4Game

BALANCING MEASURES TO START OFF

Assuming we had most of the following (entirely realistic) balance factors applied, what Tier 9 or X wheeled light tank candidates can you think of?

1. Much worse ground resistance than tracked vehicles on non-hardened ground, as is true of wheeled vehicles (higher ground pressure). Also gun bloom penalties on medium or soft ground.
2. Worse gun bloom numbers than tracked light tanks because the gun has more momentum relative to turret, and turret has more momentum relative to hull. In other words, if you want to shoot past 100m without buying a lottery ticket, don't exceed your first cruise speed tick (The RR double tap puts you at full forward which is three notches on the green forward arrow, that's the "tick" I speak of), MAYBE 2nd tick on hardened ground going in a straight line.
3. MUCH higher speed loss in turns (driver automatically avoids rolling over… unless you hit a rock while turning, then enjoy the flipping).
4. Wheels can no longer eat HE without taking hull damage (Note: AP can logically overpen through a wheel and fly by under hull, but if the force of an HE shell wrecking a wheel doesn't damage the hull at all, ahaha). EDIT: REMOVED after discussion as the occasions where a wrecked wheel doesn't quickly get you killed are rarer nowadays and as long as concussive damage is normally calculated to the hull, it should be enough.
5. Consider a crew qualification penalty from jostling at high speed, because driving on medium or soft ground should penalize the work of the commander and loader due to the hull bouncing around–trying to spot something 100m away through a bush while riding a roller coaster is Unlikely so vision needs to drop at higher speeds. And sudden deceleration (like ramming a house) should stun the crew.
6. Gradually lose some camo when between 2/3 and full speed–the faster, the more visible you are. Look I know they're not very large, but a quickly moving object triggers people's instincts to notice it against the background.
7. To compensate for the above nerf hammers, a stationary wheeled vehicle should have appreciably worse camo (IF TALLER) but equal vision to a tracked LT WHEN STOPPED, and be allowed to use binocs.
8. Basically, I propose balancing wheeled vehicles as somewhere between a conventional light tank and a super-fast unarmoured turreted TD, with low alpha, moderate DPM, and good penetration.

I get the impression these nerfs might turn wheeled lights into unarmoured tank destroyers that are really fast to get into position. Coincidentally this is basically the role of TDs like the Centauro in Armored Warfare, huh…

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS For Tier X Wheeled Vehicle

Main gun must be rifled, preferably 90-110mm calibre

Gun (or closely related design if the specific model's numbers can't be found) must have at least one type of ammunition able to penetrate >300mm Rolled Homogeneous Armour.

SPECIFIC NATIONS' IDEAS

BRITAIN

So I heard about people's proposals for British wheeled lights and I have nothing to say there: https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/b1zpho/british_tech_tree_proposal_wheeled_lts/

FRANCE

France deserves better than the current lot of EBRs. Consider the REAL French wheeled TDs, designed in 1959 and produced in 1960, we have the Panhard AML: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panhard_AML

Note the Wikipedia page specifically notes: "An AML is capable of destroying targets at 1,500 meters with its D921 main gun. In this configuration it is considered a match for second-line and older main battle tanks." We know "older MBTs" refers to the likes of the T-55, M48, or Leopard 1, which we know are high-tier vehicles in WoT.

The ammunition (buff capacity from 20 pieces to 40 at least though, WG has shown capacity to strap shells all over the outside of tanks already) is adequate as Wikipedia claims: "The 90 mm high-explosive anti-tank round possesses a muzzle velocity of 750 m/s (2,500 ft/s) and will penetrate 320 mm (13 in) of armour at an incidence of 0°, or 120 mm (4.7 in) of armour at 60°."

Now, the AML 90 does have a big problem in that a 360 on the turret takes 25 seconds of manual cranking, but that can be buffed or simply handwaved with a modernized powered turret. Tier 10 could have parts of the AML Lynx modernization package (excluding the laser rangefinder, of course). Alternatively, you can use some variant of the Eland Mk 7 which is a derivative design (other South African armored cars like the Rooikat are FAR too modern for WoT).

Alternatives include the ERC-90 but that's from 1979 so… too late for WoT (though the EBR 105 as shown in WoT uses a fictional mod of the ERC-90 turret).

The main characteristic of the line leading to the Panhard AML would be (with the nerf hammers listed up top to the existing EBR line):

1. Better camo than EBR (given equal crews) due to much smaller size. However, also less health.
2. Even worse bloom on the move (fewer wheels and less momentum to stabilize hull).
3. Superior penetration to EBR.
4. Better rate of fire, not sure about DPM.

SOVIET

I'm sure there's a pile of Objects that are suitable.

If all else fails then this seems about right with components all dating from the 1960s, including a modified T-54 turret: http://www.military-today.com/artillery/cuban_fsv.htm Of course, it would have to be able to fire on all angles for balance. We know exactly what ammunition types this gun will use, and it is adequate.

The 2S14 Zhalo-S of Armored Warfare can also be consulted with its long 85mm gun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2S14_Zhalo-S albeit the more modern systems may need to be omitted depending on tier placement.

Also, Djibuti and Yemen both went and put AML-90 turrets on BTR-60s (Djibouti did it on ONE vehicle) according to Wikipedia's list of BTR-60 variants, so if you need that at some point, that's doable.

One characteristic of this line would be better gun stabilization on 8×8 platforms (shared with ERC line) compared to 4×4 platforms.

UNITED STATES

Obviously this line goes through the M8 Greyhound (37mm gun) to the T18E2 Boarhound (57mm 6pdr) to M38 Wolfhound with Chaffee Turret (lightweight 75mm gun). It seems likely the Chaffee (Tier 5 LT) turret puts that armoured car up to Tier 6.

Next we need a huge timeskip to the Cadillac-Gage Commando of 1962 or specifically the larger-gunned versions that appeared in 1964 onward: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Gage_Commando

As stated by Wikipedia: "A number of V-150s were later successfully tested and offered with a Mecar low-pressure 90mm smoothbore gun. With the new turret and gun, the V-150 was manned by a crew of three, although it retained enough space for eight additional passengers if no additional shell racks were added.

At maximum capacity its hull could store up to thirty-nine rounds of 90mm ammunition and still seat four additional passengers. Subsequent V-150 models incorporated a slightly larger turret armed with a much more powerful Cockerill Mk.III 90mm gun, the same as that carried by the EE-9 Cascavel. A third fire support option involved the retrofitting of the Commando chassis with the complete turret and 76mm L23A1 gun of the British FV101 Scorpion tracked reconnaissance vehicle."

We know the Mecar 90mm is allowed in-game because of the German light tanks (deSPICable IIRC) using the gun. I would suggest this can occupy up to three tiers if needed, first with 76mm L23A1, the second with Mecar, and the third tier with the 90mm Cockerill (APFSDS can be represented as APCR in terms of normalization, but with very low pen over distance). However, this would only cover Tier 7-9 if the Wolfhound/Chaffee is Tier 6.

This poses a severe problem if the LAV-300 of 1979 is too modern (still 90mm Cockerill but on a 6×6 hull which offers more stability and HP).

The main characteristic of this line's high tiers would need to be use of advanced ammunition for high penetration, commensurate with medium tanks at tier. At lower tiers it's high rate of fire from smaller than average gun calibre.

SOUTH AMERICA

There are folks who propose some South American tech lines including the Tamoyo series and TAM. I'm going to point out that if 1975 is acceptable. then the EE-9 Cascavel would fit the rough idea I have of a T10 wheeled vehicle in WoT, with a 90mm main gun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EE-9_Cascavel The problem is what sort of designs to precede it with.

OTHERS

I have no clue what to put in for high tier wheeled vehicles for China (too poor to afford dedicated projects early enough for WoT I suspect), Poland (used Soviet equipment probably), Czech (same), Japan (didn't have a large/independent enough military from 1945-1970s to need fire support vehicles), Italy (Centauro is WAY too modern), etc. so any ideas would be welcome.