War Thunder News

Today we’re going to be talking about the main naval prize of the upcoming Battle Pass season: the French premium Destroyer Le Triomphant, coming in as one of the fastest Bluewater Fleet ships in the entire game!

[h2]Le Triomphant: A Premium French Destroyer at Rank III[/h2]

Features:

• Fantastic max top speed.
  
• 4 main caliber turrets.
  
• Decent anti-aircraft guns.
  
• Premium status!
  

[h2]Meet the Le Triomphant![/h2]

Welcome to the main naval prize of the upcoming Battle Pass season: the French Le Triomphant destroyer of the Le Fantasque-class. Primarily designed to hunt other destroyers, ships from this class rely more on raw firepower and speed over using torpedoes. Because of this, Le Triomphant is essentially a miniature cruiser since it features excellent guns, decent anti-aircraft capability and one of the best top speeds amongst other ships in the game. Let’s take a further look!

Are you a commander of the French Bluewater fleet? If you are, you’ve surely come across the Le Malin destroyer that’s already in the game. This destroyer has an excellent max speed but at the same time lacks any significant armor protection, however its excellent main caliber weaponry that are capable of firing SAPBC rounds are ideal for engaging other destroyers and even lightly armored cruisers. So what makes the brand-new Le Triomphant any different?



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Interesting: According to the Guinness Book of Records, in 1935, one of the Le Fantasque class of ships — destroyer Le Terrible — set a world speed record in its class, accelerating to a staggering 45.25 knots (83.42 km/h)! Ironic.

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First up, Le Triomphant has a set of slightly different weapons. One of the main caliber stern turrets was replaced with a British 4 inch anti-aircraft gun, meaning Le Triomphant only has 4 main battery turrets, with each featuring a 138.6 mm gun for use against enemy ships. However, these weapons still cope well against all types of destroyers in the game, but bear in mind the low horizontal guidance speed, plus their weak protection. Compared to Le Malin, the weaponry for use against boats and aircraft is weaker: just 2 x 40 mm Bofors guns, 2 x 37 mm automatic cannons and 6 x 20 mm Oerlikon cannons. Despite this, thanks to the ever-so handy ability for ship gunners to engage small boats and aircraft on their own, these weapons are still effective.

The next difference is between the max speed, which is even higher on Le Triomphant compared to Le Malin. This one’s awesome, as with a fully trained crew, you’ll be able to reach max speeds of 43 knots, which is just about 80 km/h — which is almost a record for destroyers!



Coming onto the last difference which is the premium status of Le Triomphant. This destroyer is going to be useful in Tier III lineups for researching other French ships, and also serves as an ideal platform for beginners to learn the ins and outs of the French Bluewater fleet research tree.

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In your matches by Keith, Community Manager: “The French warships have a special place in my heart to play, I really love them (second only to the Brits). The speed and decent maneuverability allow a good player to get into advantageous firing positions and the punchy gunnery of this DD (remember to keep them all clear of the superstructure) will remind any opponents that you won't succumb easily to intimidation. Use the ship's turn to help bear the main guns onto enemy targets and keep your eyes open for any smaller boats looking to sneak up on you and dispatch them with the secondary and tertiary weapons. Calm seas commanders.”

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That about rounds off the first dev blog for the upcoming Battle Pass season (and the first for 2024), which will be arriving to your hangar on January 24th, where Le Triomphant can be yours by completing missions in this new season. Tomorrow we’ll be showing you another Battle Pass vehicle and in the near future the details surrounding the full list of prizes, so stay tuned!

Today we’ll be talking about the bug fixes and improvements that we’ve been working on in the past 2 weeks. Thanks for your reports!

If you’ve found a bug that you’d like to report, you can do so on our community bug reporting platform.

[h2]Destroyed spall liners have been removed from the damage model panel[/h2]



The damage model panel for your vehicles can be very handy while in battle: it allows you to understand which modules were damaged and which were destroyed so that you can make the appropriate tactical decisions. However, due to it being in the form of a two-dimensional pane, some issues arose: a destroyed spall liner module covered everything underneath it. This issue will no longer be the case anymore, as once destroyed the module will be hidden from the damage model panel.

[h2]Skull icons on the minimap now stay for longer![/h2]



The minimap is the most important GUI element for making tactical decisions. One of its capabilities is to show you destroyed enemies. This is signaled with a skull icon which only stays for a short period of time, even less than the hitmark indicating the type of defeated vehicle.

Because of this, we’ve increased the length of time of skull icons on the minimap to 7 seconds (from 2.5). You’ll now have enough time to figure out where the enemy was destroyed and make important decisions while in battle!

[h2]Reduced the damage to boats when colliding with terrain [/h2]



We’ve found and fixed a problem that caused boats to be destroyed even by lightly touching terrain when running ashore. Now, boats are once again survivable and the damage is directly related to their mass and collision speed. In other words, you’ll be able to smash into the terrain at decent speeds without being destroyed now. Be careful though!

[h2]Challenger and Leopard sound changes[/h2]



We’ve been working to make the engine sounds of the Challenger and Leopard 1 series of tanks sound as good as possible. Constant revving is now easier to distinguish, and they blend in better with sounds over the throttle.

We also found that the engine of the Challenger 3 TD didn’t sound quite right, as it sounded like a Leopard 2. We’ve fixed that, so now it sounds like the rest of the Challengers.

On the topic of the Challenger 2. We’re aware that many of you are wondering about these series of tanks and where the dev blog is regarding them. These tanks have already received a number of fixes, and soon we’ll publish a dev blog dedicated to the Challenger 2 where we’ll talk about, in detail, some of your reports. Keep an eye out!

[h2]That’s not all[/h2]
A full list of improvements and bug fixes can be found below in each individual update now. We’ll quickly run through some: smoke grenades no longer create a double visual effect, weapons carried on aircraft have been rebalanced for high ranked Ground Arcade battles, and helicopter propeller signatures no longer fade away excessively at ranges, where radars will now pick them up more effectively.

There’s much more, so be sure to check out the rest in the below update notes!

• Update 2.33.0.63
  

[h2]Today's update: Update 2.33.0.70[/h2]

[h2]Ground Vehicles[/h2]

• In Ground Arcade Battles, the list of available vehicles and weapons in the air battle mode has been changed:
  • At BRs up to 9.0, the following have been adjusted. Removed: UH-1D with FFAR Mighty Mouse, UH-1B with FFAR Mighty Mouse. Added: Mi-8TB with S-5K, Mi-8TV with S-5K, Mi-24D with S-5K;
    
  • At BR 9.3 to 10.0, the following have been adjusted. Removed: AH-1F with ITOW, Mi-24P with 9M114, EC-665 Tiger UHT with FFAR Mighty Mouse;
    
  • At BRs from 10.0, the following have been adjusted. Removed: F-4E Phantom II with AGM-65B, F-5E with AGM-65B, MiG-27K with Kh-29T. Added: MiG-23MLA with S-24B, MiG-27K with S-24B.
• Challenger 2F, Challenger 2 TES — the ammunition amount of the turret machine gun has been clarified, with the capacity of the ammunition increasing from 100 to 200 rounds. (Report)
  
• VT-4A1 — the decrease in gun declination angle in a small frontal guidance sector has been fixed.
  
• Challenger 3 TD — a bug that caused destruction of the turret’s ammunition to happen without the explosion/venting of ammunition has been fixed. (Report)
  
• ZLT-11 — the steering angles in the wheels for the steerable axles of the chassis have been increased, and the turning radius has been reduced. (Report)
  
• Challenger 2 (all variants) — the angles of vertical gun elevation for the rear areas have been fixed. The maximum angle of depression has been increased. (Report)
  
• M109 (Germany/Italy) — the gun designation has been changed from M126 to M126E1. The initial velocity of projectiles has been increased from 562 to 684 m/s (the M126E1 allowed the use of a new, eighth charge, providing increased ammunition velocity). Vertical guidance angles have been changed from -3/+75 to -3/+70. The vehicle’s mass has been increased from 24,100 to 24,500 kg. Sources: Obice da 155/23 smv M109G, Tavole di Tiro. // Armo e mezzi in dotazione all’esercito. // Descrizione ed impiego delgi apparati di mira e di controllo del tiro dell’obice da 155/23 montato su semovente M109G // Mezzi da combattiemento. Caratteristiche generali.
  
• Leopard 2AV — a bug that led to a lower rate of fire compared to the Leopard 2A4 has been fixed. The rate of fire has been increased from 9 to 10 rounds per minute.
  
• T-90M — a stabilizer has been added to the anti-aircraft machine gun. (Report)
  
• Mistral MANPADS — a bug that made it impossible to achieve the calculated missile overload has been fixed.
  
• Skull icons on the minimap that indicate the location of where an enemy was destroyed now remain visible for 7 seconds rather than the previous 2.5 seconds.
  

[h2]Aircraft[/h2]

• BV 138 C-1 — a bug that could cause the nose turret to fire through the fuselage has been fixed. (Report)
  
• AD-4NA (France) — a bug that caused T10 151 rockets on the left wing on pylon 2 to float in the air has been fixed. (Report)
  
• JAS39A, JAS39C, Mirage 2000-5F — a bug that could turn off the thermal imaging camera when selecting the “Aiming Optics” camera with the key assigned to this function has been fixed. (Report 1), (Report 2)
  
• A bug that caused the virtual cockpit camera to display a gun marker when the ballistic calculator was disabled has been fixed.
  
• F-4S Phantom II — incorrect display of the horizon while in the cockpit view looking at the heads-up display has been fixed.
  
• A bug that caused signatures from a helicopter’s propeller to greatly decrease with distance, making it difficult to capture helicopters with radars at greater distances has been fixed.
  
• A bug where after a player’s aircraft was destroyed by a teammate who had previously ejected from their own aircraft, the player would see the ejected pilot instead of the teammate who shot down their aircraft has been fixed.
  

[h2]Naval Vehicles[/h2]

• The damage model for boats when hitting terrain that previously resulted in the destruction in almost all cases has been fixed. Boats now receive damage depending on its mass and speed of the collision. Cases of hull destruction from impact are still possible, but this will require a greater speed.
  
• The stabilization of Coastal fleet automatic guns at higher speeds has been improved.
  
• PT-6 — the horizontal guidance limits of the 12.7 mm machine guns have been increased to 50 degrees to the opposite side.
  

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.

Spots on vehicles seem to go in and out of fashion just like they do on clothes! Good thing that it’s so easy to change the camouflages in game to whatever matches your surroundings. The three most popular and three selected by us will get 300 GE. See the winners down below!

[h2]Let’s begin the 102nd edition of our competition![/h2]

Create a stunning screenshot and submit it on the War Thunder Steam Community Hub with the tag #WTscreen102. You have time until the 19th of January to submit your screenshot.

After that date, 6 winners will be selected (3 of which will be the highest rated by the community and 3 selected by our judges), each of which receive a reward of 300GE.

[h3]Terms:[/h3]

Your screenshot must feature a vehicle with a weight of 20 tons or less. Naval submissions must be less than 3,000 tons of displacement.
You must add the #WTscreen102 tag (title cannot have any other text in it).
• Screenshots need to be compliant with the War Thunder rules.
  
• You need to be the author of the screenshot.
  
• Screenshot needs to be new. You cannot use those which have previously been published or used in other competitions.
  
• We will only accept raw screenshots from the game. You cannot use any editing software nor any other visual enhancements (like Nvidia Ansel filters).
  
• You can use filters and settings built into War Thunder.
  
• You can use the replay functionality built into War Thunder.
  
• Rewards will be delivered to the author's account within 14 working days.
  

[h2]And now, time for the winners of the competition’s 101st edition - Dalmatians![/h2]

[h3]Winners selected via community votes:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3135819077
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3134804190
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3134846931

[h3]Winners selected by our judges:[/h3]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3133752319
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3136298761
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3136928358

Each winner will get 300GE! Congratulations and see you next week!

On January 14th 1521, Gustav Vasa formed his personal guard. Two and a half years later, he achieved independence of Sweden and became its first king, with his guard becoming part of the victorious army. Sweden, a century later thanks to its army, became one of the most powerful empires in Europe.



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When: From January 12th (11:00 GMT) until January 15th (11:00 GMT).
Where: Sweden > Army > Premium vehicles.

[/h3]



[h3]About this tank[/h3]

• The SAV 20.12.48 is an experimental Tank Destroyer featuring a 120 mm automatkanon that is capable of firing every 1.2 seconds thanks to an automatic loading system. This tank is overall characterized by high mobility and maneuverability — combining this with its gun and APCBC round makes the SAV 20.12.48 a fierce force to be reckoned with!
  

For the Swedish Armed Forces day, you’ll also be able to earn this awesome decal.

“Swedish Armed Forces Day” decal

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When: From January 12th (11:00 GMT) until January 15th (11:00 GMT).
Task: Play 3 battles using Swedish vehicles to receive the “Swedish Armed Forces Day” decal!

Additional details:

• You must use a minimum of rank III.
  
• Your activity must not be below 70%.
  
• You can complete the task in random battles, except for Enduring Confrontation missions, [Assault] mode and Helicopter PVE battles.
  
• Track your progress in the hangar by clicking Nickname → Achievements → Holidays → Swedish Armed Forces Day.
  
• You can find the decal in the “Holidays” tab in the Customisation menu.
  

[/h3]

• A bug that caused duplicate smoke effects after using smoke grenades has been fixed.
  
• A destroyed module no longer covers other functioning modules in the damage module indicator while in battle.
  
• Absence of the “rate of fire” parameter for non-automatic guns and the “reload time” parameter for automatic guns when viewing ships in X-ray view in the hangar has been fixed. (Report)
  

[h2]Sound[/h2]

• Challenger and Leopard 1 — the sounds of the engines have been improved in accordance with feedback from players. Now, constant revolutions are better audible and are better combined with the sounds of revving.
  
• A bug that caused flares to sound like jet engines when flying through them has been fixed.
  
• Challenger 3 TD — the engine sound has been changed to the same as Challenger tanks, as it previously had the sound of the Leopard 2’s engine, which was incorrect.
  

[h2]VR[/h2]

• Flickering of trees in the aircraft hangar has been fixed.
  

[h2]PlayStation and Xbox[/h2]

• The “Film Lover” achievement has been removed, as it was impossible to complete it on console.
  

The current provided changelog reflects the major changes within the game as part of this Update. Some updates, additions and fixes may not be listed in the provided notes. War Thunder is constantly improving and specific fixes may be implemented without the client being updated.