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Historical Skins – BMD-2M Akula

Commanders!

For this year’s Tank Crew day, we’ve prepared a brand-new skin for one of the more popular AFVs in the game – the Tier 7 BMD-2M. The skin is called “Akula.”



Since it has been popularized by Tom Clancy’s submarine novels, you are probably familiar with this word and know that it means “Shark” in Russian. It’s this name that’s inscribed on the upper frontal hull of this BMD-2M, right above a large teethed mouth. Indeed, the formidable BMD-2M truly bares its fangs with this skin.



The skin comes with a very common modern Russian camouflage consisting of green, sand and black spots. Tactical markings are also present – a triangle with a number 3 in it belongs to the 98th Guards Airborne Division stationed at Ivanovo (roughly 250km from Moscow). The 98th Guards Airborne Division is a famous Russian VDV (Airborne) unit that fought in numerous conflicts of Soviet and Russian history, having started as the 98th Guards Rifle Division as early as 1943. It was also deployed in Afghanistan and both Chechen wars.



The skin isn’t completely historical – the number and tactical markings are based on a BMD-2 deployed as a part of a peacekeeping force in Kazakhstan since the unit was a part of the contingent sent (upon the request of Kazakhstan’s president) to suppress mass riots that took place in the January of 2022. The VDV forces were used as guards of critical infrastructure and did not participate in the suppression of the riots.



To keep the VDV theme going, we’ll also have a special Russian Airborne camouflage for you. This camouflage is more like a coat of white paint applied over the standard camouflage (the one used on the Akula skin) and was used by the 98th Guards Airborne Division in 2014 during an arctic exercise. We’ll also have some decals for you, including:
  • 98th Guards Airborne Division tactical emblem
  • Emblem of the VDV
  • Scorpion decal used on BMD-2 trials in Afghanistan

We hope that you’ll enjoy this content, and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Server Maintenance

On the 7th of September 2023, starting from 8:00 CEST, the server will not be available for 4 hours due to a planned server maintenance.



Please note that the maintenance can be extended beyond the abovementioned timeframe. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Developer Diary: AbramsX Autocannon

Commanders!

As you know, we have recently released the AbramsX Tier 10 Premium Main Battle Tank and while the machine was very well received, the launch didn’t go as smoothly as we’d have liked. Most issues have since been addressed but one of the matters left to resolve is that of the autocannon behavior.



Simply put, right now, the autocannon generally fires using the main gun’s reticle. Its shells are flying from the autocannon’s barrel but due to the limitations of the engine, it’s possible to aim the reticle below the autocannon’s maximum depression (since the reticle follows the main gun) and when that happens (typically at short distances), the shells “bend” and start flying below the autocannon barrel axis. This leads to an effect where the tank is standing behind an obstacle with just the autocannon peeking out but the shells hit the obstacle even though they should definitely fly over it.



To fix this problem, we have devised a new aiming system where switching to the autocannon makes a new reticle appear above the standard one.





On one hand, this will make switching between the autocannon and the main gun a bit harder because you will need to re-align your shots. On the other hand, this will give the tank the ability to fire over obstacles with most of its hull and turret safely in cover, which was something that was promised at its launch. You can see a demonstration of the system below.

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But this isn’t the final iteration of the system. Remote-controlled weapon stations are appearing on more and more vehicles and we’d like to introduce this mechanic properly. That is why we are currently working on a system where, in the future, “mini-turrets” such as the AbramsX’s one will work independently on the main turret and will effectively add as a second turret.

We hope that you’ll enjoy this change and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Community Highlight: Summer Screenshot Results

Commanders!

On September 3, the Summer Screenshot contest has ended. In this contest, we asked you to make summer-themed screenshots and submit them to our dedicated Discord channel. First and foremost, we’d like to thank you all for participating – you created some wonderful screenshots and it was a tough choice, picking the best five of them.

Nevertheless, it’s something that had to be done and today, we are presenting you the five best images, whose authors won 5 Japanese camouflages and Eclipse Battle Path access. Here they are:

WhoShotYa



BlackGhostTanK



Zalost



CommanderAerow



RandomSlav



The winners will get their prizes in the near future. If you haven’t won though – not to worry. More contests are coming!

See you on the battlefield!