Obviously, first is the name of the shell, than the 0.8.5 price and the last is the 0.8.6 price. It’s apparently a datamining printout, so nevermind some of the weird shell names, they are probably just for testing purposes.
Basically, the consumable price will be cut in half in 0.8.6 – but beware, it’s not forever, only until the 0.8.7 (this is a bit of a trolling from WG, because 0.8.7 will contain British arty and will allegedly come very soon after 0.8.6).
Keep in mind that selling prices will be cut in half also, eg. if you have gold consumables now and want to get rid of them, do that before 0.8.6 comes out.
- Q: “Are you afraid that we the people will get angry if our wishes to nerf arty will not be heard?” A: “Megalomania is bad. Take care of yourself.”
- SerB on large caliber artillery shells ricocheting from thin surfaces: “Yes well, 8 inch naval shells did ricochet from the 25mm thick cruiser armor plates, so?” (SS: some players suspect Wargaming of somehow screwing with ricochets for HEAT arty shells by disabling overmatch)
- HEAT ricochet angle is 80 degrees, regular ricochet is 70 degrees
- there are enough Soviet heavies for 7 whole branches, but there are no plans to introduce that many
- while the accounts for WoT, WoWp and WoWs will be unified, this doesn’t count for clans, clans won’t be unified
- in 0.8.6, the bush camo principle will remain the same, because “it was a better solution” (SS: the new bush camo mechanism was bugged as hell)
- the camo system will be overhauled completely, but not soon
- Q: “In connection witht he premium ammo nerf, will the top 59-16 gun be buffed?” A: “Don’t play with the 59-16 top gun”
- client physics demonstration: “when it’s done it’s done”
- the devs are trying not to implement skills/perks, that would work with the same effect as the main skill (SS: for example a perk, that would decrease reloading time, which is the effect of the main skill of the loader)
- nation-specific skills/perks might be implemented, but not at this moment
- Vickers MBT and Vijayanta (SS: improved Indian licensed Vickers MBT copy)? “No comment”
- improved Chinese Type 59 with additional armor and new gun won’t be implemented, current Type 59′s are enough
- “modern” maps (SS: with modern architecture for example) are specifically avoided by the developers
- SerB on “free to win” principle “In our game, gold doesn’t give any advantage in battle. In levelling, it does. And it will continue to do so. Nothing I can help with.” As for the difference between gold- and silver-trained crews, SerB states: “You can always train your crew in battle. If you are lazy, nothing I can help with.” He answers the same for module unlocking – can be unlocked thru free or regular XP.
- water has no effect on shells whatsoever, some effect will be added but not soon
- you won’t lose by ramming a dead tank. If you feel like you lost some HP by doing that, you probably rammed the tank while it was still alive and the messages arrived in wrong order
- assist bonus for potential damage won’t be implemented (SerB: “I am waiting for the time when players will ask for bonus just for downloading the game”)
- no plans for 4 man platoons
- no mods as such will be implemented into the client. SerB states WG might “borrow” some ideas however.
- Deadeye perk will affect engine fire chance, but only indirectly (by increasing the chance to hit the engine), doesn’t increase the engine fire chance itself.
- the rapid fire autocannons have decreased chance to cause engine fires to compensate for the fact any hit can cause engine fire
SerB explains: “A shell hits the engine module, a “saving throw” is thrown (without that the game would be unplayable, veterans remember the 0.4.0 patch) – eg. the damage is dealt to the engine with some amount of probability. With each damage dealt to the engine above certain threshold, the engine can catch on fire. The engine below 50 percent health will turn yellow and on 0 it will turn red. This is the connection between crits and engine fires – the module damage.”
- premium vehicles do not correspond to the stock vehicles of the same tier – they are somewhat better than that, but elite vehicles of the same tier have to be better
Bonus: World of Tanks for Xbox game footage (for some reason, the sound is not working for me, not sure it’s on my side)
Today, we are going to have a look at some of the interesting Hungarian armor pieces. Obviously, it would be logical to start with the Turán, or the Toldi tanks, but are a bit boring :) We’ll get to them at some point later.
Hungarian branch will most likely be a part of the European tank tree, as the Toldi and Turán tanks were one of the few EU-nations tanks that have actually seen combat (although with mixed results). Hungarian tank history is quite interesting (again, I’ll get to that in some other article), but roughly it can be said that despite the attempts to build a decent tank force in WW2, Hungarian tanks and assault guns (based mostly on the Czechovak and Swedish designs, mixed with some imported German Panzer III and IV’s) were obsolete by the time they arrived to the Hungarian army (Honvédség). Despite the Hungarian attempts to bring the vehicles up to date (at some point blocked by Germans), a combination of obsolete vehicles and bad supply lines let to the massive destruction of Hungarian armor on Russian river Don – a defeat the army never really recovered from. Hungarian army however knew full well that their vehicles are not up to date and tried (sometimes desperately) to do something with it.
Hungarian armor in World of Tanks
Hungary can basically build a branch up to tier 7 (if we combine the TD and light/medium tank branches). It would look something like this:
T1 – Straussler tanks
T2 – Toldi I/II light tank
T3 – Toldi III light tank
T4 – T-21/Turán I medium tank
T5 – Turán II/III medium tank, Zrinyi I/II
T6 – ????
T7 – 44M Tas, Tas Rohamlöveg
And that’s it I am afraid. I haven’t found any tank project for tier 8+ – that of course doesn’t mean they didn’t exist, but it’s practically impossible to find any data on anything else outside of Hungary, so I hope Wargaming will do some serious research.
44M Tas
By 1943 two things were clear to everyone, except possibly the biggest optimists: the first one was that the Germans are in deep trouble in Russia – and the second one was that Hungarian armor is no longer capable of taking care of the newest Soviet tanks, appearing en masse on the battlefields of Russia. Especially the swarms of T-34 tanks plagued the tired Hungarian tankers, who tried to hold them off with their 40mm equipped Turáns (that alone was quite a feat by itself).
In May 1943, a German delegation led by general Leeb did visit Hungary, to inspect the state of Hungarian armor development and to share some knowledge, gained from the fighting. The result was a joint project offer from the Germans to work on certain vehicles. In German eyes, Hungary would manufacture and supply certain parts, which would then be assembled in Germany and exported back to Hungary. Needless to say, Hungarian officers were not very happy about this – from an independent nation, Hungary would become totally dependent on German supplies (and will), when it came to armor. That was unacceptable for two reasons: one was bad experiences with German cooperation (Turán production was delayed several times in the past due to shortages of German equipment), second was that with such a program, Hungary would effectively become Germany’s vassal state. Hungarians scrapped this idea immediately.
Earlier that year (in April 1943), Hungarian committee, led by colonel Nádas, visited Germany and inspected some of the armor factories. They witnessed the Panther and Tiger production and were impressed. However, by that time, the mass production of Tigers and Panthers was effectively just started, the vehicles suffered from several flaws (which were rectified only later) and it was also clear that Hungarian armor industry is in no shape to license-produce Panthers or Tigers, those tanks were simply way too sophisticated. Another idea of the committee was to actually license-produce the Panzer IV (with which the Hungarian crews were relatively happy). This too was turned down, because the army staff argued that Panzer IV is not THAT much better than Hungary’s current tanks and it’s simply not worth doing.
These endless talks led the army to commission the development of an entirely new and locally built heavy tank from Hungarian components. It was named “Tas” (possibly after a Hungarian warlord from 9th century) and designed in cooperation with the Weiss Manfréd company, that was also supposed to be responsible for its production. It was loosely based on the Turán construction and on the paper, it was actually pretty good. Massive welded frontal armor (100-120mm sloped) paired with a powerful gun (75mm KwK L/70) made a powerful combination. Two types of guns were actually planned: the original German-built KwK 42 from Panther and a Hungarian developed 43M 75mm gun. The vehicle was propelled by two 260hp Turán engines and manned by a crew of five (resembling the Panther).
Tas was introduced to the Honvédség command staff on 30.7.1943, with August reserved for partial improvements. The army approved the building of two prototypes – one made from classical (non-armor) steel and one completely armored. The mild steel prototype was built first in the first half of 1944 in the Weiss Manfréd company, but it was never finished. Allegedly, the hull was ready with transmission and engine installed and the project was waiting for a turret, when the factory was bombed on 27.7.1944 by Americans. The prototype was completely destroyed. The development was moved to the Ganz factory, where the already manufactured parts were redirected to. It is unknown what happened from July to December with these parts, but in December 1944, all development and manufacture in the factory was stopped – and that was the end of the project, which was not pursued further.
Characteristics:
(in the brackets: Panther D statistics for comparison)
Crew: 5 (5)
Weight: 38 tons (44,8)
Lenght: 9,2 meters (8,66)
Width: 3,5 meters (3,27)
Height: 3 meters (2,99)
Engine: 2x Turán, 520hp in total (HL230, 700hp)
Armor
Frontal: 100-120mm (80)
Sides: 50mm (40)
Turret frontal: 100mm (100)
Turret sides: 100mm (45)
Turret rear: 50mm (45)
Armament: 75mm KwK 42 or 75mm 43M (the same)
Speed: 45km/h (55km/h)
In World of Tanks
44M Tas is tier 7 material. Although classified as a “heavy” tank, it is lighter than the medium Panther and definitely nowhere near as heavy as the Tiger. As you can see, it is more heavily armored than the Panther, but lacks its sophisticated weaponry and most likely optics too. What we have here is a medium/heavy hybrid. While its firepower would be quite low for tier 7 (150mm pen, unless it gets some unhistorical gun), the nicely angled armor would allow it to actually hold its own. The engines are a problem, but historically, Hungarians negotiated with Germans over purchasing the HL230 700hp Panther D engines. With 700hp, this 38 ton vehicle would have a decent mobility, compensating for the gun. I can see it working, possibly as a brawler.
Tas Rohamlöveg
Tas Röhamloveg was a tank destroyer project, developed along with the 44M Tas tank, based on the same chassis. It was started in 1944, when some of the officers involved in the 44M Tas design came up with an idea that it wouldn’t be actually bad to start a project of a heavy tank destroyer along with the tank development. They were influenced no doubt by the successes of such German vehicles, that were not only extremely deadly, but also cheaper to build than regular tanks. Their silhouette was also lower, they were harder to spot, easier to set an ambush with and generally suitable for the defensive warfare both the German and Hungarian armies found themselves in.
The project was (not very originally) named Tas Rohamlöveg (“Tas assault gun”). The turret was removed from the design and the (very low) chassis was built to somewhat resemble the dreaded Jagdpanther. While the lower frontal plate (usually covered by terrain) was 20mm, the massive frontal plate was 120mm thick and very well angled. The vehicle was planned with the German 88mm KwK 43 L/71, capable to knock out any allied tank – and two machineguns.
Just like the tank, this vehicle was supposed to be built by Weiss Manfréd. Two prototypes were ordered, but beyond that, little is known of the project. Some sources say that some parts were ordered and even manufactured, but no prototype was ever built due to the same air raid, that knocked out the Tas production.
Characteristics:
(in the brackets: Jagdpanther statistics for comparison)
Crew: 5 (5)
Weight: 38 tons (45,5)
Lenght: 9,5 meters (9,87)
Width: 3,9 meters (3,8)
Height: 2,3 meters (2,72)
Engine: 2x Turán, 520hp in total (HL230, 700hp)
Armor
Frontal: 120mm (80)
Sides: 50mm (50)
Armament: 88mm PaK 43 (the same)
Speed: 45km/h (55km/h)
In World of Tanks
As you can see, it’s much like the Jagdpanther, but lower, sleeker, apparently with better camo factor, possibly more agile (lighter) with the same engine, but with the original 520hp you can’t expect miracles. The drawback would be the missing 105mm gun and thus somewhat lower firepower. Still, considering how cool it looks… I’d play it even if it was worse in all respects :)
SS: Today, we have another guest article from SoukouDragon :) Enjoy
Author: SoukouDragon, US forums
A new light tank designed for the Imperial Japanese army. It was to carry with it the same firepower as the Chi Ha Shinhoto and have 300mm wide treads. The 150hp engine was supercharged. Main armament was the Type 1 47mm tank gun. Since it was expected to use its cannon often, 90 rounds was required.
In world of tanks, its 15 hp/ton is grossly outmatched by the other tier 5 light tanks which have over 25hp/ton. Even with 300mm wide tracks on the 10 ton tank, it is difficult to imagining the Ke Ho to have similar acceleration with the other tier 5 light tanks. The diesel 150hp engine is an in-line 6 cylinder engine. Even though the Chi He tank is of similar dimensions to the Ke Ho but a little longer, the Chi He’s 240hp V12 diesel engine would probably be too large to serve as an upgrade even though 240hp would probably provide enough hp/ton.
The 47mm cannon would be comparable to the 50mm L/60 on the VK 1602 Leopard. The combat weight of the Type 1 47mm cannon is about 400kg. With about just 140kg more, the experimental 57mm cannon that was tested on the early Chi To could perhaps be fitted on as an upgrade. That would give the Ke Ho competitive firepower amongst the tier 5 light tanks.
Experimental 57mm Tank Gun (L48.5)
Combat Weight: 543kg
Muzzle velocity: 810m/s
Type 1 AP round
Penetration: 60mm at 1,000m
Source:
“Japan’s Tanks” by Hara Tomio 1978（日本の戦車 原乙未生)
“Japanese Army Cannons: Infantry cannons, anti-tank cannons” by Sayama Jiro (日本陸軍の火砲 歩兵砲 対戦車砲 他 佐山二郎)
several people asked me yesterday, how does one “fix” random battles when the matchmaking takes the players from the entire server. It shouldn’t be possible to do, right?
So just a quick description how this works. Next time there is some competition (you know, like the one for 0.8.5 – top XP gainers from each class etc.), check on how many of the victors are clanners and how many of representatives of those clans are present.
Of course, it could mean such clans are simply that great… or it could mean something else entirely.
How to do it
Here’s an example of a fixed battle (thanks to Rasan and his clanmate):
Link to replay (version 0.8.2): http://wotreplays.com/site/225264#ensk-guest-amx_13_90
Here you can see a typical (albeit lowtier) example of fixing battles. Several friends (this time from different clans, although Suicide Division (S-D) and Valkyria (VLK) are present on both sides) decided to allow the T1 Cunningham to get an insane XP gain.
Basically, what the culprits do is they abuse the MM mechanism for matching platoons. This works best around 4-5AM, when there are very very few players on the server. Few players means few platoons. In other words: if you suddenly create two 3 man platoons (those are rarer) and click on “battle” at the same time, you have a really high chance of ending against each other, because there will be no more 3 man platoons online at that point and the matchmaker will have no other choice than to compensate by putting your friends’ platoon against you.
This is how the jokers from the picture did it. As you can see, it’s two platoons (of different size, so I assume this was done in the early morning to ensure they would be matched against each other) and the Cunningham has 3 kills, corresponding to the first platoon – all 5 of them probably simply met somewhere and let the Cunningham kill them. Funny and harmless? Well, yes, sure, unless you are fixing a competition that way.
There are of course more sophisticated ways how to do this, leading to even “better” results (for example two clans choosing two players for the rewards, then swamping the random with various platoons at 4 AM, this way, a random player can rack up even 15 kills if both teams end up being filled with people from those two clans – hell, this is possible even in ONE clan, if it is big enough).
This phenomenon is not limited to EU server of course (remember the Russian “superplayer” in FV215b 183, who destroyed 15 tanks with 13 shots or so?) and is well known for ages, yet Wargaming does nothing against it, unless the competition winners are directly accused of cheating (I believe this has happened only once, few patches back, can’t remember the circumstances though).
Either way, I believe that the replay examination of the top winners of the “Type 59″ type competitions should be mandatory to prevent this shit from happening…
