The T-100Z makes for a reasonable tier 6 choice.
T-100Z
The T-100Z is basically a KV-2 with a bonus 45 mm gun turret in the front. It even uses the same gun. The armour is the same as on the T-100, 60 mm, but that’s the price you pay if you want a little bonus firepower for plinking away at things your massive main gun can’t quite one-shot. Also, unlike a lot of tanks in this game, it saw combat! So historical!
Leningrad Front: A tank made into a pillbox. Photograph by special photographer A. Kapustyanskiy
Tier 7 would be populated by none other than the T-39! Yes, the lovable scamp that can start off with a similar 152 mm gun as its predecessor, but then upgrade to a whopping 4 107 mm guns.
T-39 with 1 152 mm gun and 3 45 mm guns.
T-39 with four 107 mm guns.
Sadly, multi-turreted tank projects fall into several categories: early (huge guns, but pitiful armour), and late (slightly better armour, but terrible primary and secondary guns). KV-4s won’t be very interesting due to their 45 mms being pointless at such high tiers. So for tier 8-10, we’re going to have to start plucking out the weird ones.
Two tiers are covered by the VL (Vladimir Lenin project). The tanks consisted of two 76 mm gun turrets and one really big one: 130 mm B-13 or a 305 mm B-23 gun. The third project was only armed with one gun, so it’s not really interesting for the purposes of this tree. The tank was based on the experience of the Winter War, and on the rumours of new German superheavy tanks in 1940. Of course, it was deemed hilariously impractical and never built.
VL tank. 1, 14, 19, 29: drive wheels. 2, 15, 18, 30, electric motor. 3: radio man’s hatch. 4: radio man. 5, 23: loader. 6, 9, 24, 26: gunner. 7: commander’s technical assistant. 8: lower hatch. 10: commander. 11: power cables. 12: engine. 16: engine technician. 17, 28: mechanic-driver. 20: exhaust fan. 21: radiator. 22: intake fan. 25: electrician. 27: driver’s hatch.
The tank was quite a monstrosity. At 260-460 tons (if you’re the kind of person that doesn’t like fun, there is a 320 tonn variant with a B-23 and only 45 mm guns), it only had up to 125 mm of armour, but boy, what an armament. A 130 mm gun wouldn’t be exactly amazing at tier 8, but the 305 mm gun would be pretty awesome. At tier 10, of course. The tier 9 hole would have to be plugged by something else.
That something else can only be the Ansaldo heavy tank project, which later inspired the T-39. In 1932, a 70-ton tank was designed for the USSR with a Char 2C-like electric motor, 30 kph top speed, and an impressive 152 mm or 203 mm main gun. Secondary guns included 76 and 45 mm turrets. The tank was never built, but its blueprints went on to inspire Soviet tank design for many years later, so odds are they are somewhere. Perhaps WG researchers will dig it up and reveal the wonders of the early super-heavy tank designs. Meanwhile, all we can do is dream.
260 to 460 tons…. – the tracks should have been extremely wide to distribute the weight to the ground without sinking in.
Also, the bearings should have been huge to carry that weight….
Bearings are not a problem. They would not have to be huge at all. It just becomes a matter of distribution and mechanical engineering. Well… That and suspension design. With the Char 2C design it is on a very large number of rollers/road wheels with little movement in the suspension.
You mean the “unsprung suspension” ? Which is just a nice name for no suspension at all :3
Srsly this is the worst idea there can be, the tank would be shaking from every bump and thus damaging everything inside it.
Well it *does* seem to boast double tracks with total width about equal to the hull – oughta be enuff. I guess the idea behind having the drive wheels and the associated electric motors for each set at opposite ends of the tank is redundancy and damage control?
EE, what about the soviet Ratte, by the same engineer? http://www.gamer.ru/system/attached_images/images/000/173/206/original/tg_10.jpg
if there was a tank like that in wot it doesnt even had to shoot… just roll over the enemies and they are done :D
5 Object 268s and it would be dead in minutes.
Anything facing 5 enemies alone would be dead in minutes :D
What we are looking at there is probably something the size of ~ 3-4 x the size of Maus … so, 10-12 k HP ? With considerable armor, probably making them HEAT bounce, also, the lower plate seems to have quite good angle as well.
Turrets are probably weaker armored, full of gunners, loaders and such so shooting them would probably bear better results + maybe an ammo rack in the turrets? Imagine ammoracking something like this … damn
Oh, and dear SmellyOne, please point me to a tank that can stand against 5 268′ and end up living to tell the tale?
I’m not SmellyOne, but one tank comes to mind: E75, well angled.
That E-75 can live only if those 5 objects are really dumb and aren’t shooting it’s turret, which, with the 303mm of pen, is penetrable as fuck.
If every 5 of these objects would shot HE, E75 would be dead in less than 30 seconds.
Leave the HE stuff, with 303mm of pen they can pen it’s turret from any angle without any problems.
I just wonder how many people would operate this beast.
After knocking out the loader: “Our loader is bleeding!”
Commander: “So what? We have 10 other loaders!”
VL would probably have camo rating of -1.
Aww, the two guys at the back of the VL drawing are in time-out, aren’t they? :(
Cruel, cruel commander won’t let the mechanics dakka the germans with moar turrets :(((((
Can’t wait for german and american versions :)
Tier X is older than the tier VII?
That alone makes a huge problem for trying to make it a researchable branch.
E-100 would like a word with you.
Sorta similar story with IS-7 and -8 actually.
Didn’t the Soviets experiment with a trebuchet turret design that fired turrets? :evilgrin:
I usually like your articles SS, but why do You even bother with tanks like these ? Multiturret /gun support is likely not to come at all. So all these turrets are actually just a useless weakspots.
Btw im not against more turrets than one in game, if it actually comes. I think easy way would be to make any additional guns / turrets rotate along with the main turret, simultaneously and shoot all at once. Ofcourse if the small turret doesnt have 360° turn degree, it would only fire up to the position in can cover, for more, you would have to turn your tank.