Update 1.01 brought several anticipated features.
The return of the Province map;
new Frontline mode;
changes to the rules of purchasing ammunition and consumables;
and also a new nation with new mechanics.
Meet the Italian tanks with the unique autoreloading mechanism.
Italian tanks
Let’s start with the Italian tanks and take a closer look.
The Fiat 3000 is a Tier I vehicle. It’s a heavily modernized Renault FT.
Its characteristics are average, but it’s main advantage is its accurate gun.
In World of Tanks, it’s a regular Tier I vehicle,
but in history, the Fiat 3000 is considered to be
one of the most successful redesigns of the French classics.
Next, there are two Tier II tanks.
The first is the crown of the Italian light tank development—the L6/40.
This vehicle isn’t very fast. But it is maneuverable,
with a good view range and gun depression angles.
It has a magazine loading system.
Its main move is to peek out of cover
and serve twelve shells in 3.5 seconds, and then hide.
The alternative Tier two tank is the M14/41.
This is one of the modifications
of the most mass-produced Italian tank of World War II.
It doesn’t have any obvious advantages or drawbacks.
On the one hand, it doesn’t differ much from other tanks.
On the other, the M14/41
won’t be a problem on your journey to more powerful tanks.
Tier three is occupied by the M15/42. This is an improved M14/41.
It’s a medium tank with average characteristics.
However, there are two pleasant features.
A good view range for its tier, maneuverability, and the gun.
Its damage per shot isn’t too good,
but the accuracy, rate of fire, and armor penetration won’t disappoint.
The next four tanks were developed within the Carro P program.
The Italian designers devised them as heavy tanks.
In the game, they became medium tanks,
but echoes of the designers can still be seen.
The P26/40 is at Tier four.
It stands out among other Tier four vehicles with its armor.
The front armor is 50 mm thick and sloped at a nice angle.
It won’t protect you from cannons,
but withstands hits from machine guns and cassette guns.
Another good feature is its hull traverse speed,
the Italian tanks are traditionally quite speedy.
The gun of this tank has unusual characteristics.
Its accuracy, reload time, and damage per minute are a bit below average.
This is compensated for with good armor penetration for all types of shells.
Especially high-explosive shells, with 70 mm.
At its battle tier, there are many vehicles
that the P26/40 can penetrate the front of with HE shells.
This creates an interesting experience.
At Tier five, the P.43 enters the arena.
The overall gun characteristics are quite average.
So are the vehicle’s mobility and dynamics.
However, there are two disciplines this tank excels in.
They are hull traverse speed, standard for an Italian vehicle, and armor.
The P.43 brandishes excellent armor for a medium tank—
80 mm in the hull front, 50 mm in the sides.
The turret is similarly armored. The armor plates are steeply angled,
making it the most protected Tier five medium tank.
But its armor doesn’t reach the level of heavy tanks.
The P.43 bis, a Tier six tank, has unusual characteristics.
It’s well armored for a medium tank, but not enough for a heavy tank.
Its maneuverability is insufficient for a medium tank,
but excellent for a heavy tank.
The gun isn’t accurate, its aiming time is long,
and its armor penetration is below average.
But it has pretty good damage per minute,
the best among Tier six medium tanks.
And, surprisingly, it has the best concealment at its tier.
The playstyle of the P.43 bis is situational.
You play as a medium tank against heavy tanks,
and as a heavy tank against medium tanks.
The P.43 ter occupies Tier seven.
It has the same typical traits of its predecessors.
Good armor protection for a medium tank.
A gun with fairly good damage per minute.
Average maneuverability.
The best hull traverse speed among all Tier seven medium tanks.
As a result, it’s a standard medium tank.
The most interesting part of the branch starts at Tier eight—
the vehicles with the autoreloading mechanism.
New Mechanics
How does it work? It somewhat resembles an autoloader.
The Italians can fire several shells within a short time.
But then the mechanic kicks in.
The shells are loaded into the magazine sequentially, one by one.
As soon as one shell is loaded, you can fire.
The reload time differs for each shell.
Loading a shell into an empty magazine will take the longest,
with each successive shell taking less time.
When the magazine is fully loaded,
the autoreloading of a shell after a single shot will take the least time.
That’s why the Italian tanks can fire single shots, reload quickly,
and strike the enemy with a series of hits at the right time.
It’s important to remember that if you fire a shot while autoreloading,
the timer will be reset, and the shell reloading will start anew.
When switching between shell types,
you will have to wait until you empty your current magazine
or start loading a new one from scratch.
Unlike autoloaders,
you can mount a gun rammer on tanks with an autoreloading mechanism
to significantly reduce both the loading time of one shell
and the whole magazine.
Now let’s proceed to the tanks that have this new mechanic.
They are the P.44 Pantera, Prototipo Standard B, and Progetto M40 mod 65.
The P.44 Pantera.
It’s an original rendition of the German tank by the Italian designers.
In general, it’s a regular Tier eight medium tank,
with good dynamics and convenient gun depression angles.
But the autoreloading mechanism changes everything.
There are three shells in its magazine, each with a damage per shot of 240
and armor penetration by a standard shell of 212 mm.
If it fires single shots, then it’s a normal tank with 240 damage per shot
and a reload time of about 8 seconds.
But if required, you can deal out three shells
with a total damage of 720 in 5 seconds.
Thanks to this, the Italians can employ a unique battle technique.
For example, here’s the Object 416. It has 1,200 HP.
You can’t finish it with one magazine.
That’s why you need to fire a shot, wait a bit, fire again,
wait until your magazine is loaded, and end the duel in your favor.
All this is also applicable to the Prototipo Standard B.
This is one of the fastest Tier nine medium tanks!
It shares this title with the Leopard PT-A and BatChat.
Basically, it’s a Leopard. And it should be played like a Leopard,
but it can use its unique autoreloading mechanism when needed.
Regarding the Progetto M40 mod 65,
there are four shells in its magazine, not three, like its predecessors.
And this means 1,440 damage.
This tank has the thinnest armor at its tier. 50 mm of front armor!
The Italian took this title from the BatChat 25t.
It’s clear that it needs keep its distance from the enemy.
But that’s not hard to do with its gun and dynamics.
So, the main feature the new autoreloading mechanic brings
is flexibility on the battlefield.
Perhaps, there will be no definitive ways to play it.
We have just one— act as the situation demands.
Maps
Now let’s take a break from the Italian vehicles
and enter the spirit of this country.
The Province map has returned to the game.
It is steeped in Italian flavor. Just watch and listen.
Before the map was removed from the game,
it was available for only lower tier vehicles.
New players often played on Province.
They didn’t know the game mechanics well,
so the more experienced enemies used to crush them,
preventing them from learning the game.
It wasn’t very fair. We decided we could improve things.
Now vehicles from Tier IV to Tier X fight on the Province battlefield.
That’s why its size was doubled.
The distance between hillsides is now a little more than 500 meters.
This means that you won’t be able to spot enemy vehicles for yourself,
but you can still shoot there if you have good scouts in your team.
The features of the previous map version remain.
It’s open, with many shoot-throughs.
Battles will be more dynamic, and tactics will be more diverse.
Rush through a convenient flank. Push to the enemy hillside.
Climb up and disrupt the enemy before they reach you.
Or maybe you want to battle on your side of the map. It’s up to you!
Vehicle changes
Let’s go back to vehicles.
We decided to improve a number of event vehicles,
because a tank you receive through hard work should bring you joy.
For the VK 72.01 (K), we improved its armor
and increased armor penetration with a HEAT shell.
The 121B became more maneuverable.
Now it also has a better view range, and its gun is more accurate,
reloads faster, and can penetrate thicker armor with HEAT shells.
The M60 also received HEAT shells with better armor penetration.
It became faster, and its gun is now better in a number of characteristics.
The T95E6 lost 100 hit points.
In return, it received a more powerful engine,
and its gun now reloads faster and is more accurate.
Interface changes
Several changes were made to the interface in Update 1.0.1.
In the personal chat window, when talking to strangers,
a warning that you shouldn’t follow any links is displayed,
as well as a recommendation not to share your account password.
The Strongholds were improved. When waiting for a battle,
you can now see the top three clans in each division.
Now players will know who they can look up to.
An alternative version of game tips is available.
You can bring them up if you press Alt when viewing standard tips.
Also, you can see a visual demonstration of complex game entities.
New rules for purchasing ammunition and consumables
Premium shells are one of the hottest topics for discussion.
In Update 1.0.1, we plan to turn off the ability
to purchase Premium shells and consumables using Gold.
It will take some time to completely remove the shells purchased using Gold.
When the condition of the “gold shell economy” normalizes,
we will be able to make changes.
We will try possible options in future tests
and choose the best one based on the statistics and your feedback.
So please share your opinion and follow the news.
The Frontline event
Finally, another big piece of news.
A new game event, Frontline, was added to the game.
Last year, it was available on the Sandbox test server.
Then it was improved according to suggestions from players.
The Frontline event is available only for Tier eight vehicles,
so that as many players as possible can try the new game content.
Here’s what this event is about:
There are two teams, 30 players in each.
The attacking team needs to break through the defense
and destroy at least three of the five pillboxes before the end of the battle.
The defending side needs to maintain their position
and keep at least three of the five protected objects intact.
Battles are fought on a nine-square-kilometer map.
It’s divided into three lines.
The pillboxes are located on the third line. To reach them,
the attackers must capture bases on the first and second lines.
The more bases captured on the first line,
the faster the bases on the second line will be captured.
Also, the capture of each base adds more time to the duration of the battle.
If the attackers capture a base,
the defenders have 60 seconds to leave that sector.
A grim fate awaits those who don’t manage to escape—
they will be attacked by aircraft.
However, losing your vehicle is no reason to be disappointed:
Every five minutes, all players receive an additional respawn.
To repair a damaged vehicle, you need to roll into a resupply circle.
In addition, you can replenish your consumables and ammunition there.
For performing useful actions in the battle, players receive ranks.
They provide additional XP based on the results of the battle.
The higher your rank, the more prestige points you will receive.
Prestige points are required to increase your level of prestige in the event.
When reaching new tiers, players receive rewards and Supply Points
required for unlocking and upgrading Combat Reserves.
Airstrike and Artillery Strike: causes damage to the enemy.
Recon Flight: spots enemy vehicles.
Smoke Screen: a cloud of smoke appears in a designated location
and conceals vehicles.
Engineering: reduces the base capture time
and enhances the effect of knocking off capture, or stops a capture.
Inspire: gives a bonus
to the major qualification of the vehicle crews on your team.
Combat Reserves can be selected in the Garage before a battle.
Each vehicle type has a different number of Combat Reserve slots.
Heavy and medium tanks have one slot,
tank destroyers have two slots,
and light tanks and SPGs have three slots.
And now think about what a platoon could do. Impressed?
You can learn more about the event in a special video
that will be released soon.
Good luck on the battlefield!