Greetings everyone, It has been a while since i last talked about the Swiss tech tree and while it may seem that not a lot has happened since then, there has actually been quite some things happening behind the scenes.
-Scroll to the end for the QnA part
Now i really need this tree to get as much attention as possible, so please share it everywhere you can, be it the many european forums, the NA Forum, Asia Forum, Russian Forum or social media. I am not allowed to say anything but maybe WG is very well aware of the tree and is just shelving it for a later date, and maybe when it gets enough attention we’d get a new nation instead of yet another Russian tier 8 premium tank, who knows 😉
For Starters, let’s talk about the Changes to the tree since last time. First one are changes to the Wheeled top tier vehicles, tier 9 and 10 mainly, Tier 9 will stay the Piranha I but instead of a 90mm armed turet it gets the FL-10 turret with a 75mm autoloading gun. Tier 10 will be the Piranha ARES which is a Piranha APC with a HV 75mm ARES autocannon. My idea about these top tier tanks is that they would bring something new to tier 9 and 10, until now tier 10 tanks usually carry at least 100mm or larger guns, tier 9 is generally 88 or 90mm or above, at least for a viable build, there are tanks with 75mms at tier 9 but those are worthless guns for the most part. However these vehicles would have 75mm guns with similar penetration to other tanks of the same role and tier. Look at them as the high tier variants of the AMX 13 57
As for the other change, i’ve decided that there was another tank for the Tier 10 light tank role that might fit better than the KW 15 (which, after reading into my documents again, might be not as real as i thought it was. ) I’ve yet to talk with WG about it and if it would be a viable tier 10 light tank in terms of design, but the vehicle in question would be the Mowag Tornado 105, a vehicle based on the Mowag Tornado IFV with a Rheinmetall Rh-105-11 Rifled gun.
the part that worries me the most is the Turret which is crewless, which should be against WGs rules. However it would be a lot better Option than the KW 15, alternatively if everything fails, there is still the Austrian SK-105 that could fill the spot.
To sum up the Swiss tanks and their playstyle:
Medium Tank branch ( Pz. 68 branch): Starting at tier 6-8 we get medium tanks with decent mobility, but weaker armor which should still be capable of the occasional bounce off their rounded turret. The main armament of those tiers are 90mm with the tier 7 tank getting an optional autoloader. Tier 9 and 10 are Panzer 61 and 68 which would be similar to the Leopard 1 and AMX 30 playstyle, however they’d get more armor but are slightly slower. I see them as Leo 1/ Patton hybrids .
Medium sub branch ( Chansard 11 branch): Autoloading medium tank branch from tier 8 to 10 similar to the french autoloading mediums, but with smaller clips and quicker clip reload, slightly slower but slightly better survivability.
TD branch ( Traditional TDs): Low tier TDs are lightly armored TDs with various cannons to chose from. Mid tier TDs (5-7) Are medium assault TDs with decent armor, but not inpenetrable by any means, they get some respectable guns to chose from ( Autoloader, 15cm Howitzer, 105mm guns ) High tiers are like the Kanonenjagdpanzer 105, low armor, high mobility and good guns. Tier 9 and 10 are unique in their own way, where tier 9 focuses on speed ( 72 kph reverse and forward speed)m tier 10 focuses more on firepower as it can mount the 120 mm RO L11 gun.
TD Sub branch ( Turreted/ Semi turreted branch): This branch splits off from tier 6 and starts out with 8 lightly armored, yet versatile turreted TDs. Top Tiers, while having turrets, have limited traverse ( similar to T28 Prot. and T110E4) They have similar Firepower but have lower mobility but slightly better protection.
SPG Branch: Similar to the french, no autoloaders, discovered the turret 2 tiers earlier.
Light tank line 1 ( Tracked): They start out as non scout tanks with all sorts of playstyles from tier 1 to 5, anything from autocannon tanks to high alpha, high mobility tanks, the true scout line starts at tier 6 and is similar to the german line .
Light tank line 2 ( Wheeled): Startng from tier 5 we get 2 foreign tanks with domestic modifications like new guns and radios. Tier 6 to 8 are similar to the tracked line, except they’re on a wheeled chassis. Tier 9 and 10 as mentioned above would get an AMX 13 57 type of playstyle.
Heavy tank line: Starting from tier 5 and 6 we have medium tanks with lower mobility but decent armor, tier 6 while being basically a Lansen C, get a low pressure 90mm which was actually a proposed gun for it, and it also gets 2 engines which were part of the Lansen proposal by switzerland to landsverk. Tier 7 is a uparmored medium tank with considerably more armor and more weight than the medium tank version. Tier 8 is Part of the KW 30 program and while originally a medium tank in design, the Turret armor and gun choices are anything but medium. This is also the point where the heavies start to get really bad hull armor with good angles for the occasional bounce which gets more effective when positioned properly, Tier 9 and 10 as well as a tier 8 premium option are Part of a program to replace the aging Panzer 68s they bear similarities to Panzer 68 but also show very clear influences by tanks like the Chieftain. The hull on the top tier Heavies are bad, but the versatility is excellent good mobility, and good guns would make them dangerous when played properly, however due to the soft hull and the fact that the mobility might be worse than the stats may indicate makes them easy to defeat when caught red-handed.
Here is the link by the way to the interactive tech tree proposal (not yet updated with the above mentioned tanks) http://pipboy.wtz.cz/wot-ch/#
Also I will be hosting another QnA, so again, share this Article so WG is aware that People are interested in this tree. Ask anything you like and i’ll see if i can answer them. ( be aware that won’t answer questions of statements that aren’t about the swiss tech tree as i’m a swiss historian with connections to WGs historical departement and not a WG employee so please don’t ask about unrelated stuff )
Were there any soviet tanks tested in Switzerland? If so where there any modifications to them that would make them be more Swiss than russian?
as a swiss i am waiting for several years for this line, hopefully i comes fast ( and yes, the swiss build some original tanks)
Is Swiss the last major tank nation missing in the game? (tank nation in terms of the WoT time/tech frame)
Pretty much…you could add a few other eurpeans lines (combine) but after that it ll pretty much be fleshing out older tech trees.
Cant believe wg hasnt add the swiss yet and added poliah first which almost half fake
no, i mean major tank nation. for example i wouldn’t count Poland or Italy among them. Japan and Czechoslovakia are edge cases mostly due to how their souverentiy was impacted after WW2, limiting the their ability to keep up an own tank program. China i honestly don’t know enough about.
But Swiss and Sweden as independent nations that made it through WW2 kept their domestic defense development alive. so they can really compete – at least with the number of different designs – even with the biggest powers.
fair enough, if thats the case only the Swiss are left in terms of a full nation or Isreal if you count clone tanks
could some Swiss or who speak swiss send up some more Photos from IRL Swiss tanks ?
Nice ! Very interesting !
About the light tanks, how about going a biy further about the high tier ”flavour”.
It’S already mentionned that they are like german line. I don’T think it’s enough.
How about mentionning that they are like the germans, but with better gun depression (they would be the only lights with -12 of gun depression for example) and smaller size, but less view range and a lower top speed (french tracked autoloader light mobility).
What do you think about that ?
Cheers !
Swiss tank tree would be a great addition to the WOT.
And I’m seeing now a good acceptance for Swiss tanks in Russian WOT community against very skeptical attitude a couple of years ago.
Devs are promising us two new branches for the next year. One is an Italian HTs, and other, who knows, maybe initial Swiss branch.
Mizu, do you know anything more about Austrian tanks? There should be more projects between RK-9 and SK-105 Kürassier.