Source: http://world-of-tanks.livejournal.com/5363413.html

Thanks to Tutmary for this one. Please note that this post is NOT an invitation for Ukraine/Russia bashing, more like an interesting insight into the life in eastern Ukraine. It was written by a guy living in Slavyansk, I am sure you heard that name on the news in last months. It’s called “Thank you, WoT”, the link is above.

Here’s what it says:

“I live in Slavyansk, we got our water pipes bombed, that’s why you have to go to a water pump to get water (there, they pour water to anyone who wishes). I wanted to go out to get water, but decided to run a few battles (I am grinding E75) and while I was playing, shelling started. After the shelling stopped, I went out to get water and saw the water pump stand. The windows were broken, the stand was blown up. If I had been there at that moment, a shell might have fallen on me. But two losses on E75 saved my health. Thanks to you, WoT, and that’s no joke. Play tanks, friends!”

The comments are interesting as well, basically a city where internet works just fine but the water distribution got destroyed – the author himself notes that it’s just a weird situation. His grandmother apparently broke a leg, that’s why they did not escape from the besieged city. The life in the entire Ukraine is currently weird, it influences Edrard (FTR webmaster) personally as well. Let’s hope the entire situation calms down soon.

Hello everyone,

about two months ago, I published a shorter post about the M24 Chaffee at Dien Bien Phu by CounterMAN. The article didn’t focus that much on the battle as it did on the vehicle itself, but today, we are going to have a look at the Dien Bien Phu a bit closer.

Dien Bien Phu is probably the best known battle in the series of post-WW2 wars, that marked the dissolution of the former colonial empires of France and Britain. For France, it was the decisive turning point of the entire conflict in Indochina, from which, despite the fighting going on, the French far east army was never able to recover. Amongst those who battled and fell at Dien Bien Phu were the crews of several M24 Chaffee tanks, often fighting against tremendous odds.

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Hello everyone,

several players have recently reported a bug on the M3 Lee roadwheels, so I decided to investigate. I actually did not find anything wrong with it on my client, but player Panzer1600v2 sent me this video (he just sent the link to the file, so I uploaded it on Youtube). The fifth roadwheel on the left side does look kinda “shaky” – are you experiencing this issue as well with the Lee? Or perhaps on other tanks?

Thanks to Maiorboltach once again for this piece of news. Rob Carroll is one of the producers of WoT Blitz (one of the “you never heard about this guy before and you probably won’t again” people), but recently, in San Francisco, he gave an interview to News 10 network.

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Source: http://world-of-ru.livejournal.com/3365886.html

Hello everyone,

Wargaming decided to invest in the Wickr platform. For those who never heard of it before, Wickr is a messenger system and its distinctive feature is the fact that it uses heavy encryption to provide secure communication. From Wickr’s report:

Both Wargaming and Wickr put data privacy and security first and continually improve the quality of products they deliver globally.“We support a multimillion community of gamers and are committed to providing them with secure and reliable services”, said Andrei Yarantsau, the EVP of Publishing a t Wargaming, a leading free-to-play developer and publisher. “This partnership allows us to work closely together, combine the Wickr’s expertise in messaging technologies with Wargaming’s knowledge of gaming community, and open up a lot of strategic opport unities for both companies.

Wickr managed to raise 30 million USD from Wargaming and other investors. Other investors include Breyer Capital, CME Group (an encrypted messenger is very interesting for banking services), Juniper Networks, The Knight Foundation and Riverwood.

….just a random video I found kinda funny – WoT as GTA :)

PS: Asya is prettier than Olga!

Hello everyone,

yesterday, another mod was added to the Russian list of banned mods (in order to display it, you have to be registered on RU forums) – permanent silhouette mod.

So, what does it do?

Basically, it’s a script, that permanently enables the enemy tank silhouette, as seen above. It is very useful in for example shooting over various obstacles, walls, bushes and such. It’s reasonable to expect that this mode will be considered banned on other servers as well.

Hello everyone,

this morning, first pictures of the upcoming American light branch (coming in 9.3, unless something changes) were leaked, starting with the new tier 6 T37 light tank. Now, we are going to have a look at this interesting piece of engineering, its history and historical performance.

Ever since 1945, the US Army started to look for its new future light tank. Sure, there was the Chaffee, but the army was looking for something that would pack a bigger punch. The production of the Chaffee ended in August 1945 with roughly 4.7k made (in the future, they would scatter all over the world, sold to US-friendly countries). Meanwhile, between January and November 1945, an army equipment committee convened twice, each time recommending a new tank development. In the eyes of the committee, this new light tank should have better firepower and mobility than the M24 and should be armed with a 76mm (3in) gun, capable of penetrating 127mm of armor (5in), sloped at 30 degrees at 914 meters (1000 yards). The vehicle was to weigh 25 tons.

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Hello everyone,

today is a date that I think is worth remembering. A hundred years ago, on 28.6.1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, countess Sophie Chotek, were shot by a Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, sparking one of the worst conflicts in human history, First World War.

World War Two is undeniably the largest conflict ever fought and it was no doubt a terrible war, but there is something deeply fascinating and disturbing about the terrible battlefields of Flandres and France, with their muddy bleak terrain, raked by mechinegun fire and artillery explosions. First World War also gave birth to or saw the spread of many modern technologies and weapons (such as fighter aircraft, bombers or tanks), a lasting legacy we can feel even today.

For us, World of Tanks players, the development of a tank is definitely the most important aspect of the Great War – it is hard to imagine the dread of the German soldiers, seeing the lumbering monsters for the first time in their lives.

The truth of course was far less dreadful – first tanks were slow, extremely difficult to operate and of limited use. But as the war went on, these machines became refined and deadly, resulting in the legendary FT-17, the great-grandfather of all the modern tanks, first tank to use the “classic” setup with a turret.

An interesting set of WW1 photos can be found here, courtesy of Piroman.

Hello everyone,

as you know now, the American light tanks (T5: Chaffee, T6: T37, T7: M41, T8: T49) are coming in 9.3 (hopefully, they were postponed like a bazillion times in the past). First models are making it to the supertest. This is the tier 6, T37 light tank. The top turret you see in this case is apparently the elite one (T41, this would later on become the Walker Bulldog).

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