Armored Warfare News

Commanders!

We are happy to announce that the Update 0.246 is now available!



Please note that the Shockwave Season 0 is over and the mode is no longer available. Stay tuned for more info about our further plans for the Shockwave mode!

[h2]List of Update 0.246 Changes[/h2]

Autocannon HE shell overhaul

We are overhauling the High Explosive shells for autocannons (with notable exceptions such as AbramsX and Boxer RIWP) to do the following:

• HE shells will only deal full damage to unarmored or very lightly targets
  
• Armored targets will be dealt no damage (or very limited damage)
  
• The HE shells will deal a lot of damage to external modules such as tracks, guns and ERA/NERA elements
  

Seahawks Battle Path

In this update, we are correcting several issues of the Seahawks Battle Path and its vehicles:

• VN20: Tracks no longer move faster than the wheels rotate
  
• VN20: Many smaller visual fixes
  
• Fixed the skills of commander Samuel Thorpe
  

Additional Vehicle Fixes and Updates

With each patch we continue (and will continue) to update vehicles based on your feedback and fix them. In this update, we have the following changes for you:

• Fixed the aiming point of multiple (almost all) artillery vehicles
  
• AMX-30B2: Vehicle is no longer excessively dirty
  
• BTR-82A: Fixed the door-opening animation for the improved armor configuration
  
• BTR-82A: Small visual fixes
  
• Challenger 2: Fixed an issue where the targeting was broken when playing with the Faugh a Ballagh skin
  
• Challenger 2 ATDU: Returned the turret “roof” element to the vehicle and its skins
  
• Challenger 2 ATDU: Fixed the Honey Badger skin that was missing a camouflage part around the gun
  
• M1: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 50 to 56
  
• M1A1: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
  
• M1A1 AIM: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
  
• M1A1 Storm: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
  
• M1A2: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
  
• M1A2: Fixed the look of the SEP v3 PL skin
  
• M1A2C: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
  
• M1A2C Hades: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 48 to 50
  
• M1128 Stryker: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 50 to 63
  
• Puma: Small visual fixes on the Panzergrenadier skin
  
• T-72M2 Wilk: The Half-Restored skin gun cover now has the correct color
  
• T-90M Proryv: Fixed the excessive dirt covering ERA elements
  
• XM1: Increased the amount of ammunition carried from 50 to 56
  
• XM1A3: Increased the amount of 120mm ammunition carried from 50 to 60
  
• XM1A3: Fixed the M1A3 skin icon
  

General Changes

• Fixed several reasons causing the game to crash
  
• Returned the true Fullscreen option to the graphics settings
  
• Lieutenant bot vehicles are now spawning correctly in PvE missions
  
• Bonus rewards for long queues are now working correctly
  
• Fixed several localization issues
  

On the 28th of November 2024, starting from 7:00 CET, the server will not be available for 5 hours due to a planned server maintenance.



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

[h2]BMD-2 Black Eagle[/h2]


[h2]M60-2000 NEON[/h2]


[h2]Merkava IID Black Eagle[/h2]


[h2]RDF-LT Skin Neon[/h2]


[h2]Sabra Mk .2[/h2]


[h2]Stingray 2 Black Eagle[/h2]


[h2]T-72AV Officer’s Pack[/h2]


[h2]T-72AV Standard Pack[/h2]


[h2]Vickers Mk.7[/h2]


[h2]ZBD-86 Neon[/h2]


[h2]BMPT Standard Pack[/h2]


[h2]BMPT Marder 2[/h2]


[h2]T-72AV General’s Pack[/h2]


[h2]WWO Wilk[/h2]


[h2]Object 287[/h2]


[h2]Sabre[/h2]


[h2]VFM Mk.5[/h2]


[h2]XM1[/h2]


[h2]2S14 Black Eagle[/h2]


[h2]BMPT General’s Pack[/h2]


[h2]BMPT Officer’s Pack[/h2]


[h2]T-72M2 Wilk[/h2]


[h2]Terminator General Pack[/h2]


[h2]Type 96B[/h2]


[h2]AMX 10 RCR[/h2]


[h2]ASCOD LT - 105[/h2]


[h2]Bradley AAWS-H[/h2]


[h2]Griffin[/h2]


[h2]M-95 Degman[/h2]


[h2]Pindad SBS[/h2]


[h2]Stalker[/h2]


[h2]M1A1 Storm[/h2]


[h2]Type 89[/h2]


[h2]ZUBR PSP[/h2]


[h2]Falcon General Pack[/h2]


[h2]Hunter[/h2]


[h2]K21 General Pack[/h2]


[h2]Leclerc T40[/h2]


[h2]Oplot[/h2]


[h2]Revolution General Pack[/h2]


[h2]T-72B3 General Pack[/h2]


[h2]ZTQ-15[/h2]

Commanders!

Today we’d like to tell you more about the overhaul of High Explosive shells for autocannons that’s coming in the next update.



The fact that something like this was coming was unfortunately made clear by an incorrect version of these changes that appeared on the game server along with the Seahawks Battle Path in Update 0.240. Just to be clear, the fact that some HE shells can frontally damage Main Battle Tanks is not intended behavior – quite the opposite.

This is one of the features where the goal is very easy to explain but the execution is difficult. Long story short, we sought a purpose for autocannon HE shells for a long time since they have been either rather toxic or completely useless.

The role we envisaged for these shells is therefore as follows.

• HE shells will only deal full damage to unarmored or very lightly targets
  
• Armored targets will be dealt no damage (or very limited damage)
  
• The HE shells will deal a lot of damage to external modules such as tracks, guns and ERA/NERA elements
  

In other words, these shells will have a specific purpose now and we are sure you’ll put them to good use, commanders. You’ll have the opportunity to try them out very soon and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!

Commanders!

Today we’d like to tell you more about a vehicle that’s coming to Armored Warfare this December – the American XM2001 Crusader Tier 10 Self-Propelled Gun.



But first, a bit of history as usual.

The Crusader program was conceived in the 1980s as a replacement of the old M109 series of 155mm self-propelled howitzers. The original goal was to create a modern SPG that would outmatch anything the Soviets could field but the breakup of the Soviet Union halted the plans until roughly 1994 when the development began in earnest.

The vehicle was supposed to be cutting edge and featured many innovations. The crew was safe in its armored hull while the turret was unmanned with the gun automatically fed by an autoloader. This allowed it to set up and fire several times faster than the M109A6 Paladin. It was also very fast thanks to its 1500hp gas turbine engine.



It did have numerous drawbacks though because the loading mechanism was extremely complicated, the proposed liquid shell propellant had to be dropped and the turret could not traverse more than 20 degrees from the vehicle’s axis.

But the biggest issue turned out to be the fact that by the end of the 1990s, the U.S. Army was planning to switch to lighter units and the Crusader was just too heavy. The weight therefore had to be reduced from 60 to 40 tons, which, along with other overhauls, caused additional delays. Two prototypes were built around 2001 (along with a single XM2002 resupply vehicle) and were tested.



The results were quite promising but with the onset of the War on Terror, the Crusader became one of the budget cut victims of the era. The program was cancelled in the May of 2002 and the single surviving prototype can be seen in the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum in Lawton.

As was stated above, in Armored Warfare, the Crusader will be a Tier 10 Premium SPG.

In many ways, the Crusader will be very different from most other vehicles in Armored Warfare. As self-propelled guns go, it’ll be very fast and agile with high maximum speed (67 km/h) and high reverse speed (39 km/h).



It’ll somewhat armored too as its frontal hull and the roof are covered with composite armor elements. In reality, however, most of its frontal armor will be vulnerable to armor-piercing ammunition of the same Tier.

And then there’s the 155mm gun with a three-round magazine with 2 seconds between shots (and 10 second of full magazine reload). The ammunition is a standard set of HE and HEAT rounds with some pretty nasty traits. Add to it its excellent gun depression (-6/+75 degrees) and little accuracy loss from moving the hull.



But there will be some drawbacks. Perhaps the most important one is that, just like in real life, the Crusader’s turret offers limited traverse only – 20 degrees to each side. This doesn’t make aiming that much inconvenient due to the abovementioned low accuracy loss with hull traverse, but it does mean that the Crusader is a very poor brawler. In other words, you have to stay out of close combat to survive.

The second major drawback is that while the Crusader does have soft-kill APS, it cannot deploy smoke grenades – unlike the vast majority of higher-Tier vehicles, it only has a smoke generator. In other words, careful gameplay is required.



The Crusader is effectively an equivalent of an assault gun relying on high mobility and excellent firepower to deal as much damage as possible and then quickly retreat under the cover of your own smoke. Using its high reverse speed is critical in this regard, as is situational awareness because catching even a Main Battle Tank off-guard will allow you to destroy it really quickly. For aggressive, skilled players, it’s the perfect vehicle.

We hope that you will enjoy it and, as always:

See you on the battlefield!