Roadmap Sneak Peek #2 (Apr 2023): British Wheeled Vehicles, Steel Hunter Reborn, Mirny-13, and More!
8 min readThe April 2023 Roadmap Highlights video has now been made public, showing a second sneak peek into what’s coming to World of Tanks this year! This second episode primarily focuses on the major events/gamemodes coming this year, as well as the new British line of wheeled medium vehicles (which was leaked yesterday):
And with that, here is our breakdown of everything covered in the video, starting with news regarding upcoming gamemode launches:
Frontline (2023)
Frontline has been confirmed to make its return very soon! A couple of notable changes will be made this time around, specifically to how the in-battle Combat Reserves function.
For starters, players will now be offered the option to pick between two random reserves while playing Frontline (in a manner similar to Steel Hunter’s upgrades). This will also allow players to potentially pick the same reserve twice, increasing its effect.
All abilities will level up equally and consist of 3 standard tiers. Using the already-familiar Reserve Tokens, players will also be able to buy an additional level from the garage, which will upgrade them to Tier IV.
No dates have yet been confirmed for the mode’s return, but the next launch is expected to take place sometime in the Summer. Stay tuned!
Steel Hunter: Reborn
More details regarding Steel Hunter: Reborn have been given:
Respawns & Revives
Firstly, in the Steel Hunter: Reborn format, it will now be possible to respawn if your vehicle is destroyed within the first few minutes! This can also be found in blue supply drops, allowing players to re-enter the match if they were destroyed during the initial stages of battle.
Furthermore, it will now be possible to revive your platoonmates if you haven’t been in combat recently!
AI Opponents: Marauders
Next up, more details were given regarding the AI opponents teased earlier in the year. These bots, known as Marauders, will appear in Steel Hunter: Reborn as opponents similar to the enemies found in the Mirny-13 mode. Destroying these enemies will grant you more supply drops and experience.
Three (3) different types of Marauders can be found in the mode:
- The Wolf will stalk you from a distance and try to cause damage from range.
- The Bear will immediately start brawling with you as soon as you enter its proximity, but will disengage when you distance yourself from it.
- The Rabbit will try to run from you as soon as you spot them (just like the ones in the Mirny mode!).
Solo Match Changes
Additionally, gameplay will be adjusted in this version of the mode: the number of players in solo matches will be reduced to 15. This, along with the changes discussed above, is intended to reduce the odds of early engagements, giving players the opportunity to level up and stand a better chance in the game later.
No dates have been given for the first launch of Steel Hunter: Reborn. Stay tuned for more info!
Other Modes
The Waffenträger
The Waffenträger mode has been confirmed to make its annual return later this year (likely around September-October 2023)! From what was shown in the video, it appears the mode will keep its familiar format (1 Waffenträger vs. 7 Harriers); however, it has been confirmed that a new vehicle will join the Harriers’ team in 2023: the TVP T50/51!
Mirny-13
Very few specifics regarding the return of the Mirny-13 mode were given in this episode (beyond confirmation of its return later in 2023); however, the wording used in the video seems to imply that this may be the final installment in the series (at least, in its current form): it was stated this version of the mode will be “concluding the story of the mystical town and the anomaly that occurred there”. However, it has also been stated that much time and polish has gone into improving the mode, including adjustments to gameplay, the addition of more abilities/anomalies, and revamped boss fights.
Mirny-13 will make its return in October-November 2023. More details will likely be presented at a later date.
Arcade Cabinet
While very few details were given, it has been stated that the next installment of the Arcade Cabinet will feature “new [and] unique gameplay that many of you will be excited to try out”. Stay tuned for further info.
Now, with all of the event news out of the way, it’s time to get into some of the more permanent stuff:
Improved Service Record Interface
The Service Record screen will (finally) be getting an update soon, giving a fresh new look to this otherwise-familiar area of the game interface!
The visuals for WTR (World of Tanks Rating) will also be receive a significant update as part of this refresh!
See the badge shown in the middle of the screen above? This will represent your personal WTR in the form of five (5) different tiers: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Ace, and Legend, each of which will be divided into 3 levels each (shown below). This will allow for players to get a better idea of both their own, as well as other players’, personal WTR standings at a glance.
Furthermore, the ability to customize the achievements featured on your main statistics page will also be introduced, giving you the ability to show off your favorite medals and achievements!
While no timeframe for these updates was given, it is likely they will appear within a patch-or-two (possibly 1.21?).
Finally, onto the big reveal which many of you have been waiting for:
British Wheeled Medium Line
As covered in yesterday’s leak, we now know the full list of vehicles to come in the new British line of wheeled mediums. However — now that the video is live, we can also get a closer look at what’s to come, as some early previews of the models for the tier 8-10 vehicles have been shown off (in their very early development stages)!
Tier 5 – AEC Armored Car
This vehicle was not yet shown in the video — it is likely the model has not been created yet. As such, it has not yet been determined exactly what this vehicle will look like in game as far as guns/etc are concerned. However, it should be noted that the vehicle was historically fielded with several cannons, including the 2-pdr (AEC Mk. I), 6-pdr (AEC Mk. II), and ROQF 75 mm (AEC Mk. III, shown below). It remains to be seen which of these will be represented in the game, but the 6-pdr and/or 75 mm would likely be the most fitting for a tier 5.
It is also not yet known how exactly the steering for this vehicle will be represented in-game — it has already been confirmed that the high-tiers will be able to rotate in-place, but the AEC only came with conventional steering for a wheeled vehicle historically. It is possible the first few vehicles may start with conventional wheeled steering (similar to the AMD 178B or AM 39 Gendron-Somua), as, at least in the case of the AEC and Staghound III, it would be the realistic way to represent them — however, it has not been confirmed at the time of this post.
Image credit: Tanks Encyclopedia
Tier 6 – Staghound Mk. III
This vehicle was not shown in the video, but it has been speculated that it may fit the same 75 mm HV gun as the Cromwell (or possibly something similar). Similarly to the AEC above, the steering behavior for this vehicle has also not yet been confirmed.
Image credit: Nevington War Museum
Tier 7 – FSV Scheme A
Very little is known about this vehicle at the moment, and no model was shown for it in the video. However, it is possible this may be related to the FVRDE series of designs (which historically preceded the Saladin, and later FV721 Fox). More details will likely be made available at a later date.
Tier 8 – Saladin
The first of the three tech tree vehicles to be shown in the video is the Saladin, which appears to have been represented in an interesting way — the visual model which was shown features a cannon which matches a historical proposal to refit the Saladin with a 90 mm MECAR cannon (technically, the calibre of the game version’s gun has not yet been confirmed, but it does match the real Saladin 90 project’s gun visually).
Image credit: unknown
Tier 9 – GSOR 1006 Scheme 7
As mentioned in yesterday’s leak, this represents one of the proposals from the GSOR 1006 series, featuring a 105 mm gun on a light 6×6 chassis.
Image credit: Armored Archives YouTube (“GSOR 1006 – Tank Design & Development”)
Tier 10 – Concept No. 5
Not much is known about this vehicle, though it has been speculated that it may be related to the South African Rooikat project in some form. In-game, the Concept 5 is speculated to have either a 105 mm or 120 mm gun.
Mechanics of Wheeled Mediums
Further details regarding the mechanics of the branch have been confirmed:
While it was already stated these vehicles will differ greatly from the existing branch of French wheeled vehicles, some additional demonstrations were shown (along with some extra details):
- These vehicles will be significantly-slower than the French wheeled lights, with top speeds similar to existing fast mediums (such as the B-C 25 t).
- Unlike the French wheeled lights, these vehicles will be able to rotate in-place (albeit, fairly-slowly), more akin to tracked vehicles.
- Wheel damage will affect these vehicles differently than the French wheeled lights: the British wheeled mediums will receive a penalty of over 60% to mobility when one wheel is damaged, but damaging further wheels will have a lesser effect on the vehicle’s mobility compared to other wheeled vehicles. By comparison, the EBRs receive a 25% penalty to their mobility when one wheel is damaged, but see a much larger reduction in mobility as more wheels are destroyed.
Finally, as mentioned in yesterday’s article, the branch has been confirmed to start from the Covenanter rather than the Cruiser IV.
This is the second Roadmap Sneak Peek video of an ongoing series, where Wargaming shares their goals and objectives for the near future and informs of planned tests for features and mechanics. No details were given as to when we can expect the next installment of the series, nor was any additional info teased. However, it is likely a new episode will arrive in a few months.
The British wheeled mediums are expected to appear in the game sometime during the second half of 2023 (likely closer to the end of the year, but no timeframe has been confirmed beyond “second half of 2023”). Stay tuned!
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