How the Rare T-34 with L-11 Was Recreated in the Game

Recreating an authentic 3D model of the early T-34 was no easy feat – less than 500 tanks of this variant were ever produced, and none of the vehicles equipped with the L-11 gun survived their wartime service in one piece and in relatively good condition.

This historical vehicle, equipped with a 76 mm L-11 gun from around 1938–1939, was developed at Kharkov Factory No. 183. The tank incorporated an optimal combination of the main combat characteristics: firepower, protection, and dynamics. It had a great influence on the development of Soviet—and global—tank building.

To reconstruct an authentic T-34, Wargaming historical specialists conducted comprehensive archival research. The blueprints available for this tank had been poorly preserved after so many years, and according to the catalog published by GABTU KA in 1942, there were at least 3,850 parts for the T-34, with another 45 parts listed in an "on demand" column. The final 3D model of the T-34 mod. 1941 consists of 3,663 components, some of which had to be combined or expanded.

Conflicting technical data from different documents was resolved during the tank modelling phase through numerous museum visits and advice from researchers at the T-34 Tank Museum and Memorial Complex. For example, the team made a trip to Tolyatti to measure the T-34’s turret, and another to Vsevolozhsk in the Leningrad Region to study a specimen with a box of spare parts/tools and Stalingrad hooks for additional fuel tanks.

Reproducing the vehicle’s fenders and attachable equipment also proved tricky. Thin and unreliable, the fenders often bent and came off in the field, but the spare parts that were still available in repair shops had already been repaired, so to make them as realistic as possible, it was necessary to design them according to drawings from the catalog of spare parts, of which there were very few. Special attention was also paid to the vehicle’s entrenching tools, as there were wartime cases where whole tank units were not allowed into battle because not all vehicles had at least one two-handed saw equipped!

Roll out!