A huge amount of content came with the latest update (patch 9.10) to World of Tanks: new map restrictions based on tank tiers, 20 new HD models, and the newly-revised “Rampage” mode (with respawns and free-for-alls). Most importantly, another new (and very substantial) branch of vehicles has arrived: the Japanese heavy tanks. You can think of it an entire line of Mäuse (Mauses? Meese? Mice? Whatever, you get the point)... or can you? To answer that question, I ground out the line up to the tier 9 and tested each tank fairly extensively. Time for a mega review!
Type 89 I-Go/Chi-Ro | It's a start...
Well... you’ve gotta start somewhere. There isn’t too much to say about this tank: it’s slow, has basically no armor (17mm at most) and crap mobility (9.19hp/ton), with a less-than-ideal 57mm gun (29mm AP pen, 55mm HEAT pen, .4 accuracy, 75 damage per shot). The only redeeming points for this tank are its fantastic gun depression (-15 degrees, one of the best in the game), high damage per shot (95 with HE, 75 with AP), and large health pool (200 hitpoints). Definitely a “meh” tank.
Type 91 Heavy | Slowly, but Surely
The Type 91 is rather unique in that it’s the first and only tier 3 heavy tank in the game. So, does it have absurdly high armor values, even rivaling tier 4 heavies? Nope, it’s got 20mm of armor at the best (worse than the French light tanks!). What about a big, derpy gun? Another nope; it’s got a 47mm rapid-firing gun (which I’ll talk about later). Okay, so does it have a massive health pool to compensate? Well... no, unless you consider 250 health to be a lot for a tier 3 (keep in mind, the Cruiser IV light tank has 240). It does retain one heavy characteristic, however: it’s slow. REALLY slow. Despite only weighing 20 tons, it only manages a power-to-weight ratio of 12.44hp/ton, and it’s limited to a top speed of 25kph, making it one of the slowest (and least flexible) tier 3 vehicles in the game. It does have some redeeming points, however: firstly, it gets -12 degrees of gun depression, allowing it to peek the low-profile turret over hills while hiding most of the hull (although, make sure you don’t try to aim over the mini-turret on the front, as that causes the gun to bump upwards significantly). Secondly, it gets a fantastic gun for tier 3: the high-penetration 47mm gun from the Type 97 Chi-Ha (81 AP pen, 122 premium pen, 70 damage per shot), but with a slightly increased rate of fire and better accuracy. Overall, I did like this tank a lot more than the Type 89, but it can see tier 5s, which doesn’t end very well due to the terrible mobility and paper armor.
Type 95 Heavy | Better than You'd Think
You’d think there wouldn’t be much good about another tier 4 heavy (both the DW2 and B1 are huge letdowns), but this tank is surprisingly effective. While it still doesn’t have any armor (35mm at the most) or speed (9.92hp/ton, 25kph top speed), it gets an impressive hitpoint pool (430 hitpoints) and a high-damage 75mm gun with 70 pen (not as bad as it sounds, especially since you can fire 100-pen HEAT rounds if necessary) and a weirdly-high rate of fire (110 damage every ~3.3sec with a gun rammer). The gun can be a bit hit-and-miss at times (literally; it’s not very accurate and it has low shell velocity), but if you can get up close to the enemy and use the full -10 degrees of gun depression (and the small turret, for that matter), this tank can be pretty effective against tier 4s and 5s (although, don’t expect to pen any tier 5 heavies from the front with AP). Oh, and since it’s a tier 4 heavy, it gets preferential matchmaking (as in, it only sees tiers 3-5). While this tank isn’t all that great on paper, it can pull its own weight (literally), especially when top tier.
O-I Experimental (Mi-To 100t) | KV-5's Long-Lost Brother
This is where things start to get interesting (if they weren’t already). The title of the largest tier 5 tank used to belong to the Pz.Sfl.IVc (aka the “FlakBus” or “Toaster”), but now, the O-I Experimental has stolen its crown. In fact, the O-I Experimental is actually larger than most tier 6 and 7 tanks, rivaling the KV-3 in height, width, and length. It’s also the heaviest vehicle in the tier, weighing in at just over 100 tons (60 tons heavier than the Churchill I and 51 tons heavier than the KV-1). Now, with this much weight, you’d expect the tank to rival a TOG’s speed (or lack thereof). Wrong! Not only does this thing have the highest top speed of any tier 5 heavy (40kph), but it also has the largest engine (1200hp) and a decently-high power-to-weight ratio of 12hp/ton. How about the gun selection? It’s gotta be pretty bad considering the strengths of this tank, right? Wrong again! It gets to choose between a 120mm derp gun (stock), the Chi-Nu’s top 75mm gun with an increased rate of fire, or a very punchy 105mm gun with 300 damage per shot, an 8.5sec reload, and 130mm of standard AP penetration. Personally, I’d recommend the 105mm gun, as it packs quite the punch for a tier 5, and can catch quite a few tanks off-guard (especially in tier 7, where you can put the surprising speed to use for flanking fire). At this point, you’re probably thinking, “there’s gotta be something weak about this tank (besides the size)! The armor MUST be bad!” Well... surprisingly, it isn’t all too terrible. The front and rear of the hull and turret form are almost-uniformly 75mm thick, while the side of the hull is 70mm thick. Even the miniturrets (which, knowing the nature of the KV-5, you’d expect to be weakspots) are the same thickness as the rest of the hull (75mm thick). This allows you to sidescrape and over-angle (to a degree) around corners, but it still isn’t quite impenetrable to tier 5 heavies. Overall, this is definitely a keeper for me, as it makes for a fantastically-fun tier 5 heavy tank.
O-I (Mi-To 150t) | The Bunker on Tracks
If you thought the tier 5 was interesting, the tier 6 is even more so. Despite their similar appearances, however, the two tanks are fundamentally different. For starters, whereas the O-I had a good top speed and decent power-to-weight, this behemoth has a claimed 29kph top speed, which it can barely even reach on flat ground (let alone uphill). For that matter, it has the second-lowest power-to-weight ratio of any tier 6 tank (only the TOG II is slower) - 7.89hp/ton with my equipment setup (large gun rammer, gun laying drive, and superheavy spall liner). Why did the weight increase so much, you ask? Well, the armor was doubled on both the front and rear (150mm on both). Even the miniturrets changed in appearance - now, they’re miniature versions of the main turret - and the armor was increased to match (150mm again), so they aren’t weakspots. Or... are they? Well, if you angle the tank, both the upper and lower glacis become angled; however, the cheeks of the miniturrets become flat (and therefore, they’re easier to pen). Still, this isn’t a huge issue, as the cheeks are still 150mm thick, making them tricky to pen for almost any tier 6 (and some tier 7s). The gun selection is updated as well, with the tier 5’s 100mm as the stock gun (with higher penetration, but a slower reload) and a 150mm derp gun (similar to the KV-2’s) as the top gun, with 75mm of HE pen and 900 alpha damage. This is a fitting gun for this tank, as, unlike the KV-2, you can pop out, aim, take your shot, and pull back to reload for 21 seconds while taking minimal damage due to the immense armor. Three major things bog this tank down (besides the speed), however: it’s very artillery-prone (as it’s the size of a Maus), the sides are still the same-old 70mm (and now, there’s a 35mm weakspot on the sides behind the tracks and under the miniturrets), and the gun depression over the miniturrets and sides is not enough to deal with most tanks at brawling range. Most lights, mediums, and heavies from tier 4 to 8 can get up right next to this thing and shoot it multiple times, while it can’t respond due to how high up the gun is mounted. This tank was another fantastic machine, but its speed and gun height limited its performance heavily.
O-Ni (O-I 100t) | The Biggest, but Definitely not the Best
This tank was honestly a huge letdown (pun intended) for me at first, especially after playing the tier 6. To start, whereas the O-I had a heavy sloped section of armor on the lower glacis (which lead to some tier 8 heavies bouncing off the front of it), the O-Ni’s armor is barely sloped. Yes, it’s 175mm thick, but most tier 7 heavies can penetrate it frontally while unangled (and don’t even get me started on gold ammo). Why not angle, then? Well, there’s one huge weakspot that causes a lot of problems for this tank: the armor behind the lower portion of spaced side armor (and tracks) is only 35mm thick, and if you attempt to angle the tank (even slightly), enemies can shoot the front drive wheel and (usually) do damage through this 35mm section (even while angled, it’s an overmatch zone for most tier 7 guns). I’ve had KV-1s penning my front due to this huge weakspot, which is far less than ideal (as you can probably imagine). Also, the mini-turrets have only 150mm of armor on the cheeks and sides, making them easier to penetrate than the rest of the armor. Even though it regains some acceleration (11.66hp/ton) the top speed is decreased to 25kph, making it far less flexible than the tier 5 (or even the tier 6, in some cases). Oh, and guess what? It’s officially the largest tank in the game (taller and longer than both the E100 and Maus), which only amplifies the weaknesses of the tank. Oh boy, this was hard to get used to, especially in tier 8 and 9 matches, where it’s almost impossible to hide. In the perfect matchup when this tank is top tier and facing enemies that can’t pen its front or rear, this tank is an absolute beast: I’ve had several 3,300 damage games where I blocked between 5,000 and 7,000 damage with the O-Ni’s armor. However, these monster games are few and far between, as most of the time, you’ll find yourself being damaged through the weakspots (or just through the mostly-flat armor), unable to return fire due to the terrible gun handling and iffy accuracy. I’d have to say that this tank is probably my second least favorite one in the entire line so far (besides the tier 2), but it can work in certain situations.
O-Ho (O-I 120t) | To derp, or not to derp?
Wow. This tank is a huge relief (again, pun intended) after the tier 7. With improved armor, far better gun characteristics, and a larger health pool, this tank fairs a lot better under normal circumstances than the previous tank. Firstly, the armor has been upped to 200mm at the front (which is very helpful) but, most importantly, the side armor is increased to 105mm, which allows you to sidescrape much more effectively than the tier 6 or 7. Also, the armor behind the tracks has been doubled from 35mm to 70mm, which removes one of the biggest weaknesses from the previous tank. To add to this, the hitpoint pool got a bump of 150 hitpoints, allowing this tank to take more shots before going down. As for the guns, they don’t actually differ too much from the tier 7’s... and yet, they’re far better. Why? To start, you get an “improved” version of the 105mm gun, with far better DPM (the highest of any tier 8 heavy, in fact - it reloads in just 8.03 seconds with a gun rammer) and the old gun’s premium rounds as standard ammunition (at a decreased price). However, several things haven’t changed: the gun dispersion is still terrible, the aim time is still long, the accuracy is still just as bad (.42), and the damage per shot is still rather low (for a tier 8 heavy, at least). Another problem is introduced on this gun: the lack of premium ammunition. 215mm of penetration certainly isn’t bad for a standard AP round on a tier 8 heavy; however, it definitely starts to struggle against tier 9 and 10 heavy tanks, so the lack of a premium round limits its ability. Personally, I didn’t like this gun very much when using it due to the poor accuracy (again) and lack of a premium round (for tier 9 and 10 matches). On the other hand, the 150mm howitzer that made an appearance on both the tier 6 and 7 comes back on this tank, but with a greatly-improved rate of fire (14.671 reload!), somewhat-better accuracy (.54, so it’s still pretty bad), and a slightly-improved aim time (3.3 seconds). While driving this tank, I found this gun to be the most fun, as you have a chance to do 910 damage in one hit with HE ammo, which was very useful against tanks like the German Waffentrager series or those pesky scouts. Additionally, you’re almost always guaranteed to do damage with every hit (unless you are unfortunate enough to hit the tip of an enemy tank’s gun barrel or are shooting at a very strongly-armored target i.e. T95s), so you don’t have to aim for weakspots on tier 9 and 10 heavy tanks if you’re in a tricky situation - however, aiming for these weakspots is still suggested, as you’ll do more damage to thinner armor. One problem arises concerning all of the guns, however. Take note the position of the miniturrets on the front. See how one of them is right in the middle, and the other one is to the left? These two miniturrets limit the gun depression (from -10 to around -3), and, considering how high up the gun is mounted, you almost always have to keep your gun away from these two miniturrets when firing at an enemy tank. In some ways, this is more of a blessing than a curse, as you are almost forced to angle to use the gun depression properly, and if you aim the gun over the right side (and angle your tank to match), the armor becomes almost perfectly angled against incoming fire. So, a heavy tank with immense armor, a hilarious derp gun, and gun depression limits that practically force you to angle? Definitely two thumbs up for me.
Type 4 Heavy (Type 2604) | Godzilla, Conflicted
I’m really not sure what to think about this one. On paper, it seems like an epic tank, but in reality, it gets stomped into the ground in many situations. To start, it has 250mm of frontal armor on the hull and 270mm on the front of the turret; however, it’s pretty much completely flat, so angling is necessary against most other 9 tanks. Also, it has two cheeks on the front (like the Tiger P) that are only 200mm, so if you angle the tank incorrectly, enemies can shoot into them and do damage most of the time. The gun is also epic on paper: it’s a 140mm naval cannon with 600 damage and 249mm of standard penetration; however, it has mediocre accuracy (.42 dispersion at 100m) and a very long reload (just under 18sec with a gun rammer). The long reload presents one of the many issues of this tank: as soon as you fire, most enemies you face can put around 2-3 shots into you for every shot from your 140mm gun. This, along with the flat armor, brings another issue to light: gold spam. The Type 4 relies heavily on its armor; however, most tier 9-10 tanks fire gold ammunition with upwards of 300 penetration, rendering the armor nearly-useless at all but the most extreme angles - and trust me, almost everything loads gold upon seeing and/or bouncing off the Type 4, even high-pen tank destroyers like the T110E4 and Jagdpanzer E100. Combined with the fact that the tank has less than 8hp/ton and struggles to hit its top speed of 20kmh, your experience in the tank is almost solely-dependant on whether or not the enemy chooses to fire gold at you (or if the enemy artillery focuses on you - which they will 99% of the time, as you’re very easy to hit). If you happen to run into a group of tanks who don’t fire gold at you, this tank can be nearly invincible (from the front, at least), but if you run into a group of gold-shooting tanks (which happens most of the time), you’re pretty much screwed. To add to all this, you have to choose your position carefully, as your speed limits you quite a bit: if you happen to go where everyone else on the team decides to go, you may not even have the chance to get one shot off, but, at the same time, if you happen to go where your team doesn’t, you can expect to be quickly overwhelmed by the enemy tanks and destroyed before you can even fire a second shot. Besides the gold-spam (and the attention from artillery) this tank attracts, this is the main reason why I don’t like this tank as much as I want to. It depends too much on the team to work in a game like World of Tanks (and for understandable reasons).
A Thought or Two: Type 5 Heavy (Type 2605)
From the pictures, you’d think these two tanks are pretty much the exact same thing. Right? Well... again, not so much. Despite looking so similar, there are quite a few reasons why I’m looking forward to driving the Type 5 Heavy, as it appears to improve upon almost all of the problems I had with the Type 4 (at least, on paper). To start, the accuracy is improved from .42 to .4, and the reload gets about 2-to-3 seconds faster (15.27sec with a gun rammer and a 100% crew). The aim time also dropped by about half a second, reducing (in theory) the tank’s exposure time. As for the armor, it gets bumped up from 250mm on the Type 4 to 260mm on the Type 5, with 280mm (!) on the front of the turret (up from 270mm on the Type 4). This means that your survivability against tier 10s (and gold shells, for that matter) is somewhat improved, especially when angling. The tank also gains an additional 750 health over the Type 4, making it the second most durable tank (as far as hitpoints are concerned) at tier 10. Additionally, the tank sheds 10 tons of weight off, allowing for slightly faster acceleration (although not by much), and the top speed gets a 5kph boost, allowing the tank to keep up decently-well with the likes of the E100 and Maus. So, this thing looks pretty promising (at least, on paper). We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.
So, there you have it! Thanks for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed reading the review (and maybe even found it useful in deciding whether or not to grind down the line).
Quick note: I made backups of each mini-review, so this time, if one of them fails to upload, I won't get screwed over. (Thinking with my brain, now!)
Quick note: I made backups of each mini-review, so this time, if one of them fails to upload, I won't get screwed over. (Thinking with my brain, now!)