30.04.2015 Q&A

Another end of the month complete, here it is:

- There is a bug in 9.7 that treats the "0 perk" of crews as "perk 1", which means any next perk; requires much more XP than it should to level up, this will be fixed in 9.8;
- Apparently there is also a nasty bug in 9.7: when you shoot in sniper mode, you see the blast and hear the shot but your shell doesn't appear, it never leaves the gun (as if you were shooting blanks). Storm will investigate (RG: That has been around since 9.6, extremely annoying);
- There are no plans to implement armored cars for now;
- Storm states that when he said he would change 30 percent of missions, he meant general missions (LT15 for example), not each separate mission for every vehicle (so LT15 counts as 4);
- The 59-Patton hybrid will ONLY appear on Chinese server;
- Havok is not in Storm's plans for 2014 (Storm states he plans only tanks now);
- What "individual discounts on premium" are will be disclosed during 0.9.8 test;
- Fix for the LT and arty queue issue will appear before 0.9.8.


And because today's Q&A was short, as usual (if I get the time to search) here is the funny/fail share, this time one of my own:

 Someone dear told me to go easy on the beer, I didn't drank for near 3 weeks but decided to play WOWS while having some, for "scientific naval gaming purposes". :)

Top of the tree: Bat.-Châtillon 25 t (May)

Hello warriors,

the next Top of the Tree (tier 10 discount) on EU server will be the Bat.-Châtillon 25 t.

Other vehicles of the branch on discount are:

50% discount on purchase

• FCM 36
• AMX 38
• AMX 40
• ELC AMX bis

30% discount on purchase

• AMX 12 t
• AMX 13 75
• AMX 13 90
• Lorraine 40 t
• Bat.-Châtillon 25 t

+ 50% Crew XP bonus for all vehicles included in the special.

They also included a overview of the Bat.-Châtillon 25 t here: http://worldoftanks.eu/en/news/pc-browser/44/top-tree-batchat25t/

IS-3 in HD

Check out this sexy beast:

Some changes to individual missions

Hello warriors,

in 9.8 - the infamous LT15 mission will be apparently made easier. The goal of 4000 damage remains but now your own damage will count towards it as well as your spotting damage.

The following missions will be changed:

LT - 3,4,6,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
HT - 4,5,7,10,13,14,15
MT - 2,3,8,9,10,12,13,14 (the infamous "set someone on fire" stays)
TD - 9,11,13,14
Arty - 1,3,4,5,7,9,11,13,14 (the mission to damage two enemies with one shot stays but is made easier)

Platoon missions can now be soloed, arty platoon missions that required scouting were changed to be soloable.

The complete list of changes in English. will be available from a testing client.

Description of the 9.8 mode

- Each battle takes 10 minutes;
- 15 vs 15 format;
- You can enter the battle only using event vehicles;
- After destroying a vehicle in battle, it can be revived unlimited number of times in the spawn are of your team, after which the players are given the option to select a different vehicle from their garage;
- There are flags located on the event maps, the players have to collect them by driving over them and then carry them in their base;
- The goal is to accumulate a certain number of victory points until the time runs out (150 points to be specific);
- Points are awarded for the following: enemy tank kill - 1 point, capturing a flag - 5 points;
- Battle ends either by one team getting enough points or by the time running out.

There are 6 flags on the map (neutral for both teams) that have to be captured and then carried to the release area. After that, a flag will respawn after some time. If the flag carrier is killed, the flag is dropped and someone else can pick it up. If it stays on the ground for a while, it will despawn and return to the starting position.

New mode in 9.8

Hello warriors,

a few details about the new mode in 9.8, the screenshots of which were posted yesterday. It's called "Domination" and it's a form of garage battles. To remind you: garage battles are battles where if you die, you can respawn in the game with a different vehicle from your garage. It should arrive in 0.9.9.

0.9.8 Supertest patchnotes

- New mode added for testing
- Changes to 36 individual mission condition (from re-balance to total change)
- For strongholds of tiers 5 to 7, added the option to fight on tier 8 tanks

Added tanks for supertesters: Kanonenjagdpanzer, Tiger I, IS-3 with autoloader, BT-7A, 121B, 59 Patton
Tanks reworked to HD: Wolverine, Type T-34, Leopard 1, Hummel, M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo, M48A1 Patton, Type58, SU-85, Cromwell, T26E4 SuperPershing, T32, Pershing, IS-3, AMX 50 120

- All automatic guns can now shoot at 400 meter distance (up from 350)

Buffed following tanks: 

- А-20, BТ-7, КV-13, IS-8, IS-7.
- Durchbruchswagen 2, Pz.Kpfw. I, Pz.Sfl. IVc, Nashorn, Sturer Emil, VK 30.02 (d).
- Churchill Gun Carrier, Vickers Medium Mk. III, Vickers Medium Mk. II.
- M2 Medium Tank, T28 Prototype, T30.
- D1, B1, ARL V39, AMX 13 75.

Nerfed following tanks:

* Conqueror Gun Carriage, AT 7

Maps:

- Komarin removed from random battles
- Fixed (changed) following maps: Sigfried Line, Karelia, Sand River, Airfield, Westfield, Murovanka
- North-West completely removed from the client
- Hidden Village will not appear on high tiers anymore
- Added a new map for testing
- Improved effects on following maps: Lakesville, Erlenberg, Sigfried Line

The rest:

- Fixed some crashes and freezes of the client
- Added individual discounts to premium account
- Reworked tooltips on loading screen
- Added warning about new modules being available to research or buy
- Added UI to the game displaying player's performance
- Fixed a large number of bugs in new team battle functions
- Fixed some bugs and issues in Stronghold interface
- Fixed "twitching" of the aim circle in artillery mode
- Fixed the destruction effects of some environmental objects
- Fixed some small UI issues

Stuck on training room temporary fix

Many been reporting to me that you are stuck on training room, the support team been answering to the players with this procedure:

1. Click on "Delete Room"
2. Click on "Depot" 
3. Go back to "Garage". 

This can solve the problem while the specialists are working on a fix.
Hope it helps some of you.

Armored Warfare introduces T-14 Armata

Armored Warfare just  announced that it will be introducing the Russian T-14 "Armata" after the game releases, it will be a tier 9 or 10.

Look at her teasing us, showing just a bit of a track...but you know what they say about the shy ones!

You can read its main features here: http://aw.my.com/us/news/general/introducing-t-14-armata

New World of Papoj

Enjoy!

9.8 Details from Supertest

Hello warriors,

a few quick details from supertest:

- Wargaming added panels (bars) into the combat UI that show you your current battle performance right in the battle (damage done and such), they are being tested
- in 9.8, about 36 individual missions were rebalanced so far
- on Russian server, the special "premium" tanks (IS-2, ISU-122S, Cromwell Berlin and Rudy) were postponed for roughly a week, they will come out right before 9th of May
- contrary to previous reports, the new special tanks will not have limited MM (at least some). Standby for details.

New mode incoming

Hello warriors,

Wargaming NA published several screenshots on their Facebook page, apparently showcasing the new, upcoming mode. It appears to be some sort of new combined mode - the "cogwheel" symbol likely symbolizes the repair zones or something like that. What do you think?

29.04.2015 Q&A

Hete it is:

- "Statistics will show" whether the Overlord map will do fine;
- In the 9.7 the IS-2 description is wrong (the Russian one says it has 120mm of frontal armor) but this isn't really a priority and will have to wait until 9.8;
- Storm is aware of the bug where light tanks and artilleries are getting stuck in MM queue in 9.7 - WG is already testing a fix but there is no exact ETA on that;
- Gold shells were not "stealth nerfed" in 9.7 (some guy is complaining about bad RNG);
- Storm is annoyed that mentions of Armored Warfare now appear in many posts on Russian forums (doing that results in a ban);
- It's completely possible for older HD models to not have tracks hanging on the hull modeled as additional armor, the praxis of using them as extra armor zones only started in 9.7;
- Russian players continue to whine that IS-4 armor became worse in 9.7. Storm states that quite on the contrary, it actually became better. It was checked very carefully.

Armored Warfare: Early Access Trailer

Armored Warfare just uploaded the trailer for their early access and also announced the arrival of their Founder's Pack bundle program and the early access test start.

Went to check the prices for the bundles and have to say that they are pretty fair, not like the idiotic prices (sometimes over 100 Euros/Dollars) I've seen from other early access releases and the game for its early stages in one of the best I've played. And last but definitely not least, pleases me that that Obsidian is actually listening to the community opinions to improve their game, this weights a lot in my conscience.

More information here: http://aw.my.com/us/news/general/founders-packs-early-access-coming

I'm about to drop my money on the "Lord of War" bundle, now... where did I left my money gun...

The fight for the T-62

Author: chickentikka_EU

I have to say thank you all for the positive response in the previous article. Now I would like to imply that this article may contain many disputes because history can be twisted depending on which side you are on and which way your government wants you to think. So I will try my best to give a third person perspective and background knowledge behind this event so you can decide for yourself.

This article mentions the fight for the T-62 on the disputed island, how both sides tried to recover it and the various secret methods both sides used to either sabotage it or protect it. Including secretly recovering it from the river and the spies that were used to destroy it.

Now as I have mentioned in the previous article China’s medium tank project was in a standstill when many technical problems were met. In the 1960s and 1970s, China had a really big industry problem in which facilities and infrastructures just weren't there to provide experimental data. I have to highlight that I personally pay plenty of respect to Chinese scientists like Qian Xuesen (Tsien Hsue-shen), Deng Jiaxian, Liu Xianzhi and many others. These scientists (if you google them, you will see they are very big scientists) left their old lives abroad and chose to return to China and work very hard even with China‘s starvation that was so bad that even China's chairman didn't eat meat for 3 years. So I pay them the greatest respect for giving up their wealthy lives abroad to come home to build a better motherland, it was very unselfish of them. (You might be thinking what's this to do with this T-62 story, just wait and you will see).

A vast part of Russia's Far East was part of China in the 19th century but during the century of humiliation, China became weak so Russians attacked the land and China was forced to sign unfair treaties.

Т-54 First Prototype Overview

Now that the 0.9.7 update is live, Wargaming EU just shared the new and first Premium Tier VIII medium Soviet Т-54 First Prototype overview.

Its final characteristics are as such:

Hitpoints: 1,300 HP
Crew: 4 (Commander/ Radio Operator, Driver, Gunner, Loader)
Weight: 35.5 t
Maximum speed: 44 km/h
Engine: 520 h.p.
Power-to-weight: 14,47 h.p/t
Hull traverse: 42 deg/s
Turret traverse: 40 deg/s
Viewrange: 360 m
Radiorange: 700 m

Hull armor: 120/90/45
Turret armor: 180/120/75

Gun: 100 mm D10T-K
ROF: 7.41 shells/min
Penetration: 175/235/50
Damage: 250/250/330
Accuracy: 0.38
Aiming time: 2.6 sec
Depression: -6/+17

Armor schematics:

Wargaming: SU-100 Restoration

One of the Russian youtube channels of Wargaming just uploaded a video of a SU-100 restoration, it took this gentlemen over 6 months to completely restore the tank:

I just love tank restoration videos, the subtitles are not the best but they are understandable, will keep my eyes on the feed and see if Wargaming uploads a English version, it's silly and a waste of a very good content if they don't.

And by the way, at 9:33, is that the Russian Robin Williams?

Screenshots of new tanks with characteristics

Thanks to "Suslik_kun" :)

IS-5

M4 Improved

ISU-122S

IS-2

T-34-85 "Rudy"

Cromwell Berlin

New premiums on RU server

Hello warriors,

on 1st of May, new premiums will be available on Russian server in 4 bundles:

- ISU-122S - 19 USD
- IS-2 - 21 USD
- T-34-85 "Rudy" - 14,2 USD
- All the above, garage slots + 2 weeks of premium - 54 USD

Premium Cromwell "Berlin" will be sold only on EU and NA server for 15 USD.

All the tanks above have special crews with "BIA" perk (0th perk - something like sisterhood of steel). ALL the vehicles named above (including the Cromwell) have limited MM.

28.04.2015 Q&A

- Q: "Viktor Kislyi said that within a month something big will be announced. Will you remove arty?" A (Storm): "No, we will add a special condition to your account that whenever you play, the MM will put 10 arties into the enemy team."
- The IS-4 armor in 9.7 is correct, it is not too thin.

WoWp Q&A:

- Developers will rework the training rooms (adding passwords in 1.9, change of map, visibility etc.)
- Patch 1.8 solved all the cache issues;
- Getting started with WoWp is difficult and newbies have hard time in random battles. To improve the tutorial is pointless, devs want instead to improve the PvE;
- In 1.8, client will have something called "prediction", which was tested on Asian (Chinese?) server with positive results;
- Apparently the petition to save WoWp did help even though the developers were active even on their own;
- Hurricane will not be rebalanced;
- It will not be possible to damage enemy planes by flying into debris from other planes (like torn off engine covers);
- Next branch will be added to a nation that is already in the game;
- There will be new modes apparently;
- WoWp wikipedia sucks because the players are not adding content;
- It's possible there will be seasonal clan tournaments;
- There will not be any nerf to German assault planes;
- Some AA ground locations are screwed up but nobody really cares.


And last but definitely not least, this deserves to be shared with the world:

Thank you Jingles for allowing me to post this image!

How to play the Löwe

Was waiting for Wargaming to release the English version of its new video "How to play the Löwe" as their Russian had really bad subtitles, so here it is:

Löwe is actually one of my favorite tanks in-game, not just the one I've made my first Pools medal with but also the tank with most XP done from both my accounts. Worth a watch.

Modern tanks mod supported by Wargaming

Source

Hello warriors,

Wargaming recently advertised a visual mod by a Russian modmaker Torsys_SD that turns several vehicles into something more modern by adding ERA and other elements found on main battle tanks.The vehicles fixed by this mod are: IS-7, T-62A, E 100, E 50 M, Т57, T110E4, Bat.-Châtillon 25 t, FV215b (183), AMX 30 B and STB-1

Here is how they will look:

You can download the mod here: http://res-mods.ru/mod/81417

Info from the Insider

Hello warriors,

a bunch of random info from the Insider:

- lots of changes are planned for the artillery. The developers quite liked the way artillery works in Armored Warfare and there was a lot of brainstorming. One of the concerns is that such a change would not work with alpha monsters such as the T92
- there are lots of changes coming to World of Warships, such as the Japanese carriers, American battleships, "Kongo is actually Hiei" (that's going to be fixed)
- statistically the STA-2 and AMX CDC are doing okay, they won't be buffed
- on US server, the T-54 Prototype premium is selling well, players seem to like it
- WG RU is apparently (but this is very vague) beginning to test reduced visibility (fog, heavy rain, night time and snowstorms) for World of Tanks

Armored Warfare: Alpha testing with SilentStalker

Good morning,

just uploaded a video I recorded during the 3rd Alpha testing phase of Armored Warfare, this time decided to invite SilentStalker for some platooning:

And excuse for the pigtails, a woman can have strange moods and tendencies sometimes, Enjoy! *smirks*

27.04.2015 Stream (ended)

Happy Monday everyone!

Work is pretty much done for today so will be streaming some World of Tanks and maybe some floating things too later on.
I'm in the mood for some Sub platooning today and as usual, 80's music mostly and 180 tanks in my garage.

http://www.twitch.tv/ritagamer2

27.04.2015 Q&A

More info regarding CW 2.0

- Tank freezing will continue but developers state it's possible they will revisit the freeze time;
- The number of divisions available to a clan will not depend on the amount of clanmembers but on the influence currency earned by the clan (division are the analogues of a current token stack and are purchased for "influence");
- Skill MM in CW? "Don't attack the stronger ones. Here, players are deciding for themselves in what region and with whom to fight";
- Developers consider technical victories to be a bad thing, they don't want to have as many;
- The alternative way of entering the map (apart from landings) will be called "auction" - in "auctions", clans will be "betting" influence on the owned provinces. The clan that bets the most will have the chance to play with the province owner, other bidders will have their influence returned. This mechanism will apply to most provinces but there will be provinces where "auction landing" will not be possible;
- Any clan with enough "influence" currency can buff a province income (not just the big ones);
- The gameplay in CW 2.0 will change a lot - large clans will no longer be able to afford just to sit on 8-10 provinces and to not fight. On the other hand, due to the income improvement mechanism, a clan with 2-3 provinces will be able to make as much gold as current 5-7 province clans.


And because there wasn't much for today, will leave you with the sum of what I have to deal on the daily basis with this work. I don't usually find this type of videos funny but that Serb cracked me up:

(The Russian text with white background that appears from time to time is a ironic quote from developers that stated "Artillery only deals damage to those who are standing on one place")

Armored Warfare: The road to BMPT

Photography source: Kampfpanzer.de

New article available at Armored Warfare, this time the topic is the anti-infantry BMPT:

http://aw.my.com/us/news/general/road-bmpt

Russian server getting 9.7 hotfix

Hello warriors,

tomorrow, the Russian server is getting a micropatch that fixes the worst issues that came with 9.7:

- Fixed the bug where some individual missions are listed as unavailable even though the player met the conditions for them;
- Fixed the issue where players who want to receive platoon/company invitations were not getting any even from friends;
- Fixed the issue of missing clan chat channels;
- Fixed the issue where the player could not leave the team in team battle mode;
- Fixed the issue with WGL icon display.

Please note that it's possible (although unlikely) the EU 9.7 patch will come with this hotfix already applied.

Scandalous World of Warplanes stream

Hello warriors,

recently, a scandalous World of Warplanes stream with developers took place on Russian server. Russian WoWp developers (Grenoli and Galm) have shown in it how they value us players. Among the things that were said in it:

- Uncomfortable WoWp questions were described by developers as "idiotic" and "old";
- It is the fault of players that the game is bad;
- Bad MM (too many assault planes) is the fault of players - "if they want to have fewer assault planes in the game, they should not play them";
- Bugs in the game are player's fault because players do not send enough bug reports to support;
- Instead of introducing new game modes, players themselves should think of objectives they want to set for themselves.

And many more insults to players. If you have strong stomach and know Russian, you can see the stream here:

And for some reason, the only thing that comes to my mind is this internet gem:

World of Warcheats, now with Modpack

Thank you "PlazmaKeks".

In World of Warships, a game I enjoy a lot, there is now a modpack available with cheats for the lower lifeforms who are too lazy to exercise their brain:

Rubbing my forehead thinking about what to write... only thing that comes to my mind is: please Wargaming, we need you to stop ignoring this under the carpet, we need a swift and strict action to keep these cheater turds away from the game. Which by the way, its a good one and has lots of potential!


And to those who use this mods:

Good job on being fricking idiots!

Recovery vehicle Ent Pz 65/88 pulling T-72 Russian Tank

Check out this Ent Pz 65/88 pulling T-72 for repairs:

Screenshots of Rudy and Steyr WT

Hello warriors,

here are just a few screenshots of the new T-34/85 "Rudy" tank and the Steyr WT. Rudy is based on a Polish-produced T-34/85 (slightly different than the Soviet version, turret shape and such) that was used in the "Four tankmen and a dog" TV series. It will be sold after 8.5.2015 apparently (at least on RU server).

Steyr WT is not a regular premium vehicle and will not be sold. The means with which it will be obtainable are currently not known.

Weekend errata, some new info

Hello warriors,

a couple of corrections of the content and translations from the last weekend based on direct feedback from the developers in Minsk.

- yesterday, it was translated that the Japanese heavies were shifted to 2016. They were not, this is not a correct. Nor were the Chinese TD's planned for this year in first place.
- regarding the Turán tank appearing in the WG video, it does not mean anything. They just used some random blueprint they googled.

Other than that, Viktor Kislyi told in WGL stream that in June or so, WoT players should expect a BIG announcement. According to SerB, it is a long expected feature and "it's gonna be a blast". Russian players speculate it could be a new customization system but nothing is really confirmed.

In August, during the 5th Anniversary of WoT, players should expect big discounts and events. Viktor Kislyi is also quite happy about the World of Warships, he said that WG learned their lesson from WoWp. WoWs will likely be released until the end of the year.

Portraits of victory event Q&A

Hello warriors,

following are the developer answers from the "Portraits of victory" historical events. It's not sure who exactly was answering but usually these are rather solid.

- Platoon individual missions were made to make players socialize and consult their progress with others;
- It's possible there will be a skill MM on high tiers (as a separate mode);
- 7/42 mode was an experiment, during the development it was considered unplayable and it was changed;
- New motion physics will allow tanks to reach previously unreachable places but there will still be places you can't go to for gameplay reasons in the game;
- It's possible that the additional track links on the hull that will be added as a part of the customization upgrade will not be a part of the collision model and will be visual only;
- Around 20 people work in the anti-bot and anti-cheat department;
- Reworked historical battles will not come before mid-2016;
- Chinese TD's were planned for this year but will most likely appear next year (as well as the Japanese heavies that are delayed to next year as well);
- Limited MM premiums will be removed from sales in order not to have pay to win element in WoT;
- It's possible that strongholds will become a part of the new CW 2.0, they will be actively developed further;
- There will be "interesting" new game modes;
- It's possible that T-50-2 will return as an alternative hull;
- FV4202 switch and Chieftain switch will not come anytime soon, even Storm does not know when;
- It's possible that Havok will be scrapped altogether and developers will instead develop a new physics engine for the realistic destruction (or use another one);
- There will be no amphibious tanks;
- The HD/SD client split might appear at the end of May;
- Japanese tanks will not be nerfed;
- There will be "general changes" that will positively influence heavy tanks.

26.04.2015 Q&A

- Storm confirms that Wargaming is testing a split between HD and SD client. The only difference according to him is in texture resolution.

And about CW 2.0:

- IS-5 will be obtainable through an even that will still be running on current version of CW (a "goodbye to CW 1.0 event") (RG: Please allow me to open my wallet and keep the Serb space program alive for the tank, don't have time for CW!);
- In CW 2.0, tanks will still get frozen (including tiers 6 and 7);
- It will not be in CW 2.0 possible to start battles with 1 tank on your team;
- There will be a special separate statistics window for CW (like Strongholds and Team Battles have);
- There will be some sort of mechanism that will increase the profitability of various CW 2.0 provinces but it will be rather complicated and costly. Basically, the clans will be able to "develop" (upgrade) the province to various levels (tiers, possibly three). Every time the province is lost to the clan, it loses 1 tier;
- Provinces with lower battle tiers (with tier 6 and 8 battles) will have different (presumably less) profitability than tier 10 ones;
- Tier 9 battles are not planned for starters but might theoretically appear;
- There will be significantly more provinces than there are now and so even weak clans will be able to play CW.

Hungarian Turán premium tank?

Recently in the Russian Wargaming video show called "Poka vse v tanke" a blueprint of the Hungarian Turán medium tank was shown as an example of what developers are using as references to create their tanks and possibly the European tech tree.

It's also possible that the Turán will be a premium tank.

If you are not yet familiarized with this tank, lets dust off this article from FTR, written by "Karika": http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/31/hungarian-armor-part-6-turan-ii/

(Thank you Angelus1991sterfor the FTR link call on the comment section)

Wargaming e-sports spending

Hello warriors,

if we are to believe Viktor Kislyi, the CEO of Wargaming (who talked to players before the start of the WGL event in Warsaw), from 2013 to 2016 Wargaming spent on e-sports 26.000.000 USD. I have to wonder how much of that did they get back and whether it was a wise investment.

25.04.2015 Q&A

Here it is:

- It's possible that the woman crew is bugged in 9.7 - the first perk no longer counts as "zero perk" but as the first one, increasing the XP needed for the second one significantly. Storm will investigate.
- Storm confirms that individual missions in 9.7 are bugged (completed ones do not count as "completed", not allowing you to progress to the next one);
- Israeli tank branch was not discussed and won't be added for now;
- There will be a micropatch fixing some of the 9.7 issues (specifically the one with battle results screen UI);
- Storm states that 9.7 did not bring any noticeable issues with FPS;
- According to Storm, considering that it's a new Bigworld version, the 9.7 patch is more or less normal (as in, no big issues);
- Multicore support is not of the highest priority. Storm: "On bad PC's it won't give a serious boost. Everything is processed by the video card";
- Laptop owners are among the players WG is targeting with WoT;
- Developers discussed the eventual appearance of wheeled vehicles in the game. For now, they decided that it is not needed as most wheeled vehicles would be low tiers;
- Low tier vehicles are "absolutely uninteresting to the player masses"(RG: I Disagree),
- Storm confirms that more maps will be gradually removed from the game;
- The only case when individual mission changes do not appear in 9.8 is if WG doesn't manage to finish testing them, otherwise the changes are already decided.

Report of the destruction of Cesky Malin (1871 - 1943)

Hello warriors,

what follows is a translation of a historical document from Czechoslovak military archives (original in Russian and Czech). I don't think it requires any commentary. This document is practically unknown - perhaps that should be changed.

Remnants of the Orthodox Church - also one of the mass graves.

REPORT

of looting, burning and murder of the Český Malín village and its inhabitants by the hitlerite criminals

hereby written on 3.4.1944 in Český Malín, Ostrozhets district, Rovno region

By the order of General Ludvík Svoboda, the commander of the 1st Independent Brigade in the USSR, a committee was formed to investigate the crime. Following persons were appointed to the committee:

Staff Cpt. JUDr. Procházka Jaroslav (chairman of the committee, political officer)

1stLt. Marcelly Pavel
2ndLt. Štíma Michal,
2ndLt. MUDr Hoenig Jan,
2ndLt. Hermann Hanuš

Based on the recommendation of the mayor, following local persons were appointed as the members of the committee to represent the inhabitants of Český Malín:

Činka Jan Jiří, former mayor
Kinšt Václav Václavovič,
Pospíšilová Anna Jaroslavovna,
Zajícova Marie Josefovna,
Činková Ludmila Václavovna,
Martinovský Josef Aloisovič (from 28.3.1944 a member of Czechoslovak army)
Žrout Antonín Ivanovič


Based on the witness reports, photographies, documents and local investigation, the committee has found the following facts:

SD client at supertest

Hello warriors,

a quick piece of information. WoT RU supertest is currently running a test of a new launcher. In it, you can select whether you want a HD or SD client. The SD client has only low resolution textures and is intended for poor computers. Apparently, according to the leakers, its size is only 5GB, while the HD version of the same client has 10GB.

The leakers speculate that this is connected to the future HD environment (maps and such) as well as the HD tanks and that it will allow the players with poor PC's to play comfortably.

Meanwhile at Wargaming...

Hello warriors,

did you know that Waffenträger E-100 fought at the battle of Halbe in 1945? No? Well it did, according to Wargaming! Because nothing illustrates an event dedicated to a historical battle like a fake tank...

...but wait, there's more!

Check the gun. Something strange about it? Well, it's a 20pdr (or badly drawn L7) British barrel inserted into the base of a 150mm gun. Amazing. I am surprised we don't have this in the game as well...

Rudy Tank to feature Sharik (dog)

Hello warriors,

as was speculated before, the T-34/85 "Rudy" (Soviet premium MT) will have Sharik (the dog) from the "Four tankmen and a dog" Polish TV series. It will be a full member of the crew, with skills and stuff. This tank will likely be available for sale from 9.5.2015.

24.04.2015 Stream (Ended)

Happy Friday everyone! So excited that the weekend is almost here!

Will be now streaming for a couple hours, first will start with World of Tanks and then maybe head to some floating things, been trying to get better at the American Destroyers (too addicted to the Japanese), let's do this:

http://www.twitch.tv/ritagamer2

Supertest map: "Czech"

Hello warriors,

a new map appeared on supertest. Here's the preview. The map name is "114_Czech", implying it will be Czech-themed.

New Ranzar video

Enjoy!

24.04.2015 Q&A

- Storm does not know whether in the future the UI calculations will be transferred to a different CPU thread
- IS-4 frontal armor is fine according to Storm (RU players report a possible bug where the driver's hatch on IS-4 is somehow very easy to penetrate)

Details regarding the new Clanwars 2.0:

- The new map has flexible architecture, when needed the amount of provinces can quickly increase many times over;
- Apart from the traditional landing tournaments, there will be another way how to get a province on the map;
- New CW map will have the option to have some provinces limited by tiers (tiers 6, 8 and 10). These will reflect on the income from the province;
- CW 2.0 will work on seasonal principle (seasons with clear goals and winners) with each season having special prizes for the winners;
- Chips are replaced by divisions (units consisting of a certain number of require tanks), battles with one chip (one tank) on one side that are just a waste of time will not be possible anymore;
- Regions will be replaced by "fronts", each with separate tier limits, rules etc.
- There will be new CW currency: "influence" that will allow you to purchase things such as landings without having to play the landing tournaments, division purchase, upgrade and upkeep, increasing the profitability of a province, protecting a province under certain conditions;
- Influence will be obtainable by fighting on CW map and by participating in stronghold fights (these will reward influence as well as industrial resource);
- These changes are already prepared and will come soon (no current ETA though).

Global Map 2.0 sneak Peek

At the WG EU forums, Erissa (Hi, dear!) just shared a sneak peek of how the 2.0 Global Map will look like:

Auction System - Province Upgrade:

Global Map - Fronts Selected:

Armored Warfare: Reputation

At Armored Warfare, there is a new article explaining what Reputation points are and how you will be able to earn them to unlock new tanks, there is also a part about Reputation Penalties which pleases me to know they are already reinforcing a closed fist on the Afkers and others rule breakers.

Read it all in more detail here: http://aw.my.com/us/reputation-armored-warfare

Happy birthday The_Chieftain

Good morning everyone,

today is Nicholas Moran's aka The_Chieftain's birthday. Happy Birthday Nicholas, wishing you all good things!

For those unaware, this lad is the resident tanker at Wargaming America and amateur historian, he does not only does research the tanks for the game but also creates informational videos, weekly live streams (with sing-alongs) and writes articles for his column.

Will be leaving here his links as I find them worth a every tank enthusiast time.

"The Chieftain's Hatch" column, he puts up a new article almost every week: http://worldoftanks.com/en/news/pc-browser/21/

"Inside the Chieftain's Hatch" Youtube videos, not just informational but also entertaining, you can see him sliding down a Maus, trying to fit inside hatches and driving some tanks like the T-34-85: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheChieftainWoT/featured

Twitch live streaming, every Tuesday and sometimes Thursday, he does not only interact with the viewers but also has a good taste in music, you always will find me there enjoying my days off: http://www.twitch.tv/the_chieftain


His social media pages:
Facebook
Twitter

Oh, and almost forgot, he is a certified badass!

Armata at parade rehearsal

Hello warriors,

recently, the T-14 and T-15 Armata tanks and BMP appeared on the Alabino polygon again during the Victory Day parade rehearsal. Their turrets were still covered by cloth but they should be uncovered on 9th of May. The Armata is the buzzword for all the tank enthusiasts lately as it is supposed to be more powerful than any western tank.

How much of that claim is the traditional Russian bravado and how much of it is the truth remains to be seen but there is no doubt that it will be a capable tank. Its price however is another matter entirely...

9.7 Portraits

A little bird is claiming that these will be the new crew portraits for the 9.7:

I particularly like the German...

WoT: Update 9.7 Review

Check out this preview of the 0.9.7 Patch:

23.04.2015 Q&A

Here it is:

- Storm states that it is not true that Severogorsk and Northwest maps were fine at first and that they only got worse and and worse after WG "improvements" - according to him even the first versions were really bad when it comes to heat maps;
- Apparently, 9.7 has a nasty bug where multiple players see individual missions they completed previously as incomplete (and unavailable), Storm will investigate;
- The AMX-13/75 buff doesn't concern only the gun but the entire tank;
- Multicore support? "We are working on it in parallel" - "when it's done it's done";
- Developers haven't forgotten the Stronghold mode, upgrades (for example the special magazine) are being developed;
- According to Storm, IS-4 armor in 9.7 is correct;
- There are no plans to abandon the Scaleform UI;
- There are no plans for accuracy buff for near future;
- There are no plans to sell the M56 Scorpion at all, it will be obtainable through missions;
- All the vehicle classes are being re-balanced to fit more their intended roles, this is an ongoing process;
- It's possible to use twinks in order to get into the "newbie" low tier matches, but: "what will it give you? Games with an untrained crew but with personal experience? Enjoy!"
- It's not possible to limit noobs from playing high tiers: "in such a case, very few people would play tier 8-10".

Restored T-70 in motion

Hello warriors,

check this out: this is the restored T-70 Soviet light tank, a property of the Vsevolzhsk museum. In case you are wondering how much such a vehicle costs - its price is 5.000.000 rubles (cca 90k EUR)

Storm's Q&A

Hello warriors,

a little Q&A from Storm.

- Q: "Why did you rework to HD the tanks first and not the maps?" A: "Because it's a tank game. Seriously."
- It is now Storm's opinion that there should be the option for some players to download ultra-HD textures even though most will not use them;
- Artillery will be rebalanced this year apparently - and by rebalance Storm mentions real rebalance, not nerf, with possible changes to the artillery mechanism. The insider adds that the new mechanism is apparently inspired by the Armored Warfare artillery;
- Storm states that the rebalance (nerf) is the only correct way how to regulate the amount of (overpowered) class vehicles in battles, not hardcap;
- For Storm, the most important part of the 9.7 patch is the BigWorld upgrade that allows WG to implement new features. On the other hand, Storm admits that there aren't that many new things for players in this patch - the French tanks and a new map;
- Storm states that patch 1.0 does not mean a "release" of the game, the game was officially released almost five years ago;
- North-West will be completely removed from the game ("shelved" is the term Storm used), it will not return this year;
- developers are discussing which maps to remove next (other candidates are Pearl River, Sacred Valley);
- Some players experience less microfreezes in combat in 9.7 - Storm states it's most likely the new Bigworld;
- Storm is aware of the bug where it takes way too long for LT's and arty to join combat, they are being blocked in the queue. The bug is being discussed, no solution yet;
- FV4202 switch will not come anytime soon;
- there are plans for AMX-13/75 buff.

RIP Sidney Valpy Radley-Walters

It is with regret that I must inform you that another distinguished veteran passed on on 21.4.2015 - Sydney Valpy Radley-Walters CMM, DSO, MC, CD. Radley-Walters was a renowned Canadian tank commander during WW2.

Brigadier General Radley-Walters was the top scoring tank ace of western Allies in WW2. He fought through Normandy all the way to Germany and continued his distinguished service until 1974 when he retired.

Rest in peace!

Patch 0.9.7 on EU delayed

Thanks to Eikarrramba for this one!

Hello warriors,

according to W4RGAMER, German EU forum community manager, patch 0.9.7 will be delayed on the EU server until the WGL finals are over. These take place on 25.-26.4. which means that the patch will likely appear at 27.4. or a day later.

22.04.2015 Stream (Ended)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Will be doing World of Tanks and maybe some floating things later (World of Warships), as usual, been in the mood for some good 80's music and have 180 Tanks in my garage and EU/NA server accounts:

http://www.twitch.tv/ritagamer2

Developer Q&A, 22.4.2015

- developers are not considering limiting the amount of provices a CW clan can hold at the same time
- new CW 2.0 (CW overhaul) will bring "improved conditions for smaller clans"
- it's possible that the Stronghold mode will overlap with CW
- CW 2.0 ETA: "when it's done it's done"
- whenever a new tank is introduced in the game, the demands (conditions) for a mastery badge are considered by averaging other vehicles of the same class and tier
- developers are not planning to limit CW obtained vehicles to non-random battles
- 9.8 shouldn't be delayed after all despite the 9.7 delay
- there will be better garage tank filters in the future
- 9.8 will bring "some cool features"
- 9.8 test will start in May
- the mass-production of HD models was already started and theoretically HD models should be now produced and implemented
- Storm on ultra-HD textures: "For now, our position is that players do not need those. But there are several opinions on that within Wargaming. It's possible something will change."
- Storm's personal opinion is that super high resolution tank textures are not needed when the rest of the game (maps) still uses poor lowres textures. These things make sense only when the maps get reworked to HD. He is personally satisfied with the current HD tank texture quality.
- developers are considering reducing the artillery alpha
- it's possible that the alleged 9.7 separation of newbies and experienced players on low tiers is not working correctly on RU, Storm is investigating
- there is an issue in 9.7 with debriefing text screen resolution, it will be fixed
- players claim that the "Berlin Cromwell" model has a wrong gun - in the description, it should have the elice Cromwell gun but visually it corresponds to the pre-top gun. According to Storm this is intentional.
- the current IS-2 Berlin text description in the client is wrong as well (it will be fixed)
- the rule where one HE shell cannot kill more than a half of the entire tank crew with one shot is active only for non-penetrating HE hits
- it's possible that Type 62 will be buffed
- 9.7 is not introducing the XP for tanking
- developers checked the barrel rinks (marks of excellence) mechanism. It is correct.
- according to Storm, the most important feature of BigWorld is that it allows the players to play even on really bad computers (unlike Frostbite, CryEngine and Unreal engine). Developers tested it.
- apparently the 9.7 brought a nasty bug where artilleries and light tanks for some reason are being stacked in the queues and not put in battles.

Quick 9.7 Q&A

Hello warriors,

the patch 9.7 came to the RU server today, here's a short Q&A that is (mostly) related to it.

- The "newbie protection" in 9.7 means that players with less than 2500 battles will play together on tiers 1-3 while players with over 2500 battles will play with other experienced players;
- Confirmed: M56 Scorpion will not be sold just so, it will be some sort of special/event tank. It will be awarded "for certain achievements that will be published later";
- It's not certain that bad computer owners will see a FPS increase in 9.7;
- The main goal of the 9.7 Bigworld upgrade was not to improve performance but to implement elements of the engine that will allow WG to bring in new features;
- Artillery viewrange nerf is one of the "steps of global vehicle rebalance", because "arties are supposed to shoot with someone else spotting". Other classes will be re-balanced as well;
- AMX CDC will be available for gold in in-game shop in 9.7, preliminary price is 7450 gold;
- It's possible that artillery will get more XP for shooting;
- German Somua S35 premium will not be removed from the premium magazine "in this patch";
- Accuracy (nerfed in 9.6) will not improve;
- Swamp will be "reworked nicely" in 9.8;
- "Not only high tier tanks" will undergo "a complex penetration overhaul" in the future.

Free XP to crew XP on RU again

Hello warriors,

RU server has another interesting event: from 22.4.2015 to 18.5.2015, the players will be able to transfer free XP to crew XP again (using the ratio of 1 free XP point to 5 crew XP points). It's possible to transfer free XP only to crew members with 100 percent training.

Marmon Herrington CTLS 4TAC being restored

Source: http://g503.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=234370&start=0

Hello warriors,

check this out. This is the CTLS 4TAC tankette, used by the Dutch army early in WW2 as a "tank" in the colonies. These vehicles were not very good (to put it mildly) and were quickly phased out. This tank was phased out in 1943 and was sent to New Foundland (apparently by the Americans that recovered it).

Meanwhile in Russia...

Hello warriors,

check this out. This is a "replica" of a "German halftrack" that was made by someone in Volgograd lately, likely for some sort of re-enactment. Usually, German "halftracks" are created by taking post-war halftracks of American or (for more realistic option) Czechoslovak production (Czechoslovakia used the halftracks as standard troop transports for quite some time) and marking them with German colors, but this (especially the halftrack suspension) looks like it was made from scratch. Notice the somewhat strange tracked parts with rubber-banded roadwheels.

And while we are at it, check this out. This is an "airsoft Abrams" from Russia, made for airsoft battles (in this case, the "Battle for Manhattan"). It's built on a MT-LB chassis and actually equipped with rudimentary thermal sights not to run "masked" airsofters over. We might have a look at this particular "tank" later on in a separate article.

21.04.2015 Q&A

Here it is:

- Storm confirms: penetration is a balance parameter now;
- Regarding the upcoming penetration nerf - some of the top guns are actually the relics of the time when there was +/-3 MM. The developers decided to remedy the armor situation by nerfing the penetration rather than removing the top guns;
- Storm confirms: 9.8 will bring many changes to individual missions;
- Q: "Storm, I had a battle where we had 5 tier 8's and they had 9 of them, who do you think won?" A: "The team that played better";
- It's not possible anymore to rollback the 9.7 BW engine back to 9.6 standard;
- It's completely normal that the same tank has various gun depression with various guns;
- There will definitely not be 8K textures in the game, Storm states that it would be a nightmare - 150 gigs of textures for tanks only;
- One 4K textured tank is 80-100Mb big;
- It's theoretically possible to introduce 4K textures in the hangar and 2K in battles;
- HD IS model will have tracks hanging on the hull as a part of the collision model (improved armor)
- Storm does not consider implementing exclusive CW tanks to be wrong, they are there to stimulate players to play in clans. CW machines will not be publicly available otherwise;
- Developers are currently thinking about how to incentivize the play on high tier tanks (endgame).

"Art of War" on RU Server

Hello warriors,

the RU 9.7 patch is coming tomorrow and with it, a competition to win a Type 59, T-54 Prototype or Type 62.

Basically, you have to unlock and excel on most of the tanks of the new line. Each tier has a mission where you have to earn a certain amount of XP (and kill at least one vehicle, so no troll platoon dragging tier 2's to tier 10 battles) over the course of multiple random battles. The XP's go:

Tier 2 - 1500 XP
Tier 3 - 5500 XP
Tier 4 - 15500 XP
Tier 5 - 35000 XP
Tier 9 - 75000 XP

First 50 players to achieve this will be rewarded with T-54 Prototype, 51st to 100th place winners will earn a Type 62.

First 50 players to earn the mastery badge on tier 10 (AMX 30B) will get a Type 59.

Armored Warfare: M48 Patton and Object 155

Source.

Check out the new main battle tank renders that Armored Warfare been developing for the game:

M48 Patton

Armata officially unveiled

Hello warriors,

Russian ministry of defense published for the first time an official picture of the T-14 Armata main battle tank, the future armored vehicle for the Russian army (developed by the Uralvagonzavod company). The unmanned turret (notice the missing fume extractor) is equipped with a new 2A82 125mm gun, capable - allegedly - of defeating any western tanks. The vehicle is equipped with an active protection system and new, advanced armor capable of withstanding even the strongest hits.

Buff My M10 Armor Update

Author: Vollketten
Photos by: Projet_154

A few weeks ago, I wrote a short piece on the uparmoring of M10’s in Europe in 1944/45 making use of those armored bosses on the sides and front. During that piece I mentioned what may well be the only surviving M10 with fabricated armor on its sides at Hackenberg in France.

Well, player Projet_154 deserves a huge round of applause as he very kindly visited that vehicle and obtained the elusive measurements for the side armor.

Miscellaneous Insider Info

Hello warriors,

just a few random tidbits from the Insider and other sources that you might find interesting.

- the Insider saw the reaction of Storm (hi denial) on his leaks. He wasn't amused but states that it's almost certain these changes will come - with a caveat that they might appear only on WoT Xbox. Simply take it as the direction WG is thinking in.
- according to Storm, the 9.7 patch will come "within days"
- chat 2.0 (improved chat system) will come by the end of summer
- WoT Assistant mobile application will get a warning about the upcoming stronghold battles for your clan, this change will also happen in late summer

20.04.2015 Stream (Ended)

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm on for another scheduled week, time now for some streaming. Today I'm not sure if will be doing Sub Platoon or Tank Requests, we will see depending how my warm-up battles go:

http://www.twitch.tv/ritagamer2

20.04.2015 Q&A

According to Storm, the post about the new skills/perks is a fake. On the other hand, I can confirm that the source is very reliable. It is of course easy to say something is not true when it is impossible to prove otherwise so in the end it is only a matter of who you trust.

- Storm confirms: no penetration nerf in 9.8;
- Regarding the new vehicle renders shown by Wargaming: "the models are the same, only the textures in the game are a bit worse"
- HD render models are made with 4K textures - Storm adds: "Do we seriously need such texture quality so we can look at muzzle brake of some tanks that up close?" He is referring to the following comparison:

In the game:

Render:

- Storm does not know when FCM 50t will be removed from the shop;
- Storm answers to players saying that the IS-5 is too good: "If this vehicle was a regular premium, I bet you'd be saying "fuuuuu, it's shit". The element of exclusivity is what makes it "something special";
- HD T34 is already being worked on, it will have no big changes in armor;
- Storm confirms that the client side of Bigworld will be improved to look more fitting for 2015;
- Storm states that there are far more vehicles that can safely rely on armor than the current Minimaus (VK4502B tier 9);
- Super Pershing will receive an armor buff, there will be no nerf to compensate this.

Armored Warfare: M1 Abrams, The Whispering Death Part 2

At Armored Warfare, part 2 of the M1 Abrams Article is now available, time for a good read:

http://aw.my.com/us/m1-abrams-whispering-death-part-2

IS-5 Overview

Hello warriors,

as was published earlier, the IS-5 heavy tank will be obtainable only via Clanwars. Let's have a look then at what 99 percent of players will be missing.

The IS-5 is a heavy tank with full (unlimited matchmaking). It is equipped with its historical 122mm D-25T gun. In order to make the gun viable on higher tiers, it was equipped with post-war subcaliber shells with fake penetration (in real life, this shell had somewhere around 350-400mm of penetration). It is fast, well armored and those who tested it on RU server report that on lower tiers it is almost overpowered.

Its final (confirmed by RU) characteristics are as such:

Hitpoints: 1550
Crew: 4 (commander, gunner, driver, loader)
Weight: 49,75 tons
Maximum speed: 42 km/h
Engine: 700hp
Power-to-weight: 14,07 hp/t
Hull traverse: 26 deg/s
Turret traverse: 24 deg/s
Viewrange: 360 meters
Radiorange: 440 meters

Hull armor: 120/120/60
Turret armor: 201/129/90

Gun: 122mm D-25TA
ROF: 4,76 rounds per minute
Penetration: 221/270/61
Damage: 390/390/530
Accuracy: 0,46
Aimtime: 3,2s
Depression: -5/+15

Armor schematics:

Meanwhile in Russia...

The text on the "tank" says: "Crimea" and "Red Army". From the technical point of view, it's a BMP-1 suspension-based replica of a "Panzer III" tank for some movie.

19.04.2015 Stream (Ended)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today will be doing a short stream, will be celebrating the 4th anniversary of the EU clan I've been in for over a year, FILO (First in Last Out):

http://www.twitch.tv/ritagamer2

19.04.2015 Q&A

Here it is:

- Penetration rebalance (aka hightier gun pen nerf) will not come in 9.8;
- "Something interesting" will come in 9.8;
- HD T110E5 is already being worked on;
- The HD IS-5 pictures that were shown to the public are again made with too high quality (such detailed textures will not appear in the game). Storm reacts: "In the game you will see the difference only on the gun barrel that is the closest to the camera";
- It's possible for various HD models to have textures of various quality;
- Q: "Storm, you said that tanks will no longer have historical penetration. Does that mean some will get a penetration buff?" A: "More like the other way around - some will get a nerf.";
- Storm loves fishing in real life (RG: Love it too!)
- Which new mechanics are being developed for WoT? "No comment";
- IS-5 clanwars event will be something like the "Twilight of Gods" CW campaign, IS-5 will be its only prize;
- "Significantly more than 10k players" will receive the IS-5 on RU server.

Leopard 2-SG Tank

Check out this sexy beast:

Insider: Crew skill overhaul

Hello warriors,

some fresh info from the insider: World of Tanks developers are working on a skill/perk overhaul - these are the skills/perks that they are considering (with appropriate effect). Keep in mind that this might not come anytime soon (at least it won't as per Storm) so it's possible these are just directions they are thinking in. The developers are also considering speeding up the skill progression by making levelling up your crew easier to match all these new skills and perks. The names are translated and are likely only temporary. It's possible these will appear both in Xbox and PC tanks.

Ammunition Tuning
Decreases the effect of range on the penetration ability of fired rounds (ie. less pen loss over distance)

Steady Aim
Increases your gunner's accuracy.

Paratrooper Training
Enables your Driver to reduce overall falling damage.

Parting Gift
Your tank explodes when destroyed, damaging nearby enemy vehicles and destroying their tracks.

Escape Artist
Become undetected more quickly once out of enemy sight.

Camo Expert
Your tank's camouflage factor while hidden in foliage is more effective than normal.

Silent Driving
Decreases the effect that movement has on your tank's camouflage factor.

Muffled Shot
Decreases the effect of firing on your tank's camouflage factor.

Swimming Lessons
The amount of time your tank can survive underwater is increased.

Body Count
Enables your Commander to identify eliminated crew members in the target vehicle within view range. Effective in both indirect and direct fire modes.

Platoon Communication
Enables the Radio Operator to always keep members of your platoon visible on your radar, regardless of distance.

Strength In Numbers
Improves major qualifications and all skills for the crews of your tank and those of nearby platoon members.

Ambush
Increases the camouflage factor of your tank and nearby platooned tanks.

Grinding Gears
Allows your driver to overcome a destroyed engine, getting enough power out of it to continue moving, albeit slowly.

Overzealous Commander
Your commander rallies the crew when your tank has less than 10% HP remaining, improving all major crew qualifications.

Pain Tolerance
Reduces chance of critical damage to crew members.

Maintenance Crash Course
The Driver is able to repair the tracks faster.

Attention to Detail
Your Gunner learns the ability to reveal various points of weakness on the targeted tank.

Target Prioritization
The Radio Operator is able to relay battle information to highlight tanks that are at low health. This applies to both enemy and friendly tanks.

Photographic Memory
Enables the Radio Operator to remember the last known position of enemy tanks for a couple seconds after line of sight is lost.

Supply Conservation
Rationing techniques give your Commander a chance to preserve a consumable item when it is used during battle.

Effective Stowage
More effective ammunition storage allows the Loader to increase your tank's maximum ammo capacity.

Firefighter
Enables the Commander to protect important equipment, reducing the chance that devices will be damaged in a fire.

Explosive Expertise
Increases the radius of explosive damage from fired rounds.

Sharp Eye
Enables the Commander to detect equipped consumables on the target tank.

18.04.2015 Q&A

The tier 8 IS-5 tank will be obtainable via a clan wars event. This event:

- Will come by the end of May (or perhaps a bit later) on RU server (EU/NA are unclear);
- It will be a tier 8 event;
- It will likely be the last event before CW overhaul;
- It will take no more than two weeks;
- The IS-5 tank characteristics are final;
- IS-5 will be obtainable only by playing in a clan (it won't be sold or given for other events).


And because there wasn't much for today so I'm gonna leave this video here... a whole new level of "Unfair Plane Kemp Bush":



Already played this video some 5 times, cant stop laughing! (Thank you "Abdool" for sharing!)

Armored Warfare: Artillery Development Update

Earlier this year when Armored Warfare opened the first Alpha test server the players expressed their distaste for the Artillery mechanics by stating that it didn't presented anything new in comparison from other games. Well, Obsidian did listened to the community and they made a number of changes, please be aware that this change may not be definite, they are making sure to make things as right and fair as possible.

The changes are:

• Incoming Artillery Warning;
• Counter Battery Radar
• New Camera View
• General Balance Changes (like the maximum artillery units allowed in a battle)

You can read everything in detail here: http://aw.my.com/us/artillery-development-update

I've been playing during this Alpha testing phase and have to say that I'm very satisfied with the changes, also find them to be fair for both parties and even although I always keep myself moving in the battles, its very nice to have a warning that you are being targeted.

What is your opinion? 

IS-5 - Clanwars Tank

Source.

Hello warriors,

WG RU confirmed what was leaked earlier on: IS-5 tier 8 "premium" will be a clanwars exclusive tank. It will be possible to get it in an upcoming CW event. Boo...

Panzer 58 in Thun

Source.

Hello warriors,

as you probably already know if you read this blog, Yuri Pasholok recently visited the armor museum in Thun (Switzerland). Another remarkable vehicle that he saw there was the Panzer 58 Swiss medium tank. Here's some info about it.

For numerous reasons (especially economical ones), Switzerland didn't have its own armored vehicles for a very long time, opting to purchase foreign vehicles instead. Switzerland is however now only known for its mountains and banks but also for its quality arms manufacturing industry (that includes not only guns and rifles), previously however there were no real indigenous Swiss tanks. There were attempts during and after the war to build indigenous armored vehicles (such as the Nahkampfkanone project) but it never really went anywhere, since it was much cheaper to buy the Centurions or the G-13 TD's than to develop a vehicle on their own.

This attitude changed in the 50's. It's no secret that Swiss arms companies (Oerlikon, Solothurn) actively cooperated with the Germans in WW2. This cooperation continued after the war and it started to include tanks as well. In 1953, an alliance of German companies (Porsche, Daimler-Benz, Zahnradfabrik and Ruhrstahl) participated in a project of a new tank for India. This was the 30 ton class Indien-Panzer that was to be produced in India by the Tata company. Swiss companies participated in the development of the Indien-Panzer as well. The project was ready in 1954 but the client refused it in the end. There was nothing wrong with the tank actually, but Tata was not able to actually produce it. After some deliberations, the Indians chose to simply buy the British Centurions instead.

Storm's Q&A

Hello warriors,

a few answers from Storm and Evilly, includes the missing Q&A from yesterday (translator was not available).

- as a reaction to Armored Warfare video about the role of armor in AW, Storm states that armor does play a role in WoT even now and that its role will improve in the future
- Storm does not think that the War Thunder engine is better than Bigworld by the entire order of magnitude
- Q: "Check out how few battles Storm played." A: "Yea yea. That's the reason for all the problems in WoT." (later he adds that the has over 15k battles in WoT beta)
- +/-1MM will not be introduced
- BL-9 and other unhistorical top guns will not be removed from vehicles
- gold ammo will not become cheaper
- it's possible tier 9 and 10 guns will receive a penetration nerf
- Storm confirms: Super Pershing hull itself will have the angles partially changed and the additional plate angles will be changed as well
- according to Storm, all the versions of Super Pershing model until now had wrong armor angles, he hopes that this time, it will be correct
- unfortunately it's not possible to add AMX-50/100, IS-3 and Pershing HD models to the 9.7 patch despite all the delays
- final build of 9.7 is already made and is being prepared for release
- it is very possible (confirmed by Evilly as "more or less correct") that the tier 8 Kanonenjagdpanzer will replace the Jagdtiger 88, which will be removed from sales

Super Pershing changes in 9.8

Hello warriors,

Storm confirmed that Super Pershing will come in HD in 9.8 and will receive a frontal armor buff. This is how it will look:

17.04.2015 Stream (Ended)

Happy Friday everyone, hope the week treated you good!

Today will be platooning with the Mighty Jingles! So excited, has been some time since we last played World of Tanks:
http://www.twitch.tv/ritagamer2

New Ranzar video

Here it is this week Ranzar, let me know what you think:

Guide Park: AMX 50 B

A new Guide Park video is up, this time the subject is the AMX 50 B:

The narrator's voice always makes me smirk.

M1A2 Abrams firing exercises

Check out this group of M1A2 Abrams doing some firing exercises, the tank porn starts at 0:37 seconds:

16.04.2015 Q&A

Here it is:

- Developers are working on fixing the World of Warplanes still;
- The existing bug where a tank sometimes "rotates" (spins) on spot will not be fixed in 9.7;
- Despite Storm's promises, the new model renders are still being released with unrealistic texture quality (not available for the in-game vehicles). Storm is not happy about it. The ultra-HD textures will not be released to public, as few people would use them and it's not really worth it;
- The platoon individual missions will be soloable, but they will not be simplified - completing them in platoon will thus be much easier;
- Some of the individual platoon mission parameters will be changed (not simplified, just changed);
- Regarding the platoon missions, the option to complete the same mission solo (but making it easier for platoon) is the best according to Storm: "This solution works both for players - removing the absolute necessity to look for platoon members - and for us - supporting the extra socialization."
- It's possible there will be some sort of "collector" medal (award) for those who acquire all premium tanks (RG: Hope it doesn't include the CW ones);
- Platoon searching mechanism will come in 9.8 (it will be possible to add people directly in battle);
- Xbox version of WoT has weather and it does influence gameplay - PC version will get it too but not soon (RG: Want that!);
- The Bigworld engine was updated in 9.7 because on the update depend new features and gameplay modes that will come soon;
- Motion physics - developers collected player feedback and are processing it;
- Havok will not come anytime soon;
- Kanonenjagdpanzer will apparently come in 9.8;
- In early May (on 9.5.2015 likely) there will be a special mode (as announced earlier) featuring the IS-2, ISU-122 and Cromwell - it will apparently be possible to obtain these vehicles via some sort of mission or so.


And the daily treat:

Source.

Armored Warfare Dev diary: Armor & Countermeasures

New Dev diary video of Armored Warfare just went live, this time they speak about the different types of armor and how they will implement it in the game:

So happy that the new stage of their alpha testing is up, been finding myself wishing to play the game between tests. Will be playing it in a couple hours once the servers go live!

Source.

Armored Warfare: M1 Abrams, The Whispering Death Part 1

At Armored Warfare the first part article of the M1 Abrams is out, another good read:

http://aw.my.com/us/m1-abrams-whispering-death-part-1

New world of Papoj

New world of Papoj is out, felt so bad for that FCM 36 Pak 40!

Wargaming RU tweets about WoT features

Hello warriors,

Wargaming RU uses the Twitter to sometimes quickly mention upcoming features. Here's what they wrote recently:

- another "tank marathon" ("grind a gazillion XP to get IS-6" and such) is coming (to RU server anyway and no, these events are not always shared)

 - new chat system will come by the end of summer
- the issue where you get the same map many times in a row is going to be fixed soon

The last one is doubtful and most likely a PR stunt, as Storm yesterday confirmed this issue will not be fixed anytime soon. Nevertheless, we will be waiting.

M48 Patton renders

Hello warriors,

here's a couple of M48 renders in HD - this is how the model will look like.

Kanonenjagdpanzer in World of Tanks

Hello warriors,

the following render of the Kanonenjagdpanzer (tier 8 German premium TD, here are its stats) was published via Wargaming social networks. Pretty nice!