World of Tanks - Free to play Panzer MMO

Time to show and tell...

Remember I said I was playing the test server?
I got my King Tiger II back and it is as sweet as I remember:

Fully specked (except the engines (750hp/870hp) 105mm long (KwK 46 L/68) gun.:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_021.jpg

It was the most fun tank to play in the beta... and it still is fun as long as it is elite.

Wait.. that is not all, I have more...
163 000 xp later I got this (88mm KwK 43 L/71 as stock gun):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_028.jpg

With the 105mm KwK 46 L/68 from the KT2 (and its crew)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_030.jpg

About 50 000xp (suspension + new turret) later...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_031.jpg

Old turret

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_032.jpg

New Turret

Next...
The 128mm KwK 43 L/55 (63 000xp)
The 1200 HP Mayback engine (50 000xp)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_033.jpg

E-100 (183 000xp)... test over. not able to reach this goal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Husar

Why did you go with a 38 nA then? Couldn't you just go the heavy route and then switch over to mediums if that's where you're heading?

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I'm gunning for the Panther. And until I actually got the 38 nA, I had no way of knowing that it'd be the exact same experience with the A-20 in beta.

As for the rest...I explained in my last two posts that my problem is the gameplay with T4 lights is extremely boring, so saying I should hide behind heavy tanks and passively soak up XP isn't exactly ace advice. That sounds more boring than scouting.

As I said two posts ago: "it's just not fun." No amount of advice or rationalizing the design will change that. The whole idea that there should be specialized light scout tanks in the game is a sham when there are plenty of medium tanks who fulfill the role even better than the "scout" tanks do because they can actually defend themselves. This coupled with the fact that the maps are far too small and have too many narrow chokepoints to have effective scouting, and the whole idea becomes a joke. Its a flaw in the game that needs to be rectified. If the maps were actually designed like places where tanks would actually fight (and not like first person shooter maps), scouting with light tanks would actually serve a purpose in the game.

That said, I researched and bought a Hetzer and its 1,000x more fun than the POG deluxe 38 nA, especially with that ridiculous StuH cannon. I only wish it didn't move like a turtle, but since it looks like one I guess its fitting.

Haha, I see what you mean but you should go for russian mediums then as they're the only mediums that have some armour to speak of. :laugh4:
I'm not sure about german mediums after the next patch but currently their armour is rather low for the tiers they're in - with the exception of the VK3002DB - the Panther fields 80mm front armour against guns that penetrate 175mm and more, guess what happens if you just go in and don't hide behind heavies or buildings.
American mediums don't have any armour, I mean the few times my M4A3E8 actually bounces anything I just laugh at the enemy, but just yesterday my front got continually penetrated by, yes, a Panzer 38nA, while I was busy trying to get his bigger friends. :shrug:

Graphic...

With the new tank lines in the 0.6.6 you are headed towards the Maus with the Pz38 NA.
If you want to go with the German Mediums in the new patch, which will be launched very soon (they already released it for the Russian players) you should play:

Pz II -> Pz III Ausf. A -> Pz III -> Pz III/IV -> VK 3001 (H) -> Pz V Panther -> Panther II -> E-50

linky to tech tree.

new 0.6.6 trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcI7JsWGYl0&feature

That's actually the route I took to the Panther in the beta, just today I noticed they changed it and now they're changing it back, heh.

What happens when I get a reasonable match with the 38 nA:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59...A5CEDE3755AB3/

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59...1EB371EF577FB/

But thats an exception to the rule, and thankfully I should be rid of this thing later today with a bit of luck and some good old fashioned grinding.

No worries about the tech tree change; the next tank in line is the Panzer III/IV, so I'm still on track.

Well, there you go... top gun and everything. :thumbsup:

You better hurry, they will update the servers tomorrow to 0.6.6 and then your next tank will be PzIV instead of the PzIII/IV

I got it later that day so I'm good. Kept the 38 nA in case I want to grind the PzIV but I'm not sure yet.

Hated the III/IV at first but once I adjusted my play style, I like it a lot.

Also, this: http://worldofwarplanes.com/

Will be epic. American tech tree 100%. P-51 Mustang, F-86 Sabre, F6F Hellcat. Good stuff.

It says it goes all the way to Korean War era, in which case it'd be better if they just totally axe the nation-specific tech trees all together. Everyone but Americans and Russians would run out after WW2. I'd also love to try the Zero and Me-262 without grinding for days.

I hope the Warplanes game will have a loooong beta test.

Yeah, it'd give me ample time to convince them that 1930s biplanes shouldn't be cast as "scouts" in games with F-86s, which they're sure to do.

It would be so much fun if they kept all the biplanes together in matchmaking, I'd actually keep a really low level plane then.

1 year anniversary today...

It seems we get a premium account for a day free of charge
I am off to play....

And it says that we will also get a premium account for a week if we registered before this day runs out. Well.... I got my free one day account already. Let's see what happens next.

I got a free week because I registered before August 28th 2010 or so.

There are also all kinds of discounts, garage slots 50% off and 5x xp for the first victory a day etc.

Yeah... I saw too late that it was 2010.
I have only played this game since April... so I didn't get a week's worth of premium. And.... I spent exactly 2 hours playing with the premium and it is now gone.

I only got the free 24 hours, and because of that I've played more WoT in the past 24 hours than I'd care to admit. I got so much done:

Got 14k xp on the 38 nA again for the PzIV and promptly sold it.

Researched and bought Stug

Researched and bought VK 3001 (H) and just got the 88mm

Zipped through the BT-2 and BT-7 and bought an A-20 (I still want that T-34/85 I was striving for in beta). I probably could have grinded through the A-20 fairly quickly but I had to sleep :(

The T-34/85 is a foe to be reckoned with even when I play the IS. The next tank T-43 can be a formidable foe too. I lost to one the other day. I gave my best and I am sure he took 3 hits in the front with my top gun (fast 122mm). I saw him when I died and he had a mauled front between his turret and body.

In my opinion - that line of mediums are the best in the game. T-43, T44 and the epic T54.


In other news: there will be a World of Battleships. For a former naval man, this might be the most exiting news I have heard in a long time... :thumbsup:

Got the T-34. The 57mm machine gun is hilarious. Grinding through this to the T-34-85 won't be a grind at all.

The engine does feel weak to me but I'm sure a 100% driver will make it better.

I'm on a mission to collect all the iconic mediums, so after the T-34-85 and Panther, its time to get the Shermans.

Also if I can get confirmation that I'll at least break even as a standard player, I want the Porsche Tiger and the Pershing.

Anyone done any skin jobs on their tanks?

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...shot_002-1.jpg

Err, no, found it useless because I'd be the only one who can see it anyway.
Plus, with 0.7 they want to introduce camo patterns anyway, temporary ones for silver and permanent ones for gold.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sigurd

Anyone done any skin jobs on their tanks?

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...shot_002-1.jpg

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Funny you should mention that. I decided to give my T-34-85 the insignia a North Vietnamese one. I took a deep breath and decided to make a post for it.
Thankfully, people seem to like it: http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index....amese-t-34-85/

Before that I put a grid of swastikas on the hull of this skin, as like a scoreboard of how many Nazis my crew had slain. (It was 15)


Everything else I just get other people's skins from these two sites

http://mirtankov.net/

http://wotskins.wordpress.com/


I prefer realistic looking ones. Those anime skins make me want to gouge out my own eyes and flush them down the toilet.

Nice...

Taking a look at those sites, I lol'ed when seeing the Hello Kitty Löwe skin. I might just get it for the lulz. I don't have a Löwe, but it will fit those 12 500 gold, I am a rich n00b, monsters. I might just paint a swastika for every Löwe I have put on fire on the side of my IS.

We'll just ignore Husar's pessimistic views. The truth is that he doesn't know how to modify his tank skin... :sneaky:

Last night I finally got my P38nA, been trying to get as far as i can with their 1 year anniversary 7 day premium. Hoping to atleast get through p4 and start on my VK3601(H) before Friday.

Sigurd how do you do your custom skins? Do you use a specific program or can you pop open a skin file in photoshop and work the canvas?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Veho Nex

Sigurd how do you do your custom skins? Do you use a specific program or can you pop open a skin file in photoshop and work the canvas?

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I use Gimp. But it needs the DDS plugin to work. The Tank markings and the "camo" are two different files if you want to play around.

I added Polish and Syrian historical skins to that post as well. I'm especially proud of the Syrian one.

I think I found a new hobby.

The link if anyone missed it :D

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index....t-34-85-skins/

Also for fun I made TF2 voice packs. Only three so far. Heavy, Medic and Soldier, intended for use with their respective countries

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index....2-voice-packs/

It's spooky how well it fits. Also nice killing spree in the video.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Graphic

Also for fun I made TF2 voice packs. Only three so far. Heavy, Medic and Soldier, intended for use with their respective countries

http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index....2-voice-packs/

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This one you could sell... Hilarious. :beam:

My custom IS skin:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...shot_007-1.jpg

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_008.jpg

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y2...a/shot_009.jpg

I'm getting to the point where the money grind is much worse than the XP grind.

I'm on the verge of unlocking the Tiger (10k xp...a day and a half of solid play) but about a million credits away.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Graphic

I'm getting to the point where the money grind is much worse than the XP grind.

I'm on the verge of unlocking the Tiger (10k xp...a day and a half of solid play) but about a million credits away.

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Heh... same here.

I am getting close to unlocking the IS3 but I don't have the credits to buy it nor an available slot to put it in.
The IS is barely making money and I could say that it breaks even.
The ammo cost is what breaks my back. In really fun games with high tiered tanks you need to spend a few shells 'shooting them up' and the bill filling up your ammo storage will be in the 20k range. Then you need repairs...
I am also close to unlocking the SPG Panther which is more tempting, but I still need over a million to buy that baby.

Besides, as Husar has mentioned before (from Overlord's blog):

• KV will be separated into KV-1 and KV-2.
Players who have a KV in their garage at the time of the revision will have it replaced with a KV-1. The KV’s crew will be trained for the KV-1.
Additionally players who have researched KV-2’s turret for KV will get a KV-2 with an extra garage slot and the KV-2 will be assigned a 100% crew.
Undistributed experience from KV can be transferred to either KV-2 or to KV-1 on demand.
No additional refunds are planned.

• KV-3 moved to tier 7 and the introduction of T-150.
Players who have a KV-3 in their garage at the time of the revision will get a KV-3 in its new status with its existing module and research setup and its old crew. Additionally they will also get a T-150 with a stock setup, extra garage slot, and 100% crew.
No additional refunds are planned.

I am loath to get rid of my KV and KV-3 as they will be giving me two free slots if I keep them. I have the Pz IV which I might get rid off after I have researched the next non-SPG tank in either the medium line or the Heavy line. And my Hummel is just too fun to get rid off. I don't know what the SPG Panther ammo bill will be and I need at least one tank which is sure to make 10k plus in every game. That leaves me with no available slots for either the IS3 or the SPG Panther... until the KV and KV-3 updates kicks in.

Rant time....

Yeah, I do have a few complaints, but foremost is against the Löwe players.
You might say that it stems from envy of rich boys buying their way into high tiered games. Short answer: no. It is their arrogance and completely lack of understanding the game that bothers me.

AND... Yeah, the game balancer should not match Löwes against IS3. All though the tank might be as good, the players are not.
One recent game just proves this:

I got into a game where two Löwe were the top tanks ... and they were matched against two IS3 on the opponent team. We had two IS (one was myself) and generally low tiered tanks in the other matchups.
It was the El Halluf map facing south (linky to WoT maps) and normally the heavies take the west route (to our right). Only I and the other IS did so. And yes we encountered a couple of mediums and our Tiger counterparts. But (no kidding) somehow the Löwes went down into the valley playing scouts and "hid" in the city which duly got them hammered to tuna cans. On which the enemy apparently rushed afterwards across the valley and knocked out the rest. They knew our IS was engaged in the west. 5 minutes into the game and it was only myself and my IS companion left on our team. We had about 2-3 kills each. But the rest of our team had 0... which meant - surrounded by all sorts of small calibre and the two IS3. I took out one of the IS3 in a dance of the heavies (getting the other tank to bounce their shots on your hull). But I got shot too many times by unseen enemy and finally succumbed to tungsten poisoning.

Sometimes I feel like shooting up our Löwe just to save the enemy the trouble. Yes there are capable Löwe players out there, but they are in minority.
The only positive thing I can say about the Löwe players is: I smile when I encounter an enemy one and "dance" with him/her. I have 5 german marks on the front hull of my IS. They are all Löwe 1 on 1 kills. :beam:

To finish my argument:
Players greatly benefit from grinding their way from the bottom to the top tiers. They also greatly benefit from playing different types of tanks. I have a unique view of how to play artillery and know where those usually hides and that they need protection from fast moving light or medium tanks. If you spot a fast mover, don't let it pass you thinking it is not a threat to your invincible armour. It is not you he is looking for. The only type of tank I have not played are the Tank Destroyers. I don't know much about what their day to day struggles are. Only thing I know is that if they are "tracked" they are usually dead. (I took out an Object 704 with my Hummel by first tracking it and circumvent it and wait for reload.. it was too slow :sneaky: )

Yeah it's not the fact that its a premium tank that annoys me, its just that it seems like most Lowe players are new and bought it while they were in Tier 3, so they have no idea really how to play the game correctly (with any tank, let alone a T8 heavy).

I might get one some day though just because I hear they're excellent credit farmers.