World Of Tanks

[Dave47]

It should be noted that T1 and M6 heavies were both actual tanks manufactured in a few dozens. They were never sent overseas to fight, though and the programs were cancelled.

There is however another tier 8 heavy which saw extensive combat – the Tiger II. VK45 and Maus were prototypes, however, which leaves 1/2 of the German heavies as “real” tanks.

Thanks for this whole post. It has actually helped to temper my views somewhat. While I don’t believe the IS-3 ever saw combat, and suspect reports that it “might have fought the Japanese” to be internet tread-head fantasy, as I think more about it it seems perfectly reasonable for the IS-3 to be in the game. It was a “real” tank. It was produced in numbers.

Maus was never built but it is fun to imagine “WHAT IF they had a chance to finish it? How would it look? How would it drive?” Who cares if the KV-2 with the derp gun was used only to destroy fortifications? It’s FUN to use it to one shot tanks.

The devs are going to update their tank lines and add even more prototype tanks like the German E series. IMO it’s good for this kind of game. It’s more fun to choose from (and fight) dozens of different tanks than to be stuck with like 10.

See, this is sort of where I draw the line. The history is somewhat compelling, and is positive. The world is full of sci-fi games. I think the use of real tanks is a net positive, and their (relative) absence at higher tiers is unfortunate.

I agree that the game, as currently designed, sort of needs “fake tanks” to keep up the symmetry. But I would argue that that is due to some bad decisions which were made long ago. Not every nation should need to fill an entire tech tree. If the game wants to continue expanding into the 50s and beyond (which sounds really cool) the German tree should just merge into a “NATO tree” instead of continuing to mine the back-of-napkin designs of crazy defeated Nazis.

Similarly, I’m hoping the eventual addition of Japan limits their tanks to Tier 4 or 5 or something.

[Stridergg]

TheWombat, you are absolutely right - different people like different stuff. I am just enjoying the conversation discussing all this, I am not trying to persuade you to abandon your likes because they are incorrect. :)

How are you feeling about the incoming tank trees changes? They are taking the variety to the next level. Are you more anxious to try out new tanks by fighting in or against them or more annoyed by all those prototypes?

[Fishbreath]

Does the internet work that it will go West from Hawaii to Russia or is the infrastructure better so it will go East through America and Western Europe? I don’t get great pings anywhere already anyway.

I’d be willing to bet it would end up going east through Europe if you’re aiming for European Russia. Siberia is big, empty, and not very well-wired. :P

[Brettmcd]

The biggest problem this game has, and I wish they would fix it somehow is matchmaking. Being the in the bottom 3 tanks with my tier 3 TD for the past 38 straight battles makes the game almost unplayable.

[Stridergg]

Of the entire IS series, only IS-4 was a prototype…

Actually, IS-4 was approved for mass production in April '45 and 250 of them were produced and sent to USSR’s Far East region. In the 70’s, during the conflict with China, at least some of these IS-4’s were still stationed along the Chinese border.

[Tman]

The biggest problem this game has, and I wish they would fix it somehow is matchmaking. Being the in the bottom 3 tanks with my tier 3 TD for the past 38 straight battles makes the game almost unplayable.

It doesn’t change, although I’ve never had 20 straight battles at the bottom 3, I did log a 100 battles and 41% of the time I was in the bottom 3 - this was for Tier 4 & Tier 5.

[TheWombat]

TheWombat, you are absolutely right - different people like different stuff. I am just enjoying the conversation discussing all this, I am not trying to persuade you to abandon your likes because they are incorrect. :)

How are you feeling about the incoming tank trees changes? They are taking the variety to the next level. Are you more anxious to try out new tanks by fighting in or against them or more annoyed by all those prototypes?

Oh, I’m excited by every new tank that shows up; in game terms, it’s fun, and interesting. I like figuring out, say, how to deal with the Lowe or the KV-5, so yeah, new and weird stuff is fun.

New maps would be good too…

[Supper_s_Ready]

Actually, IS-4 was approved for mass production in April '45 and 250 of them were produced and sent to USSR’s Far East region. In the 70’s, during the conflict with China, at least some of these IS-4’s were still stationed along the Chinese border.

Didn’t know this. And this means the entire line is “real” tanks. :)

Do you have a link with more info? I’d like to read up a bit.

[Stridergg]

Didn’t know this. And this means the entire line is “real” tanks. :)

Do you have a link with more info? I’d like to read up a bit.

The links are in Russian though, not sure how useful they’ll be. Maybe Google will be able to translate them acceptably (edit - I checked it out briefly. The translation is, I guess, somewhat understandable but difficult to read due to the field specific terms. The translator is also strangely inconsistent - it translates Russian “IS-2” as “EC-2”, “JS-2”, etc. And then it didn’t translate a chunk. Weird.)

This one is a pretty interesting web-site, they basically copy/paste the related stuff from various sources like old books, official documents, old magazines, etc. Presentation kinda sucks (well, it’s kinda ugly :)) but the content is very interesting.

http://legion.wplus.net/guide/army/ta/is4.shtml

This one is a more traditional, “prettied up” web-site. The text is more coherent but unfortunately they don’t cite their sources. Still, very interesting stuff and it has more technical details.

http://www.tanki-russia.ru/tejolie-tanki/is-4-1947.html

[Supper_s_Ready]

The links are in Russian though, not sure how useful they’ll be.

Well, seeing as Russian is my native language … quite useful. :)

Thank you Stridergg.

[TheWombat]

Didn’t know this. And this means the entire line is “real” tanks. :)

Do you have a link with more info? I’d like to read up a bit.

Well, it’s pretty clear the developers use of “WWII” is only a matter of convenience, because many of the tanks now are mostly post-WWII designs. Which is fine by me, but I’d like to see them do a spin-off with 1950s-1980s era or beyond tanks if they’re gonna do that.

[JoshV]

Well, it’s pretty clear the developers use of “WWII” is only a matter of convenience, because many of the tanks now are mostly post-WWII designs. Which is fine by me, but I’d like to see them do a spin-off with 1950s-1980s era or beyond tanks if they’re gonna do that.

I’d like them to do some time span battles, which they sort of do, but not exactly. I certainly think it would be more interesting than the current clan battles that have zero limits, and you just bring your highest tier tanks. Something akin to Flames of War’s Early, Mid and Late war eras, perhaps with a Post War era. (I wouldn’t mind seeing up to modern either, but I also think it would be fun to see more elements added to the actual combat, like auto spawning AI infantry sort of like in traditional DotA games – which would also give some of those multi turreted tanks something to do, like the T-28 or the Lee could have their machine gun turrets auto fire.)

[mk56]

Another matchmaker complaint, sort of. I’m not sure why people are allowed to platoon and enter battles with tanks that would never be allowed in the same battle otherwise. Look my IS-3 is platooned with 2 Pz35s! And my GW Tiger is platooned with 2 T57s! And now we are fighting in a Tier 9 battle! I’m sure all this is hugely lol-worthy to those people, but some of us are trying to, ya know, win, and starting off 2 men down is really annoying.

[Dejin]

Another matchmaker complaint, sort of. I’m not sure why people are allowed to platoon and enter battles with tanks that would never be allowed in the same battle otherwise. Look my IS-3 is platooned with 2 Pz35s! And my GW Tiger is platooned with 2 T57s! And now we are fighting in a Tier 9 battle! I’m sure all this is hugely lol-worthy to those people, but some of us are trying to, ya know, win, and starting off 2 men down is really annoying.

It’s taken into account by the match maker. If you have a Loltraktor who has platooned in to your side in a tier VII match the remainder of your tanks will be a bit better to make up for it.

[mk56]

It’s taken into account by the match maker. If you have a Loltraktor who has platooned in to your side in a tier VII the remainder of your tanks will be a bit better to make up for it.

I know it is supposed to do that, but for the games that I have seen this, it is barely noticeable. Maybe an extra IS-3 instead of an IS or something. I’d much rather have 2 more teammates that can actually contribute.

I just see it as a form of griefing with an easy fix, so why not fix it.

[Dejin]

ydejin,
The jump from T1 Heavy to M6 Heavy however is going to be quite significant, as the M6 gets a far better 90mm gun. Also, when fully upgraded with the final engine, M6 is surprisingly maneuverable for a heavy.

M6 is pretty much when the US heavy line starts to get competitive.

8 weeks later and I finally started playing the M6. Your description is spot on. I haven’t even gotten the engine upgrade, and speed is actually quite good. Armour seems decent, but not KV-level great. With 90mm it does very good damage. The big downside seems to be that you’re as big as the broad side of a barn.

When you get the 90mm gun for the M6 you can really kick out some solid damage. Once you get the T29 you feel really bad ass, especially if you have at least the 90mm gun from the M6. Then when you get the 105 for the T29 you really wreck face. It’s a tier 7 gun with better penetration than all but the best soviet heavy tier 8 gun

Looking forward to getting the T29.

The XP needed to get from a M6 to a T29 is quite a bit less than from a VK3601(H) to a Tiger I. It’s 45,000 xp for the Tiger I and only 35,000 xp for the M6. It probably helps that my time spent in USA mediums had already unlocked the two gun modules I needed before the T29 unlock.

[Sean_Tudor]

It’s interesting to watch an opposing teams reaction when our Maus lumbers onto the battlefield. They either scatter or everyone tends to focus on it. It can take a hell of a beating. A well supported Maus can really make a difference in a typical battle.

[Jason_Townsend]

Sigh. My up-gunned PzIV got its semi-weekly top-3 slot only to get rolled over by a 3-KV wolfpack. Of 3 accurate shots I got <5% on the one pre-damaged tank. Their slow reaction time was made up for by a lovely 1-derp execution.

I’m pretty much QQed out of WoT. I’m sick of being meat for the wallet warriors in most rounds - it feels like the latest heavies really skewed things - and then stressing my performance in the rounds where I can actually do well if my team is coordinated. Nowadays I just try to get one victory a day for the bonus XP, and the less I play the more it feels like “should I load WoT to roll the dice and maybe have a chance at a victory.”

[Sean_Tudor]

Why don’t you buy a Lowe or a KV-5. They make great money and experience generators and will help you get into the high tier non-premium tanks faster.

Additionally if you are sick of being cannon fodder get yourself in a clan and join company and platoon battles. Clans offer teamwork options no random battle will ever give you and a higher rate of success.

[maxle]

Pretty sure uninstalling the game is a much better choice than buying a Lowe or KV-5.