Jul 31, 2020

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

Welcome to the third part of our developer diary series, in which we explain the changes that will take place in Update 0.33. In the two previous installments, we discussed how we need to address power creep and our vision for the upcoming vehicle roles. Both articles were a little bit vague, but necessary in order to establish the foundations on which the upcoming changes are built. But, today, we’ll start getting more into the specifics.

One of the most discussed topics after the publication of the last part was the impact of all these changes on the PvE modes that are available in the game. Let us address this concern head on: We’ll make sure PvE stays fun due to a combination of adjustments that we are planning. After all, nobody says the AI vehicles have to have the same characteristics as players and other changes to AI opponents are still in the production pipeline.

Another concern of yours was the sufficiency of MBT armor in first line combat in general. Rest assured that this too will be addressed during the changes. But one element (that will actually affect all vehicles, not just Tier 7-10) that will definitely play a role in addressing both of these concerns will be the upcoming Explosive Reactive Armor mechanic overhaul.

Here’s what we are planning.

As you know, Explosive Reactive Armor consists of a metallic shell (in most cases anyway) and an explosive filler. When hit, the explosive blow up the frontal plate of an ERA module against the projectile, disrupting HEAT ammo jets and affecting even kinetic ammunition. ERA armor consists of typically brick-shaped elements and gets destroyed upon shell impact.

In Update 0.33, each ERA element will consist of:

Armored casing
Explosive filler

Armored casing will protect the ERA element from machinegun fire or even autocannons (depending on how advanced the ERA set is). This is due to the fact that with the appearance of machineguns in the game, the tactic of switching to a machinegun and then destroying the entire enemy ERA set in seconds became too prevalent. That way, the ERA would not survive to protect the tank against the threats it was intended against (ATGMs and HEAT rounds). While this is primarily a PvP considerations, having AI opponents rake your armor with autocannon fire yielded the same results.

Please note that while this may sound like a normal armor check, it is not – it doesn’t take the ERA angle into account, only the actual penetration roll.

If the armor of the casing is penetrated, the filler explodes. In game terms, the penetration of this shell will be first reduced by the armored casing thickness and this resulting penetration number will be then reduced by a certain percentage depending on the shell type and ERA effectiveness. This number will also be affected by the shell’s impact angle. The sharper the angle is, the higher the penetration reduction (this will start playing a role at 40 degrees impact angle or sharper).

Additionally, ERA elements will have their own hitpoint pool so even if a round penetrates, it may simply damage the ERA (not triggering an explosion) if the shell’s damage is lower than the amount of remaining ERA element hitpoints. The hitpoint count will, however, be lower than on the vehicles equipped with NERA.

So, in summation, what will happen if a projectile hits an ERA element?

A penetration check is made with the shell rolling its RNG against the element’s armor casing thickness
If the shell penetrates, a damage RNG roll is made and shells with lower damage than the remaining ERA hitpoints simply damage the ERA tile, not doing anything further
If the ERA damage fails, the ERA tile explodes

At this point:

The penetration established in the first point is reduced by the nominal armor casing thickness
This result is then reduced by a percentage determined by each ERA set generation
The reduced result is further adjusted by the amount determined by the shell’s impact angle
The actual main armor penetration check is made with this new number

The effectiveness of ERA will depend on its generation. There will be four ERA generations present in Armored Warfare (each ERA set will have its generation listed in its description):

First Generation ERA

These are the early ERA sets that appear on Tiers 6 and below.

They represent fairly rudimentary designs and offer the following protection:

Armor casing immune to machineguns and autocannons of up to 20mm caliber
50% penetration reduction to standard HEAT and HE penetration
No protection offered from kinetic shells, HESH shells or tandem ATGM warheads

First generation ERA examples include the Blazer and Kontakt-1 systems.

Second Generation ERA

Second Generation ERA is what you currently see on various service tanks and appears on Tiers 6-8.

These sets offer the following protection:

Armor casing immune to machineguns and autocannons of up to 20mm caliber
80% penetration reduction to standard HEAT and HE penetration
20% penetration reduction to AP and HESH penetration
No protection offered from tandem ATGM warheads

Second generation ERA examples include the Stryker Reactive Armor, ARAT and Kontakt-5 systems.

Third Generation ERA

Third Generation ERA is the current cutting edge technology and appears on Tiers 8-10.

These sets offer the following protection:

Armor casing immune to machineguns and autocannons of up to 20mm caliber, can take multiple larger autocannon hits to take down
80% penetration reduction to standard HEAT and HE penetration
50% penetration reduction to tandem HEAT penetration
50% penetration reduction to AP and HESH penetration

Third generation ERA examples include the ARAT-2 and Relikt systems and pretty much everything else on the abovementioned Tiers, with some exceptions. Oplot’s Duplet armor will belong to this generation while retaining its “twin layer” special properties.

Fourth Generation ERA

This generation represents either current cutting edge or fictional armor Tier, introduced for the sake of balance. Only two sets of armor will belong to this Generation, Armata’s Malakhit and XM1A3’s special ARAT set.

As you can imagine, the protection offered by this armor will be substantial:

Armor casing immune to machineguns and autocannons of up to 20mm caliber, can take multiple larger autocannon hits to take down
90% penetration reduction to standard HEAT and HE penetration
90% penetration reduction to tandem HEAT penetration
90% penetration reduction to AP and HESH penetration
70% penetration reduction to the best kinetic shells in the game (excluding kinetic ATGMs)

With that being said, there are a few important things to keep in mind:

Like in real life, lighter armor sets meant for IFVs and Light Tanks will not protect as much as the heavy sets carried by MBTs
There will also be interim generations (Gen 2+, Gen 3+) with their characteristics somewhere between generations

At the end of the day, the numbers above only serve as examples of what we are aiming towards and we’ll be reviewing each ERA kit individually (for example, the partial Relikt armor found on older BMPT models will perform worse than the one on the BMPT-72) to make sure that they do not end up overperforming. Likewise, we will pay special attention to the MBTs that do not have any frontal ERA, such as the Abrams tanks, to make sure that they do not suffer in this new system.

Now, as for how this system will change the actual gameplay, this was disclosed in the previous article. When fighting each other, two MBTs are expected to fire at areas not covered by Explosive Reactive Armor (or other extra armor types, for that matter) at close ranges. At mid-ranges, they will be expected to fire at weaker areas (such as Russian MBT lower frontal plates) and at long ranges... well, you won’t be expected to fight other MBTs in an MBT at long ranges. At lower and mid Tiers (where ATGMs start to become a thing), ERA kits will boost the ability of the MBT class to lead the charge – yes, even against the dreaded Swingfire ATGMs in PvE.

As for the PvE mode specifically, as we announced before, we already introduced some aiming mechanism changes and are planning to take further steps to improve AI behavior, some of which are described in this article but didn’t make it into the game yet. The AI opponents won’t be automatically aiming at your weakspots, which means that your armor will be able to take more punishment in general, especially against HEAT rounds and ATGMs, which, we are sure you will agree, is a good thing to have.

There will also be some changes addressing the PvE situation indirectly, like adding more vehicles to the AI pool (which, in turn, will reduce the appearance rate of vehicles many players consider toxic). But that is a story for another time.

For now, rest assured that we are reading your feedback carefully and taking it into account. Next time, we’ll be diving into even more specifics of the rebalance.

But, until then:

See you on the battlefield!

Jul 30, 2020

Offer: Challenger Falcon, Leopard Revolution, Sabra Mk.2

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

This week, we’ve prepared another set of attractive items for you:

Challenger 1 Falcon Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank
Leopard Revolution Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank
Merkava Mk.2D Tier 7 Premium Main Battle Tank
Sabra Mk.2 Tier 7 Premium Main Battle Tank
Magach 7A Tier 6 Premium Main Battle Tank
Vickers VFM5 Tier 6 Premium Light Tank
Battle Coins

Between July 30 and August 6, 2020, the following items will be available:

Challenger 1 Falcon

The Falcon is an experimental turret developed in the early 2000s in Jordan as an upgrade to the Jordanian Al-Hussein (Challenger 1) Main Battle Tanks. It's a low profile turret, armed with an automatically loaded Swiss 120mm L/50 RUAG smoothbore gun, capable of firing standard NATO ammunition. The operator controls the turret from inside the vehicle's hull, significantly improving crew protection. A prototype was built and tested, but the design was never mass-produced.

In Armored Warfare, the Challenger 1 Falcon is a Tier 8 Premium Main Battle Tank. The best word to characterize this lumbering behemoth in the game is “tough” – its excellent hull armor shrugs off most shells while the damage its low profile turret takes when it is reduced by 90% thanks to the fact the crew is not located directly in it. Despite being generally very slow and sluggish, the Challenger 1 Falcon can take tremendous punishment and is ideal for the players who prefer the British Main Battle Tank play style.

Leopard 2 Revolution

The Leopard 2 Revolution is a continuation of the older Evolution upgrade, intended to improve the performance of the older variants of the Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank in order to make it excel even on the battlefields of the 21st century. The improvements include a comprehensive armor upgrade, ROSY soft-kill APS and smoke grenade launchers as well as an entire suite of cutting edge electronics. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the Leopard 2 Revolution is a Tier 8 Main Battle Tank. It is not only well-armored, it also features an extremely accurate 120mm gun with advanced ammunition, allowing it to destroy its opponents at very long ranges, rivaling those of Tank Destroyers. The German tanks in general perform best at longer ranges and the Revolution is no exception.

Merkava Mk.2D

The Merkava IID (also known as Mk.2D) is an advanced version of the standard Mk.2 Merkava, upgraded with a modular “Dor-Dalet” composite armor kit. It’s a tough and unyielding vehicle, featuring a number of battle-proven components such as its 105mm rifled cannon. The first version of the Merkava Mk.2 entered service in 1983 and the last vehicles were phased out in 2016 after thirty long years.

In Armored Warfare, the Merkava IID is a Tier 7 Premium Main Battle Tank. It is not equipped with an explosive reactive armor kit, but is, nevertheless, a very tough customer due to the introduction of the applique armor, allowing it to take a lot of damage. Additionally, the tank is equipped with a Ready Rack mechanism, significantly increasing the rate of fire for the first four shots.

Sabra Mk.2

The Israeli Sabra Mk.2 was developed as an upgrade kit for the aging Turkish M60A1 and M60A3 series Patton tanks in the early 21st century. Its main features include a new 120mm IMI M253 smoothbore gun replacing the old M68, and a brand new set of additional NERA armor, significantly improving the tank’s protection. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the Sabra Mk.2 is a Tier 7 Premium Main Battle Tank with powerful armament capable of defeating almost any vehicle it encounters on the battlefield. It’s not well-armored, but its ability to penetrate even extremely thick armor more than makes up for this handicap.

Magach 7A

The Magach 7A is an early M60 series American tank, upgraded by the Israelis to meet the requirements of the 1990s battlefield, especially to combat the threat of anti-tank guided missiles that had started to find their way into the hands of various terrorist groups in the late 1980s. The most distinctive upgrade is its box-shaped extra turret armor. While well-protected, the tank was quite lethargic when it came to its mobility due to the use of its old engine, a shortcoming that was only corrected in the final evolution step of the Magach series, the Magach 7C. You can read more about it in a dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the Magach 7A is a Tier 6 Premium Main Battle Tank. With its excellent gun accuracy and aiming time values, the Magach 7A is a good sniper for its class and is perfectly suitable for those players, who want to experience long-range combat but who also want to keep some level of protection and survivability instead of completely relying on mobility and camouflage. It’s a rather sluggish vehicle, but more than a match for anything that it encounters on the battlefield.

VFM Mk.5

When it was designed, the VFM Light Tank by Vickers was expected to be a success. Produced for export, it was just what customers required – MBT-level firepower (thanks to its 105mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun) on a light, tracked and – most importantly – affordable chassis. What the designers at Vickers didn’t anticipate was the end of the Cold War, which flooded the market with surplus cheap armor, sealing the fate of this otherwise excellent vehicle.

In Armored Warfare, the VFM5 is an excellent Tier 6 Light Tank. One of the first premium vehicles introduced to the game, time has only enhanced its battlefield value. It is fast, agile and perfect representative of the Light Tank flanking play style.

Enigma’s Legacy Battle Coins

This week, we are offering you an opportunity to boost your Enigma’s Legacy Battle Path progress and get that main prize you know you want – the Type 10 Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank!

The following Battle Coin bundles are available:

1.000 Battle Coins (10% off)
5.000 Battle Coins (15% off)
10.000 Battle Coins (25% off)
25.000 Battle Coins (35% off)
50.000 Battle Coins (45% off)

Battle Coins can be used for a number of things, including:

Force-completing Battle Path missions
Progressing through Battle Path levels
Purchasing the Enigma’s Legacy Loot Crates with Hunter AFV (when they become available later in August)

We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Jul 27, 2020

Tier 7-10 Rebalance, Part 2 – Class Roles

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

In the last article, we talked about power creep and what we would like to do with power levels in the game in general. In today’s article, we’ll tell you more about what we would like the vehicle class balance to be like, which, we believe, is very important so that the changes that we’ll be talking about later on make sense.

But, before we begin, we’d like to write a few words about these articles in general to make some things clear. These articles do not represent the final product. They represent a vision that we have. There will be changes along the way, that’s something we can guarantee because it’s an evolving process. For example, the last article didn’t mention some topics clearly, such as the Tier 6 and Tier 7 interaction, which we want to make smoother. So, please read the following lines with open minds and remember that it’s all still work in progress.

With that being said, let’s get to it.

Before we started considering the impact of each separate class, we’ve decided on a couple of goals for the whole project:

Reducing the results of power creep, as described in the already mentioned article
Make all types of shells useful
Make the gameplay more dynamic

The last point is closely tied to the success of the 2018-2019 plans to improve low-Tier gameplay in order to make it more dynamic. Since the plan had been positively accepted, we started to introduce some quite dynamic vehicles over the last two years, all of which were more or less received. We’d like to achieve the same fun gameplay on higher Tiers.

Here’s how this plan translates to specific classes:

One of the top problems of today’s balance of top Tiers is the performance of all Main Battle Tanks. Simply put, the MBT class is pretty much the best at everything. It not only has the thickest armor by far, but also a lot of firepower, good mobility and, most importantly, excellent spotting abilities. The last point is especially important because while the Tank Destroyer class is somewhat “safe” with its excellent damage output, the MBTs have been pushing Light Tanks and other scouts “out of business” because the gap between the scouting abilities of dedicated scouts and MBTs became too narrow for the scouts to really have their own niche.

The same goes, to a smaller extent, for the MBT damage output, speed and, in some cases, maneuverability. As you can imagine, this is not really intended and has to be addressed in order to make the role of each class more prominent.

As the most popular class in the game, the Main Battle Tank class will form the baseline of the upcoming balance changes, so let’s discuss that one first.

Long story short, we want the Main Battle Tanks to be the real frontline fighters of Armored Warfare. They should always find themselves first in the fight with their specialty being close-to-mid-range combat. Of all the vehicles in the game, they should have the highest protection levels, as befits this role – and not just their armor, but also other systems such as soft-kill and hard-kill APS, ERA, NERA, the best smoke grenade launchers, the most hitpoints and so on, but without resorting to what’s commonly known amongst the players of Armored Warfare as “pixel hunting.”

“Pixel hunting” is a mechanic where heavily armored targets have only very small (and often illogically placed) weakspots, which means that you have to carefully “scan” the front of the target to aim at those few tiny pixels where your reticle turns green. This is extremely frustrating and offers poor gameplay – in fact, one of the main reasons behind Update 0.19 so long ago was the removal of this effect and we definitely will not return to it. Instead, we’ll be changing the ERA mechanics significantly for them to favor the MBT class more while generally making ERA more useful for everyone.

Firepower-wise, we’ll be aiming at making the MBTs effective at short to medium ranges. The obvious question here is, however, what should we do with the long ranges? The equally obvious answer to this question would be to reduce the MBT accuracy significantly – and that’s exactly what we don’t want to do.

Some other games do this to artificially keep the “heavies” fighting at short ranges, but in reality, the MBTs are remarkably stable and accurate platforms. So, instead, we’ll make (or keep) the MBTs very accurate, even while moving, because that’s what you love about them. Please note that some smaller tweaks may happen in the context of the general rebalance since pretty much everything else will change a bit as well.

At this point, however, realism will have to offer some concessions to gameplay because, like we stated before, we definitely do not want to have one class dominate all others. That is why we’re considering making some adjustments that do not exactly match the world we live in, such as:

1) MBT kinetic shells (APFSDS and others) will become noticeably less effective at longer ranges by means of penetration loss. The penetration loss over distance mechanism for kinetic shells is already in place, we’ll just tweak it to become more prominent
2) MBTs will gain the ability to switch ammunition types faster, allowing you to always have the option to decide what ammunition suits your targets the best (this will affect Ready Racks and Clip magazines as well)

We’ll also be rebalancing the gun-launched ATGMs and some kinetic MBT shells will even be buffed to fit their new roles. Very roughly speaking, at close ranges, MBT APFSDS shells will be effective MBT killers while at longer ranges, they will lose their efficiency and we will be encouraging players to carefully consider their selected ammunition type.

That way, the MBTs will remain extremely deadly at close ranges without completely surpassing everyone else and all that without resorting to “pixel hunting”. When two MBTs start fighting each other, the gameplay will shift from looking for weakspots to which tank can penetrate the other at longer distances.

Another thing we truly need to do is tweak mobility, stealth and viewrange values – emphasis on tweaking, not nerfing them to the ground (some slower players seem to like to use these interchangeably). The MBT class will not be incredibly slow, nor will it be totally blind. Each such change will be very carefully considered and fine-tuned.

In summation, what we’ll have is a class that’s very effective up close – in fact, any head to head combat between a MBT and another class of the same Tier will very likely end in MBT’s favor – you shouldn’t be able to trade damage with an MBT in a LT and expect a victory. The MBT class will be very accurate, well protected and adequately mobile at the cost of some spotting abilities and stealth, the way they should have been all along. Last but not least, the changes described above definitely do not mean that all MBTs will play the same. There will still be a lot of diversity within the class itself (especially when it comes to armor values), but, to be clear:

“Marksman” MBTs will not outsnipe dedicated snipers (TDs)
“Fast” MBTs will not outrun dedicated flankers (LTs)
“Armored” MBTs... yeah, those will be a seriously tough nut to crack

And so on. Having the baseline established, let us move to other classes.

Tank Destroyers will be, as they should, the nemesis of Main Battle Tanks. Their intended role won’t change much – they will be the snipers of Armored Warfare:

At longer ranges they will be absolutely without equal
Amazing accuracy when standing still, surpassing every other class
Poor at firing on the move
Average to good speed but mediocre agility, these are not supposed to be run-and-gun vehicles
Poor protection levels

What this means that, especially at close ranges, they will lose to everyone else. On the other side, at long ranges, they will reign supreme because (and this is new):

Unlike the MBTs, their kinetic shells will not lose much (or any) penetration over distance
Gun Tank Destroyers will always feature better ammunition than the MBTs of the same Tier (providing both use the same gun caliber)
Gun Tank Destroyers will not have very high damage per minute values at longer distances in order not to make them surpass other classes such as Light Tanks

Missile Tank Destroyers will also carry the best missiles available in the game.

Light Tanks will be the flankers and second line support vehicles of Armored Warfare. What this means is:

Worse armored but considerably more mobile than MBTs
Can spot enemies better than MBTs but worse than AFVs
Firepower consists of bursts with extremely high damage per minute values
Stealthier than MBTs but less so than TDs or AFVs

So, again, the class will (intention-wise) remain roughly the same as it is now.

And, finally, the Armored Fighting Vehicles will also stay the same with their intention being spotting or fire support (especially via Mechanized Infantry). In short, these will be the fastest, most agile and stealthiest class, but also the most vulnerable one (much like Tank Destroyers, only without the long-range capabilities). We are generally aiming towards improving their usefulness for the entire team by the means of possible new mechanics that we are currently considering.

As you can already see, the abovementioned class definitions don’t really fit all vehicles in the game. The Leopard 1 MBT is more like a Light Tank, the Terminators are not unarmored and effectively represent a class of the own. We’re still considering how to address these discrepancies. Internally, we had an idea for multi-classes (MBT/LT for example) and some vehicles may switch to a different class, but this all is something that we’re still thinking about.

Now, with all that being said, there’s one more thing that needs to be made clear. Like we explained in the previous Developer Diary, our goal is to make the gameplay fair and to address power creep. To that end, some weaker vehicles will be buffed, but some overperforming vehicles will be directly nerfed (as opposed to an indirect nerf, where you simply buff everything else) due to the fact that, as we also mentioned, we are already reaching the engine limits in some cases. That is how things are – without this step, we will never be able to achieve the balanced and enjoyable gameplay state that we all desire.

What is important to keep in mind is that these nerfs will be made within the power bracket system that was outlined in the previous article. Simply put, some may look scarier than they actually are, even though they may nowhere near as serious as you might believe and in some cases may be accompanied by improvements on other places.

Do not fear this change, commanders. Embrace it. The game needs it and it will be better for it in the long run, which is what we all want. That does not mean we will not listen to your feedback – the main set of changes will arrive with Update 0.33 while Update 0.34 will contain additional fine-tuning based on it. We are fully aware that only by working together will Armored Warfare be the amazing game we all deserve.

And in case the article was a little too vague for you, don't worry. In the next part of the series, we will be discussing specific mechanics changes along with examples. Stay tuned and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Jul 23, 2020

Offer: BM Oplot, ZUBR PSP, BWP-2000

Armored Warfare - Silentstalker

Commanders!

This week, we’ve prepared another set of attractive items for you:

BM Oplot Tier 9 Premium Main Battle Tank
Rosomak Wataha Tier 8 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle
BWP-2000 Tier 7 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle
Object 187 Tier 7 Premium Main Battle Tank
ZUBR PSP Tier 7 Premium Tank Destroyer
T-72M2 Wilk Tier 6 Premium Main Battle Tank

Between July 23 and July 30, 2020, the following items will be available:

BM Oplot

The Oplot is a heavily upgraded T-84 Ukrainian Main Battle Tank, which is based on an older design called T-80UD. It is currently the best tank the Ukrainian military industry can offer. You can read more about its history in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the BM Oplot is a Tier 9 Premium Main Battle Tank with a playstyle similar to the T-80U. Power-wise, it’s roughly on par with the T-90MS of the same Tier, but it has a very unique ability. Its advanced Duplet armor consists of several ERA layers, making it able to negate more than one HEAT shell impact. It takes several precise hits aimed at the same location to break through it, making it a very resistant vehicle on the battlefield.

Rosomak M1 Wataha

The Rosomak is the current standard wheeled IFV of the Polish military. Originally designed by Patria, it was modified and locally license-produced in Poland. It has already seen combat in Afghanistan and fared quite well. Poland plans to obtain more of these vehicles in the future. The M1 is an upgraded Rosomak for the use in Afghanistan. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the Rosomak Wataha is a Tier 8 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle. Compared to the standard Tier 7 Rosomak, it features improved protection as well as the ability to fire Spike guided missiles. It can serve as an excellent heavy scout, a light AFV interceptor and, if needed, as an effective tank killer thanks to its ATGM launcher. Wataha stands in Polish for “a pack of predators” (in this case, wolves) and this vehicle is a ferocious beast indeed. It comes with a Polish-themed military camouflage, a Polish flag attached to its antenna and special Wataha imagery.

BWP-2000

The BWP-2000 IFV was a Polish attempt from the mid-1990s to develop a replacement for the license-produced BMP-1 in the Polish military, since it was getting obsolete by that point. Its protracted development led to its cancellation at the onset of War on Terror, leaving Poland without a modern tracked IFV to this day. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the BWP-2000 is a Tier 7 Premium Armored Fighting Vehicle armed with 60mm cannon as well as a set of ATGM launchers. When it comes to AFV playstyle, the BWP-2000 is definitely more of an infantry carrier and fire support vehicle than a scout due to its large size and powerful armament as well as the ability to deploy Mechanized Infantry. It can take quite a bit of punishment and deal it in equal measure.

Object 187

The Object 187 was a Soviet era program, developed to improve upon the excellent but ageing T-72 Main Battle Tank. Several prototypes were built, featuring a number of advanced elements compared to the older Soviet tanks, such as the new long 125mm smoothbore gun with a typical muzzle brake. The result was an excellent MBT that was, however, never mass-produced due to the 1990s Russian military budget cuts – the Russian army chose a less advanced but cheaper T-90 instead. You can learn more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the Object 187 is a typical Russian style Main Battle Tank – it’s suitable for an aggressive play style and is a good choice for the players who prefer to take on their opponents at close ranges.

ZUBR PSP

The ZUBR was a Czech privately-funded project by PSP Bohemia from the 1990s to develop a successor platform to the aging Soviet-era BMP-series IFVs and various other obsolete specialized vehicles. Even though it was quite advanced for its time, it was ultimately unsuccessful due to the end of the Cold War and the subsequent cuts in European military budgets, including the Czech one. You can read more about it in our dedicated article.

In Armored Warfare, the ZUBR PSP is a Tier 7 wheeled Premium Tank Destroyer. What makes it fairly unique is the fact that you can choose from two different weapon systems for this vehicle:

Cockerill CT-CV turret with 105mm gun
Four-barreled TOW ATGM launcher

Each of these weapons changes the gameplay style of the vehicle considerably and it is up to you, how you configure this powerful machine.

T-72M2 Wilk

The T-72M2 Wilk (Polish for “Wolf”) is one of the results of the Polish attempts from the late 1980s to upgrade its aging fleet of T-72M1 tanks in order to provide an effective counterpart to the western Leopard 2 and Abrams MBTs. The Polish development program resulted in several prototypes built between 1987 and 1990, featuring a more powerful engine, better Fire Control System and a Polish ERAWA explosive reactive armor kit. The Wilk program was concluded in 1990 but the lessons learned from it were used in the construction of the Polish PT-91 Main Battle Tank. You can learn more about its history in our dedicated article!

In Armored Warfare, the T-72M2 Wilk is a Tier 6 Main Battle Tank. It’s based on the T-72M1, which is an export version of the T-72A. That, along with improved mobility and the ERAWA ERA kit, puts it one tier above its predecessor. Performance-wise, it’s comparable to the T-72B Main Battle Tank with its experimental Polish DRAWA FCS and the improved autoloader increasing its performance.

We hope that you will enjoy the offer and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!