The British like to name their tanks - that should come as no surprise. There is also a general problem with tank names in game, which regulars on the NA forums will know the The_Chieftain tried to resolve in the name of accuracy; the ‘Hetzer’ being the prime example. You can read his ‘tank names’ piece “What’s in a name?”
The reason seems to be that WG likes tanks with names for commercial reasons, even when they are fake/false or unverifiably lost in the mists of time. Which brings me to the subject of some suggested but not adopted names for some well known British tanks.
So, a quick run down of the original name/designation and the proposed names for some British tanks from between July 1941 and September 1942:
Careful readers will see that the A.25 is nowhere written as ‘Harry Hopkins’ but instead the more majesterial name of ‘Sceptre’.
I don’t know about you, but I like those snake names for the Cruiser series of tanks and the system of classification. It’s also an amusing mental exercise to wonder how the "A.22 Victoria" (Churchill) would have fared without the namesake of Sir Winston to support it through its early teething troubles. It could have led to not ‘C’ being the British tank name letter of choice but ‘V’ instead, which would have left the A.34 with a most unfortunate name.
In game terms we are already saddled with the ‘Hetzer’ and ‘Wolverine’ as names, but these ones here are actual real proposed historical names and not some post war invention or misattribution. Maybe we don’t need to rename the Churchill or Covanater/Crusader for the game but the Cruiser Mk.III renamed as the ‘Asp’ sounds very cool.
Tell me what you think below….
Sources:
AFV News Vol.39-3 – British Tank names by Peter Brown
Cabinet Officer Papers 120/354 August 1940 to September 1942: Tank Nomenclature and Classification
We have "Matilda Black Prince" instead of historically accurate but mundane "Matilda 6 pounder".
ReplyDeleteOh, and Tiger Ausf. B becoming "King Tiger" is somewhat funny too.
Well, I can kinda understand the mistranslation from Königstiger to King Tiger. It makes more sense than some other names I've seen...
DeleteWell, I can kinda understand the mistranslation from Königstiger to King Tiger. It makes more sense than some other names I've seen...
DeleteI agree on that one. No one bothered to check if "KoenigsTiger" is just "cooler version of Tiger" or an actual name of the species.
DeleteStill i do like "Tiger B" for it's utilitarian simplicity more than pompous "King Tiger".
The MBP is a fictional tank anyway inspired by a single radio controlled prototype which semi-worked.
DeleteTurns out Königstiger actually means Bengal Tiger. I want to see that name in the game.
DeleteMatilda Black Prince in WoT is actually Matilda with Cromwell turret and 6 pdr gun (very much real tank by the way) which is not the same as radio controlled Matilda Black Prince.
DeleteI agree with Chiel! Maybe a special variant, like the Fury Easy Eight, with badass Tiger-inspired camo.
Deletei like the snake names but for some reason i feel as if the american tier 10s could have better names too. maybe they could have snake names liken the e3 being called the copperhead as an example or the e5 being called the adder and the e4 the king cobra i think those names make the tanks sound a lot more badass and considering as far as im aware the e5 isnt very real anyway so why not give it a fake but cool name?
ReplyDeleteIt would make sense too, because every US piece of equipment has a name obviously made up by a 6 year old.
DeleteP-47 Thunderbolt
B-17 Flying Fortress
M26 Pershing (aka: this guy is so cool, a tank is named after him!!11)
After years of investigation, I fount classified documents about the first deployment of some US tanks, in which they are referred with names not appearing in wot :
DeleteM6 Megawarrior
T95 Big Fucking Gun
T110e4 Killmaster
the hellcat is another good example of a tank/plane named by a kid and the super pershing. its a pershing with more armour and a biiger gun what should we call it? hmm the super pershing? genius.
DeleteExocet6951, all of the names you gave as examples actually make sense.
DeleteP-47 Thunderbolt: What is a "thunderbolt"? It is what many people call a bolt of lighting that strikes the ground. The P47 was used as a ground attack aircraft, to absolutely devastating effect. It makes sense that the Americans would want to name it after such a destructive force of nature, a force that falls from the sky and causes destruction on the ground.
B-17 Flying Fortress: Once again, this name makes perfect sense if you think about what its referencing. The B-17 was an incredibly tough aircraft, known to be able to take massive amounts of damage and still make it back to base. Add to that the fact that it was positively bristling with defensive armament, and it totally makes sense to call it a "flying fortress."
M26 Pershing: Its not necessarily so much that Pershing was an awesome man, its more of a military tradition. Many nations name military vehicles after famous historical figures, not just America (think "Churchill" and "KV-1" = Kliment Voroshilov). America has made a tradition of naming their tanks after famous American generals. General Pershing was a fairly famous Union general in the American Civil War. Other examples are the M4 Sherman (General Sherman was also a Union general), the M46-60 Pattons (named after General George Patton, American WWII general), and even the current M1 Abrams (General Creighton Abrams commanded the American forces during the Vietnam War).
Do the names still sound ridiculous to you?
..."General Pershing was a fairly famous Union general in the American Civil War" ...
DeleteUmmm Blackjack Pershing for whom the M26 is named was born in 1860. I doubt he made general before the age of 5 :).
Holy Roller is my favorite name.
DeleteIt what we called Priest used as a transport with out a gun.
They did not have a gun because the ammo was not compatible with the 25pdr guns of the Sexton.
@The Dashing Rogue
DeleteOh they make sense.
I'm sure if I showed a picture of a B-17 to my 8 year old nephew, he would name it something similar.
That's not the point. The point is that they just try too hard to sound cool. As previously stated, they sound like a 6 year old naming his Lego machines.
Case and point, the M56 Scorpion. It sounds like it would have its place in a GI Joe cartoon episode, along side the M60A2 Starship.
@DontFearDaReaper: Ah, yes! You are correct, good sir. My apologies.
Delete@exocet6951: I'm not sure I agree with you on that. Most of the names don't really sound like trying too hard to me. But hey, I'm an American myself, so maybe we just automatically think up crazy names XD
Just out of curiosity, what kinds of names would you come up with for those tanks and aircraft?
1) Why single out the US for its aircraft names? Many nations do the same. Just a few examples:
DeleteKawanishi N1K Kyofu (Mighty Wind)
Kawanishi N1K-J Shiden (Violet Lightning)
Saab J35 Draken (Dragon)
2) The US tradition of naming aircraft has a long and twisted history. Until WW2, the US Army Air Corps (then) did not assign aircraft a "popular" name at all. If the aircraft had a name, it came from the manufacturer, who was trying to sell the aircraft. During WW2, it was the press that wanted names for all the various aircraft, and so the USAAF (then) started assigning names so that it had some control. Likewise the Navy. Then post-war, the US DoD started actually assigning types of names to certain manufacturers. For example Republic aircraft were to be assigned a "Thunder-"prefix, thus F-84 Thunderjet/Thunderflash/Thunderstreak, F-105 Thunderchief, et al.
Japs called the Beaufighter the "Whispering Death". To paraphrase a Biggles Book "they must be bloody deaf!"
DeleteCobra, Asp, Adder, Viper, Python... Not sure if tank names or Elite:Dangerous ships :D
ReplyDeleteIndeed, it would be strange to see them as tanks, don't like them at all here.
DeleteFrontier serves tge Queen mate.
DeleteWe now have a 6 million Cruiser doesnt quite to stop before crashing into the end of a starport after a scan-free gate rush :D
Maybe it has bounties give you more credits when it's destroyed
It would be better if all the tanks that weren't well known by a number (KV-2, T-34, etc.) to be named. It's really hard to tell a lot of them apart by numbers alone. For example, I constantly confuse the M4E2 with the M4E8. And all of the stupid German tanks - VK this and VK that. Names give the tanks more character.
ReplyDeletei think the e2 was called the sherman jumbo in game for a while nut they changed it for some reason and also i have to agree i have mistaken sherman jumbos for easy 8s and been kiiled for it a few times and also i agree about the vk spam. like the baby panther as ive heard it called and the mini tiger p.
Deletethe E2's nickname is the Jumbo and the E8's nick name is Easy Eight. (better names to be honest)
DeleteI'm also annoyed they call the Honey Stuart I-IV
And that they used the Firefly IC instead of VC model. (Sherman I hull instead of the Sherman V hull)
Could make a mod to rename them, either how you want or by presets:
DeleteE2=Jumbo.
E8=Easy Eight.
KV-2 is easy to remember, as with most KV's.
VK 30.02 M="Proto Panther" (to me).
VK 4502B="Big Armoured Bastard"
Cruiser II="Mini Death Star"
VK 28-01= "Right Annoying (Tiny) Bastard"
FV215b 183=Death Star
FV 4005 Stage II=Death Star Stage II
Tiger II=Bengal Tiger
Panther II=Portly Panther
ISU-152=Death
Any others?
Churchill VII = Crapchill VII :D
DeleteKV-4 = KV Fourtress
E100 = HEAT-100 because it's a common heat spamming tank
T-54 = HEAT-54 same here like E100
The Churchill was named after Marlborough surely.....
ReplyDeleteIt is name after Winston Churchill's ancestors :-)
DeleteI.e. John Churchill, the duke of Marlborough.
Deleteno wonder crusader is so good for confusing a hellcat
ReplyDelete