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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Hello everyone,

since we now have the World Cup in Brazil, we might s well look at some of the Brazilian equipment – in this case, the AA guns and halftracks.

During the second half of the 30′s, the army of Brazil (Exército Brasileiro, EB) was in the state of alert. The situation in the world was deteriorating quickly and other South American armies purchasing new and modern weapons did put the Brazilian army superiority at risk. The reports on the desk of the Brazilian chief of staff talked about Chile and Argentina both recieving modern equipment and were pointing out the fact that Brazil was ill-prepared for a sudden enemy incursion. In this hypothetical scenario, in a conflict with its southern neighbors, Brazil could withstand the pressure only for a short time and within 40 days, the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul would be lost. One of the weakest links in the Brazilian army was the near total obsolescence of its artillery. That was why General Eurico Gaspar Dutra, who was also the minister of war in Getulio Vargas’ government, created a searching committee with the task of analysing various products of European countries and looking for new armaments for the Brazilian army.

Sdkfz 7 halftrack with MATRA mobile repair post

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Part I: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/06/26/french-armor-in-indochina-part-i/

Continued from part 1…

The wheel suspension did limit the French vehicles in their movement around Indochina a lot. After several incidents and minor clashes between the French and Viet Minh, the real fighting started on 23.11.1946 by heavy French shelling of the Haiphong port. After several days of fighting, on 19.12.1946, Viet Minh was pushed out of Hanoi. The Vietnamese retreated to the Viet Bac mountains, where they regrouped and from where they sporadically attacked French strongpoints. The French tried to crush the enemy forces by series of combined arms operations with the main forces consisting of elite airmobile units, the armored units providing cover from behind. Biggest such operation was called Lea – it was performed between 7.9. and 19.9.1947 at Bac Khan, where Ho Chi Minh’s HQ was allegedly located. “Uncle Ho” himself escaped only by sheer luck, the paratroopers almost captured him in his tent. The paratroopers were also given aid by two land columns and one unit was transported by river. These columns consisted of no less than 16 batallions, three of them armored. One armored column was advancing from Lang Son over Cao Bang – it made almost 200 kilometers before it was stopped on 13.9. 15km north from Bac Khan. In the end, due to their firepower advantage, the French forces managed to break through, but the escalation of the conflict first to the entire region of Vietnam and later to the entire peninsula posed a challenge for the French command.

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Hello everyone,

wondering how long will we still get to play the football mode? After all, the World Cup ends on 13.7.2014 with its finals, no? Check this out.

According to SEA server, the football mode will be here until “about next patch”

The EU missions end on Tuesday 15th of July, two days after the World Cup ends. So, does that mean we will get the next patch at that point?

Who knows. According to the Chinese leak, the Russians will get it a week later (21.7. or so), around the 15th it will be time for round 2 of the test. We’ll see, but it’s clear that unless something bad happens, we will see the 9.2 patch in the second half of July. Not that it’s that much to look forward to…