A *very late* World of Tanks Common Test trial; v1.7.1

And also posted on the day where the update is already available on the live server...

Yep, that late. The edited videos had already been uploaded to YouTube about 4 days ago, and the recording was done last Tuesday...

Been rather busy lately, not to mention quite lazy and tired... and it's just the first month of the year! The workflow should lessen after January, as is the case since 2018; the near the start/end of the year is always the most busiest of periods.

...and when it comes to relaxation time/vacations, I tend to slack off a bit too much to the point of forgetting things...

But enough about that! This World of Tanks Common Test version brings us Russian Double-Barreled Heavy Tanks, about 3 of them to the Tech Tree. Obviously not counting the recently added Object 703 Version II which is obtainable through lootboxes. Such greediness...

A double barreled 112...

So, the first things first... the new line consists of 3 tanks, Tiers 8, 9 and 10 respectively... and they'll branch out from the KV-3.

The first tank on the list is the IS-2 II... and from the name, one can guess it's an IS-2 with 2 guns, or with a tutu. Unlike the 703 II however, you don't have the 122mm guns available to use, which is rather odd... considering that it's an IS.

Since it's essentially an IS-2 with another gun, the armor of the tank is still the same as it was in Tier VII... which is not a good thing. The 100mm isn't that bad and there's plenty of ammo to spare... just kinda disappointing that there's no 122mm gun, which I think they conveniently left out to make the 703 II more powerful... not to mention the superior armor it has over this tank.

And now, the IS-3 II; a Tier IX IS-3 with two guns... finally, we get to use a bigger gun!

...although it takes quite a lot of combat experience to get the 122mm gun, though... the last 122mm gun available, that is.

The first 122mm gun is pointless as it leads to nothing, not to mention it's not that much of an upgrade aside from bigger caliber and damage output. you're better off researching the last gun instead.

The 100mm gun still isn't that bad though. Penetration might be a bit shite for this Tier, but ammo capacity is still great... and yes, it still retains the large ammo pool for the 122mm guns as well. So one can have a healthy amount of all three ammo types!

Armor is so-so with that pike-nose hull, but turret armor is okay, unlike the glass double cannon from before. The tank is very looooong, too... like a limo!

And finally we have the ST-II. Pretty much the same tank but with an extra gun...

Now this tank, I don't enjoy that much...

Sure, it's somewhat historical... but World of Tanks threw that out of the window a long time ago. There's nothing special about this tank; it's like a carbon copy of the ST-I. Even has the same ammo pool that the single gun variant has.

And here's the part where I start bitching...

Overall, the tanks don't feel that special. Perhaps the most interesting tank was the IS-3 II, and even then I feel like that should've been a Tier VIII vehicle. The whole line feels very off...

You've got a Premium Tier VIII can clearly perform better than the Tech Tree counterpart, not to mention it looks very similar to an IS-3 but with a flat angled front plate... but at Tier IX we have a Pike-nosed tank. Although I guess that can be overlooked as this particular Tech Tree's focus is on the double barreled gun capabilities...

Hell, the KV line also has it's problems, too.. the last two Tiers specifically. The ST-I is clearly an experiment to an improved IS-4, but it's a tier lower. If anything at all, the IS-4 should've been a Tier IX like how it was back then.

The Tech Tree variant for the Tech VIII tank should've been something else rather than the IS-2 II, in my opinion... maybe the IS-3 II or something similar to the 703 II. The Tier IX could be the ST-II or IS-4 II (a made-up tank?! Preposterous!) and the Tier X... well, I have no idea.

The Tier VIII should have the stock gun as 100mm and several 122mm gun upgrades... sharing similarities to the regular IS-3 variant BUT no BL-9 to make it in-line with the 703 II. This tank will have its damage output go from 250 to 390 and penetration values from 175 to 215.

The Tier IX should have the last (or second last gun) researched 122mm from the previous Tier and some upgraded 122mm choices, which will end with the M62-T2 gun... making it similar to the IS-4 or ST-I. This tank will have its damage output starting from 390 to 440 and penetration values from 215 to 240-ish... shouldn't be as high as the IS-4 or ST-I.

The final tank should have the last researched gun as its stock, and perhaps a 130mm gun upgrade to really bring out the tank. 152mm is overkill as 750 x 2 is devastatingly high for a Heavy Tank as compared to 490 x 2. Perhaps the gun will be more in-line with the IS-7's gun, as damage values of other guns close to 130mm (mainly the 12.8mm from Germans) is around 560... still too high. Keeping the damage values just under 1000 I think is better, as RNG will and can decide if one rolls above just 1000.

Now this tank will have the 130mm's gun with better penetration from its 122mm gun, unlike the IS-7, more like the Object 277... because just 50 (or 100 if doubleshot) damage increase, but is offset with worse penetration sounds like downgrade... not to mention that it'll have much longer reload, aim time and probably worse accuracy.

Speaking of which... this Tier X will have it's damage output go from 440 to 490, and penetration values from 240-ish to 255+... better than the IS-7, but not better than the Object 277... somewhat similar to the ST-I or IS-4.

The ammo capacity will shrink when moving to higher calibers, as it would make sense. So for the final tank, one has to make a decision to use a bigger gun with better penetration or a smaller gun with more ammo pool.

Guess the most comfortable Tier would still be Tier IX, as all it's guns are 122mm, the same ammo pool throughout all guns and is just a progressive upgrade with no drawbacks or second choices... just a bunch of guns to research like the Tier VIII tank.

Well, at least that's how I see this mini-tech tree addition should be. It's somewhat mixed, just like French 'Heavy' Heavies; mediocre Tier X, an okay Tier IX and horrible Tier VIII... but with an exceptional Tier VIII Premium Tank variant. Huh... almost like a carbon copy...

Eh, whatever. I think I ran on for too long, now. Quite disappointing, but not that it matters anyways... the next post is most likely not gonna be World of Tanks, as I've posted quite a number of times that I wanted to try other games... just hoping that they don't fall apart like Armored Warfare did. Let's just hope it doesn't take me a month plus to update...

-Panzer Fist- 

World Of Tanks Common Test, 9.21 Server EXTENDED

Time to make use of all these remaining materials...

Back from yesterday, and today's post will be about the World Of Tanks Common Test Server. The second iteration was up during that time and I took that opportunity to get some extra screenshots of the new things added.

Not much, but there's a new overhauled customization system which is rather impressive. I have several screenshots set aside for this as just explaining the whole shebang through a wall of text can get very... difficult.

Now, first things first; the new customization system changes the current camouflages to two different categories: Multicolor and Non-Multicolor. Multicolor camos get additional color patterns, usually an extra two while the others remained the same. You can also change the camo pattern sizes to Small, Medium and Large to suit your own tastes.

But here's where things get interesting; you can now select different parts of the tank to apply camo onto, shown below.

Right here we have the gun area...

And here's the turret area...

And finally, the tank hull area.

Pretty sweet, ain't it? The multicolored camos are now gonna be people choice just because of the extra colors.

Overall, it's pretty good... but NOT YET! There's still more...

...because now, you can even paint your own tanks. That's right, PAINT your own tanks.

There's these nation-specific paints for different climates that you can use, and they look great.

But paints have more 'sections' than camos; 5 compared to 3. The areas are the Gun, Gun Manlet, Turret, Hull and Tracks. Some vehicles will have more sections than others, and it also goes for the camos... like vehicles without a turret will obviously not have the 'turret' area.

And now, some screenshots of these 'nation specific paints'...

And as you might notice, there's a bunch of other colors as well. Those are the base color of other nations, so if you feel like painting a French Tank grey for that "captured vehicles" feel, you can do that... or maybe you just prefer the China's shade of green rather than Swedish ones... up to you.

Here's a couple of screenshots of me painting the Super Conqueror in different nation colors...

China's base paint for the "Forest" camo slot...

...and France's base paint for the "Winter" camo slot.

You might also notice that there's the "non-historical" paint at the far corner... well, those are obviously the goofy looking ones or colors that were never used in war that make your tank stand out more than the rest, if you are into that.

heh, inb4 pink tanks and "power ranger" combos...

Heck, you can even mix and match them to make a bizarre looking monstrosity...

...like this. And this is just me going easy by using only 2 colors...

These paints actually remind me of Armored Warfare's customization system, actually... except more in-depth.

And you though that was all? No... there's still one more to talk about...

The paint and camo actually don't overlap one another, so that means you can stack them... also similar to Armored Warfare.

With normal camouflage, you can barely see the difference as the order goes by camo first, then the paint. Areas like the tracks and edges of the tank gun can be seen when paint has been applied, though.

Thankfully, there's a specific type of camouflage that makes use of this; as they are semi-transparent. They don't have a separate group, so you'll have to find them yourselves by trying each one of them out. The transparent ones have 'grey on dark grey checkerboxes' which indicates transparency; or 'no color zone'.

Here's a few pictures of me combining both the semi-transparent camos with different paint schemes.

German camo without any paint.

German forest camo with German 'forest-specific' paint.

German winter camo with French paint.

Oh, there's actually a few other things... but they are just pre-made sets that you can use if you are too lazy and also tank 'presets' that change the vehicle to have worn paint or something like that.

There's nothing much to talk about those two as they weren't really that important... plus it's not really more fleshed out than the paint and camo systems, as they only have about 1 or 2 compared to the many others the camo and paint systems had.

There's also talk that the ability to add 3D non-interactive customizations as well, like adding sandbags and tracks. They won't add armor or anything, just to make things more cool.

...people will still abuse them by spamming them over weakspots, though.

And that's all there is for today's post. All the important posts are done, and all that's left are the bunch of replays left to record, edit and upload... and I gotta get 'em done before the next patch hits, as I want to play the new French Heavy Tanks when they arrive ASAP.

Speaking of which...

Almost forgotten to put that video in this post.... finally had the replays working, but only those from the second iteration of the 9.21 Common Test Server.

And NOW then it's truly everything. Gotta go now as it's already 2AM here, gonna get some shut-eye and continue with some shizz tomorrow... so see y'all till then.

-Panzer Fist-

World Of Tanks Common Test, 9.21 Server

About a week since the last post, but whatever...

I'm not even sure if it's worth it to install and play the World Of Tanks Common Test Server... an extra 25+ GB of space just for a 'test' server, the only servers available are the EU and of course... the RU server.

I get 250ms ping in the EU server and a whopping 380ms for the RU server! I kinda remember now why I don't install CT clients now...

But this is an exception to the rule; as when there's a vehicle [or vehicles] that I adore I will do whatever it takes to try them out as soon as possible. Of course, the lag isn't helping much...

The gold slinging is as bad as ever, but you know it's very bad when the original live server you play in feels about the same as the CT server. sigh...

So the only things I'll be going through are the new upcoming French Heavy Tanks, and that's it. No Badgers, no other shit. I can't stand that mess of a server with horrible ping and even horrible people. [especially a certain group of peeps from a certain country]

Oh, and there won't be any replays... as they don't work for some reason. I definitely won't be going the old route of "record and play" as it will most definitely screw up something. As if the server lag isn't bad enough, I do not need the game to lag on me too.

All that effort and the replays won't work... another reason why I don't use the CT client as often...

Bitching aside, it's time for the sweet new French vehicles. First up's the AMX 65t.

I've only played with the 'stock' turret and 100mm gun for this tank, as I think that's better for the Tier VIII tank. the second turret is bigger and also has a much bigger cupola weakspot. The 120mm gun is good only if you plan to play 'gold skill' mode, as it has 325 penetration for the premium APCR rounds.

The pike-nose armor is awful, only 100mm of armor. Even the 110's armor is better... and the tank has abnormally large track size, too. The tank, when set up like this, will be somewhat similar to the AMX M4 49 but with faster reload. It's gun handling is just a bit lower than the Tier VIII Premium Heavy Tank, but that's just the cost of having slightly better reload time.

Next up, it's the AMX M4 51.

A massive upgrade, but also a massive tank. This is the only vehicle among the three that I allow to switch guns, as the 'derp' addition adds an extra 70 damage without affecting the reload much. Armor is massively better than the AMX 65t, but those frontal hull "shoulders" require careful angling and those rather large cupolas are rather easy to hit...

And I say "cupolas" because there's actually two of them that you can hit, both are lightly armored. The machine-gun port at the front of the tank is not a weakspot, though.

And now, it's time for the AMX M4 54...

This tank is best played with the 120mm gun, no exceptions. The 'derp' addition does add a meaty 160 extra damage, but it's penetration is sub-par... you're better off using the Pz. Kpfw. VII if you want a tank that does chunky damge... and it has better penetration for it's gun, too.

Not to mention it's premium round is AP and only has 30mm of extra penetration only...

As from my older posts, the frontal hull "shoulders" all have 150mm of armor starting from the Premium Tier VIII all the way to Tier X, excluding the AMX 65t.

And here's the different guns they'll have... no AMX 65t in this one, though.

First up, the AMX M4 51.

AMX M4 51 120mm Gun.

AMX M4 51 127mm Gun.

Now, the AMX M4 54.

AMX M4 54 120mm Gun.

AMX M4 54 130mm Gun.

And that's all for the guns. I have plenty of other pictures though... rather than just deleting them, I'll put them up here first before doing so.

First, the front shots of the vehicles, from the Tier VIII Premium Heavy Tank to all the other variants.

Now, the back shot... no AMX M4 49 here.

Now, some frustrating things to talk about...

In one of my posts about these Heavy Tanks, I talked about how the frontal armor plate of the Tier X AMX M4 54 was incorrect... and they even knew about this but didn't bother to at least put it up to the standards! Here's an example below.

Tank Description says 280mm, while in-game shows 220mm...

As what the caption wrote; the tank's Description says that it was a variation of the 'Project 141' tank with reinforced armor plate of up to 280mm, yet the stats on the right shows that the tank has 220mm of frontal hull armor instead. Whuuuuut....

I'm guessing they thought that having 280mm of frontal armor is overkill? Honestly for me; nope... as this tank has plenty of weakspots to choose from to kill it easily: the two cupolas at the top of the turret, the large lower plate, the frontal hull "shoulders"...

...and there's ever a few secret weakspots that I've noticed. The gun mantlet is riddled with holes which Premium and even normal ammunition can penetrate, and then there's those turret "ears"... those little bits sticking out from the sides of the turret. Just like the Emil II, shooting at that area with High-Grade HE ammo will do pretty well.

Then there's the 150mm frontal hull "shoulder" problem. Here's another few screenshots between the Tier XI and X tanks to show the armor differences.

Giant slabs of armor plates welded onto the tank, yet the armor values are all fucked up. Jeez, it's like as if WG wants this bunch of tanks to under-perform or something...

 And I guess I should stop before I go into a rant about it... already done that in the few previous posts, don't need to do it here, too. I guess I'll end things with a few in-battle screenshots before I go.

But be aware that this is just the 1st iteration of the CT 9.21 server, so maybe things will change for the better in the next version... hopefully.

Anyways, the screenshots... here's the AMX 65t.

Now, the AMX M4 51...

And finally, the Tier X monster.

And that's all for this post. Not sure when's the next post going to be made... or what it's gonna be about, but I think I know what to do next. So stay in touch for the next update....

-Panzer Fist-

"Death Star's Alter Ego"

It is time...

Time for what? Time for the next World Of Tanks Common Test video, that's what. This one's features the Tier X [ten] British Tank Destroyer FV4005, the 'alternate' version of the FV215b 183.

It's kinda like the 'alternate' version of the FV215b 183 because of it's similarities and differences. They both have the same gun that can carry the same max ammo. The differences are that the FV4005 is more "mobile"...like a medium tank while the other plays more like a heavy tank.

For starters, it has better accuracy and gun handling then the FV215b 183.

It also has more speed and it also means better traverse, but in exchange it has reduced armor and a bigger silhouette. This means it's good for camping and needs to be behind teammates if it ever needs to go close-quarters. The FV215b 183 however has more armor so it wouldn't really make sense for it to camp, as it can side scrape.

Less armor also means High Explosive rounds can hurt this monster even more than it's other counterpart, so be cautious.

Best equipments to use are Gun Rammers and Ventilations. If this tank is mostly used for camping, then the Binocular Telescope and Camo Net should be used. Third slot is personal preference...but I'll go with Ventilations for that extra camo value. If used aggressively, then take the first two equipment and add a Gun Laying Drive to increase accuracy...since this tank already has better accuracy then the FV215b 183.

Don't forget about tank camo! It's a must if playing defensively.

Overall great tank, if used properly. Weak armor means it'll probably get targeted first instead of a FV215b 183 if both spotted together.

I guess that's all that was planned for today's post. This is the last World Of Tanks Common Test video in the list, but more will be done in the future.

Until then, adieu...

-Panzer Fist-

Something Different

Just a quick update here,

Decided to put this up, 'cause I haven't done anything for about four days. Enjoy.

Note: This is from a Common Test Battle Replay.

Next World Of Tanks Common Test video will be up on 20th March...until then, some other form of mixed content will be added.

-Panzer Fist-

Another Video

It's back!

Time for the long-awaited World Of Tanks Common Test videos. In this video, I'm using the speedy Object 263. So without anymore delays...

Also another Tier X Tank Destroyer I'm aiming for, this thing might be big...but it sure is fast in both agility and reloading. Pretty obvious downsides are that the tank is open-top and is extremely vulnerable to artillery strikes due to this...and that also means it can't mount the 'Improved Ventilation Class 3' module.

No...my precious 5%...

Also, classic non-turreted tank destroyer weakness: no turret. [duh] Can get easily flanked if tracked and will not do well if getting wolf-packed by light tanks and medium tanks.

The great things about it is that is has strong amour at the front, kinda like a Maus. Lower plate is sloped well and this means it can withstand head-on fights...as long as it's at cities or places like that.

...and if they aren't shooting gold at ya...

And did I mention that this brick tank is VERY fast? Very fast in running around AND spamming rounds.

I guess that's all I can do today now. Really early up here now...about 5:37 AM as of typing this. Goodnight! Or "Day" for some of ya...

-Panzer Fist-

It's Back

Guess what's back...

World of Tanks Common Test videos, that's what. This one's featuring the FV215b.

Gotta go now, I got plenty to record still for the moment... But not sure when it'll be up.

-Panzer Fist-

New Video

Hello once again!

The video is successfully uploaded to YouTube. The second video features the Chinese Heavy Tank: The 113.

One of the few Tier X Heavy Tanks I'm aiming for, the 113 is more of a 'heavy medium' rather than a traditional heavy tank. This means it can't really lead a battle. It's more of a support heavy, so that should be taken into account when playing one.

Another reason why I like this tank is because it's design is more like a 'main battle tank' or 'medium tanks'.

The gun shoots fast, but not so it's aiming time. It's armor is poor except the turret and the upper glacis of the front. Angled at 45 degrees [maybe even more] and with a well-rounded turret, it's wise to hide the lower glacis of the front.

Other problems are almost non-existent gun depression and easily damaged modules and crew.

Sidescraping is okay, as long as the angle is not more than 10 degrees as the sides are weak.

Other weakspots are the cupolas on the turrets... or as I call them, "cookies"...

The alpha damage of the gun is 50 points lower than the last gun on the WZ-111 1-4. So if you like dealing loads of damage, use that tank instead. [reload time is significantly longer]

The equipments I've used are the Gun Rammer, the Ventilation [or 'fans'] and the Vertical Stabilizers.

All crew members have the Repair skill at 27%-26%.

I guess that's all then. Stay tuned for the next video!

-Panzer Fist-

A World Of Tanks Video

Hello everyone,

Today I have a World Of Tanks video i'd like to put up. It's played from the 9.6 Common Test Servers. Quality's shit, but as to be expected when using Bandicam.

Anyway...

So far, not so good. Overall 300ms is never fun. But the Jagdpanzer E100 makes it enjoyable at least. One of the several Tier X vehicles I'm aiming for 'cause to me, it's just like the KV2... only bigger.

More to come soon! Just need time to process these really big files...

-Panzer Fist-