Wargaming's attempt to bring aggressiveness back in World of tanks with patches 8.6 and 8.7

Because...well, thats what it is.


I believe everyone by now knows what will happen in the coming 1-2 patches.

Artillery will get the big nerf bat. Aim time, accuracy, reload speeds...they all get reduced by at least 25%. The God guns (200mm+)  all have RoF starting 1. something, accuracy has reached values like 0.9 on some. Hell - the Batchat 155 has a base reload speed of 80 seconds. Sooo basically arty gets it. Biggest coffin nail in the game's history, but thats not all.

Almost all high tier guns(on HTs and MTs) get their penetration values reduced. No more 400 mm HEAT shells. No more 350mm APCR shells. Point and click shooting will have to be abandoned. All derp guns also take a big kick in the HEATS. No more Sherman derp, Panzer Derp or KV 1 Derp. Or at least not with the same impact.


What does this mean? It means artillery will no longer enforce camping everywhere - only tanks that camp in bushes will be vulnerable - good luck hitting a moving target with a 0.5-0.9 accuracy gun. It means Tank destroyers become highly valuable, due to being the only ones left with 400mm penetration guns. The power creep in the game will take a severe blow. When EVERYONE is getting nerfed - no one can complain about being singled out. Survival chances will increase I'd say by an order of magnitude.

It means you might wanna do like me and dust off one particular fellow that has been sitting in my garage, lonely and abandoned for many months - the crew serving in other vehicles. German 128mm and 150mm guns keep their values. Rather the rest are being brought down to (nearly) their level. When Serb and company promised a buff to the Maus, they were not kidding.

Joke aside - its a very very very bold decision. No argument here. That's not a minor +0.5 RoF -0.1 second aim time change. They are pretty much changing the whole game! I'd say for the better too.  The current situation was a Gordian Knot. Wargaming plans to solve it just like Alexander did. If they stay true to this course, I'd give them some leeway for trying to cash in with the 112 heavy tank. If nothing else the decision and the bravery behind the decision deserve it.

The new arty in 8.6 and what does it mean for the game?

 On several occasions, patch 8.6 was called bombastic. Considering that the main content of it is artillery, the irony is not lost on all of us. In the next patch the much awaited expansion of the artillery  trees will happen, which should supposedly help arty's rather game breaking involvement at the moment.

First the russians.

They get two tanks - the SU122-A. It looks clearly superior to the SU 5, yet the armament(if the name is anything to guess by) would be a 122. My guess, is that this will take the place of the tier 5 SU 8, pushing the rest of the line with 1 tier up. Hey, if its fast, maneuverable and fast firing, I don't mind!

Next comes the SU-14-1. Basically a first draft version of the SU 14, with open top. As such, it will probably have the 203mm B-4 gun, giving it superior firepower to SU 8, yet well, with being a prototype SU 14, it would still be inferior to the current 203mm holders. That means the SU 14 proper and the S-51 will be pushed up to tier 8, and the object 212 and 261 will take tier 9 and 10 respectively. That means no more god guns on mid tier games. Not something I'd complain about believe me.

The french also receive 2 tanks - first one is AMX Obusier automoteur de 105, that seems to be based on the AMX 12t. It does not take a sharp mind to guess, that it will go on tier 4, since the current holder of tier 4 in the french line - is based on the AMX 13 series of light tanks - the progeny of the 12t series. That will push the french line up with one vehicle. Considering it only has 155mm guns, there won't be that much of a firepower difference in high tiers.

Next one shall take the place of a tier 9, after the Lorainne 155 51.
The BatChatillon155 (1955) pretty much means that we will get the  benefits of the Batchat 155 one at a time. First we get a fully revolving turret, and then at tier 10 we get an autoloader. Smooth transition eh?

The germans gets 3 new pieces, instead of two, so expect another branching off somewhere, or a premium artillery perhaps?

 This thing is the GW 10.5 CM Mk.IV(e) armed with a 105mm gun. I have the itching feeling that it will be tier 3, pushing the grille to tier 5. Not sure, just a a gut feeling.

This one looks more fun and for a reason - it has a turret. Pz.Sfl.IVb will probably fill in a role same as the the Churchill gun carrier - link from the tank lines to the artillery line. 105mm gun and a turret suggest very consistent(if not very damaging) fire.

And then we get the GW 210mm Elephant...Basically another GW based on the Tiger P hull. It will surely go at tier 8, again following the policy that the 200+mm guns will start from tier 8+.

The US SPG line gets two tanks as well - the M44 SPG will go at tier 7, pushing the M40/43 up to tier 8(no god guns below tier 8 policy)

 Aaaand then we get the M53/55 which is one hell of a special snowflake.
I mean, it has a turret...which is in reverse of the vehicle...Ok, let's just say it looks damn strange and leave it there. I'd say GW Panther on steroids but until we see the gun, nothing is certain.

 One more thing - RU server will have another Art of War contest for 8.5. While its not announced officially that means we'd get one too once 8.5 is up and running in EU and NA servers, so get ready to earn some ingame goodies.