I’m glad that Gaijin finally announced to remove the fictional R2Y2. However, fictional vehicles remain in Japanese tech tree, like F-16AJ. And the most infamous one of all here is no doubt the Ho-ri tank destroyer. It is well known for not existing until the year 2016.
For those who don’t know, here’s a brief introduction. The Ho-ri project did exist in history, even though no prototype was completed. However, the real Ho-ri is a very different vehicle. It was based on a Type 5 Chi-ri chassis, with secondary 37mm cannon. The armor was much weaker, though. It used two engines, rather than one. The Ho-ri in game was actually created in 2016.
What’s funny is, DMM actually asked Japan Ministry of Defense to check their files, and it was confirmed that the Ho-ris in WT never existed, not even on paper, until 2016.
It’s a joke. A fictional vehicle with two types respectively naming “prototype” and “production”, while its real-life origin never had any prototype completed, not to mention any “production”.
I don’t see any reason we still keep these two freaks in WT. They are live humiliation.
Well, that’s Gaijin’s explanation for keeping R2Y2 in game for so long. Can this line be applied to Ho-ri mod.2016? Absolutely not.
There are many replacements. To name one of them, Oi is an interesting Ultra-heavy tank. It’s large, it’s got big gun, but it is actually not that slow.
In addition, Gaijin could simply rework the Ho-ri. It doesn’t really take a dig to find the files of real Ho-ri. Why can’t Gaijin just correct the mistake they made 9 years ago? We need historical Ho-ri. Real Ho-ri, rather than a 2016 Frankenstein.
It’s a fictional tank. It never existed. The Japanese military didn’t even have the ability to produce 1100 horsepower engines for ground vehicles, nor do they know the importance of sloped armor for tanks.
The removal of any fictional vehicle in game should have “new players miss out on it”. But we should at the very least pay some respect to history. And, we could have a real Ho-ri added to the game, which might be an interesting vehicle as well.
What is called Zerstörer 45 in the game certainly existed but it was just a test-bed for a quad MK 103 mount.
The Ostwind II also existed but the vehicle we have in the game isn’t it.
There’s practically no real data on what the Ostwind II should be.
Is it just an Ostwind with FlaK 43 Dual mount (on top of each other) or maybe it used newly developed 37mm cannons from the Flakpanzer 341 project, which would have mounted two 37mm side by side?
Conflicting sources and sketchy proof is up there with the Ostwind II, but they mention at least a single prototype/wooden mockup built at some point, despite no photographs or data on what it actually looked like. All we know for sure is that the Germans tried to cramp 2 x 37mm Fla.K. 44 cannons together somehow in the original Ostwind turret.
The Zerstörer 45 in War Thunder is incorrectly named as it was mentioned using a ‘Möbelwagen’ platform when the real Zerstörer 45 was later simply just a Wirbelwind with the 4 x 30mm Mk.108 cannons instead of the 4 x 20mm Fla.K. 38 guns
In game Ho-Ris are definitely a horrible monstrosities put together from multiple barely related plans. Main thing is the mock-up. Possibly deverlopers made it’s shape fit the 7.3m long Chi-Ri chassis measurements.
Do notice how there is a side door, but no hatches leading into the front.
Internal layout is likely loosely based on the early plans.
In documents there appear two weights for Ho-Ris: 40t and 47.4t. Not that huge weight increase from 37 ton Chi-Ri. Obviously they couldn’t have had much more armor than Chi-Ri to keept at those limits. Meanwhile in game Ho-Ri prototype is 51 tons and production version 65 tons. From medium tanks Japanese required high mobility and 40km/h top speed, but I don’t know if it was the same with Ho-Ris.
So how to have in game Ho-Ri with enough armor for 7.0, but also with some mobility? More power? 1100hp!?! Yes such powerpack existed in O-I, but that was with 2 x 550hp engines. Two of them just wouldn’t fit into any Ho-Ri plan.
A little bit more than 550hp might have been reasonable as sources state up to 660hp in tank use. Unknown if that was gross or net power. Certainly the engine could have been tuned back up to 850hp which it had in aircraft use, but the cooling and transmission weren’t made for that. 1500rpm is very low for a gasoline engine after all and It provides pretty high torque.
In game we have the Chi-Ri I, which is for incorrectly named as Chi-Ri II. When the Chi-Ri I was cancelled, it was replaced with a plan of a smaller more conventional vehicle. The description gives a picture of a tank similiar to the late Chi-To plans. It’s supercharged diesel reached 500hp.
Chi-Ri I - 7.3m
Chi-Ri II - 6.5m
Chi-To - 6.2m
Naturally a new Ho-Ri plan was based on the Chi-Ri II. 255.9in = 6.5m. It had a unique crew layout: Driver and all the rest of the crew were placed into the rear. It is not certain which engine this would have used. The cannon was apparently a new model.
I’ve seen them, again my only problem is if they would hold up to the current model we have. If not then it would hurt the lineup. Might i add the 7.3 lineup is basically only good because of the Ho Ri production. M47 is solid but not really the most interesting thing and type 99 is fodder for anyone with an mg
When playing 6.7 I find these things constantly pushing enemy spawn and has seen a lot of success, the armor works, the gun is good and thing is fast too. So they going to give it the tiger 2 105/panther 2 treatment? that’s too bad bro
Theres no Panther II, only what Gaijin implemented as Panther II, which is historically incorrect.
The Flakpanzer 341 was never built, nor are there any existing blueprints. So the vehicles stats are made up as it should have used newly developed 37mm cannons.
Leaves the 105mm Tiger which would have been just a Tiger II with a more powerful gun but far longer reload time.
The most realistic out of the bunch apart from the many things that Gaijin implemented wrong, like the second loader, the rangefinder or the incorrect AP ammunition.
The engine is of course made up as well but since it was planned, it could still have a place in the game.
Noone cares it’s a game, and the vehicles are interesting, gaijin are already taking creative liberties with vehicles, they just gave ships stabilisers that didn’t have them. They should be adding interesting content, not removing it. They’re not completely broken vehicles and can all be balanced very easily.
