Two years ago, when celebrating the 100 years since the first tank rolled out, we had a special game mode. This mode had you convoy the Mark I to its destination while you were on four wheels in Lanchester armoured cars. This fun and very different mode was a great way of testing gameplay changes for the future.
Recently we mentioned that a new branch of vehicles with a fresh playstyle was on the horizon —these beasts swapped tracks for tires. Wheeled vehicles have been through our internal testing process but now that they are arriving on the Super Test, we’re focusing on having all testers try them out so we can gather data on what needs to be adjusted. We want to bring back active spotting, as higher-tiered light tanks have become passive spotters focusing more on dealing damage.
Why French? Well, they have one of the, if not the most famous armoured wheeled vehicles, the Panhard, which were recently in action by several militaries. Plus, they also have a special mechanic, the plug-in all-wheel drive, which gives us the opportunity to implement it in the game.
Gameplay and Differences to Light Tanks
In terms of class, these wheeled vehicles will be light tanks. However, they will come with significant gameplay changes, including a new movement mechanic.
There will be two driving modes of each vehicle—let’s call them Default and Drive for now:
- Default will allow for better manoeuvrability, which will be useful in tight spaces and roads. On city maps, it’s a must! Vehicles will be able to reach between 65 to 70 km/h in this mode.
- Drive will boost your speed up to 100+ km/h. But with such high speed, you will lack that little bit of control you would normally have.
VIIIImportant: The technical characteristics have been introduced for the new Tier VIII vehicle, they are pre-balanced to check the viability of the new mechanics and will be changed in future.
Wheeled vehicles will also have a distinct advantage over their tracked counterparts, an increased resistance to immobility as they have individual tires. This means that commanders of these vehicles are pretty hard to immobilize (you will need to damage more than half of the tires), more likely to just be slowed down a bit when a tire pops.
Compared to light tanks directly, these have some strengths but also some drawbacks. The job of the wheeled vehicles is to actively spot, which results in a worse view range over the battlefield compared to the lightly armoured tanks.
But their job is to be close to the action to fulfill their job in active scouting. This gameplay role takes advantage of their high speed, manoeuvrability, and low silhouette. But they also can be used as a distraction and annoyance to the enemy team, dealing some damage when faced at close range with slow targets with little armour on their own. Think of them as a mosquito: quick, nimble, aggravating but can be taken out with one precise hit.
The wheeled vehicles also have a special lock-on feature. This allows players to automatically aim at enemy vehicles just by simply clicking close to the target.
Finally, each tank will have a charge that will allow a head-start when activated to help you dodge enemy fire when you’re in a tight spot.
It’s important to note that this is the first stage of a rigorous testing process. This test is focused on the gameplay concept, therefore characteristics are not final. We want to make sure that these vehicles can serve their purpose on the battlefield in the current game environment. Only after this will we start to tune and balance the tech tree. All these details will come late in a separate article detailing the tech tree.
Stay tuned for more in-depth looks at these vehicles and the entire branch that is coming soon.
\”The wheeled vehicles also have a special lock-on feature. This allows players to automatically aim at enemy vehicles just by simply clicking close to the target.\”
That cheats… XD
I smell a fiasco in the wind but I won\’t deny that I\’ve always thought that these machines were cool.
My thoughts exactly, on both accounts.
I am willing to bet that first wheeled vehicle will be a premium…..anyone?
Of course, of course. Only 99.99 shekels with a discount – it comes with a 110% BIA crew and a special INCEL virgin badge. Rabbi Schlomo Shekelbergstein thinks about his flock!
Actually they confirmed that as not true during the gamescon Q&A
You don\’t have to actually click the target to auto lock on? Didn\’t WG ban a mod that did that years back?
A mod like that is on the Aslains mod pack, so its allowed
OK, first I notice is that the EBR 90 will be Tier 9 afterall
secon thing I noticed is that they did not mention if they used these vehicles real-life characteristics and have modelled the change in position of the two metal wheels to represent the change from one mode to the other
IRL the 8×8 configuration is really good for offroad travel while the 4×4 configuration is obviously better for paved roads, while I would say 4×4 is better for speed and 8×8 would be better for turning
Given how cars tend to work… 8×8 will be fast mode and 4×4 will be turning mode
I\’m actually hoping for a Puma for the german tech tree. Or SdKfz 234 as it is actually known.
You name is disturbing
Nope.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
An arty hit or splash should be able to blow out many or all tires at once.
yeah, advanced autoaim was assessed to be a cheat. and it was IIRC not \”years\” back but only last year.
well, the game develops and there were times when having viewrange circles also was some sort of cheating, as well as the arty mod, which changed perspective. both are now ingame, so why not.
depending on the \”circle\” you can activate autoaim, it kinda makes sense. and I am very courious, what the pen-values will be. damage may be nice, but without enough pen it is worthless.
for the Panhard: looking forward to oneshot those buggers with HE from an E100 or even better the new polish tier 10 (because better turret armor) … *eg*
it might be a nice addition to the game, but I fear more \”go cart\” style. well, let\’s just see what they will play like (and against them).
\”Over the years, armoured cars have even been capable of handling large cannons that can take out tanks. However, our tech branch focuses on the historic scouts.\”
First vehicle out has a 90mm cannon with autoloader…
So?
premium LT tier 8 panhard?? gimme gimme, asap…. WG…. ^^
2 shells autoloader… it\’s a joke?