After having rather deviating opinions about other topics (like MM) in the past it is quite nice that we have a similar view on things.
Playing a war game implies usually the wish for a certain level of immersion - and if everybody uses the same hardware the essence of armored warfare is lost and boils down to things like map knowledge or crew skills - but not the fight between different design philosophies and/or design approaches.
But:
WT has sold its soul a long time ago. They sacrificed immersion in order to create more income - and there is no way back. Besides the obvious impact for niche modes like Ground SB and Air SB the demands of players to use certain c+p hardware in their TTs is comprehensible.
Therefore references to the usage of hardware in WW 2 or not are futile - with the same argumentation you have to kick out any Swedish Cold War vehicle out of WW 2 BRs - same as every other c+p equipment bought post-WW 2 times.
If you look sober and neutral on Italy in WW 2 it is obvious that their leader felt the need to declare war in 1940 (in order to create/expand a “new” Roman Empire assuming to get his hands on French or British colonies) and sent his troops ill equipped (Army and partially Air Force) or without fuel for proper operations (Navy) against the allied forces.
So as Italy had no competitive tank to play and Hungary had a Panther - why not? The immersion is long gone…
The best way to tackle this issue would be to make Italy a subtree of Germany. It was like this at the dawn of War Thunder. Its just be best way. Far better than pumping up every nation with copy paste tanks they never even had in their ranks.
its own tree? Its stacked with foreign tech. From Panzer IV to Leopard 2A7. Alot foreign key units were somehow added to Italy. It just **** when you play against a copy paste nation which sports an M18 Hellcat as well as a Tiger tank. Or you join a high tier match and you have to play against your own Leopard tanks or IFVs.
Its just bad game design. WT should flesh out every nation’s tech tree to be somehow special. To keep the game interesting. Not… this.
Since Germany, the U.S., the U.K., and the Soviet Union have all received $35 WWII vehicle packs, I think Italy could really benefit from something similar in the 4.0–6.0 BR range. Possible candidates could include:
• Italian Panther D
• 44M Tas
• P.43
• Hungarian Panther
• (stretch idea) Toldi páncélvadász – essentially a Toldi fitted with a 75mm gun, similar in role to a Marder.
Italy and minor nations often feel underrepresented around these BRs, and a pack like this would add both historical flavor and more variety to the tree.
As someone who plays Italy a lot, I’d personally love to see this idea explored. What do you think—would Italy benefit from a mid-tier WWII premium pack like this?
According to available information P.43 remained in a mock-up stage.
“Italian Panther D”, idk what you are talking about, they didn’t have one.
44M TAS would be awesome, but considering there is not a single photo of the prototype, it’s highly unlikely that we will ever get it.
Toldi páncélvadász is as you’ve said is a Marder equivalent, too low br for such pack, it’d fit the regular tree in my opinion.
They can add Romanian/Hungarian Panthers in such pack of course, but imo such packs better have customized copies of vehicles unique to said TT.
