91 thoughts on “9.3 Light Tank Writeup”

1. heat for credit? prepare your anus T10

   • imagine all the people complaning, “OMG GOLD NOOB HEAT SPAMMER”

   • and 5+m splash radius with gold ammo… thats arty gold splash number

     • Oh c’mon, it’s a thrower gun, intended for missiles that propell themselves, you really expect the velocity of these shells to be any good ? :)

       • I heard something about a 90mm autoloader with normal ammo… But its not listed :(

       • It is NOT a “thrower gun”. It is a gun-launcher as the name says. The gun could fire completely conventional 152 mm ammo, which had a muzzle velocity of 683 m/s. That is 30% faster than the MV of KV-2′s M-10 howitzer, partly because the shells were lighter (29 kg vs 40 or so). For comparison, most 75-76 mm guns of WW2 had only slightly higher velocities of around 700-800 m/s.

         The thrower part comes indeed from the ability to also fire guided antitank missiles, but it’s got nothing to do with the “derpyness” or the muzzle velocity of the actual gun.

   • Gimme this tank with the big gun!!
     Because alternate gun is crap with that HESH pen and damage..

     • With curents stats Walker Bulldog is much better and efficient damage dealer than T49. It has even lower reticle bloom (0.14 vs 0.16 in t49, lower is better; BTW – both aren’t exactly stellar, current Chaffee has 0.10 and also 1.7s aim time).

       I’m afraid that such bloom and aim time will probably kill the real battle efficiency of T49, despite all those ooh-aaahs from the community.

       I really hope t49 will be buffed before going live.

2. RU 251 will absolutely dominate. Firstly I thought depression is gonna be the limit factor, but since it got -10 to the sides, it will shadow all its competitors. Cant wait to get it, if it stays like this.

   • Dominate? One derp from the US light will kill it lol

     • Nice mathematics genius.

     • Not if it hits the frontal and it needs to hit it first XD

     • not really. And who said im talking about 1v1 fights? Still, if both tanks meet each other with full hp, RU will take one derp hit and then simply outtrade the US light, which wont be even able to reload the gun.

       But I meant overall performance, only limiting factor for the RU251 would be probably fucked up designed corridor maps.

       • Do you guys think current light tanks will be buffed? because this…

       • I would’t be so enthusiastic. Look at Ru 251. It has absolutly no armor. every hit penetrates. Every. Even from derp gun. Due overmatch rule you don’t even have to aim when shooting at this tank. Gun and speed is fun but one hit from anything on the battlefield onshot this light (200 hp ammorack!) or criplles it… So this is not tank for ordinary player. You have right mentioning maps. There is very little maps suitable for proper scouting, or flanking, so this tank will suffer more. An yes US derp scout most probably oneshot RU.
         I think very dangerous will be an soviet scouts. Not bad armor, decent speed, quite good gun, very good acceleration

         • as a player who played around 2k battles on batchat and Leopard combined, believe me, having no armor is no issue for me at all. It is not tank for oridinary player, but I will be bald enough to say I aint one :) RU251 has everything. DPM, penetration (better than some T8 meds), gun depression. Im wondering what camo values will it have, but compared to the light T-54, this tank kicks ass.

           Actually, T49 cannot one shot it, since the max roll on HE is around 1170 or sth.

           Soviet scouts will suck imho, -3 gun depression is unplayable reliably on the LTTB, and the “light” T-54 is basically a stock T-54 with kinda better mobility, which doesnt overcome the fact that the “not bad armor” as you mentioned is basically obsolete, since the tank has effectively T9 medium MM, where every gun pens it anyway. Light tanks dont need armor, they need good gun, gun depression and mobility. RU251 has it all, I cannot see anything apart from armor (which is useless anyway on LT) that russian lights are better at.

           • Question is that to derp a RU you need hit it… you cant play hit and run tactic using cover and hulldown… derp tanks adapt horrible bad to unspected situations unlike tanks with regular guns.

             I start playing again VK2801 and is frustrating the random damage it deal… and i think T49 is going to see the same.

             Yes, you can do super hits with T49 but question for me is do something more average and know when i shoot what result expect something that derps dont give me.

             Any way the stock 90mm looks horrible… and use HESH ammo… if HE now is psss because WG doesnt know WTF do with HE better dont talk about HESH

           • They’re better at turning, or did you not see the hull traverse rates?

             They’ll be more for close in dog-fighting than the other lights. Sure, an RU-251 can outrun one, but it won’t be able to out-turn one if it gets close.

             The point of putting in new tier VIII light tanks is not just to bring existing light tank trees up to tier VIII, but also to put in more variety. You may not like the T-54, and there will be plenty of other people who will also not like it. But for every person who hates it and sucks in it, there will be someone who likes it and does really well in it, which is the whole point.

             The same is true for the rest of the new lights (including the RU-251 you love so much), you don’t have to like them all, and since there will finally be more than 2 tier VIII lights, you won’t have to. Just pick the ones you do like, and have fun with those ones.

             If you look at all the tier VIII tanks, you’ll notice that all of them leagues away from each other, this is because there will only be 5 of them. WG is clearly trying to set up each tank in it’s own niche so that none of their play styles bleed over into each other, thus resulting in a unique experience from each one of them.

             You know how the KV-4 and Tiger II are so similar to each other (in terms of play style)? well, you can’t have any of that for the light tanks since there will only be 5 of them.

             • first of all, I really didnt notice the hull traverse difference, so you got a point there. Still, 44 on RU is sufficient i guess.

               And your other points, I completely agree. More variety is always welcomed, I maybe eventually grind even the light T-54 just out of curiosity. According to this data from supertest, Im just saying that in my opinion the RU is far superior than the others. But thats up to everybody what they will prefer. I was just posting my personal opinion, never said that people cannot grind for the T54. :)

3. Why are all the barrels part of the damage model? Oversight by WG?

   • they were always part of DM, thats why you can block the shots by sticking gun into enemy gun

     • No, as in damageable armour, as opposed to spaced armour.

       • It is correct – they always were a part of damage model as an external module.

       • Anyway you can’t take any damage if shell hits your gun. It has armor value only for the sake to be penetrated and thus getting broken.

4. Does 90mm in sheridan turret also have -10 depression?

   If yes
   1. LOL at breach going trough roof
   2. LOL for the smallest silhouette ever

   • All gun stats are for top turret, so yes.

     • My guess is, that you cant mount the 90mm on the top turret

       would look just silly

5. For me this is one of the most exciting patches they have had in a long time. Hopefully this will keep my interest in the game.

   As far as tanks the German is amazing but I can see how the american lines will be awesome. Best part is the auto loader at tier 6. Stronkholds here I come.

6. Ummm the RU251 engines names are correct??? i remember that in video the top engine was from PTA (i think the stock engine).

   Well, not bad at all i need research

   Tier 6: 1 turret+1 tracks+2 guns
   Tier 7: 1 turret+2 tracks+4 guns+1 engine
   Tier 8: 1 turret+3 tracks+1 gun+2 engine???+2 radio

   The only shit moment is going to be the M41 gun grinds… maybe i need buy 1 with free xp.

7. I can already see the Light T54 will be annoying as hell. I suspect it may even be more annoying than the regular T54 if it gets a nice Match up, as it had excellent armour for a LT and MUCH more more mobile than the T54, which is already very mobile.

   • it will have same MM as T-54 and lets face it, better mobility doesnt overcome the gun and armor compared to the regular T-54. That tank is useless, maybe it will be useful for strongholds, but on random, I see no reason to play it.

8. Looking good.

   The LTTB surprised me,I was not expecting anything special but right now it looks like a very strong tier 7 tank.
   The armor seems very good,and it has 31HP/ton,which enormous .The gun has very good penetration but indeed the gun depression is very bad.
   Overall,a tank that can reach its (pretty good) top speed very,very fast,that has armor to bounce even the heavy tank guns,equipped with a gun that has Heavy Tank penetration and medium tank DPM. Also it has above average view range and insane camo. value on the move.

   • Very much a light KV-13 in my eyes, except zippy.

   • My sentiments exactly – it’s nice that WG found niches for all the new light tanks, the RU ones will have armor, which can work in many situations, especially against other light tanks.

9. New German word for scouting: spähen :D [RU251]

10. All these tanks are still rubbish. the t8 ones are really t9 ones and if you compare them to t9 meds there no good. sure they’ll be a bit of fun for a while but the t54 light will not be better than the normal t54 so why bother with the light. (for example)

    • But they are much better than run actual scout in tier 10 battles.

      The interesting point now is how WG is going buff the WZ132 and the AMX13-90… more HP sure but … maybe more engine, top speed and gun stats improved???

      One point i dont like is the low HP in lights ammo rack… maybe WG could at least made lights inmune to ammo racking under certain % of shells in ammo rack.

      • “The interesting point now is how WG is going buff the WZ132 and the AMX13-90… more HP sure but … maybe more engine, top speed and gun stats improved???”

        my thoughts as well, poor AMX not going to be loved much. I may have to trade it in on something bit better

        • AMX 13 90 will still be a great choice for team battles, as it’s STILL the only tank with an auto-loader. It’s still a very fun tank to play, even with the new light tanks being introduced.

          What I’d like to see is how teams will implement the T49 into team battles, if they do at all. All in all, though, this is likely to be one of my favorite updates.

          • it is fun to play, but a slight buff to the reload time and some soft stats wouldn’t hurt. maybe to what it was like when it was first released?

      • WZ132 is fine. 13-90 is fine. They don’t need a buff.

        • 13 90 might be fine since it still has the autoloader going for it. wz-132 going to be totally outclassed if it stays the same.

11. I am disipointet whit 2nd gun on T49 (90mm),low pen :/
    I gona sta on Walker Buldog :)

    • Yeah me too – commod BAD sense of humour from WG- it should have at least 160… it’s tier 8 goddamnit !

      • I really hope that is a typo. As far as I know this is better version of USA 90mm guns and with HESH it should have better penetration. I’m hoping that SS made a typo and that it’s actually is 203mm.

        • Unfortunately, it’s not a typo and Silenstalker already mentioned it in his presentation of the T49, and he assumed that the 90mm M41 could be proposed as secondary gun choice.

12. WG, tell me one thing:
    why is that top SCOUTS have max viewrange 400m, while other classes of tanks, which said SCOUTS go against, have up to 420m max viewrange…?

    • Since you’re obviously refering to the Patton, I dont assume that all the other light tanks have that towering tumor of a cupola that makes it almost twice as tall as all the light tanks…

      • And the WaffenTräger Auf E100 also has 420m view range, but if patton has a tumor, then we shouldn’t even think of how to call the waffel’s turret…

        • And Leo 1 having 410m and half top tier tanks having 400m viewrange – which is the same as top SCOUTS. Not to mention *ing Caernarvon which is 8tier only and has same 400m too with top turret.
          What’s the point of scouts anyway, with such dumb stats balancing? When you have other classes that see at least as good as them, or even better…?

          • Light tanks also have significantly better camo than any of the medium tanks, or the waffle.

            It wouldn’t surprise me if they change the light tank meta from scouting to map control. That is, holding and maneuvering in large spaces of open ground that other tanks would be far to slow to pass through without getting slaughtered by snipers on the other team.

            • “Light tanks also have significantly better camo than any of the medium tanks, or the waffle.”

              This is exactly right. Light tanks retain 100% of their camouflage values on the move, while on any other type of tank it drops down to 50%. This is a huge plus on light tanks, meaning that they have a better time buzzing fields like Malinovka and the magic forest in Prokhorovka. They won’t get spotted as soon and they’ll disappear sooner.

            • light tanks do not get significantly better camo than mediums. it’s actually pretty stupid how close they are and the camo reduction while moving is not 50%.

              the object 416 has better camo than the wz-132 by over 7%!!!! and it only has 2% less camo than the wz-132 while moving.

13. Not sure I like T49′s 90mm credit round being the Hesh one. If I’m running that gun it’s cause I want the penetration the 152 doesn’t have, making me pay 3k credits for that per shot because they gave the normally-gold ammo type as the stock one feels shitty.

    • You would pay 3k or 4k for it if it was gold ammo, but it’s not so proboably about 1k per shot for HE.

      • I wasn’t referring to the 152 that has two credit rounds including HE and HEAT, I’m talking about how the 90 has fucking HESH of all things as its credit round instead of the 250 pen normal round which is why you would WANT to use the 90 in the first place. If that’s like 3k a shot it kind of kills the gun on the tank.

        • You don’t want a HEAT shell as a default shell in your gun in any circumstances..

          • Oh, and you want a 100 mm pen HE shell instead?

          • Is the 250 pen confirmed HEAT and not AP/APCR or something? Cause honestly I’d probably rather have 250 pen heat than 100 pen HESH. 100 Pen Hesh… it won’t be great. At least not unless they do the rumored HESH rework that makes it actually more effective on sloped armor.

            • Don’t be ‘rather convinced’ that 250 pen HEAT is better than 100 pen HESH. It is by a mile better. HESH has more issues than HEAT, it explodes on every contact, while HEAT >>may<< still penetrate through tracks or spaced armor.

14. Wait what? Did they remove the second 90 mm gun from the T49? Earlier it also had the 90 mm M41 available (already ingame as M48′s stock gun).

    • The 90 mm M41 is unhistorical as it was only a proposal irl (Would have been a much better gun for the tank though)
      http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/02/18/t49-light-tank-us-upcoming-tier-8/

      • Like half of the guns in the game.
        I want that gun :\

15. how about a comparison to the existing T8 lights?
    Me thinks they gonna get eaten by the new guys :(

16. T49 in short: goldspam or GTFO. No decent gun for it.

    • simply using standard HE on the 152mm should work fine

      • Or standard Heat. it has a heat credit shell.

17. I can see an increase in use of HESH shells.

18. 152 pen and 700 dmg is ok for such a mobile platform. Remember that Heat is default ammo for the 152mm of the T49.

19. Hum.. It’s me or the 76mm T91E5 on the US Tier 7 is totally broken?
    Because when I see what this gun does on T71 with a 6-drum, giving 4 more rounds to new LT+splendid aim time+more speed means both death of the T71 and an OP light. No?

    • I honestly see more people using the top gun when they get it. 10 round autoloader sounds nice, but it has 2 less depression and that brutal 30 second full reload. Assuming there’s about 2 seconds between a shot outside of that, and that you can prob get the top gun down to < 3s reload anyway and so have a tiny bit longer between shots (still way shorter than any medium or heavy) and never have to deal with the massive drum reload.

      Not to mention if you wanted to switch to gold for 2-3 shots, it would cost 30k if you fired them all cause it has to switch the entire drum.

      • The only tank where i like autoloader over the regular gun with better ROF is in Chi-Ri, the 3 shells+8 reload help a lot this big med to increase his performance.

        Out of this i allways prefer regular guns over revolvers because they adapt much better if you need load HE of prem round… something i do a lot in lights, maybe the class where i change more shell type i shot.

        • Personnally, with the 76mm autoloader, I never need to load HE and fly away instead of loading HEAT.
          I just find a spot where I can empty mu drum into a HT’s flanks. 700-900 dmgs is pretty nice.
          Now imagine doing this, without the too long aim time that makes you miss shots and add 700 dmgs to the burst.
          -1500 (to several ennemies). lol

          • 10 shell drum with 2s reload and 30s drum reload?
            65 shell rack with 3s reload and better soft stats?

            Autoloader will be obvious choice – for tomatoes…

            • Not nessesarily tomatoes. They just have different uses. You can can a large burst of damage in much quicker with autoloader, or do consistent damage slower. it’s up to you.

      • Burst damage is the thing that makes autoloaders so powerful. It does not matter, if the whole drum after that reloads 20, 30 or 45 seconds – you will come around the corner, plant your 10 shots in some juicy ass and move on into cover to reload. And if you meet another scout (which happens quite alot when driving scouts), you can easily oneclip your opponent and move on. That is what makes T71 and 13-90 so great and that is what will greatly help the M41 too!

        • You are thinking about that rare, neat opportunity to unload the 10 shell clip. What about all the other times? Besides both T71 and 13-90 dont have any other gun options. In case of M41 you will have an option to mount a better gun with only a tad longer shell reload.

        • You won’t often find yourself in a situation where you can unload your entire clip into someone without recieving 2-3 shells in return.

          Well, tomatoes like to trade shots with autoloaders like that.

          Tell me, when playing the AMX 50 120, how often do you get to unload all 4 shells in one go?

          10 shots is 18s or so… You will not expose yourself for that long in a LT and live to tell the tale. Trust me on this.

20. RU will have only one gun? – stock ? – NO GRIND ??? ??? ???

    • Ain’t it easier that way? You go straight for Leopard after that.

      • In the end is give you a worst gun… top gun in RU sure could be the stock in PTA… but well, none of the tier 8 scouts have a “super gun” out of tier 8 tanks.

        • to be fair that RU251 gun is pretty good for a tier 8 light. Taking DPM into account, its quite comparable to all the guns of T8 meds.

          • Not all… see 20 pounder and heavy guns.

            But yes, to be a light gun is good… but when you think what targets is going to meet RU… and how WG rework maps to made them more heavy friendly…

            • yeah, maps are going to be a problem. But otherwise i got no problem with this gun. You have to remember it has one of the highest DPM of any tier 8 tank which is not a TD.

          • Ffs, stop comparing T8 lights with T8 meds. T8 lights are not really T8s…

            Or better grind yourself a T8 light and come back after.

21. All of the non-Soviet tanks are petty much auto-pen for my WZ-132 still, only the Soviets present a challenge in the form of scout hunters… but really, Tier 9 mediums do it better anyhow, and German scouts for one have less camo than Soviet mediums most of the time.

22. Tanks do not have clips.
    Clip is not military technical hurr durr speak for magazine.
    I don’t know who started that, but it’s wrong.
    A real clip fed weapon is for example the M1 Garand rifle. You know. The thing that goes *PLING*, when you reload. You see the thing that gets pushed into the loading chamber of the rifle that holds the rounds?
    That’s a clip.
    Show me that this 90mm tank gun had a giant clip loading system and I take everything back.

    Autoloaded tank guns mostly utilize drums. Like the AMX 13 90 for example. Or as a more general term “container”.

    • Pure pedantry.

    • are you even serious.. these people..

23. I like how russkie has such a stronk armor for a light and still best HP/ton ratio. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

24. Why do they have the Commander as the Radio Operator?

    When I crewed the M41 Walker Bulldog the loader was the radio operator.

    And the commander has 9 skills while the loader has 7. By making a loader/operaor you can get some useful skills from the loader and the operator position.