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Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-13 10:25pm
by Skywalker_T-65
And from what I've heard, that turns the thing into a machine gun of DOOOOOOMMMM. :P

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 05:29am
by KlavoHunter
Who in the hay is applejack ?

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 11:10am
by Scottish Ninja
The Vortex Empire wrote: Vents, Rammer, Gun Laying Drive. Standard configuration for heavies without available vertical stabilizers.
The GLD is pricey but fairly worth it on the Churchill because with the rammer for sure your load time gets to be less than your aim time, so the GLD makes sustained fire more accurate and keeps your shooting rate up when you're aiming in fully at long range.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 11:45am
by Skywalker_T-65
Okay...with the 85mm gun and the final engine the T-150 is finally proving to be decent fun. Very much an up-sized KV-1 at the moment. Now the question is if I need the second suspension before I can get the second turret/107...

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 02:01pm
by Vanas
Today's discovery:

Going toe-to-toe with a Loewe in the Black Prince is not only possible, but even technically survivable.

Okay, I met him when he was at 80% and managed to put a round in him before he noticed, but still. Battered him down head on and manged to trundle off and put rounds into a Type 59 and a T34 before the game came to it's inevitable conclusion.

Given the low pen of the gun, I've taken to packing 20 rounds of silver-bought gold ammo mixed in with the normal AP. It's actually working quite well, though losses will lose me money and wins just about break even if I fire some of these off.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 04:05pm
by Skywalker_T-65
Question...should I go for the M18, or the M6? I expect that the former will be more fun...but the latter leads to the M103 and T110E5, which by all accounts are great fun. I'm divided...

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 04:37pm
by Simon_Jester
Well, what kind of tanks do you like?

If you can head for the tests, try out the T29 American; my impression is that most of the American heavy tanks play sort of like it, so it's a good way to get a feel. The M18 is a fast turreted TD; do you like scooting around the battlefield and picking things off from long range with a heavy gun? Or do you prefer to take and hold a position, which the M18 doesn't have enough armor protection to do?

The M6 itself is tricky; it has moderately heavy front armor, large vulnerable sides, and a powerful top-tier gun. Very vulnerable to being outflanked, more so than T-150 or even a VK3601. But its top-tier gun penetrates like the VK3601's L/70 and damages like its 88mm

One drawback to the American heavies is that their greatest strength (strong turret front) is so great that nobody with any brains ever fires at the front of your turret anyway. If they can, they fire into the hull, or they go around, and it's tricky finding positions where your turret is the only thing showing. Not impossible, but tricky, especially if you're also worrying about artillery fire from the other team.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 05:17pm
by Skywalker_T-65
Do we have any idea when the next test server will be up? Because that strikes me as the best idea (its still quite a while till I have enough creds for either tank after all).

As near as I can tell, the T49 plays somewhat like the M18. Its fun, but I think I prefer something more like the T-150 (now that it actually moves faster than a glacier). I guess I'll try it out with the test server for 8.2 (whenever that is up).

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 05:59pm
by gigabytelord
I'm currently half way to a VK3601, but in the mean time I'm having oodles of fun with my 105mm derp gun :)

EDIT: I'm using the Pz IV right now, nice and sturdy, I'm enjoying the feeling of successfully bouncing enemy rounds every once in a while, and actually being able to take some damage.

Also bought a T-25, nice tank, using it to level up my crews.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 06:01pm
by xthetenth
The M18 is much more sluggish than the T49. It doesn't accelerate as well and the turret's terribly slow. The M6 drives like the T1, it has a bit more frontal armor but the 90mm is the big change. It isn't bad but it isn't great.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 09:03pm
by Imperial528
Skywalker_T-65 wrote:Question...should I go for the M18, or the M6? I expect that the former will be more fun...but the latter leads to the M103 and T110E5, which by all accounts are great fun. I'm divided...
M6 is pretty damn fun once you get the 90mm. With the various 76mms it borrows from the T1 HT it is okay, but it really gets enjoyable with the 90, since then it can reliably pen just about any tank it will face. Like the T1, though, it has heavy armor in the front and might as well have plywood everywhere else. Turret is heavily armored too, though.

It and the T1 HT are the kind of tanks that trundle toward the enemy with the front facing them, but don't get close enough that they can shoot the sides easily, so you end up engaging either near them but with cover or at a medium standoff range. Though if you ever get into facehugging duels you have an upper hand in that the enemy tank can't hit a single weak spot on you except for the universal ones (driver's slot, etc)

Best part of the 90mm is that it has good pen, good damage, and accuracy. It takes a bit to get used to the reload, though.

Oh, and a word on the T29. I've not yet gotten to it, but from watching them fight, the turret is entirely armor. It might as well be a block of steel with a gun attached. So with those hull-down is the way to go, since it's turret's front armor is a massive 279mm, while its front is the same 102mm as the M6. Its turret side and rear armor is 127mm and 101mm, respectively. The turret is also the biggest part of it, so it can take a while for them to realize to try and hit the weaker but smaller hull armor.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-14 10:24pm
by xthetenth
The T29's front is at a relatively high angle and is wedge shaped so you can angle it for better protection, and I think the M6's is actually effectively thicker than that.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 12:00am
by Imperial528
I was just reading of the stats, so I don't know. I try not to get close to the things, lol. Tends to leave me dead.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 12:18am
by Nephtys
The T29 not only teaches the best way to play American tanks, but a key skill in general: Identifying cover in which you can still fight in. Hull down skills gained from the T29 will serve you well for ALL vehicles with any degree of gun depression.

The T29's a mediocre tank if you don't have these skills and drive them in the open. Not the fastest. It's got an alright gun. The hull armor's weak.
However, with hull down, it becomes a completely overpowered slaughtermachine. My best game is still in a T29, with 9 kills and 2450 XP without daily doubles. The key is to learn how to fight without letting your opponent ever even get a chance to hit your non-invulnerable parts.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 10:02am
by gigabytelord
Victory!
Battle: Sand River Thursday, November 15, 2012 8:49:35 AM
Vehicle: VK 3601 (H)
Experience received: 921
Credits received: 19,792
Battle Achievements: Steel Wall, Master Gunner, Sharpshooter, Mastery Badge: "2nd Class"

I also did 1,596 damage while receiving 18 hits, I can without a doubt say that this was my best game yet, hearing rounds just ping harmlessly off your armor is so awesome :)

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 11:23am
by Skywalker_T-65
[Palpy]Yeesssss....another convert to the 3601-Side...[/Palpy] :P


Seriously though, once you get the L/70 (and...maybe even the short 88) the 3601 becomes (IMHO) the best tank in the game for its tier. You can even handle Tier 8's if you are smart about it. Still remains my favorite tank by far.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 01:50pm
by Darth Wong
Skywalker_T-65 wrote:[Palpy]Yeesssss....another convert to the 3601-Side...[/Palpy] :P
Seriously though, once you get the L/70 (and...maybe even the short 88) the 3601 becomes (IMHO) the best tank in the game for its tier. You can even handle Tier 8's if you are smart about it. Still remains my favorite tank by far.
The VK-3601 has its strengths (although I do not fear them in my KV-1S), but unless you're using gold ammo on the Konisch gun, I don't really see how it can remain effective at tier-8. When I see them in a tier-8 battle and I'm driving one of my tier-8 tanks, I just pick them off, and I'm not particularly concerned about return fire except when it's a weekend gold ammo special and everyone's packing gold rounds. Even then, the amount of damage done by each shot seems like a pinprick compared to the ordnance being flung around at that tier.

IMO the KV-2 is the only tier-6 tank that tier-8 tanks still have to watch out for, because its derp gun can damage even the most heavily armoured opponent, including the guys who have super-strong turrets and go hull-down, and if he manages to get a flank shot which goes through your armour, the sheer amount of damage can be devastating even to the biggest tier-8 heavy. Back in the old days before they tightened up the match-making, it was one of the few tier-6 tanks that could still be useful even if it found itself in a tier-9 or tier-10 game. Of course, the KV-2 has numerous tactical weaknesses to offset its strengths, unlike the jack-of-all-trades VK3601, but if I knew I had to take a tier-6 into a battle with tier-8 enemies, I think I'd take my KV-2.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 01:53pm
by Skywalker_T-65
True. It takes some major luck for the 3601 to do really much at T8. That being said, I've managed to get some good hits in with the L/70 on Tier 8's, provided I flank and use cover. If you just rush straight at them, it won't end well. And of course, that also relies on the T8 driver being a moron.

So, I guess it still being effective at T8 depends on you being a smart driver, and the enemy being a complete dunce :P

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 02:45pm
by Vendetta
Darth Wong wrote: The VK-3601 has its strengths (although I do not fear them in my KV-1S), but unless you're using gold ammo on the Konisch gun, I don't really see how it can remain effective at tier-8.
Flanking and being a vulture. The 88 is good enough to reliably penetrate anything if you know where to shoot and can get the sides or rear, and despite the lower damage the 75 has higher accuracy and penetration, making it easier to hit smaller weakspots. Even tanks that are usually reliably strong from the sides like the IS-3 have weakspots in the upper tread (I've killed IS-7s in the AMX-12t by catching them when they're weak or distracted).

It's not quite as good at the job as the AMX-12t line because it doesn't have that autoloader that means the death of a thousand cuts is more effective (I generally find you can spit out three or so rounds before having to run and hide, which is more than any medium without an autoloader can do, even if the per-hit damage is low)

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 02:56pm
by Mr Bean
Vendetta wrote:
Darth Wong wrote: The VK-3601 has its strengths (although I do not fear them in my KV-1S), but unless you're using gold ammo on the Konisch gun, I don't really see how it can remain effective at tier-8.
Flanking and being a vulture. The 88 is good enough to reliably penetrate anything if you know where to shoot and can get the sides or rear, and despite the lower damage the 75 has higher accuracy and penetration, making it easier to hit smaller weakspots. Even tanks that are usually reliably strong from the sides like the IS-3 have weakspots in the upper tread (I've killed IS-7s in the AMX-12t by catching them when they're weak or distracted).
L/70 lets you go after vision slits, repeat after me, vision slits, vision slits, vision slits. I wish world of tanks had a way of breaking things out like FH2 does for armor values but if you look at something like this here.

Image
(FH2 Editor screenshot of armor values) you can see the kind of various armor makeups that go into tanks. World of tanks is far more exacting that anything FH2 tried to be and they cover many of the vision slit vulerabilites in tanks like Churchill and IS2's where the side turret hatches are only 40mm-70mm armor compared to a turret that's 120mm and it lets the L/70 (If you can shoot right) take on the Tier-8s and still win sometimes. However lots of Tier 8s and all of the Tier 9s are nappkinwaffle/none surviving and don't have those weakeness coded in. The Black prince does not but the Church MK VIII does.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 03:06pm
by Skywalker_T-65
That actually plays into my favorite tactic in T8 battles with the VK. Always, always, ALWAYS go for the weakpoints. Let the bigger guys hit the enemies head on, while I flank and plink away with the L/70 at their various weakpoints. Works rather well, as long as I use my somewhat high speed right.

EDIT: Then again, that is true of any medium sooooo.... :P

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 03:35pm
by xthetenth
On the subject of armor and weakpoints http://gamemodels3d.com/ has the models even if they don't let you see all of them (mainly they hide the high tier stuff).

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 03:38pm
by Darth Wong
Another surprising weakness is often the drive sprocket, which is handy when that's the only part of the tank sticking out. I've killed Tiger-IIs and KV-4s by just shooting at the drive sprocket with an inferior tank, which often has the advantage of simultaneously damaging and tracking him (and if you keep shooting it, he stays tracked). It's hilarious.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 03:48pm
by Skywalker_T-65
I got into a duel in my KV-1 against another KV doing that once. Quite funny since I kept hitting (and damaging) him that way, while he kept trying to futilely pen my tank in my stronger armor.

Re: World of Tanks Mark 2

Posted: 2012-11-15 03:54pm
by Darth Wong
The thing about weak spots, however, is that you need enough speed, armour or good fortune to get close enough to take advantage of them even with a fairly high-accuracy gun, and you need to expose yourself long enough for the aiming circle to shrink. It's easy to say "just shoot the weak spots", but not easy to actually do in practice. One might as well say "no problem, just shoot him in the rear", which almost always works but you have to get yourself into that position first.