World of Tanks: The T95

The first T95 I ever encountered so happened to be on my team on Map: Himmelsdorf. Spawning north and following this 4-tracked behemoth down "Tank Ally" (AKA "Damnation Ally" and "Hell's Avenue"), he did not stop moving forward, lumbering along, and bounced nearly all enemy shots put at his massive frontal armor, as we were nicely able to shoot over him. It was a true, 'steam-rolling' that led to victory.

What Map: Himmelsdorf may look like, and a T95 "trek" down "Damnation Ally"

From that day, I had to have one, and so, made the long, arduous effort up the U.S. TD line, whilst also completing the entire German tree circa pre 8.0, acquiring the "Technical Engineer, Germany" badge (now ghosted, now recompleting).

 

A completed German Tree and "Technical Engineer, Germany" Achievement, pre-8.0

I do appreciate this beast, although it is somewhat diminished in the current environment.  Since pursuing it, tier 10 tank destroyers were introduced, and "silver gold" rounds, but after playing most of the early battles solo, and with the least gun, I have now attained the final gun, and enjoy the massive alpha-strike it dishes out.

It is barely a step-up from a pillbox, and things to consider when playing it are:

• Know where you are going before map start, and get there ASAP, and do not plan to go anywhere else.
• If defending, stay within easy regress back to flag.
• If attacking, don't go alone.
• Hide is not bad, and a camo net is not a bad idea on it, but do level-best to not move, and keep the expected trajectory of the enemy within gun traverse-range.

Another oddity that I _think_ is part of the new physics is that, on most maps, I get "pushed" at map start.  Here's a nice push from a dual-AMX-13-90 couple:

Good Guys Gregs pushing my T95 at map start

FKD's T95

History:
Much as the A-10 Warthog is said to be, "a gun with a plane around it" the emphasis of the T95 is gun, and having that gun survive.  The frontal armor in turn grew from an original plan of 8 inches, to 12.  Having the same power-train as an M26 Pershing, the resulting vehicle was extremely slow: 8mph (13km/h -- 16km/h downhill).

This vehicle was meant to march up to The Siegfried Line in Europe, take shots in the face from 88mm German guns, and continue plodding, punching holes with its massive 105mm.  Of the few prototypes made, only one still exists, spending some 27 years in unknown whereabouts, finally emerging and now at that Patton Museum of Cavalry and Amor in Kentucky (according to the wiki, it is destined for a new home in Georgia).

More reading:
The T95 at wiki.worldoftanks.com
The T28 Super Heavy Tank at wikipedia.org
The Siegfried Line

At the end of 2012, WoT clocks 45 million players

How big was World of Tanks as 2012 closed?  Pretty darn big.  Maths:

• 45 million total players
• 4 times the peak membership of WoW (circa 2010)
• 600k single-server players online at one time (Russia)
• Compare to League of Legends 35 million players

And no, I do not think WoT will make a great smart phone app....

MYM to do WoT

Clan MYM (i.e., eSports Organization, "Meet Your Makers") is entering World of Tanks competitively.


Sebastian 'Falli' Rotterdam, Manager MeetYourMakers
With signing a World of Tanks Team we want to show that we noticed the great success of this game. World of Tanks is a game that attracts a lot of people to compete in semi and professional Tournaments. That’s exactly what MYM stands for! Being an Organization that supports professional players to improve and win tournaments. Former “Red Tide” is already one of the strongest teams in Europe and I am sure that this team will represent MYM as good as possible on the upcoming Tournaments. IEM Katowice will be their first event under MYM Flag and I am sure this event will be a good start for a long term partnership between MYM, the Team and the WoT Community.

Good luck to all the pro clans in EU!

I was told to uinstall....

My name is fatkiddown....

WoT: The Mutant6 In Summer Camouflage

I love the American summer camouflage pattern featuring teal, rust, sand, colors, etc.  My favorite display of it is on my M6A2E1, the Mutant6:

 

The Russian T-99 Main Battle Tank

2015 may see the latest in tank design from one of the nations that provided some of the most cutting-edge innovations to tankdom: the Russian T-99:

Artist Concept of the T-99

It was the former Soviet Union that first rolled onto the battlefield the slopped-armor concept of the T-34.  This revolutionary design created thicker armor via physics and it was partly responsible for the Heinz Guderian-influenced German Panther.  Guderian urged the German Command create an answer to the T-34, and so the larger Panther was birthed.

A German-captured T-34 is pulled from its hibernation after 50 years, near  Johvi, Estonia

2013 is the year scheduled for the first T-99 prototype.  It is currently under development at Uralvagonzavod in Omsk (legendary producer of the T-34 and the cold war T-80 tanks).  Over 2,000 are to be completed by the year 2020.

Unlike the vehicles before it, the T-99 is said to be lighter, more nimble and cheaper.  It will bring into-play features of the prototype-only T-95.  E.g.:

• Ammo separate from crew
• An "Armored Crew Capsule"
• General increased general crew safety
• More powerful engine
• Improved: armor, main gun and autoloader

Uralvagonzavod apparently owns rights to both the T-95 as well as the "Black Eagle" competitor.  Perhaps both will influence the final design of the T-99

The "Black Eagle" Main Battle Tank

T-95 MBT

An artist-conception of the T-99 firing an improved 125mm cannon

T-99 Schematic