World of Tanks Mark 2

[Skywalker_T-65]

It may be slow, but there is nothing quite like ramming something with the KV-4.

After all, there is nothing like watching 100 tons of the finest Russian Steel barrel down and crush an unfortunate scout

[xthetenth]

Random recommendation: try the T32 with gold shells in the 90mm once or twice this weekend if you're feeling cheesey. It makes the gun a really accurate, stable high pen DPM monster.

[Temjin]

I don't know how or why, but I am suddenly scouting like crazy and kicking absurd amounts of ass in a...M5A1. The US M5, I sucked in and loathed with a fury of a thousand suns. The Chinese A1 version, I'm enjoying and doing damage completely out of proportion of what I should be expected to do.

I've got a 100% crew on it, binocs, vents and a camo net. I work as a passive scout and occasional harrasser, using the 47mm's asinine gold penetration to hurt tanks that would normally laugh at anything I shoot at them. Last match I took out a 3601, a Stug, a Hellcat and a goddamed Tiger with the thing, also did some serious damage to an IS3 before a T29 took him out. This has not been a one time event, as taking out T5-8 heavies is something I'm starting to do with frightening regularity in this little Chinese deathtrap.

I am completely flummoxed as to what the hell is going on.

You're not alone. The M5A1 taught me how to love again.

I haven't driven a tier 4 light tank or above in months. I just didn't enjoy it anymore. Going up the Chinese line, I was dreading grinding through the M5A1. I hated it... until I upgraded it fully. After that, I started having a blast. I don't know what it is about that little tank.

Afterwards, I went back to some other light tanks I was leveling up but had sold months ago. I'm even enjoying driving those again. Even the ELC, which I loathed in the past as I couldn't play it as it demanded, has finally clicked for me.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I'm still absolutely horrid with lights. I just can't get the hang of their play style (sans the ELC which is really just a VERY light/fast TD when one gets down to it). I'm much more comfortable in my heavies.

[Simon_Jester]

On my machine, the often-poor frame rate and lag make it hard to drive lights; any vehicle that relies on continuous maneuver and agility becomes WEIRD to operate when there's a 120-150 millisecond lag between control input and response.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Hmm...the AMX 12t is half-off. Might finally be able to re-buy the thing then...I may be horrid with lights, but I can remember having fun with it back before the ELC kicked it up a tier. Hmm...

[Zinegata]

Well, this thread I made turned out pretty well:

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php ... tters/#top

[xthetenth]

No kidding, it's a great post. Amusingly you also brought up how to be good at clan wars (focus fire, swap hp and hit isolated enemies with greater force. Oh and click red tanks on the squish bits but I digress.) without having done it.

[Imperial528]

This is a bit of a rant, but one thing that I believe many players miss is the simplest part of warfare: Cover your fucking allies.

I just got killed in a match with my T34, was doing decently starting out, had a nice position. Scouts ran out, I got a few good shots off before an enemy medium pack kills them. Two of the mediums come up to the rock I'm camping out behind, Type 59 goes one way, T-54 the other. I expected the Conqueror behind me to cover my ass while I stopped the Type 59 from going around. It didn't realize to do that until it was too late and I'd taken four good hits. Then the idiot decides to charge out to face their snipers, predictably dies, and then I go down fighting.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I try to cover my allies as much as possible. And when one plays the KV-4, that often means them using me quite literally as a mobile pillbox to hide behind. I don't mind when its a good team, but too often I die because idiots don't take advantage of my cover.

[PainRack]

One thing I haven't learnt yet though.

How does one maneveur to engage focused fire targets? In a lot of the maps, I find it difficult to engage tanks which have been designated without unduly risking myself to enemy fire.

In one match where I disengaged in an attempt to outflank the enemy and hit them, I reached the spot too late to help my ally.... I was then blamed for not standing in the line like a good tankie. Is this a tactical error?

In another, an attempt to outflank caused me and my group of three tanks to get cheesed by their secondary line of defence, so I guess that's a lesson learnt. How would one estimate the existence of a secondary line outside of counting tanks? While the example I listed was a bad one(I assumed a lemming team when it wasn't), the mere existence of just one tank can fatally slow or stop an entire advancing team.

In the last, I moved out of cover on to a hill........ technically 700 m away from the known enemy contact and I got blown to smithereens...........Without sixth sense, how would one be able to tell if one is being engaged? I know about observing turrets, but that's kinda hard to do in anything outside of Romulan cloaking bush.



Although I have to post a gripe. I wish players complaining about the team not working together got to realise that you have to create situations where the team can work together. Designating a SPG for focus fire might be useful for you, because it clears your advance, especially if arty drops a shell on a roadblock camper but if he's camping, no other guy CAN hit him either, so stop complaining. Providing cover to fellow team mates by working together and cohesive fire also require that you are actually present with your team or allow for situations where the team can work together. Crying that you didn't receive help because you got isolated on the flank is absurd. You took the tactical risk, you pay for it.

[Zinegata]

One thing I haven't learnt yet though.

How does one maneveur to engage focused fire targets? In a lot of the maps, I find it difficult to engage tanks which have been designated without unduly risking myself to enemy fire.

In one match where I disengaged in an attempt to outflank the enemy and hit them, I reached the spot too late to help my ally.... I was then blamed for not standing in the line like a good tankie. Is this a tactical error?

It depends really. In general when you have the numbers, you should force the issue and ram yourselves down the enemy's throat. Flanking is secondary compared to simply closing in and pumping shell after shell into the enemy tanks.

The problem is when you miscalculate the actual strength of the enemy force, which leads to you getting chewed up by a superior enemy force. Determining whether or not you're heading into a trap revolves around knowing the map (the trap spots generally remain the same in every match), and map-wide situational awareness (if you see 10 enemy tanks in the valley, then you're pretty sure they have no more than 5 in the city...)

Flanking and harassment is generally much more useful when you're numerically inferior and are trying to irritate ad delay the enemy as much as possible.

[Vendetta]

How does one maneveur to engage focused fire targets? In a lot of the maps, I find it difficult to engage tanks which have been designated without unduly risking myself to enemy fire.

It depends what tank you're in.

If you're in a high tier light, soviet or chinese medium, BatChat, or from tomorrow onwards Leopard, you use your speed to get you there, do the work and then leave.

If you're not in one of those things then you're probably not going to get there fast enough.


In randoms though, there's not going to be much high level coordination, so concentrate on your own tank, figure out where is best for you to be on this map based on what your tank can and can't do, what your lemmings are doing (if you're alone on a flank dig in rather than pushing, etc) and what the composition of the enemy team is and where they're likely to go (think about where mediums/heavies/tds typically go and estimate how the enemy will split to decide what you need to do). If you've not got at least 50kmh under the hood, be in the right place to start with, rather than trying to get into it later.

[Esquire]

Victory!
Battle: Malinovka Tuesday, April 23, 2013 4:33:50 PM
Vehicle: VK 3601 (H)
Experience received: 1,445
Credits received: 33,558
Battle Achievements: Steel Wall, Top Gun, Sniper

So this focused fire stuff works pretty well...

[Skywalker_T-65]

That it does...that it does.

[Vanas]

Not to take anything away from Z's post, the fact that people need to be told to shoot at the same target as their teammates is pretty damn amusing.

Never underestimate the stupidity of your own teammates.

[Skywalker_T-65]

That is also good advice

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

A lot of that probably comes from the individualistic FPS nature some people approach the game with, where staking your own claim becomes important so as to not waste a potential kill or killsteal someone else. The fact that the team winning is vastly more important than someone's kill count to their own experience doesn't really sit with a lot of people. Well, until the team is losing and they want to yell at the loser team bringing them down (and then you check and they have a 39% win rate :L).

[Skywalker_T-65]

Well that was hilarious. I was playing my AMX 12t in a Tier 10 battle. Not surprisingly, I died rather quickly...the funny part, is that the T10 medium (a 121) killed me by ramming me into a lake...and followed me down into it because he couldn't slow down enough. So our team lost a Tier 6 scout to drowning, while the enemy lost a Tier 10 medium.

[The Vortex Empire]

I love when that sort of thing happens. Whenever I'm near water and downhill from a tank, I try to bait them into trying to ram me so I can move aside and let them plunge into the ocean. Doesn't happen often, but hilarious when it does.

[FSTargetDrone]

8.5 is live now (as of earlier today):

8.5 Update Notes
Content Changes

Added new branch of German medium and light tanks:
VK 20.01 (D) tier IV medium tank
VK 30.02 (D) v1 tier VI medium tank
Aufklarerpanzer Panther tier VII light tank
Indien Panzer tier VIII medium tank
Prototype der Arbeitsgruppe A tier IX medium tank
Leopard 1 tier X medium tank

Added new branch of USSR light tanks:
Т-60 tier II light tank
Т-70 tier III light tank
Т-80 tier IV light tank

Added new map: Pearl River
Changes and improvements for after-battle statistics screen
Added notification for automatic conversions after version releases (change of shells, modules, vehicles, etc.)
Added new inscriptions for five nations: USSR, Germany, USA, France, and United Kingdom
Updated the description of the Situational Awareness skill
Added a display of team status as a list of vehicle types icons at the top of the screen
Victory bonus time has been reset to 11:00 UTC (04:00 PDT, 07:00 EDT)

Gameplay and Game Mechanics

Added gameplay and visual fixes for the following maps: Redshire, El-Halluf, Karelia, Prohorovka, and Sand River
Added improvements for Assault mode for the following maps: Malinovka, Karelia, and Sand River

Premium consumables (med kits, repair kits, etc.) are now available for credits (according to gold/credits exchange rate similar to that of premium shells)
Creation of platoons for 3 players is now available for basic accounts
Creation of tank companies is now available for basic accounts
Added new Match Maker rule for the balancing of light tanks:
All vehicles marked as Scout will be balanced according to the currently existing SPG rule: balance weight of Scouts in both teams won’t differ on more than +/-20 balance weight points

The following vehicles will be marked as Scouts:

USSR

T-50
T-50-2

Germany

Pz38nA
Luchs
VK 16.02
VK 28.01
Auf_Panther

United States

M24 Chaffee
T21
T71

France

ELC AMX
AMX 12t
AMX 13 75
AMX 13 90

China

M5A1 Stuart
59 16
WZ 131
WZ 132

Reduced credit cost for temporary camouflages, emblems, and inscriptions
Reduced terrain resistance when driving a tank on some destroyed objects

Graphics

Improved visual models for the following vehicles: IS-3, Valentine AT, Pz V Panther, Pz IV/V, Object 263, VK 3001H, Conqueror, IS-4М, Matilda Black Prince, IS-7, ARL-44, and Black Prince
Reworked graphics for the following maps: Siegfried Line, South Coast, and Malinovka
Increased the resolution for Inscriptions on vehicles and places where such changes were possible
Optimized vehicle motion effects for dust and dirt that kicks out from under a vehicle's treads
Reworked multiple object destruction effects

Awards and Achievements Changes

Changed the mechanics of how Expert and Expert Per Nation achievements work:
Those who received the medal earlier (and the medal is greyed out) will get back the respective medal as active
Neither Expert nor Expert Per Nation achievements will fade after new vehicle introduction in new update
The rest will get the greyed medal (Expert and Expert Per Nation) that on mouse-over will show, which tanks should be destroyed to obtain the medal

Fixed description of following achievements: Raider, Reaper, Dumitru’s Medal, de Langlade's Medal, and Lion of Sinai

Vehicle Parameter Changes

China

Changed the Renault M26/27 engine price from 300 to 0 credits

France

Changed the Lorraine39 L AM tracks price from 1,730 to 590 credits

Germany

E-100
Changed the ammo capacity of the 12,8 cm KwK 44 L/55 gun from 42 to 72 shells
Changed the ammo capacity of the 15 cm KwK 44 L/3 gun from 28 to 50 shells

JagdPz-E-100
Raised the travel speed of all shells from 850 to 925 meters/second

Maus
Changed the DB 603 A2 engine type from diesel to gasoline

VK 28.01
Changed the research price from 52,100 to 28,500 experience
Reduced the repair price by 60%
Changed the declination angle from 8 to 10 grades

VK 30.02 (D)
Changed the suspension traverse mechanism of the VK 30.02 (D)
Changed the suspension traverse speed of the VK 30.02 (D) from 36 to 38
Changed the verstärkteketten suspension traverse mechanism of the VK 30.02 (D)
Changed the verstärkteketten suspension traverse speed of the VK 30.02 (D) from 40 to 42
Changed the MB 507 engine horse power from 750 to 720
Added the Maybach HL 230 TRM P30 engine
Fixed the VK 30.02 (D) Schmalturm and VK 30.02 (D) turrets armoring errors
Slightly rebalanced all of the guns
Raised the elevation and declination angles
Changed the VK 30.02 (D) Schmalturm turret view range from 370 to 380 m
Changed the VK 30.02 (D) turret view range from from 350 to 370 m
Changed the VK 30.02 (D) Schmalturm turret traverse speed from 30 grad/sec to 24 grad/second
Changed the VK 30.02 (D) turret traverse speed from 46 grad/sec to 32 grad/second
Changed the VK 30.02 (D) HP from 1,180 to 1,150

VK 36.01 (H)
Shell penetration value of Pzgr. 41 HK of gun 7,5 cm KwK 41 L/58 Konisch changed from 225 mm to 221 mm
Damage, made by shell Pzgr. 41 StK of gun 7,5 cm KwK 41 L/58 Konisch, changed from 65 to 165
Shell penetration value of Pzgr. 41 StK of gun 7,5 cm KwK 41 L/58 Konisch changed from 167 mm to 157 mm

United Kingdom

Price of QF 2-pdr Mk. X gun changed from 3,000 to 6,000 credits
Price of 75 mm Vickers HV gun changed from 63,000 to 50,000 credits
Price of OQF 77 mm Gun Mk. II gun changed from 50,000 to 63,000 credits
Price of OQF 17-pdr Gun Mk. VII gun changed from 60,000 to 70,000 credits

Conqueror
Price of Centurion Mk. III turret changed from 50,500 to 42,000 credits

Centurion Mk. I
Price of Centurion Mk. I turret changed from 15,000 to 20,000 credits
Price of Centurion Mk. III turret changed from 32,000 to 42,000 credits

AT 15
Research price of engine Rolls-Royce Meteor changed from 1,900 to 1,500 experience

United States

M4A2E4 Sherman
Elevation level of the 75 mm Gun M3 L/37 gun increased from 20 deg to 25 deg

T25/2
Level of suspension T25/2T4 changed from 7 to 8
Price of suspension T25/2T4 changed from 19,200 to 32,720 credits

T82
Price of suspension T82T55E2 changed from 1,850 to 740 credits
Price of suspension T82T55E4 changed from 740 to 1,480 credits

USSR

Cost of 37 mm ZIS-19 gun changed from 2,560 to 4,250 credits
Cost of 122 mm U11 gun changed from 59,920 to 45,920 credits
Cost of 85 mm F-30 gun changed from 41,000 to 48,000 credits
Cost of 76 mm S-54 gun changed from 41,480 to 40,130 credits
Cost of B-2CH engine changed from 17,000 to 34,000 credits
Cost of 85 mm S-31 gun changed from 42,200 to 49,200 credits
Cost of 57 mm ZiS-4 changed from 40,130 to 41,480 credits

А-20, Т-46, Т-50-2
Damage dealt by UBR-243SP shell of 45 mm BT-42 gun changed from 49 to 55
Damage dealt by UBR-243SPA shell of 45 mm BT-42 gun changed from 49 to 55
Armor penetration of UBR-243SPA shell of 45mm BT-42 gun changed from 95 mm to 110 mm
Damage dealt by UOF-243 shell of 45mm BT-42 gun changed from 63 to 65

SU-85B
Added M-80 engine
Removed GAZ-203F engine

IS-7
Max speed changed from 50 km/h to 59.6 km/h

SU-76
Turning speed of SU-76 suspension changed from 32 to 38
Turning speed of SU-76M suspension changed from 32 to 38

Fixes

Added fixes for collision models for the PanzerJager I and JagdPz E-100
Fixed minor errors in the names of vehicles and modules
Fixed issue where large vehicles would get stuck under hanging elements of map objects (e.g. bridges, etc.)
Fixed rare bug when shell with a "small damage to modules" parameter disappears after it hits enemy gun of higher strength
Fixed bug when HE shells don't cause full HE damage to the external module after penetration
Fixed behavior of HE shell after hitting crew of a destroyed tank with an open-topped compartment
Fixed bug of showing shells exploding in the air
Fixed indication of damage to the fuel tank when it's destroyed in some rare cases
Destroyed vehicles no longer absorb damage caused by HE shells. They are always exploding on the surface of these vehicles
Fixed bug that didn't cause damage to lighter vehicles when located on top of heavy vehicles
Partially fixed issue of emblems and inscriptions vanishing on vehicles after Alt-Tab or adjusting AA settings
Fixed the wording on memory leak warning messages
Fixed errors when creating a private chat channel (e.g. not displaying channel creator, freezing of chat window when closing, etc.)
Fixed appearance of premium vehicles’ modules in the in-game shop
Fixed description of consumables 100-octane Gasoline and 105-octane Gasoline
Fixed minor bugs in the battle tutorial
Fixed the loss of camouflage net and binocular telescope effects when attempting to move a vehicle with a damaged track
Fixed Sixth Sense indicator that may have stopped working after rapid re-spotting
Fixed the display of lag indicator with green color when server operational load is close to 100%
Fixed the display of the tank collision effect when tanks are at a different height
Fixed some ambient object models

[Skywalker_T-65]

I wonder if I have enough free XP to skip the short 88 on the Indien...hmm...

(then again, probably better to use what I have on the BL-9 for the ST-1...playing a Tier 9 with the D-25T strikes me as very painful)

[Vendetta]

There were a few people with Leo 1s already on quickybaby's stream tonight. We only got 8.5 yesterday here. I've only seen IndienPanzers yet because I was pissing around at tier 5 all night with my KV-1, as well as rebuying a Matilda because me and a bunch of mates from work are planning some Matilda platoon nonsense now we can do a 3 man.

I'm torn, myself, the Leo looks fuckawesomes and the 90mm being basically a not-cripplingly-expensive 20pdr makes me jelly, but I'd basically have to start that tree from scratch because I've done nothing really with the German tanks, and I've also been feeling like I should play some russian mediums so I can do the no fucks given wolfpacking that they seem to get away with.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I've still got 40k XP or so to go on the DB before I have the Indien anyway. So I've still got a ways to go.

[The Vortex Empire]

I had free xp and creds saved up, so I've already got it. Haven't had a chance to play yet, but just looking at the stats, it seems like it outclasses the Panther II in everything that matters. Slower and less hp, but better turning, comparable frontal armor and much stronger sides, better penetration and DPM, and much, much better gun depression. 10 degrees depression is just as good as the American mediums.

And in addition to all that, it looks pretty damn cool.