Steel Giant

Alright, that's three videos uploaded already...

I'm back! And all that only took me an hour... and all that's left is to write this post.

Now, what tank am I showcasing today? It's the Tier 10 German Heavy Tank with the most misleading name ever, the Maus.

Good ol' Maus. Metal Saga lets them have THREE cannons at once...

One the oldest Tier X [or Ten] vehicles in the game... so far only vehicle with the most mass and health, too. Had this tank for quite some time now and the battles I've had in it were... mixed.

'Cause of the nature of the server I'm in, almost everyone loads Premium Ammunition at nearly any tank... only exception is when shooting Artillery. Seems nice. Because of this, the Maus can be pretty easy to kill. That and the fact that if it were to be on an open map...

...ugh, nightmare.

But I get by. It's still a relatively good tank. The selling point of this tank is only one thing [and one thing only]: it's armor. This tank pretty much tests you on how informed [and skilled] you are at Angling. Make a mistake and pay it greatly.

Real slow, damaged engine doesn't even affect it that much... that and also the fact that it's armor can be very trollish to others if angled right. That's what the first replay I'm showing has to say about that...

What else does this tank has? Well, it's health [3000 HP] let's you take hits more than others... the armor absorbs a lot of splash damage from High Explosive ammo. Then, you have the weight of this tank.

It can go up to 190 tons if the Superheavy Spall Liner was installed. In fact, it's so heavy, you can just push lighter tanks right up to the wall to trap them or even flip them over like pancakes... which the next replay conveniently has: tank flipping.

This beast of a tank may look intimidating, but it's size and speed are it's biggest downfalls. Plus the turret front, the 'curved' part? It's actually a weakspot which is targeted quite a lot when the small lower front plate isn't available to shoot.

Big profile let's it get detected easier and also easy shots for artillery. The speed makes it easy to run away and hide from the tank... and also to flank it from more than one position. All the disadvantages leads the Maus to be a fairly easy tank to handle when it's left alone...

...the next replay shows just that, a last stand against a group of enemy tanks. Still, that Tier 9 cooking, though.

But even with all that negatives, it's still a tank that can do well. Just don't expect it to be a juggernaut like how it was in the older versions of the game... which I definitely have not been around long enough in World Of Tanks.

A little short history on this tank: It was a proposed tank during WWII, and is the heaviest to date. The tank itself went through tons of developments and names, from a realistic 'Mammut' [Mammoth], then to the 'Mauschen' [Little Mouse] then finally the 'Maus' [Mouse].

Huh. Seems like the Germans have a sense of humor. I mean, a giant steel monster 'Maus' and a small tracked bomb called 'Goliath'...

There were 2 Maus tanks that were undergoing testing after the factories making them were bombed by the Allies, and one of the prototypes were blown up when the Germans were under attacked. The other one was captured, but it only had a working hull.

The blown-up Maus had the turret mostly intact, so the Russians took both the hull and turret, fixed them up as best they could for them to fit together seamlessly and showcased it in their museum... which still stands today. Here's a picture of the tank below...

Surviving Maus Superheavy Tank at Kubinka Museum

During the war, they were more projects for the Maus... like for a bigger gun 'cause Hitler claimed that it looks like a 'toy gun' compared to the tank. The turret was supposed to be improved to the E-100 Turret, and the 'improved gun' was intended to be a 15cm gun, same as the one the E-100 has, but looks different.

Here's some pictures of how the second turret looks...

Original V1 Turret on the top, and the V2 Turret below... V2 is on the E-100 in WOT.

Proposed base design with 15cm gun [top turret], Original V1 Turret [2nd], V2 Turret [3rd] and the 15cm gun [last]

Maus II, V2 Turret with 12.8cm gun.

Maus II Blueprint.

Hell, there's even a model of the Maus II out there! Makes me wanna buy one.

Maus II model, V2 Turret with 12.8cm gun... 2 different colors.

There's even a mod out there that had the Maus II...

The Maus II look beast...

Well, I guess everyone now definitely knows that I love this tank waay too much. It's just a special one for me as it's one of the first few tanks that I saw that really showed what a 'tank' it really was... and that was in Metal Saga.

Well, I guess that's all that I want to show for today... took me too much hours to do this post... tomorrow's post will be on another tank on World Of Tanks, but I haven't decided on which one yet to do...

...I guess we'll that out tomorrow, then. Until then, stay tuned.

-Panzer Fist- 

Back From The Dead

Wew... Finally another free weekend all to myself.

Hey guys! It's good to be back. It's been about a month since my last post, and only now I get some free time to do what I want. Time to use this weekend properly before it ends.

I've noticed that World Of Tanks has a new update in store: Update 9.17 and it seems to be quite a big deal. Seems like they are adding a new nation, Sweden, and their tanks' selling point are pretty neat.

...but I haven't even have the time to finish my 9.16 replays! To my relief, the replays still works AS LONG as I don't touch that World Of Tanks Launcher. So now I'm trying to get as many videos done as I can... I still have that giant 110 replay bunch to deal with.

But to be honest, I actually had some free time back in November. I was just too stressed out in the job to do any Blogger posts or YouTube video uploads. Instead, I took the time to vent out in World Of Tanks using a bunch of tanks I like [and do somewhat okay in]. Got most of the replays from the time I've played World Of Tanks in that period. Bunch of them were from my favorite, the Lowe...

...and also 2 new tanks that I've unlocked and the other one bought.

More on those tanks later, as I'm currently recording the replays as I'm typing this down. So far had 3 done, and that doesn't even cover a fraction of the number of saved replays I have left to record.

Gonna be a long day, but it's at least doing the things I like.

Still have some replays from October that I have saved, so I thought I might as well record them as they look interesting... and the other bulk was also from another Chinese tank, which happens to be also my favorite next to the Lowe. Guess which one?

Anyways, this post is to tell you that I'm back, but just only for this Saturday n' Sunday. After that, I won't be around for the whole weekday as they at least have the courtesy to inform me about the 'usual big work periods' that's happening next week last Monday.

With that outta the way, I'm off to do some more recording. Will be posting again soon as these videos are done and also uploaded to YouTube!

-Panzer Fist-

My Own Fault...

Alright, it's almost 1:30 AM here now, so I'll make it fast.

There won't be any posts for the weekends, as it's already Monday here...

Why? Well, the truth is pretty simple: playing games. There's some new things going on in World Of Tanks that took me both days, that and also I've been playing back the good ol' Fallout: New Vegas.

Yeah... became so absorbed in the games that I didn't even took some time off to do the post that I needed to do for the weekends.

Now, the main question: when will the next be on instead?

Honestly, I can't tell... why? Well, it's because of the unpredictability of my workplace tomorrow. There might be that long work period again, or maybe not... that, I won't know.

Most of fault goes to them not putting up a schedule beforehand, and always doing thing last-minute...

Anyways, that's all. Again, don't know when I can put up a post... but just be patient. It will be up, just don't know when.

-Panzer Fist-

AMX 50Beast Match

I'm back, and with a video too...

Well, it's Thursday already... or going to be Friday soon here. Time for another post in the good 'ol blog.

In the last post, I said that the next post might be about the 110 and some videos on it too. But as how little time I have left 'cause I'm tired AND also there seems to be way more 110 replays that I've thought (around 8, EIGHT), I figured I might as well just post a quick one here.

And as from the title of today's post, it's gonna be an AMX 50B replay... the French Tier X Heavy Autoloading Tank.

It's like having a 4-round revolver.

Just wanted to show this particular one as it's the only tank to have only one replay saved... even the Maus replays that I've saved have about 4.

In case you guys didn't know, I have about 4 Tier X tanks unlocked and obtained now. They are the AMX 50B, 113, IS-4 and the Maus. They are also obtained in that order, too... so yeah, the AMX 50B was the first Tier X tank that I've obtained.

When did I got 'em all, you say? Well obviously I've been playing World Of Tanks for quite some time now and I've been slowly getting them all, one-by-one. Tough work, but finally got 'em all.

But we'll continue that later... for now, it's the French autoloader's replay.

Ugh, that little mistake at the end proves how tired I am right now...

Pretty good match in there, though. Coulda get more damage done plus an extra kill if I didn't reload near the end there.

I've always preferred the French autoloaders over the American ones... I just prefer having that extra speed to go around to be helpful. It certainly did show in that match.

The French nation was actually the first nation that I advanced in... so it's pretty straightforward to get a Tier X from them first. I remember when I've first obtained the AMX 50 100... damn that 50 second reload time! But now I don't mind the reload times anymore.

In fact, I've even went and bought myself a few French heavy tanks that I used to play through for nostalgia... the first was the BDR G1 B, which was played for about up to 600 matches before I sold it. Then I moved on to the ARL 44 and even got the AMX 50 100 back again.

The BDR was a good tank, but I prefer the ARL 44 for it's "sniper gun" and sometimes useful front armor.

Why only Tier X Heavy tanks though? Well, those are during the times where I played tons of heavy tanks and gotten quite good at it. But now, my next Tier X tanks are gonna be Tank Destroyers... specifically about 2 only. They are the Object 263 and either the Jagdpanzer E 100 or the T110E3.

When am I gonna get them? Well, most of them are in Tier VII now... so it shouldn't be long to get at least one of them first... whichever that one it, of course.

Well, this certainly dragged on longer that I've imagined... That ate up 3 of my hours just like that, and Thursday already turned Friday today here... as it's already 2:30 AM here. So I guess that is all for today then.

I don't know when the next post will be up, but I want to get one done on the weekends. Dunno what it might be on, but at least it's something.

So without further delays, I'll be off to bed. See you in the next one!

-Panzer Fist-

100 Years of Tanks

And I'm back...

Time to get on with long-delayed post: The '100 Year Tanks' Event.

'100 Years of Tanks' Event.

As from the name, this event celebrates the 100th anniversary of tank history... or more specifically, the anniversary of the Battle of Somme which is the one of the first battles to feature the Mark I tank, which coincidentally was the first tank made.

British Mark I (Male)

I won't go into the history of the tank and the First World War... I'm more into the World War II stuff since I used to study that for History.

But if you're interested in the tank history, I'll link the Wikipedia article to the Mark I and *maybe* more below.

British heavy tanks of World War I

Lanchester Armored Car (WW I)

Now, what does World Of Tanks do about this? Well, that will be the Convoy Mode of course. It's pretty much an escort mission type gameplay.

Simple gameplay: one team attacks the Mark I, and one team defends the tank.

People play a wheeled vehicle called the Lanchester Armored Car. Probably the first purely wheeled vehicle in World Of Tanks.

Oh and by the way, we can't drive the Mark I tank. >disappoint

So anyways, the attacking team needs to destroy the tank with dynamites which spawn on the map... as the gun on the armored cars are just machineguns. They need to keep setting the dynamites on the tank about 4-5 times before it will be destroyed. Another way for them to win is to delay the tank from capturing the base.

Now, on to the defending team. These guys have to protect the tank as it makes it's way to the enemy base. Whenever the enemy is successful in setting the dynamite to the tank, it will be de-tracked. The team then will have to repair the tracks by picking up a repair kit from the map.

Each dynamite and repair kit can only spawn once and carried by one person only. That's where teamwork comes in. Oh, and there's also bonus pickups you can get from the maps which will give you either the "cannon" that one-shots others or the "actual machinegun" which carries some rounds. Multiple of these will spawn on the map, up to 3-4.

With the explanations outta the way, it's onto the replays. I'll be showing two replays: one's in the defending team with a victory, and one's in the attacking team with a defeat. I'll be showing the defending team replay first.

And now, the attacking team with a defeat. Not so bad gameplay, but still a loss.

There's a certain trick when playing the Convoy mode, and that is modules. Nothing to expensive attached, just some cheap ones that are going to help in the game mode quite a lot.

Light Spall Liner, Toolbox and Vents version 1 are attached.

The first module: the Light Spall Liner for absorbing ramming damage and also making the vehicle slightly heavy, hence adding more weight to the rams.

The second: the Toolbox. Just general fast repairs to help getting out of troubling situations quick.

And the third: the Vents version 1. Improves overall stats to help the crew control the vehicle better.

Consumables are not necessary, but it's up to you.

So far, the convoy event was pretty interesting. It's just there 'cause of the 100th anniversary only. Pretty disappointed that you can't drive the Mark I tank, but I've heard that the console versions do get to use it.

Lucky folks...

Anyways, that was the '100 Years of Tanks' Event post that took too many delays to post... also took me to edit and create the post up to 3 hours... man that was a lot of work for a fairly short post.

But at least it's done. Now I can delete the videos regarding the event and save more space for other work coming up. I think I'll do a post on the 110 Chinese Heavy Tank, or maybe something else with come up instead. I dunno...

I guess that's all the time for this post then. I will put up another one on the Thursday... until then, stay tuned.

-Panzer Fist-

Sudden Delays... again.

*sigh* It's getting real annoying now...

So yeah... in the end, the videos that I was supposed to post about at November 1st never did happen. What's the problem, you ask? Well, I'm gonna rant about it now.

TL;DR section at the end for those who can't be bothered.

With that outta the way, let's get right into the rants...

The moment I've reached the usual workplace on Tuesday 1st November, we got ourselves some last-minute HUGE workload. Lasts from Tuesday 1st November to Sunday 6th November. Received one day-off for our efforts, and it's been placed for Monday 7th November.

Yes... just in case you didn't know, sometimes we have to work at the weekends, too.

So all throughout the days I was doing the usual works, but I didn't set foot at home at all (not even the weekends) 'cause we sometimes have to continue working up to 11 PM. On the Sunday itself the work ended at 11:42 PM. By that time, the public transports will be gone already. So I've slept over there instead.

Then next morning, they asked everyone to clear the place... as in leave the workplace ASAP...

... at 5:30 AM. In the morning.

So everyone that slept over at the place has to hurry up and leave as everyone's on off... so they wanna lock up the place as fast as they can.

It's a good thing the public transports are around at that time, so not much trouble. Got home, took a bath and went straight to sleep again. lol

Guess all that work really did a number on me. But what to expect when you are in a team of three peeps, but the other two are absent for about 4 days? Practically have to do it all myself.

Anyways, woke up from my slumber and it's 4 PM.

Opened up the com to check on some stuff. One of the first things I did was applying for leave for the next 4 days, so yeah... I have the whole week to do all the posts I need for World Of Tanks. Then I've noticed that the World Of Tanks updated again. But at least I've recorded the '100 Years of Tanks' gameplay already. The rest on the other hand...

But I still went to check those old replays to see if they work. Surprisingly, they still work! No problems at all, which makes it even better. Then I got on to record them, only got to a few but it's mostly the 110 video parts are done. There's still more than just that tank, though.

Then not before long it was dark outside. Took so much time recording videos that I didn't even realize it's 10 PM already. Wanted to continue some more but for some strange reason, my body can't handle it anymore. Got real tired all of a sudden so I just went to sleep.

Then I woke up at 11:38 AM in the morning. The first thing that came to mind is...

"Shit! I forgot to upload the '100 Years' event video yesterday!" -Not exact thoughts during that time

And so now we are here now. This is just to tell you the whole that happened during those few days. I will keep the '100 Years of Tanks' event video on a separate post so that it won't clutter up everything, and it's also much easier for people to find it without the giant wall of rants this post has created.

It's also easier for the people that don't give a damn about what happened in those few days about me to find the post, whichever way works.

Okay, I think that's enough for this post... anymore and it might be a page from a novel or something.

TL;DR section below.

I'll be posting the '100 Year Tanks' videos soon on the blog, possibly about 5 hours later. I got some stuff I need to sort out soon.

With that done, I'm off. "Be right back"....

-Panzer Fist-

Shifted

This is just a quick update, so I'll get to the point.

I have finished editing and uploaded the '100 Years' World Of Tanks Convoy Mode replays to YouTube just a while ago, but it's 1:25 AM here... very tired now.

There's two videos that have been uploaded and I will post about the event and the video here tomorrow instead.

So yeah, that's it. Now I'm gonna go get some sleep before I drag on any longer.

See you soon with the posts!

-Panzer Fist-