Good Saturday everyone, here is part 2 of SP15’s Swedish tank Q&A #2

 

“can you include a visual tech tree? Maybe your personal view and expanded WG tech tree.”

My thoughts on the current tree were largely covered by this article: Swedish tree supertest and beyond messed up models and made up stats

but in short I don’t agree with the choice of vehicles for the “TD” line (especially the Strv 103’s as they were historically medium tanks), and while I find the tanks chosen for the medium/heavy line to be fine their implementation was botched thanks to the way they were unnecessarily balanced with fake armor and modules.

I don’t think WG’s tree is unsalvageable however, it would be completely possible to remove all the fake aspects of the mediums, heavies and “TD’s” however this would require a complete rebalance for the top and mid tiers of both lines.

This is my draft of an expanded Swedish tech tree based around the lines WG has already added. As you can see this tree includes the addition of full light tank and SPG lines as well as an expansion to the medium line.

This would be the ideal way to expand the Swedish tree as all tank classes would be represented. Practically all of the vehicles here are already researched and ready for implementation with minimal effort should WG wish (provided I and Renhanxue would help them once again).

With the tree in its current state however im much more interested in fixing its problems before helping with another branch. I don’t actually expect WG to ever fix these issues so its probably a mute point.

 

“Will there be more non-premium Siege mode TD’s introduced? I like them a lot”

The problem with this is not that we don’t have candidates but the fact that WG probably wouldn’t want another line of turretless tanks since they would be too similar to the Strv 103 line. There is a possibility that one of these tanks might appear as a mission reward tank (provided we get personal missions season 2) but I wouldn’t keep my hopes up.

 

“what wheeled vehicles did Sweden design but never produce?”

The Swedish military never really used a lot of armored cars, but there are a few interesting projects that do exist. There are some that potentially fit WoT but these only have 20-37mm guns. Here are some examples.

 

“Are there projects Similar to the UDES XX20?”

 

Yes but not within the WoT timeline (and I don’t think their suspension would work in the game anyway). There were loads of designs that experimented with the same kind of suspension, but ultimately more conventional designs were chosen instead.

 

“What was the heaviest Swedish tank project ever created?”

“What was the most armored Swedish tank (just raw thickness without angling)?”

The Strv 2000 or more accurately the Strv 2000 T  was main battle tank developed during 1988-1991 with the intention of replacing the Strv 103 and Strv 104. The Strv 2000 T was projected to weigh 59,8 ton fully loaded and 56,8 ton for transport. The effective armor protection was to be 1200mm vs kinetic energy rounds and 800mm vs HEAT though the exact armor composition is unknown.

 

“Could Sweden have a huge derp or alpha gun in the game?”

The largest gun on any Swedish tank that isn’t a SPG is the 150mm gun that was meant for the KRV, this gun was rejected when WG balanced the tank.

 

“What was the actual weight of the Lansen 25t?”

According to Swiss documents it was to weigh 23 tons.

 

“What was the smallest Swedish tank project ever created?”

I would have to say the Ikv 72, its barely any larger than a small car and is no taller than 1670mm.

 

“Is there any chance that we could see other Ivk. 65 variant in the game? Those tanks look awesome!”

Probably, but I have no idea where or when.

 

“How many TD lines could Sweden build?”

“Is there Still a chance to get that second TD Line you talked about?”

Realistically one more line is possible but theoretically up to 3 lines could be possible. I don’t want to go into details yet as im probably going to make an article on the matter.

 

” Was the Landsverk Lago designed especially for the Hungarians (or other export reasons) then later offered to the Swedish army, or was it the other way around?

Why did the negotiations between the Swedes and the Hungarians about the purchase of the Lago failed?”

 

Originally the lago was designed purely as an export tank since Sweden had a 12 ton weight limit on tank designs. Interest from Hungary around 1938-39 led to the production of a prototype which was completed in early 1941. By this time there was a export ban on military equipment, and the Swedish army was very interested in developing the design.

 

Is the 47mm gun on the Lago originated from abroad or was it developed domestically? It’s a strange caliber compared to the other Swedish guns.”

It was most likely a Böhler M35 gun, though I don’t think its actually specified in the documents we have. Alternatively a 40mm was planned, and in its 1940 iteration the tank was planned to mount Hungarian a 13mm machine gun in the hull.

 

“How many variants were proposed for the UDES 03 in total?”

Hägglunds and Bofors submitted several proposals in 1972, though only Bofors developed the concept further.

 

“Besides the fucked up armor and engine stats, did WG put others retarded fakish stats in the Swedish tanks? Like, were all the different guns on the tanks planned IRL? By the way, thanks a lot for all the work you’ve done during all those years!”

Thank you, its feedback from readers like you that make me keep writing articles.

Some tanks like the Ikv 65, ikv 72, ikv 103 and the tier 8 EMIL have fake gun depression or traverse angles. All the modules and guns were at least discussed for the tanks, though in some cases like with the Strv m/42’s top gun they are not accurately portrayed (as in the gun was meant for another turret).

 

“And about the lights, I’m wondering.. Why is there so much differences between your review at this point: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/05/15/swedish-tanks-part-x-strv-lansen/

And this more recent one: https://ritastatusreport.live/2016/06/20/the-swedish-lightmedium-branch/

Why do the engines, guns and speeds are being different? Because now I’m rather confused regarding the stats we can expect from those light tanks, and I’m really wondering for which tiers they would be suited”

 

The stats differ because we were able to find new information on these tanks. As for the tiers, I went into detail about my thoughts on how these tanks should be tiered in the last part of the answers.

 

“what is going on in the picture at the top of this post”

In the Late 1940’s the Swedish military experimented with deep wading equipment for its tanks, the result was a standardized kit for the Strv m/42 and Pvkv m/43.

Only about 15 deep wading kits were produced but there were plans to modernize these for the Strv 74 in the early 60’s, however these ended up being scrapped instead.

 

“When can we expect the Swedish HTs to be balanced? (Armour-wise)

 

Autoloaders in the game were balanced before by having bad armour which meant that every time they poked to unload their magazine they were putting themselves at risk. (T57, AMX50b, TVP, BC 25t etc).”

 

I don’t really agree that autoloaders have to have bad armor but I see what you mean. Currently the Swedish heavies have insane turret armor that they simply shouldn’t have, and their mobility has been reduced by up to 40%. I think the best thing that could be done to adress the issue is simply giving the Swedish heavies their real armor and mobility back, that way they are still tough but not invulnerable when hull down and they are more flexible in general.

This is something that you really need to ask is the balance team if you want something done about it though.

 

“Swedish high tier mediums? Any plans for Strv 104/105?”

The true Strv 104 or 105 don’t fit WoT’s timeline but that is not to say that a high tier Swedish centurion would be impossible.

In 1966 plans were made for modernizing the Strv 101 and 102 with solutions developed for the strv 103. The upper glacis would have received the same kind of “armored ribs” as seen on the Strv 103 and the side skirts would have been replaced by a armor screen which also covered the front of the vehicle.

In 1977 Sweden imported an Israeli centurion chassis which used a improved powertrain with the Teledyne Continental engine, since this engine was used on the patton series of tanks this Centurion became nicknamed “Panturion”. The powertrain used in the “Panturion” would be adopted with the Strv 104 modernization of the Strv 102 in the mid 1980s.

This engine upgrade and the armor upgrades I mentioned earlier could be used as justification for a sort of Strv 104 prototype that could make for a decent tier 9-10 medium, though I would not recommend adding it as a researchable vehicle since it is still a clone. I would like to add that the 900hp engine on WG’s Strv 81 is completely fake, It should have 600hp.

 

“Any chance more Swedish tanks might get nicknames? I can normally tell what they are in game but having a conversation about Swedish tanks is an absolute nightmare.”

 

Just be glad that you don’t have to use their full designation, Strv is short for Stridsvagn and Ikv is short for Infanterikanonvagn after all. One nickname you can feel free to use though is KRV which is what the Kranvagn was referred to as most often.

 

“What would be the best derp (gun carrying) tanks Sweden has made, also what silly tanks do you think should be added?”

 

You already have the early Ikv’s and the Sav m/43 which all have derp guns, apart from them there was a 10,5cm derp gun planned for the m/42 but the balance team got rid of it for whatever reason.

Im not sure if its silly but I think one interesting tank that could be added is the UDES 14 Alt 9. This thing is no taller than a amx elc and has a 105-110mm gun with an autoloader

 

“Ikv 91 105 included in the time frame of the game? Does it fit like a medium tank or light tank top-tier?”

No the ikv 91 105 was built in 1983 so it does not fit, however the UDES 14D is pretty much the same thing with slightly improved armor and its the best tier 10 light tank candidate.

 

 “Hi, is there any chance we ll see a Swedish medium tank branch soon? And secondly: Will the Swedish bandkanonvagn 2 use nuclear ammunition as gold? Thank you!”

I really doubt it, and obviously no the Bandkanon 1 was never meant to fire any sort of tactical nuclear shell, there have been rumors that it was designed with the capability of doing so but haveing gone trough all the documentation from its development 1949-1964 there is nothing that would support this rumor. Its most likely that another type of HE shell would serve as premium ammunition.