Hello everyone,

this post is sort of a continuation of the missions post I made yesterday. You don’t have to read that one first as I’ll be writing about something a bit different, but they are connected a bit. I hope that I don’t have to add that this is my personal perception of things only, if you aren’t interested in that, simply don’t read it :)

Let me start by writing that especially lately, the real world and the virtual one (internet, social networks and such) are connected more and more – examples are obvious: when applying for the job, the company HR will try to find you on Facebook and look into your comments (there have been numerous cases of job losses due to inappropriate FB comments) – or vice versa, when you interact with something in real life, it can have a “response” online (such as the discount FB check-in system). These elements are well known in the west – here, though, they are still uncommon (outside of the capital anyway). The interaction within the virtual world is there as well of course (“want to comment on site X? Use site Y login!”).

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Hello everyone,

today, we are going to talk about the Š-I-D (also known as T-32) and the Š-I-j (known as T-3D), first being a Czechoslovak self-propelled gun by Škoda (as far as I can tell, the only purely Czechoslovak SPG, that actually fought in the war and fired shots in anger) and the latter being its proposed upgrade, that made it into prototype stage.

Now, before we start, a word on nomenclature. There is a lot of confusion, when it comes to Š-I-D, because its name is usually being messed up in various way. Examples I have seen in existence are S-1-d, S-i-D, Š1-d and various others. Occasionally, the name was messed up even by Czechoslovak clerks and officers. The correct version is probably the Š-I-D, because the name means:

- Š: manufacturer Škoda (Praga vehicles begin with P)
- I: roman number 1, representing the lightest vehicle category (tankettes), (category II were essentially tanks, category III were breakthrough “heavy” tanks)
- D: “dělový” (gun tankette)

One important thing: Š-I-D and Š-I-d are NOT interchangeable. Š-I-d is Š-I-D’s refused prototype, there are differences between them (less armor, one less roadwheel, the gun). This is the prototype, Š-I-d:

And this is the Š-I-D:

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Source: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=502691.0

Thanks to player nufnuf for bringing this to my attention.

Hello everyone,

this is not something I understand to be honest, so I will be brief. There is a “World of Tanks” cryptocurrency going “live” in a few days, called Wotcoin. It is using World of Tanks logo and the person producing it is stating that it is “by gamers for gamers”, but… Wargaming has nothing to do with that. From what I gathered, the plan is basically for this person to act as a conversion house and buy gold from Wargaming for real money using gifts. How the hell would that work without them bleeding money I have no idea, but I am pretty sure it’s not solid business.

Furthermore, the cryptocurrency is using World of Tanks logo and I am pretty sure this is illegal, there will be probably some lawsuits and all that.

Generally speaking, I don’t understand cryptocurrencies and when I don’t understand something, I don’t trust it. Same goes for Bitcoin really. If you do know how it works and make money off it, good for you, guys. But I certainly won’t even try.

Hello everyone,

as you know, Russian supertesters can be sometimes encountered lately on EU server, testing the roaming feature. They usually use more exotic vehicles: we’ve seen the T95E6, Grosstraktor and now the SU-76I as well. Thanks to EiKarramba (who sent me the pictures) and Opop7 (who made them), much appreciated.

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Hello everyone,

so, I was playing World of Tanks bit more this weekend after some (usually I just log in for Clanwars to see whether I am needed or not) and I decided to run the missions, specifically, you know, the one where you gotta win 15 times to get some consumables or something. Did it on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was fine, but Sunday… it was like “I really don’t feel like doing it, but I am at 11/15, so I better finish it”. I am sure most of you had that feeling at one point or another. This feeling of frustration (doing something you don’t actually want to in order to accomplish something) only leads to bad gameplay (“let this battle be over with fast so I can have this done”).

Now, older players might remember time when there actually were no missions – compared to that, the current system definitely is a step in the right direction both for players (who get extra rewards) and for developers, because as you can see, missions under some circumstances keep players playing even if they don’t want to – and in some cases, the “only a few left to go” is transformed into more spending (“fuck it, I’m going to shoot gold for the rest of the mission”), which in turn obviously leads to increased profit for Wargaming (in some cases directly, in some indirectly via “aw shit I spent 500k on premium rounds, better buy premium account once my salary arrives”).

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Hello everyone,

if you are interested in tank history on a bit deeper level, you might have noticed that every nation had its share of really weird tank projects – things that, although probably started in good faith or with a reasonable idea in mind, turned out to be quite different from what their creators intended. Czechoslovakia was no different and in this case, the “honors” belong to the company called Tatra.

Pre-war Czechoslovak military industry was basically dominated by two competing companies: Škoda and ČKD (Praga). Tatra was always the “odd man out”. Famous for its trucks, its military division created armored cars mostly and only twice did Tatra venture into the tank territory. The first attempt to create a sort-of heavy tank (Tatra T-III – more like a breakthrough tank than heavy, weight-wise it was pretty much a medium) ended in a complete disaster and even the procurement staff, usually ignoring all sorts of flaws in vehicles, complained that this is too much.

Another attempt however was a more interesting (in a wacky way).

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Hello everyone,

as promised, here is the overview of this week’s FTR contributors. I value all your help equally, no matter how small, so I just want to thank you all once again.

Contributors

*nobody this week*

Please note that if you want your full real name or nickname listed, you have to write me your nickname (or your consent for full name publication) :)

You can also leave a message you want published.

Note: empty contributor review post is here just for the reference that I didn’t forget anyone or to post it

Source: wot-news.com

Hello everyone,

here are the tier 10 RU server statistics from wot-news for last 4 weeks. I am posting this, because some are quite surprising (Maus, Leopard, STB-1). Check this out:

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Author: sp15 (US server)

Part I: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/07/swedish-tanks-part-i-strv-m21-29/
Part II: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/03/12/swedish-tanks-part-ii-strv-m31-strv-fm31/

After it became clear that Sweden would not be interested in buying more of the L-10 or L-30 tanks, Landsverk people started to consider exporting their designs. Most would be unsuccessful, but they are interesting nonetheless, so let’s take a look at some of them.

Landsverk L-100

Landsverk had been working on several designs in late 20′s and early 30′s. One of these designs was a light tank, similiar to the German Panzer I. This was the L-100 light tank. It was first designed in 1930 alongside the L-10 and L-30. The vehicle was a 4,5 ton light tank, armed with either two machineguns or the 20mm Madsen autocannon and it had 9mm of armor. The first prototype was allegedly produced around 1934 and was essentially a thinned down version of the L-60 tank, that was currently under development. It seems likely that this first prototype was produced to test the new torsion bar suspension, planned to replace the earlier suspension used on Landsverk designs, such as the L-10.

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Source: http://yuripasholok.livejournal.com/2858031.html

Hello everyone,

Yuri Pasholok posted a nice summary of the Panzer III Ausf.J, standing in Kubinka. Let’s have a look at it.

It’s one of the most mass-produced models of Panzer III, the Ausf.J with 50mm L/60 gun. In Spring 1942, this version was renamed to Ausf.L. These vehicles formed the backbone of the German armored units in 1942 and it was this tank, that fought against Soviet KV’s and T-34′s. This took a heavy toll on them and to this day, only one Ausf.J with L/60 50mm survived, this one – and only because it was captured by the Soviets at some point in 1942.

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