World of Tanks was not only one of the most impressive stands at Gamescom 2016, but also brought news of a completely new tank nation. Soon, the previously lesser-known tanks of Sweden are set to join the game!
Originally, the plan of Wargaming was to fundamentally overhaul and modernize World of Tanks in 2016 and hold back on adding new tanks or even new nations. Therefore, the announcement about the Swedish tanks at Gamescom 2016 came as a surprise to me. But what’s the deal with the Swedes? Did they actually have enough tanks or are these just “paper tanks”?
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Old Swede, did they have tanks?
Although Sweden was not directly involved in the fighting during World War II, since the Nazis occupied both Denmark and Norway, Sweden also upgraded its tank forces and developed a few interesting vehicles designed purely for defensive operations in the rugged terrain of Sweden. Therefore, a complete tech tree line of the Nordics consists of tank destroyers, all of which are said to have very good camouflage values.
Moreover, the gun elevation angle should be good, allowing the tanks to effectively target their enemies from elevated positions. The second tech tree line starts with a series of light tanks, transitions to mediums, and ends with some heavy vehicles from the post-war era. Some of them – like the Emil series – are prototypes and concepts, but many of the tanks actually existed in one form or another.
Gameplay over realism
The higher tiers have given the developers of the Swedish tanks some trouble, as their cannons and magazine sizes were difficult to integrate into the game. Either the reload time was too long, or the cannons were too powerful. Therefore, the values of some vehicles noticeably differ from the originals.
Since some of the later tanks clearly come from the late 1950s, we can expect fast driving styles and especially auto-loading magazines, as at least the tanks of the Strv 103 and Emil line were equipped with such systems. How ultimately the performance of the new tanks turns out, we will see when they arrive. The entire Swedish vehicle lineup will only come in the autumn, but the premium tank Strv m/42-57 Alt A2 will already be available in the next update.
Mein-MMO says: I really didn’t expect a new nation this year, let alone with the Swedes. Therefore, I am really curious to see what comes out of this. Especially the tank destroyers should suit my preference for lurking and sniping, and the hopefully good gun depression should be optimal for sneaky sniper actions. However, the many modern tanks in the tech tree worry me a bit; in reality, a Strv 103 could fire fifteen 105mm shells in a minute… this needs to be balanced well, otherwise, we could see a new troll tank!
