Here is the Wolfpack screenshot from last night (google cache):
It was not to last, however. I am not sure when, but some time last night, the discount was changed from 50 percent to 30 percent without any warning (allegedly, even without changing the news themselves, so some players bought the vehicles 30 percent off, when in fact they were expecting 50 percent off). First reaction of this type came at 7:22 AM this morning, so they did it in the night, without any warning whatsoever. Furthermore, they didn’t even bother to change the official even text before that, so players kept being confused.
At first, players thought it is actually a shop price mistake, only to learn later that the event was “nerfed”.
Naturally a shitstorm happened, with various people asking for refunds, others raging about WG cheating, others posted kinda funny pictures:
In the end, Aodheus at least offered a refund to those “affected” by this, but the shitstorm (that could have easily be avoided, if WG EU people bothered to actually doublecheck stuff on their events) is raging even as I write this.
basically, yesterday evening I was scouring books for some information about the leaked LTP light tank. While I didn’t find anything exact, Ensign_Expendable (you know, the awesome guy who writes about Soviet tanks on FTR and on his blog) has some theories, we’ll get back to it later.
In the meanwhile, I found something interesting as well. In the beginning, there was this picture:
At first I was like “Okay, there is something weird about that Vickers/T-26″. After a few seconds, it did hit me – it’s the suspension. The original T-26 looks like this:
As you can see, it’s a bit different. So, what IS the first suspension (since the second picture shows the “original” suspension)? Well, the answer was somewhat surprising.
Czech-Soviet cooperation
In 1938, the Soviet army asked the Czech Škoda company (by that time well-known for its LT-35 tank, internal company designation Š-IIa, the players of WoT know it under the name of Panzer 35t) was asked by the Soviet army to demonstrate their Š-IIa tanks to a committee of soliders and engineers. Škoda, eager to export the (somewhat aging, yet still viable) design, complied.
The trials of two Š-IIa vehicles (a serial LT-35 and a prototype) were conducted (under the Czechoslovak army representative’s oversight) on Kubinka proving grounds from 14.9.1938 onward. The results were good: the vehicle was relatively fast (36km/h on the road, 32,4 km/h off road) and it did well when its ability to break walls, trees and passing various obstacles was tested. Its fuel consumption was also relatively moderate – during the trials (lasting cca 3 weeks), one vehicle drove cca 1500km in total, while consuming 1947 liters of gasoline (130 liters per 100 km on average, while Soviet Union’s T-26 tank “drank” 130-190 liters per 100 km (depending on surface)). The Czechoslovak army officials even permitted the Soviets to shoot one of the light tanks from a heavy machinegun – only minor damage is caused. It was also found out that when shooting directly at vision ports, the protection of the crew was sufficient.
But the best part was: unlike with Soviet tanks, medical examination of the crew proved that even after 8 hours of driving this tank, the crew fatigue was very, very low – the tank was easy to drive, easy to handle and comfortable (a trait even the Germans and their allies praised when Czechoslovakia was occupied).
Here’s how the LT-35 suspension looks like, for comparison:
The Soviets examined the tank very closely – for example, they demanded to measure EVERYTHING, down to milimeters. They also demanded the engineers to “demonstrate” the tank maintenance by removing and dismantling the engine and transmission components. At that point, the Czech army staff got really suspicious that the Soviets are not trying to evaluate the vehicle for purchase – they are in fact trying to basically copy some of its components. After that, the trials quickly deteriorated, the Czech staff forced the Soviet engineers to destroy any such “notes” with exact measures/numbers and the delegation went home, along with the prototypes.
Further tests were agreed upon (including comparative tests between Soviet and Czech vehicles), but after the Munich treason, nothing came of it.
But that was not the end for the Soviets. They liked the Škoda suspension. They liked it in fact so much that they decided to copy it, no matter what. Many Soviet engineers and tank designers studied the test results, including some drawings that were left (some were even present during the tests themselves before) – the result was, that the design bureau of the Leningrad Kirov Plant No.185 (in cooperation with Plant 174) designed several Soviet tank modifications and designs, based on the T-26 tanks.
Here’s a timeline of the vehicle development, based on Jiří Tintěra’s work from the valka.cz server (will be quoted in sources):
T-26M
As can be seen from the table above, the T-26M was based on T-26-1, which is better known as “T-26 mod. 1939″. The first picture of this article (that caught my attention), represents exactly this vehicle. When you compare the LT-35 and T-26M suspensions, you can see clear similiarities.
T-26M was built as a prototype in the Leningrad plant No.185 (as mentioned before) in 1939, under the guidance of Semyon Ginzburg (who was later stripped of his chief designer position for the failures of the initial SU-76 design and sent to the front, where he died in 1943). Apparently, 2 prototypes were made, but it was never accepted in service. Unlike the T-26 mod.1939, it was propelled by a 97hp Vickers engine, it was less armored (15mm frontal armor), but it was a bit faster (30km/h, compared to 28km/h of the original). The 45mm armament recieved was the same.
T-26-5
The T-26-5 (project name “Project 126″) was further developed on the T-26M in 1939 in the Plant No.1985 by the same team, led by S.Ginzburg. It was never accepted in service and an unknown number of prototypes (at least one however) was made.
Compared to the T-26M, it was higher, but narrower (by cca 20cm). It had its armor improved to the T-26 Mod.1939, even surpassing it at some points (20-25mm frontal armor), it was also tested with two stronger engines: the gasoline Type 745 I6 (130-150hp) and the diesel Type 744 I4 (130-180hp). The armament remained the same. The effect on the weight and speed of these modifications is unknown.
T-126-1
T-126-1 (“Project 126-1″ designation) is the ultimate evolution of the “Škoda” T-26 series, made by the same team to design the previous vehicles, this time in cooperation with the Voroshilov Plant No.174 in Leningrad. It was made probably in 3 prototypes between 1939-1940. It was basically a redesignated T-26-5, with some partial modifications. This time, only the diesel engine was selected for trials (Type 744, producing 130-180hp). The armor was increased once again, reaching up to 40-45mm (this is including the “screen” armor one of the prototypes had added, the “regular armor was 30-40mm thick). This of course increased the weight of the vehicle, reaching up to 14 tons.
This project also never entered service. By the time these were built, the war was looming ahead and it can be speculated that (as was the case of other Soviet designs, the T-34M in particular) existing mass produced types were preferred in order to simplify and increase the production as much as possible.
T-125
There was one more project with the Škoda suspension, this time by the Voroshilov plant No.174. It was designed by the chief plant designer, F.A.Mostovoy in 1939 to 1940. No prototype was ever built however.
It was supposed to be a 13 ton tank, powered by the aforementioned Type 744 diesel (tuned to 180hp), it was supposed to be lower, but wider and longer vehicle with 40mm frontal armor, armed with the same 45mm gun as the other tanks. The tracks were also wider (400mm, compared to the 350mm of all the other T-26 “Škoda” models), giving it better mobility.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find and drawing thereof.
Source: Jiří Tintěra – T-26M,T-26-5, T-126-1 via valka.cz
Basically, US server gets its own missions now. And they are pretty cool!
Mission 1 (repeatable):
If you kill 3 tanks, you get a bonus of (100*yourvehicletier) XP (eg. a Ferdinand would get 800XP) AND you get a bonus of (5000*yourvehicletier) credits. (ergo for 3 kills, a Ferdinand will get an 800XP and 40000 credits bonus)
That’s not bad :)
But there’s more. In July, more missions will come:
- 20 percent more XP and 30 percent more credits for the tank that does the most damage for each team (SS: sucks compared to the RU event, but still, good)
- destroy a vehicle of each nation (once per day) and get 1 of each gold consumables
- destroy 20 T4+ medium tanks and get a day of premium account (one time only)
And in the future, there will even be SETS of missions with their own rewards (“complete mission 1, 2, 3 and get some bonus”) and special weekly missions. Not bad, not bad…
Just a quick post about the preliminary comparison of both vehicles (keep in mind though that MT-25 will be tier 6):
Current T-50-2 / MT-25
Hitpoints: 560/570
Weight: 14,7/25,82
Engine: 550hp/600hp
Hp/T: 37,4/23,23 (major nerf here, we can expect slower acceleration)
Traverse: 38/48 (major buff, we can expect more maneuverability)
Maximum speed: 72/72
Hull armor: (37/37/37)/(45/40/40) (minor buff)
Turret armor: (45/40/40)/(45/45/45) (minor buff)
Shell damage for top gun: 85/85 (same)
Shell penetration for top gun: 112/112 (same)
If the gun is the same, we can expect:
Dam: 85/85/95
Pen: 112/189/29
Acc: 0.34
Aim: 2,3s
We can expect something not as quickly accelerating (thus reducing the motorbike effect), but somewhat more maneuverable. On flat ground, it’ll be even more motor-bike like, but on slopes it will have more problems due to the lower hp/t, it will possibly be a bit more challenging to play. The weaponry and armor practically remains the same – the difference here is: T-50-2 armor could be “double-overmatched” (improved normalisation) by 75mm guns, while MT-25′s armor will have that for 88-90mm guns only. Thus, we can argue MT-25 will be a bit more tougher than the small armor upgrade would suggest. The weaponry remains the same, with a slight buff in RPM. Overall, it will be an interesting and maneuverable tank, with roughly the same properties as the T-50-2.
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)
