Hello everyone,

okay, there has been a huge change of plans. Earlier today I wrote a long rant post about the T-shirts and I wasn’t really happy about it, because – let’s face it: with a dozen individual T-shirts, the prices will vary, then there were the payment options and some other details.

And then, someone in comments (whoever you were, you have my thanks) mentioned the Spreadshirt service. Call me neanderthal, but I didn’t know about it. Anyway, it’s really simple: it’s a (worldwide, actually) service, where you can create and buy your own T-shirts, but also create “shop” with your designs. It’s a bit more expensive than if I did it myself, but in the end, not that much. On the plus side: it’s big and well-rated service, which means you WILL get what you order and you will have various payment and delivery options.

So, basically, you can find the FTR “shop” here:

http://765730.spreadshirt.net/

Inside, you will find 4 simple designs I created. It’s really simple, like any other e-shop and you can select pretty much ANY color and size you want (please, the text is white, so don’t select white T-shirt). So – there you go. The one T-shirt that is more expensive than others has writing on both sides (just check the description). You can get them yourself anytime you want, or you can create your own T-shirts, it’s really easy with that service. I’ll be adding (for limited time, this “shop” will not stay forever) a “shop” button to the upper menu too, for easier navigation.

And one last thing: I added a (small) commission to each shirt’s price. I ran around to handle the T-shirts quite a bit lately, so I hope you don’t mind that.

Part I – Panther and Jagdpanther
Part II – Waffenträger Panther

Hello everyone,

in this short last part, we are going to have a look at one of the most interesting Panther designs, the Sturmmörser Panther.

Basically, what happened: if you did read part II of Special Panthers series, you might have noticed a trend to use the Panther chassis for an artillery vehicle. But what about the Sturmartillerie?

Direct fire support high-caliber vehicles with proper armor and short, but heavy armament were in high demand in the German army, especially in the east. Such vehicles are quite useful when assaulting heavily fortified positions, or during city combat.

One of the ideas to convert a Panther into such a vehicle was to replace its main armament with something heavy. On 18.3.1944, there was an official demand (apparently from the Heereswaffenamt, along with WaPrüf4) to mount a 210mm mortar (of an unspecified type, but most likely a newly-developed weapon, not the French Beutemörser, which were considered years earlier for other platforms, but something like the 21cm GrW 69 “Elefant”, designed before 1944?). Krupp responded and on 23.6.1944, its representative handed over a first draft of a 150mm assault mortar (Sturmmörser) with the StuH 43/1 150mm gun mounted within the Panther turret (a modification of the gun the Sturmpanzer IV “Brummbär” used). The vehicle was to have new rangefinder, commander’s copula from the Tiger tank and optics intended for Maus.

In July 1944, Krupp was informed that all the development of heavy and superheavy weapons (including the Sturmmörsers) is to be stopped. A wooden mockup was made nevertheless and presented to Guderian. This still didn’t save the project – after August 1944, the work on it slowly halted and it was definitely scrapped around September 1944, including the 210mm variant.

Alkett was working on such a thing simultaneously, but preferred a Sturmgeschütz chassis (StuG III).

There is one more interesting project, completely unrelated to World of Tanks however: the Raketenwerfer Panther::

It was basically a Škoda (Czech) developed 105mm multiple rocket system, mounted on Panther chassis, using a 88mm FlaK mount. As far as I can tell, it never left the drawing boards.

Sources:
W.Spielberger – Panther and its variants
H.L.Doyle, T.Jentz – Panther Variants 1942-1945
H.L.Doyle – Panzer Tracts
Posts by Daigensui (US forum) and Zarax

Hello everyone,

few months back, I made a post on the EU forums (when I still wasn’t banned) about the ultimate Swiss tank destroyer. I think it’s kinda worth reposting for those, who don’t know this stunningly attractive vehicle.

MOWAG Taifun

History:

The Swiss company called MOWAG is not a newbie on the field of weaponry. In the 60′s, it competed for the German Marder IVF program with its own prototype and later it built several prototypes for the German Kanonenjagdpanzer program. From there on, the company used its considerable experience in creating a line of light tank destroyer designs – the Gepard and the Taifun. The Gepard (looked a lot like the German Kanonenjagdpanzer) was not successful in entering the service and neither was the other similiar project, the Tornado (designed as an IFV). The development of both was privately funded, because the company expected Switzerland to start replacing the old AMX-13 tanks (classified in Switzerland as TD’s) and the US M113 APC’s. In the end, only a pre-prototype (functional model) was completed and the vehicle never entered service. It can be regarded as one of the last real tank destroyers and most likely (along with the S-Tank) one of the last turretless “oldschool” Jagdpanzers.

The Taifun was basically a development of the Gepard (Tornado) chassis. It was a very light vehicle – its armor (50mm?) protected the 4-man crew basically only from HE shell fragments and from light autocannon fire (it could withstand only 25mm shells however). The armament consisted of the classic 105mm L7 clone (however, an upgrade to the Rheinmetall 120mm L/55 was considered – not an option for WoT though). The considered turbocharged dieselengine was a 575hp Detroit Diesel 8V-71T – the same to be fitted to the ill-fated Tornado IFV. Combined with the light chassis (estimated 25-30 tons), this vehicle could move fast. Real fast.

In World of Tanks?

As you can see, this vehicle looks badass. It’s like the ultimate Jagdpanzer IV on steroids. And crack. And heroin. While the project itself was developed in late 70′s (yes yes, I see you all rising your eyebrows now), its roots actually run into early 60′s. The chassis is old – it’s basically the same (although modified) chassis used for the 60′s Tornado – and that’s not so bad. The armor is obviously very thin (think 30-50mm), but – as mentioned above – the vehicle is very light and has a very powerful engine, therefore it will be fast. Really fast. Cca 70 km/h on the road is expected and that’s just the “basic” powerpack. With upgrades, it could be the tier 10 Hellcat-meets-Jagdpanzer. The main gun is adequate – the ubiquitous L7 is already in the game and despite the fact it would be fitted with advanced sights and other 80′s thingies in real life, one can easily imagine this vehicle having Leopard 1-grade optics. Naturally, in order not to get oneshotted by pretty much anything, the suspension would have to be really nimble, which is actually something totally new – we don’t have that in the tier 10 TD vehicles.

Stats:

Crew: 4
Armor: 30-50mm (estimated)
Weapon: 105mm (L7 clone?)
Ammo: estimated 50 rounds
Speed: cca 70km/h
Weight: estimated 25-30 tons
Powerplant: Detroit Diesel 8V-71T, 575hp

Well, this is what I wrote roughly 6 months ago. Of course, this vehicle has extremely little chance to ever appear in World of Tanks, it’s too modern (at this moment, the unofficial time limit is set for 1969).

I also attempted to collect together a Swiss tank destroyer branch. Not easy and it requires some… unconventional measures. Here’s what I’ve been able to put together:

T4: Nahkampfkanone NK1 1941 (this is a Marder-like vehicle, with possible 105mm upgrade)
T5: Jagdpanzer G13 (basically a Hetzer manufactured for Switzerland by Czechoslovakia, with some minor upgrades)
T6: Nahkampfkanone 2 (ugly as hell, basically a closed Marder)
T7: Leichter Panzer 51 (AMX-13) (Swiss AMX-13 light tanks were classified as tank destroyers – yes, lame, I know)
T8: Kanonenjagdpanzer MOWAG – prototype (90mm) (the unsuccessful KJpz prototype by Gruppe 2, which included Mowag)
T9: Jagdpanzer Gepard (built on the MOWAG Tornado chassis in 1960)
T10: Jagdpanzer Taifun

Ah well. EU tree still has a long way to go, I really wonder, how WG will glue everything together. Lookign forward to it :)

Source: Wotbase.ru
AMX50B

Sherman Jumbo

Hello everyone,

looks like we have found our EU server “rage of the week” (well, at least until regular WG EU weekend event screwup).

Basically, what happened: a Polish player is complaining in a rather long thread that Russian teams are joining European ESL competition, while European players are not allowed to play RU ESL. And – because they are better, folks are like “evul commies steelin muh cheezburgr prizes n stuff”.

Naturally, the whole thread (along with its several “child” threads) has become a trollfest, with many players claiming Russian bias (that never gets old, does it). Therefore, several minithreads got canned by mods.

There was also a separate voting thread, ending… well, obviously, not exactly in favour of Russian participation in EU ESL.

Anyway, those who complain also bring up the WoT Pro League rules:

A Russian player can only either play in the RU Pro Leauge or the EU Pro Leauge, but not in both.

(yea, there is a double typo in official ESL rules, just brilliant)

Honestly, I don’t care that much about e-sports and I don’t know, whether those Russian players participate in BOTH leagues, but if you feel like supporting the Europeans (or to oppose them), just go to the abovementioned thread. Personally, I think it would be easier to just… you know, allow everyone to play everywhere.

And what’s your opinion?

Hello everyone,

this article starts where part 1 left off – today, we are going to have a look at the Waffentrager Panther, that is to appear in 8.9 (or…. is it? “Some say” there were some changes in the branch. Sorry, no details on that).

But first, let’s have a look back at the Jagdpanther II, because last article left some questions unanswered. So, is it historical?

Well, yes and no. The concept of Jagdpanther II actually predates the ingame Jagdpanther. One of the first Jagdpanther (I) proposals from January 1943 for a self-propelled 88mm gun, based on Panther platform, actually counted on using the Panther II hull – please note it was just an idea, the vehicle was not even called Jagdpanther, or Jagdpanther II, it was called 88mm Sturmgeschütz auf Fahrgestell Panther. By May 1943 however, Panther II itself was shelved and the designers were ordered to re-work the Jagdpanther proposal to the Panther I platform, instead of Panther II. In this sense, Jagdpanther II actually predates Jagdpanther I and historically, it would most likely look similiar, except for the Panther hull (thicker sides). Only 88mm KwK 43 was ever proposed for the early Jagdpanther, the 105mm gun is not historical and is there for balance. Same goes for the 128mm for Jagdpanther II – there was no such thing originally invented.

So, what about the ingame Jagdpanther II? Well, that’s sort of made up. It’s a mashup of two actual designs, with a healthy dose of WG invention. What Wargaming basically did was that they took this design as a muster:

Yes, this is the 128mm Jagdpanther redesign by Krupp from late 1944 (I mentioned in part I). It was supposed to allow the Panther chassis to carry the 128mm L/55, but Doyle stated that it would be too heavy and unwieldly, weighing up to 51 tons. Wargaming took this design, renamed it to “Jagdpanther II” and switched the hull armor characteristics from Panther I to Panther II (mostly concerns side armor thickness). They strapped more armor on it and unhistorical engine and voila, Jagdpanther II is born. In other words: while somewhat logical, ingame Jagdpanther II is nearly completely made up and has nothing to do with the early proposed 88mm tank destroyer on Panther II platform. The 128mm gun was added for balance. I mean – I get WHY they did it, but it’s not historical. By the way, the wotwiki description says:

“The Jagdpanther II was conceived in November of 1944 by Krupp to up-arm the Jagdpanther with an 12.8 cm PaK 80.”

No. That’s not true. The Umbewaffnung project by Krupp from November 1944 was not called Jagdpanther II, it was simply “Jagdpanther mit 12,8cm PaK 80″. It also never sported the improved side armor (it had enough issues with weight as it was).

Okay, that took longer to explain than I hoped, back to the Waffenträger.

Waffenträger Panther

First, some basics. What’s a Waffenträger? A quick rundown: it’s (presumably mass-produced, but also ad-hoc) chassis with a (anti-tank) gun mounted on it, preferably a bigger gun than the chassis would normally carry, either “just so” with only a gun shield, or in a lightly armored casemate/turret.

In case of Waffenträger Panther, it would look something like this:

This is the Rheinmetall’s “Skorpion” proposal from 2nd April, 1943. Yes, this design actually existed in blueprints. So, is the Waffenträger Panther historical? Again, yes and no.

You might have noticed the “K43″ in the picture description. That is in fact the 128mm gun designation. Those who dabble in this sort of thing probably know that tank cannons were designated KwK, while AT guns were designated PaK. “K” simply means “Kanone” and it designates an artillery piece. That’s right – all the “Waffenträger” Panther designs were designed as artillery vehicles. It’s worth noting however that while the 128mm K43 was an artillery weapon esentially, 128mm K44 L/55 was practically identical with the Jagdtiger weapon (PaK 44 L/55).

There were basically two proposal branches for the Panther SPG’s: one by Krupp and one by Rheinmetall. The Skorpion was proposed by Rheinmetall as a SPG with fully traversable open turret (casemate and closed turret versions also existed). Krupp proposals were a bit different from the ones of Rheinmetall. One of them looked like this:

Is the shape familiar to you? Yes, that’s the ingame GW Panther proposal. In real life it was called “12,8cm K. 43 (Sfl.) Kp.II”. It was originally supposed to carry the same gun (K43), Wargamming upgunned it to a 15cm gun, based on other Krupp Panther SPG proposals.

Back to this “Waffenträger” then – it is clear that any such vehicle ingame would be a actually a re-worked artillery pieces. What does that mean for the game? Not much really, apart from the fact it’s not very realistic (therefore, it’s a prime candidate for replacement for something… more historical). Are there any other historical vehicles to replace tier 8 and 9 with? Well, yes, but that is a story for another time.

Short history of these “Waffenträgers”:

The work on self propelled arty pieces based on Panther chassis started as early as July 1942 and was basically (as mentioned before) conducted by two different companies, producing competitive designs (that’s how Germans liked to do it: there were always two designs for each program, take Maus/E-100 or Porsche/Henschel Tiger as an example).

Krupp

Krupp started to work on the Waffenträgers by producing a 150mm and 128mm designs. Here we can see the 150mm design, called Gerät 5-1528 (picture courtesy of Zarax):

The vehicle had extended Panther platform hull and a fully traverseable turret with a 150mm sFh 43 gun – it was designed based on the Russian experiences. The 150mm variant was to be called Heushrecke 15, while the 128mm variant Heushrecke 12 (as you can see, even the names scream “artillery”, not a self-propelled TD gun). Another two variants were designed and named Grille 15 (150mm gun) and Grille 12 (128mm). Wooden models were ready in January 1943. The prototype vehicles were supposed to be ready in September 1943, but in April, it was decided to produce only one prototype of Grille 12/15 (its mockup is on the picture I linked as GW Panther above) and in May 1943, both the Heuershrecke 12 and 15 were cancelled. In the meanwhile some work on the Grille 12/15 continued. However, as with many German late war projects, the war needs intervened and the Grille 12/15 was eventually cancelled in late 1943.
From early to mid 1944, Krupp (along with Waffenprüfamt 4) proposed (out of its own initiative) a bunch of other SPG proposals (with removable weapons, that could be dismounted and used separately from the vehicle actually), but nothing really came of it, mostly because there weren’t any spare Panther hulls around for such vehicles to be constructed on. One of the late Krupp proposals from September 1944 was actually called “mitteler Waffenträger” (here we see the word used for the first time, when it comes to SPG’s), but it was still basically an artillery piece.

The most complicated parts of the Krupp designs were the ability to remove the howitzer and use it as a towed piece (for whatever good that was, late in the war, towing vehicles were at premium, with German troops being actually forced to abandon perfectly good guns simply because they had nothing to tow them with, this being the principal reason behind the Waffenträger concept) and the rotating turret. Late in the war (early 1945) there was another 128mm K44 concept, simplified without these features, but by that time it was way too late for anything and the war was practically over. Thus, none of these designs made it beyond the drawing board (or wooden mockup).

Rheinmetall

Just like Krupp, Rheinmetall began in July 1942 to make their own proposal for Panther-based artillery pieces. They produced a bunch of designs in January 1943, using 128mm K43 and 150mm guns. They all looked like the abovementioned Skorpion, they had revolving turrets. This is how some of them looked (from above: 12,8cm K43 Sfl from January 1943, 12,8cm Skorpion from April 1943, 15cm sFH 43 mit Panther Bauabteilen from April 1943 and sFH 18 mit Panther Bauabteilen from January 1944)

Long story short, these designs suffered the same fate as the Krupp ones. Bunch of them were developed, but they never progressed beyond mockup stage, because there were no Panther hulls available.

Conclusion

So, this is it, the story behind Waffenträger Panther. There will be part 3 – the Sturmmörser Panther, that will be fun and I promise it will be shorter.

Sources:
W.Spielberger – Panther and its variants
H.L.Doyle, T.Jentz – Panther Variants 1942-1945
H.L.Doyle – Panzer Tracts
Posts by Daigensui (US forum)

Not sure if this was posted officially or not anywhere, but here’s a new teaser for the WoT for Xbox game. It’s actually kinda nice :)

Another pretty funny video by Darth_Woras :)