Online Tank battles

[RendeR]

I've been sucked into "World of Tanks" for almost 2 months now. Its simple enough, start with a tier 1 tank, earn experience and credits to build it up and move to bigger and better tanks.

Its a "Free"-mium system where you can play for free but there are benefits and addons you can get for paying cash. They are not necessary to enjoy the game or even be very successful however.

Its quite entertaining!

Let me know if you play and we can trade userID's I'm RendeR18 in game.

World of Tanks — Free Online Game (http://worldoftanks.com/)

[Apathetic Lurker]

I love this game but if you use cash it can get expensive...lol

[RendeR]

I love this game but if you use cash it can get expensive...lol


Indeed its a good thing I don't have any cash to spend!!! Whats yer ID on there I'll add you to my freinds list!

[saldana]

mine is saldana...still loading all the updates, so it will be a while

[BrianD]

I'm installing now.

[Butch2522]

downloading tonight as well, been looking for a new free game since i got bored with league of legends... user id is ignignoktt

[MacroGuru]

The laptop in it's current state won't run it, but I might be getting a new present from someone that will...

[BrianD]

My laptop doesn't do a great job with it, but it does run. 3 games in, haven't hit anything yet.

[RendeR]

Whats your userid on there BrianD?

[RendeR]

I've been playing for over 2k battles total I think, I've started trying to work my efficiency levels up on the tanks I dropped a while back so that I can have a better overall record/efficiency score.

[saldana]

got everything installed, but the graphics are jacked up...i cant actually play...this must be a beast of a game considering this laptop is only 2 years old and can play Mist of Pandaria with no issues at all.

[saldana]

dola, i am installing on my desktop rig, so i will try later to get into it

[RendeR]

WOw I didn't realize it was that heavy on teh graphics end. I've got tons of things turned off or down just to make game play faster (aiming tracking etc etc) Mines not the highest end rig either but it plays. Hope you can find a way to make it work Sal!

[BrianD]

Whats your userid on there BrianD?

I am BrianD73. Thanks for recommending this game. I've been playing it quite a bit. There is enough of me getting by butt kicked and me kicking butt to allow me to have fun while still making me think and strategize when I am away from the game.

[Glengoyne]

I'm joining the list of newb tankers. This is fun, yet I haven't a clue as to what I'm doing.

[RendeR]

Just some basic tactics:

Do not sit in teh open, find some brush, sit next to a rock or a building. if you are accesible from the enemies direction their artillary will shred you.

Don't rush in, move from cover to cover or better yet, spend a few games watching where others go on each map. make a note of the spots people use most and use them yourself.

Aim for the hull near the tracks if possible. Try to hit a flat vertical surface for best penetration.

TD >> Heavy >> Medium >> Light >> Artillery >> TD Learn this, its a life saving system.

Try to stay grouped up with others. If you go it alone most of the time you just end up a dead distraction. Stay in groups of 2-4 tanks.

Read the forums regarding tactics and maps, tons of good info there to help you build your skillset.

I don't suggest getting rid of any tank you get because its a huge net loss in costs overall. Even when you fill your basic garage slots the 300 gold that you need for new slots over time is worth it to keep your tanks around. Over time you can use your older tanks to help grind out XP points towards the tanks you really want to use.


I'm RendeR18 on there I hope to see some of you at some point!


"You can be immobile, or you can be intact, never both"

[BrianD]

Definitely read the Wiki and strategy pages. This is very much a team game (though plenty of people don't get that) and it should be played like one. My favorite part of this game is being in a group of 4 tanks and seeing a lone tank come our way.

Learning where to aim on a tank is huge, as is learning the relative strengths of the tanks. Your game play will need to change based on the competition. Some games you won't be able to hurt anyone, other games nobody will be able to hurt you. Knowing how the game sets up in the beginning will determine how you need to play the game.

[Glengoyne]

I'm still having a blast at this. 250 battles in, and I suck. I have about a 43% win rate, a little over 50% in my best tanks. That last little bit is what I tell myself to focus on =).

I feel like I'm now starting to get some real situational awareness. As in, I'm starting to see the mini map play out before me, and I'm understanding what is about to happen.

Last night on one of the beginning maps, the one with the row of barns(which my side was defending), I was in the top third of the tiering with my M3 Stuart. I saw that we lost the battle on the hill. So I retreated from a four on one and alerted my team. I hid and let the enemy approach, until we evened the numbers. At that point I rolled out and went on the offensive. I took out three guys real quickly, and then hunted down one that got away. At that point my adrenaline was running, it was two on two...and then suddenly one on one. Well actually in my head it was one on one. So when I finished literally parked and finished off the last enemy artillery, I raised my arms in victory only to be really surprised when the "other" guy that I thought was dead rammed me to end the game. I'm sure it was a glorious moment for him, but I'm left thinking that if I'd only retained the calm I had in the mid game that I would have easily prevailed in the end game.

This game rocks!

[RendeR]

I've got over 2300 battles in on one account and my early game play was so horrible that I'm still barely average in overall efficiency.

I started a second account to just see how much better I've become and to see how tanks compared under my control when used evenly.

I took 1 tank from teir 1 from each country and played 10 battles, then went to teir 2 and did teh same, then teir 3 and so on. When I get 10 battles in I buy a new tank and move along with it.

My efficiency on the second account is almost 1400 (quite good!) and my win rate is just under 60% overall.

Love the game, which to god the artillery wasn't so effing broken.

[BrianD]

I'm still trying to figure out my play style to know what kind of tank to use. I mostly use TD/Medium, but I often feel like I am weaker than my counterparts on the other team. Tanks seem much tougher when it is not me driving them.

[BrianD]

I finally had my first real dominating game. I was in a Matilda and ended up with the Top Gun medal and the Steel Wall medal. It was a painfully slow crawl through the desert, but I got enough support that everybody fell before me. Over 1k damage dealt, and over 2k potential damage on my 370hp tank. Nearly 1k xp and over 17k credits. Happily it was also my first win of the day, so I got the xp doubled. Time to ride this wave into a crushing defeat in the next match.

[Icy]

Enjoying this a lot after my first 100 battles, still also deciding my play style, seems what i enjoy the least is to be a light/scout.

[RendeR]

I tend to be a hated "camper" unless I'm in a tank I know can take a pounding. I'm really starting to enjoy the heavies in the teir 7-8 range.

[BrianD]

I tend to be a hated "camper" unless I'm in a tank I know can take a pounding. I'm really starting to enjoy the heavies in the teir 7-8 range.

I'm not sure I get why they are so hated. I get it if people are hiding behind the base and not moving out at all, but most tanks need to get the first shot to survive. Build a tank wall and take out the suckers who outrun their heavy support. I either camp as far forward as I can get without being seen, or I camp behind the moving shield of a heavy.

[Glengoyne]

I too have struggled with the role of running a light tank. The M5 Stuart is just a real pain. I'm entirely dependent on my team, as I can't kill anything. The best I can do is hide, and hope to find a late route through the enemy to the soft underbelly of the artillery. I'm not too good at that, 25ish battles with 1 kill.


I'll also add that I've found artillery to be pretty fun and satisfying. That said, if a light from the other team gets through, I'm toast. I am developing my own sixth sense for when I'm in trouble as artillery though.

[Peregrine]

Well I have gotten started in WoT too - don't really know what I am doing but I got a kill in my first battle, so that was fun.

[Peregrine]

My username in game is Peregrine23 btw.

[RendeR]

I'll keep my eyes open. I've been on WoT a little less lately as I finally got an invitation to the open beta of World of Warplanes. Its good, but it is still very "beta"

I'm RendeR18 on both hopefully I won't blow you off the map when I find you ;)

[thesloppy]

Someone pointed me to War Thunder (http://warthunder.com/) just yesterday, as a competitor to World of Warplanes. It feels a bit more polished....but man do I suck.

[RendeR]

Warthunder has been around longer, but when its done WoWP will be suprior, and world of warships is due to closed beta in teh fall.

Once all three are running they are going to develop a combo game where there are elements of all 3 in each battle.

[RendeR]

For teh record I suck at warplanes too. Never really had teh coordination to be a pilot.

[Peregrine]

Absolutely loving this game so far - so many options to play with - so far I am focusing on the Soviet and French trees - love the French tier 3 TD.

[Glengoyne]

Just completed my 1000th battle yesterday.

My win rate is still only 45%, but that is a couple of points better than I was at 500 battles.

I'm liking the Sherman of late, but I've got a lot of battles in the t40 TD and the M3 Stuart as well.

I ground through to the ELC AMX, which I have discovered isn't as easy to drive around as it looks. I'm working on the t28, which will put me in a KV-1 for some heavy tank experience.

Glengoyne559

[Peregrine]

Still playing the hell out of this game - not yet to 1000 battles, but I have 850 or so - up to Tier 6 in the French TD line and I just bought the Tier 8 premium JagdTiger 8.8 which is a lot of fun to play. I also joined a clan I really like - 3RDAC. Bunch of really nice people who aren't obsessed with being elite like so many clans.

[Glengoyne]

Definitely still enjoying this one.

I went up the Soviet line to get to the KV-1, and ended up discovering a few things I like.

First on the list is accurate and rapid firing guns. The T-28 is a great example. The 57mm cannon is smaller than other options, but 85 damage every 2.4 seconds really adds up fast. I see it all the time, when I hit someone. I think they look down and say oh 80 damage, that isn't so bad. By the time they have thought that, I've already hit them again. Then again before they actually react. A lot of fun. This leads to a sniping style of play, as the T-28 really can't take any damage. I read in a guide for the tank "As a target it is as big as an RV, with only slightly less armor".

This has led me to head up the T-34 line, because it uses the same gun and it actually has some armor as well. In going to the T-34, I found a couple of light tanks that I really enjoy as well. I'm going to keep the new T-80, because I seem to "get" it now. Although that wasn't the case for the first 50 or so battles.

The KV-1 is great, but I'm not good with it. I haven't figured out how to dish out the damage AND not die. That said, it is a bunch of fun as well.

[Peregrine]

I've been playing the KV-1 for a bit, and just got the KV-1S. The KV-1 can take a beating, but it will definitely die quickly if you try to take on multiple tanks - how I try to do it is get in a close range battle, but stay under cover, let the arty knock the enemies down a bit then I move in and try to finish them off. The 122m gun can do excellent damage but is very inaccurate - so I haven't had much luck with that one.

[Glengoyne]

I just cruised through 2700 battles. My overall win rate is about 48%, and over the last two months just a shade over 50%.

I've found when I concentrate on a vehicle that fits my style, I'm able to up that win rate to 55% or so. My style in most tanks is sniping. I really like the russian T-28, T-34, and the newish T-80. Those and the KV-1, which I'm not really sniping with, but it is just a beast at tier V. Those first three tanks all have very accurate rapid firing guns. With that in mind, I've worked my way up the German tanks to try out the VK36.01H, so far without much success. But I'm only 15 battles in, and I've learned over time that it really takes me a while to get a tank to "work for me".

There is something about this game, that keeps me sucked in. I think it is the quick resolution. One way or another this fight is going to end in the next ten minutes, and generally much faster than that.

Last night I had a game that typifies what I love about the game. It was battle 450 in my t-28, and I held the bridge on the Mountain Pass map. It suits my sniping style. I ran one tank off and faced off with a hetzer trying to lob HE at me for most of the fight. At some point the teams were even, and I decided to kill me a hetzer. So I ran up toward the bridge and sniped him for the kill. Late in the battle, even teams, the bridge was cleared, so I figured to charge the enemy flag and cause some trouble. Well about half way across the bridge, my wife who is watching tells me "Oh it's just you and another guy". Somewhere in the past 30 seconds, my team had evaporated. We were down two to five. My sixth sense went off, and I saw that I had two tanks closing in on me and that another enemy had just started to cap. In the next 45 seconds lots of things happened. I finished off four enemy tanks in rapid succession, all were beaten up and charging in at me for the kill. During this time, I saw that my partner was closing in on the cap...In my mind, he was going to reset the guy capping and we'd have a really good shot if I survived. Well I did survive....then I saw that he wasn't approaching our cap for the reset. He had started capping himself. I just started charging hard for our base to get the reset. I rolled into the northern valley with six seconds to spare. Only to find the last guy tucked in tight behind the boxes and supplies in the center of our cap. I went wide, took a full speed moving shot, and missed. Game Over.

At which point my wife looked at me and said "You didn't run over the stuff at the beginning of the fight did you?" "Arrrgh!"

Ya gotta love this game.

[Coffee Warlord]

On a similar note...I've tried both World of Warplanes and War Thunder. (Effectively identical to World of Tanks, just with planes).

War Thunder is better in my mind - where tanks seemed to work at being quasi realistic, warplanes is just *really* arcadey. War Thunder can be quite amusing, though.

[thesloppy]

I really enjoy War Thunder, but it can devolve into ram'em jam'em fun time pretty quickly. Despite the more arcadey nature, both the plan games required meticulously fine-tuning my controls for seemingly hours, before I felt like it was an enjoyable experience, which isn't a problem with World of Tanks.

[MacroGuru]

I have been playing. Macroguru is my name, I have been loving my AT 8, Cromwell and Matilda. I take and dish out so much damage i am racking up an avg of 45k in silver every match.

And I am hooked.

[RendeR]

I am thrilled to see so many people really enjoying this game!

Should I start an FOFC Clan? I'm in one now but its just there for name and label..I've never played a game with my clanmates. Might as well have my own and people can join in.

[thesloppy]

Last time I fired up my 360 there was an ad for an xbox beta version of WoT. I signed up, but won't count on getting picked for the beta. I love the idea of WoT on the 360, as my computer can just barely run it, and I like the idea of everybody being on a level playing field, as far as CPU/controller goes. Anybody hear anything else, or have any experience with the 360 beta?

[RendeR]

It hasn't been opened as yet, as far as I've seen. I signed up for it as soon as the registration page opened. Hopefully I'll get into teh beta.

Some rumors about teh 360 version:

No premiums at all to start, no gold at all until the transaction engine is completed, no word on where thats at at this point)

No interaction between PC players and 360 players, entirely different set of servers (not sure I believe this one but its been pretty persistent)

[RendeR]

Bah, leaving a clan blocked me from joining another for 48 hours. I'll create one then.

Name suggestions? (Must be 1-5 characters)
*FOF*
FOFC
FOF-C
FRONT
#FOF#
FOF=-

suggestions welcome.

[RendeR]

Hrmm mabe I should name the clan TROUT


thoughts?

[MacroGuru]

Hrmm mabe I should name the clan TROUT


thoughts?

I like Trout....FOFC is fine as well..

[Glengoyne]

I love me some TROUT. Of course, I'll join clan FOFC just as readilly.

Does the server matter? I'm logging into the "NA West" server now by default, which I think is a new option.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Am I the only one having issues logging in?

[BrianD]

I haven't been playing the game lately, but I am more likely to jump back in if we have a clan. Not always playing alone would be nice.

[thesloppy]

Am I the only one having issues logging in?

My launcher has been stuck updating at 99% for like the last week, and I assume I could rectify that problem by just re-downloading and installing the entire package...but I'm too lazy.

[RendeR]

There are some issues with the NA east server during login. I had trouble 1 time and did a flush on my IP and things worked fine after that.

I don't think the server matters for clans, but I could be wrong. if you can't find TROUT or get my invite then perhaps trying the NA East server will make it work.

Playing together is definitely better as Macro and I have found. Platooning really helps survivability...well unless you rush headlong into the enemy like we do on occasion.


I think I'll go with TROUT. Post your userid's again for me and I'll send out invites once the thing is set up.

[RendeR]

Clan TROUT has been created and I've sent a bunch of invitations out.

Peregrin is already in a clan so he would have to elave it (and wait 48 hours) before joining ours. Anyone who hasn't gotten an invite simply search for TROUT and apply and I'll sign you up!

[Apathetic Lurker]

My launcher has been stuck updating at 99% for like the last week, and I assume I could rectify that problem by just re-downloading and installing the entire package...but I'm too lazy.

I finally went back to the game because my connection improved after 6 months, updated it, played it for a few hours and when I came back it was stuck on the update again.....sigh

So I guess I need to flush everything and reinstall....Or keep being lazy and play Guild Wars II since I bought it for Christmas and could only now install and play...decisions,decisions

[MacroGuru]

I accepted, I will be on tonight after I get home to game.

[BrianD]

Do you guys use mics and chat while you are playing, or just stick together and type comments?

[RendeR]

Macro and I just text chat. I don't have a headset that works on my PC, not sure if the one I have for the xbox might work on the laptop..I'll have to try that out, it would be far easier to actually talk to people.

[RendeR]

Nope, xbox gear doesn't work on the PC so I'm a text only guy.

[RendeR]

Usually what We do is within that 30 second countdown we'll discuss what and where we will go. if we're using different styles of vehicle we just do our own thing like if he's using arty and I'm not then I'll go out spotting for him and he'll hide n fire.

Otherwise we just run together and knock out tanks at the same time.

[MacroGuru]

I received Beta invite for 360 today...it's for the weekend. Unfortunately, I will only be able to play it on the 360 Sunday night.

[RendeR]

Its running now macro, i just messed with it a bit. Frankly, its a serious step backward from the PC game but the kids will enjoy it.

Controls will take forever to get used to. Its very early in the Beta yet so I hope some of the things I saw will be corrected.

I bought my stuggIII and went through the upgrades and ended up with the shittier of the guns and now I can't go back to the derp gun that I enjoy best.

[Glengoyne]

I go by glengoyne559. Drop me an invite, and I'll join. It may be a few days before I'm on again as I'm away from home

[Glengoyne]

Hey,

I'm in, and loving it. Now we need one of our resident graphic artists to give clan TROUT a logo.

A fish or a football? A fish with a football?

[Peregrine]

Good luck with the clan guys - I'm pretty happy with my current clan at the moment, and will probably stay in it, but there's some turmoil so if something happens then I'd definitely be happy to move to TROUT.

My username is Peregrine23 - in 3RDAC clan - be glad to platoon with any of you guys if you are around (PC version.)

[thesloppy]

Yo, I'd love to get in on the TROUT clan action. My username: thesloppy

[Glengoyne]

Cool I got on a few hours over this past week, but seemed to be missing other folks. Hopefully this next weekend and week I'll get back to my obsessive play habits.

I know I've played with and against render and peregrine before, but usually only at the end of the game when it is too late to talk.

[gstelmack]

GRCurmudgeon now signed up, having a blast. Finally starting to figure out research and crew management.

[Peregrine]

How's everything going with you guys in WOT? I'm still playing it far too much, and recently got my first tier 10 tank. I've joined the KOOL clan, which is Kool-Aid- pretty decent folks. Give me a yell on Peregrine23 if you want to platoon anytime.

[MacroGuru]

It kept crashing on me, I just uninstalled and will reinstall it tonight and well get back into playing.

I started playing World of Warplanes last night...

[Glengoyne]

I'm still playing. I'm the west coast trout.

This weekend was frustrating as I only ran about a 40% win rate. I ran into half a dozen or so really potent platoons. Very skilled guys really working together. A brutal weekend.

Here are my stats. I'm ever so slowly improving. I've got some tier 7 tanks, all heavies, T29, KV-3, and an IS. All pretty new to me though.

http://wotlabs.net/sig_dark/na/glengoyne559/signature.png

[Peregrine]

Anyone else installed the World of Tanks Assistant on their smartphones? Quick way to get stats, plus you can compare your numbers with your friends, etc.