Sep 7, 2018

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

The evolution and the service life of the Chieftain MBT were both relatively long, especially for a tank that, in its basic form, did not use composite armor or a smoothbore gun. The British stuck to their guns – in a sense quite literally since they are using a 120mm rifled cannon to this day. But by 1969 when the Chieftain Mk.2 replacement, the Mk.3, appeared, they still had a long way to go until the appearance of the ultimate mass-produced variant.

The Mk.3 model featured, amongst other things, a more powerful engine – or, more specifically, a version of the original Leyland L60 multi-fuel engine, tuned to produce more horsepower. This tuning, however, came at a steep price in the form of lower reliability. The tank was generally underpowered even before, straining the L60 beyond its limits, and the Mk.3 power increase, combined with the tank actually becoming heavier (some 53 tons) did nothing to improve the situation. The engine issues included:

Cracked cylinder liners
Compromised cylinder seals
Piston ring damage
Cracked rear gear cases

These problems were given considerable publicity and attention, including a dedicated sub-committee of the House of Commons and resulted in a series of engine improvements and upgrades that were a part of a program called Totem Pole (or Exercise Totem Pole).

The entire program was rather convoluted and was actually split into three parts: X, Y and Z. Part X dealt with the new improved sighting system, part Y dealt with some improved automotive characteristics and commander’s control system (the commander was now able to fire the main gun for example) and part Z included improvements to the engine and gearbox. For the purposes of this article, we’ll simplify things a lot and say that the program resulted, amongst other things, with the unification of the Mk.2 and Mk.3 tanks with the most common and heavily mass-produced variant of them all, the Chieftain Mk.5.

The first Mk.5 tanks were produced in 1972. Interestingly enough, the next mass-produced variant following the Mk.3 was not called Mk.4 – that designation was reserved for two modified Mk.2s with improvements based on the Israeli feedback that were built before the approval to sell the Chieftain to Israel was cancelled in December 1969 – these vehicles were then used for various tests, including in the United States.

The Mk.5 model also featured some improvements based on the Israeli tests of the late 1960s. Ironically enough, while the British denied Israel the right to purchase these MBTs, they were more than happy to offer the vehicles with the Israeli improvements to Israel’s enemies, Iran and Libya in order to preserve their influence in the area.

The Mk.5 became the most-produced baseline Chieftain the older models were improved to match and the newer models were generally built upon. It featured a whole range of improvements – especially automotive ones, such as:

A new 720hp variant of the L60 called Mk.7A
Sturdier gearbox
Improved exhaust system
Improved air cleaners
Improved engine and transmission covers

And several smaller upgrades, allowing the, now even heavier, vehicle (its weight increased to 54 tons) to keep its maximum speed of roughly 42 km/h.

The tank weighed 54-55 tons (varies depending on sub-variants) and its armor was still made of steel. The actual armor thickness and protection levels of a Chieftain are actually not quite public. A number of estimates exist on the internet as well as in various books but the actual thicknesses are generally only mentioned in restricted or privately-owned documents. As such, the armor of the Chieftain officially remains a mystery. Swedish archive sources from the 1960s give estimates about the effective armor value being from 183mm to 366mm in certain areas. A German military analysis of the armour of an early Chieftain puts the effective value at 262mm.

Regardless, it was sufficient for its time, as was its firepower. The L11A5 120mm rifled gun still packed quite a punch, especially with its new, improved ammunition. The gun was equipped with a thermal sleeve, was fully stabilized. The vehicle carried 64 rounds of ammunition. Other improvements included:

Improved commander’s sights
Commander’s cupola with a mounted machinegun
NBC protection system

The production ran from March, 1972 and, throughout the run, there was a whole series of sub-variants (such as the Mk.5/3 with a new and improved fire control system). From the Mk.5/5 variant onwards the gun could fire new extremely powerful APFSDS shots as well.

The Mk.5 was also exported – a modified version called Shir with a 1200hp Condor CV-12TCA engine was sold to Iran (Iran bought a total of 707 Chieftains of various versions) and in 1976 Kuwait bought 165 Mk.5/2 Chieftains. Some leftover Shirs from the Iran program (some were not delivered due to the Iranian revolution) were delivered to Jordan in 1979 (274 in total). These had 1200hp Condor engines, new TN-37 transmissions and Marconi fire control systems – they were also a bit longer. The Jordanians named this variant Khalid and used it from 1981. The last foreign Chieftain user was Oman with 27 Chieftains delivered in 1984-1985.

Although designed to fight the Soviets, the Chieftains luckily never fired a shot in anger in Europe. The first real combat use took place during the Iran-Iraq war but the results were unconvincing: the Iranian and Iraqi crews were both poorly trained and misused their vehicles. It was, however, discovered that the T-62 could under certain conditions penetrate the Chieftain armor. Around 50 Chieftains were captured by Iraq and later given by Saddam Hussein to the Kingdom of Jordan as a gift – an unwelcome one as the Jordanians did their utmost to at least appear neutral in the conflict (and they had placed their own order for Chieftains). In the end these "gifts" were used for spare parts for the Jordanian Khalid version. The last combat use of the Chieftains was likely the Kuwait defense against the Iraqi T-72 tanks during the 1991 invasion. Sources are sketchy but apparently the Chieftains fared well against the Soviet vehicles and scored numerous hits at long range.

Back in Britain, the older Mk.2 and Mk.3 Chieftains were refitted gradually to match the Mk.5 standard, later the improved Mk.5 standard known as Mk.5/4 with enhanced ammunition stowage and, more importantly, a TLS laser rangefinder, a modified commander’s cupola and an improved FCS from the Mk.5/3. These modified vehicles were referred to as Mk.6, Mk.7, Mk.8 and Mk.9 Chieftains – they all had their own sub-variants with different upgrade stages and we will, once again, simplify a bit and skip straight to the Chieftain Mk.10, which was the first variant to introduce a certain very distinctive feature – the Stillbrew armor kit.

The Chieftain itself, despite all its previous improvements, was essentially a 1950s design with all the drawbacks that came with it. Its armor was designed to withstand Soviet 100mm sub-caliber kinetic rounds fired by a T-54 or a T-55, but would struggle against more advanced ammunition. In 2016, a British Ministry of Defense document was uncovered in archives where it is openly admitted that the Chieftain armor is vulnerable to 115mm tungsten rounds of the T-62 and to 125mm steel rounds of the T-72. That made its armor obsolete in the 1980s when it was still in service. This was also confirmed during the Iran-Iraq war where the Iranian Chieftains would be penetrated by T-62 shells.

Another problem was the proliferation of Soviet anti-tank guided missiles. The British paid close attention to the lessons of the 1973 Yom Kippur War where volleys of Malyutka ATGMs decimated the Israeli tank units armed with modified American Pattons and British Centurions. The solution for the Chieftain would therefore be to equip it with an add-on armor kit to the vehicle to significantly increase its protection levels, especially against HEAT-based weapons.

And that’s exactly what the Stillbrew armor was. Its development was started in the 1970s in Chertsey. The armor consisted of an additional steel plate with several rubber layers underneath it, separated by thinner plates of metal. It worked as non-explosive reactive armor – upon impact, the rubber would expand and the steel plate would be pushed against the projectile. At the same time, the rubber would mitigate the concussive force of high-explosive and HESH shells.

The program was a success and even though the official numbers are still classified, it seems that the kit was enough to provide the tank with enough protection to withstand Soviet 125mm tungsten kinetic rounds, estimated at 450mm of penetration. In other words, the kit increased the frontal protection of the vehicle by roughly 50 percent while keeping the weight increase low enough not to compromise the vehicle’s mobility.

The first kits were built between 1984 and 1985 and in 1986 they were fitted to the Chieftains stationed in West Germany. Unlike the Mk.5 Chieftains, the Stillbrew Chieftains have never seen combat before being phased out of British service in 1995 – luckily for us, as such combat would have taken place in Europe.

In Armored Warfare, the Chieftain Mk.10 is a Tier 5 Main Battle Tank. Like its Mk.2 predecessor, it too emphasizes protection and firepower over mobility.

Despite the onset of various appliqué and ERA kits around that Tier, the British signature ammunition, the HESH shells, still make short work of many a lighter vehicle. The protection is, on the other hand, rather weak in its stock configuration and the armor only begins to truly work when upgraded to the Stillbrew level in this sense, the stock Mk.10 is essentially a Mk.5.

Like it was described in the Mk.2 article, the Chieftain works best when its thick turret armor is used in defense. Its mobility is, like in real life, relatively low. Especially the maximum speed is one of the lowest in Armored Warfare, making this tank unsuitable for fast, offensive operation. Methodical advance while keeping your hull in cover for as long as possible is the best way to operate any Chieftain.

We’ll see you on the battlefield!

Sep 6, 2018

List of Black Sea Incursion – Part II changes

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Gameplay Mechanisms

Armor Inspector

In this update, we are introducing a feature called Armor Inspector that allows you to see the armor layout of each vehicle in detail. You can read more about it in a dedicated article.

Armor can be viewed by right-clicking a vehicle in each dealer's vehicle tree and selecting the Preview option.

Game Optimization

We've performed a major optimization of the client. Medium and High settings should see a performance increase of up to 20 percent. The average performance increase for these settings is 10 percent. Additionally, we reduced the game UI's memory requirements by approximately a half.

We've significantly improved the performance (rendering speed) of mass particle effects such as smoke, dust and explosion on medium and high settings.

And last but not least:

The Garage vehicle selection panel (carousel) now works much faster
The process of HDD reading in battle was optimized

APS Overhaul

We've overhauled the way the Armored Warfare APS mechanism works. There are two systems available in Update 0.26:

Passive hard-kill APS, destroying incoming ATGMs outright
Passive soft-kill APS, informing you of incoming ATGMs and making them harder to control
Active hard-kill APS, creating a shield that destroys not only ATGMs but also cannon shells

You can read more about it in a dedicated article.

As a part of these changes, the Retrofit that was previously detecting incoming ATGMs (this function is now performed by an APS system) was overhauled to instead provide a major bonus to ATGM agility and stability, making them easier to control even when the enemy uses soft-kill APS. Players who have the old detection Retrofit installed will have it removed and will receive a full refund.

Crew Changes

We boosted several crew skills and added a few new ones. It will also be possible to train crews to Level 3 for Credits and to Level 5 for Gold. You can read more about the changes here.

Ammo Rack Changes

We've updated the way basic ammo racks (those without special containers or blow-out panels) work. Earlier, they could explode with each fire damage tick (15 percent probability) the way it was described here and it was impossible to survive the explosion.

Now, the chance per tick starts at 5 percent and gradually increases per tick to roughly 25 percent. The explosion also deals damage to all vehicles within 20 meters around it with the damage value being roughly 60 percent of the exploding vehicle's hitpoints. This damage decreases with distance from the explosion and armor does mitigate it as well – as such, it is only dangerous to lightly armored vehicles.

These changes make it easier (but also more important) to equip and use a fire extinguisher.

New Premium Commanders

We added two new Premium commanders with fixed skills and ranks that are available in the game for Gold in order to make the game more comfortable for new players or those who do not want to bother with carefully choosing skills. You can read more about them here.

Gasoline Engine Sounds

All gasoline engines received new sound effects, making them sound more realistically.

High-Explosive Shell Splash

We changed the HE splash bonuses in order for it to do more damage. Earlier, indirect (splash) damage was based on shell damage reduced by 50 to 80 percent depending on the distance of the impact. We reduced this penalty to 33 to 66 percent.

Purchasable Insignia Tokens

Platinum Insignia Tokens can now be purchased directly for Gold. To purchase a Platinum Insignia Token, click on its icon in the Insignia Inventory.

Changes to Special Medals

Special Medals are receiving several changes. We are introducing the following new Special Medal for PvP (Random Battles):

Steel Eagle, awarded for assisting (dealing damage to but not killing) in the most kills (no fewer than 12)

The Steel Wings, Order of Valor and Order of Courage medals now cannot be obtained if there are fewer than 10 players in each PvP team. Additionally, it will be possible to obtain several Special Medals in Global Operations (with adjusted conditions to the realities of a different game mode):

Steel Sword - medal awarded to a player who has destroyed from 15 to 19 enemy venhicles in one match. AI vehicles do not count
Bronze Sword - medal awarded to a player who has destroyed at least 20 enemy vehicles in one match. AI vehicles do not count
Steel Wings - medal awarded to all players in a team if they have won without losing any more than 100 points. It can only be earned if the enemy team had at least 10 players
Big Star - medal awarded to a player who has destroyed an enemy vehicle with the help of a wildcard and earned victory for their team. AI vehicles do not count
Infiltrator - medal awarded to a player who has taken at least 50% of points from the enemy by capturing a base. The capture must be victorious
Scout's Crest - medal awarded to a player whose scouting led to damage comprising at least 20% of the total HP of all enemies. Targets only count if they were spotted by just one player

General Changes

If a smoke screen is deployed between a missile and the target, the missile will lose its tracking of the target (it will act as if the launcher was aiming at a "wall" that is the smoke screen). This ability will work on fire and forget missiles as well – once encountering a smoke screen, they will lose their automatic guidance ability. Even if the smoke dissipates in mid-flight, the automatic guidance will not be restored
All commander skills that provide an Experience income bonus had that bonus doubled
The Field Rebuild Kit consumable now also repairs damaged modules and heals wounded crewmembers when used
Platoon members will now spawn next to each other more often
Loader's Rate of Fire level bonus now also improves ATGM magazine reload time
Added the option to look at commander skills when the commander in question is in queue
Fixed an issue where crew and commander bonuses didn't work correctly on the Alabino Proving Grounds map
Added new crew surname options from the following countries: Romania, Sweden, Finland, Belarus, Austria, Croatia, Serbia and Argentina
It is now possible to use Reputation to advance a commander instead of Commander Experience
Improved water visuals
Improved the Garage lighting in the Simplified Garage

Vehicles

New Dealer

We added a new dealer to the game – Solomon Schreiber with a full branch of Israeli MBTs. You can read more about him in a dedicated article.

General Changes

We replaced the Tier 1 PT-76 Light Tank with a different vehicle, the PT-85 Light Tank
Corrected the armor of all AFVs and some LTs and TDs with the goal of reducing the number of cases where these vehicles ricochet large caliber gun APFSDS rounds
All Light Tanks have a reduced camouflage penalty for firing (the lower the gun caliber, the lower the penalty)
Tier 1 and Tier 2 immediate post-war era vehicle guns were overhauled – the damage per minute value stays the same but the guns fire faster at the expense of damage per shot, making their gameplay more dynamic. The same goes for Soviet 115mm smoothbores (T-64, T-62)
Reloading to a different shell type during the pre-battle countdown on vehicles equipped with Ready Racks will now reload the magazine fully
It is now much more difficult to control an ATGM in flight if your gunner (or missile operator in general) is wounded
Incoming ATGM warning will now not appear if your APS module is destroyed
Improved the firing sounds of large caliber (140mm and 152mm) guns
Improved the smaller lighting effects in the game to make vehicles look better
Added a large number of smaller visual fixes and improvements (missing decals, smaller texture updates etc.)
Optimized the exhaust smoke effect for all vehicles
Improved glass and optics textures on all vehicles
The AFV active ability (marking a target) now works on the Alabino map
It is now possible to use Reputation to install upgraded modules to your vehicle in case you lack enough Experience
It is now possible to use Gold to buy a vehicle in case you lack Credits

Abrams AGDS

Improved the ATGM acceleration
Fixed the launcher animation
Fixed an issue where its missiles didn't launch from the correct launcher locations
Fixed an issue where the gun shells flew straight forward regardless of the gun facing
Added smaller visual improvements and fixes for low-end model

ASCOD LT-105

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

Begleitpanzer 57

Fixed the collision model of the turret

BMD-2 (incl. Black Eagle and Wolf)

Fixed an issue where the smoke grenade launcher incorrectly work as a smoke-laying device instead of actually launching smoke grenades

BMPT Prototype

We've rebalanced the autocannons of this vehicle for much higher performance (including penetration and rate of fire) in order to make them more viable. The switch between its weapon systems does, however, take longer.

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time
Fixed the UI hull traverse value in the Garage

BMPT Ramka-99

We've rebalanced the autocannons of this vehicle for much higher performance (including penetration and rate of fire) in order to make them more viable. The switch between its weapon systems does, however, take longer.

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

BMPT-72 Terminator 2

We've rebalanced the autocannons of this vehicle for much higher performance (including penetration and rate of fire) in order to make them more viable. The switch between its weapon systems does, however, take longer.

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time
Improved the armor around its turret ring and turret drive
Fixed the UI hull traverse value in the Garage
Instead of the 2UOF21 autocannon shells, players can now unlock improved AP shells with higher damage and penetration while the 3UOF21 shells become stock

BVP Šakal

Spike-LR ATGM velocity reduced to the real life value, 150 m/s
Spike ATGMs are no long excessively agile upon launch

Centauro 155

Changed the vehicle's armor for it to correspond to the real life vehicle better

Challenger 2

Fixed the issue where its gun could not be damaged

Chieftain 900

Fixed the armor by removing the bugged spots that could not be penetrated with any shell

Chieftain Mk.2

Fixed the armor by removing the bugged spots that could not be penetrated with any shell

Chieftain Mk.10

Fixed the armor by removing the bugged spots that could not be penetrated with any shell

Chieftain Mk.6 Leader

Engine renamed from Leyland L60 Mk.7A to Perkins Condor V12-900
Fixed the armor by removing the bugged spots that could not be penetrated with any shell

Dragoon 300

Improved the armor around troop firing ports

Expeditionary Tank

Fixed the incorrect UI characteristics values in the Garage by replacing them with the correct ones (the vehicle itself did not change at all)

K21 XC-8

The shell type for DM12A1 was fixed, it now corresponds to the real shell

Leopard 2AV

The vehicle now has an alternative gun, a 120mm L/44 smoothbore

Leopard 2AX

Added a number of armor changes, including to the ESPACE applique armor kit

M1A1

Its stock configuration now includes a soft-kill APS

M1A2 SEP V3

Improved the model of the TUSK ERA

M2A3 Bradley

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

M60, M60A1, M60A2 Starship, M60A3

Fixed the excessively thick mudguard area armor

Merkava Mk.2D

Added a number of armor changes and adjusted the UI armor values to make them more correspond to the actual vehicle better (the effective armor protection did not change)
Improved its upper frontal plate

Object 187

Fixed the vehicle's position in the Garage
Fixed the exhaust smoke position

Object 279

Fixed an issue where the bonuses for switchning its suspension modes did not work correctly

OT-64 COBRA

Improved the missile agility immediately after launch
Improved its autocannon accuracy on the move
Launched ATGMs are now easier to control

PL-01

Fixed an issue where the improved APFSDS shell ignored ERA

PTZ-89

Improved its accuracy from 0.083 to 0.072
Rate of fire increased from 7 to 8.3 rounds per minute
Aiming time reduced from 2.3s to 1.5s
Ammunition carried increased to 45 rounds

Rosomak M1

Adjusted the player ability to control its guided missiles

Sabre

L14A3 shell penetration increased
Swingfire ATGMs improved – the new Swingfire SWIV missiles have 700mm of penetration
Improved initial ATGM acceleration

Stingray 2

Fixed the position of its gun

Swingfire

Improved initial ATGM acceleration

T-15

We've rebalanced the autocannons of this vehicle for much higher performance (including penetration and rate of fire) in order to make them more viable. The switch between its weapon systems does, however, take longer.

T-72B3

Fixed the mantlet armor

T-80B

Fixed the armor around the driver's hatch

T-90

Fixed the HEAT shell and ATGM damage bonus tooltip
The vehicle received improved textures

Taifun II

Improved the crew hatch armor as well as the armor on the vehicle's sides
Fixed the smoke deployment sound

Type 85-IIM

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

Type 90-II

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

Type 96

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

Type 96A

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time

Type 96B

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time
Its armor was updated to match the real life vehicle better

Type 99

Fixed the Refleks ATGM flight velocity to match the one of Type 99A

VBL

Improved the autocannons accuracy and its corresponding values such as recoil and movement accuracy penalties
Significantly reduced the camouflage penalty for firing its autocannon
Improved the autocannon's elevation and depression
Frowning time changed from 20s to 10s

VBL INGWE

Changed the module unlocking order in its Upgrade window

VBR

Reduced the camouflage penalty for firing an autocannon
Improved the autocannon's accuracy on the move

VT-4

The left track now behaves correctly when turning

VT-5

Having a wounded gunner does not affect the vehicle's weapon reload time
Improved the gun depression when the gun is facing to the side of the vehicle from -6 to -8 degrees

Warrior MILAN

Fixed an issue where switching weapons systems under some circumstances didn't trigger a reload timer and the aiming reticle didn't switch
Fixed an issue where installing the TES(H) armor kit lowered the UI armor values

WPB Anders

Fixed an issue where the hull collision model was missing
Fixed the APS layout

WWO Wilk

Reduced the camouflage penalty for firing its gun
Aiming time reduced
Reload time reduced from 6.6s to 5s

XM1 Fox

Added several armor changes

XM1A3

Fixed an issue where the gun firing visual effect was missing
Improved the model of the TUSK ERA
Improved the frontal turret armor against HEAT rounds

ZBD-86 Neon

Headlights now display properly on the vehicle

Player versus Player

Added a new map – Salzburg
Chemical Plant: optimized the lighting for better performance
Ghost Field: changed the location of the bases
Ghost Field: improved the map's performance around the airstrip area
Lost Island: fixed an issue where several rocks missed a collision model
Narrows: viewrange is now reduced when it rains
Narrows: fixed the location of bases (the actual location now corresponds the visual one)
Pleternica: optimized the lighting for better performance
Port Storm: fixed the location of bases (the actual location now corresponds the visual one)

Player versus Environment

AI vehicles now cannot damage each other (their friendly fire is disabled)
AI vehicles now do reduced damage to modules (reduction by 60 percent, 40 percent for Hardcore)
Operations Harbinger, Stormy Winter, Starry Night and Ghost Hunter return in an updated form

Global Operations

Narrows: fixed the location of bases (the actual location now corresponds the visual one)
Fixed an issue where, upon death, the musical score would change
Fixed an issue where the reload timer worked incorrectly in this mode
AC-130 hit point and damage values now depend on player Tier
AC-130 viewrange reduced to 500m

Special Operations

Added the last, fourth, mission to the Black Sea Incursion Special Operation where Magnus Holter finally meets his nemesis – Sebastian Grimm – in Gori (this map has three new achievements)
Black Sea Incursion: improved the respawn points
Black Sea Incursion Chapter 1: transparent mesh fences no longer act as spotting obstacles
Black Sea Incursion Chapter 1: changed the loading screen
Black Sea Incursion Chapter 2: the city destruction cutscene now displays correctly
Black Sea Incursion Chapter 3: fixed the airplane model
Black Sea Incursion Chapter 3: the velocity and damage of ATGMs fired by enemy helicopters now depends on player team's Tier
Black Sea Incursion Chapter 3: the Peacemaker achievement can still be obtained even if you destroy up to 3 enemy vehicles

User Interface

Added the Armor Inspector feature
Overhauled the vehicle purchase notification that will now show an additional presentation screen with vehicle characteristics
Overhauled the battle results screen to make the transition to the Garage smoother
Garage vehicle characteristic indicators now adjust upon the installation of module upgrades
Base Colors that you don't own yet can now be viewed in the Customization window
In the full-screen mode, you can now select any of the resolutions supported by your screen without having the image distorted (stretched or compressed). Reducing screen resolution positively affects game performance in case of FPS trouble
Implemented a large number of smaller UI fixes and corrections

Issues and Corrections

Fixed an issue where the game would crash when loading
Fixed an issue where the game would crash or freeze upon exiting a battle
Fixed an issue where player vehicles would sometimes spawn below the map
Fixed an issue that would make the game's lighting appear incorrectly on high visual settings
Fixed an issue where, upon respawn in PvE or GLOPS, ATGMs started to reload from scratch instead of the vehicle respawning with its launcher loaded like it should have
Fixed an issue where the battle UI at the start of a game showed an incorrect number of shells
Fixed an issue where the Silencer commander skill did not work correctly (provided no bonuses)
Fixed an issue where enabling the profanity filter sometimes removed player nicknames from the Global Chat
Fixed an issue where reconnecting to a GLOPS game could make the team point bars appear incorrectly
Fixed an issue where some Black Sea Incursion dialogue portraits appeared incorrectly
Fixed several Tutorial cutscenes
Fixed an issue that caused problems with assigning a different key than the default "E" to vehicle active abilities
Fixed an issue where, in some cases, the sound of hitting an enemy would not play properly
Fixed an issue where some rear lights would not work
Fixed the sounds of optional Leopard 2AV, XM1A3 and Object 187 engines
Fixed an issue where wounding one of the two vehicle's loaders made the second loader's skills stop working if the second loader had the same skills as the first one
Fixed an issue where some commander skills remained active even when the commander was wounded
Fixed an issue where the game sometimes did not appear correctly on several resolutions (the image was scaled incorrectly)
Fixed an issue where the HQ interface was unresponsive with the vehicle filters open
Fixed an issue where Ready Rack reload was not working correctly – from now on, the rack loading process does not start until the gun itself is loaded
Fixed an issue where AI vehicles would sometimes drift sideways in mission cutscenes, tofu delivery style

Sep 6, 2018

Black Sea Incursion – Part II is here!

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

The time has come and the second part of the Black Sea Incursion season is finally here, bringing an entire new vehicle progression line as well as many other interesting improvements!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxdQpQ2L_vE

The second part of the Black Sea Incursion season includes the following features:

New Dealer with Vehicles
Four New Commanders
Armor Viewer
PvP map Salzburg
New Special Operations mission
Overhauled standard PvE missions
Major Game Optimization
Game Mechanics improvements

And much more!

New Dealer and Vehicles

In Update 0.26, we are introducing a new player friendly dealer called Solomon Schreiber.

Solomon Schreiber is one of the most efficient agents of the Israeli Defense Forces procurement agency, he deals in both the export of IDF vehicles and the import of modern military technologies from all over the world – from cutting edge military laboratories to defunded old bases hiding technical marvels of the old world, nothing is beyond the reach of Sol’s agents.

He’s coming with a full branch of Israeli progression Main Battle Tanks, including:

M50 Super Sherman Tier 1 MBT (read more)
Sho’t Kal Dalet Tier 2 MBT (read more)
Tiran 6 Tier 3 MBT (read more)
Magach 5 Tier 4 MBT (read more)
Magach 6B Tier 5 MBT (read more)
Merkava Mk.1 Tier 5 MBT (read more)
Merkava Mk.2B Tier 6 MBT (read more)
Magach 7C Tier 6 MBT (read more)
Merkava Mk.3D Barak Zoher Tier 8 MBT (read more)
Merkava Mk.4 Tier 9 MBT (read more)
Merkava Mk.4M Windbreaker Tier 10 MBT (read more)

Two Israeli Premium vehicles (available within the game for Gold) are also included:

M51 Super Sherman Tier 2 Premium MBT (read more)
Magach 7A Tier 6 Premium MBT (read more)

Apart from the vehicles themselves, Solomon Schreiber will have its own set of special rules as well as its dedicated camouflages, base colors, decals and much more. You can read more about him in a dedicated article.

And last but not least, the PT-76 Tier 1 Light Tank will be replaced by a more powerful vehicle, the PT-85. You can read more about it in our dedicated article. Players who owned the PT-76 before this update will get to keep it.

M50 Super Sherman:

Sho’t Kal Dalet:

Tiran 6:

Magach 5:

Magach 6B:

Merkava Mk.1:

Merkava Mk.2B:

Magach 7C:

Merkava Mk.3D Barak Zoher:

Merkava Mk.4:

Merkava Mk.4M Windbreaker:

M51:

Magach 7A:

Four New Commanders

Two new progression commanders will also be available via the new vehicles that will be introduced in Update 0.26 – Rachel Kramer and Gia Tsiklauri. Rachel will be a newbie-friendly MBT commander while Gia will be suitable for advanced players. You can read more about them in an article about Sol Schreiber.

Additionally, we are introducing two Premium commanders. These Premium commanders start with Rank 10 and have a pre-determined set of skills for those players who prefer to not delve into the commander skill system. These commanders are described in our dedicated article.

Armor Viewer

Armor Viewer is a special Garage option that allows players to inspect the armor of each playable vehicle in the game, including its thickness and composition. Additionally, it allows players to determine whether that vehicle can be penetrated by a shell of their choosing and from what angle.

You can read more about it in a dedicated article.

PvP map Salzburg

We are introducing a new PvP map that is based on the design of the Austrian city of Salzburg, famous for its castle and the medieval salt trade that took place on the river the castle overlooks. The map offers a number of tactical choices and consists of both rolling hill countryside and of the city’s narrow streets.

Whether you choose to advance through the open fields to the south of the map or through the urban area, be aware of your surroundings and make the river run salty with the tears of your opponents! You can read more about it in a dedicated article.

New Special Operations Mission

The conclusion of the Black Sea Incursion story arc awaits you as the architect of Magnus Holter’s downfall is finally unveiled – or is he?

Join Magnus Holter in his quest for vengeance and discover the truth about the events that transpired during the Caribbean Crisis arc. You can read more about the Armored Warfare storyline in a dedicated article.

Overhauled standard PvE missions

In Update 0.26, we have overhauled four older PvE missions and are returning them to the game with new mechanics and without the bugs that prevented them from running correctly. These missions are:

Operation Harbinger
Operation Stormy Winter
Operation Starry Night
Operation Ghost Hunter

We hope that you will enjoy them in their new form!

Major Game Optimization

We’ve performed a major optimization of the client. Medium and High settings should see a performance increase of up to 20 percent. The average performance increase for these settings is 10 percent. Additionally, we reduced the game UI’s memory requirements by approximately a half.

Game Mechanics Improvements

Update 0.26 is also bringing a large number of vehicle rebalances as well as mechanics improvements. The largest overhaul concerns the APS mechanics and you can read more about this change in a dedicated article.

Other mechanics changes include:

Low-tier Vehicle Overhaul
Smoke system changes
High-Explosive shell improvements
Crew skill changes
Ammo Rack changes

We hope that you will enjoy the second part of the Black Sea Incursion season and will see you on the battlefield!

Sep 4, 2018

MyLoot Offer: Offensive Firepower

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

Today, we are adding three very different vehicles to the MyLoot store:

Type 59-IIA Legend Tier 3 Premium Main Battle Tank
Begleitpanzer 57 Joker Tier 5 Premium Light Tank
Type 96B Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank

What these vehicles have in common is that they are oriented towards offensive – they perform best when played aggressively.

Apart from the standalone offers (including for Gold), the following special bundles are also available between September 4 and September 11, 2018:

Type 59-IIA Legend

The Type 59-IIA is one of the evolutions of the Type 59 Main Battle Tank, which in turn is a Chinese T-55 copy from the 1950s. The Type 59 was produced in very large quantities but eventually became obsolete, leading to a number of attempts to upgrade its performance. This variant features a 105mm rifled gun as well as a suite of modern western electronics.

In Armored Warfare, the Type 59-IIA Legend is a Tier 3 Premium Main Battle Tank. It’s a well-rounded machine and is very suitable for players who enjoy the low-Tier Chinese MBT gameplay. It offers a mix of good protection, firepower and mobility and comes with a unique camouflage.

Aside from the standalone offer, it is available in the following bundles:

Improved Bundle with 25% discount, containing:

Type 59-IIA Legend Tier 3 Premium Main Battle Tank
3 days of Premium Time
3 Gold Loot Crates
300 Gold

Prime Bundle with 45% discount, containing:

Type 59-IIA Legend Tier 3 Premium Main Battle Tank
7 days of Premium Time
5 Gold Loot Crates
3 Platinum Loot Crates
750 Gold

Begleitpanzer 57 Joker

The Begleitpanzer 57 Joker is based on one of the lesser known German attempts from the late 1970s to create an infantry fire support vehicle on the German Marder IFV chassis. It was a purely commercial project, intended for export. Unfortunately, while it had potential, it did not manage to attract any customers. A single prototype was built in 1977 and you can read more about it in a dedicated article.

Its rather unique combination of a 57mm automatic cannon and a TOW missile launcher allows it to take out any target it encounters at any distance, although medium ranges is where it performs the best. This version sports a disturbing green and violet paintjob to unsettle your opponents.

Aside from the standalone offer, it is available in the following bundles:

Improved Bundle with 25% discount, containing:

Begleitpanzer 57 Joker Tier 5 Premium Light Tank
5 Gold Loot Crates
5 Gold Battlefield Glory 12-hour Boost Tokens
15 Gold Crew Insignia tokens
15 Gold Commander Insignia tokens
15 Gold Reputation Insignia tokens
15 Gold Credits Insignia tokens
15 Gold Experience Insignia tokens
1.500 Gold

Prime Bundle with 40% discount, containing:

Begleitpanzer 57 Joker Tier 5 Premium Light Tank
10 Platinum Loot Crates
10 Platinum Battlefield Glory 12-hour Boost tokens
35 Gold Crew Insignia tokens
35 Gold Commander Insignia tokens
35 Gold Reputation Insignia tokens
35 Gold Credits Insignia tokens
35 Gold Experience Insignia tokens
2.500 Gold

Type 96B

The Type 96B MBT, as its name suggests, is an evolution of the Type 96A, featuring such elements as an upgraded fire control system and a much more powerful engine, resulting in considerably better mobility and speed. Unlike the Type 96A, however, the Type 96B is a prototype, designed for the Chinese military team to use during the annual Tank Biathlon event in Russia. In 2017, the Chinese team won the second place, being defeated only by Russia. You can learn more about its history in our dedicated article!

In Armored Warfare, the Type 96B is a Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank. Gameplay-wise, it’s very agile and fast for its class and uses advanced ammunition, making it highly suitable for players who prefer mobility over armor protection, even though it can take a lot of punishment as well.

Aside from the standalone offer, it is available in the following bundles:

Improved Bundle with 27% discount, containing:

Type 96B Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank
12 Gold Loot Crates
12 Gold Battlefield Glory 12-hour Boost tokens
30 Gold Crew Insignia tokens
30 Gold Commander Insignia tokens
30 Gold Reputation Insignia tokens
30 Gold Credits Insignia tokens
30 Gold Experience Insignia tokens
3.000 Gold

Prime Bundle with 47% discount, containing:

Type 96B Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank
20 Platinum Loot Crates
12 Platinum Battlefield Glory 12-hour Boost tokens
50 Platinum Crew Insignia tokens
50 Platinum Commander Insignia tokens
50 Platinum Reputation Insignia tokens
50 Platinum Credits Insignia tokens
50 Platinum Experience Insignia tokens
5.000 Gold

And last but not least, all three vehicles are available as a part of the Offensive Firepower bundle with 58% discount, along with:

100 Platinum Loot Crates
100 Platinum Battlefield Glory 12-hour Boost Tokens
100 Platinum Armored Warfare 12-hour Boost Tokens
360 days of Premium Time (4 90-day tokens)
25.000 Gold

Please note:

This offer starts on September 4, 16:00 CEST (7 AM PDT)
This offer ends on September 11, 16:00 CEST (7 AM PDT)
If you already owned a bundle vehicle, you will instead receive its Compensation Value in Gold instead

We hope that you will enjoy this offer and will see you on the battlefield!

Sep 3, 2018

Branch of the Month – BMPs

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

This month in our Branch of the Month series is dedicated to the BMP series branch, available in Sophie Wölfli’s vehicle pool.

The BMP series or Soviet and Russian Infantry Fighting Vehicles goes back to the 1960s when he Soviets needed a fast, armored, tracked vehicle to keep up with their armored formations. What they came up with was, at that time, the most modern IFV in the world and certainly the best armed one – at least in paper – the BMP-1.

The ubiquitous BMP-1 is – quite correctly – regarded as one of the symbols of the Soviet military power, the fears of the western militaries embodied in endless streams of Russian vehicles, thrust from the cities of East Germany, plains of Poland and mountains of Czechoslovakia as an armored spear into the heart of the NATO forces in Europe. The vehicle development history is described in our dedicated article.

The reality, as it usually happens, was far less glorious and first combat operations of the BMP-1 in the conflict of Soviet-backed Arab nations versus Israel have shown the weaknesses of this light IFV, specifically the insufficient armament, cramped compartment and poor crew placement. While the issues in the middle-eastern wars were largely attributed to the improper use of the exported vehicles along with wrong tactics, admitting the problems of the vehicle on its home ground – in Soviet Russia – proved out to be much longer and arduous process, especially since it had to include certain influential parties admitting being wrong. It took a great deal of time to design its replacement, the BMP-2, and the process was anything but simple. It is described in the following articles:

The BMP-2 was an upgrade over the BMP-1, but not a huge one – it was more like an upgraded version with many of the original design flaws, including its cramped design and the inability to mount a larger weapon system. But, even before the first BMP-2 rolled off the assembly lines, the Soviets had set their sights on developing a true successor – a bigger and better BMP.

The result was the BMP-3. Larger and better armored, it replaced the BMP-1 and BMP-2 weapons with the rather distinctive combination of a low muzzle energy 100mm cannon (intended to fire HE rounds and gun-launched missiles) and a long-barreled 30mm autocannon.

Several hundred were built starting from the late 1980s but by the time it appeared in public, the Soviet Union was practically collapsing. The 1990s were a dark time for the Russian military as many of the development and production programs from the Soviet era were cancelled due to a lack of funding, including a true mass production – approximately 2000 vehicles were built in total throughout the 1990s, but around three quarters of that number were export vehicles – Russia itself kept around 500 of them, a significant drop compared to the tens of thousands of earlier BMP vehicles. Its history was also described in a dedicated article.

The BMP-3 continues to serve to this day stay as the main Russian IFV. During the 2000s, several major upgrades for it were conceived (including the BMP-3M and the Dragun), some of which are available in Armored Warfare.

From September 3 to September 30, 2018, the following vehicles will be available for lower price than usual:

BMP-1 Tier 3 AFV – The original Soviet BMP-1 IFV in its configuration with a Malyutka launcher and a 73mm 2A28 Grom gun. At the time of its introduction in mid-1960s, it was the best IFV in the world but grew obsolete in the decades that followed. With more than twenty thousand built (including the license-produced variants), it is still one of the most common IFVs in the world. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

Discount: 35%

BMP-1P Tier 4 AFV – This is an upgraded late production BMP-1 model. The biggest difference compared to the original BMP-1 is the improved guided missile system, allowing it to knock out even the tanks that the original Malyutka ATGM would struggle with. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

Discount: 35%

BMP-2 Tier 5 AFV – The BMP-2 was the second major production variant of the original BMP with its turret replaced by one carrying a 30mm autocannon. Like the BMP-1, it was produced in relatively large numbers in the Soviet Union and outside of it as well. You can read more about it in our article series – Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.

Discount: 35%

BMP-3 Tier 6 AFV – Unlike the BMP-2, this vehicle from the late 1980s was a true replacement for the BMP-1 and BMP-2, not just an upgrade. Unfortunately for it, the fall of the Soviet Union severely limited its development funds as well as its production orders and, to this day, only about two thousand had been built. Nevertheless, it is the current main IFV of the Russian Federation. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

Discount: 35%

BMP-3M Tier 7 AFV – The BMP-3M variant was a late 1990s attempt at a major modernization of the BMP-3 that included a more powerful engine, a better FCS and improved gun-launched ATGMs. Other improvements included an Arena-E APS option. An unknown number of these vehicles was built for both the Russian Federation and for export but the production run was likely limited to only dozens of vehicles. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

Discount: 25%

Dragun 125 Tier 8 LT – The Dragun (“Dragoon”) is a platform derived from the original BMP-3 but with many changes and improvements. The biggest change is the overhaul of its internal layout by moving the engine to the front – this leaves more space for the crew and improves frontal crew protection. Three combat modules were conceived for the Dragun platform – a 100+30mm one, a 57mm one and a 125mm one akin to that of the Sprut-SDM-1. The Armored Warfare version is armed with the 125mm turret and equipped with an ERA kit.

Discount: 25%

In Armored Warfare, the BMP series (with the exception of the Dragun) can be classified as a heavy IFV one.

Heavy IFVs lie in their role somewhere between the Light AFVs (such as the VBLs and BMDs) and the Light Tanks. On the scale of mobility, they are second only to the Light AFVs, especially on hard surfaces, with the scale itself looking roughly as such (from the highest mobility class to the lowest):

Light AFVs
Heavy IFVs
Light Tanks
Tank Destroyers
Main Battle Tanks
Self-Propelled Guns

The armament systems are generally identical to the Light AFV class but are better stabilized (increased accuracy on the move) or can fire faster. Heavy AFVs are also larger and have more hitpoints with some of the vehicles featuring quite solid protection, rivaling that of the Light Tanks – for example, the Bradley and the BMP-3 both carry an ERA kit. This armor, however, should not be generally relied upon as main caliber weapons and guided missiles will penetrate it quite easily.

While they are still AFVs and are fully capable of scouting, Heavy AFVs typically don’t carry the Recon Package module of the light AFVs that reduces the spotted indicator feedback time and increases vehicle viewrange when standing still. Additionally, they are usually much larger, a fact that considerably reduces their camouflage factor. These two drawbacks make them considerably worse at passive spotting – they are too conspicuous to successfully stay hidden behind a bush and have to rely on their speed and agility.

The Heavy AFVs are suitable for you if you prefer more mobile playstyle compared to the Light AFVs. Mobility and speed is everything – circle around your opponents and hit them where it hurts – areas such as the engines decks and vehicle flanks are especially vulnerable to AFV cannon fire. Or keep your distance and use your missiles to take the enemies out, but your main role on the battlefield will still be scouting.

As was stated above, the primary role of the Armored Fighting Vehicles in Armored Warfare is scouting, or spotting (both terms are commonly used). Spotting is the act of making the enemy vehicles visible for your entire team so that vehicles that are further away or do not have the best spotting abilities can target them.

There are essentially two kinds of spotting:

Active spotting, where a vehicle uses its speed to spot the enemy while avoiding incoming fire
Passive spotting, where a vehicle attempts to stay hidden for as long as possible by standing still

While the Light Tank class is suitable for active spotting, the AFVs excel at both – in fact, spotting is their primary purpose. Light AFVs are best at passive spotting (staying hidden behind bushes), Heavy AFVs are best at active spotting – only the Light Tanks come close.

The most important skill, when playing AFVs of any type, is to read the flow of battle and to understand your surroundings. As was stated above, a stopped or slowed and spotted AFV is a dead AFV – there are practically no exceptions to that rule since the fragile vehicles represent a juicy target.

The basic short-range combat technique is called circling. Auto-locking your gun on the enemy at short range allows you, thanks to your mobility and fast turret traverse, to stay focused on driving and firing while the gun points at the enemy flanks and rear. This way, you can drive in circles around heavy enemies such as MBTs and they won’t be able to follow you. This tactic is especially suitable for dealing with targets that your gun would otherwise be unable to penetrate like the Challenger – targeting its rear is a must when using your autocannon. Beware, however – nimble targets such as Light Tanks, other AFVs and some Tank Destroyers will be able to track you even when you attempt to circle them and a head-on firefight is not something any AFV can afford to participate in.

Heavy AFVs are exceptionally good at hunting Light AFVs thanks to their increased durability, protection, firepower and decent spotting abilities. Marking an enemy AFV with your special ability will definitely ruin his day.

Another essential skill is to learn of all the proper spotting areas on each map. The key is to find a place with the following properties:

Good vantage point over areas where the enemies are expected to show up
Plenty of cover and foliage to hide you
Accessible route of retreat

The last point should not be underestimated – when discovered, you only have a second or two to react while the enemy is still targeting you. The best tactic is to stay in cover with the front of your hull aimed at the retreat route – this way, running away is only a matter of going forward instead of wasting precious second to turn.

Truly mastering the AFV class requires patience and experience with the game and a lot of practice – the reward is driving perhaps the most frustrating class of vehicles to defeat. It is, therefore, the right choice for players who truly want to make other players hate them as an extremely skilled player in an AFV is perhaps the most difficult kind of opponent to kill in the entire game.

We’ll see you on the battlefield!