121B

121B is a Chinese premium (enriched) medium tank. Its a very well-rounded tank which combines aspects of Chinese/Soviet style mediums with a more western style gun. This tank features great mobility, an amazing gun, and a strong turret. It also has a very advantageous game mechanic. 

1. Armour
2. Gun
3. Mobility
4. Special mechanics
5. Provisions & consumable loadout
6. Equipment loadout
7. Gameplay advice
8. Overall
9. Is it worth getting?
10. Most recently sold for:
11. Camo cost:

Armour

(The 121B in the images is using Improved Assembly)

Drag slider right -> to view 245mm AP
Drag slider – left to view 300m HEAT

Armour when flat and facing head-on:
Upper plate 210-230mm
Lower plate 145mm
Turret cheeks 265-300mm
Rest of turret 350-700mm+
Left cupola 310mm+
Right cupola 275mm+

If a 121B is hulldown, its better to just shoot its cheeks than to aim for the hatches. The hatches are both small and quite hard to hit, they are also well armoured (even though they don’t look like it), with the edges being over 370mm due to their angle.

Currently the cupolas have incorrect armour highlighting, making them look penetrable even to HE, but they have high effective thickness so are not penetrable.

Armour vs tier 9:
Tier 9 tanks will struggle more than tier 10 enemies when shooting at the turret using premium ammunition, since they have less penetration. Many medium and light tanks have under 300mm of penetration so the turret will be especially hard to pen when its moving or using gun depression.

Armour vs tier 10: 
The turret is strong against AP from most enemy tanks, most tanks will need premium ammo to be able to penetrate it.

Most tier 10 tanks you face on the medium flank will have between 290-330mm of premium penetration (depending on if they use a gun rammer or not), so most will be able to penetrate the turret cheeks when using premium ammo.

The hull is decently strong, but only when its angled and/or using gun depression. If not, its very easy for all standard ammo to go through it.

Cupolas:

Currently the cupolas on this tank are bugged. They look penetrable, and all the armour websites show 0mm armour.

Don’t be fooled by the highlight. as you can see in the below image, the cupolas are extremely strong for a medium tank.

(Here its shown against the penetration of the Kpz 50 t, but it was also tested thoroughly against many other ammo types and penetration levels.)

The very top part of the right cupola is penetrable to all shells, but its a hard shot to hit due to how small the area is.

In general its probably best to not shoot the 121B’s cupolas, due to how strong they are, and due to how small the weakpoints on these cupola are. You have to hit them dead center, or you’ll bounce due to the rounded edges.

Gun

121B mounts a 105mm L7 gun.

-Alpha damage is 350 on AP, 300 on HEAT, and 400 on HE
-It has a 6.1s reload, giving it 3464 DPM
-Penetration is 245mm on AP, 300mm on HEAT, and 53mm on HEP.
–Estimated aim time is 2.5/2.7s
–Base aim time is 1.5s, but it can get down to 1.22s.
-Dispersion is 0.308/2.77
–Gun handling is 0.14/0.14/0.05, or 0.12/0.12/0.4 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Gun depression is -6 degrees

Overall this gun is amazing, the only “average” stat is the gun handling, though that’s balanced out by having the best aim time in tier 10 (outside of regular WZ-121), best dispersion on turret traverse, and very good 100m dispersion. 
The DPM and penetration are both good, and its gun depression isn’t terrible considering the low profile.

Mobility

-Top speed is 56km/h forwards, and -20km/h in reverse
-Traverse speed is 74.8 deg/s on hard terrain, and 63.3 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 17.9 hp/t, it has a decent 667 horsepower engine for its 37 ton weight.
-Actual acceleration rate is 32.5 hp/t on hard terrain, and 27.5 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are 0.6/0.7/1

121B has great mobility, it has high acceleration and traverse speed with quite a good top speed. Its one of the more maneuverable tier 10 mediums and definitely does not struggle with mobility.

Special mechanics

The 121B features the “adaptive concealment” mechanic.

-This means its an extremely sneaky tank in battle, able to go unspotted roughly 30% quicker than all other tanks in tier 10 (other than the WZ light tanks). The time you are spotted for is only 7 seconds

-You also know who is spotting you, as a red eye appears above the enemies which are spotting your tank with their view range.

-This red eye also lets you know immediately when you are spotted (as long as the enemy is also spotted), you don’t have to wait 3 seconds for the lightbulb to show up.

Is this useful?
Its extremely useful on an active and mobile medium like the 121B, its constantly in situations where such information about spotting is crucial.

-It can save your tank HP, knowing when you are immediately spotted, you can get into cover faster. The red eye not appearing above enemies (after a shot) also lets you know that you are free to shoot them, since you are out of spotting range.
-If wanting to go unspotted, the red eye also lets you know which tanks you need to get away from to stop being seen by the enemy team.
-You can also run away much easier, as your tank becomes hidden faster than other tanks, so relocating is much more convenient.

---

This mechanic is one of the best mechanics a medium can have, as its perfectly suited to a medium’s active gameplay style, and this mechanic gives such useful information about the enemy team.

Provisions & consumable loadout

121B has the Improved Engine Power Boost consumable and Improved Gunpowder provision.

Consumable loadout should be:
Adrenaline, improved engine power boost, and multi-purpose repair kit.

-Improved engine power boost will is often more beneficial than taking 2 repair kits on this tank, as it allows the 121B to very easily take the best positions at the start of a battle, or to easily get out of a difficult situation.
This consumable is exclusive to the 121B among medium tanks, so its something you definitely should be taking advantage of.

Provision loadout should be: 3% food, 10% food, and 10% fuel.
-Improved gunpowder is not needed on the 121B, it has already got great shell velocity on all shells, 1478m/s on AP, and 1173m/s on HEAT and HEP.

It will only help with extremely long range shots, which are not often needed in a battle, and can be mitigated by good aiming by the player, so improved gunpowder does not really give the 121B any real advantage over using 3% food.

Equipment loadout

Gun Rammer/Calibrated Shells:
-The 121B has very good base DPM already, so it is able to use calibrated shells and still have a competitive level of DPM to use against other medium tanks.
-Using calibrated shells would drop the DPM from 3464 to 3221, but increase AP penetration from 245mm to 257mm, HEAT from 300mm to 330mm, and HE from 53mm to 58mm.

-Gun rammer is also works very well on this tank, since it has amazing accuracy and aim time it, can use that to aim at weakpoints instead of just shooting premium ammo; though this requires a good knowledge of the weakest points on enemy tier 10 tanks.
-The DPM is 3464 when using a gun rammer, and the only 350 alpha mediums with more are the M60 Patton and AMX 30B. Other higher DPM tanks generally have less alpha.

Improved Assembly:
The 121B does benefit from using enhanced armour, however its role on the battlefield is not one that requires it to have good armour or to rely on its armour, so enhanced armour isn’t worth using on the tank.

Improved assembly improves the 121B’s 1800 HP up to 1908, which is fairly average in tier 10. It will allow the tank to survive more shots in battle.

Vertical Stabilizer:
The 121B is a fast tank and plays an active role on the battlefield where its constantly moving and repositioning. Using refined gun doesn’t benefit that style of gameplay, instead use vertical stabilizer, it makes the 121B more accurate while its moving and after its moving.

Consumable Delivery System (CDS):
No matter which consumables you take in the 121B, you want to be using them more often, rather than for a longer period of time.

You will often find that the additional 4s of duration that the HEC equipment gives is usually excess and not needed. The CDS generally will be more useful on the 121B since it has a rather fast gameplay style and often get into multiple engagements in a battle where it needs the consumables.

Gameplay advice

121B plays just like a typical medium tank, it has the “Jack-of-all-trades” nature of a standard medium tank.

If you have played medium tanks before and know map positions for tanks with -6 gun depression, you should be able to do well in the 121B

General gameplay:
The 121B plays a frontline role, it should use the good mobility and decent view range to rush to the medium side frontline and scout enemies for its allied TDs, or to take a dominant map position (generally hulldown).

Use the usual medium tank gameplay tactics, scouting, hulldown, using mobility to flank enemies, or sniping enemies in the side/rear from an open flank. 121B is a typical medium tank which just plays as such.

Use the Improved Engine Power Boost:
Use this consumable to quickly get into positions, or get out of them.

This is very useful for getting up to speed immediately, allowing you to be one of the first tanks into dominant positions, such as the middle hill on Canyon or Mines. You can also use this to capture supremacy bases, or scout the enemy team early, then reverse away at -30km/h.

If you notice that you might be in a bad situation, the consumable is extremely helpful for running away from enemies, or just relocating to a better position. How quickly you get out of a rush or push by the enemies could save your tank and help you win the game, so don’t hesitate in using the consumable.

Trade in alpha damage:
Don’t try to out-DPM enemies which have lower alpha damage than you, since they all have quicker reloads. Try to use your good alpha damage to trade shot-for-shot against medium tanks.

Against heavy tanks you should utilize your DPM, since heavies have much slower reloads than mediums, but generally have much higher alpha. You can usually easily put in 2 shots before an enemy heavy tank reloads.

Use gun depression:
Gun depression both helps to improve the turret armour and to make the profile of your tank smaller and harder to hit.

The 121B’s upper plate is 120mm thick, allowing it to be very effective when its over-angled (meaning your side armour would be weak).

Below are some examples of this.

---

Overall the gameplay of the 121B is just that of a standard and typical medium tank. Its got the all-roundedness to be able to perform well in essentially all scenarios.

In gameplay you should focus on being hulldown to use armour, using your special consumables, and making use of the special mechanic that the tank has.

Overall

Armour – 6/10
Gun – 9/10
Mobility – 10/10
Speed – 7/10

121B is overall a great tank.

Armour is decent, with a very strong turret and decent upper plate. HE/HESH protection is decent. Very reliable in hulldown. Hull weak when not using gun depression.
Gun has amazing aim time, great DPM & accuracy, good penetration & alpha, and average gun handling. Gun depression is -6.
Mobility is amazing, with a strong engine, high acceleration rate, and very high traverse speed. Reverse speed is average.
Speed is good at 56km/h.

The 121B is just an all-round vehicle. It has some of everything, though its stats may not be the absolute best in any area, they are very good in nearly all areas.
It also gets 2 unique consumables no other tier 10 medium has access to.

Is it worth getting?

While the 121B has some really solid stats, it is just a slightly different version of the T-62A, but the T-62A is free and in the tech tree. 121B is not worth it to players who are looking for something unique in tier 10, while this tank is fun to play, its a very standard medium tank that doesn’t have any extremely unique aspect that makes it stand out (other than its consumables).

The 121B is worth getting if you love mediums, since its the very definition of a textbook medium tank, having every stat you could want on a MT, and not really lacking anything that a typical medium should have.

The 121B is worth 18,000 gold. Its a great tank, but its not the most unique in terms of its gameplay. Its a holistic medium tank that’s good at nearly everything with very few drawbacks, but nothing too amazing that makes it stand out.

Most recently sold for:

12,500 gold (without legendary camo) – Black Friday event November 2021
15,000 gold (full bundle) – January 2022
15,000 gold (full bundle) – October 2022
15,000 gold  or £19.99 (full bundle) – November 2023

Camo cost:

Historical note:
The 121 project is still classified and existing prototypes were destroyed in nuclear tests (according to Wargaming).
The 121 project and the WZ-121 (Type69) were completely different tanks, assuming that the 121B was a 121 project and not a WZ-121 (Type 69) modification, there is no proof of its existence other than from Wargaming themselves.
If you take the 121B as a project of the 121 (which is what WG is trying to insinuate), its a tank with no real life historical record, made completely by Wargaming.

---

In actuality, the “121B” is a completely real tank, the Type 69-III/Type 79, also known as the WZ-121D, just with a very minor difference: the exhaust placement.

The more likely story of the 121B is that Wargaming took the real life WZ-121 and WZ-121D, moved the exhausts from the right side to the left side, changed its armour for balance, and then gave it a fake name 121B. 

121B is identical to the WZ-121D (Type 79), both tanks with relatively similar armour, the same Chinese made 105mm L7 gun, the same 12150L-7 V-12 engine, the same IR light and laser rangefinder upgrades, and nearly identical weight, hull, and turret with the only difference being the type and location of the exhausts.
In all essences other than its name and flipped exhausts, the 121B is a Type 69-III/Type-79.

Back to homepage