WOTBB 60 – Speed

Original date of blog: September 28th, 2016

When I first started this game, I stuck with driving TD’s for 4 whole tanklines. Generally speaking, I would drive those to a position at top speed, take that position and basically stay there for as long as I could. Because they were generally slow, I was never worried about being front line when I was grinding the Jg-line – mediums and most heavies would be places well before I was, so I was always at a relatively safe distance.

This also meant that by the time I got to the Object 704, and after that the 268 as my second tier X, I died horribly, repeatedly. These td’s were fast and mobile, and that meant that because I was so used to going places top speed, I would end up being front line in tanks that aren’t really meant to be there. That was the first clue for me that not all tanks could be driven the same way, even if they were all td’s.

But too slow didn’t work for me either. The third line I went down was the E3-line. I didn’t mind having to stay back, but I certainly minded lagging behind, so to speak, because my tank just couldn’t keep up. The E4-line proved to be a happy transition line for me, letting me get used to reasonably fast tanks upto tier VII, and more importantly, let me get used to turrets, because aside from my first few noobdays, I had been sticking to the td’s so much I really didn’t know how to drive turreted tanks.

It’s the td’s that I owe my unique/”special” skill of snipermoding to, and when I started driving the turreted tanks, that took a lot of getting used to. My tank wouldn’t automatically turn with me as I was used to, and I’d often end up showing my flank completely. But once I started to work on that, I found out I was a lot better player than I gave myself credit for. For a very long time, I thought the Hellcat was my best tank, but I think it was my most yolo-tank, and I owe my winrate in it mostly to luck, and Bob, who I tooned a lot with at the time.

I really did like the fast-er tanks a lot. I could actually get places and do stuff, even if my survival rate plummeted. When I got the E4, I decided to go for the E5 line mostly so I’d have all the E-numbers (yes, that’s how deep I look into those things) of the American tech-tree. I utterly adored it. Compared to the td’s, they just felt pretty mobile, and I felt pretty invincible in them. This was even more the fact when I went down the E100-line and learned how to be really troll in a well armoured tank. I was fully intend on getting all the heavy lines before going down the medium lines, because, why not?

Then came the Type 59. Up until that time, tier VI had been my highest tier when it came to meds, and the Type 59 is tier VIII. There was quite a hype about it releasing, and the thing was expensive as F. Because of Christmas and all of that (presents for everyone!), it was a tank I couldn’t afford. But someone very sweet played Santa for me, and then it was suddenly there, all shiny and gorgeous in my garage. And oh my, did I love it. For several weeks I didn’t really want to play much else, because this thing gave me a whole new dimension when it came to the game. It was so fast, and yet had armour. I utterly adored it.

And it boosted me into meds. The more I heard about the Type 59 being similar to the T54, the more I wanted to have that tier IX monster too. I picked up where I had been sealclubbing in the T62a/Object 140 line, and started grinding in earnest. F-U-N. So fast, pew pew, and everything. I could slap myself for not having tried meds earlier. They’re harder to play, definitely, a lot more unforgiving, because you will pay dearly for any and all mistakes you make. But the speed is so nice, and when you manage to circle of death someone, it just makes me giggle every single time. And I think that of all the med lines, it’s probably the easiest line to start with, because of Russian OP-ness.

But the meds have also made me greedy, and they make me less patient. I can be places fast, I want to be there fast. I want to shoot fast, kill fast, move around fast, everything fast. I don’t like sitting still in a battle anymore, and it’s making me seriously neglect my td’s, which are now collecting dust in my garage for the most part. And it’s kind of the same when it comes to grinding the tanks. They make me impatient, and I want to free-xp the lot of them.

In the case of the STB, I actually did that too. Biggest gold-noob move I ever made – it cost me 700k free xp, but I am still happy I did it. Next to the E5, the STB is my favourite tank, and when I just want to play a casual round, it’s one of the two that I usually pick. It’s an expensive tank to drive, especially with the new profitability, but I enjoy those two the most. But skipping tiers VII through IX also means that I’m missing out on quite a bit of experience, and I still need to gain that now, to help me play meds better. The good thing about that is that it’s made me hesitant to skip tanks to get to the Grille (the next tier X I’m going to get – currently slowly, but steadily grinding the tier IX).

However, I can not, for the life of me, drive light tanks. They’re so fast and mobile that I’m arriving places before my mind completely understands where it is that I’m going. And I think that’s the next hurdle for me. There’s always new things to learn in this game. And even when the general knowledge is there, I still learn every time I play. I won’t say I’m a master of mediums – I’m definitely not, still have a -lot- to learn there too. Actually, the only tank I’ll claim to be a master on is the E5 really, and even with that, it fully depends on the day, how I’m feeling and all of that. But Lights are a whole new chapter I need to learn from the beginning. And that’s why I like that they’re added to the game. It gives me something to look forwards to on account of really needing to learn new things.

The stats I currently have in the RU are the worst stats I have – it didn’t help that I first started driving it during a stream, I reckon. I seriously hate the SPIC. And that’s just the thing. It’s not the tank I can hate – no tank is bad or good – it’s me-in-that-tank that I hate, because I’m not doing well in it. Ironically, since I started playing supremacy, I actually started doing better in the tank, and that, for me, has given me a huge clue as to how I need to play lights. It’ll take some time before I can adjust my mind to roll with it though, I think.

In general, I started this game slowly, and as things sped up, I needed to become better in order to deal with it. The faster the tanks in the higher tiers, the harder they are to play, at least for me. I’m fairly sure lights will manage to elude me, pun intended, until I’ve mastered the meds more. But I’ve got great teachers around me, and that will help a great deal with both the meds and the lights. I just need to find the time to properly platoon a few hours and lay the groundwork for becoming a better med-player. After that, the lights. I have a lonnnnng way ahead of me.