World of Tanks

[Tmon]

Sorry to disappoint but French heavies are complete shit until you get to the AMX50/100.  The M4 1945 was so bad that I actually paid gold to convert the last 40k xp I needed to unlock the 50/100 rather than play it any more.   It's the first tank I've ever hated enough to spend real money to get out of.

[Amarr HM]

So where do I get these mods you guys are talking about? actually any mods you are using would be awesome.

[kildorn]

The ARL isn't complete shit, it's just paper with a middle of the road gun. Compared to what came before it, it's amazingly well armed without giving up much armor. But both sides of the french lines absolutely suck compared to everyone else until you get the autoloaders.

I've been rocking a T28 Proto for a week or so, but lack the top gun. The US TD line feels like it lacks a theme to me. It's zippy little flanking TDs up the line until suddenly.. 16km/s top speed bunkers the size of a Tiger 2. I think half my issues with the Proto are related to the massive engagement doctrine shift compared to everything under it. All my skill with using the TDs like US Mediums basically gets thrown out the window.

It IS funny to bounce hilarious rounds off of it, though.

[apocrypha]

So where do I get these mods you guys are talking about? actually any mods you are using would be awesome.

This thread has details on how to install the XVM mod which shows player ratings and win ratios in-game and also includes the Over Target Markers mod. That's an EU forum thread but I assume the mod works on US version too. If not then have a search for it on the US official forums.

[Merusk]

So does XVM give you the over-all win-loss or can you specify it for the W/L of the tank the player is currently using?   I've got some shitty stats on some tanks and do ok on others, making my over-all only 48%.   (I hit the "top 1%" award regularly enough on my 'good' tanks the Type-59 or M3Lee)

[Mortriden]

So does XVM give you the over-all win-loss or can you specify it for the W/L of the tank the player is currently using?   I've got some shitty stats on some tanks and do ok on others, making my over-all only 48%.   (I hit the "top 1%" award regularly enough on my 'good' tanks the Type-59 or M3Lee)

Whoa.  If you can do "good" in the M3 Lee, then you are truly a hero.  The only way I cleared that POS was getting into Tier 4 matches with the top gun and acting like a giant eraser.  I hated that tank. 

Good to see Engles on the other night as well.  It's amazing what a well coordinated group of Tier 8 artillery can do.   

[Merusk]

You have to play it like a TD and plan a hidey-hole/ know lines of fire & cover.  Given the demand for turret-based TDs there aren't that many players who really want to get in to that.  The Lee is a fun tank once you figure it out and so many people underestimate its gun.   I fell in love with it on that map with the city | pass | valley.  Took 50% off a T6 tank by blowing through the bottom and that was my "ah ha" moment.


ed: My god.. the shitty teams are even shittier tonight.  12 games, no wins so far and *I* the guy with a 25% survival rate am one of the last alive after 4 mins of match time almost every time.

[apocrypha]

I enjoyed the M3 Lee too. I was told by all and sundry before getting it that it was the worst tank in the game, but I had a blast. I ended up with a 63% win ratio on it and it's still in my garage.

I'm now in the annoying position of having enough XP for several tanks but not enough credits to buy them. Panther II, Pz VI Tiger, Jagdpanther, Slugger and Hellcat. Seriously tempted to get a tier 8 premium to farm some creds. 

[Tmon]

I enjoyed the M3 Lee too. I was told by all and sundry before getting it that it was the worst tank in the game, but I had a blast. I ended up with a 63% win ratio on it and it's still in my garage.

I'm now in the annoying position of having enough XP for several tanks but not enough credits to buy them. Panther II, Pz VI Tiger, Jagdpanther, Slugger and Hellcat. Seriously tempted to get a tier 8 premium to farm some creds. 

I'm pretty pleased with my stable of premiums.  I'd rather spend gold on premium tanks than a premium account.  I've got the M4A2E4 (beta gift) M6A2E1 (preorder bonus) Matilda, Löwe (bought before they jacked up the price) Type 59, and T34.  If I rotate through the top earners (T34, Löwe, and Type 59) I can clear close to 300k credits an hour with decent MM luck.

[Merusk]

I'd love a T34 but I just can't justify the price.   I only bought my Type59 because I hadn't had an MMO account in a few months and they were discontinuing it.

[Ginaz]

Love the new US tier 10, the T110.  Sold my Maus to get it and I don't regret it one bit.

[angry.bob]

The stat mod is a fucking blight on mankind. Random games have always been hit or miss, but this weekend was endless arguements about people accusing other people of sucking because they're at 48-49%. Nevermind that Match maker has way more to do with your W/L ratio than anything else, unless you do mostly clan battles.

[apocrypha]

Odd, I've seen one single discussion about people's stats in game on the EU server. Some guy said "Nice efficiencies team, we lose" at the start of the match and got instantly team-killed. Everyone laughed and that was it.

Mind you, over half of the chat on the EU servers is in German or Polish so they may all be whining about it in languages I don't speak 

[Merusk]

Yeah I haven't had anyone discuss stats at all.

Also, I love it when someone spouts off with a "We lose" or "you lose" then the exact opposite happens.    Saturday evening MM put me and my SU-85B up against a team with 4 Churchills.  One of the churches instantly spouts "You lose. Just give up now we have 4 Churches."    About 4 of us on the team instantly Teamchat "focus the churches."  followed by a slew of "Affirmatives." 

It was glorious and the best bit of teamwork I've ever seen from a pubbie team.  We destroyed them then had a great laugh. 

[apocrypha]

Haha awesome! I had a similar one last night on Mountain Pass, starting from the North, me in IS-3. A T-20 on our team went up onto the arty platform so I asked (probably a bit harshly, I'd had a few drinks...) what he was doing there and he mouthed off saying I would just die instantly and be useless while he was "defending the base".

Game ends in a win for us with me with 7 kills and 4 medals and him with not a single shot fired. I may have been a bit smug about it. 

[kildorn]

Having direct fire tanks camp out with arty is only a solid play if the enemy team is packing 3-4 scouts of doom, imo. Otherwise it's just "I don't feel like playing tonight and don't grasp how XP is awarded"

I do love when I'm playing something slow and get spammed about needing to hurry up and move to support the fast tanks way out of range. Why yes I AM moving up, but I go 6 fucking kph so deal with it. Had one game with 7 kills on my Proto, including some hilarious city sweeping where people never saw the very slowly creeping doom until I rolled down their flanks.

[Merusk]

I always seem to wind-up flanked in those instances and die to the new goddamn turreted TDs.

I finally got the T-29 this weekend (hooray 10xp) Had one of my best games ever on the new map with all the hills.  6 kills on a stock tank!  It was down to me with 42hp and an Arty after I finally plastered the French tank that was scouting for him.  When we found each other I missed his vuln spot and left him with like a sliver of HP, enough for him to point-blank my ass from a hill.  So sad.

[Engels]

I think the stat mod is going to be beneficial in the end, if only to determine what factors are really involved in a victory. Had a match the other night where the stat mod predicted a 90% win for my team, and we got wtfpwnt. The problem in that battle was improper tank distribution and unlucky positioning by key players. Nothing to do with their individual skills as players. The other team didn't have great players, but 'good enough' players, and their positional advantage was used and they quickly had the battle under wraps.

[UnsGub]

The problem in that battle was improper tank distribution and unlucky positioning by key players. Nothing to do with their individual skills as players.

Play skill includes tank type and positioning.

The match maker can be gamed to your advantange.

Positioning both macro and micro is a huge part of determining the outcome of a fight.

[Tmon]

How exactly does one game the match maker?

[kildorn]

No idea. There are absolutely MM wins/losses though. Not amazingly often, but I had one this week that was one t10 on each side, then one side had 6 tier9 TDs and heavies, and the other had 6 tier 8 mediums. The MM was apparently hoping the heavies got overconfident or something, because played well with no arty on the map they had little to fear from the Pershing Swarm.

MM is drunk, we've pretty much all known this forever. You just shrug and laugh it off when it gets really strange.

[Amarr HM]

This thread has details on how to install the XVM mod which shows player ratings and win ratios in-game and also includes the Over Target Markers mod. That's an EU forum thread but I assume the mod works on US version too. If not then have a search for it on the US official forums.

Thanks, got it working.

[Pendan]

I had a similar one last night on Mountain Pass, starting from the North, me in IS-3. A T-20 on our team went up onto the arty platform so I asked (probably a bit harshly, I'd had a few drinks...) what he was doing there and he mouthed off saying I would just die instantly and be useless while he was "defending the base".

In over 5000 games played the only time I think I have been purposely team killed is in a Mountain Pass match where a KV, the top tank on team, wanted to climb that arty hill and I blocked him with my tier 3 Marder II and would not let him go up. Team got crushed and he ended up with a -1 score as 6 tanks shot him at end and he could not angle his gun down to shoot any of them from the top.

[UnsGub]

How exactly does one game the match maker?

Platoons.  Three people is much better then two.  You want to be the top tanks.  Of course being a top tank you have to engage the enemy and seek out the enemy top tanks.  Take damage for others to have an advantage or retreat\live to buy time.

All arty or two arty and a scout.  Tier 4-6 arty.  7-8 do not have the impact they used to on a match.  A good scout can give everyone on a team a huge advantage on some maps.

One arty.  Often the arty will determine the match rather then the tank tier.  Tier 5 arty with tier 7-8 tanks.  Also Tier 6 arty with tier 8 tanks and if it is a tier 8 match what you do has a major impact.


Tank groups almost always same tier.  Can play with one of the group being one tier down often a tank destroyer.

Tank mix is significant also.  Three mediums, three heavies, three TDs.  Do not do just mediums and TDs.  Three heavies of Tier 8 and 10 are consistently the top tanks.  Tier 9 not so and it is rare to be the top tanks.  Mixing nationalities also help.  You want options with a mix of brawers and sniper/range.

Once in game you have two typical options.  The platoon overloads one side of the map supporting each other in a group.  Other is divide up and respond to what the team does.  Typically one stays behind on defense\arty and the two others assist in the attack.  Typical option is one or two of the attackers return to base to defend of if the attack fails buy time with a delayed retreat.

Gold tanks often have their own MM ranking.  Grouping with non-gold tanks eliminates that advantage.  Platoon of KV-5 will always be top tanks the same as a group of T-14s.

[Brolan]

No idea. There are absolutely MM wins/losses though. Not amazingly often, but I had one this week that was one t10 on each side, then one side had 6 tier9 TDs and heavies, and the other had 6 tier 8 mediums. The MM was apparently hoping the heavies got overconfident or something, because played well with no arty on the map they had little to fear from the Pershing Swarm.

MM is drunk, we've pretty much all known this forever. You just shrug and laugh it off when it gets really strange.

I usually grin when I see this combo as a medium tanker.  Often you can rush one side (after a short delay) with a medium swarm and cap before the heavies can get to your cap or back to defend theirs.  It depends if you can organize this before everyone rushes off to die foolishly.

[apocrypha]

Talking of terrible teamwork in randoms... just saw a T28 take out 9 people purely because they couldn't work together to flank him. He was the only enemy vehicle left, on Himmelsdorf, he'd 1-shotted my KV before I even spotted him, and he then proceeded to kill every single remaining tank on our side as they came at him one at a time.

I'm typing in chat "flank him! 2 of you go together from different sides!" but no... one at a time, from the front, into his gun. It was embarrassing. They even stopped the cap at 80% because they were so sure that a single TD couldn't kill all of them.

[Amarr HM]

I played a pretty bad team last night, it was just myself in my T-54 and a Hummel left against 8 Tier IX Heavies and TDs. We killed them all in tandem despite me being ammo racked and I ended up with something in the region of 2400xp. These guys were so bad it reminded of the days in beta whizzing around in the OP T-44.

[apocrypha]

Awesome 

I really want a T-54, they look like a lot of fun to play. Sadly I'm about 100k XP away from that particular goal!

[Ginaz]

Awesome 

I really want a T-54, they look like a lot of fun to play. Sadly I'm about 100k XP away from that particular goal!

T-54 isn't all that great anymore.  The French BatChat and even the German E-50 are better imo.  I sold mine, along with my Maus, to get the new US Tier 10 heavy, T110.  Don't regret it one bit.  The T110 is very agile and packs a deceptively powerful gun.  Best of both worlds.   

[kildorn]

The 110 messes with me randomly in games. It shows up in the initial medium/light engagements over hills and the like out of nowhere. Fucker is shockingly fast on some maps.

[Amarr HM]

Yeh the T110 doesn't suffer on uneven terrain and has massive acceleration. It has kinda nudged the IS7 aside as the mobile heavy, even though its topspeed is lower (The IS7 is rarely able to go over 40).

[Ginaz]

Its acceleration is great and its also an awesome hill climber.  I can out climb even some meds.  Many Russian heavy drivers are calling the T110 OP simply because they aren't the top dog anymore.  They actually have to aim their shots now on US heavys and know the weak spots instead of just aiming for anywhere on the hull.  The T110 (and the M103, another great tank btw) bounce a lot of shots and the Russian drivers aren't used to being the ones having THEIR shots bounce off enemy tanks.

[Tmon]

I consider the 110 to be the first tier 10 medium, besides the fantastic maneuverability I love the rate of fire and penetration of the gun.  It really surprised the people who were used to a more lengthy reload cycle for a non-French heavy.

[Merusk]

This is good news.  I've always liked playing the US tanks, despite knowing they were deemed "gimpy" in a lot of cases.  Loved the Easy8 I just sold to buy the T20 I finally qualified for, and I'm loving the shit out of the T-29 so far.  To hear from folks that the Pershing and T110 are worth it in the end makes me happy.  Now if only I could move up faster than a tier every 3-4 months. 

[kildorn]

I'm meh on the pershing over the T20, personally. People seem to love the shit out of the pershing, but I found for it's tier the T20 to be far more fun to drive. The T20 is a murder machine.

I don't think I do well with slower tanks. I didn't like the T29 much, I don't like the T28proto more than the T25/2.