Hello everyone,

this article will be the third and last in the pre-war Škoda and Praga light tank prototypes, following the Praga P-IIa and Praga P-IIb articles.

If you’ve read the P-IIb part, you might remember that the IIb category program didn’t end well, but let’s get back to the beginning. The Š-IIb light tank (sometimes incorrectly written as S-IIb or even Sh-IIb) came to be, just like its Praga counterpart, the P-IIb, as a result of the Czechoslovak army infantry tank competition. It was based on the requirements, set by the army in January 1935. The Š-IIb design works were started by the end of the same month and went parallel with the Š-IIa design, that would turn out to be the LT Vz.35 (or, as you know it, Panzer 35t), although the work on the Š-IIa was a bit ahead and went faster. The Š-IIa prototype was tested in June 1935 and its design influenced the Š-IIb as well, with modifications being made on the suspension of both designs.

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Source: http://worldoftanks.ru/ru/news/12/super_pershing_history/
Author: Andrey Upanov, pictures provided by Pyotr Bityukov

Hello everyone,

Russian server had this nice article about the Super Pershing tank and its development by a Russian historian Andrey Upanov. Thought it might be a good idea to actually translate it. By the way, the article is partially based on Belton Cooper’s Death Traps, an infamous book, responsible for several of the nastiest American tank myths (“Shermans burned all the time”, “You needed 5 Shermans to kill one Panther”, “Sherman was a really bad tank” and others), so… I hope the author took this into account.

Enjoy!

In December 1942, the Americans, who fought the Afrika Korps in Tunisia, first encountered the new German armored “beast” by the name of Tiger. After examining the holes that the 88mm gun of the German tank left in the Shermans and Stuarts and finding out about the practical effectiveness of such a gun, the Americans requested their command to give them a vehicle with similiar characteristics.

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Source: http://worldoftanks.ru/ru/news/1/fortifications_first_details/

Hello everyone,

yesterday, some new info appeared on the Russian server about the Stronkhold mode. It wasn’t translated on the EU server (too much work I suppose), but don’t worry. It’s practically identical to the earlier leaked info, confirming its validity. I will be reposting the content, that appeared in this “new” official post, so there is no confusion. There are some new bits of information too. Stronkhold mode is planned for patch 9.2.

Edit: replaced the text with the official version from the ASIA server

«Strongholds» — is a new mode designed for clan members. It is readily available in the client and has no connection to Global War or any activities on the Global Map. “Strongholds” represents clan property consisting of a virtual military base, directions that it may be approached from, and auxiliary buildings. Clan commanders may create “Strongholds” for free.

Please keep in mind, that strongholds can only be created by clans with at least 20 members.

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Hello everyone,

this info comes from an anonymous friend, who works for the Chinese Kongzhong company, the partner of Wargaming in China. Currently, the time schedule for patch 9.2 is as such:

Supertest #1: 26.06.2014 (or 25.6.2014, unclear)
Public test #1: 01.07.2014 (or a day earlier)
Public test #2: 10.07.2014 (or a day earlier)
9.2 live on RU server: 21.07.2014

9.2 content according to China:
- stronkhold mode
- something called “realistic ricochet” (not sure what that could be)
- new historical battles

Source: Der Spiegel Online, article “Aufmarsch der Gummiarmee” by Christoph Gunkel (20.4.2010)

Originally sent to me and translated by Muff99 (EU server), thank you

Video: (English) http://www.spiegel.de/video/video-1061212.html

After D-Day, a top-secret U.S. special unit went to war without any protection but inflatable tanks and trucks to lay traps for the Wehrmacht.

Even today this “ghost army” is still a mystery: Did they rescue tens of thousands of lives – or did they fool their own troops?

The two French civilians could not believe their eyes. In September 1944, they were stopped by U.S. soldiers at the border to Luxembourg. The GIs asked suspiciously what they wanted here, but the French hardly listened. For what they saw behind the patrol, left them speechless:

Four U.S. soldiers walked towards a Sherman tank, bent down, lifted the tank effortles, turned it around and put it down again.

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Thanks to plkJaqenHghar for this one – taken from Reddit discussion

Hello everyone,

a new set of Nvidia drivers is out and it is claimed that they improve the performance of World of Tanks slightly (3-5 FPS or so). Wanna give it a try? Download the newest drivers on the Nvidia page – and let us know whether it worked (some players reported improvement, some did not).

Hello everyone,

US player aCrazyShrineMaiden (NA server obviously) recently took a trip to Japan, where he visited the JGSDF (Japanese army) Public Information Center (otherwise known as the “Rikkun Land”, located in the Asaka Camp). He took some pictures of the vehicles there, wrote the descriptions and decided to share it with us. Enjoy!

Type 74

The Type 74, otherwise known in Japan as the（ななよんしきせんしゃ）７４式戦車、was built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to replace the Type 61. Its crew consisted of four people. In addition, its armament consisted of three weapons, the 105mm main gun, a 12.7 mm machine gun, and a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun. Its maximum speed was around 53 k.p.h and was able to withstand a cruising range of 300 kilometers. The first prototype of the Type 74 was designated the STB-1. The auto loader developed for the STB-1 proved to be too complicated and expensive and was removed along with the remote controlled anti-aircraft machine gun. The turret was also changed, becoming longer. All these changes resulted in the STB-3. The final prototype designated the STB-6 and production finally started as the Type 74.

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Hello everyone,

okay, this is an issue, that I’ve been wondering for a while now. Why is it that WG EU content department churns out so little? Let me show you what I mean. First, we are going to have a look at the Russian World of Tanks portal.

Five posts only yesterday? But wait, there’s more (Billy Mays mode engaged)!

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