In World of Tanks grinding up to higher tier tanks can make you pay a price - so to speak. This is never more evident than when you're working your way thru the Tier III/IV tanks to try and get into the far better Tier V/VI tanks. Why? Because the disparity is significant and along the way you often end up facing those far better tanks on the field.
Take this morning for example: I took the M3 Lee out twice, as you may recall I'm grinding that line to the T29 thru the T1 Heavy. In the first battle, on Mountain Pass, I was killed within 90 seconds by a TD I couldn't even see. The M3's armor just isn't good enough and the camo/view range are poor. Just trying to drive to the battle I got spotted and shot. It happens.
The following battle was on Redshire. Lasted very slightly longer there - took up a position on the hill from the North spawn alongside a T67. I was maneuvering in the trees and finally poked out from behind one of the big rocks to try and get a shot on an enemy Leopard. Almost immediately I was shot simultaneously by two enemy tanks and killed. Not enough armor, not enough hit points.
Two battles - didn't get a shot off in either battle.
Did I make stupid mistakes that caused me to get killed? Maybe, but I wasn't yolo'ing. I was using fairly standard tactics, trying to work in cover, paying attention to the mini-map. The Tier IV M3 just doesn't have the view range or the armor to counter Tier VI tanks with better crews and better guns. And with only 300 hit points it only takes 1-2 hits for a Tier VI tank to send you back to the garage.
So what to do?
This post isn't intended to be a pity party (well, not entirely). There are some lessons to be had. First....when you're facing far better tanks you need to remember that and play even more conservatively than usual. I don't mean camp in the base - that's just useless. But you do need to be very thoughtful about when you press W because you have far less margin for error. When my T-34 gets shot I usually can just pull back into cover and keep fighting. When the M3 Lee gets shot...there's a decent chance it's dead.
Second you need to rely even more on your team. With a limited view range and a relatively mediocre crew you need to let your teammates with better view range get out in front of you and spot. Even though you might nominally be a "light tank" you don't want to poke your near-sighted, turretless, tank out at the front of the battle where unseen enemies on the other side of the field have already lit you. Hang back a little, let your team's scouts find the bad guys so you know what you're driving into.
Every good battle I've had in the M3 Lee has happened when I played a support role. Trailing behind our better tanks and focusing fire on targets they lit and had already engaged.
Context switching
I've come to realize that switching from Tier III/IV to V or above in World of Tanks is tough. Maybe tougher than switching between tank classes like LT to HT or SPG. The style of play you're forced to adopt when you're badly outclassed as a bottom tier M3 Lee has to change if you switch it up and slide into the driver's seat of your well-equipped T21 or Chaffee. It's a different mindset.
So that's my current challenge - at least for 11,000 more XP - is to remember when I'm in the M3 Lee and go easy on the W...as opposed to when I'm in the Chaffee or the AMX ELC and I want to race off into that forward bush before the enemy can even get out of spawn.
GLHF.
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