Autoloader: Tank races, Black Prince, and more...

AutoLoader is a series of quick takes on World of Tanks. You probably already knew that, so let's just jump right in.

The Great Race

Played a couple battles of "The Great Race" (Go Team Green!) and my opinion is that it's ok. The driving is kinda fun, it's an interesting new mode, and (maybe best of all) the races only take a few minutes each so it goes quickly. At least you're not spending 25 minutes per battle grinding away. You can get in a couple quick races, then go back to standard battles, if you want to.

I'll probably do a few more races before the mode goes away.

It's a Black Prince, not a Blackhawk

Still grinding the Black Prince, though getting close to done. It's not a bad tank. The frontal armor can hold up ok if you angle it right and the frontal turret armor is fantastic. Don't let the 8 degrees of gun depression fool you, though, the nose is so long you really can't use it as a ridge fighter, unlike many of the USA tanks.

The biggest downside to the Black Prince for me is the mobility. Downhill you might see 23km/h. Maybe. Driving out of the spawn yesterday I couldn't keep up with a KV-2 or an O-I. That should tell you what you need to know about that. I always laugh when somebody tells me to "Follow them" or calls for help when they're 200m away. "Dude, you'll have to be patient...it's going to take me a while to get there..."

Twice this week my team was down 0-7 by the time the Black Prince arrived at the fight. Yes, it's slow.

The Toxics

The toxic players are out in force this morning. Including Rump_Roaster, a 45.59% player who announces during the countdown that it's a loss and he's out of here, then proceeds to drive his top tier HWK 30 into the lake and drown himself. I sent in a ticket for physics abuse on him. Sad that people can't be decent human beings in a game.

The other Toxic this morning was a reroll playing the M44. Spent the whole battle barking instructions and calling the rest of the team idiots. I had him for two consecutive battles - he didn't manage to get any kills (or very much damage) in either game.

I don't mind people offering suggestions during the game. Even armchair Pattons who think they're the caller. But don't be a jerk about it.

Scavenger Hunt - Are you closer than you think?

If you're doing the Scavenger Hunt on NA be warned - Wargaming gave you a few extra tokens (3? 5?) the other day. When you finish the 30th mission you get 10K XP on the tank you're driving. Finish the 31st and you get 30K XP on that tank. So you want to make sure you're driving the right tank. Go to your missions panel and confirm how many you've already completed - you don't want to accidentally finish that 30th mission in your SkorpG because you thought you were still on the 25th mission.

Got thoughts about the Great Race? The Black Prince? Techniques for dealing with toxic players? Share them in the comments below.

GLHF!