noticed that FCM50t has different tracks model.. its a little change, maybe even a bug. can anyone confirm?
>> Sniping is not an option
You talkin’ to hetzer players :P ?
I agree with your assessment of the O430v2. The gun in particular; I’m not sure why anyone would use the top gun over the good old M-63, it’s more than adequate for tier 9/10. The increase in penetration just isn’t worth the penalties to everything else, not when the M-63 has tier 9+ pen to start with.
The armor is pretty damn great, too. I got into a knife fight with a normal 430 and repeatedly bounced shots to the front and sides by abusing the German Wiggle, moving around, and being generally annoying to aim at.
I can see it ending up being a VERY strong sidescraping tank on live, where gold through the front of the turret isn’t a concern. The side is thick enough to allow it (though admittedly barely), and the cupolas on top are fairly small/rounded. The right-hand side one is actually mostly a fake weak spot; some of the turret’s thickest armor covers most of it.
As I said back in the day when talking about the 416…I hope they don’t nerf it, because I’m definitely planning on getting one.
I can see how people could succeed in rear turret + bad depression + limited traverse (tried it myself), but it requires way too much effort. 430v2 is probably the most tolerable due to reasonable armour and accuracy, but I’d rather be driving full traverse tanks and not have to worry about managing brawling situations.
I’d have to say the Type 5 Ke-Ho is better than T-80 at least.
The T-62A and Obj 140 are way more alike than the 430. The Obj 430 is a tier X version of the T-54. Idk how one can complain much about these supposed clones as I enjoy the 140 and 62A, and Soviet tanks at this point of history all have their rounded turrets and look pretty similar.
If you are to rate the turrets out of 10, I’d say the 62A comes in with a 10/10 turret, while the 430 is 9/10, and the 140 is 8/10.
The STB tier X Japanese medium also has a 8/10 turret, but it has -10 deg to match so it’s a clear winner in this regard.