Which type of medals do you want to see in the game?
- Medals from other nations in the tree
- Medals that requires progression or achievements
- Medals that were shared across different nations
- I am not interested in more medals for the game
Introduction of a larger diversity of medals
As we all know, medals exist in the game as a way to demonstrate the commitment of players to the tech tree they like to play. With the introduction of more nations as either independent vehicles or subtrees, the game can explore the opportunity to allow players to demonstrate their dedication to a certain tech tree by playing specific vehicles, and also provide players who have grinded the entire tree some challenging tasks and explore rather unpopular vehicles. The concept of medals can also be expanded not only to represent the game records of players, but their ability to play different vehicles in the game.
Additionally, countries such as the USSR as well as Ex-Axis states lack their modern medals. There are no medals and orders of the German Republic, East and West Germany, Republic of Italy or the Russian Federation, etc. This suggestion post aims to discuss the possibility for more medals in the game, as well as expanding the types of criteria.
Vehicle/Era-specific medals
In War Thunder as of right now, there are very limited numbers of medals that represent cold war or modern conflicts, outside of the US, the UK, China and Israel, which furthermore saw relatively limited American and British medals as compared to the wartime awards.
As an example, the Gulf Medal was created by Britain in order to reward the participants of the Gulf War, specifically Operation Granby, where the British forces liberated Kuwait. To earn this medal, the player has to achieve a number of kills, or a number of wins with the vehicles that were involved in the Gulf War: Tornado F.3, Jaguar GR.1 and GR.1A, Tornado GR.1, Buccaneer S.2, Challenger Mk.2, Challenger Mk.3, Challenger DS as well as the warrior. There are no sources I can find that demonstrates the involvement of the Stormer HVM, but the stormer with shielder minelaying system was involved in the war. Perhaps the requirement should be set at around 400 kills - these are relatively popular vehicles, or 100 games that were placed in top 3 with a minimum of 70% activity using the vehicles. As usual, realistic and simulator multipliers should be applied.
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Another example that could be worth discussing was the Medal of Self-Defense Warfare against Vietnam(对越自卫反击战纪念章), which was known as the Third Indochina War globally. These were awarded to the participants of the conflicts who had fought in the engagements. In practice, Chinese vehicles that were involved in the conflict were limited to type 59 MBTs, type 62 light tanks, and type 63 amphibious tanks. There are also a number of SP-MLRS that were involved, but obviously they are not featured in War Thunder. In the game, these tanks are relatively unfavorable to play with each of the tanks or their BR having certain issues. Therefore, a medal that requires gameplay from specific vehicles should see China players trying out these tanks, while the actual requirement is reduced to around 200 kills.
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Individual nations/Subtrees medals
With more subtrees being introduced to different nations, as well as a variety of nations who were represented by one or two vehicles, the game is looking positive for diversity. The concept of nation-specific medals were effectively similar to the concept mentioned above, but making all vehicles of a nation fitting to fulfill the criteria.
Again, Britain will be used to discuss the case of medals from other nations first, since it hosts a large variety of ex-commonwealth nations. Modern-day South Africa features a variety of decorations for the military, such as iPhrothiya, the decoration for superior service, represented in Bronze(yeBhronzi), Silver(yeSiliva), and Gold(yeGolide). These can be used to represent the player’s commitment to the South African vehicles, by achieving three stages of kill counts(Such as 300, 500 and 1,000), or numbers of wins(100, 200, 500) where at least one South African vehicle was played.
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Finland and Hungary should also receive one or two sets of rewards for Sweden and Italy, since they were the other two official subtrees. Finland can feature the Order of the Lion of Finland(Suomen Leijonan ritarikunta Finlands Lejons orden) or the Order of the White Rose of Finland(Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta Finlands Vita Ros’ orden), where each of the featured a number of classes. For Hungary, the Hungarian Order of Merit(Magyar Érdemrend) and Merit Medal for Service.
For nations that only feature a few vehicles, such as Canada, there could be only one or two medals for playing the nation. The Victoria Cross(Canada) is the highest order of Canadian rewards to its citizens, and it fits to be the medal if there should only be one of them. This can be rewarded when the Player has achieved a number of wins being top 3, where Canadian vehicles were played.
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There are also two exceptions that are worth a quick discussion. Namely East/West Germany and modern-day Russia. They are not exactly sub-trees since they were the main body of these TTs, but in the case of East/West Russia - now no longer existent, and modern Russia, which is de facto the superceder in these vehicles as of War Thunder contexts. Here are a few possible options:
The merit for excellence in the KDA(Medaille für ausgezeichnete Leistungen in den Kampfgruppen der Arbeiterklasse) - representation of a number of kills in East German vehicles
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The medal of merit of the Nationale Volksarmee(Verdienstmedaille der Nationalen Volksarmee) - representation of a number of successful multikills in East German vehicles
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The badge of honor of the Bundeswehr(Ehrenzeichen der Bundeswehr) - representation of a number of kills in pre-unification West German vehicles
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The hero of the Russian Federation(Герой Российской Федерации) - representation of a number of top-3 wins in Russian vehicles
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Non-nation specific medals
Into the cold war and after it, there are a variety of medals and orders that are non-nation specific. One example that will be used to discuss it is the NATO Medal Kosovo. The medal is awarded to individuals, military or civilians, that have involved themselves either engaged or in direct support of KFOR. This does not correspond to any specific states IRL or in War Thunder, but rather represents the entirety of NATO.
For instance, this medal can be given to Italy, France and Germany. In game, they will be located in their own trees, displayed with a prefix that highlights the nation they were involved in, but with the same appearance in medal tabs. For France, this medal can be earned by playing the Leclerc; for Italy, playing the centauro, and for Germany, playing the leopard 2A4/5/6 and marder. There could be one for Hungary, but they only sent BTR-60s(KPVT variants) as a part of KFOR instead of BTR-80A in the game.
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NATO Medals feature the decoration for a variety of conflicts, and a selection of them can definitely be introduced to the game.
Medals that focuses on achievements and tech tree progress
Many nations also have medals that focus on technology and research engineering. Although not strictly military related, a handful of them relate to military technology. In War Thunder, they can represent the progression the player has contributed to the tech tree, or the demonstration of the skills. These are a few that may be interesting to add:
The Nuclear Test Medal(Britain) is used to reward personnelles of the British Armed Forces for their involvement in developing nuclear weapons. This can be a medal that requires the player to drop a nuclear bomb(by obtaining the “Doomsday!” achievement).
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The Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal is a post-cold war medal of the US to decorate those who participated in nuclear deterrence roles. This can be a medal that also requires the player to drop a nuclear bomb, but only in BR 10.3 and above.
The Honored Test Pilot of the USSR(Заслуженный лётчик-испытатель СССР) is a medal awarded to test pilots who has contributed to the Soviet Aerospace development. This can be a medal that is awarded to players who have at least three rank VII jets in the Soviet tech tree, or even spading them.
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