Source: WoT EU portal
Commanders!
It’s been several weeks since WG Fest, where we announced that a new nation would be joining the ranks in 2018. We can’t keep it to ourselves anymore, so please welcome the Progetto M35 mod 46, a future member of the upcoming Italian line.
While some may think this is just another tank, the Progetto M35 mod 46 introduces a gameplay mechanic that presents a unique way to approach each battle. We’re calling it an ‘autoreloader’, a feature that will be available to higher-tier Italian medium tanks once the nation makes its official debut.
Currently, the game offers a couple dozen tanks that carry autoloaders, and so does our newcomer. However, there’s a crucial difference. It’s a tricky, unusual, and very tempting concept we’re testing that opens up a new way to play. And this is the main reason we’d like to get you acquainted with the upcoming Tech Tree at this stage, so that there’s enough time to gather your feedback and test the mechanic until it’s molto bene.
How it Works
We all know the basics of autoloader mechanics. You have a certain number of shells in your cylinder, and once it’s loaded, you can unleash a damaging salvo in around 10 seconds. This comes as one of the two modes available for the Progetto M35 mod 46. Let’s call it the ‘classic’ autoloader.
However, there’s also the ‘Italian’ way to get things done. Right after you fire your first shell, the autoreloader instantly starts nesting a fresh one. Here’s where you have the freedom to choose whether to wait for loading to complete, or spit out your remaining rounds. If you go the classic autoloader route, every successive new shell will gradually take more and more time to load.
Gameplay
The Progetto M35 mod 46 will have a classic layout with a middle-mounted turret, and it very much resembles the Western school of tank building, with good mobility and gun depression countered by weaker armor. It also leans towards becoming a sniper rather than an up-close fighter thanks to its good view range, and a multipurpose loading mechanism.
Yes, it’s the autoreloader that allows you to adapt to changing combat conditions. You can either play the role of a support vehicle, or endure a long cooldown after several seconds of rapid fire.
There are certain pros and cons with each of these options, but again, the best way of applying the autoreloader is to assess the situation and act accordingly. If there’s an enemy tank close by and you can take it out there and then, don’t hesitate to. Just remember that by winning in the short term, you’ll have to sacrifice your ability to shoot, and you’ll have to wait longer than with a common autoloader-equipped machine.
If you’re keeping enemies at bay, firing as a regular tank will be a better option. This way, you will save time on reloading and have those precious extra seconds to aim more precisely. All in all, your adaptability is the key to success.
What’s Next
The autoloader has the potential to be a challenging yet rewarding experience, and as the Progetto M35 mod 46 will be the pathfinder for the feature, we will be thoroughly adjusting the tank’s specs in the following weeks. We don’t know what the final set of characteristics will look like, but it will surely differ from the current values.
Our main priority for now will be tweaking the new mechanic and balancing the gun to fit the current gameplay. We want to take a complex approach, where the uniqueness is defined not by single parameters (such as DPM or penetration values), but by a set of interconnected specs, and the ability to fire while reloading.
As this is the first testing stage, what you see are completely raw parameters that will be altered during future stages.
thats actually a pretty cool idea. from what i got from this the tank is pretty much permanently passively loading in shots to the magazine. so you have the choice of unloading like crazy or playing a little more passively this could be a very cool mechanic but i suspect it could be hard to balance.
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I believe the amount of shells in the magazine is capped.
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Which tank is this? Looks like a P.43 but the tracks and the box on the turret doesn’t seem right.
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i think it is the p43 indeed. looks like it could be the tier 6 tank, with the leoncelo at tier 5, and post war tanks at tiers 7 8 9 and 10
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But the P43 got 2X4 road wheels not 3X2.
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Did you know you can upgrade the tracks?
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Did you know that even if you upgrade the tracks they don’t change visually?
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Aaaaaand? This doesn’t mean you can´t put the 2×4.
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Swastika not allowed! Remove please!
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Commie trolls aren’t allowed either, yet you are here…
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Fascist Americain!
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LUL
You still haven’t answered my question, why is everyone fascist in your eyes?
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Interesting, they were testing the ready rack mechanic on a Leopard 1. 4 things – either Leo1 will get this mechanic in the future, Italian Leo1 will have it, both Leos will have it or they’re just messing around.
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These better have absolutely terrible pen and/or accuracy to make up for the autoloader burst potential combined with the ability to fire continuously. Or a very high in-clip reload like 4.5s-5s (still saving a lot of time over a regular reload but no ability to output damage like an autoloader).
These things will be terribly overpowered if not balanced right. Autoloaders are supposed to be balanced by inter-clip reload, these things have none.
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You’re paying for this flexibility with trash dpm. Bargain!
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OMG thanks WG for screwing up the game even more. I will quit now and only play my analog polish card game solitare with myself.
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Don’t cut yourself with the cards though 😦
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Would you at least care to explain how is this breaking the game? The mechanic looks rather situational and it does not look broken at all. Quite a novel feature in fact.
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Like the swedish TDs, hit ‘X’ for siege mode – maybe in this case hit ‘X’ for full autoloader mode, otherwise stay standard? hmmm…. would be hugely versatile
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As they say in the video the vehicles will be balanced by having little armor and having lower dpm than similar weapon systems… ie the shooting single shells will reload slower than other nations single-shooter and loading multiple shells will be slower than reloading autoloaders.
But they will never be caught entirely empty and they have the potential to clip tanks when necesary… Will have to be put to the test before judging…
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https://thearmoredpatrol.com/2018/01/26/wot-supertest-progetto-m35-mod-46-vol-1/
well, if the stats stay true for the tier 8 prem, you get 240 alpha and minimum 8 sec reload. if you fire more of the magazine, the reload goes up. thats worse than almost all other tier 8 MTs. the pen of 212mm is very good, though, as is the acc with 0.32.
we will see how thin the armor is in the end, but CDC seems rather bad in comparison.
the armor seems rounded like russian, which will most likely cause some RNG based autobounces.
the new loading mechanism sounds VERY hard to balance, IMHO, though interesting.
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tvp has also rounded but paper armor
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This is going to be a Unicum player’s wet dream of burst dmg.
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well always got to ge a new carrot for them, eh?
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Well it seems for the tier 8 tank that youve got first around 9 sec reload for the first shell 11 sec for the second and 14 sec for the third so combined youve got 34 sec reload for the hole 3 shot clip 20 sec for the 2 shots and 9 sec for one shot. Looks really interesting tho.
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WG again glorify another fascist country!!
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how does the loading work when u change ammo type? does this mechanic mean u can now have mixed clips of APCR
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APCR and AP?
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Camo and spotting not fixed
Pen not fixed and premium ammo not fixed
Arty not really fixed. Light tanks still not fixed and fucked view range.
Matchmaking resulting in clearly unbalanced teams not fixed – and it is easy to do, all players have a personal rating.
But sure, let’s add a new nation because fuck you idiots playing and paying for this game.
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Apart from premium ammo it’s really just your opinion.
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