Meet Season 13 of the Battle Pass!

When: From October 25th until January 24th.

All rewards and challenges for season 13

If you’ve got two Coupon Upgrades from stages in the previous season, then you can claim the new Battle Pass for free! Exchange them in the purchase menu of the Tropical Storm season.

Interesting: The Mangusta’s name translates into “Mongoose”, which is a small animal that is capable of striking deadly attacks against their prey, much like the AH-129D Mangusta will be able to do in game!

Did you know? The M197 three-barreled 20mm rotary cannon was designed as a lighter version of the M61 Vulcan cannon for light aircraft and helicopters. This is because these vehicles are not able to house the larger cannon, and are not capable of controlling its intense recoil.

In your matches: Pro-tips when using the AH-129D Mangusta by Tom (Oxy), WT Community Manager (TL): “The benefit of this range and the fire and forget nature of Spikes means you can position yourself very safely while simultaneously getting the most out of the missiles. Aim to hug terrain and minimize your time in the open, pop out to fire off a missile before quickly returning into cover.”

Interesting: The Strikemaster Mk.88 earned the unofficial nickname of “Blunty” in the New Zealand Air Force, due to its overall round appearance, especially the nose!

Did you know? BAC produced several Strikemaster variants based on the needs of foreign operators. For example, Mk.80 for Saudi Arabia, Mk.81 for South Yemen, Mk.87 for Kenya and Mk.89 for Ecuador!

In your matches: Pro-tips when using the Strikemaster Mk.88 by Jan (Copsi), Marketing Manager: “When you see a plane, pretend you are dead, or try to. You are *technically* able to shoot down enemies if they can’t see you, but realistically, you should probably focus on bombing tanks, those that can't run from you. You have a good loadout to come in low, avoid AA guns, and have a good platform to give good CAS support.”

Developer’s comment: “The TAN-SAM missiles will have photo contrast mode, which allows for long-range capture against the sky in good daytime visibility. In this mode, the interference immunity is also higher. However, during night it’s not possible to capture targets against the ground background. For example, when you’re on the ground and you try to capture a target against the background of a mountain slope. We’ll tell you more about the photo contrast mode in another dev blog.”

Did you know? TAN-SAM SAMs have been in service with land, sea and air units of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the country has never exported the system to foreign operators.

In your matches: Pro-tips when using the TAN-SAM-1C by Tom (Oxy), WT Community Manager (TL): “Due to the limited ammo capacity it’s really important to pick your shots carefully. With any kind of anti-air it pays to be patient, as soon as an aircraft is aware of you they will become a lot harder to shoot down, so even if your target is within range I’d recommend holding off on the trigger for just a little longer until you have the clearest shot possible — the further away they are, the more time they have to avoid your missile.”

When: From October 20th (12:00 GMT) until October 23rd (07:00 GMT).
Where: USA > Helicopters > Premium vehicles.

When: From October 20th (10:00 GMT) until October 23rd (07:00 GMT).
Where: Britain > Bluewater fleet > Premium vehicles.

When: From October 20th (10:00 GMT) until October 23rd (07:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using British ships to receive the “Famous Ships: HMS Victory” decal!

Interesting: This vehicle’s full name literally combines its two most basic elements: the cannon name first (Autocannone da 90/53, the 90 mm cannon) and the truck name (Breda, the truck’s manufacturer). “Su” is just the Italian word for on, so the name quite quaintly ends up effectively being “Gun on truck” (full Italian name: Autocannone da 90/53 su Breda 52)!

Did you know? Italy got the idea of mounting 90 mm anti-aircraft guns on tracked and wheeled vehicles from the successful experience of the Germans utilizing 88 mm FlaK18 guns on tracked vehicles against French heavy tanks.

In your matches: Pro-tips when using the Breda 90/53 by Tom (Oxy), WT Community Manager (TL): “Positioning really is key with this one, it’s not a vehicle that can react quickly to new threats from different locations, so you don’t want to be caught out on the move. Aim to keep your distance from enemies and stay defensive, the 90 mm doesn’t need to be up close to be effective, and at range your poor survivability and low mobility aren’t as detrimental. When you’re engaging, try to position yourself side-on to what you’re fighting — this breaks up your silhouette and makes it harder for an enemy to disable your ability to move and shoot in one shot (Unless they’re using HE, always take HE).”

Interesting: Typically in the naming convention of smaller British vessels (e.g. Dark and Brave), this particular class is prefixed as Gay. In addition to this, fighting specialties and roles are also included in the name prefix. For example, other boats in the series include HMS Gay Bombardier, HMS Gay Bruiser, HMS Gay Charger and a few others.

Did you know? Gay-class patrol boats were the last petrol-powered gunboats in the British Navy.

In your matches: Pro-tips when using the Gay Archer from Keith (Scarper) WT CM: “For this boat and others like it, grab the capture point quickly in smaller battles and use its speed and hard hitting gun in this case, to nip in and recapture any lost cap areas — remember your smoke! Don’t engage larger targets at range, instead, use the speed of the boat to get in behind larger targets, especially moored ones and drop a couple of torpedoes into its rear. If you're seen, steer erratically to confound the enemy and engage the weapons trying to focus on you and get below the elevation of the enemies' bigger guns. Spotting is your friend as some of your team will see the target and the position you are in and help out.”