JoshV
3321
I get that it’s more nimble than other tank destroyers, but I also have a PanzerIV, which is the same tier. It has a higher top speed, better view range, better hp, thicker armor, and the gun is almost the same (same pen/damage, just difference in aiming time and slight difference in accuracy). So if I want to play something fast to scout with, and with a good sniping gun, I like my Panzer IV so much better.
The derp KV is actually not that good compared to the 107mm zis 6. If you’re the top tier tank, you’ll one shot a majority of the tanks with the 107mm anyway, more accurately at range and reload faster to kill the next one. (The exception being another KV, a derp KV will one shot a KV) If you’re bottom tier, you can still ping a lot of the higher tier tanks with the 107mm. The derp will fail to one shot the higher tier tanks, so you tend to get your one shot off, cripple a tank at short range, then die. The derp is also really map dependent, which can be frustrating.
Though occasionally a target will fail to realize they got derped (or maybe got lucky and took out their gun), and run scared, giving you time to reload your next round. Also, derp platoons are hilarious fun, since even at bottom tier, two or three KVs with derps can nuke a high tier tank that rounds the wrong corner.
Well, the “why would I want to play this tank if I have that one” thing can be said about a lot of tanks. As usual, one answer is always "you’d play Stug instead of PIV if you were heading towards JagdTiger and not the Maus. :)
In addition to that though, Stug has better turning. Its smaller weight (with the same engine) allows it to accelerate faster (most of the time it’s not about how high your top speed is, it’s about how fast you can reach it and how much speed you will lose when turning). If/when you upgrade PIV’s turret, the tank weight increases significantly, which slows it down even further. Stug also behaves better on rough surfaces. Stug has lower profile, which makes it more hard to hit and allows for excellent camo properties - a stationary non-firing stealth equipped Stug (crew + net) parked in a bush is not detectable until you get as close as 50 m to it.
In the end, PIV and Stug are both nice tanks for their tier but they are different enough to offer pretty different playstyles.
“Ahistorical” perhaps wasn’t the best choice of words, but really, T-34s were in the vast majority armed with the 76, not the 57. The archetypal T-34 certainly was not armed with a 57, and I’ve read very few if any accounts of the 57 armed vehicle being used in combat (though it probably was at some point as the Soviets used just about everything they could use at one time or another).
You can say the same about a lot of the vehicles in the game: they existed, if only in small numbers, but they were never widely used or widely fielded (and usually for good reason).
The second article I linked to (the one in Russian) has a few stories about 57s in combat situations but you are right - comparing to thousands and thousands of T-34-76s, a couple of hundreds of T-34-57s is like a drop in a bucket.
I haven’t been into researching this stuff for a while now, so my actual printed sources are probably out of date. Since the collapse of the USSR, I’m sure tons more documentation about the war has come out, and I’m pretty sure that during the war the USSR probably used one of everything against the Germans! My books don’t even list any Soviet tanks with the long 57 at all, but then, they’re all from the eighties I think.
Most armies during the war tried all sorts of things in regards tanks and armament, but rejected the majority of weird attempts for various reasons. I really have no problem with the game letting us fiddle around with things that were, in engineering terms, pretty infeasible. Not modeling much of physics beyond a rudimentary penetration scheme and some slowdown in soft terrain lets the game get away with murder :).
Dejin
3326
FYI for US Server:
Beginning with the June 17th server restart and all the way through June 21th, the first victory of each day, for each vehicle, will be worth 5x normal experience instead of the usual double normal experience.
On top of that, since you’ve probably spent all of your savings buying something really nice for your father for this holiday, we’re also slashing prices on all equipment by 50% for the duration.
Note! Please be informed that there will be no confirmation message for 5x nomral experience gained.
Good time if anyone wants to by binoculars, optics, rammers, etc. Remember the Camo Net, Toolbox, and Binoculars can be moved between tanks (although the gold cost of moving normally non-removable equipment is low enough that I’ve been doing it anyway – IIRC it comes out to around 4 cents).
Good to know, but I have a question: what time does the server restart on June 17, or any other day? I’d hate to waste a 5x day by getting a 2x win before the restart.
Dejin
3328
IIRC server resets every other day at 4AM Pacific Time. Resets are on odd calendar days only – i.e. June 1, 3, and 5, but not June 2 or 4. So the server should restart very early tomorrow morning.
Thanks for the information–I’ll avoid playing any of my vehicles until tomorrow now.
Dejin
3330
That was my conclusion too. Since the normal 2x experience bonus gets reset at midnight GMT, I think if we time this right, we should be able to get three rounds of 5x xp bonus.
Dejin
3331
Started playing my M4 Sherman again in order to make cash faster. Tier VII and VIII tanks are very expensive to purchase – just bought a T-44 for 2,010,000 and a JagdPanther for 1,304,000 and want to get a T-29 unlocked but don’t have the 1,450,000 for it. Plus T23 almost unlocked, will cost 2,130,000!
Anyway, I was surprised at how much fun the Tier V battles are! Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but the toughest opponents I’ve faced are Tiger Is and KV-3s, and I’ve had lots of games where I’m one of the top 2-3 tanks. Great fun and very refreshing playing in the middle tiers after spending a lot of time taking on Maus, IS-4s, and Panther IIs.
I’m playing the KV-1S now trying to grind to the KV-13. It looks horrible on paper but the word is that it’s a blast to play. Supposedly it can reach 64 kph on open terrain with some degree of maneuverability, and has a decent 122mm HE thrower that can take 10% per hit off of tier 8-9 heavies.
Dejin
3333
Just from watching it on the battlefield, the KV-13 seems like a fun tank. I’m slowly working to unlock it myself, but I’m coming from the T-34-85 side.
I went all the way up both sides in beta so it’s nice to have a new tank to play to that also lets me skip 6 tanks in the medium tree - though i may revisit it at some point because i enjoyed the t-34 in beta.
Dejin
3335
American TDs should be out in just a few weeks so we should have even more new vehicles to play with :-)
I’ll tell you, getting the first gun upgrade (a long 122) for the SU-152 makes a difference. It hits pretty hard, is much more accurate, and fires faster, making the SU a much nicer TD. Whether I get the second 122 or go straight to the ISU I don’t know.
The grind that’s scary though is the M41-M12 arty grind, well over 100k. Ugh. At least my crew will be kick-ass by the time I upgrade.
I am grinding for my IS-4 and IS-7. It’s a long road. :)
I am grinding for my IS-4 and IS-7. It’s a long road. :)
kedaha
3339
Anyone notice the amount of posts that mention grinding? :p
Since my premium ran out, I’ve bought an M2 to go with my PzII and just play them exclusively. Extra money any xp doesn’t really matter and the battles are fair.
Anyone able to top this with a T34?
