Type 4 Heavy
Type 4 Heavy
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[Client Values; Actual values in
3,700,000 Cost |
2050410 HP Hit Points |
158.65/16082.48/170 t Weight Limit |
- Commander
- Gunner
- Driver
- Radio Operator
- Loader
- Loader
11001200 hp Engine Power |
25/10 km/h Speed Limit |
1517 deg/s Traverse |
6.9314.55 hp/t Power/Wt Ratio |
NoNo Pivot |
// mm Hull Armor |
250/200/200250/200/200 mm Turret Armor |
AP//HE
AP//HE Shells |
0/4800/670
0/0/905 Shell Cost |
450/450/610600/600/770 HP Damage |
230/258/64257/290/70 mm Penetration |
r/m ▲
3.68 r/m Standard Gun ▲
3.03 Rate of Fire Standard Gun |
▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲
1656 Standard Gun ▲
Standard Gun
▼
Standard Gun
▲
1818 Damage Per Minute Standard Gun |
m ▲
0.38 m With 50% Crew: 0.471 m ▲
0.4 Accuracy With 50% Crew: 0.496 m |
s 2.3 s 2.9 Aim time |
1717 deg/s Turret Traverse |
360° Gun Arc |
-10°/+20°-10°/+20° Elevation Arc |
8060 rounds Ammo Capacity |
2020 % Chance of Fire |
m 390 m 390 View Range |
m 425 m 750 Signal Range |
IX
3700000
The Type 4 Heavy is a Japanese tier 9 heavy tank.
The Type 4, also known as the Type 2604, is a variant of the superheavy O-I tank that was developed during World War II. The vehicle was designed for breakthrough attacks on enemy fortifications as well as for coastal defense.
The Type 4 Heavy or often simply referred as Type 4, has bit different design compared to earlier Japanese heavies. It has much thicker overall armor, and it has completely different guns; it no longer carries similar 10cm guns or 15cm Type 96 howitzer like them, but has whole new bunch of huge naval guns, with it's 14 cm gun notably having the highest alpha damage in it's tier. Compared to O-Ho, it no longer carries miniturrets that limits frontal depression. It also has very thick tracks that are effective at absorbing damage.
While Type 4 has much thicker side armor than predecessors, its cheeks on hull are now noticeably weaker than frontal hull armor. Combined with the fact that ammorack is located behind them, Type 4 isn't still all that good at sidescraping. Furthermore, its heaviest tank in the line (160 tons) but carries the same 1200 HP engine, which makes it even slower than other tanks on the line. It's large guns also suffer from poor rate of fire, accuracy and gun handling.
Type 4, while slow and clumsy, can be relatively respectable opponent due to its huge alpha damage and thick armor. It shares few traits among with its brother, Type 5 Heavy, which prepares the player for it. However, it has few extra weaknesses compared to its brother, such as weaker cheek armor, noticeably weaker turret armor and much worse soft stats on its guns.
The Type 4 Heavy leads to the Type 5 Heavy.
Modules / Available Equipment and Consumables
Modules
Tier | Engine | Engine Power (hp) |
Chance of Fire on Impact (%) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ()
| |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VII | 2x Kawasaki Type 98 V-12 (550) | 1100 | 20 | 1020 | 51000 | |
VIII | 2x Kawasaki Type 98 V-12 (600) | 1200 | 20 | 1020 | 77500 |
Tier | Suspension | Load Limit (т) |
Traverse Speed (gr/sec) |
Rmin | Weight (kg) |
Price ()
| |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VIII | Type 4 Heavy | 160 | 15 | B/2 | 40000 | 34000 | |
IX | Type 4 Heavy Kai | 170 | 17 | B/2 | 40000 | 68000 |
Tier | Radio | Signal Range (m) |
Weight (kg) |
Price ()
| |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
VI | Type 96 Mk. 4 Bo | 425 | 50 | 14000 | |
VIII | Type 3 Otsu | 550 | 240 | 22000 | |
X | Type 3 Ko | 750 | 560 | 54000 |
Compatible Equipment
Compatible Consumables
Player Opinion
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Monstrous thickness on its armor for tier 9 with lack of weakspots that can bounce even tier 10 standard rounds
- Highest alpha damage out of all heavy tanks at tier 9 at whopping 600, can outtrade even some TDs and most tier 10 heavies!
- 14 cm gun has rather decent penetration and good overmatching capabilities
- Third highest HP in its tier (2050)
- Excellent gun depression with 14cm gun(-10)
- Thick tracks that counts as thick armor can absorb shots effectively.
- 3rd heaviest tank in the game; can easily push other tanks, wrecks and takes very little damage from ramming
Cons:
- Very poor mobility, struggles to reach even its already low top speed
- One of the biggest tanks in the game with extremely poor camo values; priority target to SPG
- Poor rate of fire, aim time, accuracy and DPM on both guns
- Hull cheeks became weakspot when not angled correctly; ammorack is located behind them and is easily damaged
- Flat armor makes it very vulnerable to tier 10 and many tier 9 gold rounds and TDs in same and higher tiers.
- Long and dreadful stock grind; over 120 000 XP needed for the 14 cm gun, and in order to mount it with any equipment, additional XP is needed.
Performance
The Type 4 boasts incredible armour and alpha damage that is the highest out of all tier 9 heavies for it's tier. It has several gun options, the 12.7 cm, 15.2 cm and 14 cm. However, it's generally recommended to use the 14 cm; the 12.7 and 15.2 cm are both relatively poor, and should be avoided immediately once the 14 cm is unlocked.
Staying near cover is a must for the Type 4 Heavy considering its one of the biggest tanks in the game, making sure to not get hit by TDs, which often have enough penetration to go through the armor of Type, and artillery. Avoid going open areas as much as possible because this tank's camo value is laughably poor. Gun has poor dispersion, very long reload, aim time and relatively high shell dropoff over long distances, meaning that you need to fight enemies as close as possible. Mobility is very poor as well, so you need to predict few minutes to ahead and have good map awareness to minimize chances to get left in behind. Avoid sidescraping, since hull cheeks are weak and has ammoracks located behind them. Instead, come out from corners by angling your hullfront and hiding hull cheek behind the corner. This is safest option since your lowerplate is as tough as front. Never go alone, because Type is big, slow and has very long reload. Excellent alpha damage makes this tank relatively good at peek-a-booing. Having allies is again must to make you less vulnerable during your reload. Hulldown option is also usable with -10 degrees of gun depression. Lastly, you can reverse sidescrape unlike your big brother, Type 5 Heavy, since Type 4 entire rear can be covered behind buildings, exposing only your side and turret.
Overall, the Type 4 Heavy can be slow and cumbersome, its gun can be unwieldy, and its armor can be awkward to use at many situations. However, its amazing alpha damage, good HP pool and lack of frontal weakspots allows it to put work when positioned correctly, being able to trade shots better than any other heavy tank in its tier.
Early Research
Engine is carried over from earlier Japanese heavies, mount it immediately. After that, focus on getting the 14 cm gun ASAP. Unfortunately, the 15.2 cm gun must be researched before the 14 cm. Since the nerfs, the 15.2 cm is very underwhelming, and unless you are willing to primarily fire its extremely expensive HESH shells (that are still rather ineffective against heavily armored targets), sticking with the 12.7 cm is a better choice, despite its very underwhelming rate of fire. If you decide not to use the 15.2 cm gun at all, just skip the tracks and research the 15.2 cm gun, and then get the 14 cm gun. If for some reason the 15.2 cm gun is used, research the tracks and mount the gun. With the lightest radio and without any equipment mounted, the 14 cm gun can be used with the stock tracks. Remove all the equipment for the 14 cm, then research the tracks and mount them back on. Researching the 14 cm on the Type 4 Heavy also grants elite status for the Type 5 Heavy, making it recommended to do so on Type 4 Heavý. After that, go for the radios and then for the Type 5 Heavy.
Suggested Equipment
Gallery
Historical Info
The only source that directly references the Type 4/5 super-heavy tanks is some vague report from Soviet archives, referencing to cooling systems of Japanese vehicles. According to it, the Type 4 (referred as "Type 2604" in the report) had two 12 cylinder BMW marine engines with a rather complicated cooling system of three radiators per engine and one oil radiator, cooled by two central massive ventilators, powered by the drive train. The air was to be sucked in via massive grilles, positioned in the center over the engine compartment. The main advantage of the design was high protection of the engine from overheating. The document also mentions the Type 5 super-heavy tank (referred as "Type 2605"), a successor to the Type 4 with engine compartment lowered by 35% to save weight, possibly with some other improvements. The report also has a vague sketch of the Type 5, showcasing the suspension, which was similar to that of some German vehicles like the Panther and Tiger tanks, as well as the general shape of the tank, engine, it's cooling system and transmission, which was placed in the front, unlike the O-I, which had it's transmission in the back of the vehicle. In addition, the Type 4/5 seemingly lacked the multiple turrets the O-I had, going back to a single-turret design and in general resembling a huge, upscaled Chi-To or Chi-Ri. The Type 4/5 would've carried a very powerful armament, most presumably a 14 cm naval gun (14 cm/50 3rd year type), and in general was meant to be very large, around the same size or even bigger than the O-I and German Maus. Other details like weight, armor and mobility are completely unknown.
A massive turret with a 14 cm naval gun that bears a strong resemblance to the sketch of the Type 4 was used in a fortification(s) in Manchuria by Japan at end of the war. This turret is often speculated to be the turret of the Type 4. One of these fortifications was photographed by Red Army after the war, which were showcased in the same report with the information of the super-heavy tanks. There's a common belief of this image being photoshopped with World of Tanks in mind, but this picture actually could be found from internet before the game even existed. However, despite the strong resemblance to the turrets of the Japanese tanks, whether the turret was an actual tank turret or just a mere fortification turret is unknown.
According to now outdated sources that refers to the "2nd O-I variant", the "120 ton O-I" (or as known in World of Tanks, the O-Ho) was built in 1944 and shipped to Manchuria. In addition, the tank was stated to have "200 mm armor". While this information is now outdated and some of it come from the actual O-I, which for example had four turrets just like the "120 ton O-I" was stated to have, some of the information doesn't fit the description of the O-I at all. The O-I project was cancelled in 1943, never known to be shipped outside from Japan and even if it had all planned armor plates mounted, O-I's maximum armor was noticeably thinner than the stated 200 mm. Because of this, it is possible that this information actually refers to the possible Type 4 super-heavy tank, as the fortification turret, which is often speculated to belong to the Type 4, was found from Manchuria in late 1945, which would indeed imply that the turret belonged to the tank. However, it also could just be results of wrong information.
It is important to note that Japanese sources have absolutely no information of another super-heavy tank project aside from the O-I being developed. It is also important to keep in mind that a lot of Japanese tank-related documents were lost after the war, however. The available information regarding the Type 4/5 super-heavy tanks are far too limited, and whether the tanks actually existed or not remains debatable.
Historical Gallery
Historical Accuracy Errata
Type 4 super-heavy tank is a speculated 2nd Japanese super-heavy tank design that succeeded the O-I. It's existence is debatable, as the only available information of the tank comes from some vague Soviet report of Japanese tanks. Because of this, it is possible that the Type 4 Heavy never even existed.
However, due to the very limited information, some parameters of the Type 4 Heavy are guaranteed to be inaccurate in-game:
- The hull shape differs from the vague sketch drawn by Soviets. For instance, the drawing doesn't show hull cheeks, the upper front plate is completely unsloped, doesn't extend beyond the turret front, and the lower front section is also different, being more similar to that of the O-I. The general design of the in-game Type 4 Heavy is closer to that of the Chi-Ri.
- Due to very limited information, many specifics like top speed, weight and armor are all speculation. Armor in especial is most likely thicker in-game than what it actually was, done mostly due to balance purposes.
- In-game description is somewhat inaccurate - the Type 4 Heavy's design is far too different for it to be a modification of the O-I. While somewhat similar, the suspension design, hull shape, turret and gun are all significantly different, and the tank has only one turret as opposed to the O-I's 4.
- The shape of the turret is slightly erroneous. As seen on both the drawing and the picture of the bunker turret, the front section of the in-game Type 4 turret is too short, while the rear section is too long. In addition, the in-game Type 4 turret lacks the elevated section at top of the turret, which is most presumably an armor plate.
- The Type 4 had neither the 12.7 cm or 15.2 cm guns it has in the game. While the exact gun model is unknown (most commonly assumed to be a 14 cm naval gun), neither the 12.7 cm or 15.2 cm guns have the matching shape to the sketch and picture of the bunker turret.
- The 15.2 cm/45 41st year type gun had AP shells and no HESH shells, unlike the model in the game.
Sources and External Links
Light Tanks | IRenault Otsu • IIType 95 Ha-Go • IIType 97 Te-Ke • IIIType 97 Chi-Ha • IIIType 98 Ke-Ni • IVType 5 Ke-Ho |
Medium Tanks | IIChi-Ni • IIType 89 I-Go/Chi-Ro • IVType 1 Chi-He • VType 3 Chi-Nu • VType 3 Chi-Nu Kai • VIType 4 Chi-To • VIIType 5 Chi-Ri • VIIISTA-1 • VIIISTA-2 • IXType 61 • XSTB-1 |
Heavy Tanks | IIIType 91 Heavy • IVType 95 Heavy • VO-I Experimental • VIHeavy Tank No. VI • VIO-I • VIIO-Ni • VIIIO-Ho • IXType 4 Heavy • XType 5 Heavy |
Tank Destroyers | |
Self-Propelled Artillery |