Type 59 Guide

Hello and welcome to the Type 59, (AKA T-59 or WZ-120) currently the only Chinese tank on the European server. Unfortunately, its currently not being sold in the store, though WG have said it may be available in the future as part of special events.

Tank specs:


Tech tree:


Overview:
The Type 59 is a Chinese premium tier 8 medium tank based on the T-54 A model. It has the second best frontal armor featured on a tier 8 medium and also makes a lot of credits. Unfortunately, its gun is not much better than the 100mm D10T and has relatively poor penetration, decent accuracy and good rate of fire. The high top speed and quite decent turn rate is offset by the not so satisfactory acceleration.
The tank is very small and compact, which makes it a tough target at a distance for tanks that cant reliably penetrate it. Unfortunately, this small size means that when they do penetrate (especially from the side or rear) you will start losing modules very quickly and might even catch on fire.
Price: Promotional/special event ( was 7 500 gold)
Camouflage: Good
Gun Depression: -7°/+20°

Pros:
- Very good frontal and turret armor for a tier 8 medium.
- High top speed and decent turning rate.
- Makes a lot of credits.
- Small vehicle with a nice shape.

Cons:
- Almost the worst overall tier 8 medium gun.
- Unimpressive acceleration.
- Weak sides and rear.
- Prone to ammo rack hits, engine damage and being set on fire.

Designation:
1.Warrior 2. Steel Wall 3. Brawler 4. Sniper 5. Low Tier Hunter

Crew:
1. Commander (also a radioman)

2. Gunner

3. Driver

4. Loader

Crew skills (only an example, up to 4th skill):

Spoiler:

Modules:

Hull:
Armor scheme currently in use:

Spoiler:

100/80/45
The hull is very well sloped at the front and has no obvious weak spots and has an effective armor of around 175mm. It can be the hell of every tier 6 and some tier 7 tanks. The lower hull is just too low to the ground to be an effective place to shoot at, since it is very well sloped too. If your gun can penetrate the T 59 there, then you are better off shooting the frontal armor directly. It can be used as a weak spot when the T 59 is trying to climb a hill or an obstacle. The sides and the rear are cardboard. Make sure not to slope yourself too much when using the Type, since experienced players with more than 160mm penetration can score damage through the side armor if you angle it too much. Also, your rather explosive ammo rack and easy to damage engine may be affected, so it would be wise to always watch out for people trying to flank you.

Suspension:
Type 59 A / Max.capacity 39.80 / Turn speed 45 deg per sec.
Nothing to research here and thankfully this suspension is more than enough to carry all modules + equipment you might want to take. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a lot of health points, so its easy to track. Makes the Type 59 maneuver well though.

Engine:
NORINCO 12150L7 – 520 h.p. – 12% chance of fire
Despite being a tier 9, the engine is not powerful enough to allow you to take full advantage of your top speed. Still, once you get going, the vehicle will keep its speed relatively well. This allows you to still be relatively effective when circling bigger tanks. It’s also quite easy to set on fire or destroy if the enemy shoots your rear because its health points are relatively low. It can take several minutes of removed speed governor though, but don't overdo it.

Radio:
9RM – range 525 meters
The radio is good enough. Remember that a dead commander also means a dead radioman.

Turrets:
Type 59 B
Armor: 200/104/65
Rotation: 45 degrees/second
View range: 376m
The frontal armor is quite formidable at tier 8 and the mantlet can bounce tier 10 guns. Frontally, even guns with 203 penetration will struggle with this thing. Sides and rear though… make sure to guard them, as every tank with over 140 penetration can deal damahe through them despite the slope and may even ammo rack you. Beware of tanks bigger and taller than you, because if they are experienced, they can penetrate your turret top at close range

Guns:
100mm Type 59
RoF: 7,50
Penetration: 181/241/50
Average damage: 230/230/330
Accuracy (100m): 0,39
Aim time: 2,9 sec
Gun is a slightly better version of the 100mm D10T. Its accuracy is the worst of the tier 8 meds, but still decent enough to score reliably at 350 meters. Accuracy on the move is only mediocre at best though. 175 penetration is the same as the T-44 (though the soviet is more accurate and faster firing) which is not all that good at tier 8. You can penetrate all other T8 meds, including other T 59s (though not always) and can even damage the Bat Chat and Patton (except its turret). Tier 8 heavies on the hand are more challenging. King Tigers and IS-3s should be flanked when possible, because their fronts are just very strong. You can go through them, but only at close range, firing directly at the weak spots and without any extra slope involved. T32 is easier, but you should still be cautious with it, since very little sloping can still cause you to bounce. Tier 9 and 10 vehicles should be avoided. With the exception of the 704, or a perfect shot with a lucky penetration roll, these vehicles are almost invincible from the front. Sides and rear can be hard too at times, so take car.
The HE round is not very powerful, but always pack a few just in case. You can carry only 34 rounds, so be careful how you use them.

Detailed ammo properties and my load out:


Comparison with its peers:

Type 59 vs T26E4 Super Pershing
The Super Pershing has superior frontal armour and can be a lot tougher than even the Type 59. It has better gun depression and accuracy too, but loses in penetration, is much slower and acts more like a heavy than a true medium tank.

Historical Type 59


The Type 59 (Chinese industrial designation: WZ120) main battle tank is a People's Republic of China produced version of the Soviet Union T-54/T-55 operators and variants tank, an improvement over the ubiquitous T-54/55. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963. Approximately 9,500 of the tanks were produced by the time production ended in 1980 with approximately 5,500 serving with the Chinese armed forces.
Essentially the Type 59 is identical to the early production Soviet T-54As, however there are some key differences. The Type 59 was not originally fitted with the infrared searchlight or main gun stabilization of the T-54.
The Type 59 has a conventional post-war layout with the fighting compartment at the front, an engine compartment at the rear, and a cast dome-shaped gun turret in the centre of the hull. The hull is welded steel varying in thickness between 99 mm on the front lower glacis to 20 mm on the hull floor. The turret varies from 39–100 mm thick.
The Type is in its full historical set in the game.

WoT Armory report: http://wotarmory.com/category/our-protection-reports/premium-tanks/type-59/
WoT Guru report: http://wotguru.blogspot.com/2012/07/weak-spots-guide-t-59.html


Originally written by Charcharo