War Thunder News

Even before D-Day, the Allies had already performed successful landing operations. One of those was a joint US and British troop landing on the coast of Italy. This operation was a huge surprise for the German command, and even a counter offensive could not stop the Allies from liberating Rome and advancing deep into Italy.

Complete the task from 11:00 GMT on the 21st of January until 11:30 GMT on the 24th of January and get the reward!

Completing the “Battle of Anzio” task will bring you a battle trophy with one of the following rewards:

• 20-50% RP booster for 3-10 battles
  
• 20-50% SL booster for 3-10 battles
  
• 3-5 universal backup vehicles
  
• Random camouflage for ground vehicles of rank I-IV for USA, Great Britain, Italy or Germany from amongst those available to obtain in-game through achievements or purchase with GE.
  
• 1 day premium account
  

• Destroy 40/20/20 (AB/RB/SB) player vehicles whilst controlling specified vehicles in random battles
  

The task can be completed only in vehicles from the following list:

• Germany: 8,8 cm Flak 37 Sfl., StuG III G, Jagdpanzer IV, Pz.IV G, Pz.IV H, Panther D, Panther A, Tiger H1, Tiger E, Pz.III M, Pz. III N, Brummbär, Nashorn, Marder III H, Ferdinand, Flakpanzer 38, Sd.Kfz. 6/2, Bf 109 G-6, Ju 87 D-5, Fw 190 F-8, Fw 190 A-5, Fw 190 A-5/U12, FW 190 A-5/U2
  
• Italy: 75/18 M41, 75/34 M43, 105/25 M43, 90/53 M41M, C. 202EC, C. 205 serie 3
  
• USA: M5A1, M10 GMC, M18 GMC, M4A2, M4A3 (105), M8A1, M8, Spitfire LF Mk.IXc (USA), P-47D-26, P-51C-10
  
• Great Britain: Cromwell V, Sherman II, Daimler Mk II, Churchill III, Spitfire F Mk.IX, Spitfire Mk.Vc, Spitfire Mk.Vb, Typhoon Mk.Ib, Typhoon Mk.Ib/L
  

Follow progress by clicking on your nickname → Achievements → Memorial Date.

The 41.M Turan II was a further developed variant of a Hungarian medium tank, constructed on the basis of a Czechoslovakian prototype design during the early 1940s. Defined by well-rounded combat characteristics, the Turán II will become available as one of the main prizes awaiting players in the upcoming War Thunder battle pass!

Briefly: An early 1940s medium tank fitted with a large calibre 75mm cannon which further expands the lineup of Hungarian tanks in War Thunder!

Features

• Good mobility
  
• Adequate armor protection
  

[h3]History[/h3]
[expand]At the beginning of the 1940s, the Hungarian military decided to develop its own medium tank on the basis of the recently developed Czechoslovakian T-21 medium tank prototype. After one test unit successfully passed initial trials in Hungary, several changes were made to the design, including the fitting of a Hungarian 40 mm cannon as well as increased armor protection. The resulting T-22 design would then be officially accepted into Hungarian service as the 40.M Turán in November 1940.

An initial order of 230 Turán Is was issued in September 1940, but production ended up being delayed by several months due to incomplete technical documentation. Production started only in March 1941 after Škoda supplied the complete technical documents, with the first 40.M Turán I rolling off the assembly line in July 1941.

However, before even the first vehicle was constructed, the Hungarian General Staff realized the need for upgrading the vehicle and thus formulated the specification to upgun the Turán with a 75mm gun. However, as no such gun could be developed by Hungary at the time, a WW1 field gun was selected to be modified for tank use.

This undertaking was successful, though it required the Turán’s turret to be enlarged slightly. The first prototype of this modification, which became known as the 41.M Turán II, was built in January 1942 and entered service in May. In total, around 195 Turán IIs were constructed until 1944. Today, only a single example of the Turán II survives and is on display in the Kubinka Tank Museum in the vicinity of Moscow.
[/expand]

In War Thunder, the Turán II will further expand the lineup of exotic Hungarian vehicles in the game and will soon arrive as one of the main prizes awaiting tankers in the upcoming Battle Pass season!

Unlike the Toldi, which tankers could earn in a previous battle pass season, the Turán II is a somewhat larger and more capable combat vehicle. To begin with, the Turán II boasts a much larger calibre primary armament, namely a 75 mm 41.M L/25 cannon. Despite its increased calibre, the ballistic properties of this modified WWI-era cannon are rather mediocre, however, for long-range engagements, where the Turán II might usually struggle to defeat enemy armor, tankers will have HEAT rounds available, capable of penetrating the armor of all but the most heavily armored opponents on the battlefield.

Furthermore, the Turán II features relatively good armor protection, comparable to that of the German Panzer IV series or the Japanese Chi-He, with up to 50mm of armor at the front portions and 25mm plating shielding the vehicle’s sides and rear. In addition to this, the Turán II also comes equipped with 8 mm thick Schürzen-style add-on armor, applied to the vehicle’s sides and around the turret. Though it only marginally improves ballistic protection overall, tankers will especially benefit from this extra protection if they come under fire from chemical rounds.

Fun Fact: The Turán is named after a central Asian region which represents the ancestral home of the Hungarians.

Thanks to its 260 horsepower engine, the Turán II can reach a respectable top speed of 45 km/h under ideal conditions, although its overall mobility, particularly in less hospitable terrain might leave some tankers wishing for more due to a relatively mediocre power-to-weight ratio. Nonetheless, the Turán II will have no trouble keeping up with the main advance of allied units and thanks to its punchy gun, can even contribute in creating a breakthrough in the enemy lines!

Seize the opportunity and add the wonderfully exotic Turán II to your in-game collection by taking part in the next season of War Thunder Battle Pass. More information about other prizes and conditions of the upcoming Battle Pass season will follow soon, so stay tuned to the news. Until then, good hunting tankers!

The M64 is a Chinese light tank developed during the mid 1970s by combining the hull of the M42 Duster SPAAG with the turret of previously decommissioned M18 Hellcat tank destroyers. The heavily armed yet nimble M64 will become available as one of the main prizes awaiting players in the upcoming War Thunder battle pass!

Briefly: A hybrid Chinese tank design, combining the turret of the M18 Hellcat with the hull of the M42 Duster tank.

Features

• Excellent mobility
  
• Powerful 76mm cannon
  
• Light armor protection
  
• Exposed fighting compartment
  

[h3]History[/h3]
[expand[In the early 1950s, armed forces on Taiwan obtained a large number of armored fighting vehicles from the U.S. and South Korea, mainly consisting of M18 Hellcat and M24 Chaffee tanks as well as a few dozen Shermans. In October 1958, they also managed to obtain a number of American M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks. However, despite more advanced vehicles becoming available, the military retained even the older vehicles in active service, leading to some vehicles even exceeding the service life of their original design. By 1969 however, the military decommissioned and scrapped several dozen M18 Hellcats. This in turn, created a gap in the fighting strength and a stopgap solution had to be formulated.

The solution came in the form of the M64 light tank, developed in 1975. It was conceived on the basis of the M42 Duster chassis which were obtained alongside the M41 Walker Bulldogs in the late 1950s. Engineers then combined the chassis with the turret of the previously decommissioned M18 Hellcats to form a new highly mobile light tank, designated the M64. Entering service in 1975, around 53 M64 light tanks were built. These vehicles didn’t see any combat use and were retired from active service in 1981.[/expand]

The M64 will be one of the main prizes awaiting War Thunder players in the new Battle Pass season, launching in the upcoming days. Being built from components of the American M41 Walker Bulldog and M18 Hellcat tanks, the M64 expectedly fuses the features of both vehicles and combines them into a new design. Tankers who have experience with both of the vehicles may expect a highly capable hybrid and they won’t be mistaken.

The M64 is armed with a 76mm M1 cannon, which will make seasoned American tankers feel right at home with the new tank. Unlike the M18 Hellcat on the other hand, the M64 does feature an additional 7.62mm machine gun, mounted coaxially in the turret. This small addition may prove itself handy when the heavier .50 cal roof-mounted MG is unavailable after the commander gets knocked out.

Being based on the M42 Duster chassis, tankers can rightfully expect the M64 to be highly mobile. In fact, thanks to its very capable 500 horsepower engine, the vehicle can reach a top speed of up to 72 km/h on paved roads, while also remaining quite agile in less accommodating terrain. However, as neither of the two vehicles the M64 is made out of is exactly renowned for superb armor protection, it too unfortunately can’t boast great protection.

In fact, the M64 only features up to 25.4mm or armor plating on its front portions of the hull, meaning that the tank can only effectively withstand damage from machine gun fire and shrapnel. On top of this, the open fighting compartment also exposes the crew and modules in the turret to strafing runs by aircraft. Therefore, tankers ought to best use the vehicle’s excellent mobility to dodge enemy fire, both the one coming from other ground vehicles as well as from aircraft!

Be sure to add the unique and powerful M64 to your in-game collection by completing tasks and leveling up your Battle Pass. More information about other prizes and conditions of the upcoming Battle Pass season will follow soon, so stay tuned to the news. Until then, good hunting tankers!

In this digest we would like to tell you about our continuing work on improvements and fixes in the game. You can find information about all updates that have been released in War Thunder on the STEAM special section.

There are many interesting features in the War Thunder game settings that can improve your battle experience. Among them is the “Block vertical aiming while braking” setting. When enabled the gunner will not try to compensate for the vertical sway of the cannon when braking sharply which can save some time when aiming on tanks with slow drives.

But this feature might not work quite correctly if your cannon is very fast and has high recoil. For example it was like this on ZSU-57-2. In the case of such vehicles the game may consider a strong recoil as braking by completely blocking the vertical guidance for some time after the shot.

We have improved the logic of the mechanism and such behavior shouldn’t appear again. But the setting itself is very useful - try it out!

At least for now. Object 279 and T95 are looking like a weapons project with incredible capabilities but still shouldn’t appear in the battle with a rumble by suffocating under the surface. That's how the problem manifested itself specifically with these vehicles - you showed up embedded in the ground. Fixed.

Another unfortunate mistake was the inaccurate timing of someone else's guided missile flight. This is when you see the missile seem to fly past, but in fact your eyes deceive you and the enemy was able to hit the target accurately. The flight of the first and second generation guided missiles has been refined. Now it will be displayed equally correctly for the player controlling the missile and for everyone else.

Sometimes it was possible to switch to the night vision tank sight or thermal imager with a fully discharged battery and see perfectly well in the dark even from the 3rd person view. The magic has been removed and now these devices work as they should.

Last monday we added physically realistic moonlight - you will definitely notice it in the night battles - it became brighter. You won’t have to squint anymore.

We also fixed a shadow’s incorrect behavior on horizontal surfaces (buildings, rocks, etc). We also improved the display of bushes and trees through a tank’s sight in graphics settings “Max” and “Movie”.

[h2]Ground vehicles[/h2]

• A bug has been fixed that caused vertical targeting block when stationary and firing from rapid-fire heavy recoil guns .
  
• A bug has been fixed where “Commander fire control” was disabled when switching to the commander’s sight from the binoculars by enabling NVD or a thermal imager
  
• A bug has been fixed where NVD and TVD remained functional in third-person view when the battery is low.
  
• Object 279, Т95: a bug has been fixed that caused respawning below ground level.
  
• Simulator Battles: fixed a bug where the browser map, as well as the map in the "Assistant for War Thunder" app, showed the positions of allies.
  

[h2]Aviation[/h2]

• A2D-1 - separate rocket launch has been added for the weapon preset of 2,000 lbs + HVARx20.
  
• PB2 rockets - a bug has been fixed that prevented HEAT warheads to break through advertised armour thickness
  

[h2]Naval[/h2]

• Crew number on Italian cruisers has been adjusted in accordance to the year of modification:
  
• -RN Eugenio di Savoia: 578 → 694;
  
• -RN Raimondo Montecuccoli: 578 → 648.
  
• Shrapnel amount and shrapnel total damage in naval HE rounds have been adjusted in order to avoid performance drop when taking massive fire.
  

[h2]Other changes[/h2]

• A bug that caused low FPS in the first minutes when playing in a custom mission in custom battles has been fixed.
  
• 3D decorations and decals in the Inventory menu now have their respective sections.
  
• “Numbers” decals have been added for Israel.
  
• A bug has been fixed that allowed TVD to see through glass, for example, through windows in buildings.
  
• Star icon has been restored to show the best squad in the battle statistics window.
  
• Incorrect shadows on horizontal surfaces of ingame objects have been corrected.
  
• Synchronization of guided missile flight when launched by other players has been improved.
  

[hr][\hr]
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.

The American MTB-422 torpedo boat, transferred to the UK under the Lend-Lease program, received reinforced deck weapons.
[h2]Higgins 78 ft. HMS MTB-422, torpedo boat, Britain, III rank. Premium.[/h2]
Features:

• Fast and agile
  
• 40mm automatic gun
  
• No spare torpedoes
  

[h3]History[/h3]
[expand]The PT-92 torpedo boat was built in the USA at the end of 1942 at the Higgins Industries shipyard in New Orleans, LA, amongst the bulk of the sister 78-foot boats she was intended for Lend-Lease delivery to the Soviet Union. Due to the cancellation of the spring convoy in 1943, the boat went on to serve in the Royal Navy, where she received the hull number MTB-422. Here the boat was used in combat operations in the Mediterranean until the end of World War II. After the war, the boat returned to the United States, where she served at least until the mid-1950’s; the further fate of the boat is unknown. The boat was finally decommissioned from service late in 1985.[/expand]

MTB-422 will be one of the prizes in the new War Thunder Battle Pass season. The American torpedo boat of the Higgins 78-feet family has undergone noticeable changes in service with the Royal Navy. Instead of four American torpedoes, the Brits decided to use only two domestic torpedo tubes that reduced the weight of the boat, increased her maximum speed, and also made it possible to install more powerful deck guns. Two twin heavy machine guns remained at the wheelhouse, and the 20mm Oerlikon Mk.II auto gun was moved to the centre of the deck, making it possible to install a punchy 40mm Bofors automatic gun on the vacant stern - a more than welcome addition for a torpedo boat!

In the game, the MTB-422 will become the fastest rank III boat from the British coastal fleet research line, while the boat quickly reaches her maximum speed and maneuvers perfectly. Guns of three calibres at once - 12.7mm , 20mm and 40mm - as well as two steam-gas torpedoes make the boat a very versatile small ship, perfect for capturing and defending points. From the entire artillery arsenal, the commander can concentrate on the 40mm Bofors, which has an average rate of fire, smooth ballistics, and a choice of high-explosive and armour-piercing rounds. It is reasonable to set the heavy machine guns and the 20mm cannon to automatic firing at surface and air targets, which will be useful in sea-borne dogfights with low-ranking boats.

The War Thunder Battle Pass is a great opportunity to get unique game equipment, decorations, and boosters. Don't miss your chance!