World of Tanks

[Berkut]

Yeah, that is certainly true - I am much more willing to take "marginal" shots with a highly accruate gun (especially since they tend to fire faster as well, hence "wasting" a shot isn't nearly as bad an idea), which will lower my hit rate.

And conversely, with my big ass Soviet guns, I am going to be a lot more careful to make sure I maximize my hit chance, since I know it will be 10 more seconds before I get to shoot again.

But still, after 10,000 matches, I think I can say with some degree of authority that the difference really isn't that great, and overall I hit much more often than I miss, even with "inaccurate" guns. It isn't trivial by any means, and in fact I think the game does a good job of striking the right balance between accuracy and hitting power, for the most part.

But again, my point is simply that if you find yourself missing a lot more with Soviet guns than Germans, it likely means you are doing something wrong.

[DGuller]

Agreed.  At the very least, you're not optimizing the use of the equipment you have.

[Strix]

It's funny how the biggest mistake can lead to a major victory!

So, I am tooling along in my Leopard waiting for the inevitable BOOM when I look away from the screen for a moment and WHAM! I found out that tank traps actually work and managed to land in the middle of them. My tank has full health but I cannot remove myself from the situation. I am sitting thinking what a dumb move I just made. Getting bored, I start to shoot my nerf gun at the various Tier 8 and 9 tanks I can see. This is where it gets funny as hell...three tanks from the opposing team each come to destroy me, and each idiot tries to ram me. So, here I am, laughing my ass off as three Tier 6-8 tanks are stuck on the tank traps with me.

Apparently tankers are drawn to these things like moths to a flame.

[C.C.R.]

Question, if anybody knows or cares:

I'm pretty well entrenched in German SPGs right now, am driving an elited Hummel, which I fucking HATE.  I loved the Grille & Wespe, but for some reason I just can't get in the swing of the Hummel.  Does anybody know offhand if the GWPanther is significantly better (handles better, aims better, ANYTHING) other than just being another tier up, or would I just be better off shitcanning the whole German arty line & using the slot for something else?  My only real hesitation is that I don't want to kiss off a decent German arty crew, but if the GW Panther is just more Same-Same of the the Hummel then I might as well, because I'm not having ANY fun with the Hummel right now...

[Bluebook]

For what its worth, the guys in my clan is singing its praises, and it is the priority arty in its class.

[Malicious Intent]

Question, if anybody knows or cares:

I'm pretty well entrenched in German SPGs right now, am driving an elited Hummel, which I fucking HATE.  I loved the Grille & Wespe, but for some reason I just can't get in the swing of the Hummel.  Does anybody know offhand if the GWPanther is significantly better (handles better, aims better, ANYTHING) other than just being another tier up, or would I just be better off shitcanning the whole German arty line & using the slot for something else?  My only real hesitation is that I don't want to kiss off a decent German arty crew, but if the GW Panther is just more Same-Same of the the Hummel then I might as well, because I'm not having ANY fun with the Hummel right now...

What exactly do you dislike about the Hummel?  It is probably the best tier 5 arty. Great agility and acceleration, very accurate, good punch, arc of gun traverse is not too bad either...

The GW Panther is pretty much an improved Hummel. It features a very wide arc of fire that allows you to reliably hit moving targets. The gun is very accurate and aims fast (for a tier 6 arty), the shells travel quickly, thanks to a low fireing arc. Damge is pretty much standard, but splash radius is lacking. The vehicle itself ratains good mobility.

I had great fun in the GW Panther and am soreley missing it right niow, as the GW Tiger is a big letdown in comparison (bigger that a house and just as mobile, extremely narrow gun traverse). Maybe it gets better with the upgraded gun.

[Strix]

So, being too lazy to cycle back through 148 pages...

What is everyone's game name? Just thought we might compile a list so we can know if we are on the same team or on the opposing force.

I am BenSam

[frunk]

What exactly do you dislike about the Hummel?  It is probably the best tier 5 arty. Great agility and acceleration, very accurate, good punch, arc of gun traverse is not too bad either...

The GW Panther is pretty much an improved Hummel. It features a very wide arc of fire that allows you to reliably hit moving targets. The gun is very accurate and aims fast (for a tier 6 arty), the shells travel quickly, thanks to a low fireing arc. Damge is pretty much standard, but splash radius is lacking. The vehicle itself ratains good mobility.

I had great fun in the GW Panther and am soreley missing it right niow, as the GW Tiger is a big letdown in comparison (bigger that a house and just as mobile, extremely narrow gun traverse). Maybe it gets better with the upgraded gun.

I loved my Hummel and my GW Panther, although I prefer the Panther.  It isn't quite as fast or maneuverable, but the gun is much better and the traverse is nice and wide.

I sold back my GW Tiger before getting to the upgraded gun.  Tier 7 and 8 arty, quite apart from other balance issues, is rather dull to play.  Slow moving, slowwww firing, vulnerable, big damage/AOE weapons aren't that fun.

[C.C.R.]

What exactly do you dislike about the Hummel? 

Totally fair question, the problem is that I can't really put my finger on what bugs me so much about it. And stopping to look at my stats for it right now for the 1st time, I see that I have an Ace Tanker Badge for it (which I didn't even realize I had), so apparently I'm driving the thing at least semi-correctly.  I know that one thing that really bugs me with the Hummel vs. the Grille is that the Hummel's gun won't lower down to level, making it a royal pain in the ass to use for direct-fire (I literally set up shop in places where I can back up a hill if I have to in order to bring my gun down low enough to try to direct-fire close targets).  I won't try to guess a number, but I know that an insane number of my Grille kills were direct-fire, and any time I'm in a rig where I don't feel like I can defend myself against some zippy little fucker in close I don't feel right with the rig (part of the reason why I *HATED* the Ferd).

Maybe part of it is that the HP damage per hit, while obviously higher than lower-tiered guns, is actually a smaller percentage of the total HP that a typical enemy will have, making hits seem less satisfying.  I'm having to hit a Tier VIII heavy four or five times to kill it, whereas my Tiger II will kill it in three or four & my Jagdpanther II will kill it in three, all without worrying about the randomness of shooting at shit from a map away ("Ooooh!  A gust of wind!" when I'm totally zoomed on a tracked target & it doesn't move.  Fuck you...).  And sure, bringing your arty up closer to the targets makes it more likely that you'll hit them, but that brings me back to the whole Not Being Able To Defend Myself thing.

Or something.  It's totally a case of The Little Things about the rig not really meshing with my style of play.  I can & do make it work, but I'm frustrated that I'm not good enough with the thing to really feel like I Make A Difference in the vast majority of the games that I play in it...

[Malicious Intent]

What exactly do you dislike about the Hummel?  It is probably the best tier 5 arty. Great agility and acceleration, very accurate, good punch, arc of gun traverse is not too bad either...

The GW Panther is pretty much an improved Hummel. It features a very wide arc of fire that allows you to reliably hit moving targets. The gun is very accurate and aims fast (for a tier 6 arty), the shells travel quickly, thanks to a low fireing arc. Damge is pretty much standard, but splash radius is lacking. The vehicle itself ratains good mobility.

I had great fun in the GW Panther and am soreley missing it right niow, as the GW Tiger is a big letdown in comparison (bigger that a house and just as mobile, extremely narrow gun traverse). Maybe it gets better with the upgraded gun.

I loved my Hummel and my GW Panther, although I prefer the Panther.  It isn't quite as fast or maneuverable, but the gun is much better and the traverse is nice and wide.

I sold back my GW Tiger before getting to the upgraded gun.  Tier 7 and 8 arty, quite apart from other balance issues, is rather dull to play.  Slow moving, slowwww firing, vulnerable, big damage/AOE weapons aren't that fun.

I will suffer a bit more in the GW Tiger, see how much the gun changes the experience.

Thanks to the soviet line of SPGs, I am already used to slow firing hard hitters. The S-51 had insane damage on tier 6 and a big splash radius to boot. I would regularly oneshot tier 8 or even tier 9 opponents. In certain choke points, even double kills were possible. The Object 212 has the same gun, but with better accuracy, aim time and rate of fire, so the jump from tier 6 to 7 was simply a general upgrade in that regard. The german line is very different, as it offers a complete change in playstyle one has to get used to.

[Malicious Intent]

What exactly do you dislike about the Hummel? 

Totally fair question, the problem is that I can't really put my finger on what bugs me so much about it. And stopping to look at my stats for it right now for the 1st time, I see that I have an Ace Tanker Badge for it (which I didn't even realize I had), so apparently I'm driving the thing at least semi-correctly.  I know that one thing that really bugs me with the Hummel vs. the Grille is that the Hummel's gun won't lower down to level, making it a royal pain in the ass to use for direct-fire (I literally set up shop in places where I can back up a hill if I have to in order to bring my gun down low enough to try to direct-fire close targets).  I won't try to guess a number, but I know that an insane number of my Grille kills were direct-fire, and any time I'm in a rig where I don't feel like I can defend myself against some zippy little fucker in close I don't feel right with the rig (part of the reason why I *HATED* the Ferd).

Maybe part of it is that the HP damage per hit, while obviously higher than lower-tiered guns, is actually a smaller percentage of the total HP that a typical enemy will have, making hits seem less satisfying.  I'm having to hit a Tier VIII heavy four or five times to kill it, whereas my Tiger II will kill it in three or four & my Jagdpanther II will kill it in three, all without worrying about the randomness of shooting at shit from a map away ("Ooooh!  A gust of wind!" when I'm totally zoomed on a tracked target & it doesn't move.  Fuck you...).  And sure, bringing your arty up closer to the targets makes it more likely that you'll hit them, but that brings me back to the whole Not Being Able To Defend Myself thing.

Or something.  It's totally a case of The Little Things about the rig not really meshing with my style of play.  I can & do make it work, but I'm frustrated that I'm not good enough with the thing to really feel like I Make A Difference in the vast majority of the games that I play in it...

Badges have little meaning. You just need one very good game to get ace tanker, even if you completely suck in every other game. Efficiency rating is generally more interesting (measuring win rating, damage dealt and so on), but also still flawed, since it does not consider factors that cannot be expressed in sheer numbers. A lone tank that holds a flank by scaring three others with it's gun without even firing a shot is a huge asset in a game, but he would get a miserable efficiency rating for the match. ER is still decent to get a general picture of your skills though.

Regarding the Hummel's gun: That does not really mirror my own experience. I would often go into TD mode in city maps or actively battle scouts in my Hummel.  Checking the WoT wiki, gun depression is actually -4 degrees, but I know, that it can be a little difficult to keep your gun leveled in TD mode. Try bringing down the barrel by aiming low, then fixing it by holding the right mouse button.

As to the damage: Yeah, heavily armoured heavies are a bit difficult to take down, unless you hit their flanks, rear, or on top of the engine department. But since you hit with HE shells, you will often deal critical damage on the tank, criplling it by killing crew members and destroying modules.
TDs and sniping mediums are very squishy though. Your penetration will often be enough to defeat their armour and deals full damage. I would generalle see TDs as priority targets (unless arty is spotted), as you can remove a lot of firepower with 1-2 shells.

Finally the inaccuracy of arty fire: I fully agree it is frustrating, though it is also necessary in my oppinion to balance the insane range and comparably high damage potential of SPGs. At least you have comparatively very accurate SPGs in the german line.

[C.C.R.]

Cool.  Thank you for your thought out reply.  Think I'm going to shitcan it, because it still isn't very fun...

[Berkut]

I think the GWPanther is one of the very top SPGs in the game, in that it is very effective in its tier (arguably TOO effective) while not having an insanely long reload time and being very mobile, both elements that make it actually fun to play.

Plus you can direct fire with it better than probably any other SPG in the game.

[Malicious Intent]

Cool.  Thank you for your thought out reply.  Think I'm going to shitcan it, because it still isn't very fun...

You need a lot of XP to get through the Hummel, so grinding it while disliking it would probably be hell. And since there is a substantial nerf for all SPGs incoming in the next patch, now is probably the best time to switch to other branches.

[Malicious Intent]

I think the GWPanther is one of the very top SPGs in the game, in that it is very effective in its tier (arguably TOO effective) while not having an insanely long reload time and being very mobile, both elements that make it actually fun to play.

Plus you can direct fire with it better than probably any other SPG in the game.

There surely is a reason why it seems to be by far the most played tier 6 arty in the game, especially in arty platoons.

Say, do you have experience with the american SPGs tier 6 and higher? How is the M12 compared to it's tier 6 competition?