By Mizutayio with help from Vollketten
In part 1 I set the scene for the Swiss defensive mindset and hopefully you will see the defensive needs refelcted in Swiss tank design. Having looked at WW2 and the Panzer 39 projects next we shall look at the last project of the 1946-1948 period and take a look at the NK II, probably one of the most ridicilous looking, yet oddly charming tanks I’ve ever seen. After that some completely new deisgn I hope shall pursuade you to support a full SWiss tree for World of Tanks.
Back in 2015 Yuri Pasholok wrote a article on the NK II found here on an old RsR article: http://ritastatusreport.blogspot.ch/2015/04/nahkampfkanone-ii.html
What that Article doesn’t tell however were all the other options I have found in the Swiss archives for the NK II.
First of all there weren’t only 2 guns planned, there were 4 more:
- a 7.5cm Pak L/73,
- a 9cm Pak L/60,
- a 10.5 cm Pak L/60, and
- a 15 cm HB 16 L/14.
Additionally there were plans to add 15mm or spaced armor to the front of the NK II.
However, despite the rather lovely NK II Switzerland wasn’t quite done yet with secret projects. In 1950, 3 new tank designs were made in 14 ton, 16ton and 30 ton versions.
The first two, the 14 and 16 ton tanks were called the ‘Laupen light tanks’. They were very light vehicles with rather big guns, namely the 9cm L/40 guns to be exact. In-game they would have low penetration concerning caliber and gun length, in the region of 120mm which in my opinion makes them ideal candidates for tier 5 and 6 with a top speed of 50kph.
-Plans for the Laupen 14t. Fitted with a 220hp diesel motor at 14 tons produces a power to weight ratio of 16hp/ton.
-This is the Laupen 16t. With the same 220hp diesel motor it gets a worse hp/ton ratio of 14 hp/ton, so it is slightly less mobile but will improved protection.
And here probably one of the best tier 8 tanks that you could see in World of Tanks in the future.
This is a 30 ton tank designed in 1950. The armour features the well sloped piked nose glacis similar to the Soviet IS-3 and 65mm thick. There were four guns envisaged for this vehicle:
- a 90mm L/62,
- a 90 mm L/70,
- a 105mm gun L/53, or
- a 105mm gun L/60
As a medium tank with a 600hp engine at 30tonnes we have a power to weight ratio of 20 hp/ton with a top speed of 50kph. This is a very capable medium tank for WoT. The front hull well sloped and the turret up to 200mm thick at the front and 270mm thick at the mantlet the sides are very weak being just 40mm thick and the rear even worse. Get behind this tank and it is dead but from the front this is a mobile bruiser.
A few years later Switzerland had begun development of the KW 30 which would later be known as the Panzer 58. Initially a wooden mockup was built and the real tank would have had pretty weak armor with the turret being 70/ 45/35 front/side/rear and the hull being 60/45/35 front side rear. At just 30 tonnes though with an 800hp engine this vehicle manages a rather impressive 26.7hp/ton. with a weight of 30 tons and a 800hp engine.
So that concludes part 2. As I continue digging in the Swiss archives for more projects and designs I shall bring them to you including modern vehicles which may be more suited to the Armored Warfare game too.
Tier 8 candidate seems really intriguing.
But ugly 😉
Butt ugly*
Good job. I really want to see a Swiss tech tree!
Anodjl is working on a Swiss tree in the French section of the WoT forum: http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/535543-larbre-suisse-dans-wot/
He is waiting the next articles of Mizutayio to update it carefully, but you are welcome to help us 🙂
These new tanks show that the Swiss tree has a large potential, with lot of tanks that will not be clones.
Mind telling him that he could contact me on the EU forums, he might be able to help me, and trust me, i’m far better organized than you think 😉
He already did 😉 Also on you blog ^^
Tier 5 and 6: Laupen 14t or 16t
Tier 8: KW-30, Swiss IS-3ish tank, or Panzer 58 with 20 pdr
Tier 9: Panzer 61
Tier 10: Panzer 68
Judging from little information about the tanks, I feel like it would fit like this , but I may be wrong.
KW-30 can fit as tier 7 too.
Tier 2: Panzer 34/35 4.7cm
Tier 3 Panzer 39
Tier 4: Panzer 39 mit 7.5cm Turm
Tier 5: Laupen 14
Tier 6 Laupen 16
Tier 7: KW 30
Tier 8 K+W 50 30 ton
Tier 9 Panzer 58 Series
Tier 10 Panzer 68
Good to know that a tree exist.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the Panzer 58 as tier 8, and the 61 as tier 9 ?
Especially as we have 2 turrets available for the 61 (the original one and the AA9).
@NDIVER
Problem is: Panzer 58, 61 and 68 are all very similar, having 2 similar tanks would work but not 3.
That’s why the Panzer 58 would work best at tier 9, then the Panzer 61 as a CW/ Reward Tank and the Panzer 68 as a regular tier 10.
Nice articles, these. Good work.
@Rita : apparently the pictures for the Laupen 14t and 16t have been inverted based on what is written on them compared to the text.
The 14 and 16 ton tanks look very week. Just give it 300hp and good ground resistances and call it good
so the proto for the Pz 58 was actually more of a juggernaut than the Pz itself? i smell budget cuts
Nope, it was just the general idea post WW2 that armour was useless against APCR and HEAT.