The T-34 was a medium tank, and is one of the most famous tanks of World War II. The tank was produced in over eighty thousand examples and performed most of its service with the Red Army. The tank began to be adopted by the Soviet ranks in 1940, and over time the tank was updated and improved to make it more efficient. The Volgograd tractor factory began producing exorbitant quantities of the T-34/76 in 1940, which were immediately included in the Soviet ranks and were shortly thereafter used to contain the Axis advance during Operation Barbarossa. One of these tanks, a T-34/76 Model 1940, was captured by Italians during the 1940. It is not known where exactly he was captured and the unit he belonged to is not even known, but we know what happened to him afterwards. The vehicle was sent to Italy to the Motorization Study Center in Rome in 1941 and there it was analyzed and tested by the Italian authorities. After the end of the tests in 1942 the vehicle was sent as agreed to the German authorities, who tested it. The final fate of the vehicle is unknown.
Armaments and propulsion.
The tank had as its main armament a 76 mm M1940 L-11 cannon placed in a rotating turret, with a coaxial Degtjarëv 7.62 mm machine gun and a machine gun of the same type mounted in the hull. Up to 77 rounds for the cannon (of the APHE, AP, APCR and HE) and 46 magazines for the machine guns could be carried.
In terms of engine, the tank was powered by a 12-cylinder 500 hp Diesel model V-2 (B-2-34), which allowed the tank to reach 54 km/h
Specifications.
Spoiler
Crew: 4
Maximum weight: 26.8 tons
Length: 5.95 m
Width: 3.0m
Height: 2.4 m
Clearance: 400 mm
Engine: V-2 diesel (500 hp)
Maximum speed: 54 km/h
Fuel capacity: 455 l
Autonomy: 300 km
Armor: 45-13 mm
Armament: 1x 76.2 mm L-11 and 3x 7.62 mm Degtyarev
Elevation: -5°/+25°
+1 as premium. Since everyone has captured tanks or aircraft, I don’t see why Italy can’t have war prizes as well. The prevailing autarky has only led to disadvantages compared to others. Furthermore, they will soon add the Hungarian T-34/85 in the tech tree, so it makes sense to have one at a lower tier as well.
Agreed. The only exception being the pre-production P40 with the cast transmission housing. The T-34s fill a niche and expand a line-up that indigenous Italian vehicles just kinda can’t.
Just look at the Finnish subtree of Sweden to see how it will turn out, obviously with the necessary distinctions between Finland/Hungary since they haven’t had exactly the same things.
At least there’s the possibility of having an IS-2, that is, a heavy tank in the tech tree for those who don’t want to buy the Tiger. In the end, the T-34-85 is one of the best tanks in the game for its BR (battle rating), a BR where Italy doesn’t have many options for WWII tanks (in fact, it has almost none).
I don’t mind having Russian stuff in the tech tree if there are no alternatives; it’s better than nothing. However, certain choices are questionable, like the insistence on not giving Italy new or competitive vehicles (we’ve been waiting forever for the Italian Gepard).
For example, recently, there’s been a proliferation of small light tanks armed with APDS, but we get nothing, even though there are several Fiat and OTO models with 20mm or 25mm cannons that could be added (armored cars and the C13 family, for instance). But Italy still has to atone for the sin that in the past, players from other nations used the R3 to capture bases and then exit in the old task model for various events.
Nowadays, with all these vehicles (Fox class, to be clear), we could move past the old baggage and improve the R3 by giving it APDS or introducing something else into the game. Also, the bad behavior attributed to R3 players should be blamed on those playing other tech trees and not on those who consistently play Italy.
