Autoloader: Stomps and Reinforcements in World of Tanks

A good deal in World of Tanks?

Not all of Wargaming's deals are especially good. We've all seen those events where they sell premium tanks and bundles of consumables for basically what you'd get them for "Retail". But during the current Battle Pass event they have one that I think is an excellent deal. 

It's called "Reinforcements" and for $10(US) you can get this pack that gives you pretty easy grind missions that gives you a TON of extra battle pass points, a lot of crew books, and some other stuff. I got thru Chapter 1 of Battle Pass in less than a week, thanks to Reinforcements.

Unfortunately, you can only buy it once. Otherwise, I'd buy it for every chapter. You can find it in the in-game store, or the online Premium Shop.

Ugliest stomp in the game?

Got to participate in the ugliest stomp loss I think I've ever seen in World of Tanks. It wasn't the fastest (I think that was the Mines game from a couple weeks back) but it was just seriously ugly. I was in my SkorpG and loaded into Karelia Assault as top tier in an 8-7-6 game.

Karelia Assault map in World of Tanks

We had two LTs - a VK 28 105, and a Hotch. The VK immediately raced off to E3 for some reason and died in the first minute. Meanwhile our Hotch was driving in frantic circles, mostly behind the mountain and quickly raced to H7, where he hid behind a rock. Wonderful.

I went to the D8 bush, where I often do in TDs on this map...but didn't have much to shoot because one LT was dead and the other was hiding. So the enemy owned the middle and neither of our flanks was putting up much of a fight either. Since their LTs could operate with impunity I was spotted every time I fired and spent a lot of time falling back into cover.

The end came mercifully quickly - just 4 minutes and 15 seconds.

I got our only kill and was tops in damage. Five of our team did no damage at all, only one other player on our team did more than 1 shot of damage (he did 2). The top damage player on the enemy team did more damage than the entire rest of my team combined. 

What makes this remarkable is that this was attack mode. The enemy team, despite being on defense which tends to be more passive (especially at the outset), wiped up our entire crew in 4 minutes and 15 seconds. 

What's the lesson?

Two lessons, I suppose.

1. Karelia is a map where spotting is crucial. No spots - no shots. If the enemy team's lights can operate freely and light your team while the enemy kills you from range, you're going to die quick and quiet. The VK didn't need to suiscout, and the Hotch was totally useless hiding in the back.
2. Some teams you can't save. I'm not saying I played brilliantly, but the reality is that nobody could have saved that game. Even the unicums, even the top streamers, all lose at least 30% of their games. This was just one of those games.

AMX M4 54 On Track

World of Tanks quietly snuck an On Track in on us - the French Heavy AMX M4 54 is On Track starting yesterday. I already had the line up to Tier 8 and had the 9 and 10 unlocked (Thanks Blueprints!) so I went ahead and bought the 9 and 10. Haven't played them yet.

The Liberte'

The On Track events, other than being a great way to buy tanks on sale, also give you x5 bonuses for the second win of the day (but only the second win of the day) in that tank during the event. That's a great way to grind field modifications or crews; which is exactly what I'm doing now.

GLHF!