World of Tanks II: Fighting, Bragging, Raging Edition - All aboard the Lemming Train!

[Deadmeat.GW]

Yes, it is solid advice.

In general Russian tanks are more forgiving if you are not sure what to do.

But...at low levels this can sometimes be a struggle as they play quite fast and fragile with decent guns at that point.

The Germans tend to be slowish, pretty good armour (less releveant at higher levels) and ok damage dealing capability.

French...at low levels they are a nightmare for the beginner.
Sloooooow, a lot of armour and a gun that is so laughable you can spend 4 matches without doing any damage to people (happened to me and I was aiming for known weak spots...)

Americans, not too sure, at low levels they seem to be middle of the road.

[Grif]

Yes, it is solid advice.

In general Russian tanks are more forgiving if you are not sure what to do.

But...at low levels this can sometimes be a struggle as they play quite fast and fragile with decent guns at that point.

The Germans tend to be slowish, pretty good armour (less releveant at higher levels) and ok damage dealing capability.

French...at low levels they are a nightmare for the beginner.
Sloooooow, a lot of armour and a gun that is so laughable you can spend 4 matches without doing any damage to people (happened to me and I was aiming for known weak spots...)

Americans, not too sure, at low levels they seem to be middle of the road.

At low levels... yeah, they're pretty middle of the road. M3 Lee is rather harsh on the beginner though.

[Priest33]

cool, thanks for the info

Just wanted to make sure before my first engagement that I had an "easier" tank to begin with before really getting into the game.

Another thing, after you are destroyed (which will happen a lot I understand) you can just quit the match and join another? I see people talking about repair fees are these steep? Is there a "nub island" like other f2p online games for the first few lvls?

[Erloas]

There is a limited number of maps for tier 1 tanks. And as a tier 1 tank you'll only be facing tier 1 and tier 2 tanks, and no artillery.

The AMX (French) lines are a pain because they are painfully slow. But all the rest of the countries are pretty good. I would probably head towards a heavy tank quickly. The lights seem good at first because speed seems good but they aren't all that great after a bit. I really like arties but they are a unique play style.

And since you have multiple garage slots its not a problem to run several different countries or try different lines at the same time.

As for repair costs... I very rarely loose money on any match. At tier 5/6 it gets a bit easier to loose money, but still doesn't happen that often.

[Grif]

cool, thanks for the info

Just wanted to make sure before my first engagement that I had an "easier" tank to begin with before really getting into the game.

Another thing, after you are destroyed (which will happen a lot I understand) you can just quit the match and join another? I see people talking about repair fees are these steep? Is there a "nub island" like other f2p online games for the first few lvls?

Tier I and Tier II tanks are grouped together for their own battles. Once you hit Tier III and above, then you start seeing the big boys.

[Priest33]

alright.. sounds good.. now to muddle my way through it.

[psilontech]

Low-tier vehicles to aim for, as they're loads of fun:

USA:
Tier 2: Eeeh, nothing I really like here.
Tier 3:
>T-82, Tank Destroyer. Has two great weapons to unlock. First is a slow-firing 'one shot one kill on non-tier-fives' weapon. The projectile is quite slow so firing at moving targets is hard to do, but when you do... boom. It has the same HE damage as the tier-9 American Heavy cannon. The second is a fast-firing weapon with decent penetration and damage.
>M2 Medium. I had loads of fun in this thing. It's decently fast and maneuverable and the 'best' gun to unlock on it is a howitzer that decimates unwary opponents.

Germany:
Tier 2:
>Sturmpanzer I Bison, Artillery. Generally considered the best tier 2 SPG and with good reason. It DOES get thrown into a lot of higher-tiered fights than its American and Soviet counterparts, but it can generally still dish out the damage.
Tier 3:
>Marder II, Tank Destroyer. Love, love, love this thing. Great at hiding with a reasonable firing arc and an amazing gun. Stay hidden and you can take out tier five heavies all day long, firing fast and bouncing very few shots, killing a KV-1 in five or six shots.
>Wespe, Artillery. Coming from the PZII line, it offers some of the best range and damage for its tier, bar none.

France:
Tier 2:
Hotchkiss H35. Amazing armor for its tier, you'll have shots bouncing off you all day if you face the correct direction. Nice weapon for tier-2 as well. The main problem is the speed and mass of the tank. You WILL be the slowest thing on the map bar a newly purchased, unupgraded lultraktor going up a steep hill. See that street sign ahead of you that you think you'll be able to knock down? Nope, stops you dead. Horrible engine and speed but is pretty much a micro-maus.
Tier 3: Hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Yeah, no.

USSR:
Tier 2:
BT-2. Fast fast fast, especially for a tier-2 tank. Want something to get up the hill in Himmelsdorf before the match is over? This is your tank. Comes packing a decent gun.
Tier 3:
BT-7. An upgrade to the BT-2. Faster still and before the scout patch that added new scout tanks, was one of the faster tanks in the game. Gets a better gun, too. A force to be reckoned with, especially when hills and speed are involved.
SU-76, Tank Destroyer. Comes packing a Tier-6 weapon after some upgrading, this guy is a sniper to the core. Accurate with okay damage and great penetration, but with next to no hitpoints or armor and an open top.
SU-26, Artillery. An SPG with a turret. Fast aiming and eventually, decent damage. Lacking in range, but then again most arty at this tier is, barring the Wespe. Tons of fun with a high reload rate and without the frustration of accidentally moving your chassis and causing your aim to cover a square block.

[Leon]

>Marder II, Great at hiding with a reasonable firing arc and an amazing gun.

Reasonable is selling it cheap - its paired with the T40 as best fire arcs outside of turreted TDs

[Eldariel]

I personally would aim for Tier Vs initially; the way is rather short and those are usually great money makers to get yourself going.


The least painful tree to climb is probably the German TD tree. Murder is the best tank for its tier, Hetzer has great TD traits (small profile, decent front armor, great camo values, fast) and Stug is extremely solid all-around. Panzerjäger I, like all tier 2s, is kinda whatever but it's not a problem really. The other two TD trees are fine too though; basically all nations have fairly good Tier 2-5 TDs (Russians have the beastly SU-85 at Tier 5 for instance) but I was highlighting Germans since Murder comes so early and is so amazing.

The Russian Medium tree is also great. T-46 and T-28 both get amazing guns for their tier and they're actually fairly fast too. Their armor is pretty terrible and T-28 is prone to getting tracked all the time but they bring the pain and there are no tanks of their tier that can take hits from them. Then you get KV-1 which is probably the second best Tier V tank in the game.

Other great Tier Vs you can aim for include T-34 (but doing so involves grinding through A-20 which I really don't suggest as your first tank tree) & PzIV (probably the best Tier V in the game; Pz38na is kind of a pain tho so same consideration as above). Sherman isn't awful either but M3 Lee is so it depends on your tolerance. Either way, the reason I say "aim for Tier V" is because those are generally the most efficient tanks for generating money (Tier V or Tier VI is the most efficient, but Tier VI has, in my experience, much fewer high tier games than Tier V).


Oh, and every nation's arty works out decently though Germans have Sturmpanzer as basically a tier 3 version of Bison mucking it up; you should probably go through Wespe if you want to play German arty (and German arty is, IMHO, the best up until tier 7 with Grille, Hummel and GwPanther all being beasts for their tier).

And yeah, I suggest you try one Medium/Heavy Tank Tree, one TD tree and one SPG tree to see which playstyle you like the best (or if you want them all). With light tanks, I'd wait a bit; light tanks have their own unique play style higher up but you kinda need things like equipment and good crew to really make them work out. Of course, this really only applies to Tier 4+ Lights as their matchmaking treats them as Scout Tanks; Tier 1-3 tanks, light or not, act as combat tanks in low tier games since they're only paired up against each other most of the time.

[groz_nez]

For me there are also quite a few low tier tanks I like.

American:

Tiers I-III are quite decent as far as I'm concerned at least in the medium/heavy tree. M3 Lee is not completely rubbish but not good either.

French:

What I've played and seen H35 is quite nice for tier II but after that they are pretty terrible as they are slow and have horrible guns. Tier V it gets better but would recommend for first tree.

Germany:

I like quite a few German low tier tanks, PzII is ton of fun as for it's tier it has quite nice automatic gun. Pz35t and Pz38t are very decent tanks for their tier. Then there is the the TD line which offer Marder II for tier III and StugIII for tier V. Both of them are excellent tanks. Personally I'm not really that impressed of German low tier arty although it is very decent.

USSR:

I started first playing Russian tanks and have to say they are quite good beginner tanks. I still take MS-1 to occasional drive around the block. Both T-26 and T-46 are reasonably fast tanks with decent guns. T-28 (the mail van) has beastly gun in the end. Its main problem is its large size which makes it an easy target (especially from the side) and paper thin armor. But if get to good position it can really ruin enemy teams game. One thing to keep in mind when starting to grind Russian TDs is that their stock gun are lousy compared to best guns you can research for them. After researching best guns tier III-V TDs become real money makers.


Also had pretty amazing game with Eldariel last night.

We platooned with Stugs and ended up in tier III-V game. Map was Sand River.

First we cleared up the top half of the map with help of one T49. Then we had to rush to defend our base as enemy team in lower half had annihilated our team.

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Just as Eldariel destroys last enemy heavy tank, their arty manages to kill him.

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After killing PzIII capping our base it's time to hunt down enemy artillery. I manage to find him and because he is M7 Priest I first ding from his frontal armor. Luckily he also misses. I drive over the sand dune and shoot him into side which penetrates. Lastly finish him off by ramming him.

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In the end stats I find out that I got defender, sniper and top gun. I also got ace tanker for my Stug.

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[Grif]

Oh, if you like fast, mobile tanks with big guns, there is no better option than the US turreted TD tree. (M8A1, T49 and M18). I'm loving my Hellcat and planning to pimp the hell out of her later. Be warned though, they have aluminium foil for armour, so don't expect to deflect any hits. Even Tier II tanks can penetrate your armour with ease.

After that, (T25/2 and above) the playstyle changes a little to a weird TD/medium tank hybrid, since you can't zoom around anymore. It's still decent, but well, I find T25/2 to be rather underwhelming.

[Eldariel]

Btw, does anybody aside from Groz_nez and I play on EU here? Would be fun to play with other Playgrounders occasionally.

[Erloas]

I play in the US, on whatever default server it set for me (if there is any way to change it, I don't know)

I'm really liking the KV-1 so far. Win rating at around 58% though thats only through about 30-40 matches. Also averaging around 1.4 kills per game, which isn't bad considering how often I end up in higher tier games. I haven't managed to get Steel Wall yet, which is a surprise to me, had one game where I took 25 or so shots and lived but a T29 beat me out for the badge, and another one where I took 37 rounds but didn't survive. I just got the Top Gun with the KV-1 last night in a rather epic win.

The battle was (I never remember map names) in the map with the ice road and bridge, we were on the South. I set up on the bridge corridor and killed one there then moved up and shot another in the valley, but by that time the enemy had pushed hard up the ice road and all of the friendlies left had pushed hard on the far road. I started back to defend as they were already starting the countdown on our base before we got to theirs. By the time I'm pulling around the corner they had the base cap at 70% and we had just started. I forget what all was there... but I think it was 5 vehicles total. I take out a hurt medium as I pull up and just hope to reset a bit before I go down. They keep pelting me but very little gets through and I'm slowly picking them off. I ended up killing 4-5 of them while stopped right in the middle of them, get the Top Gun and Defender but die just before we cap their base and miss out on the Steel Wall (that was the game where I took 37 hits). Don't remember what all was there, AMX 40 and M4 for sure, think a Pz3/4 and a T tank (which I realize is 80% of the Russian tanks...) also think a Marauder II.

[Reaver225]

Ah, I'm on the EU server.

However I've only got as my highest tanks the KV-2 and KV-1s, oh, and my AMX-13-75 and a half-upgraded Panther.

I still like derping around in my SU-26 and T-28, and have a T-50 and T-50-2 on hand if you need a scout.

Currently trying to grind up A-20 to get back into the T-34 and above Russian mediums.


-I'd post a whole discussion about proper ways of scouting, but there's no right way to do so. I've zipped past many heavies, both distant and right up close, both waited and rushed, suicide-scouted and passively scouted and actively ran right past the enemy... but there's no "best way" of scouting, only a few methods each person should try.

The only thing I have to say is if you're one-on-one up against a heavy and no-one else nearby, take a chance and try to kill it, especially with the french light tanks. It's possible if you keep circling to kill even a tiger from full health in a T-50-2 if he's not doing too well.

[Renegade Paladin]

Another thing, after you are destroyed (which will happen a lot I understand) you can just quit the match and join another?

I didn't see this question answered, so I'll just throw out there than the answer is yes. There's no problem just quitting a battle you've died in and jumping in another tank.

[Gnoman]

Of course, you have to have another tank availiable.

One tip: If you have the money, spending 20 bucks for a premium tank makes experimenting with the various trees much less painful, as they tend to generate large amounts of credits easily. The first couple of tiers go by fairly quickly in terms of experience, but actually buying the tanks you ulock is a bit of a pain. It's not necessary, but it helps.

[Priest33]

so played through the tutorial for the game and got a t3 M3 with 100% crew, wich currently has a win rating of 83% for me and I already have the top badge. It seems to only get matched with t2-3 tanks as well to makes the game very easy.

On the other hand my t-46 (or 40? not sure) in the russian tree seems to get paired with t4-6 tanks and thus i get... owned fast. Might be better once I unlock the 72 cannon but for now its a bit of a pain, still got my rank 2 badge for it so far and have a win percentage of 40.

all in all a fun game so far

[psilontech]

Finishing off the very last of my free experience, I've finally graduated from that horrid thing, the AMX40.

My first match in the AMX 12t was a bit of a learning experience. I groaned at how awful the initial loading time for the cannon was before heading off to face off against the gaggle of Lowes and Chinese Death Machines in the hopes of slipping past them to the enemy arty or something else equally squishy.

Loosed my first shell on another light before hiding behind a building, expecting a long reload when I finally noticed the extra bit added to the HUD indicating the number of shells I had ready to rock and roll. I cackled mildly and let fly the rest of the magazine into the M18 Hellcat that was coming to maul me (Do ho ho) before declaring over all-chat of my excited discovery - Just after I finished typing, a Hummel shell landed on top of me, finishing me off.

I'm not incredibly slow anymore (Though my acceleration and 'top' speed better improve with the next engine), my cannon is still terrible in the PEN and accuracy departments, but my God, I never have to do so much as think of playing the AMX40 again!

[Grif]

Finishing off the very last of my free experience, I've finally graduated from that horrid thing, the AMX40.

My first match in the AMX 12t was a bit of a learning experience. I groaned at how awful the initial loading time for the cannon was before heading off to face off against the gaggle of Lowes and Chinese Death Machines in the hopes of slipping past them to the enemy arty or something else equally squishy.

Loosed my first shell on another light before hiding behind a building, expecting a long reload when I finally noticed the extra bit added to the HUD indicating the number of shells I had ready to rock and roll. I cackled mildly and let fly the rest of the magazine into the M18 Hellcat that was coming to maul me (Do ho ho) before declaring over all-chat of my excited discovery - Just after I finished typing, a Hummel shell landed on top of me, finishing me off.

I'm not incredibly slow anymore (Though my acceleration and 'top' speed better improve with the next engine), my cannon is still terrible in the PEN and accuracy departments, but my God, I never have to do so much as think of playing the AMX40 again!

Congratulations on getting past the painful part.

As for me, I couldn't even get past the H35. Dear lord, that thing is almost as slow as my SU-14 and after the Hellcat, I never really could stand a slow tank.

[Yana]

Feh, anything feels fast after stumbling around in an E-75 without the 1200 hp engine. My mobility was so terrible, I opted to research said engine over the 128 mm because I couldn't reach fights fast enough, or hide as necessary.

[Leon]

I skipped to the 1375 to not have to suffer through the low french (i have a 1390 now but its not going out till i can unlock the 90mm as i don't want to play it as a 75 with more hp)

[groz_nez]

I spent all my free experience on test server to get fully upgraded AMX 12t. Have to say it is like no other tank I have played so far. Even though traverse isn't stellar, the speed is insane. I have to say on that gun cylinder feels like a mad scientist type thing. Testing it almost convinced me to buy AMX 40 and start the grind towards it.

I was wondering how much people tend to ram other tanks?

I tend do it quite often, even if sometimes it's not the best course of action. I have many fond memories of ramming other tanks. One was in El Halluf. I was at top part of map atop the hill in my KV (this was before 7.3 patch). Just as I look around the corner downhill, I see Stug has placed itself at root of the hill. Grinning widely I start accelerating down the hill towards the stug. He gets two shots off of which one dings. I hit him full speed and his feather light stug just explodes.

[Grif]

I spent all my free experience on test server to get fully upgraded AMX 12t. Have to say it is like no other tank I have played so far. Even though traverse isn't stellar, the speed is insane. I have to say on that gun cylinder feels like a mad scientist type thing. Testing it almost convinced me to buy AMX 40 and start the grind towards it.

I was wondering how much people tend to ram other tanks?

I tend do it quite often, even if sometimes it's not the best course of action. I have many fond memories of ramming other tanks. One was in El Halluf. I was at top part of map atop the hill in my KV (this was before 7.3 patch). Just as I look around the corner downhill, I see Stug has placed itself at root of the hill. Grinning widely I start accelerating down the hill towards the stug. He gets two shots off of which one dings. I hit him full speed and his feather light stug just explodes.

All the time. Although more often than not I'm usually driving the T-34 or the M18 to ram stuff, instead of KVs.

[Brother Oni]

Btw, does anybody aside from Groz_nez and I play on EU here? Would be fun to play with other Playgrounders occasionally.

I think I'm on the EU server (didn't see an option as to where I was connected, but my latency looks to be about right for EU).

My name there's the same as my LoL one - MarineHK4861.

Started playing yesterday, still trying to get a feel for the mechanics.

[Reaver225]

Just a note, my username is the same here on the EU server, forgot to say that last time.

I'm not incredibly slow anymore (Though my acceleration and 'top' speed better improve with the next engine), my cannon is still terrible in the PEN and accuracy departments, but my God, I never have to do so much as think of playing the AMX40 again!

It's a beaut, isn't it?

The cannon gets better - the later ones have high penetration, even if you really can't aim (it's a perfect backstabber tank of six quick shots and then FLEE).


Just a note: engines do NOT increase top speed, that goes to the SUSPENSION. Engines mainly increase acceleration, especially up slopes.
Handling is an odd mix of both, but mainly suspension.

When you've got a chance, upgrade your suspension first always.

[Erloas]

Engines increase the effective top speed though. The "top speed" listed on the tank is fixed (based on transmission), its not based on the tracks. Most tanks however will never reach their top speed or if they do its on a downhill slope. How close you come to reaching that top speed (so your effective top speed) is a combination of engine HP and the mass of the vehicle. And yes, mass makes a difference, so I'm sure adding ad-ons to the tank, which increase mass, also make you slower, whether its a real noticeable amount is another question. I know the VK... something I have I really noticed the speed drop when I changed turrets to one that was about 2k KG more then they stock one, so about 8-10% of the total weight of the tank.

I had a great few battles in the AMX12t last night, getting 2-3 kills in 3 games in a row as a lower tier light tank is pretty good. Including one match where a Chaffee catches me with only 2 rounds in the clip which I shoot then run and take a few shots but he doesn't get me while I reload (14 seconds) and I managed to kill him with 10hp left. Then an M5 shows up and we're circling and running into each other and we're too close to actually hit half the time and I manage to kill him on the last shot of the clip. Then a bit later another AMX12t engages the TD Jagd IV just up the hill from me and I manage to save him at 2% life left.

[Leon]

All the time. Although more often than not I'm usually driving the T-34 or the M18 to ram stuff, instead of KVs.

M18 is not a good candidate for ramming much since it has the very low armour and you often are as badly off as the thing you hit.

The things you find out: The Wespe can carry AP shells. A bit o raging just subsided when i looked that up as one just took my SU-26 out point blank and didn't kill its self - i had tried to maneuver to make it ram me and die (it was on 11hp) Still it should be destroyed from the direct hit when it was on 110hp...

[Grif]

M18 is not a good candidate for ramming much since it has the very low armour and you often are as badly off as the thing you hit.

Never said it was a good idea. But sometimes ramming that 1% KV is just so worth it. Also, those pesky T50s when they circle around you.

[Leon]

M18 is not a good candidate for ramming much since it has the very low armour and you often are as badly off as the thing you hit.

The things you find out: The Wespe can carry AP shells. A bit o raging just subsided when i looked that up as one just took my SU-26 out point blank and didn't kill its self - i had tried to maneuver to make it ram me and die (it was on 11hp) Still it should be destroyed from the direct hit when it was on 110hp...

Only time i ever see my Types top speed is going down a hill where as the T-44 happily reaches it fast on flat terrain

[Rustic Dude]

M18 is not a good candidate for ramming much since it has the very low armour and you often are as badly off as the thing you hit.

Just a little nitpicking: ramming damage(taken and dealt) has more to do with the weight of both vehicles and the speed than anything.