World of Tanks. Review of Tier 10 Medium Tanks

Those players who have played World of Tanks for a long time would never ask questions about the tier balance between heavy and medium tanks.
The answer was always obvious for them.
In addition, the tier 9 vehicles were quite powerful as well.
However, the developers have said that they are finally planning to introduce the new tier of medium tanks.
Furthermore, they have said that there will be no changes to the characteristics of the tier 9 tanks.
Instead, we will just meet even more powerful medium tanks!
The age when the medium tank might be as useful for the team as the tier 10 heavy tank is on its way.
Can the fans of the medium tanks even imagine such dialog?
“They have the IS-7, but we have the T-62. We can make it!”
This age will come soon. Tier 10 medium tanks are knocking on the doors of the server and the gate will soon be opened.
In this episode we are going to take a closer look at the tier 10 medium tanks and learn about all the changes between the tier 10 and tier 9 vehicles.
The new era is here.
The Tier X Medium Tanks
American: The Patton III
To begin with, we will take a closer look at the new Patton, the Patton III, which is also known as the M48A1.
So what kind of tank is it and what are its pros?
The newest Patton has all the classical features of its predecessor:
Perfect maneuverability, a good dynamic, the best gun stabilization in the whole tier and an amazing view range.
The design of the M48A1 is really similar to its relatives from the branch of heavy tanks, the M103 and the T110.
This tank has the same hull and the same angled armor.
The Patton is equipped with the perfect gun and, if we take all of its characteristics into consideration, this gun might be the best within the whole tier.
It has a perfect penetration potential of 268, and a very fast reloading speed, even faster than its predecessor
This means that this tank offers a fabulous amount of damage per minute.
In addition, this Patton doesn’t suffer from the main drawback of the tier 9 vehicle – the horrible accuracy.
In contrast to the accuracy of the Patton Jr, which is only 0.42m, the accuracy of the M48A1 is 0.36m.
As a result, this tank does not just have the best rate of accuracy whilst the vehicle is moving,
But it also one of the best rates whilst the vehicle is motionless.
Our hero has its own cons, of course. This vehicle is really huge.
We are not joking, the Patton III is even bigger than the T110!
This means that if the Patton gets scouted, it is easy for enemies to shoot at. This tank is definitely not as small as the T-54.
This means that sometimes you might want to use heavy tank tactics.
You should hide behind the buildings or hill to stay in cover from the artillery.
In comparison to the T-54 and Bat Chatillon, the Patton doesn’t have as much complete freedom.
However, the Patton has its own style and this tank is still very powerful.
All in all, the tier 10 Patton is a fascinating vehicle.
German: The ?-50 Ausf. M
Whilst the Patton III bears a lot of features of its predecessor, the E-50 Ausf. M shares even more similarities to the tank which came before it.
The amount of armor is similar to the tier 9 E-50.
This tank has the same engine, as well as the same radio, suspension and view range.
Finally, like the E-50, the German tier 10 medium tank has the largest amount of hit points of any medium tank in its tier.
This vehicle has a huge 2050 hit points!
However, the weight of this vehicle is lower, so the dynamic is better.
The turret is located on the frontal part of the hull, making aiming very comfortable.
Most importantly, the E-50 is equipped with one of the most powerful weapons in the game!
The accuracy of the gun is just 0.3m, whilst the aiming time is 2.1 sec.
The average penetration is 270mm. This is the best rate throughout the whole tier.
These characteristics mean that the E-50 Ausf. M is a fast, maneuverable and truly deadly sniper, capable of destroying targets at any range.
The tier 9 E-50 can suffer from problems with penetration with an average of 220mm.
However, the tier 10 E-50 Ausf. M can easily penetrate any tank at almost any distance due to its high penetration potential.
This is why the German medium tank is a very, very dangerous enemy.
In addition, this tank is likely to be very popular on the Global Map. After all, super snipers are always required for teams.
Soviet: The ?-62?
The USSR tier 10 medium tank is an unusual and interesting vehicle.
But, what are the main features of this tank?
The T-62A and T-54 are blood brothers, but there are a number of major differences between them.
Let’s start from the beginning.
Firstly, the T-62A is bigger than the T-54.
It is longer and wider than its predecessor. That is definitely the minus.
However, the turret location is similar to that of the E-50 turret – it is located at the frontal part of the hull and that is the plus.
You will feel more comfortable, particularly in city areas.
Secondly, in contrast to the T-54, the T-62A is not the best scout out of the tier 10 medium tanks.
The engine is only 580 horse power.
As a result, the movement is slower, because the total weight of the tank is much greater due to its larger size.
In addition, in comparison to the T-54 which can easily reach 56km/h, the speed limit of the T-62A is only 50km/h.
Yes, the difference between the vehicles may be 6 km/h, but it is still quite important.
Because any advantage in speed can help you on the battlefield.
For example, you can reach the enemy artillery and scout it very fast.
Secondly, the T-62A has the big problems with its armour. Just like the T-59, this tank has only 100mm of frontal armor.
It is very, very low amount of armor – even the T-54 has 120mm.
However, the developers balanced this out with the turret which has 240mm of armor and perfect angles.
The T-62A is not a frontline fighter.
T-62A drivers will be much better off using dynamic skirmishing tactics for this reason.
Players should use the maneuverability and gun power rather than relying on the armor to take damage.
But this does bring us onto the weapon. At long last, a Soviet medium tank has been equipped with an amazing gun!
The T-62A is equipped with the D-54TS, complete with stabilizers and other useful features.
This means that not only does it have a high aiming speed and the perfect stabilizers whilst the vehicle is moving or reversing,
But it also comes with the damage, easily comparable to the DPM of the other tier 10 medium tanks.
You should note that the base damage of this gun is not that large. The weapon can deal 320 damage.
The thing that makes it great is the rate of fire, which is about 9.0 rounds/min.
This makes it really amazing because you can shoot an enemy every 5 seconds.
The big base damage might be useful in some situations, of course.
However, nobody could deny that it is really useful to keep an enemy’s heavy tank without tracks,
Especially if the inexperienced player didn’t train the repair skill.
The T-62A is ideal to fulfill such task!
As for the other characteristics, the developers have balanced this vehicle very well.
This tank is no longer a highly specialized vehicle.
Instead, it just has good all-round characteristics: quite good armor with a powerful gun and the dynamics of a medium tank.
Developers didn’t go with the usual rule of “a Soviet MT is a fast scout with a horrible weapon”.
Instead, they have introduced us to a new type of Soviet medium tank.
It is quite fast, well armored and a very accurate vehicle.
Players should love this new type of the Soviet medium tank if just because it offers more variety to the T-54!
After all, there were far too many of them on the battlefield!
French: The Bat Chatillon
For the French tanks, a somewhat different strategy has been adopted.
Instead of getting a brand new tier 10 vehicle, the developers have transferred the BatChat to the tenth tier.
Of course a few improvements have been made.
Firstly, this tank has a larger amount of hit points.
Whilst the BatChat still has the lowest amount of hit points for its tier, the 1800 hit points might help players to survive a bit longer.
There are no other changes in this tank, except the… weapon.
Yes, instead of the 100mm gun, the BatChat is now equipped with the 105mm gun.
This weapon both looks and feels very different.
Despite the fact that the new gun is shorter than the 100mm gun, its characteristics are stunning!
Instead of the 6 shells, the French medium tank has 5 shells in the automatic loader.
Each shell can deal 390 damage.
Reloading of the automatic loader takes 37.5 sec, whilst the reload inside the automatic loader takes 2.7 sec.
It should be noted that the developers have also buffed the aiming speed and the stabilizers of the BatChat weapon.
The BatChat is able to shoot an enemy in movement now.
In addition, you definitely will not be bored with waiting for aiming whilst your vehicle is motionless.
And the aiming time after gun elevation or vehicle reversing has been decreased as well.
Most importantly, the BatChat can deal 2000 damage using the power of its 5 shells.
In addition, the average penetration is 259mm.
What does this mean on the battlefield?
It means that the BatChat can destroy almost any tier 9 heavy tank one on one.
Or it can render any tier 10 heavy tank powerless,
Because a heavy tank with only a low amount of hit points left should be running for the hills.
However, this only works when every shell penetrates the target.
Beware of platoons that contain 3 BatChats, for they have to power to bring the apocalypse by dealing 6000 damage with only 3 vehicles.
This power is enough to destroy other platoons or to help your team to clear the flanks from the enemy.
However, it is still quite hard to play the BatChat effectively.
Only experienced players will be able to use this tank at its full potential.
The tier 9 medium tanks owners was both afraid and looking forward to the tier 10 MT release.
The players don’t want to leave their favorite T-54, M46 Patton or E-50.
On the other hand, the tier 10 MT might be very interesting vehicles.
The players were afraid of the total nerf of the high tier guns.
However, the developers will not nerf the penetration and damage of the guns.
The tier 9 medium tanks will own hard due to the narrower tier spread.
Instead of the tier 9.5, these vehicles belong to the tier 9.0, but the developers should nerf something, shouldn't they? Yes, they should.
Firstly, the tier 9 MTs haven’t got the amazing amount of hit points anymore.
Its amount is equal to the hit points of the other tier 9 vehicles.
So the difference between the tier 8 and tier 9 medium tanks is not so big.
Secondly, the developers have nerfed only few characteristics.
The reversing speed of the E-50 was nerfed as well as its accuracy and rate of fire.
The developers have nerfed the Patton’s view range and its stabilizers for shooting in movement.
But what is more interesting, the developers haven’t nerfed the T-54.
They have even buffed this vehicle!
The players will feel themselves more comfortable at the T-54 with the stock equipment.
Furthermore, the developers have buffed the stabilizers of the gun.
It seems, that the developers have listened to the complaints on the weaknesses of the Soviet MT.
You will meet these changes in the 7.5 update. However, it is not the end.
In the next episode we will take a closer look at the tier 10 Tank Destroyers and learn all changes of the tier 9 TDs.