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On the VKs, I liked the VK3001 (P), but I seem to be in the minority there.

On another note:

PhilosopherOfSorts (5:09:45 PM) Victory! Battle: Erlenberg Saturday, October 06, 2012 4:53:16 PM Vehicle: M7 Priest Experience received: 1,836 (x2 for the first victory each day) Credits received: 21,674 Battle Achievements: Top Gun, Invader

8 kills, 11 damages, 2,090 total damage.

Moe Less Ted.

Nice battle there.

And the 3001 (P) is after the PzIV correct? Then I'll get it once I eventually get past the pure condensed PAIN that is the 38nA. And I'll probably like it...I've seen enough 3001 (P)'s to think its a good tank from fighting it.

^I believe so, but I don't know for sure off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure it gets all the same guns as the VK36, so it snipes well, I prefered the 88 to the long 75, but again, that's me, YMMV.

PhilosopherOfSorts wrote:On the VKs, I liked the VK3001 (P), but I seem to be in the minority there.

Wait, I was talking about VK3001(H). I know nothing about VK3001(P).

Nephtys wrote:US Heavies are similar to that Medium style in that you rely on terrain. But T29, T32, T34 have largely invulnerable turrets if you're hull down, and you can annihilate large numbers of enemies if you can hold a good position. M103 and T110E5 are extremely versatile with great guns and high maneverability/accel for a heavy. M103 has questionable armor, but T110E5 is probably the best T10 Heavy.

It's probably accurate to say that the M103 is an oversized US medium - be aggressive, keep mobile, and do lots of damage with your more powerful gun.

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Also, the VK3601H all the way! Its balanced approach is just better.

Defeat
Battle: Siegfried Line Sunday, October 07, 2012 10:05:13 AM
Vehicle: S-35 CA
Experience received: 434
Credits received: 24,823
Battle Achievements: Halonen's Medal
I blame the Panther who was camping in the absolute corner shooting at range and not doing too much damage despite having half his health, a flank that was evaporating on the otherside and a lead in kills. If he'd moved earlier when the KV-13 was munching on the other side of the map the match would have gone our way.

Nephtys wrote:I run the US Heavy and Medium line. To be honest, both are pretty good. But cater to different playstyles.

Mediums reward extreme, yet calculated aggression. You're able to move quickly and flank, but must NEVER stay still long enough for the enemy to shoot you. You pop in and out from over hills at medium range, putting shells in things, then escaping to where the fight is. You have no armor what so ever, you aren't fast, and your guns aren't the most penetrative. But your soft stats are the best in the game. TBH, US Mediums played by an expert has the greatest chance to decide or affect a game.

US Heavies are similar to that Medium style in that you rely on terrain. But T29, T32, T34 have largely invulnerable turrets if you're hull down, and you can annihilate large numbers of enemies if you can hold a good position. M103 and T110E5 are extremely versatile with great guns and high maneverability/accel for a heavy. M103 has questionable armor, but T110E5 is probably the best T10 Heavy.

Thanks for the insight, I guess I'll go with the mediums for now. Seeing how I'm also using the german heavies that should give me a nice contrast.

Game is replete with failplayers, and many of them drive premium tanks. I mean I know that there are, on average, loads of people online who really suck at videogames, but having paid £30 for the privelege of sucking sweaty balls that you could have sucked on for free boggles my mind.

But then having ground your way to high tiers is no guarantee of having learned to actually play the game either. I've seen plenty of people in higher tier tanks who are just terrible.

In other news, when four tanks all cluster around one Tier X heavy for some gangbang action it should not be the Tier VI light that does all the actual damage* and gets the kill, and he should certainly not have time to reload his autoloader in order to do so....

* The IS-7 had about 40% left, but I was the only person who did any damage after the group hug on it, whilst it managed to reduce the Maus in front of it to about 8%.

I just had a wonderful match in my M8A1. I was part of a group of good players on (I think) Sandriver who all took to one of the hills, and formed a nice firing line.

It was me, a Stug, an M18, a T49, and a random AMX 40. And literally all I heard was a constant 'boom boom BOOM!' as each of us fired off a shell at anything that got into range. Needless to say, nothing survived long while it was in view range of that hill.

Taking the north hill in Sand River is quite important now. Being able to shoot down the open desert usually leads to devastating results.

I think it's also imbalanced the map because the main cover on it can get outflanked but only for the north side.

Er, do you mean the dune overlooking the canyon? Or the rocky hill in the extreme northern portion of the map, which used to be impassable?

The one that used to be impassible, and if the south side gets through it can fire into the now unprotected north side tanks on their side of the dune, while north side tanks coming out don't have as good an angle and are in reach of southern TDs on the ridge.

The more I drive the T29, the more I like it. It's not quite the unstoppable murder engine that was advertised, but after 104 matches and 103 kills, I think I've got the feel for it.

The recently purchased Easy-8, however... I feel like Leonardo finding the Wright Flyer and it's blueprints just lying around in Florence one day. I'm pretty sure I know what it is and does, but I'm missing some vital things, I'm sure.

I got much better in the Easy 8 once I realized you shouldn't count as much on getting kills (unless fighting same tier mediums, of course, where the rapid-firing gun is cruelly effective) as poking holes in people and not letting them retaliate. It's a very soft type of play, because you can't take THAT many hits (though it is suprisingly resillient for a Sherman). But you can penetrate even surprisingly tough enemies, and it's zippy.

Oh, and you can take on KVs, and if you do it right, they shouldn't be able to do jack in retaliation. That is always fun.

The secret to E8 and US Mediums/TDs in general is to never let the enemy even point their gun barrels in your direction. Your armor lies in being able to fire from a barely exposed position and running. Put defense over offense, and you'll do more over the course of a game. Now of course, if that enemy Lowe or whatever doesn't see you and has it's flank wide open? Rip the thing apart.

There's definitely an art to it that I've not mastered. Though usually I end up just running into enemy meds while trying to get into position and getting obliterated anyway.

Certainly different from my beloved fat bastards.

It pays to remember that you can scram when things get hairy ; Few things in the game can actually catch you.

My theory on contribution to the game is that certain vehicles have a greater 'max performance' potential. Others meanwhile, have a higher 'average performance' value.

A Tank such as the T44, or Type-59 has high Average Performance. They're theoretically fast, well armored, and well enough armed to bully tanks of the same tier and lower. However, they suffer from hideous flaws like poor gun depression, sluggish acceleration/close in maneuverability, poor sight range and catastrophic system damage. A monkey could drive them with some reasonable positive results, by charging in, shooting some, and dying.

The lines of E8, T20, and M26 all have substantially worse stats it seems on paper. Why bother with a M26 when you could have a T44 or Type-59, which have as/more powerful guns, more speed, and better armor? Yet, the M26 is generally considered to be the best medium of that tier, while having the weakest gun, worst armor, and worst linear speed.

It's about being able to get something for nothing. Agility, view range, gun depression allow these soft stat mediums to engage an enemy, when properly positioned, with zero retaliation. If you pop your turret only barely over a ridge, squeeze off a shot and duck back, you've just got a free hit's worth of damage on your enemy. While the burlier Type-59 always has to put itself at risk to do damage to something, as it doesn't have the sight range to stay hidden, the aimspeed to pop-up attack, or the gun depression to abuse slight rises. It's a really subtle skill. But that's how a Medium can fight a heavy successfully, by taking one retaliation-free shot and moving on. Combined with the ability to return to base quickly to defend, or press forward to a new position to attack, it's why US Mediums have more 'max performance' power.

PeZook wrote:It pays to remember that you can scram when things get hairy ; Few things in the game can actually catch you.

It actually feels really sluggish. Fully upgraded, it just feels like a heavy tub even with crew being trained in off-road driving. This makes popping a turret over a hill a suprisingly risky proposition. Added to the fact I really can't find that many useful places to do this on many maps. Eh, I'll keep driving it for a bit.

I haven't played a Merican medium since the 'Medium-TD' that is the Lee. But I am currently grinding the turreted TD tree (at the T49) and I see the wisdom in that style of play. I can't bully most tanks head on, since my armor isn't good enough (and woe is me if Arty zones in on my currently open top). What I can do really well is snipe flanks and then move to a new post.

Quite different from my VK, but I'm getting better at it.

EDIT: And speaking of VK's...is the 3002 (DB) worth the grind? And I also saw my first PzV/IV a while back...interesting tank that one.

The 3002 suffers from having a lot of exclusive parts, no 75 L/100, not leading to any T8s and, vitally, Not Being A Panther.

It does have good slopes, mind, and can at least carry the 75 L/70. or the 88 L/56, which is these days basically redundant compared to the 75 L/70.

If you like mediums, it's probably a good bet but it doesn't work like the other german T7+ meds.

Yeah, that's what I figured. I'm only leaning towards it since I want the Panther, and the only other way to get said tank is to go back to my III/IV and grind it for the VK 3001 (H).

Namely since the Tiger is making me want to break something and I figure the Panther will go better.

I do love the Panther. It's slightly less effective vs. T9s than would be ideal ,but other than that it's pretty solid. It's a medium/heavy.

It might be worth going through the 3002 if you're relatively close to it. It does depend how much you're willing to spend in the 3002, though.