World of Tanks (Vol 2)

[Beati Dogu]

The FCM is pretty good apart from the mobility. You really have to stay back as base defence, or not far from it. I have pushed the field side of Ensk before with it though. It will usually bounce Panzer 1c rounds from the front too.

You will sometimes see tier 5s, but it can take them out too with a few prem shells provided they aren't angled. I had a KV-1 driver calling hax as I was shooting him from way out of his pathetic view range.

For crew training it's fine. Only the tier 4, 6 and 7 French TDs have a radioman anyway & the tier 8 has an extra gunner.

All the others conform to the FCM's crew lay out.




I've had the T-25 a while now too. It's a perfectly capable tier 5 medium & has the standard German 5-man crew. I've got a 60% win rate with it after 127 games & 196 kills. It is definitely worth getting.

Here's a game I had a couple of days ago with it as an example.

http://wotreplays.com/site/1380376?secret=594d1c81...



I also have the Churchill III on my US account. I've only played 21 games with it, but it does OK (67% win rate, 19 kills) despite having a brand new crew. Like the KV-220, most people don't seem to know to shoot it in the turret. It's slow enough that you can shoot on the move.

It has a very high multiplier for crew training & credits apparently, so it's a good one to get for your Soviet heavy crew. For £3 including a garage slot, it's a no brainer really. Oh and it doesn't see any higher than tier 6 either.

Edited by Beati Dogu on Saturday 29th November 18:25

[bstb3]

Ended up buying all 3, and so far so good. Thanks for the advice guys. Really liking the FCM so far, going to be a lot of fun that. The T25 is ok, think it might take a little while to get used to the gun handling (it seems clumsy next to the other german mediums I've played) but otherwise seems nice. The Churchill 3 is surprisingly fun too, that ROF is hilarious. Its like an autoloader with a massive clip. For now I've nicknamed it shredder .

Seem to have been having a problem with stuttering in game today though, whenever the action heats up a bit the game gets choppy. Ping seems stable so I'm wondering if its a mod or something playing up (I've heard the minimap can do that to you). So I'm doing a clean install and going to go vanilla for a while, then slowly add mods 1 by 1.

[jimmyjimjim]

I've been (sort of) enjoying the thanksgiving specials.

The US had a thing where you ground out 5k xp, 3 times to get some repair kits, med kits and fire extinguishers. You could do this once in a day (15k xp in total).

You then repeated this 25 times to get 3 garage spaces and 75 assorted med/repair/fire kits - I completed this on the Wednesday, so now have 21 empty garage slots....

The x5 allowed me to elite the SU-14-1 and the S-51 yesterday, which is nice. Only 3 tier 7's left; the LTTB, the Chinese light and the IS-2.

[jimmyjimjim]

And now 2; just elited the WZ-131, hadn't realized it was that close.

[jimmyjimjim]

Just bought the FV207, Rhm.WT, T49 and IS-2. Should keep me busy for a while.

Edit - and the SU-14-2, just for added scumbagness.

Edited by jimmyjimjim on Sunday 30th November 06:07

[JustinF]

Cheers for the Churchill III review, I never knew about it's training boost. Aslo picking up the Pz.Kpfw. S35 739, that's a fun little tank, great RoF and aim speed, between the two new acquisitions over 8 games I was outside the top 3 for XP once.

[Mastodon2]

I put the Russian Matilda IV in the garage yesterday, plays similarly to a KV-1 with less armour, the 76mm gun is a nice touch. The alpha feels pretty meaty, and it fires 16rpm or so, the pen and accuracy aren't amazing, but it's one of those limpet tanks - once it gets into a good spot it's bloody hard to remove. I had a great game on Live Oaks in it, as it has amazing gun depression, I set up on a ride near the town and nothing could shift me out, I just kept popping up, smashing a few tanks and disappearing again.

I've blown the dust off the Jagdtiger this weekend, which has been under a dustsheet for a while. I've got something like 150,000XP to go on that to get a JPE-100, so I'll be doing bits here and there to work towards that. I had told myself I wouldn't bother buying it, but I've got so much silver now I may as well get it. Do any of you guys play it? I've heard that it's terribly affected by RNG and the gun feels very unreliable, missing and bouncing shots it should penetrate with ease. Is it any good or is it st? I must admit, I do try to avoid fighting them as they can 2-shot my Jagdtiger, and I can't really flank to hurt them easily. I think I'll probably end up getting the JPE-100 and keeping the Jagdtiger in the garage in case the JPE-100 turns out to be a dog egg.

[Beati Dogu]

bstb3 said:

The T25 is ok, think it might take a little while to get used to the gun handling (it seems clumsy next to the other german mediums I've played) but otherwise seems nice.

Yes, it's not the most manoeuvrable tank in the world. Good practice for the E-50 probably.

I got a second Ace Tanker with it earlier today. It was quite an exiting game with a tense finish too.

http://wotreplays.com/site/1384248#self

Fortunately their E-25 was an idiot.

[bstb3]

Yep well played. Definately a good mobile tank, with a useful amount of HP. Their E25 certainly wasn't too bright, you're right there. It assault mode, you are in the cap and he's driving around the edges of the map trying to get the arty . It was lucky their arty doesnt know how HE shells work too, trying to shoot through the fence at you like that

It does play a bit like the E50, now you mention it, although the E50 allows a more aggressive style of play I guess due to its frontal armour.

Finally clicked with the AMX50 100 now, loving that tank (it's only taken 100 odd matches). Killed 7 tanks in 2 clips back to back earlier lol. It's great at mopping up.

http://wotreplays.com/site/1385501?secret=5b9be9ea...

Edited by bstb3 on Sunday 30th November 23:21

[bstb3]

Mastodon2 said:

I've blown the dust off the Jagdtiger this weekend, which has been under a dustsheet for a while. I've got something like 150,000XP to go on that to get a JPE-100, so I'll be doing bits here and there to work towards that. I had told myself I wouldn't bother buying it, but I've got so much silver now I may as well get it. Do any of you guys play it? I've heard that it's terribly affected by RNG and the gun feels very unreliable, missing and bouncing shots it should penetrate with ease. Is it any good or is it st? I must admit, I do try to avoid fighting them as they can 2-shot my Jagdtiger, and I can't really flank to hurt them easily. I think I'll probably end up getting the JPE-100 and keeping the Jagdtiger in the garage in case the JPE-100 turns out to be a dog egg.

I've got one - it's certainly not king dick of tier 10 tank destroyers anymore, but its still capable enough if the situation allows. Much more at home on city maps than open spaces, where it has protection from Arty and can hide it's lower plate behind rubble and such. The gun can be a bit derpy, it's very much one that you need to be sure of your shot before firing, the 20 second or so reload is painful enough when you hit. It is very galling though when you hit the shot and it's eaten by tracks, something which the French Batchatillon line is very good at doing for some reason.

The big but however is it is soo slow and unwieldy you have to be really careful about advancing too much. Get caught out by anything with a turret and it can be game over. The armour is great from a distance, but up close once tracked its dogmeat. Very much like the Jagdtiger in most respects really.

[Beati Dogu]

bstb3 said:

Yep well played. Definately a good mobile tank, with a useful amount of HP. Their E25 certainly wasn't too bright, you're right there. It assault mode, you are in the cap and he's driving around the edges of the map trying to get the arty . It was lucky their arty doesnt know how HE shells work too, trying to shoot through the fence at you like that

It does play a bit like the E50, now you mention it, although the E50 allows a more aggressive style of play I guess due to its frontal armour.

Finally clicked with the AMX50 100 now, loving that tank (it's only taken 100 odd matches). Killed 7 tanks in 2 clips back to back earlier lol. It's great at mopping up.

Thanks. I pulled back so that the big gates would hopefully protect me. Luckily they did.

bstb3 said:

Finally clicked with the AMX50 100 now, loving that tank (it's only taken 100 odd matches). Killed 7 tanks in 2 clips back to back earlier lol. It's great at mopping up.

http://wotreplays.com/site/1385501?secret=5b9be9ea...

Nice work. And 3 scumbags nailed too. You took a risk taking on the IS-3 with only one round left. If I'd done that, the shot would probably have nose dived into his tracks and then I'd be screwed.

The AMX 50 100 is certainly a unique play style. It's all about burst damage and managing that crippling reload time. It's a real predator.

I've sold mine now and got the tier 9. Same gun at the moment, but a 35 second reload. Usual stock tank matchmaking to get you to spend money though: Constant bottom tier with complete cretins as team mates.

It shares the same top engine as the tier 9 Foch TD, so I think I'll get that too, as grinding an engine on that will be easier. The AMX 50 120 is a bit slow for my liking at the moment - I couldn't chase down a French arty in the last game. Luckily he came looking for me instead.

I also got the premium Churchill; Since it's only £3, it's mad not to. I see Wargaming still haven't sorted out a proper shop yet. There's no shopping basket and you have to buy things individually.

Edited by Beati Dogu on Monday 1st December 02:26

[Alan O'Hagan]

Mastodon2 said:

I've blown the dust off the Jagdtiger this weekend, which has been under a dustsheet for a while. I've got something like 150,000XP to go on that to get a JPE-100, so I'll be doing bits here and there to work towards that. I had told myself I wouldn't bother buying it, but I've got so much silver now I may as well get it. Do any of you guys play it? I've heard that it's terribly affected by RNG and the gun feels very unreliable, missing and bouncing shots it should penetrate with ease. Is it any good or is it st? I must admit, I do try to avoid fighting them as they can 2-shot my Jagdtiger, and I can't really flank to hurt them easily. I think I'll probably end up getting the JPE-100 and keeping the Jagdtiger in the garage in case the JPE-100 turns out to be a dog egg.

The mighty Jaegeru is a very situational vehicle. It is incredibly sluggish (but you are no stranger to slow tanks ). It is excellent for denying corridors to the enemy but it is very prone to getting flanked so don't try to hold on your own unless you are sure you can't get flanked.

The armour is reliable, especially if angled and the lower plate is covered. Then you can reliably bounce even premium rounds.

Then there is dat gun! Oh my. Outside of the 183 Death Star (and arty) this thing packs the highest alpha damage in the game at 1050 per shot. And the penetration is almost off the chart. Regular ammo has pen of 299, but the premium round has pen of 420! Ofcourse this comes at the cost of a very slow reload (2.33 rounds per minute).

The biggest problem for me is its inability to flex to where needed. This was perfectly illustrated in my "best" game in the thing, on Korelia. I ended up doing almost 8000 damage and bounced something like 13,000 damage! In the end there was only me left against 2 tier 8 medium tanks, both of which were easy one shot kills, but I couldnt get back to my cap fast enough to stop them capping for the win.

And that loss just about sums up all the strengths and weaknesses of the JPE100 in one neat game.


Slight change of topic now.

Regarding the earlier discussion about the Churchill 3. I can definitely recommend this tank, especially if you platoon with a couple of mates also in Churchill 3s. The dpm 3 of these can spew out is awesome.

I recommend you do not bother equipping a fire extinguisher and instead replace it with a large repair kit. In 90 or so games I have never once been set on fire but I do get tracked a lot. The added bonus to repair time that the large repair kit gives me in every game is way more beneficial than a fire extinguisher. So my consumable load out is small repair kit/med kit/large repair kit. I generally don't actually use the large repair kit and have it mainly to get that repair speed bonus. I also have a toolkit instead of a gun rammer for even faster repairs. The Churchill 3 fires so fast that a gun rammer doesn't really add much to the reload speed.

[Siko]

Thanks for the tip on the Churchill3 Alan. I've just bought this and it's fantastic fun sofar!

Quick Q...is anyone else taking absolutely ages to log on today? I've not played in a few months as I am hopelessly addicted to Blitz on the iPad, but everything seems painfully slow....spawning halfway through a game etc. bit weird as I've not changed anything and it ran like greased lightning before....

[bstb3]

Beati Dogu said:

Nice work. And 3 scumbags nailed too. You took a risk taking on the IS-3 with only one round left. If I'd done that, the shot would probably have nose dived into his tracks and then I'd be screwed.

Yeah it was a gamble, but I had 3 back up plans - Ramming the bugger (he only had ~60hp), the friendly 110 on the hill helping (which is an even bigger gamble) or failing that running away screaming like a little girl. The AMX is pretty good at option 3 I find . I could have waited but I wanted to get the team moving as it felt like the game was starting to slip away from us a bit and another 45 seconds might have seen their arty turn the game. That IS3 was (crazily) holding down the almost full health 110 on the hill, which needed to get moving. He who dares etc.


Had someone call me a hacker in the Churchill 3 too yesterday, guess they didn't know about the fast firing on it. Its lovely when someone just parks side on to you like they did. Great tip about the large repair kit too, I'll try that thanks. Was already using a toolbox instead of rammer on it but forgot the large kits also give a repair boost. People do love to shoot its tracks.

[Mastodon2]

Large repair kits also provide a passive bonus of decreasing module damage chance by 15%. On tanks where I use a toolbox, I also use a large repair kit and fully trained repair crews, with that setup they can fix a tracked tank in about 6.5 seconds.

[Fane]

Sign me up for the Churchill III squad. As mentioned above, at £3 including a garage slot, what's not to like?

I don't actually have a Russian Heavy at the moment, so stuck my old KV-85 crew in it. I'll wait for a sale which includes T6/7 in it and make my mind up then. Sooooo, KV1S, T-150, KV2 or IS? I have them all researched.

EDIT - I'm running it with vents, tool kit and optics. The latter might seem odd, but they were lying around doing nothing, and given the lumbering, and not to mention blind, nature of the beast, I figured that it was a pretty good idea to get as much view range as possible.

Edited by Fane on Monday 1st December 15:06

[Beati Dogu]

My first game with the Churchill III was on the North West map. The enemy team had a 3 man platoon of Churchill IIIs and I was the only real heavy tank on our side. Yeah, no thanks. I figured they'd go the low route (which they did), so I took the high route instead. We managed to batter our way through along the railway line and I started capping with a B1 frenchie. The main enemy force arrived at our base just after & started capping too. We were in no danger though & had it in the bag. Then, said B1 46% moron, drove out of the cap and starts to (presumably) look for arty. It's a British arty, so it would be nowhere near the cap anyway. Despite all pleas to get back, the retard carries on aimlessly and we lose.


As for other Sov heavy tanks, I kinda like the new KV-1S. It's quite a capable tank once you get used to the Chinese level of gun depression. I'm training a new crew up on it, so the Churchill III will help greatly with that.

He's a game I had with it recently:

http://wotreplays.com/site/1387347#steppes-shining...

I also bought back the IS a few days ago, which is wonderful if you like tier 8 games. Damn that tank is hard to get Ace Tanker with as well.

Edited by Beati Dogu on Monday 1st December 17:48

[JustinF]

Nice one on the Large repair heads up, was also already using a toolkit.
Played like it's bigger brother tier 7, using the tracks to cover the weakspots on the glacis, you can soak a lot of damage.

[All that jazz]

Beati Dogu said:

The FCM is pretty good apart from the mobility.

I bought this a while ago after reading the rave reviews for it in this thread. Last time I do that! It's the biggest pile of stinking poop in the game! The Matilda is like an ELC AMX for speed when comparing it with the FCM. It's that slowwwwwwwwwwwwww. It also has a glacial traverse speed. The only thing it's got going for it is insane view range. The gun is above average but nothing special. Every else about it is just pants. I played about 20 games in mine, lost about 18 of them and it's now sitting in the corner of my garage collecting dust where it will stay.

[Beati Dogu]

The FCM is a solid performer & if it was any faster, it'd be massively OP. I've got a 64% win rate with mine after nearly 500 games and over a thousand kills. 33 Top Guns and several other medals too. It's had a 10 kill game and a couple of eights too, but you don't get a Pool's or Radley Walter's medal at tier 3.

You just need to stay back near the base and hit stuff from range and cover. The gun is accurate enough and fast firing too, with nice gun depression. The turn rate is OK with clutch braking and at range it's not really an issue anyway. It can actually shred a Matilda from the side, or with turret hits. The only thing it has problems with is a KV-1, but then so do many other tier 5s.

Noobmeter's stats has it down as the best tier 3 TD of all.

http://www.noobmeter.com/tankStats/eu

It's what the Marder II used to be before they nerfed the hell out of it I am told. In fact the same gun the FCM has is the best one to use on the Marder, even though it has inferior aim & reload.