Heavy Metal – The VK 90.01(P)

VK 90.01(P) – All You Need To Know

By:

IrmaBecx

So today is the start of the holiday event, at the end of which, if you are really lucky, will be the new tier X German Heavy tank, the VK 90.01(P). I’m sure you’ve seen the promotions already.

You may have heard something about it, and if you’ve heard that it’s going to be weak or uninteresting, then that’s all wrong. There’s no question in my mind Wargaming got it right.

When I first saw the VK 90, I wasn’t very excited about it. It’s not the sort of tank I usually go for, and I thought it looked a little plain and uninspiring. There was nothing exciting about it, except I heard it had more gun depression over the sides, like the old E 50 M used to have.

But it only took a short while for the VK 90 to completely win me over, and after some extensive testing, I can’t wait to tell you all about it. I think it’s a great tank.

What you get is a typically German chassis with thick, angled armour plates, and a countersunk coffin style turret at the very back.

The massive front plate is 230 mm, you have 140 mm of upper side armour, and a 300 mm turret front. You get a nice German 128 mm long gun with some decent stats on it; it’s the L/61 off the Jagdtiger, only not quite as powerful.

You also get massive horsepower, but as the name suggests, the VK weighs over 90 tons, and so it will top out at 30 km/h with around 25 degrees of traverse. Finally, joy of all joys; once you turn the turret past 30 degrees, you get a full ten degrees of gun depression instead of just four over the front plate, and yes; the turret turns all the way around.

And that’s it. A big, heavy German bruiser with sturdy armour that specialises in side scraping, tanking damage, and hull down work. I should mention it also has the classic German lower plate weak spot; no surprises there.

What, you may be thinking, is so special about that? And isn’t there a rear turreted tier X German Heavy tank already? If so, you’d be right. There is the VK 72.01(K), which is also a rear turreted German Heavy tank. But despite outward appearances, the two aren’t all that similar in practice.

The new VK 90 is a little more agile, and it doesn’t have the turret base sticking out at the back like the VK 72 does. The new 128 mm is noticeably sharper than the old 15 cm in every way except the alpha damage, especially if you know how to deal with gun depression over the sides.

Both tanks have formidable armour, but I think the VK 90 has the better turret, it definitely has better gun handling, and the armour profile is a little more straightforward.

Like I said, I thought I would remain indifferent. I really didn’t think this tank was for me.

And sure, the VK 90 is slow, but it’s not all that slow. It moves its great bulk around with authority, and gets up to speed relatively quickly. I feel confident in the strong armour profile; it’s easy to work out how to angle and what positions to use, but yes; it’s slow enough that you will have to commit to one side of the map.

Once you get in a good position, it’s time to start lining up your shots and racking up the damage. With the massive front plate and rear turret configuration, you can bounce all kinds of shots; tanking damage is one of the things the VK 90 does really well.

The side depression will sometimes make you want to overangle to get the shot in, and this can be bad news. If you are behind a house or something, you will expose your side; 20 degrees is about the maximum for the 120 mm lower side armour, and that only gives you seven degrees of gun depression. If you are behind a ridge and can hide the entire hull you’ll be golden, as long as you keep your turret pointed straight at your enemy.

Only the most powerful guns will be able to go through your turret cheeks, and there is a small hatch on the left hand side of the turret roof, but it’s not an easy shot to land, especially when you are hull down using gun depression. The VK 90 also has the lowest dispersion values when moving the turret of any tier X Heavy tank, and I found it would land all kinds of snap shots, even when moving around or at speed.

I was genuinely surprised I got along so well with it, I hadn’t expected it would grow on me so fast. But the more I drove it, the more comfortable I felt in it, the more I enjoyed the playstyle, and the better I liked the look of it as well. I used to be a German separatist tank driver after all. It’s reasonably agile for such a big, heavy tank, has a great gun that’s easy to work with, and a really strong armour profile.

But there is something else about it that’s harder to explain. It’s just a very likeable tank, and I think it’s because it’s such a well put together vehicle, with reasonable and easily identifiable tradeoffs. I guess what won me over right away was simply it seemed to make sense, and I found it worked really well.

So it’s an amazing drive. But what do you do with it?

Especially as a new player, it can be hard to find your role on the battlefield. You may not have driven the Maus or the E 100, or indeed any comparable vehicle before.

But this stuff isn’t super hard to figure out.

Let’s look at what we have to work with: low mobility, strong armour, rear turret, and an accurate gun.

The first conclusion is you should try to stay at a little bit of range, for several reasons. Mobility is low, so you need time to manoeuvre. Your armour is strong enough to frontline, but it will work even better at a distance; weak spots are harder to hit, accuracy makes more of a difference, shells lose penetration, et cetera. Having good gun handling means you can place your shots from further away and put your enemy at a disadvantage.

I said before you need to commit to one part of the map, because you won’t have time to run around all over. Within that limitation, you will find the mobility is quite good, and the tank drives really well. A lot of the time, you will go the “Heavy tank route”, and if you are at tier X, you should know what those are by now.

You don’t want to be rushing off alone; you will want to either be in a Heavy tank herd, working cover to cover with Tank Destroyers behind you, or pushing forward with Mediums covering your flank. You may be tempted to stay at the back, and you should certainly advance with caution. But you also want to be making the most of your formidable armour, and if you’re not tanking damage, you are not supporting your team properly.

Sometimes your hitpoints are going to pay for the win.

But what if there is no obvious course of action? Again looking at the vehicle, you will want to find a piece of cover you know the VK 90 can work with, and then go there. This will be either a side scraping position, or a dip in the terrain behind a ridge where you can hide the hull. You will still want to stay with your main force; if they all run off, go with them, and if they all stay in one place, don’t venture off too far.

All this has to do with the team lineup. Who has the most Heavy tanks? Who has Light and Medium tanks that can own the flank? And who has the big TDs likely to sit at the back? These are considerations that will help you form a plan of action, and if there seems to be no clear plan, look to the terrain for possibilities and watch what your team does.

The VK 90.01(P) is a classic Heavy tank. It has a curious layout and a mid size caliber gun for the tier, but it’s still a Heavy tank, and it’s important you do the heavy lifting like you are supposed to. When you look at the red team setup, you should be considering which tanks you need to fight, because you are strong enough to take on the big game, and that is also your role in battle.

Understanding what your vehicle can and cannot do will help you perform that role better, and there isn’t a lot to learn. You will soon get used to how the weapon handles, the turret traverse, and things like when you need to use the skill rounds. You will need to know your weak points, how much you can angle your armour before it clears up, and in connection to that, how the gun depression works.

Over the front plate, it’s four degrees. If you turn the turret beyond ten degrees to either side, it starts dropping every three our four degrees. At 21 it’s eight degrees, and you reach the full ten degrees of depression at twenty nine degrees side angle.

That’s quite a range, almost twenty degrees of turning, and you need to understand how it relates to your armour profile. A big TD like the Grille 15 will start going through your lower side armour past twenty degrees, unless you are using the full gun depression because the tracks will cover it. Past thirty degrees side angle it will go through the upper side armour, again unless you are poking over a ridge and actually using the full ten degrees of depression.

Your most important consideration is positioning. If nothing seems to work, pay attention to where you are placing yourself on the maps, and work on basic skills like angling and side scraping so you’ll be more confident going up against the big guns.

Driving a Heavy tank can be a thankless job, but it’s still important. The VK 90 brings some real strengths to the table, but in my opinion, what it really does is make those Heavy tank jobs a lot more fun.

So should you try and get one?

Yes, I think so. If you like Heavy tanks, or German tanks, or tanks that are a little out of the ordinary but not too much, then I think it’s a safe bet you’ll enjoy this one. If you have been playing your Maus or E100 and you are looking for something a little new and different but still immediately recognisable, then likewise go right ahead. If you are a fan of the tier IX rear turreted German tank, then this is essentially the same tank, only a tier higher and more powerful.

But what if you have the VK 72.01(K) already?

I would say the two tanks are sufficiently different from each other to both be worthwhile; the only thing they really have in common is the rear turret configuration, and of course being German. If you think the 15 cm gun is too derpy, then the 12.8 is going to feel sharper. If you think it doesn’t sidescrape well enough, the VK 90 is going to do better in that respect also. The VK 72 in turn has that higher alpha damage, and it can point the gun down further straight forward.

What if you are a newer player?

I don’t recommend driving a tier X premium or collector vehicle if you haven’t grinded all the way to tier X already, but I also think a vehicle like the VK 90 will help cover some of your worst mistakes. It’s not very difficult to learn how to drive; you really only need to learn a few basic skills. If you think the VK looks cool, you should definitely try to get one.

Even if you don’t really like Heavy tanks, or slow tanks, the VK 90 may end up surprising you the same way it did me. It’s a likeable tank. The more I drove it, the more I liked the look and feel; it’s sort of sleek for such a big tank. It hull downs and side scrapes really well, and it can brawl other big tanks; it’s like having a rear mounted turret somehow makes all the standard Heavy tank jobs more enjoyable.

What about me? Am I going to get one?

Keeping in mind I don’t know exactly how the event is going to work, I don’t see why I wouldn’t try. I don’t gamble for tanks as you know, but if you can grind your way to a few free crates, then of course I’ll do that. I’ve been thinking a little about grinding out the VK 72, but given the choice, I think I’d much rather have the VK 90, so I’m going to hold off and see what happens. As much as I like the VK 72, I prefer the 128 mm armament and straightforward armour profile of the VK 90. It’s not just the tank being new; it’s that it fits me better.

In the meantime, I just want to say I’ve had a blast driving the VK 90.01(P), a lot more fun than I expected, and I would love to have one because it’s so much fun. I also think it would add something new and different to my collection; a big, brawly battleship of a tank!

You may be more sceptical, but don’t be fooled. The new VK is a better tank than you think, it’s more fun to drive than you think, and it’s going to be more successful than you think.

It most definitely has the tank philosophy seal of approval.

So what’s the final word?

Yes. Do it. Get it. It’s a wonderful machine. Wargaming did their homework on this one; it didn’t take long for them to get it right, and as I said, I liked it right away. The VK 90 works like you think it will just by looking at it, and it’s been a genuine pleasure to drive.

I think it will be easy to see if this tank is going to be for you or not. You may think it’s too big and unwieldy, or simply too slow. You may not enjoy the kind of mid range caliber it has. You may not be into German Heavy tanks, or you might just not like the look of it at all. If so, that’s fine; I don’t think the VK 90 is a must have that should be in everyone’s garage.

But I do think it’s a great tank, it deserves to be driven, and I hope to see it do really well out in the field. It’s a little quirky, but not enough to be a niche vehicle; I found it very approachable and straightforward.

Personally, I was really sad to see it go not knowing when I will see it again, because I do want to see it again.

IrmaBecx says if you get one and I don’t, I’m going to be super jealous.

Best of luck in the event, everyone.

How Buff Is The Leo?

More Leopard 1

By:

IrmaBecx

So in case you hadn’t realised, the Leopard 1 is getting buffed into stardom next patch. It will surpass the Russian Mediums in terms of DPM; not by a lot, but enough to make it the highest DPM tier X Medium in the game.

Something similar happened already this year when the old, unassuming Type 61 got buffed to top tier IX DPM, but where the Type has always been overall unpopular, the Leopard isn’t struggling, isn’t boring, and is already considered perhaps the best Medium tank in the game.

I don’t think the two buffs have the same thought behind them. There’s no need to make the Leopard more popular; it already has a mythical air around it. People want to be Leopard drivers.

We’ve seen these kinds of buffs before. Although they do make a difference, they don’t make all that much of one, and they usually don’t alter the tank in any way. What I mean, is they don’t allow the tank to do anything it wasn’t able to do before; it just becomes a little more efficient.

And that’s certainly a good thing. As a Leopard 1 driver, I’m not going to argue against a Leopard buff. I think it’s going to be nice.

I just don’t think it’s going to make the Leopard 1 some kind of outright monster.

I said I was going to drive more Leopards this year, but with the end of it fast approaching, I can see I haven’t, really.

Well, if you count variants like the Progetto 65 I put a few hundred games on that. I drove the new STB-1 too, but you could of course argue the armour buff makes it even less of a Leopard than it used to be.

So yeah, it still scares me. And after you’ve taken a 7-0 beating in your TD or Heavy tank, your first thought isn’t going to be “maybe I should try the Leopard 1 instead”.

But I am driving more tier X than I used to, and I’ve found I am really happy with my selection. I have a tier X tank for almost every occasion, all set up and fully loaded. And in that context I’m happy to have the Leopard for that once in a while casual game. I’m proud to own it, and it makes me happy to drive it.

Maybe that’s enough?

A friend of mine recently got one, right before it’s arguably going to be the most powerful it’s ever been, and I will be looking forward to hearing his evaluation of the buff.

I’m very happy to say he has taken my advice about not worrying so much and just giving it a go. I hear it’s not gone too badly, either. Driving a Leopard 1, especially those first few times, you have everything to win and nothing to lose. The expectation is you will explode fairly quickly and not do any damage.

The Leopard 1 is a formidable tank. With the highest DPM in the game, it will still be just as formidable, just as coveted, and just as dangerous an opponent. My feeling is this is more of a token gesture than a question of balance.

It has the thinnest armour of any tier X Medium. Is it not then reasonable it gets the highest DPM?

I don’t see why not.

It would be wrong to say the buff is meaningless. It is not. More firepower will make the tank more effective.

And the old Leopard suffers from power creep just like any other tank will sooner or later. From that perspective, it’s not an unreasonable buff either.

Firing on the reload is still going to mean trading hitpoints in most situations. The best you can hope for, really, is sometimes getting one more shot in where you wouldn’t have before.

But your camo will still take ten seconds to reset, and your reload is already shorter than that. Going up against a Russian Medium, you still run the risk of bouncing a shot off their armour or their lower caliber gun beating your reload at the crucial moment.

My feeling is, that being able to shoot more often is inherently a good thing. But it doesn’t necessarily translate to being more effective in a lot of situations when you think about it. The only times I can imagine it would make a real difference is straight up hitpoint trading, and firing from cover, unspotted, at someone out in the open.

It does however mean the Leopard will get a little better at doing one of my favourite things, which is brawling. The key to successful brawling is high, effective damage output and shooting faster is an obvious advantage in an up close fight. Even though you should only brawl isolated targets or as a last resort, this I think will actually make the Leopard 1 noticeably more effective.

What will likely happen, is you will sometimes escape on very low hitpoints where you would have gotten knocked out before.

Thus far the theory.

I did have a go in the buffed Leopard 1 on the test server, but I didn’t feel there was a lot to say about it in practice. It still felt like a Leopard.

One rationale for the buff has escaped my attention, namely the Leopard 1 doesn’t perform very well on average. This would of course be an excellent reason to buff it, I guess I just kind of expect a Leo to be hard to drive, and maybe not exactly pad your stats.

I don’t think the buff will have a tremendous impact on that; but I would love to see a small increase in statistics. I would also love to see more Leopards out there.

Either way, you have to call this a win for the Leopard 1 and for Leopard drivers everywhere. I think it fully deserves to have the highest DPM.

But wait a minute. It’s one thing to ask someone else’s opinion, but should I not also form my own?

Is this not the perfect opportunity to get some Leopard driving done; right before the buff? It’s not like I have a lot to lose.

I think I’ve been running calibrated shells on my Leo for the longest time, but it’s not crucial. And after the buff, there will be a strong case for a rammer and adrenaline. I should really be running that, and exploring the limits of firepower. I don’t really mind running an expensive loadout at tier X, and my credit buffer is well stocked.

And that’s all there is to it, press the Battle button and run a few casual games, see how it goes. That is something that comes with driving more and more top tier; it doesn’t feel nearly as intimidating anymore. In the Leo, I will be worried of taking a big hit, but I also feel a bit more relaxed about the whole thing.

I know what to do; it’s just difficult. No safety net and very slim margins of error. One mistake and you’re out.

You may recall I’ve argued this is in fact the reason we all drive the Leopard 1 in the first place.

So I roll out in my stripy Leopard, and end up on the Normandy map. Try to play it cool, while still getting a few spots in by the windmill. I cover A and B while my team plows through the other two caps, and then break off to help them take out a Medium tank.

Disengaging from that, I take a big HE shell from the lower corner, and so I relocate towards the TD shelf and help bomb out a Heavy tank pushing forward. A fairly easy win with two kills and 2200 damage. I had maybe 400 hitpoints left at the end, which is plenty, and I spent maybe 20.000 credits with a low grade booster.

Not bad for a first game. I don’t know what I was worried about.

Well. Other than ending up on a flat city map, I guess.

Firing a couple of HEAT rounds, I didn’t feel like I missed the calibrated shells. I also blew the adrenaline when I had free shots at the Heavy tank, which was totally worth it. Also, I took my own advice and switched to extra hitpoints instead of the armour upgrade, because it’s all autobounces anyway.

What would have been different with a small DPM buff? Not a lot. That Heavy tank would have melted a little faster, that’s all. I can’t say shooting faster would have had a significant impact on the game otherwise.

Next game, I do end up on a flat city map, but it’s OK. A big TD comes over to the flank, and we hold off two enemy Mediums together.

Again I get the opportunity to play the support role, and end up with a similar result only a little cheaper since I didn’t need any HEAT rounds.

The overwhelming feeling is what a great tank this is. It really lacks for nothing.

I run a few more games, lose one getting hung up on a Progetto, but otherwise it’s not going bad at all. Once you get over being intimidated, you can play fairly aggressive with the Leopard, just as long as you don’t expect any bounces. I also have the inadvisable habit of ramming people in my Leo to get more damage, and it really is the wrong tank for that.

I don’t feel I have a lot more to add before the buff actually happens.

So what’s the final word?

Is the Leopard going to be more attractive? I think that’s doubtful, it’s already held in such high regard.

Is it going to be easier to drive? No, I don’t think it will.

Will it be more fun to drive? I don’t think so; it’s such a blast already.

Having top DPM will just be another reason to drive it, and there are several good ones already. Irmabecx says if you don’t have a Leopard 1, this might be the perfect excuse to get one.

——-

Post Script

As I roll out in the Leopard 1 today, I am immediately and unceremoniously reminded of how fragile it is by way of a few savage beatings.

The diagnosis is simple. I am trying to drive my Leopard like I would any other Medium tank, and that just doesn’t work.

The reason it doesn’t work, is that it can’t mitigate incoming damage the way other Mediums do; even the AMX 30 B has a small piece of armour that can actually be relied on. The Leopard has nothing.

So what happens is, you roll out to your regular Medium positions to get some spotting, and then you hang around there like you usually do. The problem is, you are used to being able to get a bounce or two, but when you start exchanging shots, you immediately start taking damage.

This is Medium tactics 101. You try to get a few shots in at the enemy Mediums, and when you have a hitpoint advantage, you push them and take them out. That’s what’s been happening to me, and I can tell by my low damage and survival rate I’m not doing things right.

When things start going badly like this for you, it means you aren’t doing the one thing the Leopard has to do in order to stay alive, which is run away. The point of having among the best accuracy in the game isn’t that you can sit on a hill at the back and snipe; it’s that you can maintain distance to your enemies.

There could be other reasons, like maybe insufficient caffeine intake, or simply being old, tired and off my game. But the “not running away enough” hypothesis is simple and effective, and it presents a clear strategy for moving forward, namely “run away more”.

Again the idea is pretty simple. Putting it into action is more difficult.

If you are a Leopard 1 noob like me, I want to say persevere, because things can only get better. If your Leopard didn’t explode on you half the time it just wouldn’t be as exciting to drive.

Would it?

Thoughts On The Kpz 70

Krautpanzer Again

By:

IrmaBecx

So I’ve written quite extensively on the Krautpanzer already, and there really isn’t a lot for me to say except it’s still one of my favourite tanks in the game, and I’m very happy to have one.

I’ve also tried to make clear that doesn’t mean you will fall for it in the same unconditional way; the Kpz 70 is an offbeat vehicle with a unique playstyle incorporating parts of both Heavy tank and Tank Destroyer gameplay.

It’s a bit slow and awkward, but has a massive turret front that can do outstanding hull down work. You get sort of a funny ammunition selection, basically trading penetration for alpha damage in three stages, and about a fifteen second reload. That means you have low range DPM, and other than the turret armour, you don’t get a lot to make up for it.

I always felt the tank has everything it needs, you just have to make it count. It takes a bit of inspired tank driving to really make it perform, and that’s what I always enjoyed about it.

When I say “Tank Destroyer gameplay”, you may be thinking sitting on a shelf at the back, but that’s not really what I mean.

Even though you don’t have a “proper” 152 mm weapon, you still have the highest alpha of any tier IX Heavy tank, and so you will want to be making good trades at a bit of range where you can comfortably pull back and reload.

I confess a part of the attraction for me is I think the Krautpanzer looks fantastic, and has perhaps the best looking premium camo in the game. It just feels better to me rolling out in a cool looking tank. A quick look at my stats however, tells me I am not performing nearly as well as I feel I am in it; I barely maintain a 50% winrate.

And it’s not surprising, really. It’s not the easiest tank to drive, it always has that long reload to deal with, and it’s fairly easy to take down up close in a more mobile tank. I know all this, and it’s part of the calculation for me. I don’t care a lot, because I just like driving it so much.

I like that it’s kind of an oddity. I like the unique playstyle. I like the noob proof turret armour. I like the weird snub nose gun and trying to find the optimal shell for every shot. I will say I don’t lose any credits driving it, but no matter how you mean, it’s always been more rewarding than effective for me.

I take my Kpz out for a drive and end up on the normandy map, going hull down against Mediums and TDs by the windmill.

And sure; it has limitations. It’s not super accurate, shell velocity isn’t amazing, and it’s not super quick to move. Fifteen seconds feels like a long time in a target rich environment.

But it’s not hard to deal with. I hold my ground, pulling back properly and resetting camo so I won’t get focused. I know once the teams start thinning out I’ll become more and more of a threat.

So not an amazing win by any means. I was able to support the team, and that’s really what the Kpz does best. But I still enjoyed it, because I was in my Kpz looking flash, and it worked just like I remember.

The case for the Krautpanzer is a simple one. It’s something a little out of the ordinary that takes a bit of skill to drive. In some situations it can be really powerful, but on average it’s not exactly what you call overpowered. I said before it doesn’t really fill any purpose in your collection; it’s more like a solution to a problem that wasn’t there before.

No one needs a Krautpanzer. But you might want one anyway, and if you klick with it, it can be a really worthwhile purchase.

I think the Kpz fits best in an already fairly well stocked garage. I have a bog standard tier IX Heavy tank to complement mine, plus some heavy Mediums and a couple of TDs. Remember it it’s not really representative of any one category of tanks.

So should you get one?

Let me put it this way: if you are going to get one, this would be a pretty good time to. I would say treat yourself to the fully loaded package unless you have hoards of credits lying around, and unless you don’t like the premium camo for some reason.

All I can say is do expect to struggle a little while you get to know it, and don’t expect the Krautpanzer to be some kind of monster in spite of the impressive sounding caliber.

If you want a tier IX Heavy tank, get something else. If you want a big gun at tier IX, get something else. This is a highly atypical vehicle; there’s nothing else like it.

If you don’t really know what you want, but you think the Kpz 70 looks interesting, then IrmaBecx says that’s a good place to start.

See you out there.

Introduction To The Contemporary Type 62

So… You’re A Type 62 Driver

By:

IrmaBecx

If you read my latest piece on the Type 62 a few months back, you may remember I said you should wait to get a good deal on it, and we recently had an opportunity for just that. Maybe you fell for it, and now you have this new and intimidating thing in your garage you don’t quite know what to do with.

Don’t sweat it. The Type 62 is a tank you will never truly master, that will keep you coming back for more, and that will always have new things to teach you no matter your skill level.

Yes, the Hype is real. A Type 62 is for life. Congratulations, you have just acquired one of the best and most worthwhile tanks in the entire game.

But how do you actually drive it? You may not have driven a lot of tier VII Light tanks before, and anyway, isn’t the thing supposed to be completely overpowered?

Well, yes and no. But we’ll get to that.

If you have driven higher tier Light tanks before, you may feel the little Hype is a bit sluggish. Takes a little while to get going. This is true of almost all Chinese tanks; they don’t have super powerful engines, but they also don’t weigh a lot, and they will often have good ground resistance numbers.

It takes a little while to get used to, but it’s important you do, because the way the Type moves should inform your gameplay.

What that means, is you need to start moving a little earlier than you would otherwise. Plan your movements ahead and start moving early, because you know it’s going to take a little time getting the tank turned around, or up to full speed.

Luckily, this is a Light tank, and one things that means is you don’t actually gain anything from standing still. The tank has the exact same camo rating juking back and forth, or even at full speed, as it does standing still. This is stuff I think a lot of people know, but don’t fully grasp the meaning of: in plain terms is means you can move around behind the bush and not lose any camo. It means you might as well be moving around, because standing still doesn’t help you any.

Before we get into the Light tank role, let’s talk about power. Do you remember when tier VII Light tanks were king of the hill in mid tiers? As a premium tank, the Type 62 was unaffected by the blanket nerf, and so you still have 250 mm of penetration on your HEAT rounds. This is the only claim to overpoweredness of the Type 62. With calibrated shells, you can bump that up to 275 mm.

There is no reason not to run all nine equipment slots on your Type, and here are some things I’ve learned. On such a weakly armoured tank as this, there’s no point running the armour upgrade, because the armour isn’t thick enough for it to ever come into effect. All your bounces will be at autobounce angles, which are unaffected by the armour upgrade mechanic. Therefore run the improved assembly for extra hitpoints instead.

It’s a toss up between the improved controls and the engine upgrade. Both help, in their way. You already have some astonishing traverse numbers, so improved controls make sense. Turning faster means you bleed off less speed in the corners. But more engine power also improves traverse a little, and it gives the tank more low end grunt, likewise bleeding off less speed and waking the tank up. At the moment, I tend to go for the engine power on most tanks, but it’s really a matter of taste and playstyle in the end. You’ll soon find out which one you feel is more beneficial.

This also relates to your combat loadout. If you run adrenaline or speed boost, you should set the ninth slot to the right for high end consumables. This gives you nineteen seconds, with adrenaline and a rammer, that drops your reload to under 4 seconds, meaning you’ll get five shots instead of four over a 20 second period.

Again your playstyle should guide you here, and at present I almost always run the speed boost, which I find is both cheaper to run and more beneficial overall. The Type 62, it should be said, makes enough credits to run your full combat loadout and still comfortably pay for itself.

Calibrated shells? Perhaps. But do you really need all that HEAT penetration? It’s already so good. The slow shell speed may tempt you to run the supercharge, but at least it’s the same for all shell types. I say concentrate on improving the gun handling and just live with it, because the Type 62 already has a quick aimtime and snap shots really well straight out of the box.

So you have a thinly armoured vehicle with a healthy dose of hitpoints that’s kind of sluggish to get going, but has impressive firepower, plus Light tank camo on the move.

What do you do with it?

First off, you have to realise this is one of those “high risk/high reward” tanks, and you are dealing with perhaps the most hostile place in the game – tier VII. There are going to be all kinds of big guns camping for you out there.

In other words: take it easy. Know your limitations.

But also allow yourself a bit of fun, yoloing around will teach you a lot about those same limitations, and how easy it is to mess things up. Just remember the Hype is barely any faster than a Medium tank, and if you learn nothing else, learn to run away from bad engagements. That’s a highly useful skill.

So three jobs, basically, are the standard fare of Light tanks: spotting, harassing, and isolating. Add to this some common sense guidelines, like resetting camo, trading distance for damage, and relocating before getting pinned down, and you are well on your way to being a Light tank driver.

It’s not complicated, it’s just difficult to get everything right when you have such slim margins of error to deal with. Accept the fact you are doing the hardest job in the game, and also understand that you are in it for the long haul; this is a premium tank, a credit grinder, a daily driver workhorse Light tank, and you should expect to be putting hundreds and hundreds of games on it. Light tank driving is a lot of fun. It’s fun because it’s difficult.

Spotting is kind of your constant fallback; if you can’t do anything else, you can at least get some spots for your team. This is a dangerous activity, because you don’t want to be the only one spotted on your team. While your instinct may be to run off and get the initial spots, will it really do any good? are your teammates going to be in a position to get shots at the tanks you are spotting?

It may still be worth it getting those spots, because if you show your team where the enemy tanks are, a lot of times they will start driving towards them, and then you won’t need to spot so much. You can start doing some harassing instead.

“Harassing” usually means being off to one side getting shots in, supporting your teammates doing the heavy lifting. If someone starts taking an interest in you, you simply drive away and either do more spotting or pop up somewhere else and get some more harassing shots in.

Knowing when to do what is the essence of Light tank gameplay, and as I said it’s not always easy to know. The hardest thing to know is when to try to isolate a target and take it down.

Is the tank really alone? You’d be surprised at how many players will rush back to help their campers if you start menacing them. Mediums and other Light tanks like to move in packs, and if they get spooked, they will drive straight back to their teammates for support.

You have to be s stalking predator, sneaking up on your target, or luring it away from safety before you pounce on it. And because your tank gets more and more dangerous the longer the battle lasts, you also have time on your side.

In the best of all worlds, that is. In reality, you will sometimes be the strongest top tier tank on your team, and expected to lead the charge and carry the weight. This means your supporting role gameplay won’t cut it, because there’s really no one to support.

This, more than being bottom tier, is where you will start showing some limitations. You are not a Medium tank; definitely not a Heavy tank, and so it can be hard to know what to do, exactly.

Speaking of Medium tanks, it’s important to understand the difference, meaning the ways in which a Light tank differs from a Medium. If you are not using your Light tank camouflage, you are basically just driving a worse Medium tank, and that insight can be hard to reach in something as powerful as the Type 62.

And yes: you are going to take those big hits. It’s going to happen. There’s no way around it, you are just going to have to deal with it. But a well driven Light tank can do veritably the same job with just a handful of hitpoints; you always hear people saying Light tanks should be played as if they only had one hitpoint left.

I try to run a few games and follow my own advice. It’s kind of a struggle, but that always happens after having been away a while. I don’t drive a lot of tier VII anymore.

Reminding myself I am doing the hardest job in the game, I persevere, and end up having a good game after a couple of tries. Spot the reds, fall back with the team, and then flank around the other side to help isolate and clean up. Textbook Light tank stuff.

And I remember why it is I like this tank so much. It’s not in itself very complicated, but the gameplay is still about as complex as you want it to be. Push too hard, and you get wrecked. Push just hard enough, and the enemy get wrecked instead.

Running premium, I don’t lose any credits even when losing the game, even doing just a little bit of damage.

There is no single “right” way to drive a Light tank, there are only strategies and considerations to help you along. Setting up your tank the right way, making sound tactical decisions, and when all else fails, riding the edges of performance hoping for a bit of luck.

Having tried to offer some helpful strategies, all that remains is to once again congratulate you on choosing one of the most worthwhile premium tanks in the game, and wish you the very best of luck with it.

Don’t be disheartened if your initial performance isn’t super impressive; it takes a while to get used to Light tank gameplay. Treat every disappointment as a learning experience, and you will find your perseverance pays off in the end.

The reason the Hype 62 is so worthwhile isn’t because it’s overpowered. It’s because it’s so much fun to play.

See you out there.

IS-7 Revisited

Old Time Bias

By:

IrmaBecx

So after I wrote my Badger review, I hung around the press account garage for a bit, and I had the idea I should reacquaint myself with the old IS-7, and if you have a quick look at my stats, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why.

I never liked the IS-7. That’s largely because I used to face hordes of them in my weak Medium tanks when it was the most Biased vehicle in the game, but also because the tank itself has always made me feel disappointed every time I drove it.

Today, you might argue the IS-4 is a lot more biased, which I guess is true. But I never hated the IS-4 in the same way.

The IS-7 is my nemesis, my most hated adversary; the tank I love to hate. But if I liked driving it, I would have gotten one anyway. The problem is I just don’t, I think it’s much too boring. It doesn’t speak to me.

It’s still one of the most popular tier X Heavy tanks, at least by numbers. More people drive it than the IS-4, and it’s almost four times as common out there as the one I chose for myself; the WZ-113.

People say it’s obsolete. I think that’s laughable.

But it is true the IS-7 is not the powerhouse it once was, and it’s hard to put your finger on exactly why.

The game has changed a lot, of course. There are more top predators out there now. More firepower.

In a favourable matchup, you can still pretty much drive your IS-7 straight through the enemy team, but I also feel like the thing is actually struggling a bit. A quick glance at the average winrate on the server tells me I’m not the only one having trouble.

If the tank was really as strong as I make it out to be in my head, I think it should be able to produce better results on average than it does.

In a way, this may be my own bias working against me. It’s not that I think the tank is reasonably strong, it’s that compared to what it used to be, the tank is now reasonably weak in my opinion. I don’t think that deep down I feel like the IS-7 deserves to be stronger than it is today, because it used to be such an ungodly pest.

So two things I am noticing. I am taking more damage than I should, and I’m also not doing enough of it.

One thing I figured out in my WZ-113, is that driving a 50 km/h Heavy tank cuts both ways; yes, you can be proactive and reach positions early. But you also run the risk of leaving the rest of your team behind and running straight into the enemy herd all on your own, with predictable results.

You would think I’d have learned by now.

And sure: the IS-7 being driven by noobs like me doesn’t actually do it any favours. But again, the game got buffed around it, and it is noticeably less effective today than it used to be.

Not being able to let it go, I log back in to the press account and drive a few more games. It irks me I can’t seem to wrap my head around what is going on.

Again, sometimes you can bully the reds into defeat, but other times, it’s like nothing seems to work. Driving tanks while frustrated is a recipe for disaster, and I give up for a while, only to be back at it a while later.

There is nothing really bad about the IS-7. The gun is not fantastic; it’s a common complaint, and you may recall that although I am a 130 mm aficionado, this is my absolute least favourite. But then lobbing shots at Heavy tanks at close range isn’t all that difficult.

The thing is, the firepower and mobility sort of work against each other. You have a slightly higher alpha on a long reload, and the thing does 50 no sweat, but the turret turns like a battleship so it’s not super agile up close. In other words, it has all the opportunities you could ever want to yolo yourself into more trouble than the old IS-7 can handle.

The way to do it is the other way around. Take it slow, and then save those bursts of top end speed for when they will allow you to make a good play.

I drive even more games, and start to ask my myself why I am doing this; other than the obvious reason.

It’s not even a guilty pleasure. The Heavy tank I will always go for to have a casual press account game in the VK 72.01 (K), which in many ways is the polar opposite of the IS-7.

There’s a thought. Instead of wasting all this time driving a tank I’ve always hated and show no signs at all of warming up to, I could just get a VK 45 and start grinding out a tank I actually like.

A colleague of mine, true to form, said I haven’t driven it enough. My counter is the thing isn’t exactly complicated to drive in the first place, and I think I can determine when things aren’t going as well as they ought to. I think I’ve driven the IS-7 quite enough to give it a fair shake, especially for a tank I hate so much.

There is the Object 140 comparison to consider. It used to be the most overpowered tank in the game as well, and now; as a shadow of its former self, it’s my favourite tank in the game. Logically, the IS-7 should also now be in my favour.

Setting aside the fact that it’s not, it does sort of function in the same way. It’s a Russian tank with a healthy dose of bias that has a fierce reputation, but that people end up struggling with once they get one because they heard it was overpowered. Only when you learn the proper way to drive it does it show its true power.

I understand all this, but ultimately it doesn’t make the IS-7 any more interesting to me. I will still much rather drive my WZ-113.

There is however a “proper” way to drive the IS-7, which is simply with a little care and forethought. I try to think of it as a huge Medium tank with a big, unwieldy gun and lots of armour making it slow to turn.

I drive one last game before logging out, storming the hill on Castilla with the Mediums. Good thing too, because we found a Foch (155) up there, and I was able to pull off some nice bounces.

Say what you will, but the IS-7 can be remarkably effective.

But it’s also the worst performing Heavy tank on the server at this moment, and I simply have no better explanation than user error. It should have all it needs to be successful, I can’t find any fault with it other than when I try to make it do things it wasn’t designed for. Nothing really happened to the IS-7; it’s just the game got buffed around it.

If I had to buff it, with a gun to my head I would perhaps give it better traverse numbers, or gun handling. I think if you threw too much buff at it it would again be monstrously overpowered, and I don’t think it would take very much to make that happen. I also wouldn’t want that to happen.

I’m not going to grind the IS-7. I think I knew that going in to this, and as usual driving it does nothing to change my mind about it. It’s still the wrong tank for me.

If you have an old IS-7 in the back of your garage with some bad stats on it, it’s a prime candidate for de-noobing once you get more comfortable with tier X gameplay. If it’s your only top tier tank, you could certainly do a lot worse for getting some practice up there.

If you don’t have one, I think you can find more interesting Heavy tanks in the tech tree nowadays, and everyone, including your favourite stat site, seem to agree the IS-4 is the better option right now. Unless you always liked the IS-7 and you always wanted one, or you enjoy a sturdy pike nose with a healthy dose of Russian bias, there’s no real reason to grind it.

But the IS-7 is not a bad tank, and it’s not obsolescent. It does struggle a little in the current meta, but it seems everyone does. I simply can’t find anything that’s really wrong with it, and that cannot be counteracted by adjusting your gameplay.

Personally, I think that’s a good place for the IS-7 to be. If you want something different, or you want something monstrously overpowered, IrmaBecx says keep looking. Nothing to see here but a reasonably powerful Russian Heavy tank.

Badger Is Back!

FV217 Badger Quick Review

By:

IrmaBecx

So I finally got my hands on the notorious Badger. Well, on the press account I should say, because I think there are a few other tier X collectables I would get first if I was using my own gold.

It’s a handsome vehicle, I’ll say that. A spiritual successor to the mighty Tortoise and the AT 15, but dare I say slightly better looking. The “Esquire” warpaint, and even the “Royal Treatment” attachment look positively understated as these things go.

But what you get is really just a big box with sturdy frontal armour and a well articulated 123 mm main armament.

How sturdy is it?

Well, except for the lower plate, practically nothing is getting through from the front. You can sidescrape out to 20 degrees and still be safe, and the gun only swings ten degrees to either side anyway. For someone to punch through it, they will need something like a Jpz E100 firing HEAT rounds; you need at least 350 mm of penetration.

Some big TDs can do it, especially if they are running calibrated shells. But with ten degrees of gun depression, in the right spot, you can still feel relatively safe.

Hull down against a Jpz E100 firing HEAT rounds. Not bad.

But yeah, it’s a slow tank. Tops out at 30 with 14 horsepower per ton and just under 30 degrees of traverse fully maxed out. That’s not very inspiring; it’s not one of those “dynamic” Tank Destroyers you hear about. Ground resistance values are nothing to write home about either, the thing weighing over 60 tons.

Also note the Badger does not get access to the new Brit TD consumables; that speed boost would have helped it a lot.

The Ordnance Quick-Firing 123 mm Mark 1 is basically the same gun you get on the FV4005 minus the autoloader. Although it’s only one millimeter larger than a regular 122 mm, it gets the same alpha as a 128 or 130 mm does. Gun handling is also markedly improved, and it was good to begin with.

You can get your Badger down to under 0.27 accuracy; that’s like a stock Leopard or T-62A, but your excellent aimtime will of course take a hit. With 1000 m/s shell speed, you don’t want to be shooting at very long ranges anyway.

But the aimtime is Medium tank quick. Very few tanks in the game are going to aim faster than you. Of course, they may have turrets…

Finally, you get a healthy dose of DPM; almost 3500 with a rammer. 280 mm of penetration shouldn’t require calibrated shells, and note you have APCR for premium rounds, so the increase is going to be less.

Also, you don’t get HESH shells on this one, not even “cheap HESH” high pen HE, but with 60 rounds capacity, you can still bring a few HE shells for those flimsy targets. Do however note the average damage is only 550; barely 100 over your regular shells.

Really, the Badger reminds me of my old Jagdtiger. It’s the same kind of slow, hulking box with an excellent weapon sticking out from it. Main difference being, the Badger has much better frontal armour, and the Jagdtiger has higher DPM. I would say the JT is also a little more mobile.

The tank is slow enough you have to commit to one side of the map, and if you get caught out, you are definitely toast. It’s a support vehicle, and you need to stay close to the herd so you don’t get isolated.

In some situations, the Badger is super strong; a ridge covering the lower plate is all you need. In others, it’s hopelessly out of its depth, and it doesn’t swim very well to begin with.

So yeah; it’s awkward, it’s slow and sluggish, and it’s fairly easy to get around it if it doesn’t have support, but it’s still not a lost cause. You get in the groove, and it’s kind of relaxing working positions and trying to help the push. You hide behind the strong frontal armour and try to keep the gun singing as much as you can. It’s not terribly hard to figure it all out.

But the tank also has some severe limitations. Like I said, this is not one of those turretless Mediums I enjoy so much; this is a classic armoured Tank Destroyer that pays for its armour and firepower with mobility, and you have to say it’s a very noticeable tradeoff.

In other words, this is not a tank for me. It’s always fun getting to try something new, but in the long run, I don’t think the Badger is going to grow any more on me than it already has.

Sadly, I should say, because it is a fine tank in many ways.

So should you get one?

Well, first off it’s monstrously expensive. That could be a concern. Second, it’s a tier X collectible; it doesn’t really make a whole lot of credits. Third, you could get something fairly similar in the tech tree, although perhaps not quite as, well, British, unless you go for the Tortoise at tier IX.

I would say the Badger is an acquired taste, and I don’t think it’s one I have acquired. I also think it’s going to be fairly easy to judge if you have acquired that taste or not.

If you love the AT 15 and Tortoise, and you are super disappointed in the FV215b 183 being at tier X instead on something more similar, then I suppose this tank is just what the doctor ordered. If you like the way it looks, and you don’t mind the slow speed and awkward turning, then by all means, go ahead.

But for most people, I think you can safely disregard this offer. The Badger is not some kind of overpowered monster except in the perfect hull down spot with people driving out in front of it, it doesn’t really do anything other Tank Destroyers don’t do, and although there may not be a tank quite like it, you can get much the same experience in the tech tree.

The Badger is also not exactly a tank favored by the current meta. 123 mm is still a fairly small caliber for tier X, and it’s lacking in perhaps the most important category, which is speed and manouverability.

Should you accidentaly wake up with a new Badger inexplicably having appeared in your garage, there’s no real trick to learning how to drive it. You find positions where you can use your armour and gun articulation, and that’s pretty much all there is to it.

Personally, I’m not going to bite. I like the way the Badger looks, but I’m not hugely impressed with how it drives. The weapon is great, but it’s not going to be worth the asking price all on its own.

The final word, then, goes something like this: The badger is a nice acquaintance, but I don’t really think it’s worth spending all that gold on; at least not for me. If you have been wanting one for ages, I don’t think my short review is going to change your mind about it, and there’s really nothing the matter with the tank; it’s just not quite my style.

I do think it’s team dependent, and it’s not going to be flanking all over the maps, but in the right position, you can still hold the line and carry the team on your back. I also think it looks good, and I did have some fun driving it.

IrmaBecx says thanks, but no thanks. Your mileage may differ.

“Royal Treatment” Badger Esquire ready for action.

WZ-111, A Short Update

The Case For The WZ-111

By:

IrmaBecx

So maybe you are thinking about getting a cheap WZ-111, there is about half a day left to decide. Maybe you did, and if so, you may have just gotten your hands on one of the best tier VIII IS spam clones in the game.

If you have been following my writing, you’ll know that is a deeply biased opinion.

But the fact is, the WZ-111 has the tank philosophy seal of approval. If there is such a thing, it’s the “thinking mans” IS spam premium.

What?

You didn’t think it was going to be the 252U, did you?

When I first got mine, I drove the WZ-111 all the time. I had never owned a faceless Communist Heavy tank drone before, so trundling along in one was new to me.

But the thing is, I have all kinds of tier VIII premiums, and I have a good idea which ones have been the most worthwhile for me over time. My best purchases, if you will.

The WZ-111 is one of them. It’s as simple as that.

I always said if you have one IS spam tank you don’t need another, but I also said the fact there are quite a few of them now, means one of them is likely going to fit you better than all the others. In my experience, this is not something the numbers will be able to tell you beforehand, and it’s not always the same as the most powerful one.

In case you are wondering, that’s still the 252U. After that it’s the IS-5 as usual because it’s so cheap. The best Chinese IS spam tank is very likely the WZ-112-2, because it’s geared towards newer players.

I am making the case the WZ-111 is worthwhile. There are some things it does really well, but that is not the basis of my argument.

For one thing, it has straight hull sides that are super easy to side scrape, as well as a strip of spaced armour above the tracks. Compared to the tier IX hull of the IS-5, it may not be quite as overtly biased, but the thing does side scrape really well.

All Chinese Heavy premiums have the exact same APCR standard D-25 clone, but the 111 is the most stable on the move. 215 mm penetration is not best in tier, but it’s good. All similar guns basically work the same, but this is one of the better ones.

Then there is the contentious pike nose. You may not think that’s an upgrade over the flat slab of a 112; and it isn’t, necessarily. It’s just a different way of doing things. The one thing a pike nose does better is looking straight ahead down over the front plate, and it’s faster to go to an autobounce when wiggling back and forth, like so:

Some people feel the flat plate is easier to use; I just happen to prefer the pike nose.

38 km/h may not seem like much, but like most Chinese tanks, the 111 doesn’t actually weigh a lot. It’s not hard to learn the way it moves, and how to make the most of that mobility. I like to say it’s pretty fast for a slow tank.

Again, none of this is the reason I think the WZ-111 is worthwhile.

The reason, is simply that it’s fairly powerful, easy to learn, and it’s an enjoyable drive.

If you are reasonably acquainted with tier VIII gameplay, you should be able to make the 111 work without problems. The same can be said I think for any IS spam tank.

But the comfortable, straightforward nature of the WZ-111 keeps me coming back for more. It’s one of those tanks that makes grinding credits feel less like a grind, and those are the only kind of tanks I grind credits in.

I paid something like four times the current price for my 111 because it was brand new, and I still feel I made a worthwhile purchase.

On a side note, if you are interested in Chinese tanks, the WZ-111 is a classic example of the 111 chassis type, very closely related to the WZ-111 1-4 or the WZ-111-1G FT. It’s a very typical example of the breed, and in the case of the 1-4, basically a training vehicle for it. You could get the Chinese Heavy tank experience without any grinding by dropping a little gold.

In short, the case for the WZ-111 is a philosopical one. Expressed in the plainest of terms, it is simply as follows:

“It’s a nice tank”.

You can add to this my personal recommendation:

“I like driving it”.

You don’t have to be an actual Maoist for the tank to be worth it for you; you just need to be someone who appreciates something that’s easy to drive and that works really well. The WZ-111 is not only easy to understand, it also makes a lot of sense. It has everything it needs.

And should you happen to be a base Mammonist, the 175% credit coefficient leaves nothing to be desired. It is actually slightly better than the IS-5 or the 252U.

IrmaBecx says the WZ-111 is a safe bet.