For those who haven’t noticed yet, here’s a new ASAP video about 8.7 (better to tell everything in advance than let leakers leak it anyway, good choice):
Amongst other things, it brings:
- new Belogorsk 19 map (see previous FTR entries)
- Updated Port and Highway maps
- E-25 and 112 premium vehicles
- British arty:
Mod name: Replay Compatibility Pack (currently v1.1 for 8.6) Author: PTwr (US server)
Hello everyone,
here’s something pretty interesting – a mod, that allows you replaying old replays, without having to install old clients! For now, it supports only 8.4 and 8.5 replays, watchable in 8.6 client. Pretty neat. Well, since I don’t HAVE any 8.4 replays, I couldn’t test it, but you can, if you want to.
Basically what this article says: Storm states that on RU7 server (based in Amsterdam), there is a new MM version implemented, that fixes the issues of the 8.6 patch. Storm states that it’s looking good, it has been tested internally and no problems were found.
Storm states that the new MM specifically focuses on:
- top 5 vehicles of each team should be of the same tier now. If the timeout (waiting time) reaches 1 minute, this rule is reduced to top 3 tanks
- the scout balance (“both sides have the same amount of scouts” rule), that was disabled previously, should also work now.
Storm asked the players to give feedback in the comments. From the comments and feedback:
- a player reports an issue, that low tier platoons are too often on the bottom of the team. Storm states it’s possible that the new MM on RU7 did affect this, he will check.
- Storm states that it’s pointless to explain the mechanism changes, as it is so complicated even he didn’t understand when the developers explained them to him, one has to have deep knowledge of the system to understand
- Storm and players noticed a lot of “mirror fights” (with both team having the same vehicles) – he’s not sure if that’s a good thing, or not
- the waiting times have increased to 40s-1minute
- platoon balancing not only by pieces, but also by MM weight is not planned
- apparently, frontal armor angle of IS-4 was nerfed (unintentionally), Storm will investigate
- Storm admits that matchmaker possibly doesn’t work properly after the artillery introduction, it’s being fixed, slowly
- Q: “If all the scientists in the world confirm that the end of the world will come within a month, would you release Type 59 into the shop again?” A: “The end of the world was supposed to happen, but it was cancelled by Wargaming, because it’s bad for business”
- theoretically it’s possible to leak replays of yet unreleased tanks with the permission of the producers
- during early WoT development it was considered for one vehicle to be able to switch classes by switching modules (for example, SU-85 is a TD, but if it installs the 122mm gun, it becomes an arty), but it was decided not to do it, because it would just confuse players
- apparently, ramming damage was not nerfed (SS: a player complains he is consistently getting low ramming damage in 8.6)
- alternative turret for E-100 (SS: apparently, the Maus II turret) – “when it’s done it’s done”, E-100 however will not recieve additional guns with it
- the fact that E-50 and E-50M have only medium spall liner, despite being heavier than some heavy tanks, is intentional
- win/loss XP gain mechanism was not changed in 8.6
- SerB states that the graphic level of the Xbox WoT is (SS: roughly) equal to maximum PC graphic settings
- track armor is not always 20mm, for example Maus has 70mm thick track armor
- the thickness of the gap between tracks (that act like spaced armor) for the purposes of defeating HEAT penetration is calculated from their outer edge. In other words: the thicker the tracks, the more they are effective against HEAT
- out of the “paper” tanks, SerB considers the Borgward Leopard (Prototyp der Arbeitsgruppe C) to be the most original, as it is a “hellish wheeled/tracked autoloader tank”:
- SerB states that there was a prototype tank, based on IS-7 with a 152mm gun (based on BL-10) in the turret. As for the regular IS/IS-2, SerB is not sure whether there were any projects with 152mm guns in their turrets, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they were
- universal crews (that would fit all nations and tanks) won’t be implemented
- both the HESH and HE have the same damage mechanism, after they penetrate the armor, they create a sphere within of a certain diameter and any modules touched by that sphere will be hit
- in 8.6, light tanks still kept their permanent camo bonus
- hit decals (SS: those “holes” that appear on your tank when it is hit) disappear over time, the reason for this is engine optimization, this applies to all tank models and won’t be changed
- the system, that would allow you after the battle to inspect your tank as for damage (who hit you, where exactly and for how much HP) won’t be implemented
- it’s too early to say, how roaming will exactly work, devs are still undecided (whether it will apply for random battles too, or “only” for companies/tournaments)
- crew transfer between nations is not planned
And some more info from developer blog (and its comments):
- The new Chinese premium T8 medium tank will apparently be the “T-34-3″, something like Type 59, but less armored
- The MT-25 will have a T-34M turret
- the names of the British arties are: Loyd Gun Carriage, Birch Gun, Bishop, Crusader 5.5in SP, FV3805, Conqueror Gun Carriage, FV304, FV207
Two Soviet light tanks will apparently be added: the LTP (never heard of it) and the T-50-2.
Details of the switch:
- MT-25 will replace the T-50-2
- if T-50-2 was unlocked, MT-25 will be unlocked also
- if T-50-2 was bought in hangar, it gets replaced by the MT-25 and the player will recieve one extre crewmember (radioman) trained for MT-25, trained to 100 percent
- T-50-2 crew will be retrained for free to MT-25
- camouflage and stats get both transferred
- experience from T-50-2 gets transferred to MT-25 also
- T-50 experience gets transferred to KV-1S for some reason
- new ammo doesn’t get loaded
- emblems and inscriptions on T-50-2 get sold for their purchase price
LTP – new tier 3 LT (there are rumors that this vehicle might be the Wargaming 15th birthday award tank)
Regular
Armor
MT-25 – tier 6 LT (apparently, T-50-2 would get raised a tier)
Another funny video by Darth Woras :) Kinda made me chuckle.
For the non-European players: Terrible E-100 is a meme on the EU server, started by Xensation about one year ago:
So, we did get the miniquests before July after all. It’s just… I am not sure whether it’s serious, or trolling.
However, that is not all. Once you are in the battlefields with these beasts, you need to achieve the Victory Mission:
If you achieve 15 victories with each one of these 3 vehicles (so 45 victories in two weeks), you will be rewarded with 500 gold!
Please note that this mission can only be completed once per account.
Well, it’s not like the Russians had such limits. But it gets better:
Destroy one of each of the 3 vehicles in this special in random battles, and you will be rewarded with a garage slot. Oh, wooohooooo, an entire garage slot for killing one of the most elusive tanks of tier 10!
I can almost see SerB…
I don’t know. Maybe I am just ungrateful. Let’s hope it’s just a start.
- MM being bad (one team has heavies, the other arties of the same tier instead)? “How terrible…”
- Q: “What are the specifics of the Chinese server?” A: “The Chinese players are less envious”
- second French artillery branch is currently not planned
- after 0.8.6, the amount of battles played on arty vehicles dropped “several times”, “many” players sold their arties, so far, according to SerB the impact on arty is as planned
- high tier profitability was introduced, because “there was a certain disbalance between calculated predictions and real vehicle profit”
- SerB states the new reward tanks are balanced correctly, despite the fact they will be issued to very good (clanwars) players, which kinda distorts the statistics
- Sturmgeschütz E-75 (based on Spielberger’s Special Panzer Variants) will not be implemented into the game, because there is no info on it (SS: in the aforementioned book, Spielberger vaguely mentions that there was a plan to make a StuG project, based on the E-75 chassis – but nothing more, no details, sketches, nothing)
- while the module tier is just an arbitrary number, vehicle tier is not arbitrary, because it’s used when balancing the vehicles of the same tier (while modules of the same tier don’t get balanced to each other)
- Japanese tree: “when it’s done it’s done”
- SerB on why the clay fences are not penetrable: “Imagine it like this: when the shell hits the fence, it will begin to turn over.” (SS: as in, turn upside down, effectively negating any penetration ability), it will be changed in the future (fences will be penetreable), but even in the future shooting thru obstacles will make the shells lose penetration, so SerB suggests using terrain to your advantage
- T58 is overpowered even for tier 10, there will be no “premium” tier 9 and 10′s
- Object 140 is “completely possible” (SS: I have a feeling this will be the new Soviet branch tier 9 tank, it’s a Kharkov experimental tank, designed at the same as Object 430, to which it was somewhat inferior) – this is how it looks:
- SerB doesn’t want to create WG fake tanks apparently, even though he admits that the E50M is mostly a Wargaming invention, based on real life designs and solutions
- the lighting on the new Sacred Valley map doesn’t seem unnatural, according to SerB, the map was made according to photographic references – there is no such area in real life, but the architecture and elements are real
- RU server having events rewarding medals, obtained for killing arty while in fact there is nowhere near the amount of arty to get them is not trolling, according to SerB: “Sometimes the cigar is just a cigar” (SS: original SerB quote says “banana”, which in turn is – according to google, the Russian version of the famous Freud quote, so I used the original)
- SerB states that the current increased amount of tank destroyers is fine, as both teams are balanced
- apparently (if I understand this correctly), Object 430U won’t be implemented for now (SS: will doublecheck)
- Object 770 will not be implemented, as it would be balanced around tier 11-12 (SS: an experimental heavy tank from late 50′s, equipped with a modern 130mm M-65 gun, penetrating 280mm at 1000m), this is how it looks:
- Soviets won’t get 3 heavy branches anytime soon
- the fact objects and vehicles have glass parts, that aren’t transparent is not engine technical limit, it’s simply saving the client computer resources from calculating pointless crap
- open topped vehicles won’t recieve a bonus for improved ventilation, this “bonus” is already included in their base stats
- tier 11 and higher vehicles won’t be implemented
- SerB states that while it was necessery to implement the IS-7 into the game, the game can very well do without the T58
- gold shell hardcap per battle is not planned
- SerB on War Thunder garage battles: “Specifically in War Thunder, in our opinion, the garage battles were unsuccessful (including the pay to win elements) – it’s one of the serious project flaws”
- Intuition perk can kick in during the autoloader drum reload
- the possibility for a tank to “push itself away” when rotating the hull against an obstacle will not return
- no plans to implement a “give yourself up” option into the game
- although all the guns try to immitate their real life performance when it comes to penetration, for many of them WG simply didn’t have data available
- Storm states that putting more types of shells into one autoloader batch is not needed
- it’s possible premium T8 tank with 200+ penetration will appear until the end of the year
- in 0.8.6 the possibility of AMX ELC to rotate its hull with mouse (like on TD’s) was returned, it’s not clear whether this is final
- the probability of crewmembers getting killed is the same on all types of tech (SS: as in, no types of tech have special saving throws or tougher crews)
- for now, the fire extinguisher mechanism won’t be changed
- Scout Panther is doing fine on tier 7
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looks like most people are looking forward to the Japanese tanks :) Me too. We should have a new article on them by Soukoudragon lined up soon – and this time it’s going to be very interesting :)
New poll though!
Short background: As you probably know from the translations, Wargaming is looking for tier 10 tank candidates for random rewards (top players in randoms recieving rewards just like the top clanwars clans now) – but the problem is, it has to be a tank not fitting into/planned for regular branches.
Well, we have one: the Weserhütte Tiger, also known as E-75 Ausf.W. It looks cool, it’s balanced, it doesn’t fit into regular branches and – what’s really important – it’s actually (well, partially) historical.
The real question is: do YOU, readers, like it? Would you want such a vehicle in game? Please, answer in the poll :)
today, we are going to have a look at the upcoming Soviet (possibly) T8 medium, designated Object 416.
Some time ago, official descriptions of upcoming vehicles were leaked from the supertest. Object 416 was amongst them, here’s how it is described by Wargaming:
The Object 416 was a medium tank developed by the Construction Bureau of Plant No. 75 starting in 1949. An early prototype was completed by March 1950. Due to problems with the turret, the prototype was not operational until the end of April 1952. By the summer of 1953, the prototype was tested and upgraded. The vehicle passed trials, but never entered mass production.
History
Initially, the vehicle was concieved at Kharkov Plant no.75 (which is logical, the new medium branch can be called a “Kharkov”) branch. The goal of the project was to create an entirely new tank, that would be as much protected as possible while weighting as little as possible. The technical project for it was finished in 1950.
In 1951, a prototype was built. Preliminary tests revealed a number of defects, most of which had to do with drivetrain and suspension reliability. The extremely low height of the vehicle (implemented so that the frontal silhouette is as small as possible) had also severe impact on crew operation – the tank was simply too small to do anything in! Since it proved practically impossible to drive the vehicle and fire the gun simultaneously, the work on the prototype was stopped and “Object 416″ was redesignated into a self-propelled gun, recieving an official designation of SU-100M.
In 1952, SU-100M passed the tests, but it was never adopted in service. The reason for that was that in most parameters, SU-100M was basically equal to SU-100P (and in some parameters it was even worse), which was serially produced since 1952 – and therefore there was no need to implement it.
Characteristics
The vehicle is really tiny (length: 7940mm, width 3240mm, height only 1823mm – that’s 2cm higher than the AMX ELC), but light (24 tons) and somewhat decently armored (60mm front, 45mm sides). It’s propelled by a 400hp engine and armed with a 100mm gun.
Crew: 4 (consider how small the tank is)
Weight: 24 tons
Engine: 400hp V12 diesel
Power to weight ratio: 16,7 hp/t
Maximum speed: 45 km/h
Hull armor: 60mm/45mm/45mm
Turret armor: front 110mm (+110mm mantlet)
Gun: 100mm L/58 M-63 (it was developed from the D-10T, it has a wedge breech, in order to stabilize it for the smaller vehicle, it recieved a muzzle brake and the ROF was lowered, generally I think its performance will resemble the D-10T, as both guns fire the same ammunition)
Gun depression/elevation: -5/+30
In the game
Basically, what we have here will be possibly the Soviet AMX ELC with fully traverseable turret, but without the deadly gun. It will most likely have awesome camo rating, but without a buffed engine, its mobility will be good to mediocre – and the gun won’t help, unless (again) it gets another gun option, or a buff. Personally, I think Wargaming will try to make it into a maneuvering brawler, that could – with its low height – be seriously annoying to fight on close ranges. We’ll just have to see.
