In December, during the Stream of the Year,
the World of Tanks players discovered
that two new vehicle branches had been developed.
One of them was Italian. The other was kept a secret.
Now it's time to reveal all and announce that the winged cavalry—
Polish medium tanks— will storm into the game very soon.
Polish Medium Tanks
A little bit of history.
After World War II, Poland,
being a member of the Warsaw Treaty Organization,
was a fast-developing European country.
In this sense, it's not surprising that the Polish tank building at the time
was influenced not only by the new Soviet engineering knowledge
but also the research
that led to the creation of the Wehrmacht armored vehicles.
The influence of the Soviet tank building school
is seen in the design of the CS 44.
The simple shape of the welded turret
is a technology-based solution, and cheap to produce.
The Soviet roots can also be seen in its quite advanced running gear,
but the side screens are clearly based
on analyzing the Wehrmacht after the end of WWII.
The CS 53's bustle rack means that the Polish designers knew about details
that had come from the Western tank building schools
It should be pointed out, however,
that the Polish tank building of the time developed absolutely independently.
The integration of technical solutions from both sides of the Iron Curtain
was accompanied by pioneering developments.
This means not only the arsenal of the Polish guns,
mainly anti-aircraft and tank guns, but also the running gear details.
For example, reducing the size of the wheels, as in the CS 63.
This was later adopted by the Soviet Union.
New medium tank branch.
There were not enough medium tanks in Poland at the time
to compile a fully-fledged vehicle branch.
However, the blueprints and drafts of possible vehicles have survived.
Keeping to the engineering logic
and using the known solutions of the Polish designers,
we implemented these vehicles in the game.
It's planned that the Polish medium tank branch will include six vehicles,
from Tier V to Tier X.
Additionally, there will be a Premium Tier VIII tank.
The transition to the newcomers will start with the 14TP at Tier IV.
Setting the characteristics of the new vehicles will take some more time,
but we can already talk about the vision we have for the Polish medium tanks.
Tier V.
The first vehicle in the new branch is the DS PZInz-I at Tier V.
This is a pilot project for a medium tank,
which was being developed in the late 1930s.
However, development was interrupted by the German invasion of Poland.
It continues the same train of thought as the 14TP,
but also shows the traits of a medium tank.
This affects the tank behavior.
Unlike the well-armored vehicles in the heavy tank branch,
the new medium tanks will be faster and more maneuverable.
Tier VI.
The vehicle at Tier VI has a surprising name for a tank—B.U.G.I.
It looks just like what you’d expect from a tank with such a catchy name.
Conceptually it's similar to the 25TP KSUST II.
It's a medium tank with clear advantages but also without clear drawbacks.
There are no experiments at Tier VII, either in the vehicle name or behavior.
CS 44 is a fully formed Polish medium tank
in terms of characteristics and gameplay style.
The top 100-mm gun with good gun depression angles
allows the vehicle to play well on any terrain.
You can fire without exposing your hull and stay in relative safety.
Tier VIII.
At the moment, two Polish Tier VIII medium tanks are in the works.
Potentially, one vehicle will end up in the Tech Tree,
and the other will become a Premium tank.
The silhouette of the CS 52 resembles the Soviet T-44.
And that's no accident: the Polish vehicle designs in the early 50s
were inspired by the experience of the Soviet engineers.
The CS 52 and higher tier tanks aren’t too tall
and have good gun depression angles.
This is a support vehicle capable of helping the allies in every direction,
especially if there are terrain folds.
The other Tier VIII tank is called CS 53.
This is a tank pilot project from the early 1950s.
When designing this vehicle,
the Polish looked to the technical and layout solutions
implemented in then new mass-produced T-54 Soviet tanks.
But those working on the project had enough of their own ideas
for the vehicle to look and act in battle in its own way.
It's largely about its gun: the Polish 100-mm gun deals decent damage.
Also, good gun depression angles
allow the CS 53 to hold positions unavailable to the T-54.
Which of the two vehicles will become researchable
and which one will be Premium, this will be known after testing.
Tier IX.
Tier IX is occupied by the CS 59.
Basically, this is a qualitative development of the ideas
from the previous vehicles: it has stronger armor,
a gun of a larger caliber, and better gun depression angles.
Tier X.
The crown of the Polish medium line is the Tier X CS 63.
This is a project of the 1960s.
It has a welded hull, a cast turret of an original configuration,
and a gas turbine engine.
There’s not much crossover with the Soviet analogues here.
According to preliminary settings,
the CS 63 will have strong front turret armor
and good gun depression angles of minus 8 degrees.
This will allow tankers to play efficiently while utilizing natural cover
and provide the opportunity to excel
where other medium tanks of the same tier can't.
But one thing distinguishes the CS 63 from other Tier X medium tanks—
its gas-turbine engine.
We're currently considering an unusual mechanic
for the top vehicle of the branch.
We will test the potential engine mechanic with two different modes:
standard and rapid.
This is how it will look: in the first mode,
the CS 63 behaves as a regular medium tank with standard characteristics.
But when you switch the engine mode, its power increases,
the vehicle maximum speed goes up, and the acceleration dynamics improves.
Simultaneously, gun stabilization and aiming time worsen significantly:
shooting in such conditions won't be effective.
Additionally, the option of decreasing vehicle concealment in rapid mode
is being considered.
We also want to exclude the effect of equipment, consumables,
and crew skills on a tank in this engine mode.
This is done to balance both the drawbacks and advantages you get.
At the moment, we plan that these modes will be switched by pressing a button.
Switching modes is possible only if the vehicle at a complete stop
and will take some time.
Also, you’ll be able to switch between engine modes
as many times as you want during battle, the rapid mode
won't have any negative impact on the engine itself or the running gear.
This won't be a consumable but a built-in feature of the CS 63.
You can also select the mode you want in advance
during the countdown before the battle starts.
This unique feature of the CS 63
will let the vehicle occupy advantageous positions
right at the start of battle and change positions quickly during its course.
The Polish medium tanks will be sent to the Supertest in the near future.
Their characteristics are far from final.
Adjustments will be made until the new vehicles appear in game.
We'll announce when that will be later.
And for now, stay tuned and good luck on the battlefield!