Help! I Have An Object 260!

Object 260 Update

By:

IrmaBecx

So I got a new tank. It fell out of one of those snow globes, I got a couple for free from Wargaming. I’m saving my gold for a good deal on some tank I’ve been wanting, and my free XP for the upcoming Russian Light tank branch; I’m going to be an early adopter again.

But yea, the 260. It was on sale recently, first time outside of crates, and I wrote about it. Said I wouldn’t mind having one, and now I do!

I remember liking the Object 260 the moment I saw it, because it’s so obvious what it is: A prototype IS-7. And you may know I endorse the IS-7 but don’t like it, and so I wasn’t really surprised I fell pretty hard for the original prototype; same as I love the 140 but not the T-62A.

It’s not really all that different. The 260 is still one of those overgrown Medium tanks; it does 50 on the straights, t’s light on it’s feet for such a big tank, and you get perhaps the second best 122 mm weapon in the game after the M62-T2.

Not going to lie, part of what attracts me to the 260 is the fact it’s not an IS-7. But also, the tradeoffs from the tech tree vehicle make the tank an even better fit for me: more mobility, more firepower, and a little less armour.

Lovely.

*

The great thing about the IS-7 is it’s so easy to drive. That is also the reason I never liked it – it’s so easy to drive it gets boring to me really quickly, and let me tell you I’ve done a lot of IS-7 testing over the years. You can practically point it at the enemy, drive straight forwards while mashing the fire button, and a lot of the time that’s going to work. All you have to do is angle up straight because you have a pike nose.

The Object 260 can’t quite do that. It can certainly bully Medium tanks, but you can’t just drive straight into the crowd and expect not to get wrecked.

So pretty mobile for a Heavy tank. It’s like they moved the armour plating from the hull to the turret front, reminiscent of the Chinese Heavys. I will say I spend quite a bit of my hitpoints pushing forward, but hey; I’m not a Heavy tank driver. In spite of that I actually have eight tier X Heavy tanks now, and I do enjoy my rowdy brawlers. But in spite of a healthy dose of Russian bias, brute force isn’t the way to drive his tank.

It’s a Heavy tank, sure. You can hull down with your strong turret and hold a position, you can angle up your sides and scrape a few corners, you can eat big HEAT rounds with your tracks and your strip of spaced armour. But the interesting thing is of course what the Object 260 does especially well compared to other tanks, because armour isn’t one of those things.

It’s fast for a Heavy, that’s a definite advantage. It also has almost 3000 DPM with a rammer, but then I said it was perhaps the second best 122, and the reason I rank the M62-T2 higher is it has 340 HEAT pen stock where the 260 has like 310. Perhaps the Chinese 60-122TA should also rank higher, it has best in tier DPM.

So the thing is do you want to boost your DPM, or do you want more comfortable penetration values?

As is often the case, the Object 260 shows a conspicuous lack of weaknesses. This is the essence of Russian bias. Everything about it is pretty good. Sure, the pike nose makes it a little harder to side scrape, but that’s nothing compared to the accuracy, firepower, and agility of this vehicle. You can’t really call having to know your armour profile and angle up properly a drawback, can you?

The fun way to drive the 260 is to try to take advantage of that agility and firepower, without having to rely too much on the armour. That means going out on the flanks or playing close fire support, both take advantage of mobility. And if you find you get a lot of side shots, then perhaps you could get away with running the rammer instead of calibrated shells.

It’s fast enough to do a few Medium tank jobs, but make sure you make the right calculation. Can your team afford having one Heavy tank leave the pack, or will they be unable to hold the line without your help? And is there a good reason for going the Medium route, are you likely to win that side of the map?

Even if you just do standard Heavy tank jobs with your 260, you will appreciate these advantages, they make everything a little bit easier and more comfortable.

*

I drive a couple of games to reacquaint myself, and the 260 is still a great drive. If I am going to drive a Heavy tank, then this is the style I want.

And there are a couple of games where nothing works out. The armour profile especially starts showing it’s limitations, but overall I’m still very happy. It’s not just a free tank, but a free tank that I’ve been wanting.

The thing about the 260 is you can get involved. It’s fast enough to switch flanks, to go for the early cap, to get in position and be ready for the first shot. The 122 mm is a bit Russian, but it depends on what you compare it to. Compared to a British or American Heavy tank, it’s decidedly jumpy and inaccurate. But compared to the IS-7, IS-4, or even the AMX M4 54, it’s a wonder of stability and accuracy. Just remember to yell Rasha! once in a while.

The turret armour is thicker than the IS-7, but it’s not as efficiently shaped. This is what is called a shot trap turret, and against a high penetration standard round, it will look patchy. The good news is if they load the gold rounds, the turret will still look just as patchy. It won’t simply clear up the way an E100 turret will.

From straight ahead on flat ground, the pike nose is showing 240 mm effective. You need 5 degrees outside angle to start approaching 300 degrees, and at 10 degrees it goes to autobounce. That’s really not a lot of angling you need for juking back and forth. Side scraping you should be safe out to 20 degrees, but you will need to expose your front plate to get a shot off, and it’s a straight shot into your ammo rack, unless you are showing your right side, in which case there is a huge fuel tank in front of it next to the driver.

Six degrees of gun depression is the same as the other Soviet style Heavys except the 5A. If you want more gun depression, don’t drive Russian tanks. I don’t mind it at all; a lot of my favourite tanks have six degrees.

But yea, being a sort of flanking support vehicle will tend to make you slightly team dependent. You can’t run with the Mediums if the Mediums don’t run, and you can’t support the push there is no push. Conversely, you also have the obligation to be a team player; to make up for the fact you are not a wall of steel SuperHeavy by good positioning and forward thinking gameplay.

The Object 260 is not a tank that single handedly wins games. But it is a tank that can be extremely instrumental towards the win.

*

I think you will have figured out by now I really like this tank. Back in March i grinded out the IS-4 so I would have something powerful to drive on the night shift, and I’ve actually ended up driving it more than I thought I would. I always kind of liked it, and it was everything I thought it would be.

The 260 I knew I would like, I just didn’t know I was going to get one. Being tight fisted with the gold these days, but then there aren’t a whole lot of tanks out there I am in the market for. We are talking a handful of premiums. And in fairness the 260 was not at the top of my list, there are others I would sooner have spent my hard earned gold on. There is also no way the Object 260 is going to replace the amazing WZ-111 5A as my favourite Heavy tank, but it’s a really nice addition to my collection.

Driving it just now on Overlord I rush to cap D, and then get stuck fighting over C. I put in a few shots, but then see the reds have capped A and are moving in against our campers, so I break off and rush there hoping to keep them alive. We make short work of the flank, I cap A, and then move up towards C, hitting the enemy from the back while our VK 72 makes a heroic last stand, and then it’s just the cleanup left.

I didn’t do more than 2K damage or so, but i did that damage in the right place and at the right time. If I had been in my new 60TP I would have had to stay fighting the dug in Heavys, and it’s possible we would have been flanked and lost the game.

Freedom of movement. The faster your tank moves, the more possibilities lie open to you.

My IS-4 does perform better, and we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s much more robust, and it’s easier to angle up. But it’s not vastly superior; the 260 does a few things better, and for the moment at least I enjoy driving it more. I always did like a pike nose tank.

Just like last time, I should say that what makes me really like the Object 260 may in fact be things that count against it from your perspective. I realise it’s hard to argue that not being as strong as the IS-7 is somehow a benefit, and you may not like giving up armour plating for mobility. But there are undeniable strengths: speed is a powerful advantage, 3000 DPM is good for a tier X Heavy, and 0.31 is accurate for a Heavy tank gun. I’m not going to call it refined or sophisticated, but compared to a lot of other Russian tanks, it’s not quite as crude.

That is not to say there is anything very complicated about it. You can hide behind a ridgeline all game, or do other generic Heavy tank type things. But that would be selling it short; a fast Heavy like this wants to stretch it’s legs a little. It wants to go out there and get involved.

And that is what resonates with me. I want to get involved too, and the 260 is a great tank to be doing it in. That’s really all you need to know. I will say the Object 260 takes a little experience to drive, it doesn’t have training wheels like a lot of other Russian tanks have.

*

It’s not every day you wake up to a brand new Russian tier X Heavy tank in your garage, but of course the first game out was a disaster. Overall though, I’m doing pretty well in the 260, a little over my global average.

My WZ-111 5A had a birthday, so I rolled out in that for a bit of comparison. Rushed the cap on Dead Rail, got blocked by an E100 and took a couple of big hits, but side on to a Lewandowskiego I’m just glad it didn’t explode my ammo rack, and we did win the game.

Why do I like the 5A so much better? For one thing it’s very recognisably a Chinese tank, and there’s a lot more to it than being a knockoff IS-7. It’s light on it’s feet because it has armour where it counts, seven degrees of gun depression is very comfortable in a segment where six is the norm, and it has that upper plate that’s halfway between pike nose and flat.

Being an early adopter of the Hype 59 and 62 I prefer the Chinese look, but I do have a soft spot for classic Soviet brutalism; the wicked angles and smooth turret of the Object 140, the bare faced directional pragmatism of the Object 263, and yes; the confident angularity of the Object 260.

The reason I am talking about aesthetics is that in actuality these tanks are pretty similar, and choosing a Warsaw pact Heavy tank therefore has more to do with secondary considerations. Things like look, and feel, and nuance.

So what I enjoy about the 260 is how it feels, because it doesn’t feel entirely Russian. When you hit that turret hatch going full speed, that’s reassuringly biased-feeling, but otherwise it’s just a little bit more… well, fresh and lively than I expected. And this fact alone is why I keep coming back to it and why I will never again think about getting an IS-7.

As a potential acquisition however, the Object 260 has one big problem. It’s sort of… plain, this in a segment where you can find all kinds of strange and wonderful vehicles, and most of them in the tech tree. Even limiting ourselves to premium and collector tanks, it’s up against some stiff competition. There are no fewer than eight to choose from in the Heavy tank segment alone, so what is the rationale for choosing the proto-IS-7?

It’s highly mobile and has good firepower? And… uh… it looks like an IS-7? You have to admit that doesn’t sound very exciting unless you are a total IS-7 freak. Really, if you don’t like the Bias-7; if you think the gun handling is too sketchy, the reload is too long, and it’s a little too sluggish, you might actually be more inclined to appreciate the strengths of the 260.

*

Would I have bought this tank on my own?

Yes, sooner or later. It’s exactly my type of Heavy tank. And make no mistake, having good mobility and good firepower may not be super original in terms of strengths, but let me tell you it never gets old. Fast is fun. These strengths have lasting appeal.

I thought I was finished with Heavy tanks for a while before this one fell into my lap, but it looks like I’m not. I put several dozen games on my new 260 already, and I started driving both my Chinese ones too.

So what’s the bottom line?

Well, the Object 260 may not be the most extravagant vehicle in the game, but it is a very solid proposition. It’s a workhorse, the kind of tank that turns into a daily driver and a favourite. It doesn’t really do anything special, and certainly nothing you couldn’t find in the tech tree, but it shows a conspicuous lack of serious weaknesses, and being so mobile makes it an enjoyable drive.

It’s two thumbs up from me. This is a very nicely balanced vehicle, and I’m thoroughly enjoying driving it. IrmaBecx says if all you’re looking for is a 122 mm and a bit of bias, then the Object 260 may be just the ticket. Not a must-have, but a really great tank.

*

So it’s the new round of auction tanks, and as it happens the WZ-111 5 is on sale. The T-22 Medium is gone already, but there are still well over 3000 WZ’s left.

And faced with the choice between the WZ 5A and the 260, I would go Chinese every time. I love the solid punch of the 130 mm, the kaleidoscope upper plate, and the fact it’s fairly light on it’s feet. A very well rounded vehicle that can do most anything as long as you use the armour properly.

So is it a better IS-7?

No. The gun handling is noticeably sharper, but it has 200 hitpoints less and the armour is thinner. The old Bias beast wins out on pure, stubborn robustness. But the 5A is a little more flexible, and if you tear your hair out at the fickle IS-7 gun, you will find the Chinese equivalent more comfortable.

This may sound like simplifying things, but there really isn’t a lot more to it than this. The 5A is the same style of tank as the IS-7 and the 260 in a slightly different flavour; one that I personally much prefer, but the IS is still the king of brute force and Bias.

But yea, if you appreciate the subtleties of dynamic Heavy tank driving, you like short flanking and brawling Mediums, then I would encourage you to give the 5A your consideration. I put over 400 games on mine so far, and it most definitely has the tank philosophy seal of approval.

As a complement to my favourite tier X Heavy, the Object 260 is in all cases a great addition to my collection, and it has nullified any inclination I might have had to acquire the production version. I can still drive it on the press account, and no doubt I will have to sooner or later when someone inevitable proclaims the death and obsolescence of the IS-7 again, and I have to do some research so I can tell everyone that’s crazy talk, again.

WZ-111 And WZ-112-2 Bundle!

Weazel-111 Vs. Weazel 112-2

By:

IrmaBecx

So once again it’s time for a shout out to one of my favourite tanks in the game. I don’t have an IS-5. I never grinded the IS-3. Didn’t get the OG Defender from that event ages ago, and I didn’t use to grind credits in an IS-6 back in the day.

But when the WZ-111 dropped, and no one had it on their press account even, I took the plunge and dropped the gold on it right away. And it wasn’t because I wanted the content. I just liked the look of it, and I figured if I was ever going to drive an IS spam tank at tier VIII, it would be this one.

That was quite a while ago now, and I never looked back.

The IS Spam Weazel-111 is not the best Warsaw Pact tier VIII Heavy tank in the game (that’s the Object 252u, of course), and it’s not the most bang for your buck; even at what it basically a third of what I paid for it, it’s more than three times as expensive as the old IS-5, which is still my benchmark for IS Spam.

But it is a solid tank. And it’s my favourite.

*

The other one; the WZ-112-2 is basically an IS Spam tank with training wheels. It was specifically designed with the novice driver in mind; being easy to use and having solid armour plating that will keep you alive a little longer with less effort.

So if you have a few Spam tanks in your garage already, you definitely don’t need both of these. But if you are  newer player, I think you could do worse than picking up both; basically for the price on one if it’s a newer model, and then you’ll have some variety.

The front plate of the 112-2 is flat and really easy to angle. The semi pike nose of the 111 is a little more tricky, but works really well when wiggling back and forth with all those angles on it.

The weapon is the exact same on both tanks; the 122 mm D-25TA. The one difference is the 111 is  little more stable on the move, while the 112-2 gets one more degree of gun depression. The 112-2 is faster flat out, but the 111 has a little better ground resistance figures. It also has a thicker turret front than the 112-2, but otherwise the armour is a little thinner overall.

You’re not really going to notice the turret front until you start facing higher tier tanks firing premium rounds. But against a tier IX Heavy tank or TD, the WZ-111 turret will be harder to penetrate; that’s pretty much the one redeeming feature. And yeah, both tanks have a fairly large lower front plate that isn’t going to bounce anything.

Look, I’m not saying the WZ-111 is better. I just like it better. And with so many similarities, you really don’t need both of these tanks. If you know your IS Spam and want to save a little gold, then consider the 111. If you feel you want a slightly easier time of it, have a look at the 112-2.

*

I won’t pretend to teach anyone how to drive IS Spam; not even Chinese IS Spam. I just thought I’d show you some gameplay and mention a few things specific to these two vehicles so you’ll know what they’re all about.

The first one is of course the famous pike nose kaleidoscope wiggle:

You may have seen that before; that’s how you make the strange half pike nose/half flat plate of the 111 series tanks work; the tier IX tech tree tank and the collectible tier X 5A both work the same. I happen to be a huge fan of anything that says 111; be it either Heavy tank or Tank Destroyer, but I will admit that a pike nose in general is an acquired taste.

The WZ-112-2 in contrast has a forward mounted turret and a flat, angled slab of front plate armour, so you’ll want to angle it up a bit. Not that that’s always necessary; you are showing well over 250 mm frontally on flat ground, depending on things like normalisation, caliber, and ammo type. Angle up maybe 20 degrees, and basically the whole tank is at least 300 mm except for the lower plate.

That’s not super hard to learn.

The WZ-111 has thinner sides, so you need less of an angle; like 15 degrees. And that means one part of your frontal armour will clear up, unless you are using the full five degrees of gun depression; at least against a tier VIII tank.

Both tanks have a strip of spaced armour long the side that will defeat a tier IX calibrated HEAT round.

So yeah, pretty straight forward. And then you just do the regular Heavy tank jobs of holding positions, tanking damage, and shooting at red tanks.

Do enjoy some gameplay:

No IS Spam tank is terribly different from any other, not even the 252u. Not sure it shows in the above, but I am a lot more confident going up against that one in the WZ-112-2 because of the thicker armour. Both these games end up just under 2K damage; I could have gotten one more shot in in the 112-2 if my game hadn’t lagged out towards the end.

You can see the 112-2 is a little faster, and yeah; the guns are just as derpy as you expect, but they do work. Both of them will give you what you need to do some regular Heavy tank jobs, and they have the same 170% credit coefficient.

*

Look, neither one of these tanks is the Object 252u. But one is my personal favourite, and the other one is about as noob-proof as an IS Spam tank gets. I do like them both, and I think they are worthwhile, each in their own way.

But I struggle a little to justify buying both of them, unless you are a collector, looking for a couple of cheap credit grinders, or happen to be a Chinese tank degenerate like myself.

If you are a never player, I would definitely recommend the WZ-112-2; it’s specifically designed to be easy to drive and keep you alive out there so you can make some credits. And if you have one of them, it’s questionable whether you need the other, unless as I said you want a little variety. It would however surprise me to see anyone do better in the WZ-111 than in the 112-2.

And looking at the way they are priced individually, it seems Wargaming know this as well.

But if you care more bout the game experience than actual results, you might still have a look at the 111. The 112-2 is so easy to get your head around it does feel a little predictable after a while, and I think the 111 is more fun to drive. Just remember I said it was my favourite; that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t perform better in a different tank, like the 252u or the 112-2.

Having found my flavour, so to speak, I just don’t feel I need any of the other IS spam tanks.

Your needs may be different.

Stay cool out there.

The Infamous Chinese IS-2

IS-2 Redemption?

By:

IrmaBecx

So if you are thinking of doing the Chinese Heavy tank line, and you read some of my old papers on that, you will find I skipped past the tier VII. But if you read a paper I wrote last summer on the Chinese IS-2 specifically, you will find there is no longer any reason to do that.

That’s all fine. But a while back, I actually went and bought the IS-2 for myself, and I couldn’t really tell you why. Maybe I had one of those 25% off vouchers. It could have just been for the sake of completion. I think the reason was really quite simple. I’ve been driving more and more Heavy tanks, and I like Chinese tanks. So if I had to drive a Heavy tank at tier VII, why not drive one with a little surprise in store for anyone who thinks they have thick armour?

Like, for instance; just off the top of my head, the blasted Annihilator?

If you didn’t know, the IS-2 is the only tier VII IS spam tank that gets HEAT rounds. 250 mm of penetration. That’s 275 mm with calibrated shells; no other IS tank at the same tier even comes close.

Not bad for a Chinese knockoff, right?

*

To be fair, you won’t be going through the upper plate of a German SuperHeavy like the VK 100.01 or the E 75 TS. But there will always be somewhere you can penetrate, and a general nuisance like the Tiger 2 or the T28 Prototype won’t be a problem.

The aforementioned Annihilator has all kinds of strange curves and angles, but simply lobbing a HEAT shell at the front of it, chances are like 50/50 you’ll hit somewhere you can punch straight through.

I used to be a huge fan of tier VII. Not so much anymore. And coming back to it, I’ve experienced first hand the devastating impact of tanks like the Annihilator and the Smasher. But it’s also kind of nice to be back; it’s not like the general gameplay at tiers IX and X is really that much higher quality these days.

And having put almost 20 games on my new IS-2, I’m actually starting to like it. It’s quite mobile for such a slow tank. The armour works like you think it will. And the derpy Chinese D-25T knockoff quite often puts the rounds where you want them to go as long as you don’t try to snap shot, which isn’t at all bad considering the thing has worse dispersion than a KV-2.

You can call it a “Pravda” or “Berlin”, but the other IS tanks at this tier are basically all the same. This one isn’t. Well, not quite, anyway. Giving up gun depression, accuracy, and engine power, you really only get two things in return: higher shell velocity on your AP and HE rounds, and penetration values on your premium rounds.

But I mean, bench racing a tank like this is fairly useless. It’s a bog standard Heavy tank; about as generic as you can get. There are no surprises at all, if you don’t count punching through the upper plate of a King Tiger.

*

How is it going, you ask?

Well, not bad actually. I started out with a string of losses, but things seem to have stabilised, and I’m doing better than average. Not that that’s all that difficult; the IS-2 has the lowest average winrate of all comparable tanks; just under 50%.

The worst part of driving a Heavy tank, especially for a Medium tank driver, is when your Medium tanks don’t do their job properly. I can hold a position, or support the main push from the side when I’m bottom tier, but I can’t do it if I have enemies coming at me from several angles. And I can’t do their job for them; this being about as generic a Heavy tank as you can find, it’s definitely not a Medium tank in disguise.

But it is a nice tank. I’m enjoying it a lot. This is not one of those quirky and offbeat vehicles I usually go for, and it’s actually kind of pleasant to just get down to basics for once. You need to give up all those fancy plays and concentrate on just doing your Heavy tank job. Pushing forward at a moderate pace, holding positions, tanking damage, and trying to take down other Heavy tanks from the front instead of flanking, spotting, isolating, or harassing.

It’s not that hard. But it’s also not facile like I used to think, and it needs to be done properly. A good game in a Heavy tank isn’t relocating all over the map and putting yourself in the right situation at the right time, but taking things slow and steady; going through the motions and trying to break through. Pushing the front line closer and closer towards the red line until the enemy team have nowhere left to go.

Actually, the IS-2 isn’t all that slow. It’s pretty mobile for a slow tank. I run the speed boost on it so I can get to first position quicker, which certainly livens it up. And sure; if you struggle with limited gun depression and bad dispersion values, this tank isn’t going to do you any favours at all.

*

You know those games where you look at the enemy lineup with a sinking feeling and you are dead certain you are going to lose? I just had one of those, after three losses in a row, no less. Here’s how it went:

Yeah, it’s a cheap Ace, but my team did an excellent job, and I just love winning games like that, especially with some style points towards the end. I was so excited about it I forgot to give an upvote to our T28 HTC for keeping the 252u busy so we could take it out.

Field _Marshall_E_Rommel, if you’re out there, thumbs up: you are a real team player!

Otherwise, this is by no means an overpowered tank in any way, shape, or form. It’s just a good one. You need to watch out for the corners either side of the front plate; I take a lot of hits through those, and the turret front is a little bit patchy. 90 mm side armour means you should be able to side scrape pretty well, but those angled plates at the front are also 90 mm, and past something like 10 degrees, they will clear up and provide a weakspot that’s about as wide as your turret.

But one of the thoughts behind fielding the IS-2 was pitting it against the Annihilator, and I’ve been in a couple of successful brawls against them already. If you keep moving, or have cover to work from, they will struggle a little penetrating your frontal armour, at least with all three shots. I have to say they don’t really scare me in my little Chinese knockoff.

What else have I learned?

Heavy tanks can be both fun and rewarding for Light and Medium tank drivers if you find one that suits you. I’ve managed to find several, and I’m quite pleased with my tier VII Chinese lineup; I have one tank from each tank class now, and they are all really good.

Driving a Heavy tank can be a thankless job, that’s for sure. But I knew that already; it’s not some kind of revelation. Not everyone look at the game the same way I do, and you have to make allowances. Sometimes it’s just not going to work out.

But the IS-2 definitely doesn’t struggle unduly; I’d go so far as to say it’s the best tier VII IS spam tank in the game. I’ve driven them all, and I see nothing that would make me choose any of the others over the Chinese option, except the premium IS-2 does of course look better in that “Berlin” camouflage.

*

I was talking to some of my CC colleagues just now, and one of them said they like the 100 mm gun better. For the sake of completion, I thought I might give that a go.

What happens is, you gain one degree of gun depression, around 250 DPM, and the accuracy and aimtime both improve significantly. But this also negates the rationale of choosing the Chinese knockoff over the Russian original, because although many of the gun stats are the same, the IS running the 100 mm D10T is quite simply the better tank. Better DPM, better gun depression, better traverse and specific power, and better armour; at least on paper.

In reality, the IS moves the weakspot from the sides to the centre of the front of the tank; it has a sort of “shelf” instead of a uniform angled plate, and it is the flat part above it that is thicker.

Also, you now get APCR standard, and although the penetration values are superior to a Russian 122 mm, a calibrated 100 MM Chinese APCR has slightly less penetration than a standard 122 mm Chinese HEAT shell: 247 mm.

Still, I always liked a 100 mm, so I mounted it, loaded up, and rolled out. Here’s how that went:

Did you see what happened? If I had been running the 122 mm, I would have been able to punch straight through the front of that Tiger 2 without a problem. It was sort of reckless rushing it like that, but I was really just trying to keep it busy while my team sorted out the cap situation.

But yeah. For me, running the 100 mm isn’t worth it; the whole point for me in driving this tank in the first place is those 275 mm of calibrated HEAT penetration.

*

So what’s the take away here?

I like the IS-2. And even if you don’t, there’s absolutely no reason to be scared of it if you are considering going up the Chinese Heavy tank line to get the WZ-113. The argument could certainly be made that this is the best of the bunch, unless you are running the 100 mm, in which case the Russian IS is best.

Me, I’m happy I’ve broadened my horizons a little in this manner. The IS-2 has definitely earned its place in my garage as one of my many favourites. It’s probably my favourite tier VII Heavy tank right now; not that I have very many. It may not be the perfect Annihilator antidote, but it’s a good start.

This is IrmaBecx signing off.

And remember, kids: A little HEAT spamming can go a long way!

Casual Drive: WZ-113G FT and 111 5A

Sunday Driver

By:

IrmaBecx

Today is Sunday, and I’m about to start driving some tanks. I find myself in the enviable position of having almost all the tanks in the games I really want; I recently finished the Kranvagn grind, and I even managed to scrape together enough free gold for the crew on my new FV4202 so I can lose money shooting HESH at peoples tracks.

I recently wrote a paper on the FV217 Badger, which is the least popular Tank Destroyer at tier X, and it got me thinking about the next least popular, which is of course the Chinese WZ-113G FT.

It’s not surprising. For one thing it’s really just a tier X ISU clone with proper frontal armour, and it’s also one of the most monstrously expensive tanks in terms of XP required in the game.

But I always loved it. First in secret, and then in earnest once I actually got one. Making the decision to grind it out had a lot to do with pure pig headedness on my part, but that all changed once I actually got to drive it. I even sprung for the blue bicycle on the back, as well as my favourite premium camouflage, “Jade Shards”.

I don’t drive it all that much, and there’s a very simple reason for that. It’s called the Sheridan. But I’m not going to air my usual grievances about all the ways in which WG are trying to make the game less fun for people like me, instead I’m just going to drive. The plan is to campaign the WZ-111G Fake Tank, and since I’m expecting to lose a bit of credits and be taken out early, I’ll also be running my WZ-111 5A.

Not a bad plan, If I may say so myself?

*

Something quite extraordinary happens. My first five games are all wins. That’s not what you expect from a Tank Destroyer with the mobility of a SuperHeavy and paper thin sides. If you have nothing better to do for a quarter of an hour, here is some video footage of the whole thing:

As per usual, these games really aren’t that spectacular, just good, solid assault TD driving in a tank that is at the lower end of what is required for the role.

The tank does lose money. Firing off a HEAT round puts me almost 7000 credits in the red, but running a premium account and some low grade credit boosters, I still end up 30K in the black.

I also notice something strange. I run calibrated shells, but my AP rounds still seem to show the turret face of the E100; a popular tank out there, slightly rose tinted. That shouldn’t happen with a little over 300 mm of penetration. But on the whole, I don’t feel the second hand 152 mm 59-152JG FT has any problems.

Trying to clear a couple of missions, I run five rating games in the 111 5A. Two wins out of three is more what I expect, including a proper heartbreak the last game, chasing an AMX 50 B all around Dynasty’s Pearl and then missing the last shot and getting clipped out on the reload.

Sometimes I hate this game, I really do.

*

There are any number of reasons to fall for a tank. You may simply like the way it looks. You may not care about looks, and just focus on performance. Or it can be something deeper; a sort of connection you feel, something about the playstyle that feels just right. And for my part, I have many different forms of connections to different tanks.

So what is it about the WZ-113G FT?

I’m not sure I know. I wanted to start up the Chinese TD line because I was interested in the mid tier vehicles, but I wasn’t super excited about the two top tier tanks. Then, when I drove the tier IX, I realised I was actually having fun driving it, and naturally the tier X would be even better. I ended up slogging my way through to it, and it was everything I had come to hope for.

Which was really just a big box with a gun sticking out of it.

I suppose one thing is the very simplicity of the 113G. It’s certainly at the lower end of requirements for a “dynamic” Tank Destroyer, and what makes it work in that role isn’t so much the speed as the armour plating. It’s more of a turretless Heavy tank than anything else.

And I like that. I have two turretless Mediums already, so it does add something at least a little new to my collection. It’s also quite effective; I don’t seem to drive my way into as much trouble with it as I do in my Foch Formerly-known-as-155 or my Yolo Wagon. I even tried sitting at the back just now, racked up over 4000 damage, but naturally the rest of the team let me down and allowed the enemy to cap all three bases and acquire map control.

There are other options if you want a comparatively slow TD with good frontal armour and a big gun, and I suppose it’s hard to justify grinding something like 100K XP more to get this one. But personally, I wouldn’t give any of the others the time of day.

In other words, there is still a bit of that pigheadedness that made me grind it out in the first place involved. Being contrary. And I do have a history of being a proponent of unloved, underdog tanks.

But there is nothing wrong with the top tier WZ Tank Destroyer. It doesn’t struggle, except with pointing the gun sideways. I’m not really scared of anything when I drive it, except crossfire and getting flanked.

*

But yeah. As I said, I wasn’t just driving the WZ-113G FT. I was also driving the WZ-111 5A. And I mentioned casually I had real heartbreak of a game in it, but I didn’t show you that replay.

It strikes me maybe I should. For more reasons than one.

First off, you can watch any number of Mastery game replays, and sometimes people will walk you through them and tell you what they were thinking, explain their strategic and tactical decisions, and how all that came to win them the game.

It’s really easy to see how I didn’t win this one. I missed the last shot.

But more importantly, as much as I play to win, I play even more to have a good game; that’s the real reason I keep playing these days since I don’t actually care that much about my winrate; especially since it’s been the exact same for a few years now. And when I had calmed down, I had to confess this had actually been a really good game. I feel really ashamed I downvoted the AMX 50 B for being a coward; If I had any real backbone, I should have given it a worthy opponent.

Anyway, here it is. Watch and despair:

So first off, we have a Heavy tank disadvantage. I want to go up on the steps overlooking where the A cap usually is, but my team wants to go down to the fountain area, and so that will only get me isolated and killed. Instead I move towards the middle and start capping the base.

I’m not actually trying to cap, I’m just trying to put pressure on the enemy team, drawing them out, and giving my teammates time to realise they are all here like I knew they would be. I am wary of their two AMX autoloaders, and trying to hide my hull as best I can.

All their Heavy tanks have gone this way, and I have both the AMX:es in front of me. My flankers take out one of their TDs, and they are moving up behind the enemy as I start taking fire. I put a shot into the turret of one of the AMX:es, and as I get a lucky bounce from their Jägeru, it occurs to me I could position myself down the steps instead of up top in the open. With my seven degrees of gun depression, I can still get shots, and put an HE round into the turret or their low health E 100, taking it out.

It’s two kills to one, and I see the other AMX has moved up to flank me, but I poke up and get a tracking shot on the Jpz E 100. We are looking good except the AMX to my right, but they seem to catch up quick, and it’s suddenly three all. I trade a shot with the 50 B as the reds get another kill, and it’s time to do something. I carefully move up to the other ledge, but the low health AMX is there, and I bounce a shot off it as we pass each other on the stairs.

I can’t really follow it or I’ll get caught in crossfire, but I get an easy HE killshot into a low health E5, and now the 50 B is behind be, getting a shot in. I am down to 700 HP, meaning I’m a two shot. Luckily it drives out in front of me, and it’s another HE killshot; my third this match.

So here is where things start going south. It’s 6-4, meaning 3 on 1, but it’s an almost full health AMX 50 B, and none of my teammates have a lot of health remaining. I start moving left intending to flank it, but it’s way more nimble than my 5A is, and I turn around just in time to land an HE shell into the rear of it for almost 700 damage. The 50 B however takes out our Sheridan, and between our 50 B and myself we have less than one clip of hitpoints remaining for the AMX.

I drop the speed boost trying to catch it up, but I probably should have turned left instead of going straight towards their spawn. Our 50 B gets a shot in as it goes down, and it is now 1 v 1, I’m still a two shot, and the AMX as noted is lot more agile than I am. Thinking it might have doubled back, I turn right and drive around the block. No trace. I check the fountain area, but I realise the enemy 50 B could be just about anywhere by now.

Driving around the cap so as not to signal my position, I manage to spot the AMX just as I drive into cover behind the double decker cable cars. I have 791 hitpoints against 140; I can take one hit as long as my next shot connects and takes it out, and my speed boost is almost off cooldown.

So I drop the speed boost and go for the short flank, and I catch the 50 B trying the same, but for whatever reason my shot goes wide. I actually bounce the first shot, but it only needs two, I take one to the side, and the tall AMX has no problem putting the last shot through my upper plate at point blank range.

What went wrong? Well, I took a few wrong turns chasing the AMX around, and I definitely messed up the endgame. I had the hitpoint advantage, I was in cover, and I could have played it a lot more cool. If there hadn’t been stuff in the way to mess up my target locking my shot might have connected, but it was the wrong play to make being that aggressive.

*

So this is the stuff I claim to live for, and then I still act like a child when it doesn’t go my way. I don’t feel I was being very honourable.

And watching the game back, I can see the mistakes I made throughout, and how they ultimately cost us the game.

The AMX on the other hand, did everything right. Keeping to the sidelines throughout the game and putting out damage, then making a push towards the end to clear the two low health targets, and relocating to get the drop on me.

That was well played.

And a game like this may not be as exciting to watch as someone winning against all odds, but I think it can sometimes be more informative. I know I learned something.

I’ve still been running my 5A since Sunday, and things have been going better. As much as I like my Chinese Box, I like the 5A a little bit more, because it’s so versatile, and I love a good 130 mm weapon. Also, it usually doesn’t lose me any credits, so it’s always ready to go have a quick game with no worries. I like to at least drop a booster or two driving tech tree tanks.

I guess we’re not getting any closer to what it is about the 113G FT, but perhaps it doesn’t have to be very complicated. And I hope you enjoyed watching me noob out in my Chinese brawler and the flimsy but agile AMX 50 B coming out on top.

See you out there!

Chinese Tier X Heavy Tanks

WZ-113 vs. WZ-111 5A

By:

IrmaBecx

So I’ve been talking about Heavy tanks quite a bit of late. The IS-7, the IS-4, and the WZ-113.

If you’ve been here before, I am sure you know my feelings about them. I wrote about all three a while back in relation to the WZ-111 5A.

My top tier Heavy tank of choice was always the WZ-113; that’s the first one I felt would be right for me. But I felt the same attachment to the 111 5A, especially since the WZ-111 is my IS spam of choice, and the WZ-111 1-4 is one of my favourite tanks in the game.

It’s not super popular, the 113, but it does have its proponents: Not least in tournaments on account of the DPM and straight line speed. I always liked it because it’s really not very complicated, it’s a comfortable drive, and it does what it’s supposed to.

The question, then, is how does my old 113 compare to my new 111 5A.

Or is it? I said in my 5A review that none of these tanks is really any better than the others. Small differences, I wrote. Tradeoffs back and forth. I also wrote I always wanted the 111 5A, but that I don’t actually need it. Certainly it’s an extravagance of the highest order. There is no teleological justification for choosing the 5A; meaning it serves no actual purpose.

I chose the 5A because I want the 5A.

And as justifications go that could be quite sufficient, frivolous as it may be.

*

The 113 has more than 800 DPM over the 113, better aimtime, better dispersion, and since it’s five tons lighter, also better specific power. In return the 111 5A get a 130 mm gun with one more degree of gun depression, a little better traverse, slightly thicker armour, and a Chinese pike nose.

Small differences.

If you think that sounds underwhelming, then I suppose you’re right. But it’s also in line with my expectations; I also chose the 5A because it’s really nothing special, and I chose it because I know it already. All I want is a 130 mm and a Chinese pike nose.

So the 5A is not some kind of monster. It’s a perfectly reasonable tank, that’s all. A big, brawly, Chinese bruiser.

I drive a couple of games in the 113, and I remember why I like it so much. The straight line speed. The firepower. The sturdy wok pan turret. Then I drive a couple of games in the 5A, and I like it too. The higher alpha. The forward mounted turret and gun depression. It does much the same jobs, only it does them a little differently.

It’s like with the IS spam tanks. On the one hand, if you have one IS spam tank you don’t really need another. But the fact there is like a dozen of them to choose from now, also means that one of them is likely to be a better fit for you than all the others.

A lot of what makes me like the WZ-111 5A has to do with similarities rather than differences. I don’t like it because it’s faster than an IS-4. I don’t like it because it has more gun depression than an IS-7. I don’t like it because it has higher alpha than a WZ-113. I like it because it reminds me of those others; it’s the same style of tank.

It’s just that this particular expression of that style seems to be the best fit for me.

And it is the best fit. The 5A was the one I really wanted to come to Blitz, and although I ended up a huge fan of the 113, the 5A would have been my first choice. When it finally came along, I felt a kind of relief because now I could finally hope to have both one day.

I will say there is a bit of mythology involved also. The 5A is a legend on PC, and a tier X premium does of course carry a certain prestige, even a blue one.

*

I’ve been talking to people about big guns too lately, and I was never really a massive fan of those. But I do enjoy a 130 mm gun, because it’s a little bit bigger while still being perfectly reasonable; it provides a bit of variety. I also think running a 130 mm is good for my playstyle, because the longer reload forces me to slow down my gameplay, and I end up making better trades.

The 113 has a much shorter reload and 420 alpha. You may not think the latter makes a lot of difference, but it does. Your damage rolls are more often comfortably over 400, making the damage output more reliable. As 122 mm guns go, this could be a candidate for the best in the game. The only real competitor would be the Russian M62 C2 or T2 off the IS-4 or SU-122-54; they have a touch higher penetration, but the Chinese gun is more accurate.

460 alpha on the 5A may not sound like a huge increase either, but again it does make a difference. And there aren’t that many other 130 mm guns in the game.

But the point here is still about similarities. I’ve heard people initially say they think the 111-5A is boring because it’s just not that different, only to find themselves having been won over by the comfort and familiarity of the drive. It’s not about precisely how the 5A differs from the 113 or the IS-7, but about the fact that it doesn’t differ all that much.

Everything about the WZ-111 5A is just… nice.

That is perhaps not a very philosophical conclusion, but it is the simplest one, and I feel also the most truthful. “Nice” may sound like “average” in your head, and there is some truth to that. But everything about something being average means nothing about it is downright bad. Therefore, the word isn’t so much “average” as “balanced”.

Everything about the WZ-111 5A is in balance.

So what’s special about it is there’s nothing special about it. Incidentally, that’s the same thing I wrote about the WZ-113 when I first drove it; the fact that is’s such a basic Heavy tank is actually a pretty rare thing, and driving such a basic vehicle accentuates the Heavy tank playstyle and the Heavy tank role.

Driving Heavy tanks isn’t facile or uninteresting; there’s a lot more to it that just rolling forward and tanking damage. I used to think Heavy tanks were for beginners, and sure; new players often do better in Heavy tanks. But I’ve found that doesn’t mean they won’t have anything to offer once you start finding your feet as a tank driver; quite the contrary. The more you play, the more you learn from driving different vehicle classes, and the better you can apply knowledge from one class to another.

I drive a few more games in my old 113 and my new 5A, and the question of comparison feels less and less relevant. Other than the main armament and the armour layout, they’re practically the same tank.

And in the end that is precisely what I enjoy about them.

*

I’ve been working on this paper for over nine weeks now, and it’s been slow going. Partly because I feel like I’m writing a bit of a puff piece, and partly because I have come to feel the 5A versus 113 comparison is missing the point.

My friend Xeno said these tanks all have a bit of Medium tank DNA, and someone else said they are the perfect crossover vehicles for Medium drivers looking to get into Heavy tanks. But any of the tanks mentioned so far can accomplish that; it still doesn’t say a lot about the 5A specifically.

And so I am starting to suspect the reason I prefer the 5A has more to do with base Elitism than anything else; that I like the 5A because it’s a blue tank at tier X. Not because it has a 130 mm or a Chinese pike nose, but because it’s such an obvious extravagance; a tank I don’t need but drive anyway, and enjoy driving precisely because I don’t actually need it?

You can do all the bench racing you want, and that still won’t explain the deep and lasting connection I’ve made to my 111 5A. It’s not about numbers or capabilities; it’s about feeling, and enjoyment, and philosophy.

*

So is there any sense to be made from these ramblings?

Well, there is the idea that no one actually needs a tier X collectible tank. I think that’s a fair point, and it means you have to justify to yourself why you want one anyway. As pointed out initially, that justification doesn’t have to be very complicated.

If you do choose to get one, you are likely not actually gaining a lot in terms of performance, but you are also not risking anything. If you know how to drive a tier X Heavy tank, you won’t have any problems adapting to the 111 5A.

But that also touches on a different point, which is that the best customer for a tier X collectible Heavy tank is someone who drives tier X Heavy tanks already. The reason is that those players will be in a better position to understand and appreciate subtle differences in playstyle engendered by small tradeoffs.

In that sense, the WZ-111 5A is; again, a perfectly reasonable proposition. If you’ve been driving your old IS-7 for years, you can get a Chinese version to change things up a little. If you like the WZ-113, the 5A is going to be same-same-but-different.

What I wouldn’t recommend is for newer players to pay their way into tier X by getting a top tier premium or collectible. It’s your money, and I’m not going to stop you, but I do think it’s kind of a waste, because grinding out your first tier X tank is a process of learning, exploration, and accomplishment, and I don’t think you should deny yourself that.

Also; if it’s not apparent by now, the 111 5A is a really good fit for me. That’s not surprising since I already like tanks of this style, and it doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good fit for anyone else.

I still think the 5A should have been a tech tree tank. It would have made the Chinese tech tree a lot more interesting to have two top tier Heavy tanks to choose from.

As it is, the only conclusion I can draw for myself is I am much happier having both to complement each other than I would be with either one on its own.

*

So if you are curious about the WZ-111 5A, the best thing you can do is grind out the WZ-113, or the IS-7, or the IS-4, and see what you think about it. If you enjoy their playstyle, and you like driving Heavy tanks at tier X, then very likely you will also enjoy the 5A.

Personally, I would choose the 113, because the 111 1-4 at tier IX offers a very similar experience to the 5A, and if you feel you miss the 130 mm or the Chinese pike nose, then you know where you can get them. If you don’t, then you’ll still have your 113; one of the best tier X Heavy tanks in the game.

I’m spending more and more time driving my 111 5A. It’s nice having a tier X premium; it doesn’t make all that much credits, but it also doesn’t lose me any. In that sense, I guess you could say the 5A is an “investment”; I’m getting a lot of mileage out of it, and working on my tier X gameplay like I’ve been wanting to.

But that’s me, and besides I didn’t actually pay for my 5A; it was a gift from Wargaming. If you want a WZ-111 5A, there is a chance you could get one right now, but the odds, as usual, are firmly against it. First of all there’s a 4% chance you will get a tank, but then there are several to choose from, and you may not be interested in all of them. If you manage to get lucky, there’s only a ten percent chance you’ll get the tank you were wanting.

So not a great deal for someone looking for the 111 5A specifically. Personally, I would definitely save my cash and grind out something from the tech tree instead of gambling for pipe dreams.

My Favourite Grinds So Far!

Top Grinds

By:

IrmaBecx

So this paper is inspired by famous Youtuber Blitz With Muffin. He got a question about which his favourite grinds were, and I though that sounded pretty interesting.

I’m not big on grinding, personally. I never wanted to have all the tanks in the game in my garage; just the ones I like, and at this point the stuff I want to get is either expensive premiums or hasn’t been released yet.

That’s a good place to be. You collect your resources, and then when something new drops you make the decision whether you want to grind it or not. I have the added benefit of being a community contributor and a supertester, so a lot of new stuff I will have tried out already.

Also, grinding isn’t quite the ordeal it used to be with all these boosters and events and certificates coming at you.

But that aside, which grinds were the most enjoyable?

*

In general, I feel any grind that ends up getting you a good tank at either tier IX or tier X is worthwhile, and I also like learning something new while grinding.

For that reason, my first memorable grind is actually the Japanese Medium tank line.

I did that early on; it was one of my first forays outside the German tech tree where I started. I ended up throwing free XP at it to get the STB-1 for my birthday, but these days the Type 61 has been buffed to stardom, and isn’t quite the hurdle it used to be.

It’s not an easy grind, mind you. Almost all the tanks are made out of tinfoil, but that was actually part of the appeal for me; I learned how to use gun depression and to no-scope, and ended up really liking some of the lower tier tanks in spite of their apparent weakness.

The Chi-To I never quite got along with, even though it has a good reputation in some circles, but the Chi-Ri I still think is just about the best autoloader in the game, and I loved the STA-1 back when we had binoculars.

But the goal was always getting the STB-1; the fabulous hull down machine with the flat gun depression turret, often lauded as the “sexiest tank in the game”. I will say the Japanese Medium line isn’t super coherent; the STB is more of a successor to the Comet and the Centurions than a grown up STA or Type 61, but all in all I found it both enjoyable and informative.

These days no one really cares about low tier tanks, but they do still care about the STB; very likely one of the absolute best Medium tanks in the game, and you will still see determined players out there in their stock STA with their eyes firmly fixed on the prize.

A memorable grind for me, and I would do it all over again.

*

My first tier X tanks were all Mediums, but after a while I started branching out a little. There wasn’t really a tier X Heavy tank that interested me; I half heartedly went for the T57 Heavy and ended up getting the 50 B much later.

But there were other tanks out there I felt would add something new to my collection and help diversify my gameplay.

When the Foch line came out, I immediately went for it. I had driven the (155) on my press account and fallen completely in love with the “dynamic” playstyle; I just had to have one.

But I realised there was basically just one tank I would really, really miss if I had to give back my press account, and that was the Object 263; affectionately known as the “Yolo Wagon”.

As satisfying as the Foch grind was, I have to say I enjoyed the 263 grind more, and it’s because it was more of a learning experience. I was always impressed with these deceptively unrefined vehicles; they’re really just Mediums or Heavy tanks with casemates. I like to call them “turretless Mediums”, and as a Medium tank holdout, I enjoyed the simple tradeoff of having more firepower but then not being able to point your gun to the side.

The Yolo Wagon grind also taught me something important, which is how to deal with bad gun depression. I learned how to stick to the low ground, reverse up slopes to use the gun elevation to get shots; all kinds of useful things, and once it was over, I was never really concerned about bad gun depression. Five or six degrees feels perfectly average to me, and I can make do with less. It’s just a different playstyle.

So the gratification came not only from overcoming difficulties, but also from the satisfaction of making something work in spite of apparent deficiencies. Once you get your head around how to deal with not having gun depression, and don’t try to make the tank do things it isn’t suited to doing, it’s really not that hard; it’s just different.

The 263 itself is of course legendary. I wrote a piece on it not long ago where I posited that nothing has changed, and the Yolo Wagon is still the biggest, baddest, brawliest burn-‘em-down Tank Destroyer you can get your hands on.

There are other tanks I would miss from the press account these days, but getting the Yolo Wagon really was a weight off my shoulders. I wouldn’t feel compete without it; and certainly my tank collection wouldn’t.

Not as hard as you may imagine, and so much to learn. Highly recommended unless bad gun depression is a deal breaker for you.

*

For my third tech tree line, I am choosing between the Chinese Medium and the Chinese Heavy tank line. I had a great time doing them, and was an early adopter of both.

But where the WZ-121 is just an off road version of the sporty Object 140, the WZ-113 was my first ever tier X Heavy tank, the only one I felt was right for me at the time.

Back then, the IS-2 had really bad armour, and I skipped past it. This has now been addressed, and I actually think the IS-2 could be the best tier VII IS style tank in the game, for a very simple reason. Where all the others have premium APCR, the IS-2 gets HEAT, and if you run the calibrated shells, you can punch through the upper plate of a Tiger II, even if it’s angled up.

The WZ-110 is a bit of an oddity; it’s also an IS-2, only they put a pike nose and a tier IX Medium tank gun on it. Back when I drove it it was one of the most powerful Heavy tanks at tier VIII, and it has since been toned down a few notches. But it still works, and it’s still fun to drive.

Tier IX was really where things started to get interesting. I had high hopes for the 130 mm sporting WZ-111 1-4, and it turned out to be everything I had hoped for; so much so I ended up getting both the WZ-111 and the WZ-111 5A to round off my collection.

But the 113 was my first fling with a tier X Heavy tank, and it remains my favourite along with the 5A. You don’t quite get the bias of Russian Heavys, but the 113 is still a powerful tank with some real strengths; it just doesn’t give you a lot for free. After the 263 grind, I had zero problems with the gun depression, and that really is the only issue with the Chinese Heavy tanks.

Getting your tier IX tank fully upgraded is a little like cresting a hill, and you start to feel like you are on the home stretch. But for me it was more than that; here, finally, was a tier IX tank I actually enjoyed driving for its own sake, and that wasn’t just a lesser version of the tier X offering. I had always meant to get back into driving tier IX, and now I had the prefect tank to do it. The 1-4 remains one of my absolute favourite tanks in the game.

In terms of gameplay, Chinese Heavy tanks do have a little bit of Medium tank DNA; they just don’t turn so well. This is of course offset by the Heavy tank armour, and you won’t mistake them for actual Medium tanks in a brawl.

But this meant once I had understood what the tradeoffs were, I could simply expand on my Medium tank gameplay to form a Heavy tank playstyle; you just take away what they can’t do, and add what they can do instead.

In my mind still the best Heavy tank line for Medium tank drivers. I’d be even more inclined to grind it today as they’ve “fixed” the IS-2 at tier VII.

*

There are a few honourable mentions; the German Light tank line, the Panthers, the Russian Lights leading into the Object 140, and the Italian Mediums.

But these three I feel have been the most rewarding grinds, where I have ended up not only with a flashy new tier X tank, but also gained new knowledge and valuable experience.

Some lines have surprised me by being more rewarding than I had expected; the Chinese TD line comes to mind.

Others have been a little disappointing. The Jpz E100 line started out good, and I still love my Jagdtiger, but right at the end I kind of lost interest. I didn’t feel like a much slower, more heavily armoured tank with a much bigger gun was what I wanted at tier X.

The same thing happened with the British Mediums. All I really wanted to do was drive the Cromwell, but then that turned into a Comet, and then I got both the Centurions.

At tier X however, I started balking again. The FV4202 is like a Centurion turned upside down; strong hull and weak turret, and when you have been learning how to bounce stuff off your gun mantlet ever since tier VII, that just felt counter intuitive to me.

I like a coherent tech tree line, but I don’t mind a disparate one. The T57 line is certainly that.

I started up it, and I quite enjoyed the T71, but then it was time to start grinding the T69, I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I sold the tank without driving it, and I haven’t started looking at it again until recently. If I get bored enough, I may still get the T57 some day, but as it is, the line stands out as one of the few I just flat out gave up on. I like the T75; I just like the AMX 50 B better, and now the Kranvagn is on the way too.

Best of luck with your grinds!

WZ-111 5A Review!

Chinese Bias Seven?

By:

IrmaBecx

So today I finally got access to one of my favourite tanks in the game again. I’ve not been able to drive it since it was in testing, but it has remained one of my absolute favourites.

Not surprising, really. It is the big sister of another one of my absolute favourites; the WZ-111 1-4, and yes, that means we are talking about the WZ-111 5A.

I love this tank. And it’s sort of hard to explain why, but it’s like an inversion of all the hatred and disappointment I’ve always felt towards the IS-7. I don’t actually hate the old IS anymore, I just think it’s boring, uninteresting; uninspiring to drive. Not because it’s been powercrept or anything, but because it’s so easy, and so predictable.

The 111 5A, for all intents and purposes is a Chinese IS-7. And if that doesn’t interest you, then you may as well get the original and save yourself upwards of twenty thousand gold.

But what does “Chinese IS-7” really mean?

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The way you build a Chinese tank, is you keep the weight down by only using armour where it’s actually necessary, so you will end up with a vehicle that’s pretty fast even though the engine isn’t all that powerful.

You then compensate a little with some good gun handling stats and/or firepower. Chinese tanks, at their best, are wondrously well balanced.

The 5A has a 130 mm just like the IS-7, and the stats are fairly similar. The main difference is you get HEAT rounds instead of APCR. The 5A aims a little faster, is a little bit more accurate, and has one more degree of gun depression. Also the turret front is thicker, but otherwise the armour is a little thinner than on the IS-7.

Okay. I admit that doesn’t sound super exciting. And it’s not, really; in comparison.

But seen on its own, the 5A is a formidable vehicle with that particular Chinese feeling to it; it’s pretty fast in a straight line, the armour works really well if you angle and wiggle correctly, and the firepower is solid, but not amazing. The 5A has everything you need to do mobile Heavy tank jobs.

For me, the fact it’s a tier X version of the 1-4 is enough to make it worthwhile. But there are at least three tech tree alternatives you might want to consider.

There is the IS-7; the original Bias machine. Then there is the IS-4; very likely the best all purpose Heavy tank at the moment. Or, you could get the WZ-113 with top DPM and a flat, angled upper plate.

I have the 113 already, and I always liked the IS-4. I would say you really can’t go wrong with any of these tanks, other than one of them being really expensive, of course.

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But how do you drive a Chinese IS-7?

None of the characteristics of the 5A, taken on their own, is very impressive. The armour’s not that great, the gun isn’t awe inspiring, and the mobility is fair, but not exceptional. You need a holistic approach.

That simply means realising the parts all need to work together to form a whole that is, in the best of all worlds, greater than the sum of those parts.

The WZ-111 5A will do 50 km/h flat out, but it doesn’t like soft terrain or going up hills, and it doesn’t turn all that well. If you’ve driven a Chinese Heavy tank before, you’ll recognise that. So you don’t want to try to drive it like a Medium tank; you still want to drive it like a Heavy tank and be on the lookout for situations where your straight line speed might be an advantage.

The armour is a curious sort of half pike nose, half flat front plate that’s also recognisably Chinese. It reminds me a little of a cross between the IS-7 and the IS-4. But it is still a pike nose, and so in a hull down position, you want to keep it pointed straight at your enemy. On flat ground, you instead wiggle from side to side, forming a rapidly changing kaleidoscope of autobounce angles.

The side armour isn’t very thick, but it does have a strip of spaced armour along the side. It can be just as effective as thicker armour, provided you angle it correctly. The upper part should be fine out to 25 degrees, but the 80 mm lower part will then be exposed. That will autobounce any gun in the game, but the angle needs to be shallower, and remember when you side scrape, the angled part of your pike nose becomes less effective.

2600 DPM isn’t very impressive at tier X, but you have comparatively high alpha. That means you will want to use your armour and mobility to make good trades. I’ve often said I like a good 130 mm main armament, and this really is a good one. But again, it’s not exceptional, and you can’t rely on the firepower alone. It’s just one of the parts that is supposed to work together to form the whole.

None of this is very novel. The 5A is really just a bog standard Heavy tank.

But I also feel like the 5A is the tank the IS-7 always should have been. It feels more straightforward, and less overtly Biased. When I get a bounce off the armour, I know it’s because I angled it correctly; not because I have like a thousand millimeters of Biased spaced armour all along the side.

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So yeah; I am a total 5A fanboy.

But where does this all leave us? Should you drop all that gold on a tier X collectible tank because I happen to like the 111 1-4 a lot?

Not necessarily.

The WZ-111 5A will be the perfect Heavy tank for a certain kind of driver. Someone who appreciates a well balanced, synergistic vehicle, and is looking for something a little new but still familiar. Even then, it could be wise to wait for a better offer; the tank is still pretty new.

But I wouldn’t say the 5A is any better than your old IS-7, or IS-4, or WZ-113. I’m just saying I like it better, and in the case of the 113, that’s pretty much a toss up. I couldn’t choose between those two, because the whole point for me is the two tanks complement each other, and so I’ve always wanted to have both of them.

Wanted. Not needed.

One has a pike nose, the other is flat. One has a high powered 122 mm, the other a 130 mm. One has spaced armour on the side, the other doesn’t, and so on. Small differences that increase my enjoyment and enrich my collection.

No matter how much you look, that’s all you’re going to find. Small differences. Tradeoffs back and forth. And so the bottom line is you don’t need the WZ-111 5A, but you may still want it. And the reason for wanting it is just you feel those small differences are worthwhile in some way.

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Back when the IS-7 was the most overpowered tank in the game, I said if we ever got the 5A in Blitz, I would give up Medium tanks and get one of those instead, because I can deal with one Bias seven in the game; but not two.

That’s not how things turned out.

I am a different player now, and I do enjoy a bit of Heavy tank gameplay now and again. I love my 113 and my new AMX 50 B, and I’m hoping to get the VK 90 some day too. Medium tank elitism has given way to Tank Destroyers and Heavy tanks, allowing me to learn more about those vehicle classes, and so improve my overall understanding of the game.

Twenty thousand gold is a massive amount. Personally, I don’t know if I could swing that. But I do want the WZ-111 5A, and I will own it some day, because I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful tank.

But for any player, myself included, a tier X collectible like this is definitely an extravagance. You could spend some time grinding and get something very similar and just as powerful from the tech tree; what you are actually paying for is things like convenience, exclusivity, and variation.

Is the 5A worthwhile? Yes.

Is the 5A worth it? Maybe. For the right driver.

Me, I am that driver, and I know precisely why. For you, twenty thousand gold for a glorified WZ-111 1-4 may be a little more extravagance than you are looking for.

The Chinese IS-2 Revisited

IS-2 “Beijing”?

By:

IrmaBecx

So back when the Chinese Heavy tanks dropped, the tier VII was the big hurdle. My friend and colleague Sk8xtrm tried really hard to say something positive about it, but just couldn’t find anything at all.

Me, I skipped past it and got into the WZ-110 instead, and of course I didn’t go back and get one later, because I’m not all that interested in Heavy tanks in the first place.

But I got a question about it today, and the great thing about running a niche operation like this is I can pretty much do what I want, which includes writing a special order paper like this one.

I do however think it will have wider appeal. I realised the Chinese IS-2 has been buffed since last I saw it, and I seem to recall the armour plating was a main complaint; it was so much thinner than the Russian IS.

It’s not long ago I wrote the thing was completely hopeless, and in my defence, I really thought it was. But I’ve not actually paid any attention to it, so do stick around a while, and let us together explore contemporary Chinese IS spam at tier VII.

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When people say Chinese tanks are just copies of Russian ones, this is exactly what they are talking about, and there’s no denying this is really just an IS-2 in a different colour. It looks the same, it has a very similar 122 mm weapon only with no muzzle brake, and there aren’t any meaningful tradeoffs.

But is it really as bad as all that? I have to say I got a bit curious. I like Chinese tanks, and of course I’d be happy if the IS-2 were to be vindicated. Also, I drove the IS-2 (1945) “Berlin” just a few days ago, so I figured this would be the perfect time for a tier VII IS comparison.

The IS and the two premium IS-2 variants all carry the same D-25T, with only two minor differences. The tech tree IS has two rounds less capacity, and a slightly longer aimtime; which latter is the same as on the Chinese IS-2.

The Beijing beater in turn has a faster shell speed, but I also realised something interesting. Where the other three have APCR for premium rounds, the IS-2 has HEAT, meaning you’ll have more than 30 mm better premium penetration. Of course, the HEAT round travels a little slower.

Low engine power is a familiar Chinese trait, and you do get 130 horsepower less than the other three. Traverse numbers are better than the “Berlin”, but worse than the IS and the “Pravda”. Bad gun depression is likewise typically Chinese, and you get five degrees where the others have six.

Turret armour is exactly the same on all four, and there are then minor variations in the frontal armour. Remember we are actually comparing two different tank types here. The IS-2 variants all have the same 120 mm angled front plate, but the IS has a sort of “shelf” that gets 75 mm, and then a belt of 155 mm armour above it. Armour beside the front plate is 10 mm weaker on the Chinese IS-2 than on the two premiums, and that’s really all the differences I could find.

 But numbers don’t tell you everything. It’s time for a bit of driving.

I have all the tanks set up the exact same way; same equipment, same consumables, and roughly the same ammo loadout, except of course the IS has two shells less. I also carry two more HEAT shells in the IS-2 instead of two more HE shells.

I was going to say it’s been two years since I drove the IS-2, but it turns out I never drove it in the first place.

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My first four games were all wins, and my immediate impression is the tank really isn’t that bad at all. The aimtime is slow, and the reticule is enormous, but it snaps shots with authority and a bit of leftover Russian bias. The HEAT rounds punch straight through some famously hard tier VII targets like the M6A2E1 or the HTC, and the armour gets the expected bounces.

Where it struggles a bit is against lower caliber Heavy tank guns with better accuracy; those will be able to go through the 90 mm frontal side armour or lower plate with standard rounds. You also don’t want people to get shots frontally from above where the upper plate flattens out.

But the IS-2 can definitely do regular Heavy tank jobs with no problem. It’s a bog standard Heavy, and I don’t think it struggles unduly in that role.

So I start driving the IS for comparison. It feels a little more agile, and the extra gun depression is helpful; remember that one degree is actually a 20% improvement on the IS-2. Essentially though, it’s much the same tank.

Ten games later, I still haven’t seen any tier VIII action. I’ve only lost two games; both in the Russian IS.

I’m thinking tier VIII is where these tanks will start struggling, and the small differences will make themselves known. If you are facing a Tiger II, switching to APCR on the IS won’t make any difference, but the IS-2 HEAT rounds will punch straight through, even the upper plate if it’s not angled. That’s without calibrated shells.

I ended up running 12 games at a 92% winrate in the IS-2, and you have to call that a bit of a fluke. Also the tank is fully upgraded and maxed out with equipment and consumables during the initial “honeymoon period”, which of course makes a difference.

But it’s also a capable vehicle; not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and likely also was with much thinner frontal armour. Like I said I never actually drove it before, I just took other peoples word for it.

I think the IS-2 does have one thing over the Rússian or Japanese IS variants; namely the excellent HEAT shells. I can confirm they will go through the lower plate of a tier VIII Heavy tank, and some upper plates where the Russian APCR will have no chance. It’s an important advantage, and you pay for that with slightly lower mobility and one degree less gun depression; otherwise the tanks are largely interchangeable.

Am I going to get one?

No. I don’t feel I need a tier VII Heavy tank. But if I did, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose the IS-2 over the Russian IS. You can pump up the penetration to 275 mm on those HEAT shells; that’s like 50 mm more than the IS APCR will ever do. I’m used to Chinese mobility, and I don’t mind the five degrees of gun depression. I will say I had some fun driving it.

Should you get one?

Not necessarily. But if you are thinking about grinding the Chinese Heavy line, you shouldn’t let the IS-2 scare you off, because there really is nothing wrong with it at all.

And if you feel you can deal with the minor downsides, the skill rounds alone make it worth considering over the other offerings, premium tanks included.

Press account IS-2 decked out in the new “Shady Grove” battle pass camo

WZ-111, A Short Update

The Case For The WZ-111

By:

IrmaBecx

So maybe you are thinking about getting a cheap WZ-111, there is about half a day left to decide. Maybe you did, and if so, you may have just gotten your hands on one of the best tier VIII IS spam clones in the game.

If you have been following my writing, you’ll know that is a deeply biased opinion.

But the fact is, the WZ-111 has the tank philosophy seal of approval. If there is such a thing, it’s the “thinking mans” IS spam premium.

What?

You didn’t think it was going to be the 252U, did you?

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When I first got mine, I drove the WZ-111 all the time. I had never owned a faceless Communist Heavy tank drone before, so trundling along in one was new to me.

But the thing is, I have all kinds of tier VIII premiums, and I have a good idea which ones have been the most worthwhile for me over time. My best purchases, if you will.

The WZ-111 is one of them. It’s as simple as that.

I always said if you have one IS spam tank you don’t need another, but I also said the fact there are quite a few of them now, means one of them is likely going to fit you better than all the others. In my experience, this is not something the numbers will be able to tell you beforehand, and it’s not always the same as the most powerful one.

In case you are wondering, that’s still the 252U. After that it’s the IS-5 as usual because it’s so cheap. The best Chinese IS spam tank is very likely the WZ-112-2, because it’s geared towards newer players.

I am making the case the WZ-111 is worthwhile. There are some things it does really well, but that is not the basis of my argument.

For one thing, it has straight hull sides that are super easy to side scrape, as well as a strip of spaced armour above the tracks. Compared to the tier IX hull of the IS-5, it may not be quite as overtly biased, but the thing does side scrape really well.

All Chinese Heavy premiums have the exact same APCR standard D-25 clone, but the 111 is the most stable on the move. 215 mm penetration is not best in tier, but it’s good. All similar guns basically work the same, but this is one of the better ones.

Then there is the contentious pike nose. You may not think that’s an upgrade over the flat slab of a 112; and it isn’t, necessarily. It’s just a different way of doing things. The one thing a pike nose does better is looking straight ahead down over the front plate, and it’s faster to go to an autobounce when wiggling back and forth, like so:

Some people feel the flat plate is easier to use; I just happen to prefer the pike nose.

38 km/h may not seem like much, but like most Chinese tanks, the 111 doesn’t actually weigh a lot. It’s not hard to learn the way it moves, and how to make the most of that mobility. I like to say it’s pretty fast for a slow tank.

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Again, none of this is the reason I think the WZ-111 is worthwhile.

The reason, is simply that it’s fairly powerful, easy to learn, and it’s an enjoyable drive.

If you are reasonably acquainted with tier VIII gameplay, you should be able to make the 111 work without problems. The same can be said I think for any IS spam tank.

But the comfortable, straightforward nature of the WZ-111 keeps me coming back for more. It’s one of those tanks that makes grinding credits feel less like a grind, and those are the only kind of tanks I grind credits in.

I paid something like four times the current price for my 111 because it was brand new, and I still feel I made a worthwhile purchase.

On a side note, if you are interested in Chinese tanks, the WZ-111 is a classic example of the 111 chassis type, very closely related to the WZ-111 1-4 or the WZ-111-1G FT. It’s a very typical example of the breed, and in the case of the 1-4, basically a training vehicle for it. You could get the Chinese Heavy tank experience without any grinding by dropping a little gold.

In short, the case for the WZ-111 is a philosopical one. Expressed in the plainest of terms, it is simply as follows:

“It’s a nice tank”.

You can add to this my personal recommendation:

“I like driving it”.

You don’t have to be an actual Maoist for the tank to be worth it for you; you just need to be someone who appreciates something that’s easy to drive and that works really well. The WZ-111 is not only easy to understand, it also makes a lot of sense. It has everything it needs.

And should you happen to be a base Mammonist, the 175% credit coefficient leaves nothing to be desired. It is actually slightly better than the IS-5 or the 252U.

IrmaBecx says the WZ-111 is a safe bet.

Still Buffer: WZ-121 And 113

6.5 Test Server Adventures

By:

IrmaBecx

So today, once again it’s off to the test server; land of incomplete teams, erratic gameplay, and yelling in Cyrillic letters. At least I think they are yelling? It’s hard to tell.

If you were a serious tank philosopher, you might find it all a bit much to deal with when trying to say something valid and coherent about whatever is new. And sure; it’s hard to recreate actual in game conditions, but you can still get a feel for how things are likely to turn out. As with everything, you get better at it with time.

The thing is not to try and make it something it isn’t. It’s a test track, a show room; it’s just a preview of things to come, and should be approached as such. Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, there doesn’t end up being a whole lot to say.

This update is like that. We are still reeling from the impact of auto reloaders, and so this time it’s pretty much just a bit of rebalancing.

You’ll be happy to hear there are no nerfs planned, only buffs. You may have been expecting some nerfs, but looking at these last two updates, I think that’s hoping in vain. My belief is that Wargaming don’t want to reverse any changes, they want to upgrade the rest of the game around them instead.

Like: maybe you can keep your OP speed boost if I can have top DPM in my WZ-113?

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Chinese tanks are a worry. They’re not super popular. And there’s no actual reason, except they aren’t usually very unusual or exciting in terms of design, and there almost always seems to be a better Russian option.

I’ve not finished writing about the WZ-113G FT buff, but I can say that if the idea was to make it more attractive, then I don’t think it has worked. Writing about the WZ-121 when it got buffed, I said much the same thing: if you thought the tank was boring before, you’re still going to think it’s boring with one more round per minute.

The thing is though; the 121 wasn’t struggling. It’s just underappreciated. Those few who have taken the time to grind it out know it’s a strong tank already, and now it has more firepower. It’s all win for us.

And now there’s even more win. The WZ-121 is getting 420 alpha instead of 400. The WZ-113 Heavy tank too; likewise an underappreciated but solid performer.

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So I launch myself into the test server experience, drive a few games. It feels so random to me these tanks are getting buffed; they’re both great vehicles.

But it’s not preposterous. Even an avid fan like me has to acknowledge there isn’t a lot that sets them apart, and I think that’s what Wargaming are attempting to do here. The purpose of the alpha buff isn’t to help struggling vehicles, but to add a little bit of diversity to the Chinese lineup.

In the real world, the WZ-121 is now going to be one of the highest DPM Medium tanks in the game; bested only by the two Russians and the Leopard 1.

The WZ-113 is going to be the higest DPM Heavy tank at tier X. It’s already the best, tied with the 215b, but now it’s going to be the single best.

And so the question is, is this going to be enough to make these tanks more attractive to a wider audience?

I think it just might. I also think it better, because there’s not a lot of margin left for buffing these tanks before they become completely overpowered. A little too much speed or armour is all it’s going to take.

Erratic gameplay or not, the WZ-121 still does what it does. I noted last time that 400 alpha isn’t that far off 350 alpha, but what about 420? The tank certainly has a bit more punch now, and I do think it makes an actual difference. The 121 doesn’t feel like an overgrown 140 anymore; it feels more like a Lightweight 113.

It strikes me I haven’t finished part 2 of my WZ-113 re-review either, but driving the tank again I immediately remember why I like it so much, and wasted no time in grinding it out. It’s not just a generic Heavy tank anymore, aimed at elitist balance enthusiasts; it’s the highest DPM Heavy tank out there. If you didn’t think being well rounded was a reason to drive it, then maybe the added firepower will be?

Personally, I think it’ll be a slow process; like with the E 50 M. It was always pretty solid, then it got buffed in small increments until people kind of forgot about complaining and suddenly all started agreeing it was really good. There’s not going to be an avalanche of new WZ drivers, but I’m sure the fact is these tanks are really powerful is going to win out in the end.

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There are other buffs. The M4 Rev is getting 350 alpha.

Unfortunately, driving tier VIII on the test server is pretty much a bust: there are currently only a handful of people on, and they’re all driving tier X.

But it’s a straight up buff: reload time is the same, so the DPM will increase. I don’t have the Rev. myself, but I have driven it, and I do like it. If I had to take an educated guess, I’d say not much is going to change: the Revalorisé will become slightly more effective at what it does, that’s all.

More good news: the tier IX WZ-120 is also getting buffed. That makes me happy, not just because it’s one of my favourite tanks, but because it’s one of the reasons so few people drive the WZ-121.

We are talking almost one second shorter reload, along with a shorter aimtime; with a few bits of equipment, you should be getting well under one second after the update. It looks like the tier IX will actually end up aiming slightly faster than the tier X.

So yeah; it’s bits and pieces. But they are good bits, and nice pieces all. I can’t find anything I don’t like about this coming update.

IrmaBecx says if you got bored grinding Chinese Mediums or Heavys, this might be the perfect time to finish that grind.

Oh, and I forgot to mention: there’s a brand new interface. It looks slick. I had no problems navigating it, everything feels pretty intuitive.