Type 16 Appreciation Thread

[Haswell 294]

I'll start by saying that I free-xp'd to the HEAT shell and upgraded smoke grenades right away, otherwise my sanity might suffer.

My first impression is that it's bloody slow and sluggish for a wheeled vehicle, but I came to realize that's just the trend of tier 7s in general. Beyond that, the Type 16 feels quite capable as a high-ish alpha mobile gun platform for a tier 7 (even if everything at tier 7 suck as a general rule).

My cheapo setup focuses heavily on vision control. Despite the Type 16 having better than average frontal armor, it's still garbage against ATGMs and most things that will shoot at me. Best way for me to leverage the Type's DPM is still to position myself at locations where I can keep shooting uninterrupted, as is my MO for all things squishy in general.

Initial thoughts after a dozen or so games:

• great HEAT shell, being able to slap things for over 700 every 5 seconds at tier 7 makes it stand out
• sluggish to accelerate and turn, must read the flow of battle and know when to reposition myself earlier than other squishies
• far higher view range and slightly higher camo than the PSP and Cent 105, very good at vision control for a wheeled TD
• lead indicator is annoying and I want to disable it so badly

Compared to other related vehicles at tier 7:

• PSP is just better despite not having a HEAT shell, it has overwhelming DPM and 360 smoke to brute-force its way through everything
• Cent 105 has better burst alpha, but falls behind in terms of consistent DPM
• Stingray 2 is like the Cent 105, but slightly better

 

Overall, not a bad sort for a tier 7, but I wouldn't want to play it again once I ground it out. My recommendation is to free-xp to the HEAT shell at the very least, otherwise the Type wouldn't really stand out for anything. It almost feels like a Taifun at tier 7.

Sitting at 16k DPG right now, will try to end my grind at 20k at least.

[Komitadjie 13]

It actually feels pretty balanced to me, it's not really stand-out in much, but it's not particularly weak either.  Not the most exciting thing to play, but most wheeled gun TDs tend not to be.  Very, very much an angry shrubbery vehicle.  The extremely low mobility makes it feel even more rear-line, but it IS an extremely accurate gun, and a good HEAT shell for a 7.  You can stack up damage pretty quick if you read the map correctly.  

[di_duncan 24]

I despise all things wheeled. Especially wheeled gun TDs. My experience grinding the Type 16 has not been an exception to this rule.

As expected, acceleration sucks. Top speed is cool but it almost never reaches it. Turns like a boat yet oversteers constantly...

However, playing the Type 16 has not been nearly as painful as expected. The gun is punchy (especially with the aforementioned HEAT rounds) and the top AP round is competitive against all tiers (within the range). Perhaps my favorite feature of the Type 16 is the armor, which is uncharacteristically decent (especially for a wheeled TD). Going hull down and/or turret peeking in this vehicle is a viable strategy, although it is still highly recommended to not get hit (or spotted) in the first place.

DPM seems lacking though, and the shell velocity seems to be lower than average (missed a number of shots on moving targets as a consequence). The AI lead indicator when manually aiming is not particularly helpful, but not necessarily a hindrance either; on the other hand, the "AI assisted" autoaim is a nice addition. Just wish it came with a quicker rotating turret... 

All in all... 6/10 for me. 

Verdict: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[BumbaX 8]

27 pve games with it at now.

With little less then 18k dmg/game and many blue stars, often with T8 tanks in the party as it usually happens at that tier, i am quite impressed, i have still to test it in random battle, even if i like more tanks with better mobility like afv and td it is probably a tank that i will continue to play even after completing the grind.

I appreciate the fact that it loads, fast, a single shot, as is possible to load heat or ap depending on the tank that you have to face, Stingray 2 and Centauro 105 have better burst, but if you have a full rack of an ammo that is not good against the tank you face.... well, it is something that i don't like. And as i agree with @Haswell that its better use is to find a position where it can shot continuously, it lacks the mobility to play pikaboo, is better to shot each shell being sure to penetrate and going for maximum damage, ie choosing ap against some mbts that are hull down or against Bradleys moving fast, then switching to Heat as soon as the bradley is still and you can aim at its weak spots instead of risking to hit the era to get, if you are lucky, reduced damage.

[BumbaX 8]

I tested it in random battles.

I post here a couple of results, both are lost games and if the combo of tank and player was not able to carry the team to the victory i would say that the problem was on the player side, i am far from being a pvp specialist or an unicum player. The game of the second screenshot was lost for time, it was assault mode on Pipelines, and I was very low health so i could not push to kill the 2 remaining enemies, that was at low health also and whose positions was known.

I would say that this tank destroyer can perform well also in random battle, even if it lacks of burst damage not having a rack. And penetration, even with ap too many mbts at the same tier are really hard if not impossible to penetrate frontally at the typical distance a TD shot.

Edited March 21, 2020 by BumbaX (see edit history)

[Lenticulas 9]

I finished it via glops and some pve, and out of about 31 glops games I got about 58%. Pretty good for me, so I have no complaints.

The strange thing is, I don't know why I got a decent result in it. Of course it might just be luck, but whatever: it's my 58% and I'm going to claim it was skill, so there. :-P

... It's not quick, it's not maneuverable, it doesn't have an autoloader or a clip-feed, it's not armoured, I kept forgetting it has the right-click auto-lead.... So why? Maybe just because it's such a no-frills, boring sniper td, that you have to use it as such, and it's pretty good at its intended role?

Anyway, I did use the lead indicator, which I found to be useful seeing the lead on moving targets, especially when I switched ammo.

Crazy Fun: 6.5/10

Success: 8.5/10

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Lenticulas (see edit history)

[BumbaX 8]

To lack of a clip means that you can chose the right ammo for the tank you are going to face, the gun is at least decent, the only issue is the AP penetration against well armored enemies if you are down tier, but the HEAT damage is really good as it reloads fast, the camo is good.

True it is not maneuverable, it has speed, but not acceleration and is wheeled, so can not turn without moving around, but is a TD, not a LT, and i am quite happy if the tanks are what they should be according to their class, ie i like the Sprout, but to me it feels more like a LT with an accurate gun then a proper TD and i don't like to have MBTs that have to be played like LT, TDs like the Wiesel that was perfect when they was AFV and even now feel a lot more AFVish then proper TD.

Right now in the TD class we have vehicles like the Type 16 or the T10 wilk, good gun and camo, sigle shoot and fast reload, fast but not maneuverable, the Draco, similar but with an impressive burst damage, tanks like the Wiesels, long reload, camo and very maneuverable, AGTM based, and the Ramka line, no camo and impressive dpm.

The TD class lacks of an identity, everything can fit in it or don't fit, only depending on a very arbitrary decision of the developers, at least the Type 16 is faithful to what the TD class used to be a long time ago, a good gun that can snipe and give support fire to the frontliners, with enough camo to rely on it and not on armor to survive and fast enough to relocate as the battle evolves. I like that concept, that way to be a TD, that is probably the reason why i like so much the Type 16 and i feel a little sad that i completed its grind so now I play it less frequently, even if I still play it as my main goal is to have fun playing, not necessarily to grind fast. 

[Katsumoto 11]

2 hours ago, BumbaX said:

The TD class lacks of an identity, everything can fit in it or don't fit, only depending on a very arbitrary decision of the developers, at least the Type 16 is faithful to what the TD class used to be a long time ago, a good gun that can snipe and give support fire to the frontliners, with enough camo to rely on it and not on armor to survive and fast enough to relocate as the battle evolves.

I think this statement is what gives me heartburn with some of the tanks being identified as a "TD" instead of an AFV, or in some cases an IFV.  The Type 16 is one of the actual few tanks that have been released lately that sticks to what you are discussing in this fine point you make.

May I present exhibit A:  The T-15 Armata.  It has a troop compartment.  Why is it a TD and not an AFV?  I have to explain it to people that it was an AFV when it came out.

Exhibit B:  The T249 and the M48 GAU-8.  Why is one an AFV and the other a TD when they both do the same thing: spit ammo at a target?

[BumbaX 8]

Exhibit B: because one is small and the other is big? Nope, as the Wiesel that is even smaller then the T249 is a TD... it is completely arbitrary.

About the T15, that in RL is an IFV, in the game if not an AFV it should have been probably a LT, even if is really heavy, as its best role is as flanker right behind the MBTs, certainly not sniping from far away, and that in the game should be the role that the LT class has, even if in RL the role of the LT is to be a tank that costs way less then a proper MBT and that can be transported by an airplane, while moving the heavy MBTs from one part of the world to an other is a very complex and slow logistic task.

In the Obsidian age we had a clear role for every class, and only very few tanks that as was not covering any of those roles was included in some class, as in the game tanks without a class can not exist. And more or less every tank of a certain class had some common special abilities, ie almost all the AFVs could designate targets.

In the modern age there is much more confusion and overlapping of the roles, with many AFVs that share other abilities with some other classes, but can not designate, while some MBTs can designate, thing that should be a perk of the spotters, not of the heavy armored front liners.

[Lenticulas 9]

I forgot to say, I went with:

Retrofits: Gun breech v2 (+13% RoF)/ Paint V2 (+8%camo)/ Filter system V2 (+Acceleration & engine HP)
Ammo: AP & HESH
Commander: Ioannis set up for camo/spotting/damage
Crew:
Driver: offroad driving/spin to win
Gunner: quick draw/sharpshooter
Loader: Rapid fire/Explosive shells

Also it does have: a very accurate gun, good camo, and decent gun depression.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Lenticulas (see edit history)

[TeyKey1 119]

I just started grinding this thing to get the Harimau. First tought it's just another basic TD but it is actually quite fun to play.

Its armor is nearly on MBT levels if you use it properly, allowing for some fun hulldown tactics and ridiculous situations where you nearly act as a MBT. I'm actually really surprised that it bounces so much. Only thing is that the negative elevation angle is not really the best. Other than that it's quite capable. Now on my way to the second AP shell for some juicy pen. That AI aiming assistant is more a gimmick to me. And distracts me more than it helps.

[Komitadjie 13]

It's probably the best gun TD tier-for-tier in the game.  Which really doesn't say a lot, but it's at least fun to play I think!

[Beeda2004 2]

Type 16

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_16_maneuver_combat_vehicle

https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/modern/japan/Type-16-MCV

https://army-guide.com/eng/product5092.html

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