Changes to Armour Values for HD Models in Update 9.10

In 9.12 update in World of Tanks you’ll be able to find 28 new HD-models of vehicles. These are 27 remade in HD quality vehicles that already gained their reputation on battle fields, and a replacement for the Tier X British medium tank - Centurion Action X.

Why does armour change when we rework tanks in HD?

Reworking existing vehicles in HD brings the game closer to real-life and adds to the atmosphere of smoke, fire and steel that armoured vehicles convey in World of Tanks. But in addition to external, aesthetic changes, reworking existing vehicles to HD also allows us to revisit and change a vehicle's armour values. This decision was taken for a number of reasons:

• We now have obtained more accurate historical data (e.g. updated information on schematic drawings or existing vehicles etc.).
• Changes in the geometric accuracy of individual hull/turret elements after re-modelling will naturally create new angles and alter where a tank can be penetrated.

Vehicle models in World of Tanks come in two forms: visual and collision.

Basically, the visual model is what we see on the screen during the battle or in the Garage, i.e. a graphical image of the hull, suspension, and turret with the gun. The collision model is used for server calculations, it contains full information about vehicle armour, the arrangement of modules (internal and external) and the positions of crew members within the tank.

Thus, reworking a vehicle to HD not only changes the visual model but demands a revision of the collision model so that it is consistent with the new geometry of the tank as well.

Out of 27 remade to HD quality combat vehicles in version 9.12, the most noticeable changes occurred for the following 3 tanks:

T34 – increased standard value of hull and turret armor. The collision-model of tracks have been added to the frontal armour – this change will add 20 mm to the effective armour thickness. The commander’s hatch became smaller.

IS-8 – with 9.12 update, the vehicle has been renamed to T-10. Changed standard value of frontal armour. Improved protection of the sides.

KV-220 – with 9.12 update, the vehicle has been renamed to KV-220-2. It got improved armour of the lower frontal plate and the standard armor values of the upper frontal plate changed as well.

Your favourite tanks are far more than a pretty face, tankers.