Autoloader: Sunday the 27th in World of Tanks

 Just a few random thoughts about World of Tanks...

The HWK 30 is tricky

Somebody recently mentioned the HWK 30 (the German Tier 8 Premium "light tank") so I decided to pull it out of the garage and play it a couple of times. I'm not a big fan of the HWK 30 to be honest because it doesn't really suit my playstyle.

It's a "light tank" but it's huge and as a result it doesn't have very good camo for a LT. And since it's an LT it has no armor. But also since it's a LT you're expected to play it a bit forward to give your team some vision. Worst case is when you're the only LT your team has and the other team has an EVEN 90 or almost anything else...you're going to get outspotted and since you have no armor you're going to be running for your life.

Really what you need to do is play it like a MT with above-average camo for a MT. The HWK 30 does have a decent gun so it's a combat scout...just don't think you're going to sneaky-sneak into a bush with it.

It's also pretty situational. I got into a battle on Tundra (terrible map for a LT) that was a Tier X battle. Unsurprisingly I wasn't very effective and was quickly dead. Nothing a HWK 30 is going to do about an E50 M on that close-quarters map.

Play it like an unarmored MT, keep moving, use your vision as you can, try to save your HP for the late game.

It's got a pretty high skill cap to play it well (I still really don't) but it can work in the right situations.

Holiday Ops are early this year!

For many players Holiday Ops are their favorite time of the year. Festive garage, lots of bonuses and rewards, lootboxes. Many players enter the new calendar year with an account full of gold and silver, lots of extra garage slots, and a few shiny new tanks.

Usually I expect Holiday Ops to start around the 10th of the month but Wargaming has announced that this year it's going to start December 1st! Excellent.

I expect to do my "Buy 300 boxes and track the results" thing again. If you care about such things, watch this space.

Deep thoughts by Tank Manly

One way I can tell that I'm getting better at the game is that I realize entire new levels on which I suck at the game. Last night I was walking the dog and thinking about how too many players play World of Tanks like it's them against the map...and not them against the other team.

WOT is like poker - good players aren't playing the cards, they're playing the opponent. That means having an understanding of the map, the tanks, and where the enemy is likely to go.

Too many of us just mindlessly drive to our favorite spot and sit there clicking on red tanks until we either win or lose. Not enough thought goes into anticipating what the enemy is going to do and trying to counter that.

Working on it...

Got thoughts? Share them in the comments below.

GLHF!