WZ-122TM

WZ-122TM is a Chinese tier 8 heavium. It has very strong frontal hull and turret armour for a medium classed tank, good aim time, high alpha, and good gun depression. The mobility is decent, but not great.

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Comparing this tank

The 122TM is a very unique tank which blurs the line between medium and heavy so much, that it has to be compared with both classes.

Its armour is more like a lighter-armoured heavy tank, such as T26E5, IS-5, or IS-2Sh. Its even better than some tanks like M-III Yoh, Emil 1951, or IS-3/Defender.

Its gun is most similar to tanks like the 53TP Markowskiego or Tornvagn.

Its mobility is more like a fast heavy tank, most similar to the AMX 50 100, Emil 1951, or IS-3 Defender.

The only real “medium” parts of this tank are its HP, view range, and the side of the map you play on.

In the review it will generally be compared more to heavy tanks, as it shows this tank’s capabilities in a more accurate portrayal, since its really closer to a heavy than a medium.

Armour

(The WZ-122TM in the images is using Enhanced Armour)

Drag slider right -> to view 205mm AP
Drag slider left <- to view 258mm APCR

When on flat ground & facing head-on:
Upper plate 215-230mm
Lower plate 120mm
Turret 240-390mm (weakpoints above gun 200mm)
Cupolas 160mm

When angled like in image above, the upper plate increases to 232-260mm.

vs 265mm APCR
When using -7.4 gun depression:

Upper plate 280-300mm

Turret 270-600mm+ (weakpoints above gun 240mm)

Cupolas 170mm

Note that this image is taken from close up, and hitting weakpoints at a distance becomes much harder

Armour vs tier 7 enemies:
Most tier 7 tanks can’t penetrate the upper plate even with premium ammo. Only very the highest penetration MT and higher penetration HT can go through the upper plate on flat ground, and that’s when its not angled. If the tank is angled, even most of these tanks won’t be able to penetrate.

When using gun depression, the only chances that tier 7 tanks have against this tank are to try shoot the hatches, or shoot premium ammo into the weaknesses around the gun mantlet.

Against standard ammo in tier 7, only the hatches and the lower plate are weak.

Armour vs tier 8 enemies:
In tier 8 there are quite a few tanks that will really struggle to penetrate this tank, even on flat ground and un-angled. These tanks are: any tank that has APCR as standard ammo, and all mediums with under 210mm AP penetration.

All tier 8 tanks with about 215mm+ can go through the upper quite reliably plate if its not angled.
Angling the tank will make it much harder for most enemies to penetrate, and some of the lower penetration medium/light tanks won’t even be able to penetrate with premium ammo.

While hulldown, enemies will have to aim for the weakpoints around the gun, or the hatches. Alternatively they could just use premium rounds to penetrate the turret cheeks.

When using gun depression, the only real chance enemies have to go through are to shot the hatches, or those weakpoints around the gun. Even most premium ammo won’t be able to penetrate other areas.

Armour vs tier 9 enemies:
Only low penetration LT and MT will struggle against the upper plate on flat ground, all other tanks can easily cut through the hull armour if the tank is not hulldown. Angling will always help to increase your chances of a bounce.
When using gun depression, its basically the same situation as with tier 8, where the turret is mostly “red”, but there are weakpoints that can be penetrated.

Side armour:
The 122TM has 70mm base side armour, with 20mm spaced plates covering the entirety of the hull sides. The tracks are also worth 20mm, making the overall sides mostly 90mm, but up to 110mm of armour on its sides.

This side armour is very good, as it gives great HE and HESH protection, since the front can’t be penetrated (even by Conway’s HESH), and the sides are fully covered by spaced protection.

Gun

WZ-122TM mounts a 120mm smoothbore gun.

-Alpha damage 400 on APFSDS (APCR), 340 on HEAT, and 500 on HE.
-It has an 11.8s reload, giving it 2036 DPM
-Penetration on AFSDS is 203mm, HEAT has 270mm, and HE has 52mm.
–Estimated aim time is 3.8/3.6s
–Base aim time is 2s, but it can get down to 1.71s.
-Dispersion is 0.353/0.318
–Gun handling is 0.2/0.2/0.14, or 0.17/0.17/0.12 with Vertical Stabilizer.
-Its gun depression is -7.4 degrees
-122TM also has very nice standard shell velocity at 1080m/s, the highest for a medium tank in tier 8. Its other shells are less impressive, but still not bad.

For a 400 alpha gun in tier 8, the 122TM has excellent statistics in every area of its gun. Unlike the 400 alpha heavy tanks in tier 8, this gun feels reliable. It aims relatively quickly, has decent accuracy, great penetration, and good gun handling for its alpha. Its DPM is also much better than similar 400 alpha mediums like the STG or T-34-3.

Its gun depression is not to be underrated, as -7.4 degrees makes this tank very comfortable to use hulldown. Its something that no other 122mm medium tank has in the entire game, and even beats most 122mm heavy tanks in this area. With such a rounded turret and high alpha this gun depression really helps the tank in its gameplay.

Mobility

-Top speed is 45km/h, and reverse speed -15km/h
-Traverse speed is 38.1 deg/s on hard terrain, and 33 deg/s on medium terrain.
-In game acceleration rate is shown as 17.3hp/t, it has a decent 649.7hp engine for its 37.5 ton weight
-Actual acceleration is 13.3hp/t on hard terrain, and 11.6 hp/t on medium terrain.
–Terrain resistances are 1.3/1.5/2.5

When compared to medium tanks, this is very sluggish mobility. Top speed is limited, reverse speed is below average, traverse speed is slow, and acceleration is poor.
However, note that this tank has much more armour than any tier 8 medium tank, so this is rather an unfair assessment.

When compared to similarly armoured heavy tanks in tier 8 (such as the T26E5, IS-5, or IS-2Sh), the mobility is actually pretty good. The 122TM has a great top speed and average reverse speed, good traverse speeds on both terrain types, and good acceleration.

The overall mobility of this tank is comparable to a fast heavy tank, which is a pretty good mobility profile when you also consider the armour of this tank.

Equipment, provisions, & consumables

122TM has does not have any special consumables or provisions.

Gun Rammer:
As the 122TM does often play on the medium tank flank, using a gun rammer is often more beneficial than using calibrated shells. With the amazing 270mm HEAT penetration that this tank has, it doesn’t struggle penetrating most tanks it faces, as therefore calibrated shells is just not needed.

Its better to improve the reload and DPM of this tank by using a gun rammer, which makes its reload 11.8s with 2036 DPM.

Enhanced armour:
Since the 122TM is an amour-focussed tank, its better to use enhanced armour.

Using enhanced armour increases:
Upper plate armour by 10mm in effective thickness.
Turret front armour by 10-15mm of effective thickness.
Total side armour also increases from 90m up to around 94mm.

The 122TM doesn’t need to improve its HP, as it already has a very good 1450 base HP, and its playstyle has a high emphasis on using armour.

Engine Accelerator:
Even though the traverse speeds may seem poor on this tank, they are actually quite decent. Its much better to use the engine accelerator to improve the general mobility of the tank, as its poor terrain resistances impede its acceleration and make it harder to reach its 45km top speed.
Engine accelerator will give the tank an additional 28.2 horsepower, increasing its engine power to 649.7hp, and its traverse speed will also increase by 1.65 deg/s to 38.05 deg/s.

Vertical Stabilizer:
The 122TM already has quite good dispersion at 100m, at 0.353, which is better than most other 400 alpha medium and heavy tanks. This doesn’t need to be improved, as the tank does not often need to shoot from long distances.

122TM is a frontline and brawling tank, and will constantly need to be moving to angle or to progress the battle, so its better to have good dispersion-on-move, which is what vertical stabilizer would improve.

Gameplay advice

The 122TM is a heavium tank that should play on the MT side of the map.

On the MT side of the map is where its strengths really show.
Even though it has many heavy-like stats, there’s no point playing with and against heavy tanks. Heavy tanks all have higher HP than the 122TM, and many have better armour. The higher penetration of HT will also mitigate your armour advantage, and your tank’s mobility isn’t a huge advantage when other tanks can take more hits than you, and you have to play in a less active role.

General gameplay:
Start the battle by going to the medium side of the map, and find a good hulldown or gun depression position.

Avoid taking very aggressive early positions unless you have allied support. The 122TM isn’t really quick enough to do this on its own, and its fairly low DPM mean that you may get overwhelmed by an enemy that’s better equipped to 1v1 you for that position.

Utilize your armour advantage, 122TM’s strong armour will bounce the most shots against MT (which have significantly less penetration than HT), and the HP of the tank will hold up well against tanks with similar HP levels. Sometimes you can be the armour for your lighter armoured medium and light tanks, who can support you with their higher DPM and rate-of fire.

Try to use peek-a-boom tactics, and trade using the 400 alpha that you have. Avoid an all-out DPM fight (unless the enemy is a T-34-3, T-34-2, or STG, which you can easily beat into the ground with your armour, HP, and DPM advantage).

Stay with allies:
With the 122TM, you can have great teamwork with allies, but you have to communicate with them to make sure it happens.

Your tank has amazing armour for a medium tank and its just about quick enough to keep up with other medium tanks. You also have big alpha and good HP, so you can spearhead a push against other mediums, bounce shots on your armour, and put in big damage.

You need allies to push with you, as they can support and focus down enemies with their quicker reload times and higher DPM. All the while, your team shouldn’t be bleeding too much HP, as your tank is taking the hits for lighter armoured allies.

(Of course don’t rush into a fight you can’t win, and don’t push if you aren’t sure of your allies supporting you. The above is just an ideal scenario for your tank to utilize its strengths and help allies on your flank, it won’t always play out perfectly.)

Go hulldown or use gun depression:
The 122TM has very strong armour on all areas of its front except its lower plate. Going hulldown will hide the weakest part of the armour (lower plate), and make it much easier to bounce shots, especially if you angle the hull front slightly.

The armour increases even more if using gun depression, and this tank has quite a lot of gun depression for a Chinese medium tank, at 7.4 degrees. This makes it very comfortable on a ridgeline, and you can be quite confident in bouncing most enemies.
However don’t just sit still, as there are 2 small weakpoints above the gun, and 2 large hatches on the roof, see here. Sitting still just makes these easier to hit, so try to pull back immediately after a shot, or just make small hull/turret movements if there’s an enemy aiming at you.

Angle the hull:
If you are stuck out in the open with no cover, always keep the hull angled to the enemy. This increases the upper plate armour thickness greatly, and helps to bounce more shots. Enemies may also get baited into shooting the spaced side armour, which is very hard to penetrate when its well angled.

Overall the 122TM’s gameplay is just that of a fast heavy tank that plays on the medium flank. Try to keep this in mind when playing the tank and you should do very well. Also try to always use your armour efficiently, as that’s one of the biggest advantages that this tank can use against its enemies.

Overall

Overall the 122TM is a good tank. Its quite an all-rounder when compared to heavy tanks, having all 3 main aspects: a great gun, good armour, and good mobility.

The armour is very strong for a medium tank, and very reliable even when compared to heavy tanks. Its easy to use due to good angling and good gun depression. The gun is great, being quite accurate with good aim time, great penetration, and alpha damage. The mobility isn’t good for a medium, but its great for a more heavy-type tank, with good top speed, traverse, and acceleration for its strong armour profile.

Is it worth getting?

The 122TM is a proper heavium tank, and is unlike any other tier 8 “MT heavium”. Its got so much more armour than any other medium, which such an effective gun, while still having decent enough mobility.

The 122TM is worth getting for players who like tanks with reliable guns and armour. The mobility of the 122TM is still decent, but is much less of a focus compared to the other 2 aspects. If you enjoy playing heavium tanks, then the mobility, armour, and gun of this tank should all feel really comfortable.

This tank is not with getting if you don’t like sluggish tanks, and if you’re expecting medium tank levels of mobility, you should avoid this tank. It moves more like a mobile heavy.

The WZ-122TM is worth 9,000 gold. Its a very unique playstyle for a medium tank, with nothing else really like it. Its a strong tank when its played well and to its strengths, but not all players will ejnoy it.

Most recently sold for:

New release crates – January 2022
15,000 gold (Full bundle), 12,500 gold (Tank only) – April 2022
8,500 gold (Full bundle) – May 2023
10,000 gold (Tank only) – August 2023

Camo cost:

The WZ-122TM does not have any rare or legendary camos as of yet.

Historical info:

The WZ-122TM is a real tank, version that we have in both WoT Blitz and WoT is the WZ-122-2, the “Three mechanical” version.
Surprisingly, Wargaming has actually given these tanks relatively correct names, WZ-122TM standing for WZ-122 Three Mechanical, which is the 122-2 tank.

The 122-1 (and subsequently 122-2) was one of the first fully-Chinese designed MBTs, as prior to the design of this tank, China’s MBTs were all either Type 59 tank, or Type 69 tanks, both of which used many same components on Soviet T-54 and T-62 tanks.
The 122-1 was built after the 1969 Sino-Soviet border conflict, which would mean the Soviet Union would no longer supply China with their military gear. This conflict allowed China to capture a Soviet T-62 MBT, which was then reverse-engineered to create the 122-1 MBT.

Gun:
The 122-1 mounted a 120mm smoothbore gun which fired APFSDS. Both the gun and ammunition were developed from the captured T-62’s 115mm smoothbore gun and ammunition. The gun had -6 degrees of depression (a significant improvement over the Type 59’s -4 degrees). This same 120mm smoothbore gun was later improved and used on one of China’s first indigenously built tank destroyers, the PTZ-89 (hence much info about this gun is still kept secret).
Engine:
The 122-1 had a 690 horsepower engine, WZ-122-2 had a 641 horsepower engine (surprisingly very close to the 649.7 horsepower the in-game tank has). Top speed on roads was 55km/h.
Suspension system:
The 122-1 had a “three liquid” suspension system, which was a hydropneumatic suspension to allow the tank to maneuverer and move smoothly. However this was seen as being too complex of a system, so the 122-2 with its “three mechanical” conventional suspension system was built.
Armour:
Armour of the tanks is still unknown, as many Chinese tanks are still being held in secrecy. However, as the tank has similar angling and was based on the T-62 MBT, its likely not too dissimilar to that tank’s armour (100mm angled at 67 degrees).
Additional gear:
The 122-1, 2, and 3 all had essentially the same turret and very similar hulls. 122-1 mounted a twin 12.7mm AA machine gun, which were copies of the Soviet DshK. There were also 2 wire-guided missile launchers on either side of the turret, and an active infrared night vision system. 122-2 lost the missile mounts and the twin machine gun, instead just mounting a single machine gun of the same design. 122-3 regained the missile launchers, but still only had the single machine gun on the roof.

The 122 project had multiple versions, all that was learned from the 122 project was put together and used to create the Type 80 MBT. There was no 1225 tank, only 1224 and 1226.
122-1
122-2 (WoT and Blitz’s 122TM)
122-3/Project 704
122-4 (WoT’s BZ-75 turret and gun are modelled after this tank)
122-6 & 1226F2 (WoT’s 116 F3 is based on these tanks)
122 (Type 80 MBT)

Inaccuracies:
1: The 122-2 tanks in WoT and WoT Blitz are incorrectly modelled. The 122-2 did not have a twin machine gun, instead only having a single MG mount; it also did not have the missile launchers, only the 122-1 and 122-3 had these.

2: The hull armour is angled at a much steeper angle than the tank had in real life. To compensate this, WG seems to have given them 20-25mm more hull armour. (its likely the real tank had 100mm, like a T-62).

The reason WG has done this seems to be for balance. The correct armour and model would result in an upper plate that is 100mm thick angled at 67 degrees (near auto-ricochet), resulting in 256mm upper plate armour at an extreme angle (basically overpowered armour for a tier 8 tank).

3: The turret is also incorrect, also having very steep angles, where the real tank was much more gradual (which produces better effective armour). The hatches are too pronounced, the turret is slightly taller, and the shape is more oval (rather than an egg-shape like the real tank had).

4: In tests, the 120mm smoothbore gun could fire a shell at 1,610m/s velocity, and penetrate 284mm (120mm at 65 degrees) of armour at 1,000 meters with its APFSDS shell. In WoT Blitz, it only has 1,080m/s velocity, and at 1000m would only be able to penetrate 173mm of armour (with shell penetration drop off).

5: The tank in real life was capable of achieving a top speed of 55km/h. However due to its terrain resistances, both in Blitz and in WoT, the tank can only achieve 45km/h, and very notably does not feel like a tank with a 17.09hp/t ratio.
(The terrain resistances are also inaccurate, with the real tank producing more close to 0.9kg/cm2, rather than the 1.3 or 1.5 it has in game)

6: Gun depression was -6, not -8/-7.4 degrees.

Wargaming has created the most historically accurate version of a 122-2 on WoT Console, where it has almost identical statistics and modelling to the real tank.
Unfortunately even the religiously “historically accurate” War Thunder can’t get it right. For one, they gave the tank the incorrect name, it had no “Object” designation; it also has the wrong top speeds, too few reverse gears, and incorrect engine power. Similar to WG, Gaijin also put the missile launchers on the tank, which were not present on the real 122-2.

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