World of Tanks Supertest: Italian Heavy Tanks Incoming
4 min readSoon, a brand new tech tree of Italian heavy tanks will give their debut on the battlefield in the World of Tanks Supertest! These vehicles will feature a unique auto-reloading system. Check out our latest developer diary, where the developers share all the details about the upcoming branch and the new mechanic.
Only five new Italian heavy tanks will be introduced, four regular researchable and one Tier VIII Premium tank:
- Tier VII – Carro d’assalto P.88
- Tier VIII – Progetto CC55 mod. 54
- Tier VIII Premium – Progetto C45 mod- 71
- Tier IX – Progetto C50 mod. 66
- Tier X – Rinoceronte
Brand New Heavy Tanks
Players will be able to unlock Tier VII Carro P.88 from the Tier VI medium P.43 bis with around 53,000 XP. The Tier VII heavy tank will be the only one without the autoloading mechanism, instead, it will have two regular cyclic guns with a high rate of fire. The vehicle also follows a different concept for its period with the transmission located at the rear. With longer hulls and following the British designs who wanted to convert lighter tanks into heavy ones, the Italian heavy tanks will have decent mobility for its standard armour.
At Tier VIII, you will find Progetto CC55 mod. 54, created on the basis of the first American projects from the early 1950s. Most of the tanks in the Italian army in that period were produced in the United States, such as M46 and M47. The concept of these post-war tanks was reminiscent of the American Pershing, and they served in the Italian army until the mid-1960s. Progetto CC55 mod. 54 has better armour and a powerful 105 mm gun, but the most interesting feature of this tank is, however, an improved autoreloading system.
At first, the heavy tanks autoreloading system will work the same as the medium tanks, the first shell is the slowest and the last one the fastest to be reloaded, the difference comes when you start shooting. For example, if you have one shell ready and the second shell is reloading, if you fire it in the Italian medium tanks, you would have to wait a full shell loading time, in a heavy tank, after a shoot the improved mechanic starts working which facilitates the gun reloading.
A special marker will be displayed next to the loading timer. The reloading time of the next shell will start gradually decreasing, once the marker turns white, the loading time will be halved. A nice bonus. You can fire at any moment, but the longer the shell reloads, the faster the next shell becomes available. Take a shot before the shell reloads completely, otherwise, the next shell will be loaded as normal. The new mechanic will contribute to the gameplay variety of the Italian vehicles,
The Tier IX Progetto C50 mod. 66 was inspired by German developments. By the late 50s, the Germans started working on their own tank design, back then it was called the Standardpanzer. The French were also interested in this project and it helped them create the AMX 30 later on. But the Italians were the first ones to get the zero-series Standardpanzer. It’s safe to assume that these developments influenced the project as they are embodied in the new branch at Tier IX. Progetto C50 mod. 66has all the features of a mobile heavy tank, good dynamics, great frontal armour, a powerful 120 mm gun with an improved autoreloading system and good elevation and depression angles. This turns it from a support vehicle into a self-reliant combat vehicle.
The pinnacle of the branch is a tank with the exotic name Rinoceronte, meaning rhino in Italian. This Tier X vehicle is highly mobile, which allows it to initiate an attack on the flanks along with medium tanks, and its great armour enables it to lead the advance. It’s armed with a 127 mm gun that deals 490 damage per shot, and it’s equipped with the autoreloading system, whose combat performance can’t be underestimated. The Rinoceronte has a unique set of characteristics that allow it to switch battle tactics.
Overall, it’s safe to say that these vehicles are very mobile and can hold their own in firepower compared to same-tier vehicles. At the final stages of testing, they will be shaped into completely capable vehicles that don’t break the current balance.
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Is the tier X gun supposed to be some kind of land-based derivative of the naval dual purpose 5″/54 OTO gun from 1968?
When will these tanks come to Xbox and Ps4.