World Of Tanks Chinese Tanks Now Tanks... Er, Live
I can't be the only one who appreciates the ever-narrowing gap between official World of Tanks footage and nature documentaries, can I? There's a certain grace to their low-speed loping, and recent products of Wargaming's virtual camerawork have captured that in a way that just begs for overly embellished narration. But I digress. New tanks! After originally being announced for update 8.2, Chinese tanks are instead marching eager treads onto the battlefield as part of 8.3. You can hop in right this second, too. Or you can watch the trailer and audition to narrate my upcoming National Geographic tank special.
For history buffs, it's worth noting that most of these tanks never actually entered service in the Chinese army. Also, many are heavily modified versions of designs by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, so they might be a bit more eclectic than you're used to. At the end of the day, though, they still go boom. They go boom real good.
"Since the Chinese tanks, for the most part, are a hodgepodge of different parts, their role on the battlefield will be a special one. The biggest impact, as you can see from the tech tree above, is that Chinese light tanks go all the way up to tier VIII which will increase the options of speedier tanks on the battlefield in higher tier matches. That's not to suggest that the other tank classes will be left out. In fact, mediums will be capable of inflicting serious damage thanks to their guns, and heavy tanks (in some cases) will actually have heavier armor than their Soviet counterparts."
So there's something for everyone in the 17-strong tech tree, it seems. Also, here's a list of a million-billion balancing tweaks and changes to other nations' tanks, so those are probably worth perusing. I haven't played in quite a while, so I can't really parse them, but it seems like a lot of single digit stat tweaks. Is there more to these changes than meets the eye, though? Is this actually the end of the World of Tanks as we know it?