Hello,
The changes I am floating do not need to be exactly what I am recommending. All in all, I am looking to lower the reload time of the T32 and T32E1. My arguments for this will be below. I will organize them as best I can so that arguments, for or against, can be made in an orderly fashion. My layout wont be perfect so please bare with me.
I. I understand that War Thunder doesn’t fully consider historical documentation when it comes to reload speeds. I feel like they are similar to pirate guidlines (a refernce for Pirates of the Carribean fans out there). This is fine in my opinion, utilizing a historical reload time is spotty, and would be an inflexible obstacle to balance. Using it as a general guideline is what I feel like the developers are doing. For example, we know a Tiger can reload under 10 seconds, so thats what we see in game, with Gaijin setting specific times. Correct me if I am wrong, but as it currently stands, in game reload speeds are based on a combination of a tanks level of protection, firepower, mobility, and, to a certain degree, win rate statisitics relative to the vehicles around its rank and battle rating. Using that logic, at 7.3 the T32 can see tanks as low as 6.3 and as high as 8.3. This admittedly awkward placement puts it in a position where, in down teired matches, the level of protection it provides can make it a tough nut to crack across the frontal area. In fully up teired matches to 8.3, where stabilized guns and APFSDS make an appearance. The T32’s level of frontal protection actually becomes a liability. The same logic applies to the firepower of the tank. The T32 is equiped with the T15E2 90mm gun that fires APBC, APCBC, APCR, and HE. The only two shells that matter on the T32 are the APCBC and APCR. The APCBC is capable of penetrating 224mm at 10m at 0º, with 76mm at 10m at a 60º angle. The APCR can penetrate 336mm at 10m at 0º and 75mm at 10m at 60º. This level of firepower is right in line with the tanks the T32 fights between 6.3 to 7.3. However, if you notice on an Aced and maxed out crew it attains a maximum reload speed of 14.5 seconds. This makes sense due to the vehicle having a great level of armor and good mobility for a heavy class tank. This logic is also consistent at 7.3 and 7.7. At 8.0 and then 8.3 this is where it starts to make less sense. At these ratings tanks start to abandon the age old APCBC META and adopt more modern ammunition like HEAT-FS, APDS, and even APFSDS. Many of these tanks also adopt more efficient and angled armor profiles to optimize weight against mobility. This means that many of the 8.3 tanks the T32 fights outclass the T32’s firepower and protection capabilities considerably. This is without mentioning that many 8.3 tanks are outfitted with fully stabilized guns. In this position, to make the T32 more competitive in those higher ratings while preventing the tank from seeming overwhelming at 6.3 and 6.7, I think the reload time should get a reduction from 14.5 seconds (Aced with a max loader) to 9.5 seconds (Aced and maxed loader). This will still give the tank a longer than average reload time in downteired games, but make you feel more capable in fully upteired matches against T-55As and the like.
II. Relative reload speeds in upteried games for high rank heavy tanks break down. From 7.3 to 9.0 heavy tanks start to go the way of the dinosaur (with few exceptions). While big, Imposing, and thick, these tanks start collapsing under their own girth. As stated previously having thick armor becomes a liability. It slows you down immensely, while not providing much of a benefit against more capable ammunition. This is the crux of the problem. At 8.3 Ammunition like APDS, APFSDS, HEAT-FS, and ATGMS are being rated and balanced in relation to other similarly designed munitions. We can see tanks like the M60A1(AOS), T-55A, etc, being balanced among each other when it comes to reload times, but then heavy tanks, which offer effectively better armor, but now at a significantly reduced rate of effectiveness, get reload times that are twice as fast as heavy tanks with around two times the level of penetrative capability. This creates a schism in how heavy tanks are balanced in higher ratings. Historically its understood that heavy tanks become outdated as MBTs come onto the stage, but at the end of the day this is a game. I don’t think early MBTs need reload time nerfs, not at all they are fine, however higher rank heavies, like the T32 need reload time reductions. This is already been seen. As the soviet heavy tanks push past 7.3 the reload time of the 122mm drops from about 21 seconds on an aced crew to as low as 15 seconds. Thats tremendous! Once again, the reload time of the T32 doesn’t need to go down to exactly 9.5 seconds, but I feel this would give much needed life to a tank that sits in shadow and is barely ever used.
