AutoLoader: What just happened?!?

 AutoLoader is a set of random thoughts about World of Tanks

Grinding the On Track tanks

Lately my tactic is to grind the On Track tanks not because I care about the On Track bonuses (which really aren't that exciting for me) but rather because I like moving up the tiers when they're on sale. I already have the Obj 140, and just got the Manticore (the current On Tracks), and the next one is the PZ.KPFW. VII the rear-turreted German Superheavy.

I'm currently up to the tier 8 VK 45.02A on that line and I figured I might play it a bit in advance of the Sept 5th start of the PZ.KPFW VII On Track just to maybe unlock (or get close) to the VK 45.02 B.

The Sept 20 On Track is the T110E4 (American TD) but I already have that one, so I figure I'll be casually grinding to the PZ. KPFW VII all the way to Oct 5.

Wait...in a VK 45.02 A?

Had the VK 45.02 A out today to grind it a bit (see above) and loaded into Redshire...bottom tier in a Tier IX battle. I didn't have high hopes becaues the VK 45.02 A is ok, but not great, and I was going to be facing quite a few pretty good tanks.

However...late in the battle I put two shots (including the kill) into an AE Phase I. And I finished the battle with a kill shot on a T95. Killed an AE Phase I and a T95 with a VK 45.02A? Shooting only AP?

Color me surprised. :-) 

Polish MTs

Casually working my way up the Polish MT line. Only up to tier 7 so far but here are some early thoughts:

• The Deasy-Peasy is an ok Tier 5.  The gun has a little pop and it's not uncomfortable to drive.
• The BUGI can be fun at Tier VI in same tier battles. It's pretty hopeless against Tier VIII, but so are most Tier 6 tanks. With the derp gun it reminds me a little of the PZ IV H - if you enjoy derps you'll probably like it.
• The CS-44 is quite bad, stock - like many tanks. It's barely competitive even at Tier 7 when it's stock. The gun seems even less accurate than the .39 dispersion would suggest. In a Pearl River battle I missed a fully aimed shot on a stationary SU-122-44 from 103m. Not bounced, missed. You just have to laugh sometimes. The 156 standard pen isn't doing you any favors against higher tiers either. At least when you do hit you've got 240 alpha which is nice at tier 7.
  
  The top speed on the CS-44 is 57km/h, but the P/W ratio is poor, so you won't see 57km/h very easily.

The game seems to know the stock CS-44 is uncompetitive - I think I got almost entirely tier 8 battles in it. LOL

The Worst Spawn in the Game?

Everybody knows Himmelsdorf. It's an old map, been in the game forever, everybody's played it a thousand times. And for some reason in the encounter mode Wargaming with a recent patch decided that everybody should start in this bizarre "Used Car Lot" type of spawn. Crammed together. 

To make matters worse they almost never put you in the spawn in a way that makes sense. for example heavies will often go to Tank Alley (the 8 line), but the heavies are almost always parked at the back of the spawn. Meaning that all the other tanks (many of which would rather go hill, or railyard, have to get out of the way before the heavies can pick their way through the traffic jam to get to where they want to go. 

Every time I get this map I shake my head at how stupid that alignment is.

GLHF!