The Contemporary 121B

Bench Seat Beater

By:

IrmaBecx

So to this day the Hype 59 remains my most driven tank in the game, I drove it before I drove the Object 140 when I first got my press account, and all these years later I still feel it was a good investment in spite of the monstrous price tag, because it offered a sensible introduction to Soviet Medium tank gameplay without all the grinding.

The Hype is just that – sensible. It has a sensible armour profile with slanted upper plate and rounded turret, a sensible diesel engine to move it around, and perhaps the most sensible 100 mm Medium tank gun in the game, if not outright mediocre. And if you give the Hype 59 a tier X makeover, what you’ll end up with is very probably the 121B which is about as sensible a choice as you could make if you wanted to get into tier X Medium tanks.

“Sensible” however, does no mean exciting, and unless you are a tier X medium tank degenerate like I am the thought of one that basically represents the exact mid point of any variable you care to mention might not seen super appealing. You take a Russo-Chinese Medium tank chassis with one of those wok pan turrets, and then you stuff a Chinese ripoff 105 mm L7A1 clone inside it. Done. I think that’s genius.

You may think it’s boring.

*

Look, if you want a sturdy tier X Medium that can hull down and put our damage there’s a perfectly good one in the tech tree, widely considered the low key best tier X Medium out there. And you have like five Russian varieties to choose from if you count the T-100LT, all with slightly different hull and turret configurations. 105 mm L7A1 clones are a dime a dozen on NATO tanks, and everyone knows the Leopard 1 Bordkanone is the best example. Again, why would you be excited by one that doesn’t outperform the others in any respect?

You look at the stats of the 121B, and literally nothing will stand out. Not a thing. Well, it has 300 mm HEAT pen which is joint highest in tier, but that’s joint with more than half the others. Here you will have to remember how Russian bias works, because Chinese bias is a lot like it only more subtle. There is not a single bad thing about the 121B either. Almost all the stats are in the top half or top third compared to other tier X Mediums.

So yeah, it’s a tier X Hype 59. Tier average weaponry. Tier average everything, and pretty robust for a Medium. You have that 120 mm front plate, but it’s not all that well angled so showing maybe 220 mm effective. Put some angle on it, and it’s quickly over 300. 80 mm sides that are basically flat with very small turret supports won’t get overmatched by any gun in the game. Turret front is around 300 mm effective, and the hatches maybe 250 mm, so not all that weak.

*

I bought my 121B with a generous helping of Wargaming gold, it was pretty much no cost. Even got the terrible looking golden camo for it. But I always loved the Type 59, and the 121B really is the same tank at tier X. Surely the attraction is self evident? It’s useless to compare it to the Russian Mediums, because the whole point of the 121B is to be different; to be Chinese instead. A little more gun, wok pan turret, and that Chinese mobility.

If you drive Chinese tanks already you’ll know what I mean by that. hey can be pretty fas, but they take a while to get going. They don’t like to climb hills or ford streams, but on the whole they’re pretty agile. I hit 64 km/h on a slight downhill straight on my way to the northwest corner of Ghost Factory just now; that’s Cromwell speed. Got there first, and held it too. I’s a tractor, an off road 4×4 and not a sports tank, a spartan utility vehicle that is fairly capable in any situation, city our country, desert or snow. The sort of tank that gets you wherever you want to go.

It’s also no secret I have a soft spot for Chinese tanks, and perhaps Medium tanks in particular. There is no way my review won’t be partial. But then all I’m saying is the 121B is a run of the mill daily grind beater just like the old Hype, your average work horse credit grinder premium.

What; you didn’t know this is an actual premium tank? Russian tier X Mediums give you maybe 85% credit coeffisient, and I think the collectibles are actually worse. But while the 121B isn’t quite a Type 59 in this regard, it does get 140%. Not that it matters a lot in this game economy, but it’s kind of nice all the same.

There aren’t many more ways to say it. It’s a Communist tank with a NATO sourced gun. If you have the slightest notion of Communist Mediums past tier VII or so, that should tell you everything you need to know.

*

So what’s it actually like to drive in the current climate?

Well… It’s nice. It’s quick enough to reach some spots and do some brawling, it can take a few hits and not fall to pieces, it puts out fairly consistent damage; and you know consistency is what the 121B is all about. It is what it says on the box. Does what you think it will do, over and over again.

I took mine out in a few Rating games as I mentioned, and I managed to win three of them by doing fairly simple things: fighting other Mediums, hull downing, flanking short and long, holding a position to give vision to TDs and not allow the enemy to advance, a bit of side scraping even. When finally we lost I actually went down against another 121B, it had the gold camo so I messed up five or six shots in a row and got completely outplayed. Couldn’t hit it, couldn’t pen it; nothing worked, it was just GG and thumbs up.

In the right circumstance the 121B can be quite a rowdy little number. Often simply by being a Medium, and one that isn’t really bad at anything at all Medium tank wise. Everything you try to do with it is going to work most of the time as long as you don’t try to make it do something outlandish. 

Also chances are you’re going to know how to drive the thing already, it does the “Russian thing” with the front plate and turret, and it has the exact same interior layout as practically any Soviet Medium past tier VIII: driver on the left, fuel tanks and ammo racks on the right, so show the left side if you can help it. If you consider the Type 59 is really a downtiered T-54, the 121B compared to the Russian seems slightly detuned for comfort in the same way. It’s not as highly tuned as my Object 907 sports tank, but it’s also not as fragile.

If you followed all that, this insight should inform your gameplay. You’re not necessarily going to outperform other Mediums except maybe in terms of turret armour, but you will be able to keep up with them in any regard. So you lean back and play patient, start relocating early, make sure to reset camo, everything you can do to give you an edge in level competition. Any Medium tank strategy or tactic will be possible to execute, and to me that is the appeal of Chinese tanks on the whole. Being unassuming in themselves they instead draw focus to the actual gameplay.

*

This is I suppose a love letter to the 121B. But then why wouldn’t it be? It’s a tier X version of my most driven tank in the game; a simple idea executed well.

For the sake of completion I bring out the main competition. You know the Object 140 is my favourite tank, but the 907 and I have been spending a lot of time together since I got my hands on one. .244 dispersion with the refined gun, fastest Russian on the market although that could also be the 140, but certainly a light weight sports prototype and the stealtiest in class.

For once my team actually goes northwest on Vineyards, I hit two beautiful HE shots on the gun shield of a Grille while capping B, and we own the corner. Relocate to start shooting at enemies over at A, but one of our Mediums goes down having advanced, so I move to replace it. Easy shots at stragglers before the encirclement is complete and the enemy evaporated.

So yea. My 907 is fantastic.

But again I don’t think the comparison is relevant beyond establishing differences, because the 121B quite clearly aims to be different. Downtuned. Consistent. Reliable. Laid back, even. If you want something more exciting you could go French or Russian, American even if you are so inclined. All kinds of sporty models out there. What we are looking at here is more of a touring tank.

So what’s the story here?

The 121B is a great tank with little to no weaknesses unless you consider six degrees of gun depression lacking, it’s a solid performer in the vein of the Type 59 and Russian Mediums but it’s also conspicuously Chinese if you know what to look for. It is perhaps not the most exciting of Mediums at tier X, but this lack of excitement is precisely what makes it so dependable; with everything set to medium-high nothing is bad about it. Mediocre or reliable? You decide.

And you can get everything the 121B has to offer and more in the tech tree, you can get a faster, more highly strung premium Medium, but you cannot get this exact thing: an Eastern bloc tank with a Western bloc gun. Is that worth 15.000 gold? Again, you decide.

If you like the Medium playstyle, your favourite credit grinder is a Medium, or you have a thing for Communistic tank design; if you are looking for a daily driver to last you through the years, and if you like Russian Mediums but somehow still feel 100 mm is just half a centimetre too wimpy, then the 121B was made for you. If you look at it and all you see is a Chinese knockoff made up of surplus tech tree parts, then not so much. It really is that simple.

Me, I love my 121B very dearly and I’ve enjoyed spending some time considering it’s place in the current meta. It’s two thumbs up with bells and laurel wreaths of course. IrmaBecx says whatever you may think of it, middle of the road will simply never go out of style.

Take it easy out there.

Object 260 Review!

The Pike Is Loose

By:

IrmaBecx

So the Object 260 is on sale today, and if I hadn’t owned it already I might have considered dropping all my scraped together free gold on one. 17.5K they want for it; that’s the plain jane version with the eastern bloc park bench interior, and that’s sort of a middle range price for a tier X collectible without the special camo.

Full disclosure: my Object 260 was free, I got it from one of those snow globes last year, and I got the snow globe itself from Wargaming. I don’t have the “Pike” camo, which I think runs you a little over 2500 gold at present without a discount, but I will own it one day because it fits the tank.

Now, this should immediately make you suspicious for several reasons. I am of course a WG lackey and collaborator, and so you should consider my endorsements with that in mind. It’s easy for me to say I would have bought a tank I already own; I’ve been meaning to buy the CDC for like six years, and the M4 Rev and many others. Just waiting for that really good deal, no? To add to your suspicion this is a Heavy tank, and not only that it’s a prototype for the IS-7; a tank which although respectful of I have outspokenly never, ever liked.

So what’s the deal? And by the way – isn’t this just a less powerful IS-7 without the grinding?

*

Clearly the IS-7 comparison is relevant, because the Object 260 is the direct predecessor. It’s the IS-7 Prototype. So you get a little less armour but a little more agility, a 122 instead of a 130, a shot trap turret, and you still have to deal with that pike nose. That part is easy to understand.

But the thing is, as much as I dislike the IS-7 I simply love the Obj 260, and that’s a bit of a surprise even to myself. I was inclined to drive it just because it’s not an actual IS-7, but I was expecting I’d come away with the feeling I wouldn’t kick one out of my garage. Considering I love the Object 140 and 907 but not the T-62A and am fairly indifferent towards the T-22, perhaps there is a sort of pattern here and again this part is easy to understand. The fact this is an Object 260 and not an IS-7 alone would be sufficient for me to like it.

My feelings on the IS-7 I think are fairly well known, but let’s use the analytical approach and consider what the IS-7 really is: namely a huge Medium tank. It’s not all that big for a SuperHeavy, and it’s certainly nippy although not especially agile. The reason it can cosplay a Heavy tank better than, say, a WZ-121, is simply they hung enough armour on it for you to basically just drive it straight at the enemy. This is the reason I never liked it: it’s just too easy to drive.

you won’t be surprised to hear me argue this is also the precise reason I love my Object 260. It’s true it has a smaller gun and less armour. That doesn’t make it less of a Heavy tank; but rather more of a Medium tank and that’s really the way I like my Heavys, I will drive anything that can do some Medium tank work in a pinch. The Object 260 goes further than that, it’s like it was made specifically for those instances of Medium tank gameplay. I would go so far as to say the less you treat it like a Heavy tank the more successful you will be.

This is not like the WZ-111 5A versus the WZ-113; same-same but different, this is the same tank in two different modes. The sports tank and the grand tourer.

*

And you know, everyone likes a sports tank. You just have to make sure that’s what you need for the job at hand. You wouldn’t buy a sports car for heavy transport, you’d buy a truck. So if you like slogging it out face to face with the big game out there, then maybe the IS-7 is a better fit. Or perhaps the Lewandowskiego.

If you enjoy other Heavy tanks with strong streaks of Medium DNA you’ll like this one too. And if you really like your IS-7 then there’s really no reason why you wouldn’t like the 260 as well because it many ways it is a similar tank. The straight line speed. The pike nose. The black hole spaced armour along the side. You will already know how to use the armour profile, and really driving a pike nose tank isn’t all that complicated. You just have to keep cool and point it straight at the enemy.

There are three important differences between the 260 and the IS-7, corresponding to the three balancing categories of armour, speed, and firepower respectively. Concerning the latter the Object 260 is clearly superior; DPM and gun handling are both noticeably better and you get HEAT rounds instead of APCR with slightly higher penetration, although not as high as the IS-4. It’s faster, more powerful and agile. But it’s not quite as robust with main armour 40 mm thinner and fewer hitpoints. It doesn’t have that cockroach carapace you can stomp on all day to no avail.

So it’s a bit of a different tank. Like the E6 versus the E5, or the Chieftain Mk VI versus the Super Conqueror you trade agility and firepower for brawn, and this will allow some elements of Medium tank playstyle.

I set my Object 260 up with my usual combat loadout: calibrated shells and speed boost, double repair kits and double food. My ammo loadout is 23/13/8. Don’t forget to bring some HE shells, because of course there is a bit of Russian Bias going on. You get the same 68 mm HE pen the IS-7 130 mm does, meaning 75 mm with calibrated. Tier standard for a sub 130 mm is 60 mm.

And then I just rolled out. It’s not a very complicated vehicle.

*

I end up on Dead Rail with just one Light tank against two Mediums. But I’m a Medium at heart, no? If we don’t hold the high ground those two Mediums will pick us apart, so I make my way up there. I’m not going to outspot a Medium tank and get lit up before I reach the rocks. Looking sideways I see a WZ-121 and throw a shot towards it; a speculative shot that actually hits the tank but bounces off. Fully expecting to take a hit, the return shot instead ricochets harmlessly off my tank.

Now, this shouldn’t be possible. That 121 has the fastest aimtime in the game, I’m maybe 70 m away and showing at most 135 mm side armour. All I can figure is there was a slight downward angle, and the shell bounced off either the underside of my spaced side armour or hit the very top of the turret. It’s a completely bullshit troll bounce, but I’ll take it. Unfortunately our Vickers goes middle so I’m expecting to be alone against the 121 and an Object 140, but the WZ doesn’t want to fight a Russian Heavy up close and retreats. We own the high ground.

I am taking fire from across the map, no use staying here. Their TDs are taking a beating down towards the middle so I flank around getting behind their Jägeru, but now I’m in a hurry being pounded by the Medium tanks. Turning around and dipping down I inexplicably bounce the killshot off the 121, but once it’s gone I can get hull down against the 140 and take it out.

And that’s the game. We pushed through the flank, took out their spotters and support tanks and now there are three Heavys surrounded in the bowl by our spawn left to mop up. It’s basically a slaughter.

Now, if those Mediums had contested the high ground together they could have taken me down. I can’t point my armour straight at two tanks at once, and they both have excellent firepower. But relocating and then letting us corner them instead meant victory for us.

Next game is a disaster, I don’t even want to talk about it.

But then it’s time for Alpenstadt, it’s Supremacy and we have a tier IX Vickers Cruiser against a red E50M. Otherwise the teams are evenly matched with three Heavys and TDs, so going the Medium route is a risky move. But the ÜberPanther is a very dangerous tank, so I move towards A hoping to get a shot in before it reaches the houses on  the hill.

A K-91 on the red team as the same idea of supporting the Medium flank, I manage two shots before it’s in cover and the E50M is right behind it, I miss my shot at it. So now they have the corner and we have no D support, but I can put some pressure on them by starting to cap. They will either poke and we’ll have them in a crossfire, or we’ll get the cap and then I can start getting in their face.

Naturally things don’t go as planned. Both red tanks push forward, I hit the E50M in the side as it charges the Vickers CR, but I decide to go for the K-91 which is on lower HP. Take two shots and have to resurrect my driver, but now my speed boost is off cooldown and it’s short work taking out the K-91 while it’s reloading. Unfortunately our Vickers goes down having brought the E50M down to almost a one shot for me and it does indeed take two shots to take it out. his whole exercise has cost me 2000 hipoints, but we own the flank, we own the cap, and so I start capping.

But there’s no time, a VK 45.02 B is attaching or E4 right in front of me so I leave the cap and go help out. Only two tanks left so I farm a bit of damage and end up with over 4K damage and a first class. Piece of cake really; at least in the tactical sense.

Not going to get long winded about these honestly fairly mediocre games, but the fact is we probably would have lost both of those games if no one had paid attention to the flank. The Heavy tank meta is going strong, especially in tier X Ratings, but a single Medium tank that owns the flank can completely wreck even the best laid plans.

*

The day after I roll out again, and it’s about the same story with two wins out of three. With the rebalancing of the tier X Heavy tanks the 260 does now feel lighter on it’s feet than a lot of same tier Heavys, and out on the flanks it doesn’t feel fragile at all. I also stand by this being a Medium tank in disguise, again racking up almost 4K just by going A cap on Castilla and then putting the base campers in a cross fire.

170 games I’ve put on my 260, more than on my IS-4 but nowhere near as many as on my 111 5A, and of course I don’t have an IS-7. I have to say I’m very pleased with it, just a great tank without a lot of bells and whistles.

Here’s where you should start getting suspicious again, because I am a Medium tank player at heart, and the only Heavy tanks I do like tend to be for specific reasons. One of those reasons is mobility; I will choose fast over brawny every time. Another one is just being a regular tank, a bog standard, daily driver type beater that does what it says on the box and nothing more. Neither, I would assume, makes the Object 260 sound more appealing to a player without my particular tastes.

But the essence of Russian bias is a conspicuous lack of serious drawbacks, you may think that’s boring and in the case of the Great Bias Beast-7 I would agree, but what it actually means is being pretty good at virtually everything, and then often you will have something you do really well on top of that.

And it’s true I am a Medium tank degenerate, but that doesn’t change the fact mobility is one of the most powerful advantages in the game and one of the most important factors in balancing. Very often WG will dial back a strong vehicle by limiting the top speed, engine power, or making it traverse slower. Likewise they will often buff those same things when a tank has been power crept or doesn’t perform so well.

But yeah. As much as I dislike the Bias-7, I have remained one of it’s staunchest defenders against the charge of obsolescence, and I still say it’s one of the tanks you should consider for your first tier X because it’s powerful and it’s easy to drive, plus you get some truly hilarious troll bounces off that cockroach carapace – I’m talking point blank, high calibre, straight from the side, and the round will just disappear into some dark vortex of spaced bias and non-Euclidian angles.

So I’m not going to pretend the IS-7 isn’t the logical choice, no one actually needs the collectible pre production model.

There are a few reasons why you might still consider one. A lot of people complain about the IS-7 gun being derpy, and the 260 gun is much snappier, has higher standard shell speed, better skill round penetration, and better accuracy. You might wish your IS-4 or IS-7 wasn’t quite so sluggish. Or as I said you may really like your IS-7, and be curious about a tank that is both similar and different.

It’s an extravagance. I spent months and months scraping together my hoard of gold from missions and events, and this would have put a big hole in it. However, as extravagances go this one strikes me as fairly reasonable; it’s a great tank that’s easy to drive, looks good, drives well, and the “Pike” camo I think is just the right side of ostentatious.

Two thumbs up, no doubt. Tank Philosophy seal of approval. IrmaBecx says if you sometimes wish your Heavy tank wasn’t quite so… Heavy, this might be the tank for you.

See you out there.