So now that I am getting into alot of top tier matches, I am noticing a change in how the matches go. The tier 9-10 matches seem to always have 3-4 arty per side, often 5. Usually tier 8 variety. Who wins often seems to be the side that has the better (or correctly, more lucky) arty on their side. Of course this depends on spotters not suiciding into enemy guns. Though this may be just that I am paying attention to arty more now as its usually what kills my patton/causes me to get killed the most as any near miss from a tier 8 and I loose half my health and usually at least a track.
Also, fuck matchmaker ranking me equal to e75s and IS4s, what kind of joke is that?
That's one of the reasons a Tier 5 medium is no longer a viable, or fun, option for endless grinding: 80% of my matches, if not more, have me as the scout of multiple IS-3s or other heavy Tier 8s. I can't even even do very much against the Tier 6 or 7 heavies, much less 3 or 4 8's on either side. And not all Tier 5 mediums are well suited for the role of scout.
I like my T-34-57. But setting me up against 3 Tier 8s and 5 Tier 7s really limits how much I'm going to be contributing to the team.
When I got into the B1 I desperately missed the Lee.
It might not have a turret but at least it can penetrate tanks of the same tier and go faster than 10kph.
That's one of the reasons a Tier 5 medium is no longer a viable, or fun, option for endless grinding: 80% of my matches, if not more, have me as the scout of multiple IS-3s or other heavy Tier 8s. I can't even even do very much against the Tier 6 or 7 heavies, much less 3 or 4 8's on either side. And not all Tier 5 mediums are well suited for the role of scout.
I like my T-34-57. But setting me up against 3 Tier 8s and 5 Tier 7s really limits how much I'm going to be contributing to the team.
I've killed an IS-7 with the AMX 13 75 (tier 6 light), dealing over 40% of the damage myself. It's circumstantial, but killing higher tiered enemies is very possible in the tier 5-7 lights. The T-50-2 can run circles around heavies, and the VK can actually take a few hits. The Chaffee is lackluster, but at least it looks cute. <_< The French lights, starting with the 13 75, are generally insane in capacity, although they're also less scouty than their brothers.
As for the T-34-85, I'd actually argue you're wrong there. Remember that the T-34-85, the T-43, and the T-44 all have the same gun options. It's only been in the last month and some that the T-44 got the LB-1 and graduated to the point of 'serious threat'. Before that, you sure as hell had better like your D-10T or the long 85, because those were your only options for all the tier 6-8 mediums, as well as the best bet on the IS for God's sake ...
Case in point: It's not the size of your gun that matters, it's how you use it.
You can have some luck playing it like a gimpy TD, but there's no easy way around bad the Lee is.
Things get better if you're going down the medium line, but be prepared for more arduous matches if you're going heavy as the T1 and M6 are quite bad. At least the T29 and T32 are some of the most fun heavies in the game.
I have actually pulled off a few 2-kill or even 3-kill games with it, when I'm top tank or almost and I can park or advance slowly and keep my gun pointed at the enemy. A little luck of having something else to occupy them helps too. So yeah, basically trying to use it as an (awful) TD. Being in the bottom half of my team's roster almost guarantees a pointless death within the first couple minutes of the game starting if I bother to move from the spawn area, though.
And yeah, I'm going down the medium line, Shermans up through the Pershing and Patton all look like fun, but the early US heavies are by all accounts awful and I'm not attracted to the upper-tier ones basically just because I can't keep them straight and none of them ever got produced in real life. The German side is where I'm going for heavies.
Re: spotting...if there is a single most bass-ackwards design mistake they made with this game, it still seems to be spotting. If an enemy is in a tank the size of a house and I am in a tank the size of an SUV, it does not make any sense from either a realism or balance standpoint for him to be able to see me before I can see him just because he's higher-tier.
When I got into the B1 I desperately missed the Lee.
It might not have a turret but at least it can penetrate tanks of the same tier and go faster than 10kph.
It's funny that they chose to use the Lee's hull gun but the B1's turret gun. Maybe they thought the B1 is so immobile that the hull gun would actually be even more worthless. But in any case, the B1 does have one outstanding quality to recommend it:
It does. Not. Fucking. Die.
At least while it placidly absorbs fire from two, or three, or four enemies they're not paying attention to your teammates who may actually be able to inflict damage.
Oh, god, the B1. I was in a city map in an amx 40, and two B1s were around the corner. What followed was the biggest slap fight I have ever had in this game. Luckly the two B1 never tried to flank for a long time, some other light tanks did but bounced on me till I killed them. Eventually I just started to shoot for the lip of the turret hatch on the B1s, that hurt them every time I hit. Then they tried to flank me but it was too late, and I kept angeling on them so they stilled bounced. They just couldn't move fast enough to keep me from sniping their couplas from 10-15m away.
Finished the game with a steel wall and top gun awards. Think I fired around 50 shots, mostly at the B1s.
B1's Hull gun has 1deg transverse capability, they had to turn the hull to get the gun on target and the gunner could then compensate for range through elevation but could hardly move the gun left or right. Badly designed tank is badly designed.
I'm guessing the programmers just decided to not bother modelling a design/doctrine flaw that regulated the Char B1 to shooting 75 he at infantry concentrations/buildings/strongpoints.
Bastable on
Philippe about the tactical deployment of german Kradschützen during the battle of Kursk:
"I think I can comment on this because I used to live above the Baby Doll Lounge, a topless bar that was once frequented by bikers in lower Manhattan."
There was a version of the B1 where the hull gun had 10 degrees of traverse, along with some other improvements. It never made it into production, but this game is hardly hyper-realistic anyway. But I'm just as glad they didn't use the hull gun, a B1 with some actual ability to inflict damage is an unpleasant thought.
Really though, I'm not sure why it would have been SO hard to make both guns on the B1 and Lee work.
I will say that I absolutely love the toughness of the early French tanks. Watching 10+ shots ricochet off my armor is even more fun than scoring a direct hit and kill with an SPG.
haha, just had a great game in an AMX 12t. Crest a hill and a t34 pulls out in front of me from behing a rock. Six shots later, hes dead and I have 1hp left. Back up behind the hill and reload. Right as its done, a P4 comes around a hill behind me. He fires right as I'm lining up on him, and bounces off the edge of my turret. I fire 5 shots before he can reload and he blows up.
Then a lowe and KV3 drove past me and I exploded.
Edit: guess alot of people still dont realise that after a french tank fires several shost at you and backs around a corner, charge him. Course then you run the risk of running into say a kv3 that was behind me.
Cool story right here, bros. With the addition of the French tanks, my overall win rate has gone up to 65%! And yeah, a lot of folks haven't realized yet to charge a reloading frog. Although people are starting to realize it and a KV killed me today because of that
Got a Sherman. Think I actually was having more fun with the Lee. As awful as the Lee was, the M4 gets me put in matches where it's all Type 59's and KV-3's and shit from hell to breakfast and even with the 105mm I may as well be attacking them with a marshmallow shooter.
Got a Sherman. Think I actually was having more fun with the Lee. As awful as the Lee was, the M4 gets me put in matches where it's all Type 59's and KV-3's and shit from hell to breakfast and even with the 105mm I may as well be attacking them with a marshmallow shooter.
Best advice I can give you is to get the 76mm M1A1 and attack your targets from their flanks/rear. You should basically never be fighting head-to-head in a medium tank, and this goes double if you're not in the top tier. Resist the temptation to use your speed to get out in front of your team's heavies and start shooting at enemies as quickly as possible. Instead, hang back a little behind the heavies and wait for some fights to break out. Then, when your enemies are engaged, swing around to their sides or rear, preferably staying in or near cover, and open up on them. Be ready to pull back if it looks like you're going to get shot. If your teammates are any good, they'll use the opportunity to pop out and take their own shots while you retreat to cover.
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acidlacedpenguinInstitutionalizedSafe in jail.Registered Userregular
man the 90mm on my T20 made me go from dreading encounters with type 59s to just slightly not dreading encounters with type 59s. Like, if I hit them on the side I'll do double digit percent damage to them!
I killed one in 4 shots last night while it was busy attacking someone else and staying in the open. The reload is a bitch compared to the other guns though. Also, jacking the rammer and stabilizer from my E8 really helped.
The M4 is still one of my favorite tanks, but just like most mid tier tanks, it needs to be fully upgraded to have a chance to do well in the higher tier matches. The changes to HE, while I think they are correct, made the 105 alot harder to use. You really have to shoot for weak spots with it, but with is inaccuracy, you need a good crew compensate for it. Also you need to flank alot as well with the 105 too now, so the 76mm m1a1 is almost always the better option.
In higher tier matches, basically trail one of the bigger tanks (not right on him) until you start seeing how the enemy is deployed. Then you can try to manuvere to get side shots or move to where there are tanks you can hurt. Also the reload on the 76 is quick, so your a good tank to hang near arty at the start of the map to defend aginst scouting lights.
That's one of the reasons a Tier 5 medium is no longer a viable, or fun, option for endless grinding: 80% of my matches, if not more, have me as the scout of multiple IS-3s or other heavy Tier 8s. I can't even even do very much against the Tier 6 or 7 heavies, much less 3 or 4 8's on either side. And not all Tier 5 mediums are well suited for the role of scout.
I like my T-34-57. But setting me up against 3 Tier 8s and 5 Tier 7s really limits how much I'm going to be contributing to the team.
I've killed an IS-7 with the AMX 13 75 (tier 6 light), dealing over 40% of the damage myself. It's circumstantial, but killing higher tiered enemies is very possible in the tier 5-7 lights. The T-50-2 can run circles around heavies, and the VK can actually take a few hits. The Chaffee is lackluster, but at least it looks cute. <_< The French lights, starting with the 13 75, are generally insane in capacity, although they're also less scouty than their brothers.
As for the T-34-85, I'd actually argue you're wrong there. Remember that the T-34-85, the T-43, and the T-44 all have the same gun options. It's only been in the last month and some that the T-44 got the LB-1 and graduated to the point of 'serious threat'. Before that, you sure as hell had better like your D-10T or the long 85, because those were your only options for all the tier 6-8 mediums, as well as the best bet on the IS for God's sake ...
Case in point: It's not the size of your gun that matters, it's how you use it.
...T-34-57.
Case in point--in this case, you're wrong. Though had I been talking about a Tier 6, or certain other Tier 5s like the Panzer IV or StuG III, yeah, different story. Especially in the case of the Tier 6 Soviet medium, sharing guns with two Tiers ahead of it largely.
ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
edited January 2012
I had assumed you made a typo, as I cannot even find a T-34-57, to know what you're complaining about.
As for the D-10T, it's a pretty mediocre gun, though yes, at tier 6 it packs a good punch on the T-34-85. The problem is that your armor is still such shit that the things you're fighting can pick you apart quickly enough, regardless of your nice big gun. >_<
[Edit] Seriously, if you just mean the BASE T-34, then I still disagree with you. The final gun on that thing is awesome. I come close to running out of ammo in half my matches with it, and it's still small and nimble enough to get into good positions to use it. Also, it's an excellent French tank killer as long as they aren't gunning for you. In any case, you can still reliably damage Type 59s and other T8 mediums from the side. Same goes for T7 heavies. If there's anything good I can say about 7.1, it's that I've really learned to make my shots count in lower power guns now that HE isn't the easy fallback.
Yes, T-34-57 is the T-34 with the 57mm. As Cactus notes, that's a very widespread nickname for it.
I agree that it fares better in high-tier matches than most lower-tier tanks, since you have the accuracy and penetration to exploit weak spots on most tier 7 and many tier 8 tanks, at least if you can get into a good position. You definitely have to play cautiously, though - medium/long-distance flank shots from cover are your best bet.
T-34-57--shorthand for the Tier 5 tank with the 57 mm gun. I've also heard T-34-100 used for similar reasons to describe the Tier 6, convenience.
It is possible that you could use it to pick off individual weak spots, but on Tier 8s and Tier 7 heavies, aiming at the usual suspects--periscopes, MG ports, etc.--seems very much "Well, maybe." Especially Tier 8. Then again, I'm not surprised that the 57 mm will bounce off the back of a IS-3 at 6 o'clock directly, given its caliber. *shrug* Circling behind heavies is one of my favorite things to do in that thing, but it's not always a viable plan.
[Edit] Seriously, if you just mean the BASE T-34, then I still disagree with you. The final gun on that thing is awesome. I come close to running out of ammo in half my matches with it, and it's still small and nimble enough to get into good positions to use it. Also, it's an excellent French tank killer as long as they aren't gunning for you. In any case, you can still reliably damage Type 59s and other T8 mediums from the side. Same goes for T7 heavies. If there's anything good I can say about 7.1, it's that I've really learned to make my shots count in lower power guns now that HE isn't the easy fallback.
We'll have to disagree--I haven't run into enough French tanks to test that theory (but I don't play nearly as much anymore since I'm sick of the grind). I also use up a third or half the shots I'm carrying in any given round, but that high rate of fire, while awesome, does mean I'm losing some of the accuracy between two second shots. Holding fire for just a bit helps, of course, but particularly on the German heavies (and some Soviet and American ones), even a seemingly perfect shot on the MG port can bounce off on a Tier 7. Same goes for shots to the side. Guess that's what I get for not mathematically memorizing the current bouncing mechanics.
It's phenomenally great if the highest Tier I'm running into is 6 or even 5, don't get me wrong, but in the months since I got it, my matches have overwhelmingly leaned towards half the team (sometimes more, sometimes less), being 7 and 8. Of course, I'm making my own decision to stick with the 57 mm rather than the final 76 mm which might do a better job, just because I had so much fun with it in the past and on the off chance I will get thrown into a Tier 5 or Tier 6 match. I'm grateful that the HE update hasn't effected it, since I don't carry HE in it anyway, but when 80% of your matches are in the 8/7 range, even with that great rate of fire, the sheer number of shots that just bounce off harmlessly really makes the grind pretty disheartening--once again, not using premium, which means a lot of grinding.
Thinking about it, I run into strangely few Tier 6s heavies (almost entirely the KV-3, which might be lucky?) in it, as of the last few weeks. I've seen many more IS-3s or Tiger IIs in it that Tier 6s, rather oddly. Coincidence, I assume.
Yes, T-34-57 is the T-34 with the 57mm. As Cactus notes, that's a very widespread nickname for it.
I agree that it fares better in high-tier matches than most lower-tier tanks, since you have the accuracy and penetration to exploit weak spots on most tier 7 and many tier 8 tanks, at least if you can get into a good position. You definitely have to play cautiously, though - medium/long-distance flank shots from cover are your best bet.
That might be the issue. Except for the rather rare match that puts about 3/4 of the team at 7 or 8, if I'm outgunned, I do what I can to support the main group from behind cover--not that much long-range combat, since I want to keep the rate of fire up, and try and take good advantage of maneuverability. I suppose I could halve the ROF and engage purely at really long ranges, depending on the map, but to me, the T-34-57 really doesn't feel like a long-range sniping tank when you're going against a lot of Tier 7s and 8s. But I am saying this as someone who primarily drives German TDs--long range may be longer rage for me than others.
If I played more matches, maybe I'd get more Tier 5/6 matchmaking. *shrug* I've realized just how little the HE revision of 7.1 effects me because, between my intense dislike of howitzers and rarely falling back on HE ammo even when it's clearly evident I'm not going to get any penetration, and not using SPGs, maybe 2 out of 100 rounds I fire in WoT since beta ended aren't AP. Most of my HE fire comes in the form of an hurried attempt to delay a cap--which I'm guessing no longer works?
Synthesis on
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ArcticLancerBest served chilled.Registered Userregular
I'm grateful that the HE update hasn't effected it, since I don't carry HE in it anyway, but when 80% of your matches are in the 8/7 range, even with that great rate of fire, the sheer number of shots that just bounce off harmlessly really makes the grind pretty disheartening.
Debatably, if you're running into the volume of Tier 7s and 8s you suggest, it's a mistake to not carry any HE whatsoever. It's not the 'easy button' anymore, but it's still useful. Otherwise, if you're seeing that many Tiger IIs and IS-3s, you should probably just be trying to track them to at least help your team. Because otherwise, you're right. There's very little you're going to do to them at range, and from the front or sides.
Have the revisions in 7.1 changed the likelihood of tracking vs. no component damage? Because, let's face it, the ZiS-4 is oodles of fun, but even if you penetrate every shot on an Tiger II, you're going to be spending a lot of time to kill it via paper cuts (of course, this is where internal component arrangement is so damn important) that would be better spent stopping the thing in its tracks so your fellow Tier 7s and 8s can tear him apart fast. I feel like a pure AP gun like the ZiS 4--low caliber, high penetration--really leans towards actual damage (if you don't just bounce off), versus actual tracking damage.
It doesn't seem to track much at all, which is a shame, given it's volley fire. Even at Tier 5 or 6, I feel much more likely to punch a hole through than actually track a Panzer IV or a Sherman--which is fine by me, mind you, since in those matches I'm actually there to kill things.
So, apparently, the replay system will be the matchmaker's undoing. People are looking through the replays and crunching the numbers on what kind of battles their tanks get. I might just do that for my AMX M4 now, because those stats are kind of rediculous.
For the really small caliber guns (less than 105mm), I am really lowering my HE rounds carried. The damage/pen is so low that with the HE changes, I may as well shoot AP and hope for a lucky hit one a weak spot even if I bounce 5-6 rounds its still more damge the HE would do. Still tracking heavies can be the most usefull thing I can go at all in some games. But for tracking, I want AP rounds instead of HE. For example yeasterday in my AMX 12t, I stuck behind a building that was being watched by an E75 that was popping out from behind a hill across a the SE bridge on the swamp map. I have about 108mm pen and can only see his front and side armor at an angle when he pops out to shoot. I carry one drum of HE that does squat due to his armor thickness. With AP though, I tracked him 4-5 times as he popped out to shoot and later tried to cross the bridge (shooting at the front sprocket), letting arty get him down to about 5%. So thats even less reason to carry HE to me.
Yeah, for tracking, your best bet is to load AP and aim for the front/rear sprockets on the tracks. With a high RoF/low damage gun like the ZiS-4 it can take several direct hits on some targets, but it's still a better bet than HE in my experience.
So, apparently, the replay system will be the matchmaker's undoing. People are looking through the replays and crunching the numbers on what kind of battles their tanks get. I might just do that for my AMX M4 now, because those stats are kind of rediculous.
I've been thinking of doing that myself. My brand new AMX 12t keeps getting shoved into matches with tier 9 heavies. All the time. The first few matches of a new tank are supposed to take into consideration that it's a new, stock tank, right? Yeah no. Tier 9 matches right off the bat. I think it's been the worst matchmaking I've seen. Usually I tolerate its stupidity, but this is just ridiculous.
I think out of the 32 matches I've had with it so far, only 2-3 have been at an appropriate tier.
So, apparently, the replay system will be the matchmaker's undoing. People are looking through the replays and crunching the numbers on what kind of battles their tanks get. I might just do that for my AMX M4 now, because those stats are kind of rediculous.
That's a good post. I'm glad there are people out there sufficiently obsessive to put something like that together.
There's a snowball effect here with the mid-tiers. I mean, I can play my SU-85 and see a ton of Type 59s, or I can play my Object 704 and see a ton of Type 59s. The result is that I have a garage full of tier 5 and 6 tanks collecting dust. Unless I'm the only one thinking like this, that's further depressing the mid-tier population.
The first few matches of a new tank are supposed to take into consideration that it's a new, stock tank, right? Yeah no.
They removed that feature a while ago without telling anyone (Overlord eventually confirmed in the EU Q&A thread). Real cute, Wargaming.
So, apparently, the replay system will be the matchmaker's undoing. People are looking through the replays and crunching the numbers on what kind of battles their tanks get. I might just do that for my AMX M4 now, because those stats are kind of rediculous.
I've been thinking of doing that myself. My brand new AMX 12t keeps getting shoved into matches with tier 9 heavies. All the time. The first few matches of a new tank are supposed to take into consideration that it's a new, stock tank, right? Yeah no. Tier 9 matches right off the bat. I think it's been the worst matchmaking I've seen. Usually I tolerate its stupidity, but this is just ridiculous.
I think out of the 32 matches I've had with it so far, only 2-3 have been at an appropriate tier.
That's a different issue altogether. T5 lights get vastly elevated matchmaking because prior to the introduction to the French line, the only T5 light tanks were end-tier scouts (50-2, 2801, Chaffee). However, the matchmaker has kept the modified T5 light matchmaking for the 12t even though it is nowhere near the match of any of those 3 other T5 lights. But just grind it out because it gets way better, the AMX 13 75 is great, and the AMX 13 90 is probably my favorite tank in the game.
It's the only T7 in the game that can at one moment be fighting on the north side of the map, see the south flank collapse, race to the opposite side of the map, waste an IS-7 and some other trash, then race back to the melee in the north before it has even finished and mop up the survivors.
So, apparently, the replay system will be the matchmaker's undoing. People are looking through the replays and crunching the numbers on what kind of battles their tanks get. I might just do that for my AMX M4 now, because those stats are kind of rediculous.
I've been thinking of doing that myself. My brand new AMX 12t keeps getting shoved into matches with tier 9 heavies. All the time. The first few matches of a new tank are supposed to take into consideration that it's a new, stock tank, right? Yeah no. Tier 9 matches right off the bat. I think it's been the worst matchmaking I've seen. Usually I tolerate its stupidity, but this is just ridiculous.
I think out of the 32 matches I've had with it so far, only 2-3 have been at an appropriate tier.
That's a different issue altogether. T5 lights get vastly elevated matchmaking because prior to the introduction to the French line, the only T5 light tanks were end-tier scouts (50-2, 2801, Chaffee). However, the matchmaker has kept the modified T5 light matchmaking for the 12t even though it is nowhere near the match of any of those 3 other T5 lights. But just grind it out because it gets way better, the AMX 13 75 is great, and the AMX 13 90 is probably my favorite tank in the game.
It's the only T7 in the game that can at one moment be fighting on the north side of the map, see the south flank collapse, race to the opposite side of the map, waste an IS-7 and some other trash, then race back to the melee in the north before it has even finished and mop up the survivors.
Sigh. Yeah I'll definitely grind it out. I mean the switch from AMX 40 to 12t was a great mood lifter. Even though I can't really penetrate much with its little peashooter in the battles I'm being put in, it's still a fun tank to zoom around in.
Yeah, I think a large part of the matchmaking problem stems from the simple fact that there must be a huge lump of players at tier 8+ by this point. Plenty of players have ground up to tier 8+ tanks through the tech tree, and the tier 8 premiums are incredibly popular and profitable to boot. And as Cactus suggests, the aforementioned population of tier 8 players are likely to avoid playing their mid-tier tanks if they have any choice.
Basically, I suspect the only people playing in tiers 5 & 6, and probably to a large extent 7, are those who are desperately trying to grind through them to higher tiers, those who need to earn some credits without a premium account or tank, and the die-hard fans of specific tanks in those tiers.
Basically, I suspect the only people playing in tiers 5 & 6, and probably to a large extent 7, are those who are desperately trying to grind through them to higher tiers, those who need to earn some credits without a premium account or tank, and the die-hard fans of specific tanks in those tiers.
You rang?
Overwhelmed as one would be, placed in my position
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bare and read to all the details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see
But I forgot my pen...
So I am having second thoughts: do I want to go with mediums or heavies on the US tree? I try asking people in game and I swear the people driving Pershings claim the heavies are better and the people in T29's say they suck and I should stick with mediums. As I said before, I had intended to follow the medium line but I am starting to think the standard high-tier US heavy tactics (hull down, stalk and snipe) would really suit the playstyle I enjoy.
A part of me wants to try TD's but the lack of M18 Hellcat offends my aesthetic sensibilities. Although honestly I don't think the M18 would be very viable in WoT, it would functionally be a high-tier light.
So I am having second thoughts: do I want to go with mediums or heavies on the US tree? I try asking people in game and I swear the people driving Pershings claim the heavies are better and the people in T29's say they suck and I should stick with mediums. As I said before, I had intended to follow the medium line but I am starting to think the standard high-tier US heavy tactics (hull down, stalk and snipe) would really suit the playstyle I enjoy.
A part of me wants to try TD's but the lack of M18 Hellcat offends my aesthetic sensibilities. Although honestly I don't think the M18 would be very viable in WoT, it would functionally be a high-tier light.
Right now the US Heavy tree only exists at tier 7 & 8. Every other tank in its tree is arguably the worst tank in its tier. If you want to play the game on hard mode then the US heavy tree is the way to go
I drive the us mediums, I think some people have problems with them as they are not made for a specific role like the German (more snipers) and Russian (more close in specalist) mediums. Some people also dont like that no US medium has anything that can remotely be called armor, unlike the fronts of german mediums or the t54. Patton, for example, is slower than T54, more manuverable and lower profile than an e50. Better gun than a T54, same damage as an E50 but faster RoF though less accurate.
As said before, the US heavy line is mostly a joke. T1 and M6 are horrible, though the M6 gets an ok gun for its tier. T29 has a great gun, good turret, but weak hull. T32 has great turret armor, ok gun for its tier, very low profile for a tier 8 heavy and descent hull armor on the front. T34 and T30 are a joke. Should be the glass cannon heavies but dont have near enough damage ability to make up for tier 5 tanks penetrating the hull front of a tier 10 heavy every time. E-100 does that role way better than a T30. Usually I will shoot the smaller threating tanks first as they die faster, but I almost always shoot t34/30s first as they just die so fast under any amount of focused fire. Which is why they are getting replaced for the M103/M110 at some point.
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Also, fuck matchmaker ranking me equal to e75s and IS4s, what kind of joke is that?
I like my T-34-57. But setting me up against 3 Tier 8s and 5 Tier 7s really limits how much I'm going to be contributing to the team.
It might not have a turret but at least it can penetrate tanks of the same tier and go faster than 10kph.
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I've killed an IS-7 with the AMX 13 75 (tier 6 light), dealing over 40% of the damage myself. It's circumstantial, but killing higher tiered enemies is very possible in the tier 5-7 lights. The T-50-2 can run circles around heavies, and the VK can actually take a few hits. The Chaffee is lackluster, but at least it looks cute. <_< The French lights, starting with the 13 75, are generally insane in capacity, although they're also less scouty than their brothers.
As for the T-34-85, I'd actually argue you're wrong there. Remember that the T-34-85, the T-43, and the T-44 all have the same gun options. It's only been in the last month and some that the T-44 got the LB-1 and graduated to the point of 'serious threat'. Before that, you sure as hell had better like your D-10T or the long 85, because those were your only options for all the tier 6-8 mediums, as well as the best bet on the IS for God's sake ...
Case in point: It's not the size of your gun that matters, it's how you use it.
So, so, sooooo this.
Perhaps I can interest you in my meager selection of pins?
I have actually pulled off a few 2-kill or even 3-kill games with it, when I'm top tank or almost and I can park or advance slowly and keep my gun pointed at the enemy. A little luck of having something else to occupy them helps too. So yeah, basically trying to use it as an (awful) TD. Being in the bottom half of my team's roster almost guarantees a pointless death within the first couple minutes of the game starting if I bother to move from the spawn area, though.
And yeah, I'm going down the medium line, Shermans up through the Pershing and Patton all look like fun, but the early US heavies are by all accounts awful and I'm not attracted to the upper-tier ones basically just because I can't keep them straight and none of them ever got produced in real life. The German side is where I'm going for heavies.
Re: spotting...if there is a single most bass-ackwards design mistake they made with this game, it still seems to be spotting. If an enemy is in a tank the size of a house and I am in a tank the size of an SUV, it does not make any sense from either a realism or balance standpoint for him to be able to see me before I can see him just because he's higher-tier.
It's funny that they chose to use the Lee's hull gun but the B1's turret gun. Maybe they thought the B1 is so immobile that the hull gun would actually be even more worthless. But in any case, the B1 does have one outstanding quality to recommend it:
It does. Not. Fucking. Die.
At least while it placidly absorbs fire from two, or three, or four enemies they're not paying attention to your teammates who may actually be able to inflict damage.
Finished the game with a steel wall and top gun awards. Think I fired around 50 shots, mostly at the B1s.
I'm guessing the programmers just decided to not bother modelling a design/doctrine flaw that regulated the Char B1 to shooting 75 he at infantry concentrations/buildings/strongpoints.
"I think I can comment on this because I used to live above the Baby Doll Lounge, a topless bar that was once frequented by bikers in lower Manhattan."
Really though, I'm not sure why it would have been SO hard to make both guns on the B1 and Lee work.
Sigh. I might have to give up on the French heavy line and focus on the medium. It looks more promising anyway.
How bad is it compared to say the T1 Heavy? Because it was pretty bad.
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Then a lowe and KV3 drove past me and I exploded.
Edit: guess alot of people still dont realise that after a french tank fires several shost at you and backs around a corner, charge him. Course then you run the risk of running into say a kv3 that was behind me.
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Best advice I can give you is to get the 76mm M1A1 and attack your targets from their flanks/rear. You should basically never be fighting head-to-head in a medium tank, and this goes double if you're not in the top tier. Resist the temptation to use your speed to get out in front of your team's heavies and start shooting at enemies as quickly as possible. Instead, hang back a little behind the heavies and wait for some fights to break out. Then, when your enemies are engaged, swing around to their sides or rear, preferably staying in or near cover, and open up on them. Be ready to pull back if it looks like you're going to get shot. If your teammates are any good, they'll use the opportunity to pop out and take their own shots while you retreat to cover.
I killed one in 4 shots last night while it was busy attacking someone else and staying in the open. The reload is a bitch compared to the other guns though. Also, jacking the rammer and stabilizer from my E8 really helped.
In higher tier matches, basically trail one of the bigger tanks (not right on him) until you start seeing how the enemy is deployed. Then you can try to manuvere to get side shots or move to where there are tanks you can hurt. Also the reload on the 76 is quick, so your a good tank to hang near arty at the start of the map to defend aginst scouting lights.
...T-34-57.
Case in point--in this case, you're wrong. Though had I been talking about a Tier 6, or certain other Tier 5s like the Panzer IV or StuG III, yeah, different story. Especially in the case of the Tier 6 Soviet medium, sharing guns with two Tiers ahead of it largely.
http://wiki.worldoftanks.eu/T-34-85
Steam: Kemlo
As for the D-10T, it's a pretty mediocre gun, though yes, at tier 6 it packs a good punch on the T-34-85. The problem is that your armor is still such shit that the things you're fighting can pick you apart quickly enough, regardless of your nice big gun. >_<
[Edit] Seriously, if you just mean the BASE T-34, then I still disagree with you. The final gun on that thing is awesome. I come close to running out of ammo in half my matches with it, and it's still small and nimble enough to get into good positions to use it. Also, it's an excellent French tank killer as long as they aren't gunning for you. In any case, you can still reliably damage Type 59s and other T8 mediums from the side. Same goes for T7 heavies. If there's anything good I can say about 7.1, it's that I've really learned to make my shots count in lower power guns now that HE isn't the easy fallback.
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T-34 with the 57mm gun? It's pretty common shorthand.
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I agree that it fares better in high-tier matches than most lower-tier tanks, since you have the accuracy and penetration to exploit weak spots on most tier 7 and many tier 8 tanks, at least if you can get into a good position. You definitely have to play cautiously, though - medium/long-distance flank shots from cover are your best bet.
It is possible that you could use it to pick off individual weak spots, but on Tier 8s and Tier 7 heavies, aiming at the usual suspects--periscopes, MG ports, etc.--seems very much "Well, maybe." Especially Tier 8. Then again, I'm not surprised that the 57 mm will bounce off the back of a IS-3 at 6 o'clock directly, given its caliber. *shrug* Circling behind heavies is one of my favorite things to do in that thing, but it's not always a viable plan.
We'll have to disagree--I haven't run into enough French tanks to test that theory (but I don't play nearly as much anymore since I'm sick of the grind). I also use up a third or half the shots I'm carrying in any given round, but that high rate of fire, while awesome, does mean I'm losing some of the accuracy between two second shots. Holding fire for just a bit helps, of course, but particularly on the German heavies (and some Soviet and American ones), even a seemingly perfect shot on the MG port can bounce off on a Tier 7. Same goes for shots to the side. Guess that's what I get for not mathematically memorizing the current bouncing mechanics.
It's phenomenally great if the highest Tier I'm running into is 6 or even 5, don't get me wrong, but in the months since I got it, my matches have overwhelmingly leaned towards half the team (sometimes more, sometimes less), being 7 and 8. Of course, I'm making my own decision to stick with the 57 mm rather than the final 76 mm which might do a better job, just because I had so much fun with it in the past and on the off chance I will get thrown into a Tier 5 or Tier 6 match. I'm grateful that the HE update hasn't effected it, since I don't carry HE in it anyway, but when 80% of your matches are in the 8/7 range, even with that great rate of fire, the sheer number of shots that just bounce off harmlessly really makes the grind pretty disheartening--once again, not using premium, which means a lot of grinding.
Thinking about it, I run into strangely few Tier 6s heavies (almost entirely the KV-3, which might be lucky?) in it, as of the last few weeks. I've seen many more IS-3s or Tiger IIs in it that Tier 6s, rather oddly. Coincidence, I assume.
That might be the issue. Except for the rather rare match that puts about 3/4 of the team at 7 or 8, if I'm outgunned, I do what I can to support the main group from behind cover--not that much long-range combat, since I want to keep the rate of fire up, and try and take good advantage of maneuverability. I suppose I could halve the ROF and engage purely at really long ranges, depending on the map, but to me, the T-34-57 really doesn't feel like a long-range sniping tank when you're going against a lot of Tier 7s and 8s. But I am saying this as someone who primarily drives German TDs--long range may be longer rage for me than others.
If I played more matches, maybe I'd get more Tier 5/6 matchmaking. *shrug* I've realized just how little the HE revision of 7.1 effects me because, between my intense dislike of howitzers and rarely falling back on HE ammo even when it's clearly evident I'm not going to get any penetration, and not using SPGs, maybe 2 out of 100 rounds I fire in WoT since beta ended aren't AP. Most of my HE fire comes in the form of an hurried attempt to delay a cap--which I'm guessing no longer works?
Debatably, if you're running into the volume of Tier 7s and 8s you suggest, it's a mistake to not carry any HE whatsoever. It's not the 'easy button' anymore, but it's still useful. Otherwise, if you're seeing that many Tiger IIs and IS-3s, you should probably just be trying to track them to at least help your team. Because otherwise, you're right. There's very little you're going to do to them at range, and from the front or sides.
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It doesn't seem to track much at all, which is a shame, given it's volley fire. Even at Tier 5 or 6, I feel much more likely to punch a hole through than actually track a Panzer IV or a Sherman--which is fine by me, mind you, since in those matches I'm actually there to kill things.
Just guessing it though.
http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/84782-tier-6-matchmaking-and-the-arl/
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I've been thinking of doing that myself. My brand new AMX 12t keeps getting shoved into matches with tier 9 heavies. All the time. The first few matches of a new tank are supposed to take into consideration that it's a new, stock tank, right? Yeah no. Tier 9 matches right off the bat. I think it's been the worst matchmaking I've seen. Usually I tolerate its stupidity, but this is just ridiculous.
I think out of the 32 matches I've had with it so far, only 2-3 have been at an appropriate tier.
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There's a snowball effect here with the mid-tiers. I mean, I can play my SU-85 and see a ton of Type 59s, or I can play my Object 704 and see a ton of Type 59s. The result is that I have a garage full of tier 5 and 6 tanks collecting dust. Unless I'm the only one thinking like this, that's further depressing the mid-tier population.
They removed that feature a while ago without telling anyone (Overlord eventually confirmed in the EU Q&A thread). Real cute, Wargaming.
That's a different issue altogether. T5 lights get vastly elevated matchmaking because prior to the introduction to the French line, the only T5 light tanks were end-tier scouts (50-2, 2801, Chaffee). However, the matchmaker has kept the modified T5 light matchmaking for the 12t even though it is nowhere near the match of any of those 3 other T5 lights. But just grind it out because it gets way better, the AMX 13 75 is great, and the AMX 13 90 is probably my favorite tank in the game.
It's the only T7 in the game that can at one moment be fighting on the north side of the map, see the south flank collapse, race to the opposite side of the map, waste an IS-7 and some other trash, then race back to the melee in the north before it has even finished and mop up the survivors.
Sigh. Yeah I'll definitely grind it out. I mean the switch from AMX 40 to 12t was a great mood lifter. Even though I can't really penetrate much with its little peashooter in the battles I'm being put in, it's still a fun tank to zoom around in.
Geez Wargaming. When will I stop being amazed at your antics?
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Basically, I suspect the only people playing in tiers 5 & 6, and probably to a large extent 7, are those who are desperately trying to grind through them to higher tiers, those who need to earn some credits without a premium account or tank, and the die-hard fans of specific tanks in those tiers.
You rang?
Such a heavy burden now to be the one
Born to bare and read to all the details of our ending
To write it down for all the world to see
But I forgot my pen...
A part of me wants to try TD's but the lack of M18 Hellcat offends my aesthetic sensibilities. Although honestly I don't think the M18 would be very viable in WoT, it would functionally be a high-tier light.
Right now the US Heavy tree only exists at tier 7 & 8. Every other tank in its tree is arguably the worst tank in its tier. If you want to play the game on hard mode then the US heavy tree is the way to go
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As said before, the US heavy line is mostly a joke. T1 and M6 are horrible, though the M6 gets an ok gun for its tier. T29 has a great gun, good turret, but weak hull. T32 has great turret armor, ok gun for its tier, very low profile for a tier 8 heavy and descent hull armor on the front. T34 and T30 are a joke. Should be the glass cannon heavies but dont have near enough damage ability to make up for tier 5 tanks penetrating the hull front of a tier 10 heavy every time. E-100 does that role way better than a T30. Usually I will shoot the smaller threating tanks first as they die faster, but I almost always shoot t34/30s first as they just die so fast under any amount of focused fire. Which is why they are getting replaced for the M103/M110 at some point.
In other news, coming from an Elite Luchs, the stock Leopard is an unbelievable piece of shit.