Source: http://www.gamer.ru/news/gas-powered-games-rabotaet-nad-f2p-mmo-dlya-wargaming-net (via wot-news.com)
As some of you know, Wargaming recently (few months back) acquired the Gas Powered Games studio, led by the known game designer Chris Taylor. What it meant was that their prepared game called Wildman was basically scrapped and currently, Chris Taylor revealed his studio is working on a "big free-to-play MMO under the Wargaming name" - so it's probably not any of the studio's previous franchises. It means that GPG get to develop their own separate project and won't be participating on the currently running ones.
Currently, people who left the studio during its unsuccessful Kickstarter attempt to finance the Wildman are returning - plus GPG is hiring additional people. The game is apparently developed for PC and Chris Taylor says he's not sorry he's not independent anymore, as GPG and WG have a lot in common (V. Kislyi, WG CEO loves Chris Taylor's Total Annihilation).
Jumat, 22 Maret 2013
Soundtrack and Voiceover
Hello everyone,
as you might have heard, Russian WoT client recieved a special voiceover, made by Russian popular actors (sorry, I have no idea who they are and I have most likely never seen any movie with them). With that in mind, I have a few questions for you, my dear readers.
Just a quick summary of the unrelated previous poll though: most players (unsurprisingly) prefer historical realism in vehicles, combined with reasonable balance. Makes sense and that was my choice too. Back to the sound then:
Voiceover
Do you play with sounds on? If so, would you actually like a voiceover done by a famous actor? I am now speaking about the English localisation (I am sure each European country has famous actors of their own, but the other nations probably don't know them). So, which actor could you imagine as the WoT voice?
Music
A new poll is up. What music do you listen to, when you play WoT? Please, vote, comment under this post - and if you want to, add some examples (for example from Youtube) of what you listen to. I am rather curious, what most players listen to. As for the music itself, I am not an expert, sorry - in case I forgot some genre, just write a comment. Oh, and you can vote for more answers than just one.
Personally, I listen to AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Mark Knopfler (the new album is brilliant), Rush (totally addicted to 2112), Czech country and folk music, Irish and Scottish folk and ballads, Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi rocks.... on occasion :) )
as you might have heard, Russian WoT client recieved a special voiceover, made by Russian popular actors (sorry, I have no idea who they are and I have most likely never seen any movie with them). With that in mind, I have a few questions for you, my dear readers.
Just a quick summary of the unrelated previous poll though: most players (unsurprisingly) prefer historical realism in vehicles, combined with reasonable balance. Makes sense and that was my choice too. Back to the sound then:
Voiceover
Do you play with sounds on? If so, would you actually like a voiceover done by a famous actor? I am now speaking about the English localisation (I am sure each European country has famous actors of their own, but the other nations probably don't know them). So, which actor could you imagine as the WoT voice?
Music
A new poll is up. What music do you listen to, when you play WoT? Please, vote, comment under this post - and if you want to, add some examples (for example from Youtube) of what you listen to. I am rather curious, what most players listen to. As for the music itself, I am not an expert, sorry - in case I forgot some genre, just write a comment. Oh, and you can vote for more answers than just one.
Personally, I listen to AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Mark Knopfler (the new album is brilliant), Rush (totally addicted to 2112), Czech country and folk music, Irish and Scottish folk and ballads, Bon Jovi (Bon Jovi rocks.... on occasion :) )
22.3.2013
- Q: "Storm, is the test coming?" A: "Winter is coming..."
- the bug where the two aim crosses (one aimed by the player, one where the gun aims) sometimes don't combine properly (notable on Redshire) is known, it's being solved
- for now, the player chat command "I'm under fire" is not planned
- tier 2 premium tank destroyers and arties are apparently not planned, as all of them were special-purpose vehicles with only a narrow use
- US/German actor voiceover is not planned for now (SS: to explain - Russian client of the game will get a Russian voiceover made by local famous actors)
- voiceover with developer voices is also not planned :)
- gold shells: the fact that some tanks have very useful gold shells (SS: 105mm T5 derp) while others have completely useless gold shells compared to the regular ammo (SS: Mk103 or the 7,92mm gold ammo comes to mind) is not viewed as a problem by the devs
- players will be able to switch the client physics (havok) off, it won't increase the size of the client, it will contain realistic destruction of objects and buildings, the independent suspension (each wheel reacts to the surface realistically) and small objects on the tank (antennae, boxes) behaving according to physics
- the turret flying off after the vehicle destruction will be handled server-wise, the realistic destruction of tracks (pieces flying off) will most likely be also implemented, the tools (spades etc.) installed on the tank flying off are also possible, but not guaranteed
- the client won't be stressed more with the introduction of client physics (Storm's reaction on the question: *facepalm*)
- devs have not considered increasing TK penalty for each additional subsequent shot
- two sniper medals in a battle won't be implemented
- Storm has not read the Song of Fire and Ice, but he likes the Game of Thrones TV series a lot
- really big maps are planned for distant future
- a shell that penetrated the tank and killed a crewmember will continue flying, it might damage additional module
- a shell that penetrated the tank and did hit an already dead crewmember hitbox will also continue flying and it might damage additional module
- female voiceover for tanks was not considered
- the bug where the two aim crosses (one aimed by the player, one where the gun aims) sometimes don't combine properly (notable on Redshire) is known, it's being solved
- for now, the player chat command "I'm under fire" is not planned
- tier 2 premium tank destroyers and arties are apparently not planned, as all of them were special-purpose vehicles with only a narrow use
- US/German actor voiceover is not planned for now (SS: to explain - Russian client of the game will get a Russian voiceover made by local famous actors)
- voiceover with developer voices is also not planned :)
- gold shells: the fact that some tanks have very useful gold shells (SS: 105mm T5 derp) while others have completely useless gold shells compared to the regular ammo (SS: Mk103 or the 7,92mm gold ammo comes to mind) is not viewed as a problem by the devs
- players will be able to switch the client physics (havok) off, it won't increase the size of the client, it will contain realistic destruction of objects and buildings, the independent suspension (each wheel reacts to the surface realistically) and small objects on the tank (antennae, boxes) behaving according to physics
- the turret flying off after the vehicle destruction will be handled server-wise, the realistic destruction of tracks (pieces flying off) will most likely be also implemented, the tools (spades etc.) installed on the tank flying off are also possible, but not guaranteed
- the client won't be stressed more with the introduction of client physics (Storm's reaction on the question: *facepalm*)
- devs have not considered increasing TK penalty for each additional subsequent shot
- two sniper medals in a battle won't be implemented
- Storm has not read the Song of Fire and Ice, but he likes the Game of Thrones TV series a lot
- really big maps are planned for distant future
- a shell that penetrated the tank and killed a crewmember will continue flying, it might damage additional module
- a shell that penetrated the tank and did hit an already dead crewmember hitbox will also continue flying and it might damage additional module
- female voiceover for tanks was not considered
ZIK-20 (possible premium Soviet TD?)
Author: Yuri Pasholok
Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/105289.html
http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/174561.html
On 15.4.1942, on a general meeting of all the members of the Artillery directorate of the Red Army (Артком ГАУ КА), several self-propelled gun projects were accepted. One of them was a heavy bunker destroyer, built on KV chassis, equipped with the 152mm BR-2 gun.
Since the authors of the project couldn't get their hands on such a vehicle, it was instead decided to use the KV-7 platform and the 152mm ML-20 howitzer. As a parellel project, in spring 1942, works began on a similiar vehicle in Factory No.8 under the leadership of F.F.Petrov. The chief designer of the SPG project - now designated as ZIK-20 - became T.A.Sandler (he already was the general chief designer of the Factory No.8). The project documentation was ready in September, 1942.
At that point, the designers became somewhat confused as to what exactly a "KV-7" is. In their mind, any KV model with fixed casemate was designated KV-7 and they basically managed to scrape 20 such hulls to work with. The ML-20 howitzer was also changed significantly and the re-worked gun itself recieved the ZIK-20 designation. The biggest change was the absent muzzle brake.
Eventually, after a discussion within the technological committee of the artillery directorate, several changes were made and a permission was given to manufacture a full-sized mockup. However, when the mock-up was ready, the project became kinda obsolete, as was the original KV-1 hull. KV-1S became the new platform for the project. Also, the vehicle was supposed to weight 53 tons and there were serious doubts about the reliability of the drivetrain (it would apparently be overloaded by the weight). The whole project was transferred to Chelyabinsk and eventually dropped.
There were other projects undertaken in the Factory No.8 under F.F.Petrov. 7 projects were made in total, of 2 a prototype chassis (SS: or metallic mockup, unclear) was built and one of them had a gun installed, the 152mm D-1. Amongst them, a project was concieved - when F.F.Petrov was working on the ZIK-20, a thought came to him that the chassis could carry even a bigger gun - and so he made a project where he replaced the ZIK-20 gun with the BR-2.
He wrote rather optimistically about it. The ZIK-20 gun was to be replaced by the 152mm BR-2 gun on the same carriage in a fixed casemate. He noted that the BR-2 gun would fit the ML-20 mount. An armor steel muzzle brake was to be fitted also. The cast steel breech however would have to be re-worked, the recoil brake was more or less compatible (one part had to be adjusted). The vehicle would have following characteristics:
Caliber - 152mm
Shell weight - 49kg
Muzzle velocity - 880 m/s
Type of loading - two-piece shells, the shell and the artillery cartridge
Weight:
On KV-1 platform - 55 tons
On KV-1S platform - 48 tons
Amount of shells carried: 40-47 pieces
Armor thickness:
Frontal - KV platform - 75mm, KV-1S platform - 60mm
Side - KV platform - 75mm, KV-1S platform - 60mm
Superstructure - KV platform - 75mm
Vertical gun range: +/-5 degrees
Elevation, depression: +15, -3 degrees
Barrel overlap length beyond the shape of the tank: 3000mm
Line of fire height: 2206mm
According to the constructor, the vehicle with the BR-2 is different compared to the ML-20 mount, and the installation is not without problems, but the gun is twice as powerful as the ML-20. The length of the barrel (including the muzzle brake) was 8000mm (L/52) - it was a massive beast and the designer does mention potential difficulties when aiming such a monster. Furthermore, F.F.Petrov stated that since the 152mm BR-2 shares the same mount and the recoil compensator with the 203mm howitzer, it's possible to potentially refit the vehicle with the 203mm U-3 howitzer.
This project (just as the original ZIK-20) never moved forward, but according to Y.Pasholok, it started a series of efforts to refit the SU-152 with something bigger, an idea that would stay around for quite a while.
Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/105289.html
http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/174561.html
On 15.4.1942, on a general meeting of all the members of the Artillery directorate of the Red Army (Артком ГАУ КА), several self-propelled gun projects were accepted. One of them was a heavy bunker destroyer, built on KV chassis, equipped with the 152mm BR-2 gun.
Since the authors of the project couldn't get their hands on such a vehicle, it was instead decided to use the KV-7 platform and the 152mm ML-20 howitzer. As a parellel project, in spring 1942, works began on a similiar vehicle in Factory No.8 under the leadership of F.F.Petrov. The chief designer of the SPG project - now designated as ZIK-20 - became T.A.Sandler (he already was the general chief designer of the Factory No.8). The project documentation was ready in September, 1942.
At that point, the designers became somewhat confused as to what exactly a "KV-7" is. In their mind, any KV model with fixed casemate was designated KV-7 and they basically managed to scrape 20 such hulls to work with. The ML-20 howitzer was also changed significantly and the re-worked gun itself recieved the ZIK-20 designation. The biggest change was the absent muzzle brake.
Eventually, after a discussion within the technological committee of the artillery directorate, several changes were made and a permission was given to manufacture a full-sized mockup. However, when the mock-up was ready, the project became kinda obsolete, as was the original KV-1 hull. KV-1S became the new platform for the project. Also, the vehicle was supposed to weight 53 tons and there were serious doubts about the reliability of the drivetrain (it would apparently be overloaded by the weight). The whole project was transferred to Chelyabinsk and eventually dropped.
There were other projects undertaken in the Factory No.8 under F.F.Petrov. 7 projects were made in total, of 2 a prototype chassis (SS: or metallic mockup, unclear) was built and one of them had a gun installed, the 152mm D-1. Amongst them, a project was concieved - when F.F.Petrov was working on the ZIK-20, a thought came to him that the chassis could carry even a bigger gun - and so he made a project where he replaced the ZIK-20 gun with the BR-2.
He wrote rather optimistically about it. The ZIK-20 gun was to be replaced by the 152mm BR-2 gun on the same carriage in a fixed casemate. He noted that the BR-2 gun would fit the ML-20 mount. An armor steel muzzle brake was to be fitted also. The cast steel breech however would have to be re-worked, the recoil brake was more or less compatible (one part had to be adjusted). The vehicle would have following characteristics:
Caliber - 152mm
Shell weight - 49kg
Muzzle velocity - 880 m/s
Type of loading - two-piece shells, the shell and the artillery cartridge
Weight:
On KV-1 platform - 55 tons
On KV-1S platform - 48 tons
Amount of shells carried: 40-47 pieces
Armor thickness:
Frontal - KV platform - 75mm, KV-1S platform - 60mm
Side - KV platform - 75mm, KV-1S platform - 60mm
Superstructure - KV platform - 75mm
Vertical gun range: +/-5 degrees
Elevation, depression: +15, -3 degrees
Barrel overlap length beyond the shape of the tank: 3000mm
Line of fire height: 2206mm
According to the constructor, the vehicle with the BR-2 is different compared to the ML-20 mount, and the installation is not without problems, but the gun is twice as powerful as the ML-20. The length of the barrel (including the muzzle brake) was 8000mm (L/52) - it was a massive beast and the designer does mention potential difficulties when aiming such a monster. Furthermore, F.F.Petrov stated that since the 152mm BR-2 shares the same mount and the recoil compensator with the 203mm howitzer, it's possible to potentially refit the vehicle with the 203mm U-3 howitzer.
This project (just as the original ZIK-20) never moved forward, but according to Y.Pasholok, it started a series of efforts to refit the SU-152 with something bigger, an idea that would stay around for quite a while.
Kamis, 21 Maret 2013
A2 Studios' International Cricket 2013 Patch for EA Sports Cricket 2007 - Logo Unveild
Dear Fans,
As you know we are working on two new patches of the year 2013 (International Cricket 2013 & Pepsi IPL-6 Patches for EA Sports Cricket 2007). Both the patches will hopefully be released at the start of Summer 2013. And today we are set to unveil the logo of our new patch 'International Cricket 2013'. Here is the preview of the logo:
More to follow..
As you know we are working on two new patches of the year 2013 (International Cricket 2013 & Pepsi IPL-6 Patches for EA Sports Cricket 2007). Both the patches will hopefully be released at the start of Summer 2013. And today we are set to unveil the logo of our new patch 'International Cricket 2013'. Here is the preview of the logo:
More to follow..
21.3.2013
- according to the wot-news.com server, the test of the 8.5 patch will start in April, while the patch itself already has a date roughly decided internally ("few weeks before May") - eg. mid April
- Q: "Is there a chance bigger than 0 percent that during the big changes to the game, the significance of armor will return?" A: "000,1 percent chance is bigger than 0 :) Otherwise: no comment"
- you get 1,333 times more XP for damage dealt to enemy tank you yourself light up than when someone else lit it up for you
- Storm explains why AMX ELC is not called ELC Bis: "AMX is a company, not the name of the tank, bis - means 'modification', but since our ELC doesn't include only that modification designated as "ELC bis", it's possible to remove it from the name"
- SerB regarding the same issue: "The question (SS: why it's ELC and not ELC bis) is stupid and not worthy of an answer. It's connected with the fact that modifications are not included in the names of the tanks. For example, KV-1S very often does drive around in the KV-122 modification. We won't change that either."
- the penetration values for gold shells are based on real penetration data
- what will Chris Taylor and his studio work on? "no comment for now, but we won't keep him as a support staff"
- the new camo system (SS: planned for 0.9.0, eg. not anytime soon) is "a separate project, aimed at the increase of importance of equipment and skills/perks improving the vehicle camouflage, on the big tanks"
- the nickname of the damaging vehicle only appears when your vehicle is critted, not when you recieve regular damage, the purpose of this is that you don't get spammed with info
- there will be no premature "in work" pictures for the client physics, when it's announced, it's going to be big, with press info and everything
- according to Storm, T-70 could not fire historically on airborne targets
- Improved ventilation does give a bonus to the Mentor perk
- there will be no "voluntary account ban/account lock" for those who don't want to play: "If you don't want to play, don't play - it's not the air, water or bread, it's completely possible to live without playing voluntarily"
- if you report one player 5 times in game... you're not helping (apparently support doesn't take such spamreports seriously)
- "funny" archievements such as "lumberjack" (for running over trees) have been abandoned a long time ago in order not to encourage improper behavior in battle
- people are actually already asking about what will be the next New Year present, SerB: "And do you also harass your mommy and daddy about christmas presents in March?"
Storm also wrote a new article about teamdamage - he's asking players how happy they are with the current system basically. Not too much interesting info in it (just a bunch of usual moaning). Just one thing - Storm wrote in a comment that since 0.8.4, the sniper medal is not connected with ramming. Apparently there was a bug if I understand correctly, that you lose the sniper medal when an allied moron rammed you and it's fixed now. Not sure I get it right.
-
- Q: "Is there a chance bigger than 0 percent that during the big changes to the game, the significance of armor will return?" A: "000,1 percent chance is bigger than 0 :) Otherwise: no comment"
- you get 1,333 times more XP for damage dealt to enemy tank you yourself light up than when someone else lit it up for you
- Storm explains why AMX ELC is not called ELC Bis: "AMX is a company, not the name of the tank, bis - means 'modification', but since our ELC doesn't include only that modification designated as "ELC bis", it's possible to remove it from the name"
- SerB regarding the same issue: "The question (SS: why it's ELC and not ELC bis) is stupid and not worthy of an answer. It's connected with the fact that modifications are not included in the names of the tanks. For example, KV-1S very often does drive around in the KV-122 modification. We won't change that either."
- the penetration values for gold shells are based on real penetration data
- what will Chris Taylor and his studio work on? "no comment for now, but we won't keep him as a support staff"
- the new camo system (SS: planned for 0.9.0, eg. not anytime soon) is "a separate project, aimed at the increase of importance of equipment and skills/perks improving the vehicle camouflage, on the big tanks"
- the nickname of the damaging vehicle only appears when your vehicle is critted, not when you recieve regular damage, the purpose of this is that you don't get spammed with info
- there will be no premature "in work" pictures for the client physics, when it's announced, it's going to be big, with press info and everything
- according to Storm, T-70 could not fire historically on airborne targets
- Improved ventilation does give a bonus to the Mentor perk
- there will be no "voluntary account ban/account lock" for those who don't want to play: "If you don't want to play, don't play - it's not the air, water or bread, it's completely possible to live without playing voluntarily"
- if you report one player 5 times in game... you're not helping (apparently support doesn't take such spamreports seriously)
- "funny" archievements such as "lumberjack" (for running over trees) have been abandoned a long time ago in order not to encourage improper behavior in battle
- people are actually already asking about what will be the next New Year present, SerB: "And do you also harass your mommy and daddy about christmas presents in March?"
Storm also wrote a new article about teamdamage - he's asking players how happy they are with the current system basically. Not too much interesting info in it (just a bunch of usual moaning). Just one thing - Storm wrote in a comment that since 0.8.4, the sniper medal is not connected with ramming. Apparently there was a bug if I understand correctly, that you lose the sniper medal when an allied moron rammed you and it's fixed now. Not sure I get it right.
-
King's Gameplay Patch for EA Sports Cricket 2007
Installation:* Extract "Kings Gameplay" rar file , then copy all files from Kings Gameplay folder and paste into cricket root directory [ C:\Program Files\EA SPORTS\EA SPORTS(TM) Cricket 07 ]
* Before Copy and and paste my Gameplay take Backup on your old gameplay and Delete your all old gameplay files
*Don't mingle my gameplay files with other gameplay files bcoz you maynot get realistic gameplay
* Run Game and Play game with Realistic gameplay
Needed:
* My Gameplay finely work on with AbBh Modified Cricket07 exe..
* You will Download AbBh Modified Cricket07 exe here --> AbBh Modified Cricket07 exe
Features:
* Cpu can bat depends on situation.
* Starting Power play overs cpu run rate above 8 and middle over 5, late few overs 10.You can limit Cpu run rate by bowling good length ball.
* Edges also possible and Its depending on pitch type.
* You can hit flat six and also out of ground sixes.
* Gameplay Suitable to All three Formats(TEST,ODI,T20)
Credits: Special thanks to AbBh for giving permission to use AbBh Modified Cricket07 exe link..
Thanks to Gameplay tester BlitzBerg ,Shaharyar,yashdude101,yashwanth kumar
--> DOWNLOAD KING'S GAMEPLAY PATCH
Comments Appreciated for update better Gameplay..
New vehicle screenies
Hello everyone,
now, I know I promised I won't be posting leaks - and I keep my promise. These pictures are not mine, they were posted by a third party already here and here (I usually follow Kankou's content, that's how I ran into it, credit goes to her :) ). WoT news also posted it. Enjoy!
Also, before you start raging about leaks again: Overlord told me they don't give a shit about them at Minsk HQ, the whole AMAGADLEAKS was Wargaming EU being holier than thou.
T-70
T-60
M60 Patton
Object 907
VK7201 Failowe
VK2001
now, I know I promised I won't be posting leaks - and I keep my promise. These pictures are not mine, they were posted by a third party already here and here (I usually follow Kankou's content, that's how I ran into it, credit goes to her :) ). WoT news also posted it. Enjoy!
Also, before you start raging about leaks again: Overlord told me they don't give a shit about them at Minsk HQ, the whole AMAGADLEAKS was Wargaming EU being holier than thou.
T-70
T-60
M60 Patton
Object 907
VK2001
Rabu, 20 Maret 2013
20.3.2013
- Storm on Improved ventilation: Ventilation gives bonus to all skills, to which a bonus can be given. Eg. the bonus should be disoplayed everywhere. There is one catch: the bonus from ventilation is given also to the commander and he - in turn - gives his increased commander bonus to the other members of the crew. So, the total bonus is recieved - 5 percent for the commander and more than 5 percent for the rest of the crew
- the only way how to win when the enemy captured your base (base captured! text displayed) is within the 5 seconds from the capture to destroy the entire enemy team
- the difference in damage between the Soviet and Chinese Zis-4 gun is given by the "gun specifics"
- the 5 second timer between the base capture and the end of the battle is resetted by the destruction of any vehicle - friendly or enemy
- T-90 (as a T-80 variant) AA tank will not be introduced in forseeable future, the top gun of the T-60 is not the 14,5mm MG.
- the ammo rack hitbox is not separated into shells and casings, nor is it planned
- so far, the devs haven't found proper additional skill ideas for the loader
- IS-2 with M52-T2 (SS: according to several people, it's a typo, in fact it should be the 122mm M62-T2 gun) planned as a tier 8 premium? "Theoretically - possible, practically there is not enough information on it and Soviet Union already has a tier 8 heavy"
- apparently, there is a new sophisticated bot program for WoT, that not only drives around, but also fights. SerB states that bots, that simulate regular game are not dealt with automatically, they have to be reported by players and statistics are then checked in order to deal with them
- currently there are no plans to introduce the Soviet light tank "Object 795"
- apparently ELC will not be renamed to historically correct ELC Bis
- Overlord might return to work on World of Tanks a bit more
- according to Overlord, 8.6 will contain something game-wise - a major feature, announcement will follow (SS: speculation based on hints - Havok)
- rumor has it there might be additional landing spots planned for Clanwars
T-100 (Object 795) project, courtesy of Ogopogo
Oh and something that made me laugh today:
Sorry, I just had to :)
- the only way how to win when the enemy captured your base (base captured! text displayed) is within the 5 seconds from the capture to destroy the entire enemy team
- the difference in damage between the Soviet and Chinese Zis-4 gun is given by the "gun specifics"
- the 5 second timer between the base capture and the end of the battle is resetted by the destruction of any vehicle - friendly or enemy
- T-90 (as a T-80 variant) AA tank will not be introduced in forseeable future, the top gun of the T-60 is not the 14,5mm MG.
- the ammo rack hitbox is not separated into shells and casings, nor is it planned
- so far, the devs haven't found proper additional skill ideas for the loader
- IS-2 with M52-T2 (SS: according to several people, it's a typo, in fact it should be the 122mm M62-T2 gun) planned as a tier 8 premium? "Theoretically - possible, practically there is not enough information on it and Soviet Union already has a tier 8 heavy"
- apparently, there is a new sophisticated bot program for WoT, that not only drives around, but also fights. SerB states that bots, that simulate regular game are not dealt with automatically, they have to be reported by players and statistics are then checked in order to deal with them
- currently there are no plans to introduce the Soviet light tank "Object 795"
- apparently ELC will not be renamed to historically correct ELC Bis
- Overlord might return to work on World of Tanks a bit more
- according to Overlord, 8.6 will contain something game-wise - a major feature, announcement will follow (SS: speculation based on hints - Havok)
- rumor has it there might be additional landing spots planned for Clanwars
T-100 (Object 795) project, courtesy of Ogopogo
Oh and something that made me laugh today:
Straight Outta Luftwaffe
Straight Outta Luftwaffe - possible German tank weapon upgrades
Hello everyone,
today, we are going to check out some serious firepower the (future) German vehicles could carry. Alternatively, since Storm revealed the intent to add more alternative modules (possibly including guns) so the same vehicle has more "build" possibilities, these weapons could be used on (some) German vehicles.These weapons are mostly aircraft guns, not primary place where to look :)
MG-151/15 was a heavy 15mm aircraft machinegun (the /15 in its designation reflects the fact there existed also a 20mm version), pressed into ground (antiaircraft and antipersonell) service in the late years of WW2. It was the German equivaled of the dreaded US M16 "Meat Chopper" self-propelled anti-aircraft carriage with quad .50cals. Each of those MGs fired at roughly 700RPM, creating a literal storm of bullets. In WoT this would be pretty epic I think, if such a gun was mounted on some "waffenträger" design, or possibly some sort of recon vehicle. The 20mm variant could come in handy too - it's a tradeoff really: these guns didn't have massive penetration (you don't need that in aircraft combat), but had higher rate of fire. The penetration of the 15mm solid shot AP round (15mm PanzergranatPatrole) at 100m was roughly 25mm (at 850 m/s). Why noone bothered to use this instead of the 7,92mm gun on the Panzer I Ausf.C, I have no idea. Perhaps the lack of APCR ammo? Nope, there used to be a tungsten core APCR Hartkern-Panzergranate with 1000 m/s shell velocity, intended for the fighter-bombers in order for them to fight tanks. It could penetrate 48mm of armor at 100m. An ideal lowtier weapon.
It's "bigger brother", the MG-151/20 could fire (amongst mostly WoT-useless ammunition such as incendiary rounds) also 20mm APHE rounds designated 20mm Panzersprenggranate 151, that could penetrate roughly 24mm at 100m (APHE in WoT terms = higher alpha though). There seem to have been also APCR ammo experiments, but I haven't been able to find any decent data on that. There also were possibly some uranium ammunition experiments going on.
MG-151/15
MG-151/20
Mk-101
In the game, there already is the Mk-103, the younger brother to this 30mm autocannon. This could be another nice lowtier alternative, with a twist: the Hs-129 version had a 30 round drum. This in the game could be "simulated" by the vehicle not having a drum at all, but very high rate of fire (with no designated loader).
The interesting part are the AP and APCR bullets for this gun. The AP ones are pretty average, but the APCR? Not so much. This is what the H-Panzergranate did to a KV-1 during the tests of 1941-1942 (this also gives us historical frame, which vehicles could use this gun).
Bordkanone BK 3,7
Now we are getting to the interesting pieces. BK cannon series were intended for ground attack aircraft - their purpose was to destroy armored vehicles. It's a 37mm cannon alright - but with an autoloader. It had one or two 6 round clips and fired at about 130-150RPM. By the end of the war, the leftovers could have been fitted into lighter vehicles, such as the scouts. This, along with its bigger brother, could have been a good weapon for the Aufklärungspanzer Panther. Hans-Ulrich Rudel's Stuka was equipped with these weapons.
The ammunition to this weapon was supposed to be interchangeable with the army 37mm rounds. The regular ammo isn't that cool, but the APCR tungsten H shell could penetrate 130mm at 100m distance. During the German tests in Rechlin, it ripped Shermans, KV's and T-34's to pieces. The shell muzzle velocity was also notable: 1170 m/s. All that with an autoloader.
Bordkanone BK-5
This is basically a conversion of the 50mm KwK 39/1 L/60 for aircraft use. It has one notable feature: an autoloader. That's right, autoloaded 50mm PaK. This would be another great weapon for hightier German lighter vehicles. The autoloader wasn't very fast and could be "simulated" by having a non-autoloader gun in the game, but with much higher rate of fire.
They installed this weapon on all sorts of platforms. As you can imagine, the effect of 50mm rounds on American and British bombers was devastating. They even installed it into a Me-262 "Schwalbe":
The gun could fire regular 50mm PaK ammunition, including the APCR PzGr 40. But was that enough for the Germans? Nope, they were just getting started. Meet...
Bordkanone BK 7,5 "Flying PaK"
I am putting this here not because of the gun's performance (that was roughly equal to PaK 40), but because the more advanced version had a 12-round carousel autoloader. That's right, this could work in the game (if mounted on some platform - possibly a Waffentrager) as an autoloaded 75mm. This is how the autoloader looked:
The rate of fire was 30-35 rounds per minute. The barrel was a bit shorter and the initial velocity was subsequently a bit lower, compared to the PaK 40 (725 m/s compared to 750 m/s of the PaK 40), the penetration was 112mm at 450m.
So, you think this is big enough for an aircraft? Well, not for the Germans. Meet the real nightmare:
356mm Gerät 104
Yes, they actually mounted a 356mm gun on an airplane. This is how the testbed looked:
It was a giant single-shot recoilless gun, intended to destroy ships. This monster fired an APHE shell weighting 700kg (!) at cca 320m/s and was utterly devastating. The Germans later abandoned this project and focused on things such as wire-guided bombs for obvious reasons: the weight and the stress of such a weapon was enormous.
I included this only as an interesting insight into German megalomania. Not sure this could be adapted into World of Tanks - perhaps as a tier 10 ultimate derp, but there was no such project in real life, any such vehicle would be entirely fictional. There was a "smaller" project such as this, called Dusenkanonen Duka 28. It had a 280mm caliber, the APHE shell weighted 400kg, travelled at 560 m/s and could penetrate 200mm of angled armor. This version remained only a paper project.
Duka 88
Alright, back to more "realistic" weapons. This is another interesting gun: basically, an autoloaded 88 with a drum 10 round magazine. It was a sort of recoilless gun (the massive recoil was compensated by venting the gasses thru the back side of the pod), it could fire cca 10 rounds per minute, the shells reached 765 m/s and its penetration was cca 90mm at 1500m (!). So yes, we can have an autoloaded 88 if Wargaming decides so, the system was already there. Could make a great improvement to the lighter Waffentrager line.
Well, this is it. Heavy machineguns, autoloaded 37mm, 50mm, 75mm, even 80mm - could all work.
Hello everyone,
today, we are going to check out some serious firepower the (future) German vehicles could carry. Alternatively, since Storm revealed the intent to add more alternative modules (possibly including guns) so the same vehicle has more "build" possibilities, these weapons could be used on (some) German vehicles.These weapons are mostly aircraft guns, not primary place where to look :)
MG-151/15 and MG-151/20
MG-151/15 was a heavy 15mm aircraft machinegun (the /15 in its designation reflects the fact there existed also a 20mm version), pressed into ground (antiaircraft and antipersonell) service in the late years of WW2. It was the German equivaled of the dreaded US M16 "Meat Chopper" self-propelled anti-aircraft carriage with quad .50cals. Each of those MGs fired at roughly 700RPM, creating a literal storm of bullets. In WoT this would be pretty epic I think, if such a gun was mounted on some "waffenträger" design, or possibly some sort of recon vehicle. The 20mm variant could come in handy too - it's a tradeoff really: these guns didn't have massive penetration (you don't need that in aircraft combat), but had higher rate of fire. The penetration of the 15mm solid shot AP round (15mm PanzergranatPatrole) at 100m was roughly 25mm (at 850 m/s). Why noone bothered to use this instead of the 7,92mm gun on the Panzer I Ausf.C, I have no idea. Perhaps the lack of APCR ammo? Nope, there used to be a tungsten core APCR Hartkern-Panzergranate with 1000 m/s shell velocity, intended for the fighter-bombers in order for them to fight tanks. It could penetrate 48mm of armor at 100m. An ideal lowtier weapon.
It's "bigger brother", the MG-151/20 could fire (amongst mostly WoT-useless ammunition such as incendiary rounds) also 20mm APHE rounds designated 20mm Panzersprenggranate 151, that could penetrate roughly 24mm at 100m (APHE in WoT terms = higher alpha though). There seem to have been also APCR ammo experiments, but I haven't been able to find any decent data on that. There also were possibly some uranium ammunition experiments going on.
MG-151/15
Mk-101
In the game, there already is the Mk-103, the younger brother to this 30mm autocannon. This could be another nice lowtier alternative, with a twist: the Hs-129 version had a 30 round drum. This in the game could be "simulated" by the vehicle not having a drum at all, but very high rate of fire (with no designated loader).
The interesting part are the AP and APCR bullets for this gun. The AP ones are pretty average, but the APCR? Not so much. This is what the H-Panzergranate did to a KV-1 during the tests of 1941-1942 (this also gives us historical frame, which vehicles could use this gun).
Bordkanone BK 3,7
Now we are getting to the interesting pieces. BK cannon series were intended for ground attack aircraft - their purpose was to destroy armored vehicles. It's a 37mm cannon alright - but with an autoloader. It had one or two 6 round clips and fired at about 130-150RPM. By the end of the war, the leftovers could have been fitted into lighter vehicles, such as the scouts. This, along with its bigger brother, could have been a good weapon for the Aufklärungspanzer Panther. Hans-Ulrich Rudel's Stuka was equipped with these weapons.
The ammunition to this weapon was supposed to be interchangeable with the army 37mm rounds. The regular ammo isn't that cool, but the APCR tungsten H shell could penetrate 130mm at 100m distance. During the German tests in Rechlin, it ripped Shermans, KV's and T-34's to pieces. The shell muzzle velocity was also notable: 1170 m/s. All that with an autoloader.
Bordkanone BK-5
This is basically a conversion of the 50mm KwK 39/1 L/60 for aircraft use. It has one notable feature: an autoloader. That's right, autoloaded 50mm PaK. This would be another great weapon for hightier German lighter vehicles. The autoloader wasn't very fast and could be "simulated" by having a non-autoloader gun in the game, but with much higher rate of fire.
They installed this weapon on all sorts of platforms. As you can imagine, the effect of 50mm rounds on American and British bombers was devastating. They even installed it into a Me-262 "Schwalbe":
The gun could fire regular 50mm PaK ammunition, including the APCR PzGr 40. But was that enough for the Germans? Nope, they were just getting started. Meet...
Bordkanone BK 7,5 "Flying PaK"
I am putting this here not because of the gun's performance (that was roughly equal to PaK 40), but because the more advanced version had a 12-round carousel autoloader. That's right, this could work in the game (if mounted on some platform - possibly a Waffentrager) as an autoloaded 75mm. This is how the autoloader looked:
So, you think this is big enough for an aircraft? Well, not for the Germans. Meet the real nightmare:
356mm Gerät 104
Yes, they actually mounted a 356mm gun on an airplane. This is how the testbed looked:
It was a giant single-shot recoilless gun, intended to destroy ships. This monster fired an APHE shell weighting 700kg (!) at cca 320m/s and was utterly devastating. The Germans later abandoned this project and focused on things such as wire-guided bombs for obvious reasons: the weight and the stress of such a weapon was enormous.
I included this only as an interesting insight into German megalomania. Not sure this could be adapted into World of Tanks - perhaps as a tier 10 ultimate derp, but there was no such project in real life, any such vehicle would be entirely fictional. There was a "smaller" project such as this, called Dusenkanonen Duka 28. It had a 280mm caliber, the APHE shell weighted 400kg, travelled at 560 m/s and could penetrate 200mm of angled armor. This version remained only a paper project.
Duka 88
Alright, back to more "realistic" weapons. This is another interesting gun: basically, an autoloaded 88 with a drum 10 round magazine. It was a sort of recoilless gun (the massive recoil was compensated by venting the gasses thru the back side of the pod), it could fire cca 10 rounds per minute, the shells reached 765 m/s and its penetration was cca 90mm at 1500m (!). So yes, we can have an autoloaded 88 if Wargaming decides so, the system was already there. Could make a great improvement to the lighter Waffentrager line.
Well, this is it. Heavy machineguns, autoloaded 37mm, 50mm, 75mm, even 80mm - could all work.
Pepsi IPL 6 Patch 2012 for EA Sports Cricket 2007
We hereby announce another Patch for our fans along with International Cricket 2013 Patch that is Pepsi Indian Premier League 2012 (IPL 6 Patch) for our die hard gaming fans of EA Sports Cricket 2007. This Patch will contain latest IPL 6 kits, Bats, faces, roster, stadiums, pitchads, stumps, music etc. More Information regarding this will be revealed soon on our Twitter Account.
The Patch information and release date will be announced on our Twitter Account, make sure you Follow us there.
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Selasa, 19 Maret 2013
19.3.2013
- someone asked StorM, whether the events in Cyprus (eg. government, backed by EU stealing 10 percent of all the bank deposits) did hit Wargaming greatly, Storm said it's not an answer to the developers
- Q: "Why was my question whether the developers are arty players ignored?" A: "Because it's simply stupid. Noone will run from floor to floor and ask people 'dear person, are you an arty player?'"
- new modules for tanks are planned in medium timeframe (SS: that means roughly a year - what this means is for example multiple new guns guns for vehicles so there are more equal builds per vehicle per vehicle possible), it's possible there will be even new module categories
- splash damage is calculated from the damage of the shell (SS: what this means is - from what I can tell - that it doesn't get calculated into the "potential damage" value, as it is derived as secondary)
- current tier 8 arties are scheduled to be switched to tier 9 or 10 (SS: currently, only tier 10 is considered for the switch though, the tier 9 is there to "cover the backs" in case current tier 8 arties are underpowered at tier 10)
- according to Storm, it is not true that one algorhitm is responsible for all the game's randomly generated numbers (damage, penetration etc.)
- regarding the question who gets the kill when two tanks shoot at the enemy at the same time: "Frag will go to the person, whose shot the server processes first."
- if I understand this correctly, additional equipment/module "appliqué armor" (eg. for example German Schurzen) confirmed
- tank camo value does not change depending on whether the tank is facing you with its front or with its side
- Wargaming has no clear algorhitm, that would set the camo value based on vehicle size (eg. each vehicle has its camo value set individually based on "common sense") (SS: we all know what THAT means, right? *stares at German vehicles*)
A few random pieces of information:
On the Russian developer blog, a Chinese guy wrote an interesting article, what the Chinese server looks like. I planned to translate that, but ITDude from US server made it faster, so here's the link on his thread. It's pretty interesting.
Also, Overlord will go by the end of the week to meet with some EU and NA head honchos regarding the community. He is asking for your opinion in his blog post, be sure to visit it.
- Q: "Why was my question whether the developers are arty players ignored?" A: "Because it's simply stupid. Noone will run from floor to floor and ask people 'dear person, are you an arty player?'"
- new modules for tanks are planned in medium timeframe (SS: that means roughly a year - what this means is for example multiple new guns guns for vehicles so there are more equal builds per vehicle per vehicle possible), it's possible there will be even new module categories
- splash damage is calculated from the damage of the shell (SS: what this means is - from what I can tell - that it doesn't get calculated into the "potential damage" value, as it is derived as secondary)
- current tier 8 arties are scheduled to be switched to tier 9 or 10 (SS: currently, only tier 10 is considered for the switch though, the tier 9 is there to "cover the backs" in case current tier 8 arties are underpowered at tier 10)
- according to Storm, it is not true that one algorhitm is responsible for all the game's randomly generated numbers (damage, penetration etc.)
- regarding the question who gets the kill when two tanks shoot at the enemy at the same time: "Frag will go to the person, whose shot the server processes first."
- if I understand this correctly, additional equipment/module "appliqué armor" (eg. for example German Schurzen) confirmed
- tank camo value does not change depending on whether the tank is facing you with its front or with its side
- Wargaming has no clear algorhitm, that would set the camo value based on vehicle size (eg. each vehicle has its camo value set individually based on "common sense") (SS: we all know what THAT means, right? *stares at German vehicles*)
A few random pieces of information:
On the Russian developer blog, a Chinese guy wrote an interesting article, what the Chinese server looks like. I planned to translate that, but ITDude from US server made it faster, so here's the link on his thread. It's pretty interesting.
Also, Overlord will go by the end of the week to meet with some EU and NA head honchos regarding the community. He is asking for your opinion in his blog post, be sure to visit it.
Kupchak Landship
Source: http://aviarmor.net/tww2/tanks/canada/kupchak_landship.htm
Source origin: comrad_34 (RU server) - Спасибо, товарищ!
This particular vehicle might serve as a lowtier premium UK (Canadian) tank destroyer. Behold, the T15, also known as the Kupchak landship!
This was a late WW1 design for an armored tracked vehicle, proposed by Ing.Stephen Kupchak. It was to be based on the Holt tracked tractor chassis, but with some significant improvements. The construction was simple - really - a box-like hull (the sides had no slope whatsoever). The crew combat compartment was situated in the front and in the middle, there was the engine and transmission compartment. The fuel tanks were situated on the sides - one big on the left and two smaller on the right.
The frontal part was shaped like a dull wedge and was designed to hold a long-barrelled gun. The ammo rack was placed in the nose, on the right side of the gun (it's visible on the top view). The vehicle was also armed with multiple machineguns for protection against infantry assaults. The vehicle was entered and exited via doors, installed on the left side and on the roof, there was a copula (presumably for the vehicle commander) for looking outside. The suspension - parts of which were "borrowed" from the Holt tractor - was of Kupchak's design however. It was a simple design - three small roadwheels connected with vertical springs, which were attached to a beam, which in turn was attached to the vehicle hull. The propeller wheel was the rear one.
Kupchak introduced his project by the end of 1918 to the British War Office. It was too late - the war was already almost over and the Allied soldiers had better vehicles back then. Mr.Kupchak even requested to build a prototype, but was denied. Some time after the war, the War Office contacted Mr.Kupchak and asked him to build a prototype vehicle, but offered no financial aid to accomplish that whatsoever.
As for the design itself, Mr.Kupchak didn't submit his design with any particular engine selected, so the powerplant remains a mystery. The same goes for its gun - the design doesn't mention any particular type and caliber that might have been used - this was because Mr.Kupchak thought that he'd get that provided by the War Office (along with funds) if they approved his design. There is also the concern that the vehicle would be too heavy (30-40 tons projected) for its suspension.
Weight: cca 30 tons
Crew: 6-8
Length: cca 7 meters
Width: cca 3 meters
Height: cca 3,5 meters
Weapons: one 75-100mm gun and two 7,62-8mm machineguns
Transmission: mechanical
Source origin: comrad_34 (RU server) - Спасибо, товарищ!
This particular vehicle might serve as a lowtier premium UK (Canadian) tank destroyer. Behold, the T15, also known as the Kupchak landship!
This was a late WW1 design for an armored tracked vehicle, proposed by Ing.Stephen Kupchak. It was to be based on the Holt tracked tractor chassis, but with some significant improvements. The construction was simple - really - a box-like hull (the sides had no slope whatsoever). The crew combat compartment was situated in the front and in the middle, there was the engine and transmission compartment. The fuel tanks were situated on the sides - one big on the left and two smaller on the right.
The frontal part was shaped like a dull wedge and was designed to hold a long-barrelled gun. The ammo rack was placed in the nose, on the right side of the gun (it's visible on the top view). The vehicle was also armed with multiple machineguns for protection against infantry assaults. The vehicle was entered and exited via doors, installed on the left side and on the roof, there was a copula (presumably for the vehicle commander) for looking outside. The suspension - parts of which were "borrowed" from the Holt tractor - was of Kupchak's design however. It was a simple design - three small roadwheels connected with vertical springs, which were attached to a beam, which in turn was attached to the vehicle hull. The propeller wheel was the rear one.
Kupchak introduced his project by the end of 1918 to the British War Office. It was too late - the war was already almost over and the Allied soldiers had better vehicles back then. Mr.Kupchak even requested to build a prototype, but was denied. Some time after the war, the War Office contacted Mr.Kupchak and asked him to build a prototype vehicle, but offered no financial aid to accomplish that whatsoever.
As for the design itself, Mr.Kupchak didn't submit his design with any particular engine selected, so the powerplant remains a mystery. The same goes for its gun - the design doesn't mention any particular type and caliber that might have been used - this was because Mr.Kupchak thought that he'd get that provided by the War Office (along with funds) if they approved his design. There is also the concern that the vehicle would be too heavy (30-40 tons projected) for its suspension.
Weight: cca 30 tons
Crew: 6-8
Length: cca 7 meters
Width: cca 3 meters
Height: cca 3,5 meters
Weapons: one 75-100mm gun and two 7,62-8mm machineguns
Transmission: mechanical
International Cricket 2013 (Cricket 13) Patch for EA Sports Cricket 2007
We hereby announce another Patch for our fans, that is International Cricket 2013 Patch for our die hard gaming fans of EA Sports Cricket 2007. This Patch will be total revolution in Cricket 2007 History, with accurate kits, Bats, faces, roster, stadiums, pitchads, stumps, music etc. More Information regarding this will be revealed soon. Many of our fans complaint us about not including updated stadiums in International Cricket 2012 Patch, so we are here to announce that this edition of IC-13 Patch will have all new stadiums for (ODI/Tests) for each country. Moreover this Patch will be in one EXE file, unlike other recently done patches by our team. So it will be a cracker of a Patch. It's sure will be a mouthwatering prospect. ;)
The Patch information and release date will be announced on our Twitter Account, make sure you Follow us there.
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A2 Studios Team.
Senin, 18 Maret 2013
18.3.2013
- SerB states that (SS: unlike the accuracy), the penetration value within the 25 percent from average is distributed randomly (SS: in other words, with average pen 100, you have the same chance to get 78 pen and 100 pen, the average value is not advantaged anyhow)
- Q: "Everybody knows that fire in a tank is the worst thing that can happen! For the crew and the vehicle too! But I noticed that the fire in game doesn't hurt the crew! Do you plan to finish/fix this in the future?" A: "Everybody knows that stupid questions in this topic is the worst thing that can happen! For those who answer the questions and have to wade thru sea of stupid questions too. But I noticed that most of those who ask don't read previous answers and post stupid questions! Do you plan to finish/fix this in the future?" (SS: the answer is - the fire doesnt kill crewmembers because the vehicle would become too crippled and unplayable after a fire)
- Q: "I wonder why enemies, that are 650-700m away from me are not displayed?" A: "I wonder why despite the fact I hand out bans to those who ask stupid questions doesn't the stream of them dry out? Maybe I hand out too few bans?"
- Brothers in Arms and Adrenaline Rush effects are completely sufficient according to SerB
- it's possible that the changes to the camo system will be substantial
- only one player per battle can get the Sniper medal
- ARL V39 TD has one visibility checkpoint on the top of the miniturret on the hull - if it peeks above a bush, the vehicle will get spotted
- apparently, a new shell (penetration) model is being worked on, it will be a complex thing, the "gold T5 derp" issue will be handled as a part of it
- there will be patches 0.8.5, 0.8.6, 0.8.7, 0.8.8, 0.8.9 before 0.9.0 (eg. the camo re-work is a 2014 thing)
- Storm will tell soon, how the "new model of the game" will look (SS: unsure what this means, but something big is coming)
- Q: "Everybody knows that fire in a tank is the worst thing that can happen! For the crew and the vehicle too! But I noticed that the fire in game doesn't hurt the crew! Do you plan to finish/fix this in the future?" A: "Everybody knows that stupid questions in this topic is the worst thing that can happen! For those who answer the questions and have to wade thru sea of stupid questions too. But I noticed that most of those who ask don't read previous answers and post stupid questions! Do you plan to finish/fix this in the future?" (SS: the answer is - the fire doesnt kill crewmembers because the vehicle would become too crippled and unplayable after a fire)
- Q: "I wonder why enemies, that are 650-700m away from me are not displayed?" A: "I wonder why despite the fact I hand out bans to those who ask stupid questions doesn't the stream of them dry out? Maybe I hand out too few bans?"
- Brothers in Arms and Adrenaline Rush effects are completely sufficient according to SerB
- it's possible that the changes to the camo system will be substantial
- only one player per battle can get the Sniper medal
- ARL V39 TD has one visibility checkpoint on the top of the miniturret on the hull - if it peeks above a bush, the vehicle will get spotted
- apparently, a new shell (penetration) model is being worked on, it will be a complex thing, the "gold T5 derp" issue will be handled as a part of it
- there will be patches 0.8.5, 0.8.6, 0.8.7, 0.8.8, 0.8.9 before 0.9.0 (eg. the camo re-work is a 2014 thing)
- Storm will tell soon, how the "new model of the game" will look (SS: unsure what this means, but something big is coming)
My 2 cents regarding The_Chieftain's LT-35 article
Hello everyone,
recently, The_Chieftain wrote an article about the LT-35 light tank (which he prefers to call 35(t), using the German nomenclature). I feel I have to add some info to this. I'll take it by sentences.
"...his caused a little bit of consternation over on the Czech sub-forum over on the EU server, they didn’t seem so keen on that statement."
Well, that would be me protesting that back then, I even argued with Tuccy a bit.
"Skoda hadn’t started building armoured full-tracked vehicles by then, it wasn’t until the early 1930s that the MU and MUV (Malay Utocny Vuz: Small Attack Vehicle) series started appearing. ..... By 1934, though the Czechs had decided to stop mucking around in the kiddie pool and build themselves a proper battle tank. The result of Skoda’s efforts was the SU."
Well... no. First and foremost, there was no MUV, all the Czech sources refer to the vehicles as "MÚ" (malý útočný, not malay). Alternative designation was Š-I or Š-1 (the historical sources are notoriously messy in this as various sources use various ways how the write the vehicle). A few words on nomenclature: roman I means tankette category, II means light tank class and III means a heavy breakthrough tank (yes, we had those projects too, they were really bad though).
Second, the wording "Czechs decide to stop mucking around..." implies there has been no Czech development-building of "proper" armored vehicles before 1934. That's not true. The demands for medium tanks were originally set in 1926 (they included for example a 75mm gun). The early tank development of heavier vehicles (not tankettes) started in early 1920's with the Kolohousenka projects - yes, it does look funny, but it actually worked - and with the Praga MT (malý tank) and Praga YNH projects from 1927 and 1930. MT weighted 4 tons, YNH 7 tons. Then there was the whole Praga series (including the infamous Tančík vzor 1933 tankette). The "heavy" breakthrough Škoda tank (Š-III) was also developed ever since the army laid down the demands for it in 1929 (the first stage of the project was ready in 1933) - yes, it was a terrible vehicle, but it existed. It's "sister" project from Tatra (T-III) was started by that time also. The development history of late 20's and early 30's in Czechoslovakia is very rich.
Now, though the Czech Ministry of Defense had put a 15 ton cap on the weight limit of their battle tanks
There was no "battle tank" concept in Czechoslovakia, the parameters mentioned were for vehicles called "útočná vozba", which means "assault vehicles" in english. Also, the original parameters were laid down by the order of Gen.Syrový from 22.6.1926 and mentioned (amongst others) the demand of 10 tons, not 15 (and recommended the weight between 6-8 tons) - that's why the vehicle was first developed so light.
If you wanted to make a 7.5 ton designed tank with a central turret, it is probably going to look a bit like the British 6-ton design (which usually weighed in at about 7-8 tons) simply by its nature.
Not sure how much truth is in that (after all, I am not a tank designer), but Škoda SÚ was a direct reaction to the Praga P-II vehicle (later designated as LT-34), another 7,5 ton tank from 1931-1932 (more about it here at tier 2). P-II itself doesn't have much to do with Vickers - a Vickers gun was considered and rejected in favour of a local gun, there was the Praga Wilson part. There was a relationship here with Vickers, but not a direct one (Czech sources, namely I.Pejčoch suggest that the suspension was NOT a Vickers copy, but indigenously developed). SÚ was then "inspired" by P-II and Š-IIa in turn was the development of SÚ. Thus, the relationship with Vickers is only very, very thin and indirect (it most likely started in the early 20's, when Vickers guns were first considered for licensed FT-17 tanks, improved FT-17 proposed by Škoda and the Kolohousenka vehicles).
As for the rest:
The reliability was a problem in general, but P-IIa (the competing design) was simplier to maintain (had other faults but in general wasn't much worse). LT-35 was selected based on unknown circumstances (most likely corruption).
Two ended up in Hungarian possession somehow, and some 50-70 were to the Slovak Free State
One was captured by the Hungarians from the Czechoslovak army on 15.3.1939 during a counterattack at the village of Fenčíkovo (Subcarpathian Russia region) after it was knocked out by AT fire (a shell hit the engine) and one of its crewmembers was killed. The vehicle burned out. Second LT-35 was left damaged on 24.3.1939 on Slovak-Hungarian border after a skirmish between Slovak and Hungarian army and captured.
After pre-war Czechoslovakia broke up, Slovakia had 52 LT-35 in its possession.
so the Germans gave ‘em a bit of a try at the Milowitz training base
Milowitz is a nazi-forced German name. Proper Czech (and - according to wiki also English) name is Milovice. During the tests in March 1939, the Germans actually judged them to be really good, the only problematic part was deemed to be the riveted armor. Especially the steering mechanism was liked. A lot of vehicles got worn out during the testing however.
As a result, they threw a loader in there anyway (no seat, of course)
The turret actually recieved an extra seat for the loader (rarely used, though). That's nitpicking however.
The combat history section is fine IMHO. I'd just add that some Panzer 35t's also went to Waffen SS (where they generally didn't do very well, but then again, neither did the Waffen SS themselves). Some survived till 1942 as training vehicles in Bad Tölz (to train anti-tank combat) and one went to Munich for the new mechanics to train on.
The 35's also fought in Slovak service against Russians (until late 1941 presumably, they had heavy losses). However, the last combat hurrah happened in 1944 during the Slovak National Uprising, where 8 tanks from Slovak storages were repaired and used by the rebels. 4 were shortly after devastated in close combat with German Panzer IVs. Several more were repaired after or used as fixed positions. On 22.9.1944, 3 LT-35s were operational in the hands of the rebels. Several fierce battles followed (including a German ambush that decimated the rebel LT-38s) and the last LT-35 was lost on 27.10.1944. Romanians used theirs until 1943 or so.
recently, The_Chieftain wrote an article about the LT-35 light tank (which he prefers to call 35(t), using the German nomenclature). I feel I have to add some info to this. I'll take it by sentences.
"...his caused a little bit of consternation over on the Czech sub-forum over on the EU server, they didn’t seem so keen on that statement."
Well, that would be me protesting that back then, I even argued with Tuccy a bit.
"Skoda hadn’t started building armoured full-tracked vehicles by then, it wasn’t until the early 1930s that the MU and MUV (Malay Utocny Vuz: Small Attack Vehicle) series started appearing. ..... By 1934, though the Czechs had decided to stop mucking around in the kiddie pool and build themselves a proper battle tank. The result of Skoda’s efforts was the SU."
Well... no. First and foremost, there was no MUV, all the Czech sources refer to the vehicles as "MÚ" (malý útočný, not malay). Alternative designation was Š-I or Š-1 (the historical sources are notoriously messy in this as various sources use various ways how the write the vehicle). A few words on nomenclature: roman I means tankette category, II means light tank class and III means a heavy breakthrough tank (yes, we had those projects too, they were really bad though).
Second, the wording "Czechs decide to stop mucking around..." implies there has been no Czech development-building of "proper" armored vehicles before 1934. That's not true. The demands for medium tanks were originally set in 1926 (they included for example a 75mm gun). The early tank development of heavier vehicles (not tankettes) started in early 1920's with the Kolohousenka projects - yes, it does look funny, but it actually worked - and with the Praga MT (malý tank) and Praga YNH projects from 1927 and 1930. MT weighted 4 tons, YNH 7 tons. Then there was the whole Praga series (including the infamous Tančík vzor 1933 tankette). The "heavy" breakthrough Škoda tank (Š-III) was also developed ever since the army laid down the demands for it in 1929 (the first stage of the project was ready in 1933) - yes, it was a terrible vehicle, but it existed. It's "sister" project from Tatra (T-III) was started by that time also. The development history of late 20's and early 30's in Czechoslovakia is very rich.
Now, though the Czech Ministry of Defense had put a 15 ton cap on the weight limit of their battle tanks
There was no "battle tank" concept in Czechoslovakia, the parameters mentioned were for vehicles called "útočná vozba", which means "assault vehicles" in english. Also, the original parameters were laid down by the order of Gen.Syrový from 22.6.1926 and mentioned (amongst others) the demand of 10 tons, not 15 (and recommended the weight between 6-8 tons) - that's why the vehicle was first developed so light.
If you wanted to make a 7.5 ton designed tank with a central turret, it is probably going to look a bit like the British 6-ton design (which usually weighed in at about 7-8 tons) simply by its nature.
Not sure how much truth is in that (after all, I am not a tank designer), but Škoda SÚ was a direct reaction to the Praga P-II vehicle (later designated as LT-34), another 7,5 ton tank from 1931-1932 (more about it here at tier 2). P-II itself doesn't have much to do with Vickers - a Vickers gun was considered and rejected in favour of a local gun, there was the Praga Wilson part. There was a relationship here with Vickers, but not a direct one (Czech sources, namely I.Pejčoch suggest that the suspension was NOT a Vickers copy, but indigenously developed). SÚ was then "inspired" by P-II and Š-IIa in turn was the development of SÚ. Thus, the relationship with Vickers is only very, very thin and indirect (it most likely started in the early 20's, when Vickers guns were first considered for licensed FT-17 tanks, improved FT-17 proposed by Škoda and the Kolohousenka vehicles).
As for the rest:
The reliability was a problem in general, but P-IIa (the competing design) was simplier to maintain (had other faults but in general wasn't much worse). LT-35 was selected based on unknown circumstances (most likely corruption).
Two ended up in Hungarian possession somehow, and some 50-70 were to the Slovak Free State
One was captured by the Hungarians from the Czechoslovak army on 15.3.1939 during a counterattack at the village of Fenčíkovo (Subcarpathian Russia region) after it was knocked out by AT fire (a shell hit the engine) and one of its crewmembers was killed. The vehicle burned out. Second LT-35 was left damaged on 24.3.1939 on Slovak-Hungarian border after a skirmish between Slovak and Hungarian army and captured.
After pre-war Czechoslovakia broke up, Slovakia had 52 LT-35 in its possession.
so the Germans gave ‘em a bit of a try at the Milowitz training base
Milowitz is a nazi-forced German name. Proper Czech (and - according to wiki also English) name is Milovice. During the tests in March 1939, the Germans actually judged them to be really good, the only problematic part was deemed to be the riveted armor. Especially the steering mechanism was liked. A lot of vehicles got worn out during the testing however.
As a result, they threw a loader in there anyway (no seat, of course)
The turret actually recieved an extra seat for the loader (rarely used, though). That's nitpicking however.
The combat history section is fine IMHO. I'd just add that some Panzer 35t's also went to Waffen SS (where they generally didn't do very well, but then again, neither did the Waffen SS themselves). Some survived till 1942 as training vehicles in Bad Tölz (to train anti-tank combat) and one went to Munich for the new mechanics to train on.
The 35's also fought in Slovak service against Russians (until late 1941 presumably, they had heavy losses). However, the last combat hurrah happened in 1944 during the Slovak National Uprising, where 8 tanks from Slovak storages were repaired and used by the rebels. 4 were shortly after devastated in close combat with German Panzer IVs. Several more were repaired after or used as fixed positions. On 22.9.1944, 3 LT-35s were operational in the hands of the rebels. Several fierce battles followed (including a German ambush that decimated the rebel LT-38s) and the last LT-35 was lost on 27.10.1944. Romanians used theirs until 1943 or so.
Minggu, 17 Maret 2013
17.3.2013
- there will be no special game mechanics for semi-AP marine shells
- ejector graphic (cleansing of the barrel after each shot) might be implemented (SS: some modern guns have it), SerB thinks he actually implemented this already for some tank in WoT
- SerB says that the Designated Target perk works 15 degress from the barrel (SS: official description is 10 degrees)
- apparently, Brothers in Arms does influence the Designated Target perk
- MTLS-1G14 is not planned to appear on Russian (or EU) server
- 2 HE shell non-penetration hits in a row can kill off the entire crew (SS: the "no more than half a crew dead with one HE shell" rule applies only to one shell, not two shells in a row, plus a penetrating HE hit can kill off the entire crew completely)
- AMX-ELC can get to tier 5-9 battles
- SerB states there aren't any blatant spots on the Abbey maps where tanks would get stuck often
- Ram II is placed in the US tree because it uses American chassis and was co-developed by Americans, it won't be moved to the UK branch
- according to SerB, the Swedish possible heavy candidate KRV tank weighted 45 tons (SS: a player claimed it actually weighted 28 tons, my bet would be that the player confused the projected weight with the weight of the turretless prototype chassis that was actually made)
- SerB states that the incoming camouflage system change is connected with the camo having too little effect on large vehicles
- coniferous trees crowns (the large parts, near the ground) do act as bushes, when it comes to camo calculations
- according to SerB, the BT "Christie" turret is historical
- a player with hightier tanks can very rarely drop into the Province map - this happens when press accounts are present in the battle, they circumvent the regular map limitations (they can pick which map to play apparently)
- T23 won't return in forseeable future
- T-50-2 confirmed to be removed out of the game. The tank that will replace it will be transferred to tier 6, but this is not connected with the T-60/70/80 introduction (eg. won't happen in 8.5)
- AMX-30? "no comment"
- ejector graphic (cleansing of the barrel after each shot) might be implemented (SS: some modern guns have it), SerB thinks he actually implemented this already for some tank in WoT
- SerB says that the Designated Target perk works 15 degress from the barrel (SS: official description is 10 degrees)
- apparently, Brothers in Arms does influence the Designated Target perk
- MTLS-1G14 is not planned to appear on Russian (or EU) server
- 2 HE shell non-penetration hits in a row can kill off the entire crew (SS: the "no more than half a crew dead with one HE shell" rule applies only to one shell, not two shells in a row, plus a penetrating HE hit can kill off the entire crew completely)
- AMX-ELC can get to tier 5-9 battles
- SerB states there aren't any blatant spots on the Abbey maps where tanks would get stuck often
- Ram II is placed in the US tree because it uses American chassis and was co-developed by Americans, it won't be moved to the UK branch
- according to SerB, the Swedish possible heavy candidate KRV tank weighted 45 tons (SS: a player claimed it actually weighted 28 tons, my bet would be that the player confused the projected weight with the weight of the turretless prototype chassis that was actually made)
- SerB states that the incoming camouflage system change is connected with the camo having too little effect on large vehicles
- coniferous trees crowns (the large parts, near the ground) do act as bushes, when it comes to camo calculations
- according to SerB, the BT "Christie" turret is historical
- a player with hightier tanks can very rarely drop into the Province map - this happens when press accounts are present in the battle, they circumvent the regular map limitations (they can pick which map to play apparently)
- T23 won't return in forseeable future
- T-50-2 confirmed to be removed out of the game. The tank that will replace it will be transferred to tier 6, but this is not connected with the T-60/70/80 introduction (eg. won't happen in 8.5)
- AMX-30? "no comment"
1 million hits - and now?
Hello everyone,
first, I'd like to thank all my readers for your continued support. I deleted the previous article from this morning (including the comments, sorry about that), because I have generally reached a decision. From now on, this blog will be 100 percent legal. For those who liked the leaks - sorry about that, no more leaks here. This blog will stay legal.
With kind regards
Silentstalker
Edit (17.3. 17:12 CET): The thing about decision is - when you make one there will always be someone moaning. When I posted leaks, people whined about me being a dick, destroying supertester community and whatnot (like I give a fuck about most of them), when I refuse to post more, people whine they want them back - that's the way the life works. Get over it. If you went here only for the leaks, well, too bad, seeya.
first, I'd like to thank all my readers for your continued support. I deleted the previous article from this morning (including the comments, sorry about that), because I have generally reached a decision. From now on, this blog will be 100 percent legal. For those who liked the leaks - sorry about that, no more leaks here. This blog will stay legal.
With kind regards
Silentstalker
Edit (17.3. 17:12 CET): The thing about decision is - when you make one there will always be someone moaning. When I posted leaks, people whined about me being a dick, destroying supertester community and whatnot (like I give a fuck about most of them), when I refuse to post more, people whine they want them back - that's the way the life works. Get over it. If you went here only for the leaks, well, too bad, seeya.
Sabtu, 16 Maret 2013
For the Record on Facebook
Hey - just a quick note: I created a Facebook page, where I will re-post the articles from For the Record - for those who like that sort of thing (after all, commenting on FB is kinda comfortable). You can find the page here:
16.3.2013
- according to Yuri Pasholok, there was a plan for an artillery vehicle based on the IS-4 chassis, but no details were discovered
- additional equipment/consumable slots are not planned, not even for gold
- according to SerB, things get sometimes forgotten in the patchnotes
- Firefighting skill does not enhance the speed of the automatic (golden) fire extinguisher
- new Chinese premium vehicles in near future? "If we decided to implement, I'll tell you"
- more models for destroyed tanks are planned
- gold consumables for silver confirmed (unknown ETA)
- no extra balancing for platoons planned (SS: for example matching of tiers, so both team has platoons with same tier vehicles)
- according to SerB, the most common battle result is somewhere between 15:7 and 15:9
- Soviets won't get a special branch of vehicles constructed by N.Astrov (SS: T-30,60,70,80,SU-76M, ASU-57, ASU-85, but also the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" and others) because there wouldn't be enough vehicles for such a branch
- the frequency of spot checks will possibly be increased, but SerB states the algorithm is quite requiring server-wise
- SerB states there won't be an option for a player to see who added him as a friend (friendship in WoT is not symmetrical, eg. a player can add you but you don't have to add him). There will however be a function that will allow you to accept private chats only from people in your friendslist
- T-60 and T-50-2 are in two different branches, the introduction of T-60/70/80 will not influence the characteristics of T-50-2
- guns with muzzle brake reduce camouflage of the vehicle more than guns without it when shooting (they will demask you more)
- you get extra XP for base capture points you accumulated even if the battle ends by destroying the enemies, you get this extra XP for capturing enemy base even if the enemies capture your base first
- IS-7 will get a buff ("let's wait for test with details")
- there won't be any "East Germany" (DDR) premium tanks for now - but if there ever are, it will most likely be T-34/85 premium (T-55 is tier 9)
- the map in the Development section scheduled for 8.5 is the Pearl River
- additional equipment/consumable slots are not planned, not even for gold
- according to SerB, things get sometimes forgotten in the patchnotes
- Firefighting skill does not enhance the speed of the automatic (golden) fire extinguisher
- new Chinese premium vehicles in near future? "If we decided to implement, I'll tell you"
- more models for destroyed tanks are planned
- gold consumables for silver confirmed (unknown ETA)
- no extra balancing for platoons planned (SS: for example matching of tiers, so both team has platoons with same tier vehicles)
- according to SerB, the most common battle result is somewhere between 15:7 and 15:9
- Soviets won't get a special branch of vehicles constructed by N.Astrov (SS: T-30,60,70,80,SU-76M, ASU-57, ASU-85, but also the ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" and others) because there wouldn't be enough vehicles for such a branch
- the frequency of spot checks will possibly be increased, but SerB states the algorithm is quite requiring server-wise
- SerB states there won't be an option for a player to see who added him as a friend (friendship in WoT is not symmetrical, eg. a player can add you but you don't have to add him). There will however be a function that will allow you to accept private chats only from people in your friendslist
- T-60 and T-50-2 are in two different branches, the introduction of T-60/70/80 will not influence the characteristics of T-50-2
- guns with muzzle brake reduce camouflage of the vehicle more than guns without it when shooting (they will demask you more)
- you get extra XP for base capture points you accumulated even if the battle ends by destroying the enemies, you get this extra XP for capturing enemy base even if the enemies capture your base first
- IS-7 will get a buff ("let's wait for test with details")
- there won't be any "East Germany" (DDR) premium tanks for now - but if there ever are, it will most likely be T-34/85 premium (T-55 is tier 9)
- the map in the Development section scheduled for 8.5 is the Pearl River
Jumat, 15 Maret 2013
15.3.2013
- teamkills committed by arty will not be punished stricter than regular teamkills (SS: a light tank player was complaining about the arty ordering him what to do and teamkilling when he doesn't do it)
- ASU-85 will not be introduced apparently
- the amount of shells left in your ammo rack does not influence the chance for ammorack explosions (SS: but if the rack is completely empty, it can't explode - that's one exception)
- 6th sense (and other perks apparently) work even if the crew is not trained to 100 percent (SS: for example when re-training crew from vehicle 1 to vehicle 2 for silver, if vehicle 1 crew has 100 percent 6th sense perk training and gets re-trained to 75 percent basic training, the perk will still work)
- hardcore mode was scrapped - SerB: "Noone needs this garbage. Everyone wants it really badly, but practically noone plays it - that can be seen on other projects."
- there won't be AI driven bots in near future
- there is no "okay, that's enough", regarding the amount of vehicles for respective nations
- when you hit a drowned tank, the damage doesn't count to your total damage done
- shooting drowning tanks has a reason only to give you extra silver, it won't punish them more, they will already pay full repair costs
- damage awarded for lighting up a target is distributed evenly between all the scouts lighting the target at the time of damage
- SerB doesn't think the tier 7 premium T-44A will be a fail
- HEAT shells (when hitting the engine module) do not have an increased chance to set it on fire, same goes for ammo rack
- the amount of XP needed to train 3+ skills on the crew won't be reduced ("it's set so that you have to choose")
- no plans to introduce a research transition from arties to regular tanks
Also, Storm made an article about graphics on the developer blog, where he asks players, what they think of them. Not too much info can be gleaned from it, but some bits perhaps. Please note that I don't understand graphic terms, so some translations might be off.
- shadows won't return to the old render
- old render won't be optimalized, devs won't touch it at all, all the new features will be introduced to the new one
- trees can heavily reduce FPS even on good computers, if that happens, Storm recommends lowering the tree quality
- Ruinberg streets will be flattened (SS: in 8.5 I think)
Overlord also provides some pieces of information:
- arty will definitely not be removed from the game (I wonder why people still ask that)
- the issue with arty hardcap is long waiting time
-
- ASU-85 will not be introduced apparently
- the amount of shells left in your ammo rack does not influence the chance for ammorack explosions (SS: but if the rack is completely empty, it can't explode - that's one exception)
- 6th sense (and other perks apparently) work even if the crew is not trained to 100 percent (SS: for example when re-training crew from vehicle 1 to vehicle 2 for silver, if vehicle 1 crew has 100 percent 6th sense perk training and gets re-trained to 75 percent basic training, the perk will still work)
- hardcore mode was scrapped - SerB: "Noone needs this garbage. Everyone wants it really badly, but practically noone plays it - that can be seen on other projects."
- there won't be AI driven bots in near future
- there is no "okay, that's enough", regarding the amount of vehicles for respective nations
- when you hit a drowned tank, the damage doesn't count to your total damage done
- shooting drowning tanks has a reason only to give you extra silver, it won't punish them more, they will already pay full repair costs
- damage awarded for lighting up a target is distributed evenly between all the scouts lighting the target at the time of damage
- SerB doesn't think the tier 7 premium T-44A will be a fail
- HEAT shells (when hitting the engine module) do not have an increased chance to set it on fire, same goes for ammo rack
- the amount of XP needed to train 3+ skills on the crew won't be reduced ("it's set so that you have to choose")
- no plans to introduce a research transition from arties to regular tanks
Also, Storm made an article about graphics on the developer blog, where he asks players, what they think of them. Not too much info can be gleaned from it, but some bits perhaps. Please note that I don't understand graphic terms, so some translations might be off.
- shadows won't return to the old render
- old render won't be optimalized, devs won't touch it at all, all the new features will be introduced to the new one
- trees can heavily reduce FPS even on good computers, if that happens, Storm recommends lowering the tree quality
- Ruinberg streets will be flattened (SS: in 8.5 I think)
Overlord also provides some pieces of information:
- arty will definitely not be removed from the game (I wonder why people still ask that)
- the issue with arty hardcap is long waiting time
-
Kamis, 14 Maret 2013
14.3.2013
- the 25 percent spread of damage and penetration is not tied to each other (eg. if a max penetration with 25 percent bonus is applied, it does not mean you will deal maximum damage too)
- T-34-1 would underperform without the 100mm gun
- multicore support "is there for a long time already" (Storm: When the client physics is introduced, the second core will be loaded more)
- new servers will be introduced in the future
- the concept of converting free XP to crew XP (for gold) has been refused
- separation of company and random stats confirmed
- it's not clear whether KV-2 will appear in historical battles, so far the general concept is ready, not the roles of individual tanks
- it won't be possible to buy two premium tanks of the same type in the future
- British pink desert camo? "I don't like it, but I can't do anything about it, it existed"
- it's not banned to actually stream your fight (even though the enemy can theoretically go and see on the stream where you and your allies are): the reason is that to do so is just too slow and ineffective
- models of tanks will be reworked (parts of the hull will be flying off when hit), but not very soon
- camo mechanism will be changed at the earliest in 0.9.0 ("will tell later what I will do")
- Havok client physics - players will be able to disable it
- Ensk wagons will be made more visible separatedly
- viewrange 445m limit will not be removed
- IS7 ROF will not be increased apparently
- SerB states that players with too many complains are investigated, not banned automatically
And a few misc informations:
- Russian server had today a patch where the 83mm shell price was reduced from 260 to 170 credits.*trollface*
- German 0.8.5 patch: several new maps apparently, the official Leopard photos are out too. Looks nice!
- the In Development section showed an official screenie of the T-60 tank. It's reasonable to assume that the T-70 and T-80 (they were tested together) will come with it in 0.8.5
New KTTC video (well, ASAP)
Can be found here: http://worldoftanks.eu/news/6423-asap-video-producer-mikhail-zhivets-reporting/
Inside:
- why was Prokhorovka changed (balance, issues with the maps, the Prokhorovka was smoothed)
- 8.5 new Asian river map (SS: well, actually there might be 3 new maps in 8.5 *wink*)
- British TD - heavy armor, unusual vehicles
- high tier premium arty - not for all nations apparently
- Sexton will become British
- Soviet T7 medium premium tank (Prototype T-44 with 85mm gun)
- gold shell for credits will stay
- horns were scrapped
- Sturmtiger: postponed till 2014
- Storm is happy with the tutorial, will be developed further
- T-34-1 would underperform without the 100mm gun
- multicore support "is there for a long time already" (Storm: When the client physics is introduced, the second core will be loaded more)
- new servers will be introduced in the future
- the concept of converting free XP to crew XP (for gold) has been refused
- separation of company and random stats confirmed
- it's not clear whether KV-2 will appear in historical battles, so far the general concept is ready, not the roles of individual tanks
- it won't be possible to buy two premium tanks of the same type in the future
- British pink desert camo? "I don't like it, but I can't do anything about it, it existed"
- it's not banned to actually stream your fight (even though the enemy can theoretically go and see on the stream where you and your allies are): the reason is that to do so is just too slow and ineffective
- models of tanks will be reworked (parts of the hull will be flying off when hit), but not very soon
- camo mechanism will be changed at the earliest in 0.9.0 ("will tell later what I will do")
- Havok client physics - players will be able to disable it
- Ensk wagons will be made more visible separatedly
- viewrange 445m limit will not be removed
- IS7 ROF will not be increased apparently
- SerB states that players with too many complains are investigated, not banned automatically
And a few misc informations:
- Russian server had today a patch where the 83mm shell price was reduced from 260 to 170 credits.*trollface*
- German 0.8.5 patch: several new maps apparently, the official Leopard photos are out too. Looks nice!
New KTTC video (well, ASAP)
Can be found here: http://worldoftanks.eu/news/6423-asap-video-producer-mikhail-zhivets-reporting/
Inside:
- why was Prokhorovka changed (balance, issues with the maps, the Prokhorovka was smoothed)
- 8.5 new Asian river map (SS: well, actually there might be 3 new maps in 8.5 *wink*)
- British TD - heavy armor, unusual vehicles
- high tier premium arty - not for all nations apparently
- Sexton will become British
- Soviet T7 medium premium tank (Prototype T-44 with 85mm gun)
- gold shell for credits will stay
- horns were scrapped
- Sturmtiger: postponed till 2014
- Storm is happy with the tutorial, will be developed further
"Devil wears Praga" - a 38t Praga TD proposal
"Devil wears Praga" - a 38t Praga TD branch proposal
Hello everyone,
recently, an attempt to re-work the current German TD branches has been published on the EU forums. I did not like it - too many fantasy designs (including the usual suspects, such as the "Krokodil") and it was generally just mashing up for the sake of mashup. Well, here's a thought: a lot of people asked thru the months, how would the leicht Waffeträgers (Ardelt, Ardelt-Krupp, Ardelt-Steyr) fit into World of Tanks. Well, I think I found a proper way. Surprisingly, thru the hull/suspension.
The famous LT-38 light tank (known as Panzer 38t) evolved from the basic Praga TNH variant, which in turn, was built around the Praga TN engine (TNH means TN - housenkový: 'tracked'). This is not the place to describe its journey, but from the basic TNH, meant for export to Iran, the Panzer 38t would eventually evolve. The LT-38 was a great tank, judged by many (including Mr. H.Doyle) to be one of the best pre-war light tanks in the world, surpassing the Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks completely. When Czechoslovakia surrendered to Hitler after the western powers betrayed it during the Munich conference, a number of those vehicles, intended for the Czechoslovak army, was captured and later used by Germans to fight in Poland, France and against Soviet Union. But it was just a light tank - its armor and armament couldn't keep up with the enemy medium and heavy designs of 1941/1942. One part never got old though - the suspension. Simply put, it was great. It was valued by the Germans greatly and became the basis for whole series of various vehicles, from recovery vehicles over tank destroyers to self-propelled guns. In late 1944, a decision was even made in connection with phasing out of the Panzer IV production, only 3 platforms will be manufactured in 1945: the Tiger platform, the Panther platform and the 38d platform. But we'll get to that.
Basically, here's a tank destroyer branch proposal based on the 38t/d suspension. Let's look at it.
Changes in the original branch
Before we can start building a new branch, we have to modify the old one a bit. The old branch has something we need: the Hetzer, built on the 38t chassis. That's why I suggest the following:
- remove the Hetzer from the branch
- replace the tier 4 tank destroyer slot with the historical StuG III. Ingame StuG III has 80mm frontal armor and an unhistorical gun (the L/70). Regarding the gun - the latest StuG III version manufactured (the Ausf.G) had the StuK 40 L/48. There was a proposal project to arm the StuG with the L/70, designated Ausf.H (as far as I know), but that never reached a prototype stage. So, give the StuG its historical early version armor (50mm front), its historical gun (L/48), it would make a nice T4.
- put the StuG IV on tier 5. Well, here we'd have to improvise a bit. StuG IV has enough armor for T5 (80mm front), but it still carries the L/48. Basically, a StuG IV with L/70 mounted was renamed to Jagdpanzer IV, but I think we can still work with that.
StuG IV
Alternatively, we can put the StuG III Ausf. H project on T5, but that probably wouldn't work too well, as the vehicle is similiar. What would however work would be T4 StuG III "early" (let's say until Ausf. F/8) while the T5 would be StuG III "late" (Ausf.G,H) with schürzen.
StuG III Ausf.G
The StuG III Ausf.H (its real project name was 7,5 cm PaK 42 L/70 auf StuG III) is sort-of historical. A project for re-arming the StuG III was made in 1943 by Alkett. The rearming was ordered by Hitler himself in December 1942. A wooden mockup was made. After the war, the mockup was captured by the Americans and ended up in Aberdeen. The gun wouldn't however fit in normally - the superstructure was radically reworked. Thus, the ingame StuG III with original superstructure but the L/70 cannon is a fake.
The new branch
So, now that we have the Hetzer available, let's have a look at how such a tree would work:
T2: Panzerjäger I
T3: Marder III Ausf.M
T4: Jagdpanzer 38t "Hetzer"
T5: Hetzer (Krupp) or Aufklärungspanzer 38
T6: Jagdpanzer 38d
T7: Waffenträger Ardelt
T8: Waffenträger Ardelt-Krupp
T9: Waffenträger Rheinmetall-Borsig 128mm
T10: Waffenträger Rheinmetall-Borsig 128mm/150mm
Tier 3: Marder III Ausf.M
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marder_III
The history of Marder III is described pretty much everywhere, it's a rather known vehicle. In the end, it doesn't really matter which Ausführung you choose, because none of them had usually compatible weapons. The first Marder III, known as Panzerjäger 38t, was equipped with the Sovier 76,2mm gun (PaK 36(r)), modified to fire the German 75mm rounds. Later variants (Ausf.H and M) were fitted with the 75mm Pak 40/3 gun. From what I could find, no Marder III was originally armed with a 50mm gun, so there would be little continuity from the Panzerjäger I. However, given the fact that the second German branch announced by Wargaming (the one with the Waffenträger E-100) has Marder III on T3 slot too, I don't think Wargaming would see this as a problem (or it would dish out some unhistorical mashup of the various Marder III models). Either way, this vehicle is hard to make completely historically, so some suspension of disbelief is necessery.
Weapons: (?) 50mm PaK 39 L/60, 76,2mm PaK 36(r), 75mm PaK 40/3
Tier 4: Jagdpanzer 38t "Hetzer"
Source: http://wiki.worldoftanks.com/Hetzer
Here it's kinda pointless to add anything, the vehicle is already in the game and it works fine. Just refer to WoTwiki for details.
Weapons: 75mm StuK40, 75mm PaK39, 105mm StuH 42
Tier 5: Jagdpanzer 38t "Hetzer" (Kruppvorschlag)
In November 1944, Krupp made several proposals regarding the rearming ("Umbewaffnung") of existing hulls. Amongst them was a proposal to upgrade the Hetzer with a superstructure and to mount the 75mm KwK 42 (L/70) gun within. The design had some serious flaws. In order to install the superstructure, the engine and crew compartment would have to be completely reworked. Also, it was doubtful whether the original 38t suspension could hold the weight of the added weight - in order to reach a sufficient level of protection, it would have to carry 18 tons. According to the WaPrüf6 report, this vehicle would have about the same characteristics as the Jagdpanzer IV lang (A), currently being recalled from the front for being a failure.
This project never reached prototype stage. A great number of Krupp redesign project was most likely motivated (the way the 3rd Reich worked) by the attempt to secure further contracts. Most of the design proposals were rejected in January 1945 - it was no time for introduction of new projects. Krupp returned to this concept with a similiar construction, built on 38d hull - with marginally better parameters.
We can only estimate how such a vehicle would behave game-wise. It would most likely have thinner armor and would be slower than the current StuG III, which would have to be compensated by different weaponry.
Weapons: 75mm StuK40, 105mm StuH 42, 75mm KwK 42, PAW600 (German advanced gun project - 81,4mm smoothbore gun, firing HEAT rounds of roughly 140mm penetration)
Tier 6: Jagdpanzer 38d
The Jagdpanzer 38d was based on an evolution of the 38t suspension. Originally, it was called 38 "Reich", but quickly got renamed to 38d (Deutsch). Basically, in September 1944, OKH (army high command) decided they want a new light tank destroyer, based on the 38t chassis. There was a problem however: the 38t chassis was ill-suited for German mass production (due to the way it was manufactured, Czech industrial methods were different from the ones of Germany and could not be copied easily). Thus it was decided the suspension would be modified using the German methods. This project was designed by Alkett and and re-named 38 Ausführung Reich. Basically, the suspension was made 60mm wider and its final drive was strenghtened. In the meanwhile, in October 1944, it was decided to limit the future production of the Third Reich to only three platforms: the Tiger, the Panther and the 38(t/d). The project was finished really quickly - in November 1944, the basic works were finished (by that time it was renamed 38d.) The result was actually quite good and a new tank destroyer was planned based on it. It was to resemble the original 38t, but it was to carry either the 75mm PaK39 L/48 or the 75mm KwK 42 cannon. A version for 105mm StuH42/2 was also concieved. The frontal armor was projected at 60mm. It was projected to be propelled by the Tatra T103 220hp engine, propelling it to 40 km/h.
In January 1945, a detailed meeting of the Entwicklungskomission Panzer in Obering took place, where the plans for the development and production were laid forth, but by then the war was only months from its end. Some plans were made, but they never came to fruition. Two partially assembled prototypes were made by Alkett, but it's unlikely the company ever made them running.
In the game, this could be the "Hetzer on steroids", but truth to be told, it's not that different from the original Hetzer. It would however be rather small - that means good camo rating. The weapons choice is a bit lackluster, but it'll get better.
Weapons: 75mm PaK39 L/48, 105mm StuH 42, 75mm KwK 42, PAW600
Tier 7 onwards - the Waffenträgers
Here it's starting to get a bit complicated. Originally, I thought about the Jagdpanzer 38d (project Krupp) on this spot. It was basically a Jagdpanzer 38d with a superstructure, in the back, armed with a top-of-the-line PAW1000 gun (essentially a smoothbore HEAT-firing German gun, capable of penetrating cca 200mm of armor). It looked like this:
But it has two problems. First: it uses the PAW1000 which is smoothbore (well, at least it's historical), but not the 88mm PaK 43, which would get skipped, only to return on tier 8. That's just weird. Furthermore, the vehicle wasn't exactly stellar. As with the 38t Krupp proposal, the chassis was rather stressed and the characteristics wouldn't be exactly great. I was thinking of adding some later (rifled) variant (81mm L/105 prototype - yes, such a thing existed), but I am not sure it would fit the superstructure. Thus, it would be historically correct to continue with the Waffenträgers.
"Waffenträger" in German means "weapons carrier" - and that's exactly what the Waffenträgers were. If we skip all the improvised weapons carries, made either from captured or German knocked-out tech, the idea to make an unified mass-produced weapons carriers came to be in early 1944. In January 1944, a conference took place between the members of the army and the industry representatives. The army complained that the PaK 42 and PaK 43 cannons were simply way too heavy to manhandle and impossible to tow without special artillery tractors. It was a reasonable complaint - Doyle mentions one incident, when brand new 88mm PaK 43 cannons had to be destroyed without firing a single shot in order to prevent them from falling to the enemy - just because there were no towing vehicles available. Thus a decision was made to mount all the heavy anti-tank guns on a simple, effective and cheap 38t platform, designated as "Einheitsfahrgestell", or "unified platform". Hitler personally started messing around too, ordering the abovementioned decision thru one of his directives and so the Waffenträger concept was born.
The first one to react to this new demand was Ardelt. Its 88mm PaK 43 Waffenträger proposal was made in two versions: one lighter, practically without any protection weighting 10 tons, one protecting the crew at least from small arms fire, weighting 13 tons, having a fully revolving turret. Versions for 75mm PaK 42, 105mm leFH 18/40 and 88mm PaK 43 (L/71) were concieved. This design (with two 1:10 models) was presented to Hitler in late January - Hitler, after seeing it, decided to go straight for the 88mm version, using the "Kreuzlafette" (cross mount). The vehicle was to be equipped with the L/71 gun with 50 rounds of ammo, with depression/elevation of -8/+45 degrees. The gun for the Ardelt project was to be modified by Rheinmetall Borsig. The armor was cca 20mm thick and the maximum speed in terrain was to be cca 30 km/h. This is how it looked:
The prototype (although not fully functional) was ready in April 1944 - it was tested and the tests were reasonably successful (no major breakdowns). The WaPrüf officials were very positive about the vehicle - the only issue being the gun mount, which was not ideal (Ardelt would later move to the Krupp mount). This project was actually still noted as active in September 1944, but at some point after that, it was cancelled due to the low resources.
Another, competing platform would be created by Steyr. Carrying the same weapon and having nearly the same characteristics, its PaK 43 gun mount was modified by Krupp. The vehicle was again using the 38t platform and was to be propelled by the V12 "boxer" Steyr enging (140hp), but that engine was not yet available and so the Praga EPA AC/2 180hp engine was used instead. Maybach HL and Klocker-Deutz diesel engine was also considered. From this point, the pieces of information are a bit sketchy. At least one prototype was made (and captured by the Allies) - it was scheduled to be read around October 1944. At some point after that, the program was stopped. This is how it looked:
The third Waffenträger was built in cooperation of Krupp and Ardelt. A modified platform from the original Ardelt vehicle was used. The vehicle had once again a fully revolving turret with the 88mm PaK 43 cannon. The elevation was -8/+25 this time and the gun had 42 pieces of ammo (6 in the ready rack on the side of the turret. Two prototypes were made until the end of 1944 (2nd prototype was ready on 23.9.1944) - further 7 serial vehicles were also produced. This was probably the only Waffenträger ever to see live combat. All 7 vehicles were attached to Panzerjäger-Alarmkompanie Eberswalde, commanded by Oberleutnant Ardelt (he died fighting on the vehicle). The unit fought near Eberswalde, roughly 50km northeast from Berlin, where it was defeated. One of these vehicles was then brought to Russia, tested in 1946 and remains in Kubinka to this day. This is how it looked:
And how to make this work in World of Tanks? Well, let's see:
Tier 7 - Ardelt Waffenträger (75mm L/70, 88mm PaK 43)
Tier 8 - Ardelt-Krupp Waffenträger (88mm PaK 43, 81mm L/105) (or the Steyr variant)
Tier 9 and 10 - well, this is where it gets REALLY complicated. First, we definitely need a 128mm vehicle here. There was a Rheinmetall-Borsig 128mm PaK 44 Waffenträger project too (but stayed only on the paper). Here's how it looked:
Another version:
Game-wise, it would be very light, maneuverable, with fully revolving 128mm PaK 44 (L/55, L/61 variants) mount - the ROF would be boosted compared to the Jagdtiger, the camo factor would be excellent but of course the armor would be non-existent.
And as for tier 10? Well, there are again basically two options: either a 128mm Flak 45 (or rather PaK 45), or a 150mm gun. The first option could use the same carrier as tier 9 (or a modified chassis of Rheinmetall Borsig, which I really like visually):
The second option had a special Waffenträger designed by Krupp:
The FlaK 45 is generally an interesting weapon. It was designed to succeed the 128mm FlaK 40 (PaK 44). It had a bigger breech and used higher load of explosives. The original FlaK could propel the 27kg round at 880 m/s, FlaK 45 could shoot the same shells at 1500 m/s. Combined with an APCR shell... well, you can imagine.
Epilogue
From a pre-war lighttank to the mighty Waffenträger project, the 38t/d suspension proved its worth time and time again. Very few designs survived the war like that. Post-war fate of the 38t suspension was not that bright however. Several light tanks and tank destroyer/SPG designs were proposed in Czechoslovakia and for a while, it was even manufactured with the Hetzer copies for Czechoslovakia and Switzerland, but ultimately, it disappeared in late 50's.
Hello everyone,
recently, an attempt to re-work the current German TD branches has been published on the EU forums. I did not like it - too many fantasy designs (including the usual suspects, such as the "Krokodil") and it was generally just mashing up for the sake of mashup. Well, here's a thought: a lot of people asked thru the months, how would the leicht Waffeträgers (Ardelt, Ardelt-Krupp, Ardelt-Steyr) fit into World of Tanks. Well, I think I found a proper way. Surprisingly, thru the hull/suspension.
The famous LT-38 light tank (known as Panzer 38t) evolved from the basic Praga TNH variant, which in turn, was built around the Praga TN engine (TNH means TN - housenkový: 'tracked'). This is not the place to describe its journey, but from the basic TNH, meant for export to Iran, the Panzer 38t would eventually evolve. The LT-38 was a great tank, judged by many (including Mr. H.Doyle) to be one of the best pre-war light tanks in the world, surpassing the Panzer I and Panzer II light tanks completely. When Czechoslovakia surrendered to Hitler after the western powers betrayed it during the Munich conference, a number of those vehicles, intended for the Czechoslovak army, was captured and later used by Germans to fight in Poland, France and against Soviet Union. But it was just a light tank - its armor and armament couldn't keep up with the enemy medium and heavy designs of 1941/1942. One part never got old though - the suspension. Simply put, it was great. It was valued by the Germans greatly and became the basis for whole series of various vehicles, from recovery vehicles over tank destroyers to self-propelled guns. In late 1944, a decision was even made in connection with phasing out of the Panzer IV production, only 3 platforms will be manufactured in 1945: the Tiger platform, the Panther platform and the 38d platform. But we'll get to that.
Basically, here's a tank destroyer branch proposal based on the 38t/d suspension. Let's look at it.
Changes in the original branch
Before we can start building a new branch, we have to modify the old one a bit. The old branch has something we need: the Hetzer, built on the 38t chassis. That's why I suggest the following:
- remove the Hetzer from the branch
- replace the tier 4 tank destroyer slot with the historical StuG III. Ingame StuG III has 80mm frontal armor and an unhistorical gun (the L/70). Regarding the gun - the latest StuG III version manufactured (the Ausf.G) had the StuK 40 L/48. There was a proposal project to arm the StuG with the L/70, designated Ausf.H (as far as I know), but that never reached a prototype stage. So, give the StuG its historical early version armor (50mm front), its historical gun (L/48), it would make a nice T4.
- put the StuG IV on tier 5. Well, here we'd have to improvise a bit. StuG IV has enough armor for T5 (80mm front), but it still carries the L/48. Basically, a StuG IV with L/70 mounted was renamed to Jagdpanzer IV, but I think we can still work with that.
StuG IV
Alternatively, we can put the StuG III Ausf. H project on T5, but that probably wouldn't work too well, as the vehicle is similiar. What would however work would be T4 StuG III "early" (let's say until Ausf. F/8) while the T5 would be StuG III "late" (Ausf.G,H) with schürzen.
StuG III Ausf.G
The StuG III Ausf.H (its real project name was 7,5 cm PaK 42 L/70 auf StuG III) is sort-of historical. A project for re-arming the StuG III was made in 1943 by Alkett. The rearming was ordered by Hitler himself in December 1942. A wooden mockup was made. After the war, the mockup was captured by the Americans and ended up in Aberdeen. The gun wouldn't however fit in normally - the superstructure was radically reworked. Thus, the ingame StuG III with original superstructure but the L/70 cannon is a fake.
The new branch
So, now that we have the Hetzer available, let's have a look at how such a tree would work:
T2: Panzerjäger I
T3: Marder III Ausf.M
T4: Jagdpanzer 38t "Hetzer"
T5: Hetzer (Krupp) or Aufklärungspanzer 38
T6: Jagdpanzer 38d
T7: Waffenträger Ardelt
T8: Waffenträger Ardelt-Krupp
T9: Waffenträger Rheinmetall-Borsig 128mm
T10: Waffenträger Rheinmetall-Borsig 128mm/150mm
Tier 3: Marder III Ausf.M
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marder_III
The history of Marder III is described pretty much everywhere, it's a rather known vehicle. In the end, it doesn't really matter which Ausführung you choose, because none of them had usually compatible weapons. The first Marder III, known as Panzerjäger 38t, was equipped with the Sovier 76,2mm gun (PaK 36(r)), modified to fire the German 75mm rounds. Later variants (Ausf.H and M) were fitted with the 75mm Pak 40/3 gun. From what I could find, no Marder III was originally armed with a 50mm gun, so there would be little continuity from the Panzerjäger I. However, given the fact that the second German branch announced by Wargaming (the one with the Waffenträger E-100) has Marder III on T3 slot too, I don't think Wargaming would see this as a problem (or it would dish out some unhistorical mashup of the various Marder III models). Either way, this vehicle is hard to make completely historically, so some suspension of disbelief is necessery.
Weapons: (?) 50mm PaK 39 L/60, 76,2mm PaK 36(r), 75mm PaK 40/3
Tier 4: Jagdpanzer 38t "Hetzer"
Source: http://wiki.worldoftanks.com/Hetzer
Here it's kinda pointless to add anything, the vehicle is already in the game and it works fine. Just refer to WoTwiki for details.
Weapons: 75mm StuK40, 75mm PaK39, 105mm StuH 42
Tier 5: Jagdpanzer 38t "Hetzer" (Kruppvorschlag)
In November 1944, Krupp made several proposals regarding the rearming ("Umbewaffnung") of existing hulls. Amongst them was a proposal to upgrade the Hetzer with a superstructure and to mount the 75mm KwK 42 (L/70) gun within. The design had some serious flaws. In order to install the superstructure, the engine and crew compartment would have to be completely reworked. Also, it was doubtful whether the original 38t suspension could hold the weight of the added weight - in order to reach a sufficient level of protection, it would have to carry 18 tons. According to the WaPrüf6 report, this vehicle would have about the same characteristics as the Jagdpanzer IV lang (A), currently being recalled from the front for being a failure.
This project never reached prototype stage. A great number of Krupp redesign project was most likely motivated (the way the 3rd Reich worked) by the attempt to secure further contracts. Most of the design proposals were rejected in January 1945 - it was no time for introduction of new projects. Krupp returned to this concept with a similiar construction, built on 38d hull - with marginally better parameters.
We can only estimate how such a vehicle would behave game-wise. It would most likely have thinner armor and would be slower than the current StuG III, which would have to be compensated by different weaponry.
Weapons: 75mm StuK40, 105mm StuH 42, 75mm KwK 42, PAW600 (German advanced gun project - 81,4mm smoothbore gun, firing HEAT rounds of roughly 140mm penetration)
Tier 6: Jagdpanzer 38d
The Jagdpanzer 38d was based on an evolution of the 38t suspension. Originally, it was called 38 "Reich", but quickly got renamed to 38d (Deutsch). Basically, in September 1944, OKH (army high command) decided they want a new light tank destroyer, based on the 38t chassis. There was a problem however: the 38t chassis was ill-suited for German mass production (due to the way it was manufactured, Czech industrial methods were different from the ones of Germany and could not be copied easily). Thus it was decided the suspension would be modified using the German methods. This project was designed by Alkett and and re-named 38 Ausführung Reich. Basically, the suspension was made 60mm wider and its final drive was strenghtened. In the meanwhile, in October 1944, it was decided to limit the future production of the Third Reich to only three platforms: the Tiger, the Panther and the 38(t/d). The project was finished really quickly - in November 1944, the basic works were finished (by that time it was renamed 38d.) The result was actually quite good and a new tank destroyer was planned based on it. It was to resemble the original 38t, but it was to carry either the 75mm PaK39 L/48 or the 75mm KwK 42 cannon. A version for 105mm StuH42/2 was also concieved. The frontal armor was projected at 60mm. It was projected to be propelled by the Tatra T103 220hp engine, propelling it to 40 km/h.
In January 1945, a detailed meeting of the Entwicklungskomission Panzer in Obering took place, where the plans for the development and production were laid forth, but by then the war was only months from its end. Some plans were made, but they never came to fruition. Two partially assembled prototypes were made by Alkett, but it's unlikely the company ever made them running.
In the game, this could be the "Hetzer on steroids", but truth to be told, it's not that different from the original Hetzer. It would however be rather small - that means good camo rating. The weapons choice is a bit lackluster, but it'll get better.
Weapons: 75mm PaK39 L/48, 105mm StuH 42, 75mm KwK 42, PAW600
Tier 7 onwards - the Waffenträgers
Here it's starting to get a bit complicated. Originally, I thought about the Jagdpanzer 38d (project Krupp) on this spot. It was basically a Jagdpanzer 38d with a superstructure, in the back, armed with a top-of-the-line PAW1000 gun (essentially a smoothbore HEAT-firing German gun, capable of penetrating cca 200mm of armor). It looked like this:
But it has two problems. First: it uses the PAW1000 which is smoothbore (well, at least it's historical), but not the 88mm PaK 43, which would get skipped, only to return on tier 8. That's just weird. Furthermore, the vehicle wasn't exactly stellar. As with the 38t Krupp proposal, the chassis was rather stressed and the characteristics wouldn't be exactly great. I was thinking of adding some later (rifled) variant (81mm L/105 prototype - yes, such a thing existed), but I am not sure it would fit the superstructure. Thus, it would be historically correct to continue with the Waffenträgers.
"Waffenträger" in German means "weapons carrier" - and that's exactly what the Waffenträgers were. If we skip all the improvised weapons carries, made either from captured or German knocked-out tech, the idea to make an unified mass-produced weapons carriers came to be in early 1944. In January 1944, a conference took place between the members of the army and the industry representatives. The army complained that the PaK 42 and PaK 43 cannons were simply way too heavy to manhandle and impossible to tow without special artillery tractors. It was a reasonable complaint - Doyle mentions one incident, when brand new 88mm PaK 43 cannons had to be destroyed without firing a single shot in order to prevent them from falling to the enemy - just because there were no towing vehicles available. Thus a decision was made to mount all the heavy anti-tank guns on a simple, effective and cheap 38t platform, designated as "Einheitsfahrgestell", or "unified platform". Hitler personally started messing around too, ordering the abovementioned decision thru one of his directives and so the Waffenträger concept was born.
The first one to react to this new demand was Ardelt. Its 88mm PaK 43 Waffenträger proposal was made in two versions: one lighter, practically without any protection weighting 10 tons, one protecting the crew at least from small arms fire, weighting 13 tons, having a fully revolving turret. Versions for 75mm PaK 42, 105mm leFH 18/40 and 88mm PaK 43 (L/71) were concieved. This design (with two 1:10 models) was presented to Hitler in late January - Hitler, after seeing it, decided to go straight for the 88mm version, using the "Kreuzlafette" (cross mount). The vehicle was to be equipped with the L/71 gun with 50 rounds of ammo, with depression/elevation of -8/+45 degrees. The gun for the Ardelt project was to be modified by Rheinmetall Borsig. The armor was cca 20mm thick and the maximum speed in terrain was to be cca 30 km/h. This is how it looked:
The prototype (although not fully functional) was ready in April 1944 - it was tested and the tests were reasonably successful (no major breakdowns). The WaPrüf officials were very positive about the vehicle - the only issue being the gun mount, which was not ideal (Ardelt would later move to the Krupp mount). This project was actually still noted as active in September 1944, but at some point after that, it was cancelled due to the low resources.
Another, competing platform would be created by Steyr. Carrying the same weapon and having nearly the same characteristics, its PaK 43 gun mount was modified by Krupp. The vehicle was again using the 38t platform and was to be propelled by the V12 "boxer" Steyr enging (140hp), but that engine was not yet available and so the Praga EPA AC/2 180hp engine was used instead. Maybach HL and Klocker-Deutz diesel engine was also considered. From this point, the pieces of information are a bit sketchy. At least one prototype was made (and captured by the Allies) - it was scheduled to be read around October 1944. At some point after that, the program was stopped. This is how it looked:
The third Waffenträger was built in cooperation of Krupp and Ardelt. A modified platform from the original Ardelt vehicle was used. The vehicle had once again a fully revolving turret with the 88mm PaK 43 cannon. The elevation was -8/+25 this time and the gun had 42 pieces of ammo (6 in the ready rack on the side of the turret. Two prototypes were made until the end of 1944 (2nd prototype was ready on 23.9.1944) - further 7 serial vehicles were also produced. This was probably the only Waffenträger ever to see live combat. All 7 vehicles were attached to Panzerjäger-Alarmkompanie Eberswalde, commanded by Oberleutnant Ardelt (he died fighting on the vehicle). The unit fought near Eberswalde, roughly 50km northeast from Berlin, where it was defeated. One of these vehicles was then brought to Russia, tested in 1946 and remains in Kubinka to this day. This is how it looked:
And how to make this work in World of Tanks? Well, let's see:
Tier 7 - Ardelt Waffenträger (75mm L/70, 88mm PaK 43)
Tier 8 - Ardelt-Krupp Waffenträger (88mm PaK 43, 81mm L/105) (or the Steyr variant)
Tier 9 and 10 - well, this is where it gets REALLY complicated. First, we definitely need a 128mm vehicle here. There was a Rheinmetall-Borsig 128mm PaK 44 Waffenträger project too (but stayed only on the paper). Here's how it looked:
Another version:
Game-wise, it would be very light, maneuverable, with fully revolving 128mm PaK 44 (L/55, L/61 variants) mount - the ROF would be boosted compared to the Jagdtiger, the camo factor would be excellent but of course the armor would be non-existent.
And as for tier 10? Well, there are again basically two options: either a 128mm Flak 45 (or rather PaK 45), or a 150mm gun. The first option could use the same carrier as tier 9 (or a modified chassis of Rheinmetall Borsig, which I really like visually):
The second option had a special Waffenträger designed by Krupp:
The FlaK 45 is generally an interesting weapon. It was designed to succeed the 128mm FlaK 40 (PaK 44). It had a bigger breech and used higher load of explosives. The original FlaK could propel the 27kg round at 880 m/s, FlaK 45 could shoot the same shells at 1500 m/s. Combined with an APCR shell... well, you can imagine.
Epilogue
From a pre-war lighttank to the mighty Waffenträger project, the 38t/d suspension proved its worth time and time again. Very few designs survived the war like that. Post-war fate of the 38t suspension was not that bright however. Several light tanks and tank destroyer/SPG designs were proposed in Czechoslovakia and for a while, it was even manufactured with the Hetzer copies for Czechoslovakia and Switzerland, but ultimately, it disappeared in late 50's.
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