World of Tanks

[haard]

Just got the 107 for the KV, since I decided to keep it until the KV patch - and sweet mother of the unicorn, it's a reaper. As top tank, one-shot everything. As bottom tank, decent support sniper and scout killer.

[xthetenth]

Sweet jumping jesus. Just put the ugly-as-fuck schmallturm on the Pz4 after choking down the bile that rose at seeing it on the functional design of the tank. Then I stuck the 75mm L/70 in the thing and hit battle.

Tearing shit up. I was even penetrating IS3's.

I still loathe the goddamed thing. It's ugly as sin, has a glacial traverse speed and is so goddamed heavy it's impacting my dash speed and turns. But it can pack that gun...

Now I'm torn between the 3601 and 3001(H).

You want the 3001 (H). The tech tree change is going to happen imminently, making it the quickest way to the high tier German mediums, and it's basically a fast Pz IV with the dark helmet turret. The VK 3601 (H) is going to become a heavy tank, and it's already a slower tank with heavier armor. However, and this is very important, DO IT NOW. The tech tree change is going to make the VK 3001 (H) unreachable from the Pz IV, and the VK 3001 (P) is going to lead only to the Porsche Tiger.

Just got the 107 for the KV, since I decided to keep it until the KV patch - and sweet mother of the unicorn, it's a reaper. As top tank, one-shot everything. As bottom tank, decent support sniper and scout killer.

Yep, it's also the reason the KV-3 is a considerably more enjoyable and profitable grind. The KV-1S doesn't have it, so it has to use the 122 howitzer and then the 122 D-2-5T, which eats credits for its ammo costs and has worse dps for not much more alpha. The real reason to get a KV-1S is to get a KV-13 and get into Russian mediums at a high tier, but that's kind of self defeating since you miss the T-34 which is one of the best and get plunked straight into a T-43, The which is okayish and sucks hard stock. The real killer though is that you won't be able to unlock the 100mm D10T, which means that you'll have to deal with either the IS or the T-43 with an 85 that just doesn't have much penetration for a good while. The IS can at least mount it stock though. All this plus a free garage slot add to me recommending a KV-3 even if you grind the KV-1S.

[Agent Sorchus]

Sweet jumping jesus. Just put the ugly-as-fuck schmallturm on the Pz4 after choking down the bile that rose at seeing it on the functional design of the tank. Then I stuck the 75mm L/70 in the thing and hit battle.

Tearing shit up. I was even penetrating IS3's.

I still loathe the goddamed thing. It's ugly as sin, has a glacial traverse speed and is so goddamed heavy it's impacting my dash speed and turns. But it can pack that gun...

Now I'm torn between the 3601 and 3001(H).

You want the 3001 (H). The tech tree change is going to happen imminently, making it the quickest way to the high tier German mediums, and it's basically a fast Pz IV with the dark helmet turret. The VK 3601 (H) is going to become a heavy tank, and it's already a slower tank with heavier armor. However, and this is very important, DO IT NOW. The tech tree change is going to make the VK 3001 (H) unreachable from the Pz IV, and the VK 3001 (P) is going to lead only to the Porsche Tiger.

Just got the 107 for the KV, since I decided to keep it until the KV patch - and sweet mother of the unicorn, it's a reaper. As top tank, one-shot everything. As bottom tank, decent support sniper and scout killer.

Yep, it's also the reason the KV-3 is a considerably more enjoyable and profitable grind. The KV-1S doesn't have it, so it has to use the 122 howitzer and then the 122 D-2-5T, which eats credits for its ammo costs and has worse dps for not much more alpha. The real reason to get a KV-1S is to get a KV-13 and get into Russian mediums at a high tier, but that's kind of self defeating since you miss the T-34 which is one of the best and get plunked straight into a T-43, The which is okayish and sucks hard stock. The real killer though is that you won't be able to unlock the 100mm D10T, which means that you'll have to deal with either the IS or the T-43 with an 85 that just doesn't have much penetration for a good while. The IS can at least mount it stock though. All this plus a free garage slot add to me recommending a KV-3 even if you grind the KV-1S.

How soon would you say the KV update is? 'Cause I'm 6k short of the KV-3 and without premium I don't know how long it will take to grind it out.

[xthetenth]

How soon would you say the KV update is? 'Cause I'm 6k short of the KV-3 and without premium I don't know how long it will take to grind it out.

Not very. We're getting the German tanks first (which is why I was saying Laan should go for the VK 3001 (H) immediately if he wants it since it no longer can be unlocked from the Pz 4 after that update), and then if I remember right some US heavy updates and the IS-4 going to tier X (which I think at first will be a matter of its replacement being slotted in and leading to both it and the IS-7) and the rest of the Russian changes, the second TD trees for everybody and the French tanks a decent bit in the future and kind of dependent on the progress of the various work teams.

My guess is that the KV will take a bit over a month worst case and likely more, since they seem to be updating every month and the August patch is already confirmed to be only German tanks. 6k xp should be fine, you can get it with daily doubles alone if you want. The credits aren't even much of a concern since you're in a tier V, and they make a lot without giving muck back. The real killer for credit gain is 105+ mm guns other than the KV's 107 and high tier tanks' repair bills. 1000 creds a shell hurts, but at least the Russians get good damage out of their shells.

[xthetenth]

Naturally, the edit deadline is done and I find the patch notes for the next patch. Also, the most recent poll resulted in a majority wanting new game modes (50%) so hopefully we'll see them soon. New tanks and improved physics got about 25% each. Hopefully we'll be seeing some of the new game modes Overlord was talking about here.

Also, more importantly for Scorchus and the rest of us with a KV growing cobwebs in our garage, the tanks order seems to be different from what I was guessing:

Initial package of French tanks comes this Fall then HT USSR, TD USSR, TD Germany lines are going to be expanded.

However I'm not sure where the IS-4 is going to fall since I've seen pics of the replacement and they were talking about replacing it in this patch before it had to get passed up. It's also practically a singularity of TEH RAEG, so it'd be a good call to move it soon. Also, the M103 is getting slotted in soon, it's already modelled (hooray!) so there's a precedent for a single tank change getting slipped in around these bigger things.

Anyway, patch notes here. A few things that caught my eye:
-Free platoons for two players. Awesome, means that you can get together on a non-premium account with somebody at least. Driving alone sucks, and should be avoided whenever possible.
-New German heavies bears comment regardless of what's already been said, a Porsche Tiger with stupid high frontal armor (around 200 in a lot of it if I read right), a VK4502 Ausf A which apparently has the same engines as the Ausf B but is 27 tons lighter, the E-75 and the E-100, with the damage of the 155 on the T30 but less penetration and more HP to make a really good brawler, and unlike the Maus, can do 30 kph to get in battle quickly. More info here.
-Increased Wolverine and Slugger credit gain, hooray creds.
-Engine power boost consumable for the E-series, +15% engine power for one or two minutes.
-A few bugfixes and the ability to not get platoon invites from randoms.

[Mr. Coffee]

So last night I got another nine kill topgun medal, this time with my T32 (last time I did it with an M7 Priest. Yeah, a nine kill match with an SPG). Map was Komarin, was platooned with Xthetenth (he was driving an IS-3), we spawned north end of the map which gave us CAP II to defend and CAP I to take. We did our usual schtick for that end of the map, heading east at match start, crossing the bridge, and forming up at the foot of the ridge line to the side of the buildings. THen we noticed a KV and a few other tanks trying to push to capture CAP II and we moved south to crush faces. Turns out there was also a KV-5 down there, along with some dipstick in an M7 and another tank I can be aresed to remember. We hit the first KV, fred knocked the hell out of it and I killed it, then we engaged the KV-5 who was nice enough to keep his front to us so we could pound the shit out of the R2D2 weak spot on his front. While that was happening I was taking some fire from the other KV and Tenth was getting shot to hell from some guys on the center of the map. Popped the KV-5, Tenth dies screening me from as much fire as his hull could take, and I finish the other KV while taking a lot of fire form the guys on the center of the map. Broke contact with them behind a building and kept plodding south into the forest in the south east corner of the map and creeped a little west.

From this point on I didn't really move at for the rest of the match as there's a couple of outstanding hull down positions in the wester edge of the southeast corner forest. rest of the team got spots for me for the guys on the Island (pair of Lowes and a Jpanzer IV, killed all three, bringing me up to six dead assholes), and back south of CAP I was wounded Jpanzer IV, two KV-3s, and an IS-3 that we attempting to defend the cap. Killed one of the KV-3s, then the Jpanzer IV, and ended the map by killing the IS-3 (could have been a 10 kill match, but someone decided to kills teal one of the KV-3s on me). Good match and I think it was due to a combination of the enemies on the center and defending the opposite CAP not paying attention to their flanks, Tenth giving me good target calls (protip, if you're in a plt and you die, switch your view to looking over your platoonmate so you can call target direction/range for them, two sets of eyes is better than one), and the T32 just being a damn tough and accurate tank. Ended the match with a nine kill topgun, a steel wall, and almost 2/3rds the enemy team wondering why their assholes were so sore. So if anyone ever give you shit about driving US heavies, tell them to look up the stats for Tenth and me, we do things with US teir 7 though 9 heavies that are just plain wrong and possibly illegal in several countries. US Hevaies driven by good drivers are pretty much Armored Rape in a Can.

Good times.

[Zinegata]

The L70 is generally the best gun for the Mk IV. It does decent damage, and it's accurate enough to target specific weakspots in the rare cases you have penetration issues. The 105mm by contrast simply has too many issues with the Mk IV chassis (lower maneuverability and turret traverse than a Sherman), while the smaller guns just makes you little different from Mk III/IV.

I am rather torn between the 105mm and the L/70 on the Stug though. The Stug is shockingly fast and maneuverable enough to give a derp surprise to enemies, but the advantages of its high camo makes the L70 pretty solid.

[haard]

Victory!
Battle: Mountain Pass den 27 juli 2011 08:40:22
Vehicle: KV
Experience received: 2 062
Credits received: 45 034
Battle Achievements: Steel Wall

I was called a cheater for that one - I was in the lower part of the roster and had six kills and 2HP at the end...

[xthetenth]

The L70 is generally the best gun for the Mk IV. It does decent damage, and it's accurate enough to target specific weakspots in the rare cases you have penetration issues. The 105mm by contrast simply has too many issues with the Mk IV chassis (lower maneuverability and turret traverse than a Sherman), while the smaller guns just makes you little different from Mk III/IV.

I am rather torn between the 105mm and the L/70 on the Stug though. The Stug is shockingly fast and maneuverable enough to give a derp surprise to enemies, but the advantages of its high camo makes the L70 pretty solid.

This post in its entirety is why I dislike the Pz IV. The Pz IV is a carrying device for the L/70 or overshadowed by other tanks. If you want to keep it mobile, why aren't you playing a Pz III/IV? If you want a howitzer the sight of a Sherman which keeps its maneuverability and speed will make you want to fellate a gun. Really the only thing it has is that stupid turret and that gun. The StuG on the other hand has choices. Choices are good. It's a more flexible tank with each of its guns. The Sherman has two options both of which are as flexible as the Pz IV if not more so, the T-34 has the choice between the 57 and the 85, both of which are good guns with tradeoffs, the Su-85 is agile and fast enough to double as an assault gun, and the Wolverine can mount a howitzer and a 76 and play at being a tank or a TD in turn (it's as good a tank as a schmallturm Pz IV), and I'm not sure about the M7, but fast tanks have a lot more options, like scouting and the like.

[haard]

and I'm not sure about the M7, but fast tanks have a lot more options, like scouting and the like.

The M7 with the 6pdr is awesome; run it as a (too big) scout and skirmisher when low in the roster, own everything and never stop when on top. That gun is insane when not in matches were the penetration doesn't cut it.

[xthetenth]

and I'm not sure about the M7, but fast tanks have a lot more options, like scouting and the like.

The M7 with the 6pdr is awesome; run it as a (too big) scout and skirmisher when low in the roster, own everything and never stop when on top. That gun is insane when not in matches were the penetration doesn't cut it.

Good to know, I just haven't been able to summon up the willpower to grind through the M5 stuart for it and it alone when my T34, Slugger and IS-3 are begging for grinding, my Pershing is begging to be driven (the Pershing is an amazing tank, and if you want a medium get it, no joke, it's a good gunnery platform, quick, got a bit of armor and agile with a nice collection of HP), and my T-43 is pestering me to run with Coffee's T20 so it can grow up to be a Pershing, and I've got an SU-152 waiting to be bought even though the T25 is making that look unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Also, how's the Pz 3/4? The way the tech tree is looking, I'll be able to get that in the Pz 3, and I'm a bit tempted to ride that into the German mediums rather than the Pz 4. Is it good, considering I really like the T-34 and E8 for their speed?

[Zinegata]

I loved my M7, but I have to point out that it's not a great tank by any means.

The main issue is its inability to inflict damage. I once killed a Ferdi at 47% with an M7... but the Ferdi still took nearly 2 whole minutes to die even though I was ramming shells up its ass at point-blank range. Some of the shells were still bouncing.

This is further aggravated by how the 6 pounder's penetration seems to taper off a lot in medium/long range. It's really not a faster-firing 76mm with less damage. It's really a short-range "dagger" which relies on the "death by a thousand cuts" principle.

The speed and maneuverability are excellent however. Use it to pick off stragglers or kill lone tanks without support. Trying to sabre dance against a group of enemies is NOT recommended. Your armor and HP are too poor for any serious brawling.

[Thunderfire]

I'm not sure about the M7, but fast tanks have a lot more options, like scouting and the like.

M7 is a fast and agile tank with two fast firing guns with bad/below average penetration. A fully upgraded M7 is a good arty and TD hunter. A stock M7 is the worst tank in the game.

[Thunderfire]

I just looked at the statistic of the EU server. I noticed that

TD are the best class if you want a lot of win. All american TD have a win ratio of 50% or greater.
Heavy tanks are the worst class of you want a lot of win. All heavy tanks below tier 10 have a win ratio below 50%.


Best light tank T2 light(non prem: Leopard) worst A-20
Best medium S35(non prem: M26) worst M7
Best TD T95 worst StuG III
Best Arty GW Type E worst Su-18
Best Heavy Maus worst KV-5(non prem: Tiger)
Best Tank T-95 worst tank KV-5(non prem: Tiger)
Best Tree US TD worst Tree US Heavy( 5 tanks have a win ratio below 48%)

[spaceviking]

Just got my Panzer 4 the 75 mm KwK 42 L/70, went from being my least favorite to one of my favorites.

[xthetenth]

I just looked at the statistic of the EU server. I noticed that

TD are the best class if you want a lot of win. All american TD have a win ratio of 50% or greater.
Heavy tanks are the worst class of you want a lot of win. All heavy tanks below tier 10 have a win ratio below 50%.


Best light tank T2 light(non prem: Leopard) worst A-20
Best medium S35(non prem: M26) worst M7
Best TD T95 worst StuG III
Best Arty GW Type E worst Su-18
Best Heavy Maus worst KV-5(non prem: Tiger)
Best Tank T-95 worst tank KV-5(non prem: Tiger)
Best Tree US TD worst Tree US Heavy( 5 tanks have a win ratio below 48%)

I'm hoping for a buff to the US Heavies then =p. I'm guessing the T29 and T30 are the ones with the best win rates? Two of my US heavies (T29 and T32) are above 50% and the T34 and T1 Heavy are both sucking at 40% and 43% respectively, so it's a bit of a mixed bag (although most of those T34 games were with the stock gun so I was liable to be in a match with an IS-4 nobody could hurt).

The strange bit though is that my heavy tanks are all over the place (my IS and IS-3 are at 60% and 56%, with the KVs at about 50% for a near even win rate if you don't count that I've played my Tier VII and VIII heavies the most), but my TD win percentage utterly sucks. My highest tier TD with a 50% win rate is well below the number of plays for statistical usefulness (T40 with 39 plays). My mediums though... they're really good. I've got an M4 at 56%, a T20 at 58%, a T-34-85, Pershing, and T-43 at 57%, a T-34 at 70%, and all they have to balance out is a chronically unlucky M4A3E8 at 39%. I'm not sure why that one is so bad off, since I didn't make significantly worse xp than the T-34-85, but I guess that I just wasn't suited for the tank, since it is hard to drive, and a tank that makes me feel like I can do anything is a bad idea unless I actually can (like in the Pershing).

A bit of fun news for all you US heavy drivers out there, it seems the T34 is going to keep the 120, and they've actually been consistent on that, so it sounds good. Also the M58 gun for the M103 (in all likelihood, definitely the T110) is sounding like it'll get its historical penetration of 291mm at 1 km (not sure about the penetration requirement though, so it could get a downshift like the German tanks do for only requiring 50% rather than Soviet style 75% (and that's why German values aren't markedly higher because they used 30 degree sloped test armor). I can't wait till I see what the HEAT round can do if that's the AP.

Unfortunately it looks like the M18 will be limited to 72 kph, but it should be real fast getting there, and as Coffee can tell you, 72 is plenty for lots of stupid stunts (trolling in the T2 light is a fine art that requires a lot of slide whistle).

[Zinegata]

The stats can be a bit misleading though, as they account for the win rate of the tank regardless if it's random, platoon, or company battles.

Moreover, the tiny number of high-tier players (at least compared to the rest of the tiers) tends to indicate that good player skill may be the factor behind the success of these tanks, as opposed to stuff like the Maus being overpowered.

Finally... Personally speaking, any tank with a 49% win rate is "okay". Because it doesn't mean that the tank has a 51% loss rate. Instead, the tank likely has a 49% win rate, a 49% loss rate, and a 2% draw rate. So any tank that can hit 49% wins can be judged "balanced".

[Thunderfire]

I'm hoping for a buff to the US Heavies then =p. I'm guessing the T29 and T30 are the ones with the best win rates?

The T30 and the T32 have the best win rates. But the T29 & the T32 outclass the other two heavies of their tier. Excluding tier 1 the US heavy line has the worst tier 2,5,6,9 tanks. US TD line has the best tier 4,5,6,7,8,9 tanks. Only tier 2-3 premium tanks are better than TD of the same tier. Several heavies tanks are bad - with a win ratio below 46%. This includes all premium heavies , Tiger I, M6 and T34.

[xthetenth]

I'm hoping for a buff to the US Heavies then =p. I'm guessing the T29 and T30 are the ones with the best win rates?

The T30 and the T32 have the best win rates. But the T29 & the T32 outclass the other two heavies of their tier. Excluding tier 1 the US heavy line has the worst tier 2,5,6,9 tanks. US TD line has the best tier 4,5,6,7,8,9 tanks. Only tier 2-3 premium tanks are better than TD of the same tier. Several heavies tanks are bad - with a win ratio below 46%. This includes all premium heavies , Tiger I, M6 and T34.

Huh, I'm wondering how much of that is that the T29 starts with the 90mm and keeps it for a long time, because the Tiger and the IS aren't really much competition, while on the T32, the 105 is a bit anemic in penetration, and the King Tiger is real good and the IS-3 is a capable adversary. I can see the T2, although it isn't a big deal, the T1 and the M6 are really tricky to use/are kinda weak, but the T34 is obvious. Look at the tree and count how much xp you need to get into the 120mm gun. That means that over a third of players' time in the tank is spent in a tank which has great difficulty penetrating one of its tier mates from the side. There's a reason my win rate had fallen to about 40% and is only now climbing back. Really solid tank, but it needs more armor, and that means a new hull, which is luckily enough exactly what the M103 is. Also, happy day, it looks like the M103 is getting its real gun in addition to the T110, so it should have the punchiest gun in the game. Also, for those of us planning to be wallet warriors without using our wallets directly, the T34 is keeping its 120 and penetration right now, so it should be pretty solid.

The stats can be a bit misleading though, as they account for the win rate of the tank regardless if it's random, platoon, or company battles.

Moreover, the tiny number of high-tier players (at least compared to the rest of the tiers) tends to indicate that good player skill may be the factor behind the success of these tanks, as opposed to stuff like the Maus being overpowered.

Finally... Personally speaking, any tank with a 49% win rate is "okay". Because it doesn't mean that the tank has a 51% loss rate. Instead, the tank likely has a 49% win rate, a 49% loss rate, and a 2% draw rate. So any tank that can hit 49% wins can be judged "balanced".

I'd agree. I think a lot of the T10 heavy difference is from company battles, since those are a T10 sausagefest in general and T10s are key, but most tanks are pretty well balanced, although I wonder where the best players tend to congregate. There are a few that are standing up a bit too tall, like the T95 (although I've taken one down frontally with my T34 without too much trouble and a pincer would eat one alive) and liable to be pounded in again. I'm hoping that doesn't include the Pershing, it's just too fun to drive, especially now that I've got vents and a rammer on it.

However, the coolest thing I've found out is that basically everybody has access to the test server now. It shows up before patches, and you get 10x xp and creds and access to the cool new patch stuff (the E series and porsche heavies). Info here.

Nice thing is all you have to do is copy-paste your directory and install those patches and you're good to go. One note is that they're balance testing so they'll be trying all sorts of changes. The Maus currently has 400 fewer HP rather than the 200 they're considering for example. Unfortunately there's no transfer of progress so it's for trying out new stuff only.

[Zinegata]

The game also doesn't account for the "stock tank" effect. For instance, my win rate on the KV was abysmal when I only had the short 122mm (30 something percent), but it's climbed up to 46% now. Likewise, my XP rate for the KV-1S has gone up to something like 500 XP a match from 300 XP after I got the long 122mm.

So the win rate is definitely affected by how much agony you have to endure to get your tank "up to spec". And it helps explain why tanks that are considered OP (i.e. KV and T29) don't have a positive win rate.

Also, I think I killed Coffee yesterday in his T82. It was funny.

[xthetenth]

The game also doesn't account for the "stock tank" effect. For instance, my win rate on the KV was abysmal when I only had the short 122mm (30 something percent), but it's climbed up to 46% now. Likewise, my XP rate for the KV-1S has gone up to something like 500 XP a match from 300 XP after I got the long 122mm.

So the win rate is definitely affected by how much agony you have to endure to get your tank "up to spec". And it helps explain why tanks that are considered OP (i.e. KV and T29) don't have a positive win rate.

Also, I think I killed Coffee yesterday in his T82. It was funny.

Coffee is not Mr. Coffee in WoT, we've killed the pretender too. He's in a slugger.

Also, hooray test server:

Победа!
Бой: Малиновка Sunday, July 31, 2011 1:39:46 PM
Танк: T34
Получено опыта: 25,032 (удвоено за первую победу в день)
Получено кредитов: 410,233

Hopefully the zenobian works right, but that is a 25,000 xp daily double. Also, incidentally, the E-75 looks totally sweet. It's a faster, nimbler King Tiger with the Maus gun and more armor. I bounced my 120 off it's upper hull front twice. They also give 10k gold for you to use for testing. I think I'm going to take a looksee at the IS-4 and T30 and maybe some German things, like the Porsche Tiger.

[Agent Sorchus]

The game also doesn't account for the "stock tank" effect. For instance, my win rate on the KV was abysmal when I only had the short 122mm (30 something percent), but it's climbed up to 46% now. Likewise, my XP rate for the KV-1S has gone up to something like 500 XP a match from 300 XP after I got the long 122mm.

With the short 122 I'm running a 55% victory rating and a 31% survival. I think it is a matter of how much you want to learn the peculiarities of any given tank. And of course since people run around and get used to the top equipment it is going to be the way they learn to play.

Hopefully the zenobian works right, but that is a 25,000 xp daily double. Also, incidentally, the E-75 looks totally sweet. It's a faster, nimbler King Tiger with the Maus gun and more armor. I bounced my 120 off it's upper hull front twice. They also give 10k gold for you to use for testing. I think I'm going to take a looksee at the IS-4 and T30 and maybe some German things, like the Porsche Tiger.

The whining about the Tiger (P) has already started. Some people hate the thing because it is so slow, while others love the fact that you can bounce T10 shots, especially if you learned how to angle well. Supposedly people are getting into Slugging matches with Tiger 2's and coming out about even so I fully expect that it will get a slight debuff for release. Still I've found photographic evidence on the web that at least one Tiger (P) actually fought, and likely had the frontal armor that this beast is credited with. Link Note the bolted on plate on the front of the hull.

[xthetenth]

The game also doesn't account for the "stock tank" effect. For instance, my win rate on the KV was abysmal when I only had the short 122mm (30 something percent), but it's climbed up to 46% now. Likewise, my XP rate for the KV-1S has gone up to something like 500 XP a match from 300 XP after I got the long 122mm.

With the short 122 I'm running a 55% victory rating and a 31% survival. I think it is a matter of how much you want to learn the peculiarities of any given tank. And of course since people run around and get used to the top equipment it is going to be the way they learn to play.

There's peculiarities, and then there's rank fucking suck. The T34 with a 105 that can barely penetrate an IS-3 frontally and has real issues with the frontal weak point and sides of its fellow tier 9 IS-4 is firmly, painfully in the latter. The squishiest tank in the tier is stuck with the worst gun by a long shot for the low low total of over 100k xp. The thing is a goddamn uprated T29 for a third of its lifespan. People whining about the regular Tiger can piss off and die as far as I'm concerned, they spend only 25% longer in that tank than a T34 driver spends in a functionally stock tank. They also get the long 88 real quick and that's at least competent kit that can, you know, hurt their opposite numbers reliably. Throw in that they don't find themselves in the position where their performance against an opposite they can barely hurt can decide the game, and you can guess my sympathy for their plight.

Hopefully the zenobian works right, but that is a 25,000 xp daily double. Also, incidentally, the E-75 looks totally sweet. It's a faster, nimbler King Tiger with the Maus gun and more armor. I bounced my 120 off it's upper hull front twice. They also give 10k gold for you to use for testing. I think I'm going to take a looksee at the IS-4 and T30 and maybe some German things, like the Porsche Tiger.

The whining about the Tiger (P) has already started. Some people hate the thing because it is so slow, while others love the fact that you can bounce T10 shots, especially if you learned how to angle well. Supposedly people are getting into Slugging matches with Tiger 2's and coming out about even so I fully expect that it will get a slight debuff for release. Still I've found photographic evidence on the web that at least one Tiger (P) actually fought, and likely had the frontal armor that this beast is credited with. Link Note the bolted on plate on the front of the hull.

Or you could shoot the turret on that thing for great merriment. Sure it's got a Ferdinand's hull, but it's got a tiger's turret. Unfortunately the test server seems like a high tier slappyfight sometimes, so I haven't gotten to punch one in test one with my T34 yet. I think my German tank plan is going to be grabbing one of those and branching it into the regular tiger and then into the KT and E-75, so I minimize my short 88 time in an unarmored tank. I've also seen both sides of it and I think it'll even out, but they really should give the regular tiger a mobility buff to make it not too horribly disadvantaged.

[Zinegata]

Ironically, while I was bad with the short 122mm in the KV, I was great with the short 122mm in the KV-1S. Didn't kill much, but my win rate was around 55%. It then dropped to 50% when I got the long 122mm.

I suspect it's because I got very used to the same class of derp gun. I was also playing the Sherman 105 and Stug 105 very heavily.

[Mr. Coffee]

Well,the went and opened the Russian test servers to the public. A lot of the shit is in cyrilic, but all the buttons are in the same places so it's not a problem. The test servers start you off with 10k gold and your XP and credit gains are at a constant 10x. Also, the Russians talk enough shit that you could make a drinking game out of it.