Tier X TDs / Mediums anounced & E-Series transmission update

Tier X Mediums and Tank Destroyers

The Tier 10 medium USSR vehicle will be the T-62A. In its top configuration it will be equipped with 100-mm gun D-54TC.




E-50 Ausf M will head up the German tank tech tree. In its top configuration it will have a 10,5 cm KwK 45 L/52 Ausf. K gun on board.



Fans of the American combat vehicles will conquer the battlefields on the medium tank M48A1 (Patton III), equipped with 90 mm M41 and 105mm M68 guns.




The most drastic changes will affect the French tank tech tree. All light and medium tanks from AMX 12t (i.e. AMX 12t, AMX 13 75, AMX 13 90, Lorraine 40t, Bat Chatillon 25t) will be raised one Tier upwards. The light tank ELC AMX will be added as a  new Tier 5 vehicle with 75 mm SA32, 75 mm Long 44 and 90 mm D914 mountable guns.



Bat Chatillon 25t, now raised to Tier 10, will be equipped in stock with 90 mm F3 gun and have 105 mm CN-105-57 as a top gun.



The details about French tanks substitution process and compensation procedure will be explained in more detail in a later update.

“Object 268” together with its 152 mm M64 gun will become a Tier 10 tank destroyer. 



The German tank tech tree will be enlarged by the tank destroyer JagdPz E-100 with 17 cm PaK 45 gun on board.




The American nation will be reinforced by two new Tier 10 anti-tank vehicles. Players who have T95 will be able to open T110E3 tank destroyer. This vehicle will have a non-rotating turret and a 155 mm AT gun T7.




The branch of the US tech tree with turret-rotating tank destroyers which are currently headed by T30, will be amplified with T110E4. The particular feature of that TD will be a partially rotating turret (rotation angle – 180 degrees). The 155 mm AT Gun T7 will be its top weapon.



Cassette loader – It’s the key feature of the French vehicles. Tier 10 TD AMX 50 Foch will have it as well. The gun SA 58 AC will have 3 shells in the drum.

We would again like to remind you that the above mentioned information is not final. The vehicle specifications listed above can be subject to change prior to their official in-game release.

My thoughts:

• Tier X mediums sound really nice and I really hope that WG can balance the game properly as to give mediums a place (and not replace) in end game (CWs).
• Tier X TDs should be the kings of DPM and when you combine this with rather good mobility (AMX 50 Foch) that could become quite problematic. I will wait with passing judgement until more information becomes available but the AMX could be troubling (balance wise).
• I would have expected an early Leopard I prototype to take the German Tier X medium spot. The Leopard I is still going to be implemented most likely as a secondary medium line for Germany however (see this link).
• I am not happy with the T110E3/4 variants, I have to admit that the T110E3 was an actual design but the T110E4 seems as if WG took the T110E3 and added a rotating turret to it. I attached a drawing board image of the T110E4 to demonstrate that it was an actual design, considered by the US army.

E-Series Transmission Drama

Overlord / WarGaming have managed to get in touch with Mr. Hillary L. Doyle and the full details of this interaction have been published on Overlord's blog (link). I just want to quote the single most important snippet however: 

"Firstly, in this case Overlord is completely correct.  Any engineer or logical person can see that these sketches do not make sense.  But he must avoid shooting the messengers!"

The Entwicklung series should have the frontal transmission to be historically correct and I therefore think that the change is a good chance. I am also convinced that if the E-series tanks drop too much in terms of performance (W/L ratio) that WG will buff them to compensate. 

I do however think that the transmission should be a separate module however that will not burn but should either stop your tank (destroyed) or limits the maximum speed to 1/3 of top speed (to reflect not being able to change gears).

[WoT] 7.4 Public Test

List of changes between test #1 and test #2 of v7.4:

• Removed the Komarin and Swamp maps from the pool for random battles.
• Increased the time it takes to capture the base in Encounter mode.
• Duration of combat in Attack mode has been reduced to 10 minutes.
• Fixed a bug with a red square appearing in the tank panel in the garage.
• Fixed the reduced damage to vehicle suspension.
• Reduced probability of hitting crew with HE shells.
• Fixed the small font of tabs in the battle statistics window.
• Fixed the display of water for several graphics settings configurations.
• Fixed rare FPS lagging problem seen in test#1.
• Reworked visual style of base markers and spawn points on minimap.
• Notification of combat mode added to loading and time remaining windows.
• Engine Maybach HL 234P50 removed from SPG Lorraine 155 50 and Lorraine 155 51.
• Changed parameters of engines on the SPG AMX 105 AM.
• Fixed the position of guns in research tree for SPG S 35 CA.
• Parameters of premium TD FCM36 Pak40 returned to those in 7.3.
• Parameters of premium heavy tank T34 returned to those in 7.3.
• Armoring of T-28 returned to parameters specified in 7.3.
• Fixed zero values for some armor points on T2 medium and T-34-85.
• Fixed the voice message for "hot keys" (F2-F7) and the sound of marking a square on minimap.
• Added nation-based icons for the nation specific Expert and Technical Engineer medals.
• Fixed operation of Expert perk in howitzer mode in direct view range.
• Fixed the description of Sinai Lion medal.
• Fixed bugs with damaged models of Т20, M4A3E8.
• Fixed errors in module names of several French SPGs.
• Fixed the description of engines on the SPG AMX 13F3AM.
• Fixed the display of tank short names in the achievements window.
• Fixed absence of ally icons on minimap during the countdown before the battle begins.
• Removed notification about the test special when entering garage.
• Fixed combat hint (F1).
• Corrected the name of achievement "Raseiniai Heroes Medal".
• Corrected the historical note about the achievement "Raseiniai Heroes Medal".
• Fixed the marking of guns in the tank info-window, activated from the context menu.
• Fixed angle of inclination for the gun on the Tetrarch.
• Corrected several slight errors in new hints about the tanks and modules.
• Fixed the mechanics for demounting consumables, which were incompatible with modules.
• Fixed the fallout of tank icon with maximal amount of battles in achievements.
• Fixed fade-out of pop-up achievement hint.
• Fixed the tracks effect for SPG AMX AC mle 1946.
• Fixed negative values associated with getting Leclerc's medal.
• Fixed occasional interruption of music during map loading.
• Fixed the display of required tanks for Expert medals in info-window achievement.
• Added new logo for Wargaming.net to the login window.
• Added automatic crediting of "Raseiniai Heroes Medal" to players who score the maximum of 15 kills in one combat.
• Fixed hanging objects on Steppes map.
• Fixed several slight errors on new maps Widepark and Airfield.
• Ruinberg map optimized due improve efficiency and memory use. 

 

Changes between 7.3 and 7.4, not provided before:

• The program icon in the Windows 7 tray will now display a reaction for several in-game situations including battle start and invitation receipt.
• Added forward/rewind to combat replay playbacks.
• Added new complaint point: “Non-informative message".
• On the minimap, the tank point has been changed to a "tank arrow" which points in the direction of motion, whilst the "view triangle" now turns according to the camera rotation.
• On the minimap, tank destruction is now marked with a slight tank marker flash.
• Fixed chat text highlighting when the battle starts after the countdown.
• Terrain and objects reworked to fit new game modes on El Halluf, Murovanka, Steppes, Ensk, Himmelsdorf, Ruinberg, Erlenberg, Prokhorovka, Westfield, Karelia, Malinovka, Sand River, Siegfried's Line.
• Changed the lighting on Himmelsdorf map.
• Fixed damaged model of Tiger II (added gun-machine half-sphere and enlarged the transmission size to that of JadTiger).
• Reworked Expert medal receipt. This medal becomes dynamic and will "merge" once a new tank is added to the game.
• Added the option of sending chat messages to your platoon.
• Added new hot keys for opening a chat window: Enter - starts team chat, Ctrl+Enter - starts general chat, Shift+Enter - starts platoon chat.

List of changes between 7.3 and 7.4 patches:

• Added two new combat modes appearing randomly: Attack and Encounter.
  • Attack: one team defends the only base whilst the second team should capture it or destroy all enemy vehicles. The mode is activated for Erlenberg, Prokhorovka, Westfield, Karelia, Malinovka, Sand River, and Siegfried Line.
  • Encounter: both teams try to capture the single base in the center of the map or to destroy all enemy vehicles to win. The mode is activated for El Halluf, Murovanka, Steppes, Ensk, Himmelsdorf, Ruinberg, Malinovka, Sand River, and Siegfried Line.
• Added two new maps: Airfield (North Africa) and Widepark (European town).
• Added French TDs: Renault FT AC, Renault UE 57, Somua Sau 40, S 35 CA, ARL V 39, AC Mle.1946, AC Mle.1948, AMX 50 Foch.
• Added French SPGs: Renault BS, Lorraine 39 L AM, AMX 105 AM, AMX-13 F3 AM, Lorraine 155 (50), Lorraine 155 (51), Bat. Chatillon 155.
• Vehicles IS-6 and JagdTiger 8.8cm KwK43 L/71 are added to the in-game store, available for all players.
• Changed sizing of the following vehicles to match historical ones: JagdTiger (zoomed up to sizes of TigerII), Object 261 (degraded to sizes of IS-7).
• Fixed or reworked damage models of M2 lt, M3 Lee, JagdTiger, Gw E, Т-28, IS-8 (matlet), Е-50 (transmission moved to front), Е-75 (transmission moved to front), VK4502B (transmission moved to the middle part of the vehicle).
• Fixed or reworked models of ARL-44, KV-1S, Pz III, Т-54, Valentine LL, T1 heavy, M41, VK4502A, IS-8.
• Rebalanced several parameters of M103, T110, KV-4, M18 Hellcat, T30.
• SPG LeFH18 B2: fixed parameters of radio FuG-8, changed wrong weight number, changed the combat level.
• Fixed the name of suspension for SPG М12.
• Fixed several bugs with French camouflages.
• Fixed bugs with the camouflage cover for IS-7 and Marder II.
• Fixed the cost of camouflages for Т30, KV-2, KV-3.
• Added a new camouflage pattern for each nation.
• Added the option of training skills and perks for combined qualifications of crew (for example, training perks and skills of Radio Operator, when a Commander combines qualifications of a Commander and Radio Operator).
• In order to reduce the amount of issues with "questionable" non-penetration/penetration hits, reworked the system of damaging with HE and armor-piercing shells. In some cases the chance of damage and critical hits from HE shells increases.
• Changed operation of Large First Aid Kit: a constant bonus of "+5% to avoiding critical damage to crew" will now be applied until the end of the battle, even once the First Aid Kit has been used.
• Changed operation of Large Repair Kit: a constant bonus of "+10% to repair speed" will now be applied until the end of the battle, even once the Repair kit has been used.
• Repair Kits now fix both tracks if they have both been damaged.
• Compensation granted to the victim of a team hit is now proportional to the damage taken from the team hit.
• If a player team-damages someone and the same shot then damages an enemy vehicle, a decreasing team damage coefficient is applied for this shot.
• Added controls for a light-emitting diode glow over game events when using a ROCCAT mouse.
• Added notes about relevant discounts in the game client.
• Changed pop-up hints on tank modules, consumables, ammunition, and crew members.
• Changed information displayed in the vehicle pop-up window.
• All in-game sounds have been optimized in frequency and compression.
• Added sounds for environment: birds, rivers, sea, forests, villages.
• Reworked several sound effects for environment.
• Added sounds for several interface buttons that previously did not emit a sound when pressed.
• Fixed a bug with the display of the "post-mortem" panel in the interface-off mode.
• Fixed or reworked effects for hitting wood and snow.
• Fixed the description of Fadin's Medal.
• Fixed several bugs where people could pass through unintended passages on Siegfried Line, El Halluf and Ensk.
• Changed display of bases and spawn points on the mini-map.
• Fixed a bug with the color of the "Invite" button after leaving or excluding a mate from a platoon.
• Fixed a rare bug with the game client hanging-up at the end of map loading.
• Fixed the description of the Brothers in Arms perk.
• Fixed a rare bug which made it impossible to gain "Elite" status on T-34-85, T-43 and KV-13.
• Removed an unused option: "Tanker’s voices by nation".
• Added the autoloader indicator for the howitzer shooting mode.
• Fixed a rare bug causing a hang-up of the tank HP bar in the tank over-target marker.
• Fixed a rare bug with the game client hanging-up whilst entering sniper mode.
• Reduced the neon glow for tank panel interface elements in garage and pop-up hints.
• Changed requirements for receiving Lavrinenko's, Leclerc's and Abram's medal.
• Base and respawn markers on mini-map have been added to the "color blind" mode.
• Added the option of switching on the "server" reticle marker to the game settings.
• Changed the method of selecting the message recipient in the battle chat. Now for switching between messages to your team and all players you should use "TAB" key.
• At the request for battle menu, the mouse cursor is centered on the "Back to garage" point.
• Changed the design of free experience and gold conversion windows.
• When in a platoon or a tank company and the Commander speaks over voice chat, the volume of his mates reduces.
• Fixed the display of tanks with camouflage (tracks without hull and turret) for outdated Radeon series video cards.
• Fixed the display of sniper mode cover in windowed mode, when the window height is greater that the width.
• Fixed several bugs in the alternate color scheme.
• Removed mouse inversion in the SPG mode.
• Added new medals:
  • "Expert" (by nation) for destroying at least one example of each tank type, existing at that moment in the specified nation tech tree.
  • "Medal of Raseiniai Heroes" for destroying the whole enemy team (not less than 14 vehicles).
  • "Technical Engineer" (by nation) for researching all vehicles existing at that moment in a nation's tech tree.
  • "Senior Technical Engineer" for researching all vehicles of all nations existing at that moment.
  • "Sinai Lion" for destroying over 100 "IS" tanks of any model and vehicles based on its model.
• Fixed several bugs with the spam filter.

My thoughts on the 7.4 patch:

• T110E5 RoF/Mobility nerf was to be expected as it was overperforming quite a bit. 
• M103 RoF/Mobility nerf and E75 gearbox 'change' are a bit more dubious as both tanks were indeed at the top of the W/R score but did not clearly 'over'-perform as to justify balance adjustments.
• T30 nerf only makes sense if the T30 is supposed to be balanced against the T95. The Objekt 704 is the clear leader of the Tier IX TD's but no balancing was reported for the Objekt 704 *looks confused*. 
• Removing maps is not a good as it limits diversity, a good idea that I encountered on the forum would be to allow each player to exclude 3 maps from his own random pool.

Snippets from Snib's excellent server statistics thread on the EU forums:

     TANK                    WIN_RATIO     GLOBAL_WR

     T110E5                   55.26%         54.12%
     Maus                     51.21%         53.99%
     IS-7                     50.37%         52.96%
     AMX 50B                  49.67%         54.94%
     E-100                    49.48%         53.37%
     IS-4                     49.42%         52.92% 

     M103                     52.13%         53.55%
     E-75                     51.53%         52.95%
     AMX 50 120               51.47%         54.27%
     ST-I                     51.24%         52.99%
     VK 4502 (P) Ausf. B      49.92%         53.52%
     IS-8                     49.32%         52.95%  

     Object 704               54.01%         54.51%
     T30                      53.95%         54.64%
     Jagdtiger                52.34%         54.15%
     T95                      50.98%         53.90%
 

[510] has laid claim to it's first piece of land on the CW map ;)

[510] had planned two landings (Crimea and Delta) for the evening of June 6th and our leader decided to try new tactics offered by members after some testing. Finally the chosen tactic was mine and BigGameHunter and myself were appointed to lead and coordinate the push.

We had a total of 6 battles of which we won 5, having to 'forfeit' the lost battle to make sure that we were ready for the final battle on Crimea... which was a Technical Victory (quite boring sadly).

I was so happy that I just had to share this victory however so here is the screenie ;)