Tech Tree Showcase: The UDES 15/16 Grind

The UDES 15/16, tier X Swedish MT, was On Track/Top of the Tree from March 5th to April 5th, 2021. The Swede mediums are generally pretty good, though the tier VII and IX can be a little tough to play sometimes.

STRV m/42

First up is the Tier 5. I found it to be a pretty decent little Tier 5. Mobility is fine, camo and view range are Tier 5 medium. 150 alpha is nice, and the gun fires reasonably fast. Standard pen isn't that great, but still works against Tier 4-6 ok.

Playing thru it is pretty straight-forward. Upgrade all the things, but don't bother with the radio. It doesn't given you much more range and it's just a speed-bump on the way to the STRV 74.

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The STRV 74 is the Tier 6 and I found that it played a bit better than its stats would suggest. The gun, in particular, seems weak (still just 150 alpha, and standard pen is mediocre), but overall I found it reasonably comfortable to play. Aim time is fast, accuracy isn't bad.

Excellent gun depression (-15) which makes it nice on ridges and hills. Note that the turret is made out of potato chips though, so don't think you're going to sit hull-down and brawl.

Mobility is about the same as the tier 5 which is to say it's ok. I haven't checked but I think it must have ok ground resistance because the stats suggest it should be more sluggish than it feels.

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Leo

I know there are people who really like it, but I came very close to rage-selling the Leo. The first couple of guns are basically the Tier 6 guns and the alpha is very poor. 

The mobility on the Leo is a bit better than the earlier tanks, but it's still a bit of a fatty - and no workable armor - so the pew pew guns mean you have to hit and pen a LOT of shots to have an impact - and don't expect to brawl with it. Nearly everything will just shoot you in the face for twice the damage you do.

The big gun has 300 alpha, but still kind of modest pen. You lose some accuracy and reload time, but for my playstyle the big gun still felt more comfortable.

The Leo leads to both the UDES 14 5 and the Emil I (HT) though, so you'll spend a fair amount of time in it. Better settle in.

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UDES 14 5

The tier 8 starts the interesting hydro-pneumatic suspension line in the Swede mediums. When you're stopped, or moving slowly, you'll get -12 degrees of gun depression, which can be very nice.

Sort of like the Leo the medium gun has the DPM and accuracy advantage but the top gun has the boom with 360 alpha. Unlike the Leo the 240 alpha of the medium gun is still workable.

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UDES 16

The tier 9 took a bit of getting used to for me, but once I finally settled in with it I found that it played pretty well. The -12 gun depression is nice, just takes a bit of practice to get right.


The gun is right at the very top of the tank so if you can position just right you can use the gun depression and show the enemy just a sliver of the top of your tank to hit.

Mobility is decent, concealment is ok - and because it's such a low wedge you can sneak around a bit more in low bushes or little valleys/dips than some of the taller tanks like the M46 can.

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UDES 15/16

The big daddy at tier X is the UDES 15/16. It's got a big stick with 440 alpha, 254 standard pen, and fairly fast fire. .32 gun dispersion means the accuracy works pretty well too.

Mobility is fine, camo and view range are ok and it has a similar low profile to the UDES 16, so similar benefits for low bushes, walls, hills, and rocks. Of course that can also impede you slightly when it comes to spotting.

What does Skill4LTU think of the 15/16?

Spoiler alert: He likes it.



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Equipment

I run the typical medium tank equipment in the Swede MTs: Rammer, vents, optics.

That said there is an argument for replacing vents with improved aiming or v-stabs.

I have also seen one person who ran Turbo instead of vents.

Crew

First thing to know is that up to the Leo you have a 4-man crew and with the UDES 14 Alt 5 you lose the loader. The commander AND the gunner are loaders on the top 3 tiers so consider adding Safe Stowage to the Gunner.

As usual I tend to train skills first, then convert to perks for gold. I'll train the commander on Situational Awareness at first, and when that gets to 100% reset it to Sixth Sense, then start situational awareness over. When I have the second skill on the Commander to 100%, I'll reset the Commander to 6th Sense and BIA, and reset the rest of the crew to BIA and their next skill. 

Naturally that costs gold and you might not be willing to spend that. An alternative is to retrain for silver, which may be cheaper and means you're still going to have a short grind - or need to use crew books - to make up the difference.

Crew skills are pretty typical for a MT:

Commander - Sixth Sense, BIA, Situational Awareness, Camo, Recon...
Gunner - BIA, Snap shot, Camo, Repairs
Driver - BIA, Smooth ride, Off-road driving, Camo, Repairs

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