That's who is responsible for the most crucial decisions in WG.
PS: Sorry for this being sooo non-informative.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
[ALL] Meanwhile in Producing Dept
That's who is responsible for the most crucial decisions in WG.
PS: Sorry for this being sooo non-informative.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Rocket and Roll out
Within the 21st army group in Europe, no-one is quite sure where the idea of strapping rockets to tanks came from. Some sources suggest it was a Canadian idea, but they never followed through with it. Although there are pictures of Canadian armoured cars mounting both RP-3 rockets and Landmattress launchers.
What is certain is that the Guards Armoured Division got hold of the idea and ran with it.
The first test firing was from a Sherman tank of the Coldstream Guards 2nd Squadron, on March 17th 1945. The previous day the 2nd's commander had undertaken a social call to the local RAF airbase and came away with a set of RP-3 rockets and launching rails.
After spending the next morning welding the rails to his tank, they stood a safe distance away and connected the battery.
The rocket leapt off the rails, and dropped down to almost hit the ground in front of the tank, then recovered and zoomed off blasting a crater in a hill a good distance away. The drop of the rocket was caused by the difference in launching speeds. Normally when fired from an aircraft the rocket is doing 400 mph, while the Sherman is effectively doing 0 mph. This was solved by aiming the Launching rails slightly upwards.
The next few days were spent finding enough launching rails and rockets, and converting the tanks of the squadron.Almost daily there were demonstrations to visiting brass who had heard of the novel idea. Culminating on the 28th with a demonstration for the Guards Armoured Division commander, where an entire troop launched a full broadside. The division commander was so impressed he is reported to be rolling on the floor laughing at the idea of lobbing the equivalent of a cruisers broadside at the Germans.
Tanks fitted with the rocket rails were named "Tulips". As the project was unofficial and carried out by the battalion fitters its not entirely clear how many tanks were converted. Its almost certain that the entirety of the Coldstream guards were converted. There are some pictures of Cromwell tanks carrying Tulip's, and the Welsh Guards had those. The markings on the Cromwell tanks so photographed don't carry the divisional symbol, but what markings do exist do follow a patten used by the Welsh Guards. So its conceivable the other regiments within the Guards Armoured Division converted some tanks. Both Sherman's and Fireflies were converted to carry Tulip kits.
Tulips were first used in anger on Easter Sunday (April 1st) 1945. The 2nd squadron, Coldstream Guards were trying to find a bridge over the Twente Canal. They had reports that a bridge at Enschede was still standing. As they drove along the road beside the canal a frantic Dutch man ran up to the column of armorued vehicles. Unable to understand him they had to push on as their orders required.
(Note: The following all happened in a very short space of time, and is compiled from the eye witness accounts of most of the tank commanders involved. Remember they will only have seen their small part of the action. I've tried to lay it out in order, but it should be remembered that sometimes mere seconds separated the items bellow.)
Suddenly the tanks saw the bridge less than a quarter of a mile away, and it was swarming with Germans! As the tanks rushed forward they scattered the Germans on the bridge with machine gun fire.
The lead two Sherman tanks, two Daimler Armoured Cars and a Daimler Dingo rushed over the Bridge. As they drove over they saw 4 huge demolition charges on the bridge. The armoured cars halted on the other side of the bridge and the crews dismounted to try and disarm the demolitions.
On the other side of the bridge the next tank in line, a Firefly had spotted four German 105mm Artillery pieces dug in 150 yards away on the other side of the canal, and covering the road. Stopping the Firefly started to engage them, then after a few round roared off over the bridge.
The next tank in line halted behind the stationary Firefly hit one of the German guns with a 75mm Shell, then as his Browning was still empty, launched his Tulips, destroying one of the other guns. The Germans then fired hitting the halted Sherman just behind the turret. If the round had gone as little as 6 inches higher it would have missed completely. The Sherman burst into flames, the fireball engulfed the tank behind it as well.
At this point the Germans detonated the charges on the bridge, dropping the span.
The next Sherman in line was making as much smoke as possible while reversing. An AP shell smashed a tree to bits right next to the tank as the Sherman reversed through a barn. The next round knocked out the Sherman's tracks. At this point the column had disengaged successfully, later in the day they would return and capture the village.
On the German side of the bridge the Firefly which had gotten across was hit in the turret and knocked out and the armoured car's crews were killed by the bridge being detonated. The second Sherman across managed to avoid the Germans and followed the canal, managing to cross much further down and re-joined the regiment.
The first Sherman across had started pushing into German held lines, getting half a mile further on when they heard the bridge blow up. So they returned to see what had happened. The tank wash it by three Panzerfaust's and survived with no damage, then an AT gun round struck it, knocking its track off. The tank was moving when this happened and rolled down an embankment, and out of the line of fire for the gun. The crew bailed out and managed to rejoin the regiment by stripping naked and swimming across the canal.
The reason for the German gun's poor showing was that earlier in the day the 105mm's had a visit from Typhoons of the RAF, and the gun crews had all fled, leaving infantry to try and man the guns.
Not the best of starts to the career of the Tulips, although it should be noted that 12 of the POW's whom had been captured later in the day were deaf from being too close to the Tulip shots.
Despite this lack of impact in its first action the Coldstream Guards continued to use Tulips until the end of the war. They proved their worth many times over, with one tank commander crediting the presence of Tulips as being the reason they took far less casualties than expected. One engagement demonstrates this perfectly.
German paratroopers from the 7th Fallschirmjager Division had turned a wood into a strong point, and was severely delaying the advance and causing heavy casualties to the allied infantry. Two troops of Tulips arrived and fired their rockets at the range of 400 yards. The Germans instantly surrendered, and were described in a report as "very shaken".
It was also found that Tulips were very good at removing roadblocks where AP and HE rounds had failed.
A post war report into mounting rockets on tanks stresses how safe the rockets are. Pointing to the fact that one rocket was hit directly in the warhead to no effect apart from shattering the round. Another account points out that despite a Sherman being set on fire, it was later found that both rockets were still in place.
The report also starts to talk about uses against AFV's, and how if the accuracy could be improved rockets would make a fine Anti-tank weapon. The report is largely supportive of the idea of future development of rockets as part of armour.
Then the report reaches the Ministry of Supply where the Director General writes off the idea as a silly one due to the lack of accuracy.
What is certain is that the Guards Armoured Division got hold of the idea and ran with it.
The first test firing was from a Sherman tank of the Coldstream Guards 2nd Squadron, on March 17th 1945. The previous day the 2nd's commander had undertaken a social call to the local RAF airbase and came away with a set of RP-3 rockets and launching rails.
After spending the next morning welding the rails to his tank, they stood a safe distance away and connected the battery.
The rocket leapt off the rails, and dropped down to almost hit the ground in front of the tank, then recovered and zoomed off blasting a crater in a hill a good distance away. The drop of the rocket was caused by the difference in launching speeds. Normally when fired from an aircraft the rocket is doing 400 mph, while the Sherman is effectively doing 0 mph. This was solved by aiming the Launching rails slightly upwards.
The next few days were spent finding enough launching rails and rockets, and converting the tanks of the squadron.Almost daily there were demonstrations to visiting brass who had heard of the novel idea. Culminating on the 28th with a demonstration for the Guards Armoured Division commander, where an entire troop launched a full broadside. The division commander was so impressed he is reported to be rolling on the floor laughing at the idea of lobbing the equivalent of a cruisers broadside at the Germans.
Tanks fitted with the rocket rails were named "Tulips". As the project was unofficial and carried out by the battalion fitters its not entirely clear how many tanks were converted. Its almost certain that the entirety of the Coldstream guards were converted. There are some pictures of Cromwell tanks carrying Tulip's, and the Welsh Guards had those. The markings on the Cromwell tanks so photographed don't carry the divisional symbol, but what markings do exist do follow a patten used by the Welsh Guards. So its conceivable the other regiments within the Guards Armoured Division converted some tanks. Both Sherman's and Fireflies were converted to carry Tulip kits.
Tulips were first used in anger on Easter Sunday (April 1st) 1945. The 2nd squadron, Coldstream Guards were trying to find a bridge over the Twente Canal. They had reports that a bridge at Enschede was still standing. As they drove along the road beside the canal a frantic Dutch man ran up to the column of armorued vehicles. Unable to understand him they had to push on as their orders required.
(Note: The following all happened in a very short space of time, and is compiled from the eye witness accounts of most of the tank commanders involved. Remember they will only have seen their small part of the action. I've tried to lay it out in order, but it should be remembered that sometimes mere seconds separated the items bellow.)
Suddenly the tanks saw the bridge less than a quarter of a mile away, and it was swarming with Germans! As the tanks rushed forward they scattered the Germans on the bridge with machine gun fire.
The lead two Sherman tanks, two Daimler Armoured Cars and a Daimler Dingo rushed over the Bridge. As they drove over they saw 4 huge demolition charges on the bridge. The armoured cars halted on the other side of the bridge and the crews dismounted to try and disarm the demolitions.
On the other side of the bridge the next tank in line, a Firefly had spotted four German 105mm Artillery pieces dug in 150 yards away on the other side of the canal, and covering the road. Stopping the Firefly started to engage them, then after a few round roared off over the bridge.
The next tank in line halted behind the stationary Firefly hit one of the German guns with a 75mm Shell, then as his Browning was still empty, launched his Tulips, destroying one of the other guns. The Germans then fired hitting the halted Sherman just behind the turret. If the round had gone as little as 6 inches higher it would have missed completely. The Sherman burst into flames, the fireball engulfed the tank behind it as well.
At this point the Germans detonated the charges on the bridge, dropping the span.
The next Sherman in line was making as much smoke as possible while reversing. An AP shell smashed a tree to bits right next to the tank as the Sherman reversed through a barn. The next round knocked out the Sherman's tracks. At this point the column had disengaged successfully, later in the day they would return and capture the village.
On the German side of the bridge the Firefly which had gotten across was hit in the turret and knocked out and the armoured car's crews were killed by the bridge being detonated. The second Sherman across managed to avoid the Germans and followed the canal, managing to cross much further down and re-joined the regiment.
The first Sherman across had started pushing into German held lines, getting half a mile further on when they heard the bridge blow up. So they returned to see what had happened. The tank wash it by three Panzerfaust's and survived with no damage, then an AT gun round struck it, knocking its track off. The tank was moving when this happened and rolled down an embankment, and out of the line of fire for the gun. The crew bailed out and managed to rejoin the regiment by stripping naked and swimming across the canal.
The reason for the German gun's poor showing was that earlier in the day the 105mm's had a visit from Typhoons of the RAF, and the gun crews had all fled, leaving infantry to try and man the guns.
Not the best of starts to the career of the Tulips, although it should be noted that 12 of the POW's whom had been captured later in the day were deaf from being too close to the Tulip shots.
Despite this lack of impact in its first action the Coldstream Guards continued to use Tulips until the end of the war. They proved their worth many times over, with one tank commander crediting the presence of Tulips as being the reason they took far less casualties than expected. One engagement demonstrates this perfectly.
German paratroopers from the 7th Fallschirmjager Division had turned a wood into a strong point, and was severely delaying the advance and causing heavy casualties to the allied infantry. Two troops of Tulips arrived and fired their rockets at the range of 400 yards. The Germans instantly surrendered, and were described in a report as "very shaken".
It was also found that Tulips were very good at removing roadblocks where AP and HE rounds had failed.
A post war report into mounting rockets on tanks stresses how safe the rockets are. Pointing to the fact that one rocket was hit directly in the warhead to no effect apart from shattering the round. Another account points out that despite a Sherman being set on fire, it was later found that both rockets were still in place.
The report also starts to talk about uses against AFV's, and how if the accuracy could be improved rockets would make a fine Anti-tank weapon. The report is largely supportive of the idea of future development of rockets as part of armour.
Then the report reaches the Ministry of Supply where the Director General writes off the idea as a silly one due to the lack of accuracy.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
[WoWP] Digging Into WoWP Directories
That's what you can find inside, if you are curious what the next major update will bring in terms of new aircraft:
Yak-1
Yak-3
Yak-7
Yak-9
Yak-15
Yak-19
Yak-30
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
[WoT] 0.8.7?
The 0.8.7 update has been live for a while (especially for EU server) - waiting for feedback in this thread. Share your personal pros and cons - already heard fair amount of negativity tbh. That means 0.8.8 will definitely be better :)
Personally, I haven't checked out the new (0.8.7) version yet because of the vacation. Going to do that later today.
Personally, I haven't checked out the new (0.8.7) version yet because of the vacation. Going to do that later today.
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Light Tank Regiment to the Guns!
In 1939 there was a clash of armoured forces bigger than any seen in the previous 20 years. However this wasn't the invasion of Poland, in September. But another almost forgotten war in July. The numbers now look insignificant and are overshadowed by the Second World War that happened just two months later. But today I'll be having a look at one action of that war.
From May until August 1939 The soviet union and the Japanese forces were engaged in a war. It was over the exact line of the border, between their two vassal states of Mongolia and Manchuria. The Japanese referred to it by the name of a nearby village of Nomonhan, the Soviets named it after the River, Khalkhin Gol.
The Soviets built up massive numbers of tanks, men and artillery and ended the war crushing the Japanese forces. However at the start of the conflict the Japanese forces were doing all the attacking, and came close to winning.
As this war was their first against a modern well equipped opponent the Japanese learnt allot of lessons they later employed. To the end of gaining experience they deployed a force of around 80 tanks to the front in two tank regiments.
Colonel Tamada's 4th Tank regiment was one of those deployed. The vast majority of the regiment was made up by Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks, although the 4th Company had 8 Type 89 Yi-Go Medium tanks.
The Japanese forces at Nomonhan were plagued by problems. Some of which were self inflicted. Commander's world view and wishful thinking, lack of intelligence, poor communications and utterly inadequate logistics all helped to defeat the Japanese forces.
These issues were demonstrated in the run up to the 4th Tank regiments first action. Logistics were so bad the tanks almost ran out of fuel, and it wasn't until more was airlifted to them that they could continue advancing. When preparing their plan of attack the commanders of the two tank regiments were shown a map, which had only rough enemy positions on it as the map was at least three days old. Equally they were assured that the Soviets were preparing to withdraw by the local infantry commander.
It should be noted that almost every order the Japanese commanders issued mentioned that the Soviets were preparing or in the process of withdrawing, when this never was the case.
The plan called for both tank regiments to advance abreast of each other to seize an elevation with some infantry supporting them. Things went badly almost immediately, Soviet artillery began to hammer the 3rd tank regiment, stripping their infantry support and knocking some Japanese tanks out. Despite this they made some small gains then retired from the battlefield.
The 4th Regiment had different luck. While navigating an area of rolling sand dunes the 4th regiment became disoriented. This was down to several factors, including maps being too small, no land marks to use as references and compasses being distorted by the tanks armour plate. The 4th Regiment tried to stick to the low ground to avoid being exposed the enemy fire. This meant they moved South East instead of directly East, and missed the objective they were heading for.
As the tanks advanced they used their machine guns to hose down any bush that might occupy an Anti-tank gun, then began to engage enemy armorued cars at long range. As dusk fell the Soviets knew some Japanese forces were in that area and began to shell them with 122mm howitzers. Ten guns fired over 100 shells, for no effect. The had Japanese pulled back into some dead ground, but kept shifting their positions to avoid the bombardment. One Japanese tanker tells of how a shell landed just behind his tank showering him with dirt. So he ordered his tank to move, as it did so another shell landed exactly where he had been parked.
As night fell Col Tamada reviewed his position. He knew were the enemy artillery was located, simply from the direction the shells were coming from, that was all the information on the enemy he had.
The training manuals clearly stated that tanks should only operate at night with infantry support, and even then no more than a platoon at a time. Equally his regiment had never undergone any night training of any sort.
On the other hand his regiment hadn't taken any casualties nor had it inflicted any serious damage. Knowing how risky it was he ordered an unsupported night attack against a dug in and prepared enemy position.
With his medium tanks in the lead, followed by his Command group. Col Tamada had a company of Type 95 Ha-Go's on each flank and one bringing up the rear as a reserve. He kept the unit close together, to make command and control easier using hand signals. This was in part due to Soviet radio transmissions being so powerful they cut across the frequencies the Japanese used rendering their radios useless. One officer, to amuse himself Started yelling in Japanese at any Soviet that appeared on his Radio. To ease identification Col Tamada ordered every tank to fly a large Japanese flag from their radio antenna.
Col Tamada also ordered the enemy to be destroyed by any means the individual tank commanders thought necessary or could come up with, even to go as far as suggesting the tanks headlight be used to blind the enemy!
At 2300 the Japanese launched their charge for the guns. The first picket line of infantry was reached. As the tanks rampaged through the lines some tank commanders stood in their hatch shooting at Soviet soldiers with their pistols.
At about midnight a massive thunderstorm broke. With rapid lightning strikes, which all missed the tanks, although one Tank commander says they hit something near by his tank. The strobe of lightning illuminated the Soviet positions, and the roar of thunder covered the noise the tanks made as they approached the enemy main line.
Although the thunder and lightning helped the Japanese, the torrential rain that poured down was so overwhelming tank commanders found it impossible to see or breathe. Many donned their gas masks as protection.
Under the cover of the storm the headlong rush of the Japanese tankers hit the dug in Soviets. One tank was knocked out by Soviet fire, however by that point the Japanese were under the artilleries minimum gun depression. Trench lines were over run and caused to collapse. Any gun or artillery piece that was found was deliberately pushed over by the tanks, then crushed. While the gunners poured fire into any ammunition stocks they could see. Many of those ammo piles detonated adding to the confusion.
By 0200 three batteries of Soviet artillery had been utterly wiped out and the Japanese thrust had ripped a kilometer through the Soviet position. Finding themselves in a lull the 4th Regiment regrouped. Knowing that the enemy would be retaliating soon, and that dawn was less than two hours away Col Tamada ordered his tanks to withdraw back to their own lines. They managed that without any enemy contact.
Taking stock after the battle they found that they had lost a single Type 95 Ha-Go and one soldier killed. Nine men had also been wounded, from a total of 44 tanks and 315 men. The Soviets had come off far worse, losing twelve 122mm artillery pieces, ten armoured cars, two BT tanks, seven towed anti-tank guns, two companies of infantry, five medium mortars and twenty trucks.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Lee to Serve
In World Of Tanks the M3 Lee is a bit of a joke. This wasn't the case in Burma fighting the Japanese. Even during the later years of the war, the appearance of M3 Lee or Grant tanks was a welcome sight. For example Garrison Hill in 1944 the arrival of four Lee's was greeted with cheers from the British lines. However the subject of today's article is a bit further along a ridge line.
Kohima was the administrative center for the province of Nagaland in India. It's a ridge line that also has a main supply road running past it. The District Commissioner's bungalow, some tennis courts, gardens and a few other buildings were cut into the hill side. There was also a village and a couple of other areas occupied by British troops. Apart from those small clearings the area was very dense jungle. The area was considered such bad terrain that the British originally thought only a regiment could operate in the area. Luckily intelligence warned the British that in fact an entire division was heading towards Kohima.
The Japanese forces arrived on the 4th of April 1944. by that time around two battalions of Commonwealth front line forces were holding the area, there were also some line of communication troops.
The initial Japanese assault broke the defenders line into a collection of small perimeters. At one the Japanese over-ran the water supply. Leaving the defenders without water, until a small spring was discovered. But it was so exposed that it could only be used during the hours of darkness. At another location the hospital was almost in the front line and was under direct small arms fire.
The main fighting was at the District Commissioner's bungalow and surrounding gardens. On the first day the initial Japanese assault reached the defender's trenches. However knowing what would happen if they surrendered despite being overwhelmed all the defenders fought for their lives and threw the Japanese back. The two front lines solidified along the sides of the tennis courts, with the court as no-mans land.
For two weeks the Commonwealth forces held on until reinforcements were able to break the Japanese hold on the main supply road and open the way to Kohima.
Despite the fresh supplies the situation was still far from safe. The Japanese had to be pushed back, and that's where the tanks show up.
Along with other tank regiments the 149th Royal Armoured Corp, equipped with M3 Lee's moved up to Kohima.
In Burma the M3 had gained a reputation for being very good off road. One example comes from later in 1944. An M3 Lee from the 149th Regiment drove up Kennedy peak (the one in Burma, not the US) to take part in the fighting there. Kennedy peak has a recorded elevation of 2703 meters!
At Kohima, to finally open the road and push the Japanese back, the area around the District Commissioner's bungalow had to be secured. However to get up to the battlefield, without using the Japanese held section of the road, a tank would need to climb a slope well beyond the capabilities of any tank. At this point a daring plan was hatched. Using bulldozers to cut a path through the jungle, the bottom of the ridge line was reached. From there on a single M3 Lee was winched up the side of the 1261 meter high ridge!
The M3 commander was Sergeant J. Waterhouse of A Squadron. Riding on the outside of the tank was Lieutenant T. Highett of the Dorsetshire Regiment's carrier platoon. Lt Highett was there as a guide, having seen the area before. The following details come from both Sgt Waterhouse's and Lt Highett's after action reports ad accounts. Which are detailed in various books. It should be noted that some of their details differ slightly, however this are only in minor points.
After being freed from the winch the M3 lee found itself at the top of the ridge. Below them was the first terrace with the tennis courts on it. After a few seconds working out if it was possible the driver of the M3 Lee yelled "Hang on", and launched the tank off the 2 meter drop to the tennis courts. If the driver had gotten it wrong the tank would have been immobilized in the middle of a Japanese infantry force, and the tank would have been doomed. The Lee landed with a thump and was able to move off immediately. Although they didn't know it at the time the Lee landed upon the main Japanese command bunker crushing it flat.
The Japanese, although surprised by the sudden appearance of a rampaging tank in their midst, quickly began to pelt it with small arms fire to no avail. Sgt Waterhouse spotted a very sturdily constructed bunker, made out of a steel water tower and heavily sandbagged. The bunker was blown to pieces by a shot from the 75mm gun. With their command bunker gone, along with a strong point and lacking the ability to stop the tank, the Japanese soldiers dropped their weapons and began to flee!
For the next 20 minutes Sgt Waterhouse drove along the tennis courts dealing with trench lines and MG bunkers as he found them. The infantry from the other side of the tennis courts moved up to support the tank in clearing the area.
After the tennis courts were secured the Lee moved to the edge of the terrace, and was looking out over the District Commissioner's bungalow, which was heavily fortified by the Japanese. Not wanting to risk his tank in another drop Sgt Waterhouse took the bungalow under fire. For 20 minutes he shelled the bungalow, until he had smashed nearly all of it to rubble. Only the chimney remained standing. Infantry moved forward to clear that terrace.
During the entire 40 minute action the infantry had only taken one casualty. It had happened during the clearing of the tennis courts. The wound was light enough that the soldier was able to walk to the aid station under his own power.
On closer inspection of the Bungalow it was found that about 40 Japanese soldiers had dug in. After mopping up soldiers found some writing scrawled on the walls of a bunker. Although written by a Japanese soldier the words were in English, it said:
"British! - Too many Guns, Tanks, Troops. Japanese going. Back in Six months!"
They never were.
Kohima was the greatest defeat inflicted on a Japanese army, and has been likened to Stalingrad, both in size of the defeat and the fact it marked a turning point in the war.
Kohima was the administrative center for the province of Nagaland in India. It's a ridge line that also has a main supply road running past it. The District Commissioner's bungalow, some tennis courts, gardens and a few other buildings were cut into the hill side. There was also a village and a couple of other areas occupied by British troops. Apart from those small clearings the area was very dense jungle. The area was considered such bad terrain that the British originally thought only a regiment could operate in the area. Luckily intelligence warned the British that in fact an entire division was heading towards Kohima.
The Japanese forces arrived on the 4th of April 1944. by that time around two battalions of Commonwealth front line forces were holding the area, there were also some line of communication troops.
The initial Japanese assault broke the defenders line into a collection of small perimeters. At one the Japanese over-ran the water supply. Leaving the defenders without water, until a small spring was discovered. But it was so exposed that it could only be used during the hours of darkness. At another location the hospital was almost in the front line and was under direct small arms fire.
The main fighting was at the District Commissioner's bungalow and surrounding gardens. On the first day the initial Japanese assault reached the defender's trenches. However knowing what would happen if they surrendered despite being overwhelmed all the defenders fought for their lives and threw the Japanese back. The two front lines solidified along the sides of the tennis courts, with the court as no-mans land.
For two weeks the Commonwealth forces held on until reinforcements were able to break the Japanese hold on the main supply road and open the way to Kohima.
Despite the fresh supplies the situation was still far from safe. The Japanese had to be pushed back, and that's where the tanks show up.
Along with other tank regiments the 149th Royal Armoured Corp, equipped with M3 Lee's moved up to Kohima.
In Burma the M3 had gained a reputation for being very good off road. One example comes from later in 1944. An M3 Lee from the 149th Regiment drove up Kennedy peak (the one in Burma, not the US) to take part in the fighting there. Kennedy peak has a recorded elevation of 2703 meters!
At Kohima, to finally open the road and push the Japanese back, the area around the District Commissioner's bungalow had to be secured. However to get up to the battlefield, without using the Japanese held section of the road, a tank would need to climb a slope well beyond the capabilities of any tank. At this point a daring plan was hatched. Using bulldozers to cut a path through the jungle, the bottom of the ridge line was reached. From there on a single M3 Lee was winched up the side of the 1261 meter high ridge!
The M3 commander was Sergeant J. Waterhouse of A Squadron. Riding on the outside of the tank was Lieutenant T. Highett of the Dorsetshire Regiment's carrier platoon. Lt Highett was there as a guide, having seen the area before. The following details come from both Sgt Waterhouse's and Lt Highett's after action reports ad accounts. Which are detailed in various books. It should be noted that some of their details differ slightly, however this are only in minor points.
After being freed from the winch the M3 lee found itself at the top of the ridge. Below them was the first terrace with the tennis courts on it. After a few seconds working out if it was possible the driver of the M3 Lee yelled "Hang on", and launched the tank off the 2 meter drop to the tennis courts. If the driver had gotten it wrong the tank would have been immobilized in the middle of a Japanese infantry force, and the tank would have been doomed. The Lee landed with a thump and was able to move off immediately. Although they didn't know it at the time the Lee landed upon the main Japanese command bunker crushing it flat.
The Japanese, although surprised by the sudden appearance of a rampaging tank in their midst, quickly began to pelt it with small arms fire to no avail. Sgt Waterhouse spotted a very sturdily constructed bunker, made out of a steel water tower and heavily sandbagged. The bunker was blown to pieces by a shot from the 75mm gun. With their command bunker gone, along with a strong point and lacking the ability to stop the tank, the Japanese soldiers dropped their weapons and began to flee!
For the next 20 minutes Sgt Waterhouse drove along the tennis courts dealing with trench lines and MG bunkers as he found them. The infantry from the other side of the tennis courts moved up to support the tank in clearing the area.
After the tennis courts were secured the Lee moved to the edge of the terrace, and was looking out over the District Commissioner's bungalow, which was heavily fortified by the Japanese. Not wanting to risk his tank in another drop Sgt Waterhouse took the bungalow under fire. For 20 minutes he shelled the bungalow, until he had smashed nearly all of it to rubble. Only the chimney remained standing. Infantry moved forward to clear that terrace.
During the entire 40 minute action the infantry had only taken one casualty. It had happened during the clearing of the tennis courts. The wound was light enough that the soldier was able to walk to the aid station under his own power.
On closer inspection of the Bungalow it was found that about 40 Japanese soldiers had dug in. After mopping up soldiers found some writing scrawled on the walls of a bunker. Although written by a Japanese soldier the words were in English, it said:
"British! - Too many Guns, Tanks, Troops. Japanese going. Back in Six months!"
They never were.
Kohima was the greatest defeat inflicted on a Japanese army, and has been likened to Stalingrad, both in size of the defeat and the fact it marked a turning point in the war.
Monday, July 15, 2013
[WoWP] Open Beta Impressions
World of Warplanes open beta has been up and running for quite some time for now. Any impressions and feedback you could share at this stage? How's grind so far?
The game will fully go live before long. Still, we are going to release at least a couple of both minor and major updates prior to that focusing on interfaces, optimizations, single wallet / premium account for Wargaming's games, balance fixes (including high-tier battles), mouse controls, reduction of server lags, post-battle screen, cameras, crew functionality, new consumables, new content (Brits, anyone?), including maps and some other stuff, I forgot to mention.
So, how's your flight?
The game will fully go live before long. Still, we are going to release at least a couple of both minor and major updates prior to that focusing on interfaces, optimizations, single wallet / premium account for Wargaming's games, balance fixes (including high-tier battles), mouse controls, reduction of server lags, post-battle screen, cameras, crew functionality, new consumables, new content (Brits, anyone?), including maps and some other stuff, I forgot to mention.
So, how's your flight?
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Holding at Hondeghem
Today I want to have a look at a battle fought during the Blitzkrieg against France in 1940. This particular battle isn't that well known, and yet one of the roads at the location is named after the unit involved, in honor of the stiff resistance the troops put up. So here's the story of F Troop, K Battery, 5th Royal Horse Artillery.
5 RHA was moving towards Cassel on 24th of May 1940, during the German invasion of France. F Troop, with a small HQ from the battery was dispatched to Hondeghem to guard the flank of the force. A scratch infantry unit of 75 men, with 12 Bren guns, from the 2nd Searchlight regiment was sent with them to provide infantry support.
The four 18 Pounders of F Troop were in position later that afternoon, along with the infantry. the 18 Pounders had first served in World War One, but had remained effective as field guns. After most were lost in France they were almost entirely replaced by 25 Pounders. Two guns were outside the village, with a screen of infantry and two more stationed beside the Church.
The following morning a Bren gun carrier roared up and issued a warning to the forward most gun, that a large force of Germans was approaching. The Germans in question where two companies of Panzers and an infantry Regiment from the 6th Panzer Division. The carrier was sent to report to the Troop's HQ.
After a short while a Panzer was seen moving along the road towards Hondeghem. The first gun, commanded by Troop Sergeant Major Opie, waited until the Panzer was fully exposed and less than 80 yards away. At that point TSM Opie ordered the 18 Pounder to fire, knocking the tank out. A line of several more Panzers and infantry then followed the first, attacking towards the gun pit. Both guns opened fire disabling another German tank. The rear most gun was then targeted by a storm of mortar shells and knocked out of action, leaving the Opie's gun alone.
The German's advance now enveloped the 18 Pounder on two sides, with small arms hammering the position when a Panzer charged up to it spraying it with machine gun fire, then the tank fired an armour piercing shell into the gun. This barrage killed all the crew, except two men. One of the two not killed was mortally wounded three times. The other was TSM Opie who suffered head injuries.
Both men refused to leave their positions and got ready to continue to fight their gun. However when inspecting the gun TSM Opie found the AP shell from the German tank had smashed the guns sights and rendered it useless. Before they could do anything else the position was over run by German infantry and both men were captured. The German officer on the scene immediately ordered them evacuated to receive medical treatment and provided a staff car for that purpose.
With the outer line of defence now destroyed the Germans moved forward to attack the village proper. One of the surviving 18 Pounders was looking directly down the main line of attack by the Germans and began to put up a furious barrage of shells.
The second gun had no targets, realizing this, the crew man handled the gun down the street to engage the Germans attacking the other gun. As they did so they spotted a column of German trucks carrying infantry, moving up to flank the position. Quickly they took those under fire forcing the Germans back.
Savage close range and hand to hand fighting carried on for the next 8 hours. With the men of the searchlight regiment and K Battery putting up stiff resistance. The 18 Pounders were wheeled about being used to blast German occupied houses, and prevent the German from pushing up the streets. Most of the fighting was at under a 100 yards range, with Germans trying to knock out the guns with hand grenades.
At one point, due to the pace of the fighting one of the guns fired a smoke shell by mistake. Spotting the danger both guns immediately increased their rate of fire. The concussion of the guns and their HE shells dispersed the smoke before the Germans could rush the Battery.
By 1530 both the infantry and the two remaining guns where almost depleted of ammunition and the Germans looked ready to carry the position, when a detachment of infantry from the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry appeared and stiffed the defence.
At this point a lull descended on the battle field as the Germans retired from the battle to regroup and prepare for another assault. On the British side, with all most no ammunition available, and many wounded the decision was taken to abandon the village. The Troop commander made sure all wounded were accounted for and evacuated. He was also the last man to leave.
Retreating towards the village of Saint Sylvestre Chapel the remnants of F Troop met up with about 20 men from the Royal Army Service Corp, and learnt that the Germans held the cross roads there, and that F Troop was cut off.
The Troop commander immediately ordered a bayonet charge. Splitting his forces into two, he ordered that one group charge one side of the graveyards, and led the charge against the other. The German troops holding the graveyard dropped their weapons and ran in fear. Allowing F Troop to deploy its two 18 Pounders. The Germans soon came back and both guns fired their last rounds holding the Germans at bay. As the first gun ran out of ammunition the battery tried to evacuate it. However as they limbered it up to its Quad an unseen German weapon smashed both with several shells.
Utterly out of ammo, after being in action for nearly the entire day, with German reinforcements approaching and with night falling the decision was taken to retreat again. Unable to get the last 18 Pounder out the gun was put beyond use, and the remaining soldiers clambered aboard the last trucks.
However the only way to retreat was Through the German half of the village.
Setting off as fast as they could F Troop's column raced across the square and turned left to drive north along the main road. Only to find a number of Panzers blocking their way. they immediately took a right hand road that led out of the Village. Only to find the Germans had emplaced a Machine gun nest on one of the houses. With this machine gun hammering at them they made a dash for safety.
One truck took a corner to fast and plowed into a ditch, despite the Machine gun still shooting at them a second truck stopped and picked up all the passengers. A short distance further on they met up with another truck that had gone out of control and plowed through a fence and escaped across a field.
F troop had one last narrow escape. Upon reaching friendly forces they were surprised and alarmed to find out the road they had retreated down had actually been mined!
On the 24th of May F Troop had a strength of 63 personnel and 4 Guns. After the fighting only 18 remained.
5 RHA was moving towards Cassel on 24th of May 1940, during the German invasion of France. F Troop, with a small HQ from the battery was dispatched to Hondeghem to guard the flank of the force. A scratch infantry unit of 75 men, with 12 Bren guns, from the 2nd Searchlight regiment was sent with them to provide infantry support.
The four 18 Pounders of F Troop were in position later that afternoon, along with the infantry. the 18 Pounders had first served in World War One, but had remained effective as field guns. After most were lost in France they were almost entirely replaced by 25 Pounders. Two guns were outside the village, with a screen of infantry and two more stationed beside the Church.
The following morning a Bren gun carrier roared up and issued a warning to the forward most gun, that a large force of Germans was approaching. The Germans in question where two companies of Panzers and an infantry Regiment from the 6th Panzer Division. The carrier was sent to report to the Troop's HQ.
After a short while a Panzer was seen moving along the road towards Hondeghem. The first gun, commanded by Troop Sergeant Major Opie, waited until the Panzer was fully exposed and less than 80 yards away. At that point TSM Opie ordered the 18 Pounder to fire, knocking the tank out. A line of several more Panzers and infantry then followed the first, attacking towards the gun pit. Both guns opened fire disabling another German tank. The rear most gun was then targeted by a storm of mortar shells and knocked out of action, leaving the Opie's gun alone.
The German's advance now enveloped the 18 Pounder on two sides, with small arms hammering the position when a Panzer charged up to it spraying it with machine gun fire, then the tank fired an armour piercing shell into the gun. This barrage killed all the crew, except two men. One of the two not killed was mortally wounded three times. The other was TSM Opie who suffered head injuries.
Both men refused to leave their positions and got ready to continue to fight their gun. However when inspecting the gun TSM Opie found the AP shell from the German tank had smashed the guns sights and rendered it useless. Before they could do anything else the position was over run by German infantry and both men were captured. The German officer on the scene immediately ordered them evacuated to receive medical treatment and provided a staff car for that purpose.
TSM Opie
With the outer line of defence now destroyed the Germans moved forward to attack the village proper. One of the surviving 18 Pounders was looking directly down the main line of attack by the Germans and began to put up a furious barrage of shells.
The second gun had no targets, realizing this, the crew man handled the gun down the street to engage the Germans attacking the other gun. As they did so they spotted a column of German trucks carrying infantry, moving up to flank the position. Quickly they took those under fire forcing the Germans back.
Savage close range and hand to hand fighting carried on for the next 8 hours. With the men of the searchlight regiment and K Battery putting up stiff resistance. The 18 Pounders were wheeled about being used to blast German occupied houses, and prevent the German from pushing up the streets. Most of the fighting was at under a 100 yards range, with Germans trying to knock out the guns with hand grenades.
At one point, due to the pace of the fighting one of the guns fired a smoke shell by mistake. Spotting the danger both guns immediately increased their rate of fire. The concussion of the guns and their HE shells dispersed the smoke before the Germans could rush the Battery.
By 1530 both the infantry and the two remaining guns where almost depleted of ammunition and the Germans looked ready to carry the position, when a detachment of infantry from the Fife and Forfar Yeomanry appeared and stiffed the defence.
At this point a lull descended on the battle field as the Germans retired from the battle to regroup and prepare for another assault. On the British side, with all most no ammunition available, and many wounded the decision was taken to abandon the village. The Troop commander made sure all wounded were accounted for and evacuated. He was also the last man to leave.
Retreating towards the village of Saint Sylvestre Chapel the remnants of F Troop met up with about 20 men from the Royal Army Service Corp, and learnt that the Germans held the cross roads there, and that F Troop was cut off.
The Troop commander immediately ordered a bayonet charge. Splitting his forces into two, he ordered that one group charge one side of the graveyards, and led the charge against the other. The German troops holding the graveyard dropped their weapons and ran in fear. Allowing F Troop to deploy its two 18 Pounders. The Germans soon came back and both guns fired their last rounds holding the Germans at bay. As the first gun ran out of ammunition the battery tried to evacuate it. However as they limbered it up to its Quad an unseen German weapon smashed both with several shells.
This picture might be the gun F Troop tried to evacuate.
Utterly out of ammo, after being in action for nearly the entire day, with German reinforcements approaching and with night falling the decision was taken to retreat again. Unable to get the last 18 Pounder out the gun was put beyond use, and the remaining soldiers clambered aboard the last trucks.
However the only way to retreat was Through the German half of the village.
Setting off as fast as they could F Troop's column raced across the square and turned left to drive north along the main road. Only to find a number of Panzers blocking their way. they immediately took a right hand road that led out of the Village. Only to find the Germans had emplaced a Machine gun nest on one of the houses. With this machine gun hammering at them they made a dash for safety.
One truck took a corner to fast and plowed into a ditch, despite the Machine gun still shooting at them a second truck stopped and picked up all the passengers. A short distance further on they met up with another truck that had gone out of control and plowed through a fence and escaped across a field.
F troop had one last narrow escape. Upon reaching friendly forces they were surprised and alarmed to find out the road they had retreated down had actually been mined!
On the 24th of May F Troop had a strength of 63 personnel and 4 Guns. After the fighting only 18 remained.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
[WG] Anton Sitnikau On Warplanes
Yet another interview. Now with Anton Sitnikau, WoWP Lead Producer
— Anton, currently you are World of Warplanes producer however your start was totally different – you were a programmer. What is the story behind this transition? How long did it take? What stages did you go through?
— I was studying to become a programmer, which I eventually did getting software engineering degree from Belarusian National Technical University. My specialization was C++. First 10 years after graduation I spent working for a scientific research institute. I developed and supported dispatching systems for power engineering. Those 10 years were interesting both in terms of contents and financially, but it was middle-age crisis I guess that made me long for a change. I went to work for the largest IT-company in Minsk then (EPAM Systems - Overlord), where I did a course on ABAP/4. I stayed there for a year only and mostly because that condition was stated in my contract. Despite growing popularity and potential of SAP, it appeared to be not my cup of tea. I was invited for a job interview in a small and cozy company called Wargaming. The opening I was interviewed for was of a game logics developer. And that was my role in 2005 when I joined the company. In those times we were developing something that was later called “Operation Bagration” (Order of War for Western market - Overlord).
— When you joined the company, were you thinking of becoming a game designer?
— Back then I didn’t know that such profession existed. When they were introducing some of the colleagues who were game designers, I could hardly understand what the guys did. It appeared that game designers had their fingers in many pies – they were doing a lot of things from different areas. The only thing they didn’t do was drawing, perhaps. This situation was true not just about WG but a lot of other gamedev companies, too. My personal transition to game design was smooth. Executing my duties as a programmer, I also worked on draft unit balance in technodemos and on making video presentations. When I got to grips with the essentials of game design, I finally realized that I wanted to be fully involved in the area.
— But why?
— I have never had troubles coming up with ideas. I felt that my background as a programmer is beneficial because it was easy to sieve the ideas that were impossible to implement. Long story short, I had an interview with Victor Kisly and my shift to game design was approved. Soon I was appointed “Operation Bagration” lead game designer.
— It sounds like you took over the project just off the bat?
— Well, yes. I’d say it’s probably one of WG’s traditions to throw a person into the open see and wait if they swim out or not. If they emerge, that’s cool. If not, well…kinda sad but overall they work…so…
«Bagration» was a success. We got “Best Strategic Game Award” at KRI (Russian game awards - Overlord) and we also got Editor’s Choice Award from several game industry editions.
At some point at pre-final stage of working on the westernized reincarnation of “Bagration” — Order of War — I was offered to move to “World of Tanks” project as a balance specialist. Mostly I was working on game economy but sometimes – on battle balance as well (at early stages - alpha, closed and open beta of WoT - Overlord). I was curious about other tasks too, but the project needed a technical specialist able to analyze and calculate, which I was. I worked out an economy model which was a totally reckless thing as there were no statistics – not enough at least – it wasn’t obvious what data to be guided by. Even the system of prices and values was to be defined. The model appeared to operate successfully and to some extent it’s been applied in WoWP as well. Obviously, the model has been polished as the economy of an MMO is affected by various influences and fluctuations. This process will be going on for as long as the project lasts.
— When were you offered to be at the helm of Warplanes?
— The initial balance of “Tanks” was completed. For a month or two I worked as an analyst and later became the lead of the analytical department that never appeared. During that time a report system specifications were created (the system is now in WoT - Overlord). The system has been implemented and will be fully functioning in WoWP open beta. It was then that I was offered to check out “Warplanes”. I went to Kiev, played the prototype, got acquainted with the staff. Upon arrival I came up with a huge report listing project risks, major gameplay issues, gave characteristics to the staff. The time has proved that I was right about all of the points. Thus, I was offered to lead the project from Minsk side.
The studio in Kiev was very professional. It started to grow fast due to the new project mostly – World of Warplanes I am talking about. In Minsk we had experience, knowledge and vision developed with “Tanks”. All of it was to be shared with the developers in Kiev. Kiev specialists are cool but some “parenting control” is necessary anyways. It’s true not just about the level of concept creation but also knowledge transfer from major to minor details.
— Would you say that your programming background helps you now, when you are a project producer and in charge of “Warplanes” gameplay?
— It helps when I have to make an astonished face asking: Do you really believe that the development of this feature will take a week? I’d say that my technical background, logical thinking and common sense are of great use. They help to formulate requirements and specifications. Plus it helps to stick to a rather strict and consistent product concept as such.
— How are “Warplanes” different from “Tanks” in technical terms? What problems did you have due to these discrepancies?
— In technical terms “Warplanes” and “Tanks” are very different. One of the main reasons is the transition from 2.5D in WoT to full 3D in WoWP. Besides, plane speed and armament are totally different. Although we did understand that the concept of “like tanks but about planes” sounded a bit naive, it turned out that the gameplay was even more different than we imagined. A lot of solutions were to be developed from scratch. It was tough as we lacked some specific experience.
For instance, render. World of Tanks has never used the default one – offered by BigWorld. Our render was modernized and shaped according to tank “needs”. Even at alpha stage it was different from the default version. It turned out that what we had for tanks couldn't be applied to what we required to have for planes. Planes need bigger maps, very few visual objects in the air. Planes themselves are more complicated than tanks. The main object that the player sees for 99% of the whole gameplay should be implemented otherwise, not like in WoT. For “Warplanes” it’s not important to display a bicycle leaning on a fence in a shadow of a tree in detail, but this is something that those who play tanks should see. Those who pilot planes can see that only when they are flying over the ground on high speed. However, the rest requires a more thorough approach: complexity of the aircraft models, 3D terrain, massive trees, large city quarters, water, complex 3D clouds.
When Kiev programmers got the BigWorld box version render, they realized that it was not enough at all – just the same thing had happened to Minsk programmers when they were working on “Tanks”. For some time we were coping with a compilation of the default render, tank pieces and first own ideas, but eventually the WoWP render was redeveloped and redesigned completely. By the way, then the knowledge was transferred to St.-Petersburg - WoWS will get its own unique render that has very little in common with default BW solution.
— These render improvements of yours, are they integrated back to BigWorld?
— Now they are. In the situation being we can prioritize our requests to the Australian team more effectively. Much work has been done on server-side improvement, network protocols optimization and toolset development. Speaking on server-side, WoWP differs from WoT a lot. For instance, take shooting. When the shell is fired, it flies with a particular speed according to particular ballistics, enters the armour plate under a particular angle. It can pierce the armour, can just damage it or ricochet. The shell behavior is defined by real life empiric formulae. Having penetrated the shell can move further and damage one or more internal tank modules, inside armor compartments an so on. Now we can compare. The tank gun makes up to 6 or so shots a minute. My favourite example in “Warplanes” is the following: tier 3 attack aircraft – a monstrous Soviet construction of the 30-ies ТSh-3 – carries 10 machine-guns, every one of which shoots 10 bullets per second. Although the armour of planes is simpler that the one of tanks and we don’t really need detailed calculations for penetration, it still is a serious calculation problem. No one is insured against a battle where 30 (!) ТSh-3 will start shooting simultaneously. Initially we were trying to deal with it by clusterization of bullets and after the server side optimization we can now calculate each bullet separately. Well, of course there are some simplifications but in terms of game mechanics, we are happy now.
— Apart from render-issues, were there any other difficulties in the development process of WoWP?
— From the very beginning our major concern was simple and comfortable controls system. First, we simplified the aircraft’s behavior. We disabled the flatter – vibration on a particular speed, which may lead to a plane destruction. We disabled the spin, too. We left behind the nuances of fuel mixtures regulations and some other things. We are not trying to make a hardcore simulator, our target audience is different. Despite this and thanks to this, our controls have to be user-friendly and understandable. And funnily enough our advantage is our drawback at the same time. What I mean to say is that everything is calculated on the server only.
— Is that a way of fighting against cheaters?
— Yes. We tend to guarantee equal rights for all players. What has it led to? Let’s compare with “Tanks”. The player pushes the button “move forward” and the tank accelerates. The plane has got totally different speeds. They require different reactions – being 200 milliseconds late can be too much for a player. “Warplanes” is definitely a more dynamic shooter than “Tanks”. Imagine the situation, game client has got player’s input, converted it, sent to server, the server has calculated everything and sent it back to client, which has interpolated and visualized everything. If the flight physics and the damage were calculated on the client side, we would be able to have sensitive controls straightaway. However, the players can be located somewhere far and the ping of 300 milliseconds is quite unpleasant for “Tanks” players, for “Warplanes” it's just fatal. By the way, server lags are just one aspect. Another aspect would be causality and easy controls. To solve this problem we spent a lot of time and resources. We created more than 15 controls prototypes. Barely 1/3 of those has reached our testers. At some point our flight model became overcomplicated and too difficult to balance. Our controls were liked by some players but hated by others. When we tried to change the controls, these audiences switched places. We felt we faced a dead-end.
However, a young and initiative group of developers inside the development unit – game designer Anton Muskeev and server programmer Misha Pavlenko gathered together to prototype independently in their own time. In one of the meetings with Minsk managers the guys presented their prototype and we got amazed! Their solution was developed in parallel to the existing one. After some time their idea became the default version and it was introduced in 0.4.0 update. Now we understand that we are on the right path.
What was the solution of the creative duet? The guys have totally redesigned the flight model on the server making the behavior of the plane more sensitive and real. They were not afraid to try out some architectural changes. It allowed us eventually to have a totally independent and quality data processing from different devices. I have to mention that the final version of the solution appeared with the help of 777 studio – the guys who created a fine hardcore simulator Rise of Flight about WWI warplanes. At the moment by the way they are working on the new IL2 with 1C. We invited them as consultants. Their expertise and fresh approach helped us to polish the great solution and make it fantastic.
Finally we implemented these new mouse controls. Plus we started working on a more hardcore option of the controls but it was decided to freeze the implementation. Apart from the controls, the guys’ flight model was more predictable. This complex of solutions simplified game designers’ lives when it came to aircraft balance and adjustments. Now all the planes can be easily tuned according to both, historical data and gameplay needs.
— Are the Ukrainian developers any different from Belarusians?
— They are. Their temperament is different as well as their attitude to corporate culture. In Minsk all communication processes are tougher. In Kiev they are more relaxed and friendly.
It is easier in Kiev when it comes to finding resources. Their market is richer. In Kiev there are a lot of studios of well-known companies, which “shared” their employees with us. From employer’s perspective the situation in Kiev is less tense than in Minsk. Plus, people are more eager to relocate to Ukraine rather than to Belarus.
I am happy to work with the Ukrainian office. The team has got experience of working for European and American companies renowned in game-industry. The guys in Kiev are competent and qualified. On one hand, their outsourcing experience is a double-edged sword. You have to change the way you think when you are working on your own project. On the other hand, “Warplanes” is the first own project for the studio. The story about controls development I told earlier is a proof of how the way of thinking is changing.
Generally speaking, “we make our own product” mood is still something that empowers Kiev developers. It becomes obvious the very moment you enter the office – posters of WoWP everywhere, a lot of plane models on desks. It’s great that people like what they do!
— Anton, currently you are World of Warplanes producer however your start was totally different – you were a programmer. What is the story behind this transition? How long did it take? What stages did you go through?
— I was studying to become a programmer, which I eventually did getting software engineering degree from Belarusian National Technical University. My specialization was C++. First 10 years after graduation I spent working for a scientific research institute. I developed and supported dispatching systems for power engineering. Those 10 years were interesting both in terms of contents and financially, but it was middle-age crisis I guess that made me long for a change. I went to work for the largest IT-company in Minsk then (EPAM Systems - Overlord), where I did a course on ABAP/4. I stayed there for a year only and mostly because that condition was stated in my contract. Despite growing popularity and potential of SAP, it appeared to be not my cup of tea. I was invited for a job interview in a small and cozy company called Wargaming. The opening I was interviewed for was of a game logics developer. And that was my role in 2005 when I joined the company. In those times we were developing something that was later called “Operation Bagration” (Order of War for Western market - Overlord).
— When you joined the company, were you thinking of becoming a game designer?
— Back then I didn’t know that such profession existed. When they were introducing some of the colleagues who were game designers, I could hardly understand what the guys did. It appeared that game designers had their fingers in many pies – they were doing a lot of things from different areas. The only thing they didn’t do was drawing, perhaps. This situation was true not just about WG but a lot of other gamedev companies, too. My personal transition to game design was smooth. Executing my duties as a programmer, I also worked on draft unit balance in technodemos and on making video presentations. When I got to grips with the essentials of game design, I finally realized that I wanted to be fully involved in the area.
— But why?
— I have never had troubles coming up with ideas. I felt that my background as a programmer is beneficial because it was easy to sieve the ideas that were impossible to implement. Long story short, I had an interview with Victor Kisly and my shift to game design was approved. Soon I was appointed “Operation Bagration” lead game designer.
— It sounds like you took over the project just off the bat?
— Well, yes. I’d say it’s probably one of WG’s traditions to throw a person into the open see and wait if they swim out or not. If they emerge, that’s cool. If not, well…kinda sad but overall they work…so…
«Bagration» was a success. We got “Best Strategic Game Award” at KRI (Russian game awards - Overlord) and we also got Editor’s Choice Award from several game industry editions.
At some point at pre-final stage of working on the westernized reincarnation of “Bagration” — Order of War — I was offered to move to “World of Tanks” project as a balance specialist. Mostly I was working on game economy but sometimes – on battle balance as well (at early stages - alpha, closed and open beta of WoT - Overlord). I was curious about other tasks too, but the project needed a technical specialist able to analyze and calculate, which I was. I worked out an economy model which was a totally reckless thing as there were no statistics – not enough at least – it wasn’t obvious what data to be guided by. Even the system of prices and values was to be defined. The model appeared to operate successfully and to some extent it’s been applied in WoWP as well. Obviously, the model has been polished as the economy of an MMO is affected by various influences and fluctuations. This process will be going on for as long as the project lasts.
— When were you offered to be at the helm of Warplanes?
— The initial balance of “Tanks” was completed. For a month or two I worked as an analyst and later became the lead of the analytical department that never appeared. During that time a report system specifications were created (the system is now in WoT - Overlord). The system has been implemented and will be fully functioning in WoWP open beta. It was then that I was offered to check out “Warplanes”. I went to Kiev, played the prototype, got acquainted with the staff. Upon arrival I came up with a huge report listing project risks, major gameplay issues, gave characteristics to the staff. The time has proved that I was right about all of the points. Thus, I was offered to lead the project from Minsk side.
The studio in Kiev was very professional. It started to grow fast due to the new project mostly – World of Warplanes I am talking about. In Minsk we had experience, knowledge and vision developed with “Tanks”. All of it was to be shared with the developers in Kiev. Kiev specialists are cool but some “parenting control” is necessary anyways. It’s true not just about the level of concept creation but also knowledge transfer from major to minor details.
— Would you say that your programming background helps you now, when you are a project producer and in charge of “Warplanes” gameplay?
— It helps when I have to make an astonished face asking: Do you really believe that the development of this feature will take a week? I’d say that my technical background, logical thinking and common sense are of great use. They help to formulate requirements and specifications. Plus it helps to stick to a rather strict and consistent product concept as such.
— How are “Warplanes” different from “Tanks” in technical terms? What problems did you have due to these discrepancies?
— In technical terms “Warplanes” and “Tanks” are very different. One of the main reasons is the transition from 2.5D in WoT to full 3D in WoWP. Besides, plane speed and armament are totally different. Although we did understand that the concept of “like tanks but about planes” sounded a bit naive, it turned out that the gameplay was even more different than we imagined. A lot of solutions were to be developed from scratch. It was tough as we lacked some specific experience.
For instance, render. World of Tanks has never used the default one – offered by BigWorld. Our render was modernized and shaped according to tank “needs”. Even at alpha stage it was different from the default version. It turned out that what we had for tanks couldn't be applied to what we required to have for planes. Planes need bigger maps, very few visual objects in the air. Planes themselves are more complicated than tanks. The main object that the player sees for 99% of the whole gameplay should be implemented otherwise, not like in WoT. For “Warplanes” it’s not important to display a bicycle leaning on a fence in a shadow of a tree in detail, but this is something that those who play tanks should see. Those who pilot planes can see that only when they are flying over the ground on high speed. However, the rest requires a more thorough approach: complexity of the aircraft models, 3D terrain, massive trees, large city quarters, water, complex 3D clouds.
When Kiev programmers got the BigWorld box version render, they realized that it was not enough at all – just the same thing had happened to Minsk programmers when they were working on “Tanks”. For some time we were coping with a compilation of the default render, tank pieces and first own ideas, but eventually the WoWP render was redeveloped and redesigned completely. By the way, then the knowledge was transferred to St.-Petersburg - WoWS will get its own unique render that has very little in common with default BW solution.
— These render improvements of yours, are they integrated back to BigWorld?
— Now they are. In the situation being we can prioritize our requests to the Australian team more effectively. Much work has been done on server-side improvement, network protocols optimization and toolset development. Speaking on server-side, WoWP differs from WoT a lot. For instance, take shooting. When the shell is fired, it flies with a particular speed according to particular ballistics, enters the armour plate under a particular angle. It can pierce the armour, can just damage it or ricochet. The shell behavior is defined by real life empiric formulae. Having penetrated the shell can move further and damage one or more internal tank modules, inside armor compartments an so on. Now we can compare. The tank gun makes up to 6 or so shots a minute. My favourite example in “Warplanes” is the following: tier 3 attack aircraft – a monstrous Soviet construction of the 30-ies ТSh-3 – carries 10 machine-guns, every one of which shoots 10 bullets per second. Although the armour of planes is simpler that the one of tanks and we don’t really need detailed calculations for penetration, it still is a serious calculation problem. No one is insured against a battle where 30 (!) ТSh-3 will start shooting simultaneously. Initially we were trying to deal with it by clusterization of bullets and after the server side optimization we can now calculate each bullet separately. Well, of course there are some simplifications but in terms of game mechanics, we are happy now.
— Apart from render-issues, were there any other difficulties in the development process of WoWP?
— From the very beginning our major concern was simple and comfortable controls system. First, we simplified the aircraft’s behavior. We disabled the flatter – vibration on a particular speed, which may lead to a plane destruction. We disabled the spin, too. We left behind the nuances of fuel mixtures regulations and some other things. We are not trying to make a hardcore simulator, our target audience is different. Despite this and thanks to this, our controls have to be user-friendly and understandable. And funnily enough our advantage is our drawback at the same time. What I mean to say is that everything is calculated on the server only.
— Is that a way of fighting against cheaters?
— Yes. We tend to guarantee equal rights for all players. What has it led to? Let’s compare with “Tanks”. The player pushes the button “move forward” and the tank accelerates. The plane has got totally different speeds. They require different reactions – being 200 milliseconds late can be too much for a player. “Warplanes” is definitely a more dynamic shooter than “Tanks”. Imagine the situation, game client has got player’s input, converted it, sent to server, the server has calculated everything and sent it back to client, which has interpolated and visualized everything. If the flight physics and the damage were calculated on the client side, we would be able to have sensitive controls straightaway. However, the players can be located somewhere far and the ping of 300 milliseconds is quite unpleasant for “Tanks” players, for “Warplanes” it's just fatal. By the way, server lags are just one aspect. Another aspect would be causality and easy controls. To solve this problem we spent a lot of time and resources. We created more than 15 controls prototypes. Barely 1/3 of those has reached our testers. At some point our flight model became overcomplicated and too difficult to balance. Our controls were liked by some players but hated by others. When we tried to change the controls, these audiences switched places. We felt we faced a dead-end.
However, a young and initiative group of developers inside the development unit – game designer Anton Muskeev and server programmer Misha Pavlenko gathered together to prototype independently in their own time. In one of the meetings with Minsk managers the guys presented their prototype and we got amazed! Their solution was developed in parallel to the existing one. After some time their idea became the default version and it was introduced in 0.4.0 update. Now we understand that we are on the right path.
What was the solution of the creative duet? The guys have totally redesigned the flight model on the server making the behavior of the plane more sensitive and real. They were not afraid to try out some architectural changes. It allowed us eventually to have a totally independent and quality data processing from different devices. I have to mention that the final version of the solution appeared with the help of 777 studio – the guys who created a fine hardcore simulator Rise of Flight about WWI warplanes. At the moment by the way they are working on the new IL2 with 1C. We invited them as consultants. Their expertise and fresh approach helped us to polish the great solution and make it fantastic.
Finally we implemented these new mouse controls. Plus we started working on a more hardcore option of the controls but it was decided to freeze the implementation. Apart from the controls, the guys’ flight model was more predictable. This complex of solutions simplified game designers’ lives when it came to aircraft balance and adjustments. Now all the planes can be easily tuned according to both, historical data and gameplay needs.
— Are the Ukrainian developers any different from Belarusians?
— They are. Their temperament is different as well as their attitude to corporate culture. In Minsk all communication processes are tougher. In Kiev they are more relaxed and friendly.
It is easier in Kiev when it comes to finding resources. Their market is richer. In Kiev there are a lot of studios of well-known companies, which “shared” their employees with us. From employer’s perspective the situation in Kiev is less tense than in Minsk. Plus, people are more eager to relocate to Ukraine rather than to Belarus.
I am happy to work with the Ukrainian office. The team has got experience of working for European and American companies renowned in game-industry. The guys in Kiev are competent and qualified. On one hand, their outsourcing experience is a double-edged sword. You have to change the way you think when you are working on your own project. On the other hand, “Warplanes” is the first own project for the studio. The story about controls development I told earlier is a proof of how the way of thinking is changing.
Generally speaking, “we make our own product” mood is still something that empowers Kiev developers. It becomes obvious the very moment you enter the office – posters of WoWP everywhere, a lot of plane models on desks. It’s great that people like what they do!
Originally posted here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)