Category: Historical Articles

44M. Tas: Panther’s Hungarian Cousin

~ Sebastianul

Written by Károly Németh a.k.a. Karika on Tanks Encyclopedia.

Introduction

By early 1943, due to the heavy casualties and overall bad experiences gained on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, it became clear to the leaders of the Royal Hungarian Army that their armored units had become almost hopelessly obsolete. The Hungarian forces were in dire need for better equipment, especially medium/heavy tanks which would be able to compete against the Soviet T-34 and KV series of tanks.

To resolve this issue as soon as possible, the Hungarians first turned to their ally, Germany. They asked if they could buy the manufacturing rights for one of Germany’s more advanced tanks, for example a late Panzer IV variant with the long 75 mm (2.95 in) gun or the Panzer V Panther. The Germans turned down this wish in a short time, firstly because these variants were in an immature state at the time and secondly, they were fully aware – unlike the over-optimistic Hungarian military leaders – that the Hungarian heavy industry would not have been able to manufacture such sophisticated designs in the foreseeable future anyway.

Soon after the failed negotiations, the Hungarian Ministry of Defense (Hadügyminisztérium, HM) decided to solve the problem domestically. In April 1943, as a temporary solution, the HM started a modernization program for the Turán tanks. This program would add bolt on armor plates to increase its frontal protection and would mount the long barrel 43M. 75 mm tank gun in a new enlarged turret. This project become the 43M. Turán III.

However, as a long-term solution in the same month the HM commissioned the Weiss Manfréd corporation (WM) to lay out and assemble a new type of tank as a replacement for the obsolescent Turán series. The new vehicle should have been able to carry a high velocity tank gun and have similar protection and mobility characteristics as the Soviet T-34 or the German Panther. This new project has become the 44M. Tas.


Illustration of the TAS 44M in what-if camouflage by David Bocquelet

It was named after chieftain Tas, a historical figure who – according to tradition – was one of the leaders of the seven Hungarian tribes in the 9th century.

The preliminary blueprints for the Tas prototypes were ready in record time, by the end of August 1943.

Continue reading “44M. Tas: Panther’s Hungarian Cousin” →

The great rework of the Japanese heavy line – is it possible and how can we do it?

~ Sebastianul

UPDATED with fixed grammar.

The Japanese heavies. Probably one of the most controversial line of tanks in the game after artillery. Both hated and loved, maybe more hated than loved. A very common subject to talk about, discuss and even whine about. But why?

Japanese heavies are very, very unique vehicles. Multiturretted, and some of them are the biggest tanks in the game with very odd looks and huge guns. There are no such vehicles in the game, neither design-wise or gameplay-wise. The French super-heavies, which have been close to be introduced multiple times, are probably the closest you can get to these.

That being said, having such a unique line of monstrosities can cause problems, however. These are the main reasons which cause controversy among Japanese heavies:

1) Armor with no weakspots (which encourages premium ammo and in return becomes weak after gold begins to flow at them and worse yet, they lack the ability to angle for most part expect for Type 5 Heavy after 9.17.1)

2) Derp guns, makes them even more “noob-friendly”, though this wouldn’t be as bad of a point if they didnt have such armor that makes you want to just sit in the open.

3) Historical accuracy (ERMAHGERD JAPANESE TANKS SUCKED @SS IRL, NO WAI JAPANESE DESIGNED SUPER-HEAVIES, WHY THEY INTRODUCED STUPID NAPKIN TANKS!!1!!11!!ELEVEN!)

4) Other things (arty magnet, gold magnet, O-Ho’s 10cm or Type 4/5 being poor, unfun to play before buffs, Type 4/5 derp gun being pay to win gun etc etc…)

If we want to fix the line in the first place, we have to take a good look at these problems. The second point is especially common problem with the recent armor buffs. This kind of armor with the lack of proper weakspots, sometimes known as “retard-proof armor”, did major debut with the introducion of Japanese heavy tanks in 2015.

Before we start, lets jump back in time.

Continue reading “The great rework of the Japanese heavy line – is it possible and how can we do it?” →

Chinese Tanks Q&A – Answers [Very Long Post]

~ Sebastianul

Link to questions

Again, thanks to Will Kerrs from Tanks Encyclopedia for answering most of the questions.

Nothing Inside: What tanks above tier 6 are real? This response also incorporates questions from: Gkirmathal, mrx, yurrasicpark, IRON, Akina90, Landserlandsa, zzjgo, Deano, and Ahuci.

Response:

TLDR:
The following tanks were probably not used by the PLA – Renault NC-31, Vickers Mark E Type B, T-34/76 (I’m slowly coming around to this one, though), the Type 58 is just a rebuilt T-34/85s with some modifications, and the mysterious Chi-Ha with 76mm gun and new superstructure was probably Japanese-built.

The following are real – WZ-131, WZ-132 (this tank is often mislabelled), WZ-111 (only the surviving hull is proven to exist, obviously, and we don’t know what the turret or gun looked like), 59-16 (possibly made it to the prototype stage), WZ-122 (not in game), 1224 (not in game), 122 (not in game), WZ-1226 (or just ‘1226’, not in game), and 132 (not in game, at least two prototypes). There are almost certainly more prototypes not in game that I’ve missed off here.

The following have no evidence to suggest that they are real and are therefore likely to be fake – 110, 113, and 112.

The following have no evidence to suggest that they are real, and because of their characteristics, are very likely to be fake – T-34-1, T-34-2, T-34-3, 121, and Type 59-Patton.
The following are definitely fake: Every Chinese server only tank destroyer, 121B, WZ-132A, and WZ-132-1.

If people show me evidence, I’ll revise the list.

A lot of people are asking me questions along the lines of “Are all of the Chinese tanks real?” or “Are these guns real?”

We have Chinese internet sources posting photos and data sets of a lot of the prototype tanks in WoT. Apparently, most of the data and photos are from various books and museum displays. Not all of the tanks included in World of Tanks are mentioned in these sources. Dddzxc (a very helpful person, indeed), has provided some links for information about the 132 and WZ-132 projects (and some others) and I highly recommend checking them out (I need to have them translated and then I will evaluate them. I’ll work on this next month): https://tieba.baidu.com/p/4908818042?pn=2

View post on imgur.com

Continue reading “Chinese Tanks Q&A – Answers [Very Long Post]” →

Plastic Tiger in Munster

~ Sebastianul

Since last month the German Tank Museum in Munster has a 1:1 plastic model copy of their loaned Tiger that left last autumn. The previously exhibited Tiger is made of the remnants of 6 Tigers and it is the owner’s intent to make it driveable again.

Since the Tiger was such an eye catcher; the museum has invited experts of the camouflage & ambush department of the German Bundeswehr to make a full sized model; to be displayed in the mean time. The results are quite impressive.

The model weighs over 5 tons and is made from fiber glass reinforced plastics. The museum will release a video tomorrow describing the process in more detail.

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Some Hard Facts: Back to the Future – Part 5

~ Sebastianul

Links to part 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Thanks to TollhouseFrank for making the article and giving me permission to post it here.

Hello ladies and gents! This is the last in the Back to the Future mini-series where I have gone over year by year (since 2012) the changes and patches to this game.

So, what is the future going to hold for Salt Mining Simulator? Will the chicken-littles that cry “the sky is falling!” after every patch be right? Will one of the upcoming patches in 2016 kill this game? Read on and find out!

Patch 9.14 Physics model changed/updated for the 3rd time. The 2nd change was not very big at all, but this one was. What was so different with physics this time versus when it was introduced in 8.0? You could now roll your tank/be flipped over. Before this patch, you could tip over onto one track at about a 45-50 degree slant only, but never all the way over. This was met with skepticism at first, and even a bit of derision, but soon people started to appreciate some of the new things you could do with these physics, and the hilarious incidents that could be had with them.

If I am not mistaken (and if I am, I apologize), this is also the patch that introduces to us the handbrake maneuver. This is another small, yet huge addition to the game. It lets people use their highly mobile tanks (or even big fat tanks) in new ways.

Continue reading “Some Hard Facts: Back to the Future – Part 5” →

Italy’s Armoured, Armed, and Mobile Gun Shield

~ Sebastianul

An article provided by Tanks Encyclopedia and written by Andrew Hills


MIAS and MORAS.

Background

The Motomitragliatrice blindata d’assaulto ‘MIAS’ was a vehicle borne out the Italian slaughter in WWI. Instead of the infantry facing withering machine gun fire unprotected, the MIAS would provide them with a mobile shield to cover them from fire. This is what the MIAS really was; a self-propelled mobile armored shield. It was certainly not a tank in the conventional sense despite having some of the same features. It was armored, powered and fully tracked but that was as far as the similarities went. After-all, it only had a single crew member and he didn’t even get a seat.

Continue reading “Italy’s Armoured, Armed, and Mobile Gun Shield” →

Q&A on Chinese Tanks with Will Kerrs

~ Sebastianul

We have managed to contact Will from Tanks Encyclopedia and luckily, he agreed to make a tank history Q&A for TAP. As a specialist on Chinese tanks, Will prefers the 1919-1956 period for the questions, but you can still ask him about newer stuff.

Ask your questions below!

(An article with the answers will come in a few days)