[WoWS] Early Russian Dreadnoughts preliminary drawings

Hi everyone. I'd like to tell you about early dreadnought drawings in Russian Empire Fleet.

As all of you know, the HMS Dreadnought was laid down in october, 1905. Of course, all great powers of early 20th century kept their eye on everything, related to navy powers, and the first news about an absolutely new type of warship came to Russia in autumn, 1905.

In 1906, the so-called "special meeting" was founded under the leadership of the Minister of Marine Birilev; the main goal of this comission was to define the demands of the characteristics of the future dreadnoughts.

In common, the projected characteristics of the dreadnoughts of 1907 programm are listed below:

Speed: 21-23 knots, 

Armor: 8 inch belt, 10 inch barbettes,

Armament: ten 12 inch guns with barrel length of 50 calibers,

Displacement: 19000 to 21000 tonns.

Thats how these ships might look like:

As you see, the drawings are closer to predreadnoughts than to real dreadnoughts, but still, these ships are rather realistic in terms of "paper drawings". 

It is expected that one of these ships will be the first battleship in Russia/USSR tree.

Thanks for watching,

KGB.

[WoT] Doyle, Kubinka, and Much More. Part 9: Final Answer Bulletin

This post is the final one from Q&A session with H. L. Doyle, well-known German WWII military exert. See previous issues:

Batch 1
Batch 2
Batch 3
Batch 4
Batch 5

Doyle's replies are bolded (just in case).  

51.    I’d like to add something to the penetration questions.
What about:
I) partial deflection of sloped armour which meant that shells did not follow the initial trajectory even if they penetrated.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Projectil_deflection_effects.jpg
see in c) the 'effective thickness' vs. 'line of sight thickness' and in d) 'inertia' vs. 'resistance force'
II) linearity of the 'penetration quality' -> % of fragments behind the plate (the 50 vs. 75% thing) and to what extent this allows you to make assumptions about a certain shell in a different nation's test

As I explained before I have not researched this field of penetration to any great extent.  There is a lot of material in various archives but I did not collect copies.  I am sorry.

52.    I would like to hear what were the merits and drawbacks of the VK3002DB design compared to the MAN version and why it was not chosen in the end.

In our book “Germany's Panther tank” - the quest for combat supremacy, we reproduced many pages of the history of the development of the VK 30 series and the intense competition between M.A.N and Daimler-Benz.
 I will quote the record of a meeting of the Board of Daimler-Benz on 3 June 1942 which describes the final outcome of the competition.
Our proposal for the new tank was not accepted by the special Commission established by Hitler.  Instead they selected the M.A.N design for a large-scale production after the initial proposal from M.A.N apparently was improved.  During a meeting M.A.N had the opportunity to learn all the advantages of our proposal which they then took into consideration in their own design.
At first the majority of the experts were impressed by our proposal.  Even Hitler had expressed his approval. But then the Commission consisting of Thomale and Eberan decided against us for the following reasons:
1.    the double torsion bar suspension from Porsche was chosen over our leaf springs
2.    the MB 507 motor proposed by us cannot be produced in the numbers required
3.    Our design requires a new turret.  The turret for the M.A.N design was already designed.  The M.A.N vehicle had front drive our vehicle had rear drive.  Because of the rear drive our vehicle required a new turret design.  It was admitted at the rear drive possessed advantages.

We are completing only two experimental vehicles that positively will make a good impression.   The two experimental vehicles are to be completed in June /July of 1943.  The entire tank should be completed since we can finally obtain the turret ourselves.  We still have the contract to build these two prototypes and therefore we will also want to demonstrate these as completed tanks.
A Rheinmetall turret mounting the 7.5cm K.w.K 42 L/70 had been designed as an alternative for the Tiger starting in mid 1941.  This turret was the basis of the turret on the M.A.N Panther.

53.    How much information is there yet to be discovered in old German wartime archives? Has everything pretty much been looked thoroughly, or is new or under-examined material still surfacing?

Probably less that 10% of the documentation generated during Panzer development from 1928 to 1945 has survived.   A most was destroyed at the end of the war and sadly quite a lot since then.  During the seventies and eighties we visited many companies and fortunately we were given access to archive materials but now the material we saw has “vanished”   In other cases when we arrived at companies we got the response “it is a pity you did not visit last year before the man in charge of our old archives retired and as we have no need to keep old paper they have been destroyed”
At the Bundesarchiv the 80/20 rule applies to research – probably 80% of the information has been found as it is the part relatively easy to search.  Definitely there is additional information to be located but it will take a long time to find the materials as they are not filled in the expected locations or have yet to be catalogued. There is even a small chance to find new facts by accident when researching other matters. 
The greatest success for Panzer Tracts has come from researching all of different archives in many countries and developing an understanding of what files are worth investigating.   Private and specialist collectors also add finds from time to time.
New finds are very important as sometimes they throw light on and explain other data from old research that may not make sense.

54.    How long did it take for the Germans to build their tanks in WWII? Again, according to Osprey's _Panther vs. T-34_ the panther took eighteen times more man-hours to build than a T-34-76. Do you have any idea where these figures came from, and whether they are accurate? If German tanks did take longer to build than allied tanks, was it because their designs were complicated or because German industrial techniques were inefficient?

I have not seen any “original” document with such a direct and wild comparison as claimed by the author of this Osprey book.  Clearly, the Panther was a complex machine with a very high level of detailed finish as could be expected from a product of German Industry.  I have often wondered about the need to bevel every armour plate and machine so many surfaces, but I doubt the time 18 difference.  The Germans did not put their industry on to a full war footing until 1943.  The highest production of all types of Panzers was achieved in November 1944.  Component production was highly dispersed but delivery depended upon reliable rail transport.  Increasing shortages of raw materials, manpower, and especially energy caused by bombing caused many problems.
Below us a drawings I made showing the M.N.H. factory in Hannover that was assembling Panther and Jagdpanther.  Certainly they were not using “Henry Ford” mass production methods where each worker did the one job all the time.  Groups of workers were responsible completing the entire task associated with each stage.

55.    Are there any data on German tests of captured Allied weapons?

The German test establishment at Kummersdorf tested many Allied Tanks but as Allied Tanks are not my field of research I have never ordered copies of these documents.

The above photo which was sold on eBay shows a parade of the Kummersdorf detachment with some of their Allied test vehicles in the back ground.  The Kummersdorf reports were like those produced by the British and Russians and gave a commentary on the performance and capability. 

As can be seen on this photo of an IS152 the armour thickness and angle was painted on all test vehicles by Kummersdorf.

The German usually tested their guns against their own vehicles.  Periodically hulls were provided by the armour manufacturers to be used as targets.  Here is a photo Porsche Tiger hull manufactured by Krupp that was set aside and used as a gunnery test on 30 April 1942.

Bonus facts
 
Additional fact pertaining to Questions 33 and 48 on turret traverse speeds

Panther
I located my copy of a British technical examination dated 9 May 1945 on Panther turret traverse speeds.  The performance is quite spectacular when compared to the Tiger Ausf.E. and combined with the accurate 7.5cm K.w.K 42 L/70 made the Panther a tank to be feared if the crew was experienced and motivated and the unit well led.

Like the Tiger the Panther had a two speed hydraulic power traverse. The gunner could selected the desired speed with a gear lever and then using a pivoting foot pedal he could push on the forward end to traverse right and push on the back to traverse left. 

The speed depended upon the main engine speed so at 2500 rpm and in the high gear a full 360 degree traverse would take only 17 or 18 seconds depending on the direction of traverse.  At 1000 rpm the same 360 degrees took 46 seconds. 

When the lower rear was selected and the Maybach HL 230 was running at 1000 rpm 360 degrees took 92 or 93 seconds depending on direction.

KVI
I found a similar report on the KV I.   A three speed electrical power traverse was provided.  At the highest speed the turret took 71 seconds to traverse 360 degrees at the lowest speed it could take 122 seconds for 360 degrees. 

T34/76
The test on the T 34/76 using a similar electrical power traverse to the KVI in high gear could achieve 360 degrees in 14 seconds.And extra a few tit-bits

The Germans captured and translated Russian document on Tank Tactics published in August 1944
...tank-versus-tank battles are unavoidable but whenever possible German tanks are to be destroyed by the air force, artillery and antitank weapons so that our (Russian) tanks remain free to attack the infantry...
From a German Report of the same period
 .... Russian troops are commended for striving to prevent IS tanks from falling into tour hands and it would be desirable that our Tiger crews would observe the same principles.

PS: Next time we are going to continue with Soviet tanks expert - Yuri Pasholok.

[WoWS] Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

2012 was a hard year for World of Warships team.
We changed conceptions and expanded maps couple times, we fought and keep fighting for FPS rate, we tuned ship movement like hundred times; in 2012 WoWS got Hit Location system and great ballistics. We even implemented flooding!

In 2012 we held three gameplay Focus Tests, to ensure that we are moving the right way - and every time people told us "That's a great game!". From 4x4 BB only format we came to 8x8 BB/CA, and the FT3 got 12x12 BB/CA/CV.

There are still many things to do: torpedo bombers, complex HL, upgrades and presets for ships, etc.
But I can tell you that we will do everything and even more to make the great game for you!

Happy New Year!
See you in 2013!

KGB

[WoT] On SPGs and MMing

Too many SPGs in battles is one of the persistent issues in WoT. It does affect the gameplay and can change the perception of the entire game.

Additional match-making requirements that are already live on RU servers and pending implementation worldwide are the following:

5 SPGs per team is a so called semi-hard cap which means 5 is maximum number of SPGs per team if the battle is created correctly, ie without any errors. The prerequisites for that are relatively high CCU (that's why might be somewhat hard for NA server) and no particular imbalance or disproportion between vehicle classes in waiting queue.

In addtion to the above the SPG-cap for high tier battles is floating and varies from 2 to 5 arty units per team.

Simplifying things, battles are created by the server in succession with different SPG limits: 2, 3, 4, 5, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc

For lower tiers the limits are a bit different and depend on the average SPG percentage for that particular battle tier.

Such matchmaking adjustment will increase waiting time in queue for all tanks:
- for tanks/TDs the increase is going to be relatively small - up to a few seconds (under normal conditions)
- for SPGs the increase is going to be more noticeable - up to 30-60 seconds in worst cases.

The cap mechanics was chosen taking into account possible increase of waiting time. The harder the cap and the more restrictions, the longer waiting times. Especially for less-populated servers (on single RU cluster there can be 140-200k players)

[WoT] Misc

Some misc info in this post.

Get Expert Opinion: Soviet Edition is now locked for new questions.

Follow the blog updates to check Pasholok's replies. Next week I'm going to post the last batch of Q&A with Doyle.

As a continuation of the famous hatred thread, below are the results of the related poll:

What annoys me most is ...

1. 0 damage hits - 786 (32%) - that's one of the persistent complex issues to be seen to in 2013
2. Arty parties - 636 (26%) - going to post some more info on possible solution
3. No skill-based matchmaking - 220 (9%) - just no way
4. Lack of tactics in random - 181 (7%) - some pre-launch IQ test?
5. Visibility / spotting system - 168 (7%) - no overhaul planned for now
6. 25% randomization roll - 121 (5%) - not subject to change
7. Insufficient optimization and bugs - 116 (4%) - 8.2 did a great job, however this is a continuous task
8. lack of game modes - 93 (3%) - more game modes are in plans
9. smth else - 40 (1%)
10. Ramming / TK damage system - 30 (1%)

[WoWS] People, Who Are Making the Game for You

Hi guys!

I came up with a great idea to introduce you those who’ve been developing the highly anticipated naval MMO World of Warships.

Let's start!

Anrew Gashkov aka Tarn, Lead Producer for World of Warships

It is he who makes final decisions on gameplay, economics, balancing and other project’s issues. He is also acts a mediator between Minsk and Saint Petersburg offices, promptly acting if something goes wrong.

Ivan Moroz aka Black Warrior, Production Producer for WoWS

An extremely experienced game industry professional, who’s published dozens of titles, including notable Pacific Storm by Lesta Studio.

Malik Khatajaev, General Manager at Lesta Studio (Wargaming’s St.Petersburg studio responsible for WoWS development)

The real stager at game industry, who founded the studio more than 21 years ago. Being a merit professional manager, he is also famous for creating comfortable and cozy atmosphere within World of Warships development team. 
 

Danila Volkov aka Danny, WoWS Project Manager

His will-to-win spirit and eagerness do their best for World of Warships’ future success.

Petr Porai-Koshitс aka PPK, Head of Game Design at Lesta Studio

An unbelievably creative person who leads GD-team with his ideas on how to implement just the best game features. 
 

Slava Makarov, the mighty Vice President of Wargaming. Each upcoming title by Wargaming depends on his approval and – just believe me – World of Warships’ strategic vision is in safe hands. 
 

Slava Goncharov aka Uldor, Historical Consultant of our game

He is the person who seeks the best references, drawings and blueprints for every ship, which will be delivered in the game just for you. 

Well, that's me, Alexey Levakov aka KGB. Being a producer for World of Warships, sometimes I perform as a talking head… As you can see, I’m incredibly fond of DSLRs (and mirrorless cameras), though I’m far from calling myself a professional photographer.

Vladimir Gremitskiy. Guess, who's the Head of Art Department? Yes, exactly the person, who’s looking at you with sharp eyes from the picture. His religious exactitude and thorough attention to details let us be sure that World of Warships is going to have the highest quality ship models ever made. 
 

Polina Malisheva is a Creative Director at Lesta Studio. Her experience and inapproachable artistic taste are the traits that will reliably assure World of Warships a perfect look. 
 

These are the people patiently developing World of Warships. In the near future you will get a chance to evaluate the result of their joint efforts and talents, playing our ass-kicking game! 

:)

Thanks for reading, folks.

KGB

[ALL] Happy Holidays 2012!

The year 2012 has been amazing and extremely eventful for us. I tried to make the summary short, but..

Minsk, Belarus
In blossoming World of Tanks we have seen 9 major releases bringing huge changes and massive improvements, from those I would especially mark out the legendary (yes!) 8.0 with new physics and updated graphic render and the long-awaited introduction of British tanks later in 8.1.
The upcoming year is going to be similarly successful with all the stuff planned.

Kyiv, Ukraine
Second major product of the series - World of Warplanes entered the closed beta in late May. The game had its own ups and downs, natural for its early stage. The massive and extremely secret (!) overhaul of the many persistent issues has almost been finished by now and we will definitely be glad to present the results some time in Q1 2013.

World of Tanks Generals, a collectible card online game, is currently at alpha stage and doing very good. Expect lots of new from this side in 2013.   

Saint-Petersburg, Russia
World of Warships was only announced in mid 2012 (even though had been in development for some time before that) but has done just awesome progress since then, the feedback from various focus tests has been scarily positive so far. And believe my word, the game will come up to your expectations. The first testing stage is coming in foreseeable future.

Somewhere in WG's basements in Siberia
Above are titles that have been announced by now, which doesn't mean we are not trying to broaden our horizons soon. For sure, you are going to discover a lot new in 2013.

Now to the key point. Thank you for staying with us throughout this period. All the best to you and your families!

Merry Christmas and happy New Year! Stay around in 2013 and see you in battles - ground, aerial, and naval ones. May luck be on your side:)

Always yours,
Overlord

[ALL] Bookworm Party

Following the two book-related posts here and there, let's discuss what books you would be interested in.

Tanks, warplanes, warships, particular models and weapons, history of combat and tactics, etc?

Digital copy, hardback, paperback?

English will do? Or other native languages preferred?

Acceptable price tag?

Amount of images?

Other ideas?

[WoT] Get Expert Opinion: Soviet Edition

UPDATED. December 27. Thread closed. Thank you for the questions.

Q&A sessions on German tanks with Mr. Hilary L. Doyle appeared to be rather popular. As a continuation of this good tradition now you have a chance to ask World of Tanks warfare expert Yuriy Pasholok who has got outstanding knowledge of tanks in general with his primary specialization being Soviet tanks. He is also the co-author of recently published Maus book.

Post your questions in comments to this post, I will shortlist everything with love and care and subsequently provide replies the way I did with Doyle's ones splitting them into bulletins. The deadline for your questions is December 23.

While considering what exactly to ask, keep in mind that Pasholok may not be familiar with advanced game concepts and game design issues, thus try to keep your queries more reality-related than WoT-related (Yuriy prefers 1:1 scale vehicles, if you know what I mean ;)).

PS: you can repost old Qs from this thread, since there were few of them on Soviet tanks.  

Ask away!

[WoWS] Previously Unknown Designs

Hi everyone,

I told you that my second post would be about ship blueprints and design, so here it is:

As some of you may know, the Yzuru Hiraga is the famous Japanese naval architect of the beginning of the 20th century. Such ships as Yubari, Yamashiro, Nagato are a part of his work.
Moreover, in 1916 he became a chief engineering director of the Eight-eight fleet program, according to which by the 1927 Imperial Japanese Navy must have had 8 top class fast battleships and 8 top class battlecruisers.

I will come back to this program in future posts, but now I want you guys to know, what could be one of the starting point of completely different IJN:

Here you can see one of the preliminary dreadnought designs, based on the famous Mikasa.
This blueprint was found in the Hiraga's archive, and is dated as 1903/1904 design - the time of ironclads sunset, the time where Russian Imperial Fleet was still alive, the time before Russo-Japanese War.

The ship is approximately 18000 tons displacement, has four main caliber turrets with dual 305mm 45 caliber guns, and can probably go as fast as 18-19 knots; it is very similar to South Carolina/Michigan, isn't it?

We all know, that the first dreadnoughts built for IJN were Settsu and Kawachi, but this particular design shows us, that history could have gone another way, and who knows, how could it change the future?..

KGB.