Wednesday, June 11, 2014

9.1 Update Review


"Girls und Panzer" Voice Pack No. 3 - Saori Takebe

Source: SEA Forum


"World of Tanks" Meets "Girls und Panzer" Voice Pack Part 3 is released!

The third Voice Pack will feature Anglerfish Team's Radio Operator and love specialist, Saori Takebe!

By installing this Voice Pack, the crew voices during your World of Tanks battles will be changed to Saori's voice.

The new character voice for this Voice Pack are all newly recorded and exclusive to this Voice Pack. Also, the Voice Pack is free for everyone to use, so everyone can enjoy Sensha-do with Saori.

Attached Files

First Football Mode Footage


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

PROScout Tutorials: Peek-a-View and Proxy Spotting

Source: http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/359677-proscout-tutorials-peek-a-view-and-proxy-spotting/

PEEK-A-VIEW
Many of you are familiar with the Peek-a-Boo /Peek-a-Boom style of fighting.   Peek-a-View spotting is the same concept, but with spots as the goal instead of damage.  The Scout hides behind a building, rock, terrain change, etc then pops out just far enough to get spots before quickly retreating back behind his cover.

Obviously, this is highly risky.  You are essentially playing a game of Whack-a-Mole with only 1 hole - and YOU are the mole.  Despite the risk, Peek-a-View is an outstanding tool to have in your bag of tricks.

Think Malinovka and the passage by the water’s edge along the north edge of the central pond/swamp.  The ramp at either end of that path is perfect for Peek-a-View spotting.  You pop up, get spots and immediately retreat a bit back down the ramp, becoming immune to enemy fire.   As soon as the spots disappear, you do it again. 

The same technique is useful on maps and in battles across the spectrum of WOT.  All you need is a terrain feature to provide cover, tanks to spot, and the skill and willingness to take a risk for your team.

PROS:
Provides spots in areas where Passive and Active spotting may not work.
Usable anywhere you have something to provide cover.
Creates a huge distraction for the enemy team.

CONS:
Vulnerable to enemy fire when you pop up; they know where you are after the first time you do it.
Often results in you getting “stuck” behind you cover until enemy spots are killed. 
Frequently vulnerable to enemy flanking movements.

PRIME CONSIDERATIONS:
Use this style of spotting only when Passive or Active won’t work.

If possible, pop out of cover at different spots.  Peek around the left side of the rock, then the right but don’t be predictable!  Vary your timing, as well.

Only pull out far enough to get spots unless you are certain the enemy tanks are not aimed in at you.   Most of the time, you are more valuable as a spotter than as a sniper.

Before you pop out the first time, it helps to tell your team, especially if you have Arty, to aim in on the location you are about to see tanks.

ROLE COMBOS:
Can sometimes be combined with Sniping.

PROXY
When tanks move to a distance 49m or less apart from each other, they automatically light each other up.  This is called Proximity spotting., or Proxy spotting, for short.    It doesn’t matter if rocks, buildings, whatever is in between them.  Line of Sight is not required.

Scouts can take great advantage of this. 

On maps such as Karelia Assault, the defending team often sends a tank to the base of the balcony on top the donut to light up snipers.   Teams in Sand River Assault often do the same thingSometimes the most effective way to expose tanks in the Murovanka’s Magic Forest is to simply run down the medial outside of the Forest, proxy spotting hidden tanks as you go.

If you think about it, Proxy spotting can be used literally anywhere there are enemy tanks.  As battles progress, an alert Scout can frequently find times where he can sneak up to a rock or building and expose an enemy tank he knows is hiding on the opposite side.

PROS:
Can expose enemy tanks in situations where Line of Sight spotting is unattainable.
Can completely neutralize an enemy tank.
Usable on every map.

CONS: 
By default, you are always lit up when you Proxy.
Susceptible to Arty, flankers, and snipers since they know where you are.
Vulnerabilities limit its use.

PRIME CONSIDERATIONS:
Because you are exposed when you Proxy, you must have a great handle on where enemy tanks are before you attempt it.

Pay close attention to the mini-map so you can egress before enemy flankers and/or snipers move into position to attack you.

If needed and possible, playing ring-around-the-rosie with the enemy vehicle can keep you alive long enough for your team to eliminate the tank you are spotting.

If your team has no one able to shoot your spot, you may end up accomplishing nothing but trapping yourself in an untenable position.  Don’t proxy unless you have support available!

ROLE COMBOS:
Because Proxy spotting puts you in a vulnerable position dependent on your team’s support, it is difficult to combine with other Scout roles.


So there you have it – the 4 basic methods of spotting:  Passive, Active, Peek-a-View and Proxy.  Learn them all; you could very well employ every one of them during the course of a single battle! 

Now, I know some of you are thinking, “Taz, you left out what equipment and skills are good for each type of spotting – wut’s up with that?”  (changed my mind)  I don't include them here because what equipment and skills to use involve consideration of much more than spotting style you will use.  The SCOUT series will take an in depth look at equipment and skills later on in the series.

Next up:  Anti-Scouting

HAPPY HUNTING!

Monday, June 9, 2014

European Tree part IX – FAQ

Source: For The Record

Part I – Introduction
Part II – Italy, Czechoslovakia
Part III – Hungary
Part IV – Sweden
Part V – Yugoslavia
Part VI – Poland
Part VII – Spain
Part VIII – Switzerland and others
 
In our last part of the European tree series, we will talk about the common questions, that arise in connection with the possible European tree, we will be debunking some of the most common myths as well. So, without further ado, once more unto the breach, dear friends!
Myth 1: EU tree would be infested with Soviet (on in rarer cases, American) copies
Possibly the most common myth about the potential EU tree. Obviously, if you have followed the series, you know that it is not true. Granted, some nations are problematic on high tiers (Italy, Hungary, Poland), but – Czechoslovaks do have hightier vehicles (TVP series), Yugoslavia does too, Switzerland does too, Sweden has TONS of original stuff. There would be no shortage of hightier options for the entire EU tree. Granted, that would happen provided that all these nations are a part of the EU tree and not introduced as separate minitrees.
The best case scenario is that additional research would reveal more interesting candidates for the hightier nations, that are currently lacking in this respect. It is not unheard of. Worst case scenario is that some of the important, yet problematic nations would “merge” into one big branch (for example, imagine a single line of Czechoslovak light/medium tanks, with Polish and Hungarian tanks attached to it, merging into the Czechoslovak branch on their respective tiers. Or – in another case, Hungarian into Swedish (after all, they did have common designs). That would work.
But yes, there are many options for high tiers, with even the heavy branch present in form of the Swedish Kranvagn tanks.


Myth 2: EU tree is very difficult to implement
Not really, however you look at it. You need exactly one new thing, that is not yet in the game. A mechanism, where you select the nationality of the crews. That’s like one window, where you pick, which set of names and faces you want to use. Universal “European” crews are neither historical nor good ideas (“why is there a Polish gunner in my Hungarian tank”), but the selection would allow the players to pick their preferences.
Then you need of course a set of names and faces for the crews. Sets of names, that’s pretty easy – one day work, just ask the respective national communities, I am pretty sure for example the Czechs and Slovaks would come up with names and surnames very quickly. Faces – well, that’s a bit worse, but how hard can that be? Again, we Czechoslovaks, do look a bit like Germans, some of the German faces might well be re-used (modified) to look like us. Historical tanker uniforms – info can be easily provided, as well as the ranks. And of course you need historical tank markings, colors, inscriptions and such things. Suffice to say, me and a couple of other guys have already done some research in this department for the EU tree and passed it on to Wargaming. Easy.

Myth 3: Noone really wants the EU tree
Again, not true of course. Pretty much every European language section has its own thread of “add our tanks into the game” – Czechoslovak community does. Polish community does (that’s two out of three largest EU national communities, IIRC). The Hungarians do. There is an ultra-extensive Italian armor thread on US forums by Vollketten. Italian tanks are being researched by WG employees, with interesting finds passed onto Yuri Pasholok. The interest is clearly there. How much exactly of it – that is another matter. I plan to ask the players, then we’ll see. Some of the potential EU communities are very large, as I wrote before – it’s an opportunity to make money for Wargaming. I don’t know about you, but I would buy a hightier Czechoslovak premium tank. I am sure that the Polish would too buy many of theirs – not without the EU tree though, after all, what point is an EU premium tank without training a crew on it?

Myth 4: EU tree vehicles are paper projects, that never fired a shot in anger
Obviously not true. Czechoslovak armor fought – LT Vz.35 and 38 (despite serving with the German army mostly) saw actually action AGAINST the Germans on several occasions (in Bulgarian and Romanian service, during the Slovak National Uprising). Hungarian armor fought practically until the end of the war. Despite their undeservingly bad reputation, Polish armor wrecked the German invaders on several occasions, with the 7TP being superior to the most numerous German tanks, Panzer I and Panzer II. Swedish armor did not fight, but a lot of these vehicles were actually built, ready for war and served with the Swedish army. Swiss army – same thing. Or Yugoslavia – potential lowtier candidates fought the Germans, hightier vehicles were built and tested. Certainly, post-war development, when Europe was split into two hostile blocs, did influence the tank design a lot – and yes, Czechoslovakia and other Eastern Bloc nations used Soviet vehicles after the war, but that does not mean these vehicles have to appear in their trees. Or – if they do – as little as possible. Plus – tell me, how exactly do you want to have really historical battles without Hungarian and Italian tanks?

Myth 5: EU tree would bloat the client size too much
Nonsense. For one, currently, there are roughly 350 tanks in the game I think (with cca 25 more in plans). Realistically, without multiple branches per nation, we are looking at like 50 tanks for the EU tree in its most basic version (that wouldn’t come at once anyway). 50 tanks – that’s like a 15 percent increase in model size compared to the current status. If you consider releasing three branches in the first batch, that’s just 30 tanks for example (cca 9 percent increase). Hardly a terrible size increase!
Plus, there are ways of mitigating the size issue (the size in fact is not that big an issue, the traffic is), for example by optional SD/HD selection (coming in 9.2), or by allowing players to select, which HD models they want (what is the point of downloading a HD model of a T-26 for example, when you are never going to touch that tank ever again, or you don’t play lowtiers). Furthermore, remember what Storm wrote about the quality of playerbase computers – somewhat less than 50 percent of RU players play on “calculators” – very poor computers, often below minimal WoT requirements. These will not use HD textures for sure (I wonder how many actually will, because if I remember correctly, only 20-30 percent of WoT players have modern high-end computers).

Myth 6: EU tanks would break the game balance, unbalancing the battles once again
Hardly. Apart from some isolated Swedish proposals, there are no completely outrageous gamebreaking designs in the tree, no shit like WT E-100.
So, the real question is:

Why should you support the EU tree tanks, when you don’t really care about the EU tree?
In 2013, the developers announced that the year 2014 will be a year of changes for the World of Tanks. So far, that is proving to be exactly true, but not always for the better. If you follow FTR, you might have noticed the concern of Russian developers to implement the EU tree. An extreme form of this opinion is that after the Firefly line, there should be no more regular tanks implemented at all, everything new should be either an event tank or a premium tank. This is not just a mere speculation, these are opinions of some of the World of Tanks producers and developers – for example Storm himself is reluctant to talk about the EU tree or other tanks, considering them unnecessary – from what he published anyway. Same goes for “Big Boss” Viktor Kislyi – remember how he squirmed, when, recently, a Polish moderator asked him about Polish tanks during the WGL finals in Warsaw?
This is why you should support the EU tree – allow me to paraphrase the famous quote of Martin Niemöller:
First they came for the EU tree and I did not speak out – because I didn’t want it.
Then they came for the British and I did not speak out – because I wasn’t playing them.
Then they came for the French and I did not speak out – because I wasn’t playing the French either.
Then they came for all the rest – and there was no one left to speak for what I wanted.
Perhaps the above sounds a bit melodramatic (indulge that vice of mine, please), but I think we can agree that a vast majority of players does not want new regular tanks to stop coming, even if some reduction of pace is quite okay. What such a stop would mean – simple: the transfer of World of Tanks from a “developing project” to “milk cow” status, with all the consequences of such decision.
Of course, if you think that someone will suddenly come out publicly and say “we are not going to add any more regular tanks, prems/event tanks only from now on” – you would be wrong. That would be a PR disaster, tons of ragequits, forum shitstorms etc.. It would start… well, exactly like this:
“EU tanks? Sometimes in the future. Maybe. If we decide we need them. And other tanks? Maybe in the future as well. Stay tuned – here are a few premiums you might like to buy.”
Repeat every half a year. Sounds familiar? It should, those, who like the French tanks, know this tune very well. And so, if you are wondering, why am I talking about EU tanks all the time and rallying support for them: it’s not just for them, it’s indirectly for the status of World of Tanks as a developing project. Because whatever you might think of WoT development – as soon as they stop adding more regular tanks, it’s all over. Maintenance/cowmilking mode is what will drive WoT into oblivion.

How can you support EU tree then?
Now, THAT is a good question. One I will get to in due time. You’ll see.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

[Strippers Series] Jagdpanzer E-100

Source: http://wotguru.com/weak-spot-guide-jagdpanzer-e-100/

The tier 10 German tank destroyer Jagdpanzer E-100 is a behemoth with a massive amount of armor overall and especially on the frontal armor.  Like other massive German tanks the armor on the Jagdpanzer E-100 is very thick in spots and also since it is based on the E-100 chassis has decent angles on the frontal armor.  Frontally the only true weak spots are the lower glacis that is still very tough for lower tiers facing the Japgdpanzer E-100 and also a very small cupola located on the back roof area.  For tanks close to the Jagdpanzer E-100 and/or shorter than it this cupola is unable to be hit making it an unreliable weak spot.
The sides of the Jagdpanzer still retain quite a bit of toughness and especially since the entire hull(aside from the top superstructure) is covered in some sort of spaced armor.  The top side of the hull armor has a 60mm layer of spaced armor while the lower section has 40mm of track armor with 120mm of armor behind both sections.  This makes shooting the side of the Jagdpanzer E-100 with HEAT rounds a very bad idea unless you aim higher and hit the superstructure.  The superstructure is 150mm thick but only has one layer of armor.  The rear is pretty straight forward and is 150mm thick with the central “hatch” area being 120mm thick.

Frontal Views

Jagdpanzer_E100_Frontal1
Jagdpanzer_E100_Frontal2

Frontally the Jagdpanzer E-100 has a ton of armor unless you hit it in it’s very limited amount of weak spots.  The upper glacis and most of the area around the gun is off limits since it is immune to almost anything thrown it’s way.  Area #1 on the superstructure is “weak” against tier 10 tank destroyers and also high penetrating premium rounds.  The main weak spots however are the lower glacis and the small cupola found on the second view for the frontal armor.

Side/Angled/Rear Views

The side/rear/angled views are still being worked on and will be added at a later point.  For now the small overview of the armor found above will help you deal with the Jagdpanzer E-100′s other armor sections.

Saturday, June 7, 2014

RNG: No Comments Ep. 25


Football Battles in World of Tanks!

Source: SEA Portal

Greetings Tank Commanders,

We are sure that there are lots of football fans among World of Tanks players. And this is why a new mode is going to appear in the game, which is timed to coincide with the football championship in Brazil.
Yes, yes, we're not kidding - starting from June 13 [UPDATED], everyone will be able to try out our new football mode. Where and how can you play, you ask? Here's a gist of how the football mode will be like:
  • Especially for this mode, players will get a T62-a SPORT tank with altered parameters.
  • Central area on the map Himmelsdorf is going to be used as a football field. Of course, some significant adjustments have been applied.
 
 

Getting pumped up about the new mode already? Well, we are too!
You will be able to get more info about the new mode on June 11. Do not miss the opportunity. It is going to be exciting!

[WoT Awesome Replays] BatChat 25t with 5,7k damage


Friday, June 6, 2014

Straight Outta Supertest: Turrets

Source:
VK Wotleaks community
For The Record
 
As you probably know, the new Stronkhold mode is coming. A part of it are NPC defensive buildings – turrets, controlled by bots, that protect your base from enemy assault. The turrets will allegedly be constructed as buildings in Stronkhold mode. They are allegedly going to appear as team members, so in the end, a team can have 16 or 17 players in the team like that. This is an E-100 turret, with 10k hitpoints, allegedly it’s possible there will be other tank turrets used this way as well.

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