10544 replies to this topic

[FavreDollarFootlong]

Ookla_the_Mok, on 12 August 2015 - 09:21 PM, said:

 

Sorry, i meant to multiquote. Make sure to use Chrome as your browser and select the full desktop version of the forum NOT the mobile version.  

 

I do use the desktop version, but haven't tried Chrome - I'll give it a shot, thanks!

[FavreDollarFootlong]

ahredstealth, on 12 August 2015 - 10:31 AM, said:

Tactics Tuesdays!  Starting on a Wednesday because... POTATO!

 

I rolled in a couple platoons last night and I came to realize one thing...  I'm a horrible teacher, and I'm even worse at communicating with my platoon mate.  I generally run solo pub matches, and it's definitely affected me.  So I'm going to propose two things that I hope everyone here will at least try.

 

1) Work on communication with your platoon mates.

                   I'm not talking novels here.  In the beginning of the battle, a few quick words where you would like to go.  Don't stay silent.  "Hills."   "Left."  "Windmill."  Some of us are new.  Don't expect your platoon mate to know the map just because he's on the forum or in the clan.  Once the battle starts, you should both be moving... talk time is done.  (unless you're on team speak.)  Now we need to use the quick chat.  CALL YOUR SHOT.  You do this by having your aim over a tank, then using your attack quick chat.  It will let your platoon mate know which tank to focus on.  If you can't hit the tank your platoon mate calls out, or see another threat you think is a bigger deal, call out negative, or target the other tank.  If you need to bail, or feel you're heading for a bad spot, use the "Reloading" call out...  We'll use it for "Relocating" or "I want to go somewhere else."

 

2) After the battle, win lose or draw, take a moment to comment on it.  What worked well?  What didn't work well?  Did you struggle with something?  Did you notice something about your platoon mate?  "Hey, you're COD on that jagtiger was perfect!" or "When I drew that IS-6's attention, I'm glad you circled to his back and light him up!"  or "Next time while the heavy is looking at me, try and circle to his side or back.  I'll try and Call it out... We'll use RELOCATING! so we know."

 

When Mike and I ran platoons, his insight after the battle was invaluable.  Also, if I did manage to outlive him, he offered live advice during the rest of the game.  Watch out for your platoon mate.  Try and talk.  If he's not angled, tell him, "turn left a bit!  You're still to flat!"  It might save him and the game.

 

 

 

 

I'm also going to drop this here:

Spoiler

 

 

It's a map of Rockfield that's I've marked up with my usual routes.  I feel I'm fairly competent on the map, so I'll offer a bit of advice.  This is pretty much the path I take in my mediums.  I like the hills.  I don't go cap as it just doesn't seem to work on this map.

 

The yellow arrows I roll out, head up the hill and make a brief stop at the first red square (labeled 1) as that lets me spot any tanks that head to cap or go to snipe on top the hills.  I'll put a quick shot, maybe a few, but I don't tend to stay here, as it's pretty open and you'll get lit up and burned down.  Next I move to the edge of the ridge with my back almost toward the cap circle at the next red square. (labeled 2)  I pull forward and backward on the ledge like the small red arrows show, which pops my turret over the ledge, I'll shoot, and then I pull back.  Rinse and Repeat.  Always be moving, and you'll bounce more shots.  Your real threats here are any tanks in the purple square by the bunker, as they have easy shots at you, and tanks in the purple box on the groove leading down to spawn because typically you will not have the gun depression to hit them without over exposing your self.  Either you or your platoon mate will want to clear them out as quickly as possible.  

 

Speaking of platoon mates, the Green H squares are little recesses in the ground where Hull Down Heavies can play.  I've used that spot with a IS-3's and IS-6's and it works pretty okay.  Remember to wiggle, and stay in the depression when you're not shooting.  You pop up to shoot, then slink back.  If you're rolling in say, and American Heavy like the new T14, or the heavy thingie Easy-8, then you want to have your tank front propped up on the hill, use your depression, and angle, and you'll start to really bounce shots of similar tiers.  T34s and such require a deeper hole to hide in, and tend to stay back further on the arrow path where they can hide their whole hull.  (admittedly not as much of an upper tier American Heavy guy... if you have a better spot feel free to toss it out there.)

 

Once the battle has progressed, from the yellow arrows, I'll dive into the groove going down to cap...  It lets me reset the cap timer, sneak up and shoot pesky Reds hiding behind the opposite ridge, and also spot just a little deeper.  Don't rush to this spot unless you know you have back up.  High reward, but also high risk.

 

Starting from the orange arrows, I'll head up my path.  I duck out quick on this route to spot over the cap area as well, but this spot I DO NOT STOP.  You will get lit up from the cap area, and the bunker area.  Proceed to the ridge, and set up there where the light blue square is.  Rock back and forth, rain shells on the opposition across the way, pull behind cover while reloading.  Watch the bunker area, that's your danger zone.  Again, you have a hull down area for slim heavies, low tier American Heavies with good slopes on the hull marked in the H but this time, if you're a platoon mate and you are both moving fast, one can take the bunker in purple, and the other can take the Ridge...  You basically will have the upper plane covered as long as neither one of you get overly ambitious.

 

The Bunker has a berm leading toward the ridge.  If you have poor gun depression you're going to have to watch that you don't pull out and take away your own shot, while leaving yourself exposed.

 

And that's pretty much what I have to say about that.  I like these areas because they give good cover, easy cap reset, and plenty of opportunity.

 

Comments/Questions/Concerns/Additions?

 

Anyone else want to take a map and give advice/tips/general oversight?  They are on the wot blitz wiki for anyone to work with.

 

Thanks boys and girls.  Please pass the marshmallows.

 

SonnetVolta, on 12 August 2015 - 05:58 PM, said:

FavreDollar is modest enough not to mention his own weighty contributions to our carries this morning. I'll post some screenshots when I get to my laptop. Watch this space!

On platooning: prior to being a SPUD, I had only ever platooned with Libereco, SieurPersil, Alexbuildit, and Lephturn. Now I've platooned with five or six SPUDs, so it's increasingly likely that I'll need to get aquainted with some different playstyles. Here's my add-on to Ahredstealth's good advice:

0. Before you click battle, tell the platoonmate how you play. Spend a sentence or two: "I play slow British heavies. My accuracy is great, but my dmg is low. I rarely climb hills because no gun depression. I head to cap circle at 2:30 most maps. I use reloading button to mean 'I'm okay, but please notice where I am.' If I repeatedly ping a red target, that means I have him permatracked and you should go kill him. What about you?"

Think of it like sex, or like the barbershop if sex unsettles you in analogies: you can trust the skilled person to intuit what you want, or you can explain what you want and win.

Great stuff you two!

 

I'll toss in my 2 cents - most maps feature various types of destructible objects, whether it be vehicles in Middleburg, the short stone walls in Desert Sand, etc. Do not intentionally destroy them; most of them are the perfect height to protect your hull but still allow you to fire over the top of them. If the enemy tries to shoot you thru them, the object will be destroyed, but it will also will absorb the damage!

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious to most here, I'm weird like that...

[ahredstealth]

Okay, I've had a rough few days.  I did manage to be blue for about 12 hours, and now I'm pretty much just on a downward slide again.  Go me.  My standard CH III, Vic, IS-6, and S35 have even been a struggle.  I think I'm over extending myself, as again my damage is up and survival is down, but in the vast majority of my games I'm the only guy who moves from spawn... so...  yeah...  Not certain what to say about that.

 

So I'm going to post these because they make me feel better about myself.  Prepare for Brag.

 

Spoiler

 

 

I would also like to point out that what isn't shown here is the fact that neither Mike nor I took any damage...  We both finished with full health.  I have decided I need to take zero damage more often.

 

Spoiler

 

 

I ran into Paukenwirbel in his T-25 on mines.  I went hill in my WARPIG because POTATO!  I was the only one on my team to rush hill...  In my WARPIG.  I somehow go to the entrance area first, and kept Paul from dashing up the entrance in his T-25 (which was the right move...  I'd a perma tracked him.  he he he.) He backed off, and a Red T29 charged, and I tracked him and then dropped him.  I then stood at the entrance like Gandalf screaming, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

 

All of Paukenwirbel's heavies flanked around the back...  other then the T29.  Which actually would have worked, as a fair amount of my team was still storming Red spawn, but when they came around the corner, I turned to face them, perma tracked the T150, and then for whatever reason the rest of them just... stopped.  And then I just say there with the high ground in my WARPIG and went TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.

 

I lost Paukenwirbel...  I don't know what happened, but I know I didn't see him after he bailed on the failed hill run past the WARPIG.

 

 

 

 

Be careful out there kiddies.  It's kinda brutal right now.  It'll be another crazy night... probably up to the weekend.  I really want to try out teamspeak.  I've been getting people from the clan talking about it, people on my friends list asking about it, and this morning my 6 month old son woke up and was like, "Dad, when are you going to get on the teamspeak band wagon.  You're playing like a skrub without it."  Which I told him, "I am a skrub."  He just sighed, pooped, and then went back to the bottle.

 

Long and short, I'm going to try and get some team speaks this weekend.

 

Can anyone lay out some simple instructions for me?  (Like pretend the last time I tried to do something like this was make the VCR stop flashing 12:00...!)

 

Also, if anyone gives me [poop] for or asks what a VCR is, you're on campsite clean up duty for a week.  

[tinmanic]

Have you ever seen a dead frog fly?  Well I have - platooned with Dead_Fr0g last night.  We did 6 battles, won 5 of them. He in his E25, I in my AT15A.  An unlikely match, but seemed to work...because his E25 was cooking!  In one match after I was killed off, I was watching him race around with another green in a T49, hunting down the last Red. I wanted to call the play-by-play like a horse race in battle chat:  "Dead frog coming up from behind. Dead frog pulling ahead...." 

 

It was great fun - but he also drove a point home:  I used to ignore E25s on the Red team when they first came out b/c I rarely came across a driver that could do much with it beyond YOLO and die. But DF proved a competent driver in that thing is DEADLY.  In each battle he kept the Red team lit up for the entire match...letting the rest of us hack away at the enemy. But no, he wasn't just 'king of spotting' - he also earned a Radley-Walters Medal in one of the matches. 

Thanks DF....as I said in chat before we platooned, I want to be a dead frog too some day!

[Psyberius]

Good see a good bit of SPUD platoon stories on here! Got to platoon with Whalesmacker a bit last night. Had a lot of fun running dueling Object 140s with him hehe. 

[ruggs225]

Dead_Fr0g, on 13 August 2015 - 10:35 AM, said:

Tatic Tuesday brillant idea. Lol. And I agree. I need to work on my communication aswell. I get in the mood sometimes.lol

 

 

I may be able to help with the cent.  I have yet to get the other tanks on your list.  Tho the Panther has a similar play style.  Busy atm to write a guide.  But #1 rule with cent.  Never expose your hull. Hull down. Cent has the best gun depression in game.  Use it. also do not try to sidescrape with the cent. It does not work....only with pea shooting tanks will your side armour bounce shots. 

 

Have to toon with you sometime with cent 1.  And I'm not one to complain about matchmaker b/c it is what it is, but I feel that i just get an inordinate amount of tier X games when i use those three tanks compared to when i use the Tiger 2 or t-32.

 

Got my first 5 kill game last night on the cent at BlackGoldville.  Made me feel like I knew what I was doing, lol.

 

[tinmanic]

ahredstealth, on 13 August 2015 - 09:33 AM, said:

Long and short, I'm going to try and get some team speaks this weekend.

 

Can anyone lay out some simple instructions for me?  (Like pretend the last time I tried to do something like this was make the VCR stop flashing 12:00...!)

 

Also, if anyone gives me [poop] for or asks what a VCR is, you're on campsite clean up duty for a week.  

 

Thanks for the story, Stealth, as well as for the tactics by the way.  I had a couple hours of quiet last night so got Team Speak running on my PC.  Was easy as pie...no one was on last night when I was there to test it out but I think I have it working.  After the download & install, use the Settings menu to plug in the IP address & password, and presto.  (I set my nickname to "tinmanJim"

My problem is I rarely know when I can spend quality time on the game ahead of time to actually use TS, as I typically just squeeze in a few games here and there...often late at night so can't risk waking up the crazies family.    So I might have to start "scheduling" time with y'all to make use of TS...like I can usually spend a good couple hours playing on Sunday mornings. I'm on the east coast...but is anyone around between 8-ish to noon-ish Eastern Standard Time on Sundays?

 

PS - your VCR blurb reminded me....I was at a doctor's appointment with my son the other day and the doctor was describing something, using a phone book in an analogy.  He suddenly stopped, looked at my son, and asked "do you know what a phone book is?".  (he did, but only because we were mailed a new one a while back and he was surprised by it when fetching the mail for us) 

[furicle]

ahredstealth, on 13 August 2015 - 08:33 AM, said:

Long and short, I'm going to try and get some team speaks this weekend.

 

Can anyone lay out some simple instructions for me?  (Like pretend the last time I tried to do something like this was make the VCR stop flashing 12:00...!)

 

OK - I'll give you pretty pictures even, and skip the crayons :-)

 

It'll cost you one game of AT15 platooning.

 

First question, so I can make the instructions clear,  are you going to

• pay the $5 for the app on your iDevice?
• or run it on a Windows PC?
• or Mac?
• or *nix/BSD/AIX/NotBloodyLikely?

 

Running it on Windows or Mac means you pay $0, but it will be hard to hear your game with headphones on connected to your PC or Mac.

 

Running it on your iPhone/iPad means you pay $5, but if you have an old device you may notice longer pauses before the map opens and possibly game hiccups.

 

To me running it on the same thing you are gaming on is the best choice - I want to hear the game sounds clearly as well as the chat, the $5 wasn't a big deal for me.  My iPhone 5 does take a bit longer to load the maps with it running, otherwise I don't notice any problems.

 

Either way, you will need headphones and a microphone.  The ones that come with most Apple devices with the built in mic and switch work perfect.

 

I'll write up some clear instructions once you tell me your choice.

Edited by furicle, 13 August 2015 - 03:11 PM.

[Psyberius]

ruggs225, on 13 August 2015 - 09:46 AM, said:

 

Have to toon with you sometime with cent 1.  And I'm not one to complain about matchmaker b/c it is what it is, but I feel that i just get an inordinate amount of tier X games when i use those three tanks compared to when i use the Tiger 2 or t-32.

 

Got my first 5 kill game last night on the cent at BlackGoldville.  Made me feel like I knew what I was doing, lol.

 

I just finished grinding out the Cent and just unlocked and bought the Cent 7/1 and I finished up with a 52%WR and I'm a purple in it according to WN8. I really like a lot of things about the Cent duo but apparently it's a tough tank to do well in. I'll probably hold off on playing the Cent 7/1 tho and continue the M103 grind so my stats don't suffer two back to back training grinds on tough tanks. 

[FavreDollarFootlong]

tinmanic, on 13 August 2015 - 09:01 AM, said:

 

Thanks for the story, Stealth, as well as for the tactics by the way.  I had a couple hours of quiet last night so got Team Speak running on my PC.  Was easy as pie...no one was on last night when I was there to test it out but I think I have it working.  After the download & install, use the Settings menu to plug in the IP address & password, and presto.  (I set my nickname to "tinmanJim"

My problem is I rarely know when I can spend quality time on the game ahead of time to actually use TS, as I typically just squeeze in a few games here and there...often late at night so can't risk waking up the crazies family.    So I might have to start "scheduling" time with y'all to make use of TS...like I can usually spend a good couple hours playing on Sunday mornings. I'm on the east coast...but is anyone around between 8-ish to noon-ish Eastern Standard Time on Sundays?

 

PS - your VCR blurb reminded me....I was at a doctor's appointment with my son the other day and the doctor was describing something, using a phone book in an analogy.  He suddenly stopped, looked at my son, and asked "do you know what a phone book is?".  (he did, but only because we were mailed a new one a while back and he was surprised by it when fetching the mail for us) 

I will definitely be on Sunday morning and plan to have TS up and running on my phone. Be cool if enough were on to do some countdowns!

[furicle]

We tried a few last night - apparently Sonnet has welded an IS7 turret on his Caenarvon, 'cause all I did was bounce.

 

Thanks to all who 'tooned with me last night.  I was generally over aggressive so either did well or crashed and burned way too early, and true to form nobody seemed to mind.

Great fun!

[tinmanic]

FavreDollarFootlong, on 13 August 2015 - 11:09 AM, said:

I will definitely be on Sunday morning and plan to have TS up and running on my phone. Be cool if enough were on to do some countdowns!

 

awesome, favre, hope to see you and others there too

 

furicle, on 13 August 2015 - 11:18 AM, said:

We tried a few last night - apparently Sonnet has welded an IS7 turret on his Caenarvon, 'cause all I did was bounce.

 

Thanks to all who 'tooned with me last night.  I was generally over aggressive so either did well or crashed and burned way too early, and true to form nobody seemed to mind.

Great fun!

 

Food for thought to anyone/everyone:  do you find yourself changing your normal tactics when platooning?  I've found myself getting over zealous when platooning, and I've seen multiple people admit they were also over-extending themselves in  platoon matches.  Depending on what I'm driving, I typically get better results when I hold back a bit to see how the battle is forming...but when platooning I sometimes try to stay with my toonmate or just lose site of what I'm driving or how I'm driving for whatever reason (hope that doesn't scare anyone off).  

 

Is that just from the newness of platooning?

 

Edited by tinmanic, 13 August 2015 - 03:34 PM.

[Pheldagriff]

Shoutout to Sonnet for that amazing platoon!

 

^

[FavreDollarFootlong]

tinmanic, on 13 August 2015 - 09:28 AM, said:

 

awesome, favre, hope to see you and others there too

 

 

Food for thought to anyone/everyone:  do you find yourself changing your normal tactics when platooning?  I've found myself getting over zealous when platooning, and I've seen multiple people admit they were also over-extending themselves in  platoon matches.  Depending on what I'm driving, I typically get better results when I hold back a bit to see how the battle is forming...but when platooning I sometimes try to stay with my toonmate or just lose site of what I'm driving or how I'm driving for whatever reason (hope that doesn't scare anyone off).  

 

Is that just from the newness of platooning?

 

I've always played a bit too aggressively, and it seems to be even worse in the platoons I've been in with fellow SPUDsters lately, it definitely contributed to a few losses for me and SonnetVolta yesterday. I'm going to try a slower, more methodical approach in the future...

[yhfjhrhrhfrhrdj]

Hey stealth, google how to use TeamSpeak 3 on ipad or what ever device you have ,that's what I did, and it worked. I hate to admit this.... I have 2 VCR's and they still work.

[ruggs225]

tinmanic, on 13 August 2015 - 03:28 PM, said:

 

awesome, favre, hope to see you and others there too

 

 

Food for thought to anyone/everyone:  do you find yourself changing your normal tactics when platooning?  I've found myself getting over zealous when platooning, and I've seen multiple people admit they were also over-extending themselves in  platoon matches.  Depending on what I'm driving, I typically get better results when I hold back a bit to see how the battle is forming...but when platooning I sometimes try to stay with my toonmate or just lose site of what I'm driving or how I'm driving for whatever reason (hope that doesn't scare anyone off).  

 

Is that just from the newness of platooning?

 

 

I seem to play more cautiously when platooning.  I think it is my fear of having a bad game in a platoon and letting my toon mate down.  Plus  i like to see if I can pick up anything from my toon mate so I tend to follow them which might not set me up for the best shot. Especially in the first couple games. Which also leads to me playing more cautiously than normal.

 

 

[ruggs225]

Psyberius, on 13 August 2015 - 03:09 PM, said:

I just finished grinding out the Cent and just unlocked and bought the Cent 7/1 and I finished up with a 52%WR and I'm a purple in it according to WN8. I really like a lot of things about the Cent duo but apparently it's a tough tank to do well in. I'll probably hold off on playing the Cent 7/1 tho and continue the M103 grind so my stats don't suffer two back to back training grinds on tough tanks. 

 

Did you sell the Cent?

[Psyberius]

tinmanic, on 13 August 2015 - 10:28 AM, said:

 

awesome, favre, hope to see you and others there too

 

 

Food for thought to anyone/everyone:  do you find yourself changing your normal tactics when platooning?  I've found myself getting over zealous when platooning, and I've seen multiple people admit they were also over-extending themselves in  platoon matches.  Depending on what I'm driving, I typically get better results when I hold back a bit to see how the battle is forming...but when platooning I sometimes try to stay with my toonmate or just lose site of what I'm driving or how I'm driving for whatever reason (hope that doesn't scare anyone off).  

 

Is that just from the newness of platooning?

 

I'm definitely still learning proper platooning etiquette and tactics. I find I do better if I observe more and react than to try to dictate the outcome in general. I find Bruce Lee's "Be like water" approach to combat to be most effective. 

[Psyberius]

ruggs225, on 13 August 2015 - 10:55 AM, said:

 

Did you sell the Cent?

 

Nope. I still have it. It's a fun/different tank to play and I've gotten rather attatched to it. I won't be selling it any time soon. 

[yhfjhrhrhfrhrdj]

yhfjhrhrhfrhrdj, on 13 August 2015 - 09:47 AM, said:

Hey stealth, google how to use TeamSpeak 3 on ipad or what ever device you have ,that's what I did, and it worked. I hate to admit this.... I have 2 VCR's and they still work.

 

Disregard. Didn't see furicle post till now . Off with my sprouts. But I still have 2 VCR's

Edited by yhfjhrhrhfrhrdj, 13 August 2015 - 05:01 PM.