Countdown is still going and the enemy Birch Gun is already unhappy, from the team balance you can see why, our team has a higher weight of better players and they're all clustered at the top of the tier list. (I checked the win chance on this replay, it would have been 68%). Little does he know how much chance his team has.
So the game starts and I go to the left flank because that's where you go on Steppes if you have gun depression and/or are a medium tank.
Unfortunately, I appear to be alone here. Yep, half our team is lemmingtrain, the other half can't bear to leave the base circle because it's just so shiny. I tuck into my favourite starting spot on this flank, this spot gives you a decent line of fire down the map and lets even a relatively large tank go completely turret down where needed. If you have tanks in C8 you also get BVR shots on tanks passing F9/F0. This spot is one of the key reasons why Steppes had to be rebalanced, and it's still a good place to start if you spawn north.
As I'm alone on this flank I don't advance, and it's a good thing I didn't.
Suddenly, KV-1S. I snap a shot at his turret without really aiming (a quick note on crosshair, this is Jimbo's Crosshair, it has a second ring at half the diameter of the full reticle, due to the way the standard deviation on accuracy works 70% of shots will go there), this shot does nothing, I don't stay exposed, I duck down behind the ridge, he goes behind the rock.
Then he grows a friend.
Where I was sitting is good at shooting tanks that can't advance, but with nothing in front of me there's nothing stopping them just coming around the side, I am not going to be useful there. I leave.
Note the hellcat going the wrong way. Two minutes ago that might have been the right way, now it's not.
On my way back I get an opportunity to pick off a Lee. No-one driving a Lee is enjoying themselves, so put them out of their misery so they can go back and choose a better tank.
My first stop is this ridge at the near end of the base, it's not great cover but for a smallish tank it's enough to go hull down against that KV-1S.
Not that one that went around though, so I retreat further.
All the way around here, in fact. Note that now I am now effectively behind the cap circle. As previously discussed the cap circle is amazingly shiny and this will prove useful in the minutes to come.
The Hellcat who took up the position I originally retreated from dies. He put two shots in which is a thing, but it's literally a fraction of the potential of the Hellcat because he took a bad position.
Nashorn goes next, he had given up a reasonable position and gone into a bad one.
It is now functionally me vs. two KV-1Ss at our base.
I snap a shot out against this one as he comes over the ridge, chipping away a bit of health.
I moved back down into cover after my snap shot, the lemmingtrain looks like it's doing OK, right?
I actually carry on around the south of my ridge, because there were two KV-1S and one of them looked like he might come that way, and I don't want to get surprised, I try and spot him coming but see nothing, so I take some opportunist shots at the enemy Nashorns, nothing goes in.
Whilst I'm doing that, a funny red bar appears at the top of the screen, after a moment's consternation at this frightening new UI element I realise the implications, one of the KV-1S has succumbed to the lure of the shiny circle and is capping, I peek the ridge, can't get a good angle, so I reposition to where these bushes are for the shallower dip.
He's spotted an arty though, and is looking the wrong way. That gives me ample opportunity to put one into his side.
Note I didn't actually know whether he'd fired, so I back off. Also I notice his friend has appeared.
I sneak another one at his lower plate.
Then I leave. He was coming towards where I was shooting him from, so let's not be there any more, eh? I go round to the other edge of the ridge.
I come around and get this side profile, try and get clever and shoot for the drive wheel but the shot goes wide and bounces off his front armour. However, he makes a terrible error, he fires at something.
He has a 13 second reload, that means I can take
at least four shots before he reloads.
So he's dead and the arty has joined in against the other one. The other KV-1S fired as well, so I have a little more time.
I put one into him.
Then I drive back along the ridge so I have absolute minimal exposure and finish him off with easy cupola shots.
Now, anyone notice what's happened in the last minute whilst I fought those two?
Yep, the lemmingtrain has done what lemmingtrains do and crumbled at the first hint of resistance and this 68% win chance game is all of a sudden looking pretty balanced.
Our KV-1 finishes off the enemy one (stock gun vs. derp gun, a duel for the ages), but himself gets chewed up by dpm from the Matilda BP. We're down to two lemmings now, and they're suddenly not very happy about their situation, in fact they're clinging to a rock for dear life, don't expect them to move.
I set off south but the enemy tanks are closing in.
The Birch Gun is spotted as I make my way in, but I don't get to bring justice to the scumbag. Oh well, next time arty, next time.
The Japanese tanks are not terribly quick, and it becomes evident that I am not going to get there in time.
And indeed I don't, not only do I not get there in time my lemmings have inflicted barely any damage on the opponents, so it's now me and arty vs. two full health mediums.
I catch the rear of the Matilda BP, put my DPM to work on him and retreat down the ridge as he manages to get his gun on me.
He puts one into me, but I put four into him and he's done. My position on the ridge keeps the 3002D from joining in, so instead of a 2vs1 fight this is two 1vs1s.
I peek up, trade a shot with the 3002D. In theory I could sit here and have a DPM race with him, I have a solid DPM advantage and about even health
but the 3002D has some cheeky angles and my advantage isn't so big I can afford bounces.
So I pull back down. I have arty support he doesn't. He comes out of his rock to come after me.
I pop him with another as he comes
A third, trading for a second hit from him. If I'd tried a DPM race this would be basically three to three now.
He knows no fear or common sense though, so he charges right over the ridge, takes another shot from me as he does so, and rams himself to death getting a final 230 damage on me.
68% chance to win game comes down to two mediums and a bottom tier arty. Sure, the prediction was accurate
in the end, but only because I kept my head and didn't go full potato.
You never go full potato.
