War Thunder Trailer

Say what you want about War Thunder, dislike or like the game as much as you want, but whatever your opinion on Gaijin vs Wargaming is, there is one thing that Gaijin is absolutely undeniably superior to Wargaming: epic game trailers. While Wargaming trailers are usually relatively boring (comes with having no men in them), Gaijin on the other hand produces this… and it’s a beauty.

To be quite honest, I think this is definitely one of the best game trailers I have EVER seen, for ANY game. Enjoy. And Wargaming, you have some catching up to do.

Attack of the Clones.Supertest: T-55A NVA DDR

- Object 260 tier 10 Soviet heavy tank (scheduled as a clanwars reward, basically an IS-7 variant with different turret)
- T28 Concept (based on the wooden mockup as a tier 7 US TD
- East-German T-55A medium tank (because, you know, there are not enough T-54 clones in the game) tier 9 tank (likely an event/CW reward)
- tier 6 premium M4A3E8 variant (“Fury”, apparently)

Hello everyone,


you might have noticed that yesterday, we recieved yet another copy of the T-54, this time in the German tree (I wonder if we’ll ever get an American T-54 clone as well). On one hand, it’s a solid tier 9 reward tank and – let’s face it, the model is beautiful, all that I am missing are the external fuel tanks, but I can see why developers didn’t add them (they wouldn’t be a part of the hitzone and people would be confused: “why the hell does it not catch on fire, when I am firing at his fuel tanks”). Another neat part is that according to the source of the leaks, developers are even making the East German crest on the tank, just like the Leopard has a Bundeswehr one. I do not understand the designation too well – I mean, T-55 NVA DDR? In English, NVA almost always refers to the army of North Vietnam and I can already see how people will be confused (“we are having a Vietnamese T-55 in German tree?”). Why not Kampfpanzer T-55 or even Kpz T 55 (without the dash), that’s how the vehicle was designated in some German sources and books?

On the other hand, this vehicle, despite having somewhat different characteristics, is a clone of the T-54. Is that a good thing? Is that a bad thing?

Personally, I don’t mind. I mean… yes, this tank existed and was in service, thanks god it didn’t get to fight anyone though. Ironically, this vehicle, deployed by the East German army (NVA), was not manufactured in Germany, it was imported from Czechoslovakia (and partially Poland). Congratulations, another Czechoslovak vehicle fighting in German colours :) Hell, the German vehicles even fired indigenous Czechoslovak ammunition, not the Soviet one (specifically, the 100-JprSv HEAT shells with cca 300mm penetration).

As I wrote, I don’t mind. I personally think T-54/55 are some of the most beautiful tanks ever made and having one in the German tree? Why not. There is nothing inherently bad in having multiple copies of one tank in the game, it adds nothing negative to the game, apart from somewhat less diversity, but even that is a minor issue, considering this will not be a tier 8 premium tank and so we do not have to fear floods of T-55A tanks in battles

All jokes aside however, there is one thing that I hate about that and it’s the Wargaming inconsistency and hypocrisy. On one hand, the developers are moaning about the EU tree “filled with clones” and on the other hand, they introduce TWO T-54 clones in space of one month?

And that goes for the T28 Concept (upcoming tier 7 US TD apparently) – on one hand, developers are not happy with fake tanks to the point of actively trying to replace them, on the other hand, they introduce a completely fabricated vehicle with fake statistics based on one wooden mockup, that wasn’t even seriously considered?

Seeing how easy it is for them to break their own rules, the EU tree should be a piece of cake. In any case however, this inconsistency is something that really brings them down in my eyes. Oh well, here’s to another version of the T-54, may many players get it and enjoy it!

T-55A appeared on the supertest as a German tier 9 reward/event tank. It’s official designation is “T-55A NVA DDR”. The designation reads:

The T-55A is an improved variant of the T-55 tank. It differs from the T-55 by the absence of the AA machinegun and improved WMD protection. Roughly 1800 T-55 and T-55A tanks were exported from USSR to DDR between 1962 and 1970.

Statistics for 100 percent crew:

Tier: 9 MT Reward

Hitpoints: 1700

Weight: 37,5 tons

Engine power: 580 hp

Power-to-weight: 15,47 hp/t

Maximum speed: 50/20 km/h

Terrain resistance: 0,767/0,863/1,438

Hull traverse: 50 deg/s

Viewrange: 395

Radiorange: 761,3

Armor – hull: 100/80/?

Armor – turret: 200/160/65

Gun: 100mm Kanone D-10T2S

Penetration: 201/330/50

Damage: 320/320/420

DPM: 2600

Reload time: 7,384s

ROF: 8,126

Accuracy: 0,326

Aimtime: 2,01s

Depression: -4,3

Turret traverse: 48 deg/s

Armor and more pics below.

Supertest: T95E2

A new tier 8 premium/reward tank appeared on supertest, the T95E2. Some are speculating that it’s a reward tank, but nothing is confirmed at this point.

The description reads:


The development started in September 1954. Many pieces of equipment and modules were unified with the T96 heavy tank. In total, nine vehicles were produced, five of which were equipped with a 90mm gun and four were planned to be equipped with the T96 tank turret and its 105mm gun. However, since the T96 turrets were not ready on time, it was decided to fit the tank temporarily with the M48A2 tank turret with its M41 rifled gun. These vehicles were built in May-June 1957 and were designated T95E2.

Statistics for 100 percent crew, preliminary price 7500 gold.

Tier: 8 Premium

Hitpoints: 1500

Weight: 38,363 tons

Engine power: 560 hp

Power-to-weight: 14,6 hp/t

Maximum speed: 56,3/21 km/h

Terrain resistance: 0,863/1,055/1,822

Hull traverse: 36 deg/s

Viewrange: 390

Radiorange: ?

Armor – hull: 95,3/71,1/25,4

Armor – turret: 177,8/101,6/50,8

Gun: 90mm M41

Penetration: 173/242/45

Damage: 240/240/320

DPM: 2085,7

Reload time: 6,904s

ROF: 8,69

Accuracy: 0,345

Aimtime: 2,01s

Depression: -9/+19

Ammo carried: 64

Turret traverse rate: ?

On Wargaming EU Policies (Bots, Prem Tank Recovery)
I have seen the question “why are the names of banned botters not published on EU server” asked many times by many people. Hell, I asked it myself. And so, I wrote a message to Ectar (I think his title now is a “producer”, not sure anyway), asking the very same question. Here’s what he answered:

In Europe as you know we don’t allow for naming and shaming on our forums. One of the biggest reasons for this is to avoid players taking matters into their own hands (From simple things like taking it upon themselves to monitor/track other players, to message them in-game etc etc). Basically it would be rather hypocritical to punish players for naming and shaming on our forums and the we do it ourselves to players.

We are committed to actively taking action against players who break our rules or exploit the game, however we feel it’s in the best interests of the community that this interaction is kept between Wargaming.net and the individual player. As a result of this, a list of player names who have been banned for botting will not be published in EU.

So, there you have it. I personally disagree with the “best interest of the community part”, but that’s my personal opinion. After all, the principle of public trial (including the announcement of punishment) is a valid law principle in all democratic countries – and there’s a reason for that. But, then again, ingame punishments are not public law area, they are meted out according to private law and as such, Wargaming is free to do what they want.


Second announcement concerns the change in premium tank reimbursement policy, which was announced today. The change is simple: before, you could get basically any previously sold tank restored. Now, this option will be available only for tanks sold in last two months (previous restrictions apply). The reason for this decision we can only guess, I assume it’s to reduce the support personell workload.

Sturmtiger Spotted

Hello everyone,

those of you with keen eyes (there were several So, what is it? Are the developers teasing us again, or perhaps they are showing us what will come in the future?

Sadly, no. According to most recent Storm’s statement (two days ago), the line was scrapped. Sturmtiger will not appear in the game as a playable vehicle (most likely anyway), what could happen however – it could appear as a top tier artillery support consumable in Stronghold mode. We’ll just have to see. Luckily, other vehicles from the branch (SIG33, Sturmpanzer IV “Brummbär”) do fit the game, so it’s possible we will see a limited “minibranch” of those, ending with a merge to regular branch at tier 7.of you, thanks for the screenies – this one is from Kyle D.) spotted the Sturmtiger again in the recent Developer Diaries video.

Quick answers from...
VEIDER:
- Veider confirms that the new top French mediums (AMX-30 Prototype and AMX-30) will be unlocked from AMX-13/90
- it’s possible that the RU251 view range will be changed, full analysis is needed in order to make a decision
- T-54 Light would be really boring as a premium tier 8 medium tank, that’s why another tank will be picked for that slot instead. Veider likes it as a top tier LT8, it’s possible there will be some characteristics fixes
- Object 906 is an interesting tank, but without swimming, it’s very unlikely it will appear in the game
STORM:
- a definition of Havok: it will be used to model client-side beautiful destruction
- Havok will use a separate core thread, which will satisfy multicore PC owners, it will be optional
- the technology is ready, but now maps and objects have to be reworked for it, it’s a lot of work and it will take some time
- multicore support: right now, developers are working on transferring some client and graphic calculations to separate threads. It takes a lot of work, devs are working on it for quite some time and the work will not be finished anytime soon.
- multicore support will not be a magical solution to all performance problems, even though it might increase the performance by dozens of percent
- FV4202 will be made premium, it is not yet decided whether players will get it for free
- new motion physics will bring realistic tank movement, tanks will be able to perform “controlled drift”, it will be possible either to turn like now, or to make an U turn, but by doing that, you will lose speed
- tank “swinging” (when stopping or starting) was moved serverside and now it will be possible to shoot below or above your depression/elevation by sharply braking or accelerating (the gun will “jerk” upwards above the elevation for example)
- tanks will lose much less speed when going over small obstacles such as stones
- no ETA (when it’s done it’s done), but much of the work was finished already, currently the developers are actively testing, fixing bugs and polishing the model
- there will be a SD and HD texture split in the future the way it was made in 9.3 – SD textures have half the resolution and will be supplied as “standard” for everyone, while HD textures will be available for optional download. This was decided because there is very little difference between the ways HD and SD textures look.
- in the future, not only tanks, but maps as well will be reworked to HD model, for them, the HD textures will also be optional like for tanks
- crew skills/perks will be reworked in order to make all of them attractive, so players don’t have such an easy choice
- sixth sense will be removed as a perk and everyone will get it automatically, it will be tied to the radioman (or crewman with radioman’s role)
- it will be possible to retrain crewmen from one role to another

- Q: “Why did you decide to reward damage blocked by armor (“tanking”) with XP and not credits, how will for example Maus benefit from this?” A: “Crew levelling”

Supertest: Inca Path Map

Apparently, based on the feedback, this map was scrapped. It will not appear in random battles. Instead, it will stay on supertest to be used for testing of vehicles.