Wargaming is planning a series of new modes for World of Tanks this year, including one that has been promised for a while now. A new developer diary walks us through the Fortifications and long-awaited Historical Battles combat modes.

Fortifications will let you construct buildings to help alter the battlefield in your favor. Making buildings will get you economic perks, and the video calls this a "parallel universe" of the game that will sport its own economy. The Fortifications modes won't impact the other traditional modes. Historical Battles are coming in the 9.0 update, and the video walks us through Wargaming's process of testing and tweaking the ideas to assure the proper balance.