The Contemporary Object 263 “Yolo Wagon”

Yolo Wagon 4 Life!

By:

IrmaBecx

So you may have heard me say the Object 263 grind was one of my favourite grinds ever; not only did I like every single tank in the branch, but it also ended with one of my favourite vehicles in the game, the inimitable Yolo Wagon.

I still remember when it first came out. The tier IX “Barracuda” and the tier VII “Baby Barracuda” were the ones I was really impressed by, the 122-54 just looked so sinister, and the 100M1 had the infamous 100 mm gun off the T-54 only two tiers lower, and it retains the 330 mm of HEAT penetration to this day, although it will work fine with the lesser guns. I didn’t drive Russian tanks on principle back then, but deep down I really wanted these tanks.

Curiously, people used to hate the 263 at first, and remember this was back in plus/minus two matchmaking. I guess we were all a bit more noobish back the day. But then they figured out how to drive it; you just put the pedal to the metal and go; drive straight on into death or glory, and they realised what a complete monster it was, and still is to this day.

Or is it? The game has changed significantly since those heady days. And between the Foch and the 113G Fake Tank, I don’t drive mine all that much.

I used to drive it on the press account all the time; that’s what finally made me grind it out. I realised the 263 was the only tank I would really miss if I had to give up being a CC, so why would I get one myself?

I’m sure you’ve heard that story before; I never get tired of telling it. How much the grind taught me. How I’m not afraid of bad gun depression anymore. How I love the “turretless Medium” or “dynamic” style of tank destroyer. And even though there are other options out there today, the 263 line is the original; the genesis of the “drive straight at them” playstyle.

So I thought I’d spend some time with it and see what the Yolo Wagon of today is all about.

I’m sure you realise this will not be a very impartial review. It can’t be. I love the Object 263 the same way I love my E 50 M, or my Object 140, or my T-34-85 “Rudy”. A fascination that has laster for years and years and that has been with me as I’ve learned and progressed as a player. Not even the mighty Foch would stand a chance if I had to choose just one to keep; it would have to be Yolo Wagon or nothing.

I’m watching a couple of old videos from Sk8xtrm and Bushka; stuff that’s 3-4 years old. They both talk about how they play the 263 really aggressive, how you have to keep it moving or it won’t work, and I remember how impressed I was with that back then. Once I got hold of a press account I tried to do the same thing, and it just worked. It was really the perfect Tank Destroyer for a Medium tank oriented player.

It doesn’t work all the time. You really only have armour on the upper plates, but that armour is still pretty damn sturdy, and if you jam it in someones face and wiggle around, you are going to mess up their shots.

That’s the theory, anyway. The Yolo Wagon was never a finesse vehicle; there’s a reason we call it that. And any tank you play with that kind of aggression is going to be a high risk/high reward proposition, but that is also why we love it so much.

Look, it’s a drop top IS-7 with all the armour at the front and a massive, high DPM 130 mm. If you want to sit at the back you’re better off in something with a 150-plus mm weapon.

And maybe some gun depression.

These days, it’s pretty easy to grind your way to tier X with all the free stuff you can get from missions and boxes and events. But the first step to learning how to drive a 263 is to spend some time with the preceding tanks in the branch, all the way from tier VII. Use your free XP and stuff to get the tanks fully upgraded, but take the time to get to know them properly, because this is one of the most coherent tech tree lines in the game.

That doesn’t mean if you can drive the Baby Barracuda you can drive the Yolo Wagon, but they do have a few key things in common; namely speed, firepower, and bad gun depression. And the better you get at handling those three things, the better prepared you will be for driving the Yolo monster at tier X.

The one exception is the tier IX SU-122-54, which has a little better gun depression and the best DPM in the game, but not a while lot of armour. When you get that far, you want to focus on learning the flanking, supporting, and isolating playstyle. Then when you get to tier X, you’ll have some actual frontal armour to help you execute that same playstyle better.

The 130 mm naval gun will almost punch through a Chinese tier X Fake Tank frontally with standard AP. It will go through the casemate of a Jpz E 100 either side of the gun, but not the Badger or something like an E3. That’s not to be scoffed at. I don’t think there’s much point running calibrated shells; since you’re going to be brawling a lot if you’re doing things right, you will want that shorter reload.

I just run all my equipment slots to the left except the last one so I can get that 19 second speed boost. There is a case to be made for adrenaline, but you have almost 4000 DPM already. My ammunition loadout is 23 AP, 11 APCT and 7 HE. remember this is a 130 mm, so you have a 600 average damage HE round, and your max roll is 750. Otherwise it’s double food and super fuel as usual.

That all means a 7.16 second reload; basically a Medium tank number, a 0.29 dispersion, and a 3,5 second aimtime, which is 1.72 seconds in the Blitzstars way of counting; again rivalling Medium tanks. Also 1155 horsepower, and 40 degrees of traverse with almost 20 horsepower per ton. Also the thing does 55 and weight 60 tons. I know, those are some crazy numbers.

So yeah. That’s about it for theory.

Here’s my first game out today in the Yolo Monster:

Games like that always make me feel like quitting while I’m ahead, but of course I’m going to keep it going. As you can see, I put myself in harms way out on the flank, using my armour to draw fire and keep my more flimsy teammates alive.

I want to make clear I’m not moving back towards our spawn in order to help the camping 183 out. I’m simply using it as bait so I can chew up the enemy Heavy tanks, because of course they’re going to go for the soft target and not the wily beast with some actual frontal armour charging towards them.

I do take a few hits, but that’s fine. juking and wiggling gets me the bounces I need to comfortably stay in the game, and the 263 is fast enough to make sure they don’t cap us out. I could probably have gotten one more shot in on that 268, but I wanted to play it safe.

So that’s a quick lesson in how to drive the Yolo Wagon. Drive forwards, make sure you have some backup, wiggle the armour, and put the gun to work. As you can see, that simple recipe can be ruthlessly effective.

But yes; it can also be a recipe for disaster, and I’m fully expecting that to happen too sooner or later.

The thing about driving the Object 263 is that there really isn’t a lot to it, but it’s difficult to get things just right. The elusive balance between caution and aggression that makes the playstyle work; I’m sure you’ve seen me use the term “cautiously aggressive” before, and I know it’s easy to say but it’s not so easy to explain.

I’ve been having mixed results driving the 263 these last couple of days, no surprises there. As I mentioned this is par for the course. But I’ve also had some quite good games, both being the tip of the spear and playing the close support role.

I also took down a Sheridan in a one on one brawl, the whole time quite convinced I was a goner. But that’s the thing about the 263; you really only need a handful of hitpoints to keep you in the game and you can still do some extraordinary things. Sadly it was too late to actually win the game, but turning the tables on such a dangerous opponent still made things feel worthwhile.

The Yolo Wagon likes to run with the Mediums. As long as you can keep your enemies in front of you, you’ll simply burn them down. The nemesis of turretless tanks is crossfire, and the way you deal with that is either by not being alone, or isolating targets putting them in a one versus one situation.

But it also likes to go head to head with Heavy tanks and dug in TDs. Watch them panic as you close the distance, going straight for the throat. With a sub 0.3 dispersion you’d be forgiven for thinking it likes to sit at the back and pump out damage; certainly this can be done in any tank, but it negates one of the most powerful advantages of the 263, which is speed and agility.

You want to be aggressive, but not reckless. If you drive straight into a herd of enemies, they will take you down. Although your DPM is impressive, you can’t deal with enemies from several angles at once. Just like the Foch line, sometimes it’s better to just drive past your enemy if they’re big and slow; the 263 turns faster than a Foch (155).

In spite of the game having changed around it, the old Yolo Wagon feels much like it always did. It’s still the same monster it used to be, it still gets bounces off the frontal armour, and the gun is just as ruthlessly effective. There’s not a tank in the game that scares me when I’m in the 263, although I will say that sometimes perhaps they should, at least a little more than they do.

I still don’t have especially warm feelings for the IS-7, although I do respect it, and I think the idea it has somehow become obsolete is simply laughable. But all they had to do was lift off the turret and make it a convertible to make me think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Does that mean you should go out and grind it immediately?

Well, yes and no. I don’t think the 263 line is for everyone, but I do think it has a lot of things to teach you, no matter what kind of player you are. Even though this is a patently uncomplicated vehicle, making it work can sometimes be a bit of a chore, and you need to have a bit of experience before you try. But you can certainly hang around at tiers VII and VIII to get it.

It’s easy to say these tanks are “bad” because they don’t have gun depression, and if that bothers you, then there are plenty of other tanks in the game that can actually point the gun downwards. But l I disagree there is anything wrong with these vehicles; they are simply different, and they need to be driven in a different way. Just keeping to the low ground will solve a lot of issues.

After a few days of hanging out with the 263, I don’t feel like it suffers any more than it used to from the game around it. It still has the same strengths and weaknesses it always had, and it’s no more difficult to drive than it was before.

It’s also no less fun than it ever was.

If you do decide to take the plunge and spend some time grinding one out, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into. The Yolo Wagon is a ferocious beast; an outright monster of a tank that can plow through enemy teams and put a huge dent in their lineup. But it also has limited gun articulation, weak sides, and an open top that people love to lob High Explosive shells into.

Coherent as the branch is, there’s nothing else quite like the actual 263. The preceding tanks will teach you elements of the playstyle, but none of them have the same sturdy frontal armour. Do yourself a favour and run the 100 mm on the SU-100 when you are grinding out the SU-100M1; you want to get comfortable with the low alpha/high DPM playstyle. And if you feel you just can’t get your head around it, the SU-101 won’t be any better, so maybe you are on the wrong track.

The Object 263 remains one of my favourite vehicles in the game, in spite of there being other options out there now, like the Foch and the Ho-Ri III. It also remains a powerful tank; a force of nature that needs to be harnessed in order to be successful. But it also needs a long leash; it wants to run wild, and what you need to do it simply give it some direction.

IrmaBecx says Yolo Wagon Forever!

See you out there. And if I see you first, I’m coming straight at you.

Obj 252u, T26E5, Lorraine 40 t

Black Friday Deals

By:

IrmaBecx

So if you have 5000 gold lying around, you can get yourself a new tier VIII premium tank from today, your choice of the T26E5, the Lorraine 40 t, or the Object 252u – King of IS Spam.

I thought I’d give you a quick rundown of what you can expect from these tanks, because 5K gold with all nine equipment slots is I think a deal worth considering.

And I can tell you up front that for my money, the 252u is the best deal of the bunch.

The Object 252u is the most powerful IS spam tank in the game, there’s just no doubt about it. The only reason I say you should consider the IS-5 first is that its so much cheaper, even at this low price you’d get almost four of them for the price of one 252u.

But that’s not what this is going to be about. Every time I drive the 252u on the press account, I become more convinced it is in fact the most powerful of the Soviet style Heavy tanks, and if a picture is worth a thousand words, a moving picture should be even better:

That’s my first game out today, pumping out almost 3K damage in a tier IX game without too much effort.

The Spam King has three things going for it other than a liberal amount of Russian bias. It’s mobile, it has solid armour, and it has the most powerful 122 mm of any tank of this style. The BL-13 is basically a BL-9 with double cheese and extra hot sauce; you get the same 225 mm of standard penetration, but you’ll have 420 alpha on your AP, 360 on your APCR, and it points the gun down one more degree than the IS-3.

That doesn’t sound like huge increase, and it’s not. But it does make the weapon slightly more consistent, and with the benefit of thicker, more angled armour plating, you should be able to take on the tech tree tank any day of the week and come out on top.

The Object 252u is not automatically going to win you games, but is sure will make things easier for you. It doesn’t really have any significant drawbacks, which is a bit of Bias in and of itself, and if you make out all right in your current IS Spam beater, chances are you’ll do a little better in this one.

So is it worth it?

Yes. If you like this style of tank, without a doubt. This is as close to overpowered you can get driving a Russian Heavy tank at tier VIII. I’ll even say I quite like it, but I’m not getting one, because I am quite happy with my slightly less biased WZ-111.

If you don’t want to drive a pike nose, or you think the most powerful 122 mm Heavy tank makes things too easy, you might consider the T26E5; that’s the one they call the “Sheriff” when decked out in the special camo, and please note that camo is not included in the bundle.

The T26E5 is more of an acquired taste, I’d say.

You get 500 DPM more than tier standard, but you need to use a 90 mm gun to put out the shells. That means you have a Medium tank reload; you’ll easily trade two shots for one against other Heavy tanks with 120 or 122 mm weapons, and with ten degrees of gun depression and a sturdy gun mantlet, you can really chew people up in the right position.

The T26E5 is a tank you either like or you don’t; I know people who swear by it, but there’s not a lot of them. I kind of like it but not enough to buy it, and I would say there’s an easy test to see if you will. If you think driving a Löwe, AMX M4 49, or any other 105 mm Heavy tank is too complicated because of the low alpha damage, then this tank is definitely not for you.

It’s one of the most typical Medium/Heavy hybrids in the game. I drove a quick game in it just so you can see the thing move and shoot:

Is it worth it?

For the right driver, yes; and it all about that 90 mm gun. It’s a good one, but it does mean you’ll have to work a little more to do damage, and if you’re not into that, then stay away.

This brings us to the Lorraine 40 t. Again, this is sort of a niche vehicle; a four shot 90 mm autoloader with no armour that does 60, and again I know people who swear by it.

I’ve had the Lorraine on my press account for a while, but I haven’t driven it all that much, and so I don’t really have an opinion for you, except to say this is a tank with very flimsy armour, but you do have two important strengths to make up for that.

The Lorraine has a burst potential of 900 damage over 7.5 seconds. that in itself is a strength. But then you also have great mobility; this is nothing like your AMX 50 100, you have 15 km/h top speed and five horsepower per ton more, it really is fantastically mobile. And that means you can deploy that awesome burst potential where it needs to be, and then hopefully make a quick getaway.

The playstyle isn’t super hard to learn. If you already drive autoloaders, you’ll like this one, it’s a real hit and run burst assassin.

The tradeoff however, is that every part of the tank except the turret front will be overmatched by a 122 mm or larger caliber weapon. I found that out trying to clip out a T49, taking almost 1000 damage right off the bat and then being stuck on a 21 second reload while my team rushed to help.

Sadly, they got there too late, so I’m not going to show you that game. We lost, too.

But yeah, if the T26E5 is an acquired taste,t eh Lorraine is even more so. I’d rather have the M4 Rev or the CDC I think, but again, for the right player this will be a gem.

Three interesting tanks on offer, I’d say. Again, for my money the Object 252u is the most obvious deal, and If I were out shopping, that’s the one I’d go for.

It looks like you’ll have to spend an enormous amount of gold to get a hold of the coveted Scorpion G camper special, but that never interested me.

You probably know I like the T-34-3; basically a Hype 59 with a 122 mm on it, I’d say avoid the VK 168.01 (P). The FV201 (A45) is also a low alpha, high DPM type deal; almost 3000 DPM at tier VII, and the ISU-122S from the “Berlin” collection just got buffed, so they may be worth a look.

I was never super into the E25, but you certainly get a lot of stuff with it. That’s not a gold bundle, however.

All in all, I do think there are some good deals to be had; again for the right customer.

Except the Object 252u. That’s an actual bargain, and you can quote me on that.

Test Server: The “New” Sheridan

Missile Crisis Averted?

By:

IrmaBecx

So in a little while, I’m off to the test server in order to drive the hated Sheridan without missiles.

I’m sure you’ve heard by now the missiles are getting removed from regular games in 7.5, and if that was the only problem with these tanks, I’d be rejoicing; but sadly that isn’t the case.

“Hated” may also not be an impartial statement; the Sheridan is one of the most driven tanks at tier X; more than three times as popular as the likewise successful Vickers 105, but for people like me, the introduction of the high tier US Light tanks has been nothing short of disastrous.

I spent a lot of time and effort building my collection of tier X Medium tanks, and over the last year or so, I’ve been driving them less and less because it’s just such a struggle. Same with my “dynamic” tank destroyers, my sluggish WZ-113 and my new AMX 50 B.

It’s been a long time since I drove the Sheridan, and I wouldn’t be caught dead grinding it out. But I will of course try it out on the test server, because my suspicion is the removal of the missiles, tragic as it may seem to cheater tank enthusiasts, is actually a buff in disguise.

From the other side of the fence, the Sheridan has two problems. It’s much too difficult to deal damage to it, and it’s much too easy for it to put out six or eight hundred damage in one pop, even for a sub-average player.

Now, I’m not a sub average player, but I’m also not a Sheridan driver, so if my prejudices are on point, I shouldn’t struggle at all to put out the damage with the new non-missile launching weapon.

Test server gameplay is never wholly representative, but this is not a new tank; simply a modification of an existing one, and as I said, my prediction is the introduction of regular HEAT rounds will simply make the Sheridan more user friendly. Instead of fiddling with controlling the missiles, you will now fire-and-forget, the round flying in a straight line towards your target.

The “new” Sheridan features the 152 mm XM150E4, with a regular HEAT shell penetrating 310 mm of armour on average. My loadout is 23/11/5 APCR/HEAT/HE, and otherwise I’m running what has become my standard combat loadout. I’m also sporting the new “Icy Comet” epic camouflage which is specific to the former missile tanks, blue flames all across it front to back.

And with that, it’s time to try to get in a game. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be anyone else around, and I keep getting in games by myself.

But I fire a few HEAT rounds, and it seems the shell speed is high; I can’t tell much of a difference between the APCR and the HEAT.

Strangely, there doesn’t seem to be any people on the test server at all; something must have happened. But I don’t need to play against other players to make a prediction.

We know the overwhelming majority of shots fired by Sheridans aren’t missiles, and most regular players have trouble making those trick shots that allow them to hit people from behind cover without ever having to expose themselves to return fire.

So what’s going to happen is, “Pro” players will no longer have the opportunity to farm damage, but the vast majority will now have a much easier time hitting their skill rounds, and they also won’t have to stay exposed for very long, or stand still to guide the shot on target. There’s no doubt in my mind the regular HEAT rounds constitute a massive buff to the Sheridan and the T92E1.

We will likely see an immediate increase in effectiveness for these two tanks, and Wargaming will then need to evaluate that new data in order to make further adjustments. There’s no doubt in my mind that will be necessary.

I freely admit my prejudice against these tanks. I always hated them, and if I could choose, they would simply be removed from the game. I don’t think there is nearly enough of a tradeoff for driving a fast, mobile, and stealthy tank with such massive single shot damage capacity, and the only reason they aren’t overperforming in terms of statistics is that so many people drive them.

So as happy as I am Wargaming have finally come to their senses and relegated the missiles to special game modes where they belong, I don’t see the problem these tanks pose for people who don’t drive them going away; on the contrary, I think it’s going to get worse.

Time will tell. At least you can be quite sure your cheater tanks aren’t going to get ruined by the removal of their missiles, unless all you do is fire missiles in them.

Help! I Have An FCM 50t!

Magnifique

By:

IrmaBecx

This paper is dedicated to LeBigTed and Minitelrose, my favourite Frenchmen in the game. Check out Teds channel here!

So I don’t know if it’s just my luck, but the FCM 50t seems to be the easiest tank to get from the autumn season lockboxes. I’ve been watching the finals to get my hands on some keys, and I only need a couple more to get a free tank.

I have the FCM already, of course. I’ve had it for years, so I’ll get a free garage slot and some compensation instead.

But if you don’t, and you happen to find yourself the owner of a brand new but old in the game French premium Medium tank no one really talks about anymore, then I’m here to give you a quick rundown of what you can expect.

First of all, spending resources on a tier VIII premium is well worth it. I have all nine equipment slots on mine and run my standard combat loadout on it to get the best performance.

If you are short on resources, you can let the tank pay for it’s own equipment, and if so I would recommend the following order. First row: wiewrange, then rammer, and then the one in the middle. Second row, go for engine upgrade first since you already have such massive power. Then gun laying drive, and finally the improved armour or extra hitpoints. On the third row, I always get the Vstab first, then the track upgrade, and lastly I go for the improved consumables so I get a 19 second speed boost, or shot of adrenaline if you prefer.

I get a 6,06 second reload, and with adrenaline that drops to 4.76 seconds, meaning you’ll comfortably get four shots instead of three for the duration.

As I said I prefer the speed boost. The FCM is already highly mobile, and the extra speed will make you more effective. I also run extra hitpoints; the FCM does present around 170 mm of effective armour in a lot of situations, so the armour upgrade will likely come into effect. But this was originally a Heavy tank, and it still has a healthy slug of hitpoints, so getting a few more makes sense too.

You get 90 rounds capacity, but this is one of those French long guns, meaning standard penetration is good, so I don’t carry a lot of APCR.

And with that, I run my first game in a little while. Here’s how it went:

As you can see, I kind of used most of my hitpoints right away, but it meant I got rid of the Emil I; one of the strongest tanks at tier VIII, in the most powerful position on the map, thereby giving the rest of my team free rein, and then I basically just stayed in the middle to help clean up.

I actually got the tank today. I’ve been watching three live streams and that’s gotten me enough certificates to put together an FCM 50t. Since I had it already, I got 3750 gold instead, which was nice.

Having a closer look at the actual tank, the first thing you’ll notice is it’s the size of a Maus. You do get some armour to hide behind, but although it’s thicker than it used to be, it’s really not all that sturdy.

The sides are thick enough to sidescrape, but your turret sits way forward, and you also have the transmission sticking out at the back, so do be careful. The front plate is 120 mm, but it isn’t very well angled; even using full gun depression you’ll only get around 170 mm effective. It’s better to frontscrape where both the forward mounted turret and good reverse speed will come in handy.

So it’s a gun depression Medium, only bigger. Eight degrees is about tier average, but it does get the job done. But what’s fun about it is that it’s so fast in spite of its size, and against slower or weaker opponents, you can be a real bully.

The armour does work in hull down situations and when angled properly, but this is not a Heavy tank. The weapon is really nice to work with, putting out solid damage, and I don’t find myself using a lot pf premium rounds.

Driving eight more games I only lose two; it’s great being back in the fabulous FCM, it’s not very hard to do around 2000 damage, and the thing rakes in the credits. You would think it would be harder to hide the massive hull, but since it has such good mobility, it’s really not that hard. It does run circles round slow moving Heavy tanks, and plowing into more fragile vehicles is sure to get their attention.

You really just need to make sure you don’t get caught out in the open, or sideways against a big gun. Hold on to hour hitpoints, but don’t be afraid to tank some damage if it will help your team.

So it’s fun, it’s effective, easy to drive, and it makes good credits.

What’s not to like?

Well, not a lot of things. It is kind of big, especially for a Medium, and a 90 mm gun isn’t all that impressive at tier VIII. If people get sideshots or get at your front plate, they’ll likely punch straight through, but you do have the mobility to try and angle up quickly or make a run for it.

It’s also an old tank in the game, and most players will know how to deal with it.

The FCM responds well to standard Medium tank tactics, and against Light and Medium tanks the turret armour will work pretty well.

A great prize tank, then. If you have the slightest interest in either Medium tanks or grinding credits, you’ll be glad to have one, and personally I’m happy to see more of them in the game.

The FCM 50t is not overpowered, but it’s also not hard to drive. It may not be very original, but it’s reliable, it’s effective, and it gets the job done.

If you are reading this because you just got one, or you are about to, then IrmaBecx says Congratulations.

You’ll soon find out we don’t call it the “French Char Magnifique” for nothing.

Do enjoy some more gameplay to get in the mood:

Today and tomorrow you’ll have more chances to get keys for your lockboxes. Head on over to wotblitz.eu , log in top right with your game account, and watch the stream from there.

Best of luck!

The Object 140 Diaries

By:

IrmaBecx

On August 22 2017, I wrote a paper on the Object 140. I called it a “fallen star”, but maintained it was still one of the absolute best Medium tanks in the game. I also wrote that on paper, it could well be the perfect Medium tank for me, but that it wasn’t because of the history we had together, and my being too stuck in my ways and having a tendency to carry grudges for a long time.

But reading between the lines, I can see very clearly what was coming. All that green eyed hatred didn’t run nearly as deep as I imagined back then, and although I was adamant about not getting one, I had nothing but praise for the actual drive.

I did carry the grudge for quite a while longer, but on Thursday, March 1, 2018, I finally took the plunge. I had spent a year and a half grinding the horrid T-54, and in the end I just threw free XP at it. The Object 140 had by then become so unglamorous and pedestrian a vehicle I was practically destined to be its champion.

“This is where I start driving the Object 140 for real” I wrote. “Racing for pink slips”. I had already come to feel the Object 140 was the best Medium tank in the game, in spite of its underdog status: “An underdog, yes. But still a snarling, ferocious beast of a dog; a feral, vicious wolf hybrid that no one wants to come face to face with in an isolated spot, on their own, in the dark.”

You can tell I was lost to it already.

I just finished writing about my latest acquisition, the FV4202, and how much of a struggle it’s been trying to make it work. Hopeless, even. Disheartening.

The problem is, Blitz is my favourite game in the whole world, and nothing else is ever going to be able to replace it. I am a lost cause. A diehard. It is the game I was dreaming about as a child without knowing, and I want to keep playing it forever. However much I hate it sometimes, it’s still the best game on the planet.

But I’m not going to keep banging my head against the FV4202. Instead I’m going to bang my head against my dearly beloved Object 140. If I’m going to lose, I am at least going to lose in my favourite tank in the game.

Sheridans be damned.

My first thought was to spend some time on the press account getting back into it, but I quickly rejected that plan. I know what the Object 140 is about. And no one could see the stats anyway; I’m not ashamed of struggling driving my favourite tank.

So that’s all there is to it. It’s been a month since I last drove my Object 140, and I think it’s high time I got serious about it. Bring on the Bias.

I win three of my five first games, and it feels pretty good to be back behind the wheel of my Object. The fifth is actually a first class with over 4000 damage, in which I also get a bounce from a 183, and then eat the second shot before I track it in place and get behind it. Bye bye, camper.

And that’s not the only good game I had. I know the 140 is not the brutal frontline brawler it once was, and I know how fragile it can be, so I’ve been trying really hard to hold back a little.

The old 140 isn’t quite as fast as I remembered, but of course I drive the BatChat and the Vickers now. The armour still works sometimes, and it can certainly run circles around bigger and slower opponents. They say the Object got buffed last update, but I haven’t quite figured out how. Probably they just solidified the gun mantlet the way they have done on some other Mediums.

I think playing more careful is what you have to do to take advantage of the strengths of the 140 these days. It still has the best camo rating of any Medium tank in the game, and it’s low to the ground. You would do well to remember some of your Light tank lessons; indeed back in the day I said it was as close to playing a Light tank at tier X as you could get.

The weapon isn’t supremely accurate, but it does place the shots dead on at full speed. This is one of those Russian Bias things; if you don’t try to hit snapshots on the move, all the Bias in the world isn’t going to help you. And if you don’t angle, wiggle, and juke, you won’t get those troll bounces.

Object 140 obsolescence? Nowhere near. This old dog learned its tricks a long, long time ago.

So it is with a somewhat lighter heart I get ready to drive it again on Sunday evening. Well, night, actually. The night shift is usually a bad idea, but I don’t really care. I need the practice, if nothing else.

And I’ve kind of given up on the stats for now. I’ve not driven the 140 in earnest for a while, so I do feel a little rusty. But I try to focus on the positives, and again I have a couple of good games. A “good game”, by the way doesn’t necessarily mean we win. It means I do well in some manner, or it’s a close game, down to the wire. Getting away on just a few hitpoints and staying alive until the end. Having a good brawl. Taking out a skillstar. Something like that.

I need to take a short break however, and drive a Heavy tank for a mission. My WZ-113 has a birthday, so I’ll be running that and my 111 5A, staying at tier X. I got a few days of premium from the Battle Pass Wargaming were kind enough to give me, so I’m not really worried about credits anymore.

That was becoming a bit of a concern, by the way. Since quite a while now I’ve been trying to maintain a 3 million credit buffer so I can drive what I want without worrying. But I do tend to get a little stingy with it, and you can blow a million fairly quickly doing badly at tier X. By some miracle, I clear the mission in only three battles, and it’s back to the Object.

I drive a dozen games, and it’s a mixed bag. But again there’s plenty of action, and I think I won more than I lost. It’s a little like driving the Leopard 1 actually; you have to get over the fear and relax a bit, then things start going better. I even take down a Sheridan in an ill advised 1 v 1, eating two 600 plus damage shots for my trouble, but lasting all the way to the end and picking up two more kills, one of which is a skillstar. You can’t complain about that. The 14 hitpoints I was left with is 13 more than you need at the end of the game, and the 140 is a fragile tank.

But it’s also fantastic. I can’t tell you how happy I am finally back to doing what I want, which is to drive my favourite tank and have some good games. I still love my Object 140.

Can you see what’s going on here? I’m having fun again, and all it took was driving the right tank.

Monday morning, and for some reason my Ipad hasn’t charged overnight, but I only have two missions I want to clear before the turnover. One more tank taken out and winning three rating battles.

First few games are a mixed bag, but I get the kill I need on a loss, and then it’s time for Ratings. I’m not super fond of Rating battles, because people are so serious about them, and that means the level of whining, swearing, blaming, and name calling is off the charts. This also proves to be the case, but luckily it only takes four games to win three. I saved one of them for posterity.

If I was serious about getting rated, I’d probably drive my 111 5A. It’s fast, it’s robust, and hits hard with the 130 mm. But I’m not; I’m serious about my 140, and so that’s what I want to drive, and since Heavy tanks and campy TDs are all the rage these days, Medium tank can have quite an impact.

And I like that. I’d drive my favourite tank even if it was completely out of meta, and when I say the Object 140 is my favourite tank in the game, it doesn’t mean quite the same thing it means to others, because I had to learn to love it. It used to be my nemesis, and now it’s my weapon of choice. I used to hate it and everything about the Russian bias it personified, but as I made my peace with the Bias and Wargaming knocked some of the polish off it, I grew much closer to it until one day; and it wasn’t really all that long ago, I had to admit to myself and the world it’s actually my favourite tank in the game.

I had been right back in 2017. The 140 is the perfect Medium tank for me.

I’m having the same lag issues a lot of people seem to struggle with lately, but I play a few more games in the afternoon, and it goes all right.

The Object will bounce shots if you try to angle it, especially against Medium and Light tanks. The most dangerous opponent these last couple of days has actually been the AMX 50 B. It’s fast enough to keep up with a Medium, and has 1200 damage on tap. Also, I suppose, people who drive a tank with paper sides and a so-so turret at tier X know how to drive.

But the snap shots… People say the 140 has worse gun handling than the T-62A because it has worse dispersion values. And sure, if you are standing still, hull down, trying to snipe a weak spot at 250 meters, then I’m sure you want to be in the latter. That’s just not what the Object is about. I don’t need dispersion, I need stability on the move and sigma, because that’s what’s going to let me hit and penetrate that Heavy tank that’s aiming at me as I charge across the terrain as fast as the tank will go. That happened to me just now, in fact. You can watch it on Youtube.

The Object 140 is a Medium tank with a capital M. And doing the things I like to do, it will out-Medium the 62A any day of the week, month, or year.

Speaking of, the 140 is actually outperforming the 62A right now by a few fractions, both tanks being around the 54% winrate mark. And you can say that’s because only Pros drive the Object, but then my next question would be why don’t they drive the 62A if it’s so much better? Why would they drive the inferior tank?

The simple truth is they don’t.

By the way, if you don’t know what “sigma” means, it’s the tendency of the round to go towards the centre of the aiming circle, no matter how big it happens to be. It’s a soft stat, and it’s one of the basic tenets of Russian Bias. I once described the 140 as being made out of pure Russian Bias with a thin coat of paint, and as I said I’ve made my peace with it. It’s a fact of life; or at least a fact of the game, and it doesn’t automatically allow you to win. It is to be found at the edges and in the soft stats, and that means you have to push the limits a little in order to take advantage of it. Even then, it’s not certain it will help you. The Bias is fickle, and I’m ok with that.

This evening I had two really good games; “good” in the exact way I explained earlier, meaning exciting and eventful.

Both times we had a Medium tank disadvantage, and both times I tried to watch the flank, because that’s my job as a Medium tank. If I rush forward and start fighting Heavy tanks and dug in Tank Destroyers, we will sooner or later get flanked by full health Mediums, and then it’s basically over for us.

That’s the type of situation when holding off and choosing your moment is really important. If I just run off and try to charge them, I’ll be taken down in a 2 v 1. The best I can hope for is getting a few hits in. So what I do instead is let them come to me; hopefully trade a little distance for damage, and then try to either get my team involved, or isolate them. I’m not scared of any tank in the game in a 1 v 1.

Both times it works out. In one I have a tier IX Medium helping me out, and in the other there is an afk skillstar in out base, so of course they will try to take it down first. Their greed becomes their undoing, although it is understandable, because we’ve all seen afk bots come back to life all of a sudden.

I captured the action for your enjoyment and edification, and in the second game you can see that shot I mentioned earlier. It’s against the E5 after I’ve taken the B cap. Sure, the E5 hit me back, but it was standing still.

So this is what I miss people doing when I drive my Heavy tanks or Tank Destroyers; watching my sides and rear. And since I often feel that way, perhaps the better solution is for me to do that job myself.

Tuesday evening things don’t go quite as smoothly, and I have to remind myself I am doing something difficult, I am fighting an uphill battle, and that that’s the whole point of all this. I don’t want my stats to be a certain number; I want them to adequately reflect my performance, and my true measure of success is experience.

Even if the game didn’t go so well on the whole, I may still have done something good; taken out a strong opponent, made a successful play, gotten out of a desperate situation, or put out consistent damage even though no one else did.

All I want to do is drive my favourite tank. That is what I am doing. This is what it’s like out there.

And I do calm down a little. I know winning against the odds is more satisfying than winning as expected. But it’s still disheartening when you are trying to cover the flank and the red team just drives straight through your teammates.

It’s a strugglesome round of games; seven losses and five wins, and I can’t help thinking that’s not doing my winrate any favours even though I’m supposed to not care about that right now. those irksome 49% are still stuck in the back of my mind, and I can’t quite let them go.

Wednesday and Thursday are more of the same. Struggle, struggle, struggle, and I end up just playing a couple of short sessions.

The accepted solution here is to drop down the tiers for a while, but I would dispute the effectiveness of doing so in this instant. What exactly is driving something else at tier VII or VIII going to teach me about driving the Object 140 at tier X?

I do follow the other commonly offered advice of simply taking a break, but again; what is that going to teach me exactly? The only thing I can perceive as constructive is keeping at it, because none of my perceived obstacles will have suddenly disappeared when I come back from a break.

Also, there is a bit of an inconsistency in my approach to the whole thing. I say what I’m looking for is “good games”, but then I am also looking for more consistent performance, which means I haven’t given up on statistics altogether.

At present, I see no way of untying that particular knot.

But on Friday, my first game puts me right back in the groove. Manage to spot the middle on Yukon, and then hold it until it’s time to isolate some targets. I spend quite a bit of credits shooting HEAT rounds at the turret of a Maus, but they all go in except one, so I still come out in the black.

This proves to be an exception, and by Saturday evening my average winrate has dropped one whole percent.

Things aren’t going well. Putting fifty games on my Object 140 over the last few days, I don’t feel like I am improving, and I’m getting sick of losing all the time.

The last game I have before the update is actually a good one. I manage to hold the corner behind A cap on Fort Despair in spite of taking heavy damage, and I have someone I know a little punishing the reds while I keep them spotted and distracted as much as I can.

Nothing has happened to affect the 140 after the update; everything feels the same.

And it doesn’t feel right.

After a week and a half of driving my favourite tank in the game, things are looking dark. I’m not putting out enough damage, I’m not winning games, and I am left feeling doubtful about the viability of Medium tanks in the current meta for anyone that doesn’t have at least a 60% winrate.

I tried to drive my new 4202 a little, and although my damage output is good, I just can’t win any games in it. I’m supposed to be a solid 54% player, not a 40% one.

I’m pretty sure the thing is cursed, or they sold me a bad batch of HESH rounds. Either way all it’s good for is losing credits.

All that’s happened when I’ve tried to campaign my favourite tank is I am left with a serious case of “I hate this game”. I always hated campy big alpha TDs, I always hated missile tanks, and running a 310 alpha weapon at tier X just feels like bringing a knife to a gun fight.

I’m not impressed with the direction the game is going. Too many high alpha guns, too much armour, too many hitpoints to chew through. It all feels out of balance to me.

And you can look at average stats and say I am overreacting, but average stats say nothing about my particular game experience. Also, it’s not like I’m the only one complaining about the state of high tier gameplay these days.

So I’m going to end this project right here; it’s just making me depressed. I’m giving up on the Object 140 Diaries, because they are turning into the Object 140 Lamentations.

But I’m not giving up on my Object 140.

See you out there.

The Contemporary 121B

121B Golden Dragon

By:

IrmaBecx

So the 121B went on sale today, and for my money, it’s the greatest tier X premium Medium tank you’ll never need.

Personally, I think the golden camouflage looks terrible, but if you are all about the bling, then this bundle is aimed at you. I would prefer the more sombre “Jade Shards”, which I put on all my top tier Chinese tanks.

And the 121B is a Chinese tank in every sense of the word. It looks suspiciously like a Russian tank, which is because it was developed from one, and it exhibits all the classic traits of Chinese vehicles: strong turret, good gun stats, and mediocre engine power.

I love Medium tanks. I have collected all the tech tree ones I want, and so for me there are only premiums and collector vehicles left to covet, at least until a new Medium line is introduced, which I hear is in the works.

But do I covet this one? And what is the contemporary 121B all about?

I recently started campaigning my beloved Object 140, and it presents an interesting point of departure for comparison.

Both tanks are developments of the ubiquitous T-54. Both have strong, rounded turrets with six degrees of gun depression and excellent gun handling, and both do around 55 km/h. Really, the only difference is Russian versus Chinese bias, and the 121B having a NATO style 105 mm L7A1 knockoff.

This can be a bit of good news/bad news. The good news is, if you come from Russian or Chinese 100 mm Mediums, you already know how to drive it. The bad news, I suppose, is that beyond the weaponry, the 121B isn’t really all that special.

If you have the Object 140 and the WZ-121 already, then you don’t actually need the 121B, because it’s a sort of cross between them. All you are getting is a different gun and better credit making capabilities. But if, like yours truly, you have done hundreds and hundreds of games in your Type 59, then this is a tier X Type that offers much the same experience.

Do I covet the 121B? Yes. Yes, I do. I always did, even before it was introduced.

And it’s a bit of a fake tank. I say “bit of”, because the basic vehicle did exist. The Chinese also had access to the ubiquitous Royal Ordnance L7A1, only not at the same time the 121 project was in development. As fakes go, this is a “good fake”, because it’s not only plausible; it also borders on reality.

It’s also a capable tank. You have the robust armour profile of a Russian or Chinese Medium coupled with the reliability and comfort of the 105 mm L7. It may not be a groundbreaking feat of tank design, but it is a solid one.

Looking at the 121B compared to the Object 140 and the M48 Patton; perhaps the most generic of all Western Medium tanks, there aren’t a lot of surprises. You have the same turret armour as the 140, but the front plate is thicker and not quite as slanted back.

You also get good DPM; not quite as good as the 140, but better than the Patton, and the aimtime and accuracy is superior to both of them. Standard penetration is right in the middle. 140% credit coefficient isn’t amazing, but it’s a lot better than any tech tree Medium, and the tank will comfortably pay for its own upkeep.

And that’s really all there is to it. This is a Soviet style Medium with a British sourced 105 mm; that should tell you everything you need to know about it.

I actually drove the 121B on my press account yesterday, it’s one of the tanks I usually have a go in when I’m logged in there. Blitzed the flank on Dead Rail together with a BatChat, and then moved in to help clean up the Heavys. Nothing special, just a solid game in a solid tank.

And I think that pretty well sums up the 121B. It’s a solid Medium tank. Not very flamboyant, not very new and exciting, but certainly powerful enough to do the job.

So I drive another game in it, to reassure myself I still know what I’m talking about. Here’s how that went:

No surprises, except I actually did hit a blind shot on that Waffle behind the house.

So what’s the verdict?

The 121B is worthwhile if you enjoy Medium tank gameplay, and you like this style of tank. If you can drive a Type 59, a T-54, a WZ-121, or an Object 140, you can drive this one too. The 105 mm L7C is not the best L7 clone in the game, but it doesn’t have to be, because it has mobility and some pretty sturdy armour to back it up.

It’s one of those holistic, whole-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts type of vehicles, and if you like Chinese tanks overall, you’ll like this one too.

The tech tree 121 is perhaps a little more interesting with the 122 mm main armament, but it’s more expensive to run, as is the Object 140. But the 121B is by no means worse that those other two; it’s just different. Not a lot different mind you, but the extra credits you make driving it help make it worthwhile.

Personally, I’m not going to bite this time around. I’ll be waiting for a better offer, because I’m not a fan of the golden camouflage, and I wouldn’t be caught dead driving it. I would prefer a cheaper, plain-jane bundle so I can choose my own paintjob.

But I do still endorse the 121B. If a tier X daily driver in the style of the Type 59 is what you are looking for, then look no further!

Lockbox tanks: Progetto 46, M41 “Black Dog”, FCM 50t

Lockbox Tank Breakdown

By:

IrmaBecx

So there are good crates, and there are bad crates. You may already have gotten a lockbox or two from just playing the game, and the best part is you can also get keys to open them for free; all you have to do is watch some tournament streams through the official Blitz portal.

That makes these crates pretty good in my book. Free stuff is always welcome. I happen to have all three tanks already, but maybe I can pick up some camos or a commemorative avatar?

The grand prize, which you are 99% sure of not getting every time you open a box, is the coveted Progetto M45 mod. 46, and if you get that for free, you should consider yourself very lucky. It’s a great tank, and its reputation is well deserved.

The tanks you assemble from parts are also good, especially the M41 “Black Dog”, which is one of my favourite tanks in the game. It’s a real pro tool; a tank that will challenge you no matter how good you get, and it’s a gem for anyone interested in Light tank gameplay or making the most out of game mechanics.

Then there is the French Char Magnifique; the FCM 50t, which has been in the game for ages and ages, but that no one really talks about. I think I bought mine the second it dropped, and then spent years waiting for the actual French tech tree to come along.

So some good tanks to be had, and potentially for free with very little effort.

I just thought I’d do a quick rundown of what you can expect if you get lucky.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to compare the tech tree P.44 Pantera to the Progetto 46, and in the end my conclusion was they are about equally powerful, but they do things in different ways. The Pantera is faster and has a little bit of armour. The Progetto has higher alpha and a faster interclip, but reloads the actual shells slower. It also has virtually no armour at all, standard penetration is much lower, and it doesn’t nearly have the engine power of the Pantera.

You might say that where the tech tree tank is an assault Medium, the premium tank is more of a support vehicle. That’s not because the Pantera is more well armoured; it’s because it’s faster. You’re only going to get troll bounces off it, but it will actually bounce.

So the Progetto is a little fragile. But it can certainly bite back when cornered; the combination of an auto reloader and 240 alpha damage means it can outtrade other 90 mm tanks of the same tier.

But it’s not a very easy drive, and it won’t forgive you any mistakes. You’ll want to play it very careful, making sure you have cover so you can reset camo, trade distance for damage, and have your escape routes planned out.

The whole point of the Progetto is it has an auto reloader. Otherwise you may as well drive something like the STA-1 or the Pz 58 “Mutz”; both have higher DPM and better penetration values. And in some situations, the auto reloader is immensely powerful, able to clip out isolated opponents, or finish of multiple low health targets in a row.

Yes, it does happen.

But if you don’t have a lot of experience, you should expect to struggle with the Progetto. The auto reloader mechanic takes a little while to get used to, you’re not able to rely on your armour, and although it looks good on paper, the mod. 46 really isn’t a lot faster than other Mediums at the same tier.

But is it worth getting? Most definitely. If you love your Pantera of your M4 FL10, you are a definite candidate. If you are looking for a bit of a challenge, and a higher level of risk/reward, then likewise. The auto reloader just doesn’t get old, just like the Black Dog, it will keep you coming back for more no matter how skilled you are, and the better you get at driving it, the more fun it will be.

A definite thumbs up.

Speaking of the Black Dog, lets have a look at it next. It’s really just a tier VIII M41 Bulldog with a bored out 76 mm that fires powerful 90 mm rounds.

Also, this unassuming tank is actually a candidate for the fastest tank in the game. Yes, the Ru 251 still has the highest top speed, but since the M41 is lighter and has better ground resistance numbers, it gets up to speed quicker, and in all but a straight line race on flat ground, it moves around faster than the Ru does.

You also get that lovely 240 alpha on your standard rounds, and unlike the Progetto, you also get higher HE damage. That’s a real bonus since those are actually what we call “cheap HESH” with about twice the penetration of a standard 90 mm HE shell. With calibrated shells, you get 112 mm HE, and 275 mm HEAT penetration.

So that’s what I meant when I mentioned game mechanics. The Lekpz M41 90 is all about maximising your potential by always choosing the right round for the right situation, getting at people’s sides and rears to land those high penetration HE shells, learning what targets have thin enough armour, and avoiding frontal engagements with those that don’t.

For my money, the Black Dog is one of the absolute best and most worthwhile premium tanks in the game.

But again it has no armour at all, and so it will take a bit of competence to make it work. Driving a tier VIII Light tank isn’t that difficult, but it is definitely a step up from trundling along in your IS spam or hiding behind a gun mantlet to get bounces. If the Progetto doesn’t give you a lot for free, then the Black Dog gives you nothing.

And that is the charm. Or the challenge, if you will. You drive it because you are tired of grinding credits in the same old beaters, and you want to step things up a notch. Because of that, it has its place in anyones garage, either as an investment for the future, or a daily driver once you git gud.

If you love driving your Ru 253 but think it’s a little too expensive to run, then you are the perfect Lekpz candidate.

That brings us to the French offering, which is I suppose the least interesting of the three. That’s not surprising, about 90% of tier VIII premiums would find themselves in the same position; remember the comparison here is two of the best premium tanks in the game.

The FCM 50t is actually a Heavy tank, but it’s designated as a Medium. This is because it has two engines; or was supposed to, anyway, in order to reach the stated 1000 horsepower goal.

And it’s huge. It’s the size of a German SuperHeavy. That’s not so good when you have flat plates everywhere, but the armour has seen various upgrades over the years, and is actually quite good, especially for a Medium.

The main armament is the same 90 mm DCA 45 you get on the AMX M4 45, with a few minor differences; a lovely French long gun that places the shots where you want and goes through more often than not.

A lot has happened in tier VIII since it was introduced, and you have to say both the armour and the weaponry are about average these days. But the FCM is big, burly, and robust, and the fact it moves around so quickly in spite of its size is what makes it fun to drive. The fact it isn’t quite as wildly fascinating as the auto reloader or the cheap HESH toting Light tank doesn’t mean it’s bad; it just means it isn’t the best in tier like they are.

So should you cry if you get one?

No, I don’t think so. If you didn’t have one before, this is a chance to get acquainted with an old classic not many people drive these days, and grind some credits in a huge, brawly, hull down Medium tank at speeds that belie its grand stature.

It’s a fun tank. Just not quite as fun as the absolute best in the game, and you can’t really blame it for that, can you?

Someone has to come in third place.

So this has been a quick rundown of the three lockbox tanks. I think all three are great prizes, and I hope you all get to drive at least one of them for the first time, for free.

Remember to watch the tournaments on the game portal and not on youtube, and make sure you log in with your game account! You will get one lockbox key for every 30 minutes of watching.

Here is the link:

https://eu.wotblitz.com/en/tournaments/

You can also reach it from the Lockbox news item in the in game news.

I wasn’t always super interested in tournaments, but they have grown on me the last couple of years, and of course I want to support my friends who help stream them. You can just log in and leave it running, but I would urge you to at least give it a chance.

Who knows; you might even learn something?

Best of luck to everyone. I hope you get a free tank!

Battle Pass 3.0 – VK 28.01 “Agent”

The Agent

By:

IrmaBecx

So I just finished watching the November forecast live stream, and you may have heard already there will be a new battle pass coming. We’ve had a Russian and a French Heavy tank, both have proven very competitive, and now we are getting a Light tank; the VK 28.01 “Agent”.

And as a prize tank, it makes a lot of sense. The VK 28 is a known performer, it’s always been good, and it’s still a favourite with many players. The “Agent” is the same tank with a few subtle differences, and you get a permanent legendary camo and attachment for it.

I actually had to drive a game in the press account loan vehicle before I started writing this, and then one in the tech tree tank for good measure. Had a great game in the latter, too.

So what have they done to it except the new paintjob and a laser pointer?

Basically, you are trading a tiny bit of DPM for better aimtime, accuracy, and – get this – three degrees additional gun depression. You also get a few more horsepower, which translates to two more horsepower per ton.

And that’s it. Everything else is exactly the same. But that’s quite enough to make things really interesting, and if you are wondering if it’s going to be worthwhile, I’d say that’s a no-brainer. The gun handling and nine degrees of gun depression are both going to make the tank more comfortable to drive.

If you have a VK 28.01 already, you will have figured this out. The tank is a classic. This new one practically has training wheels.

OK, so is it going to break tier VI?

Not a chance. It’s a Light tank after all, and it doesn’t quite have the armour it used to have back in the day. But it is going to be a competitive tank; my guess is a lot of people will simply trade in their old VK for the new Agent and keep on doing business as usual.

IrmaBecx says you are not risking anything by getting the Battle Pass. The tank is going to be worth it. Even if you aren’t that handy with Light tanks, it will be an investment for the future.

But what if you are a newer player, and you aren’t that familiar with German Light tanks? What is the VK 28 “Agent” all about? Let’s have a closer look and try to find out.

Although the VK 28 isn’t as robust as it used to be, it still has some armour. The difference is you will need to rely on angles rather than thickness, and the boxy shape and angled front plate both make this pretty easy. Having nine degrees of gun depression is also going to make the front plate more effective.

The weapon is the once famous Waffe 0725 “Konisch”. The shells shrink from 7,5 to 5,5 cm as they pass through the conical barrel, and this gives you better penetration and shell speed, but you can’t fire HE rounds through it. I get a 5.8 second reload, and I haven’t had any problems placing the shots. The shells fly faster and penetrate deeper than tier average, and you can get 165 mm standard pen running the calibrated shells.

But the Agent doesn’t really need them. This is a fast tank, and if you know a bit of Light tank tactics, this is an excellent platform to execute them with. You have mobility, you have firepower, and you have a few bits of armour to help keep you alive.

I’ve set my Agent up with engine accelerator and speed boost as usual, trying to maximise what is already good about it. I then run the aim assists since the gun handling is so good, and as I said I haven’t had any issues with penetration. In fact, I don’t believe I have fired an APCR round yet, but we’ll come to that when I start facing Annihilators at tier VII.

With all these advantages, the VK 28 would make a pretty good Medium tank. But it’s not, and so you also have camouflage on the move and excellent viewrange.

All pretty straightforward.

Fine. But What’s it like to drive?

Well… It’s like a VK 28 with lower DPM, better gun handling, a little more engine power, and nine degrees of gun depression, but if you haven’t driven the VK 28, then I suppose that doesn’t tell you a whole lot.

It’s not an automatic winrate booster by any means. You will have to put in the work to make it succeed. But it also has all the tools it needs for you to do that, and as long as you follow the Light tank doctrine, there’s not a lot holding you back.

The “Light tank doctrine” basically means reset camo, trade distance for damage, and run away from bad engagements. Spot, shoot, relocate.

I don’t spend a lot of time in tier VI these days, and it’s kind of nice to be back. It’s also nice driving a brand new tank a little early, I’m not going to pretend otherwise. In a top tier matchup, the Agent is a serious contender. In a tier VII game, I am expecting it to have to be more of a support vehicle, but that is what a Light tank is supposed to be.

My first game being bottom tier, there is a Dracula/Smasher platoon from a well known clan on the red team, so I’m not expecting things to go well. I spot both of them first thing, but no one on my team is keen on fighting the Smasher, so the reds quickly establish map control, and it’s all downhill from there.

The Agent is not Smasher-proof. Nor is it Annihilator-proof, as it turns out. It’s not even KV-2 proof, but then nothing else is either.

But it’s fun. It’s a lot of fun. And it’s not because it’s the Agent, it’s because it’s a VK 28.01, and that was always fun.

I kind of forget myself and just keep pressing the “Battle” button. I don’t even know how many games I’ve played or what my winrate is, but I have several good games; flanking around, no scoping and power sliding, ramming people to take their tracks off, and just generally being a nuisance.

The Agent works just fine, there is no doubt about that.

You don’t want to be trading shots on the frontline, unless you have some serious backup and a good piece of cover to reset your camo behind. You don’t want to be the centre of attention, because your 30-40 mm armour won’t bounce a 152 mm, or even a 122 mm shell, and they will be aiming for you.

It also seems to be making a fair bit of credits, but as I said I wasn’t really paying attention.

So should you get one?

Well, Light tanks aren’t for everyone. But if you are going to start somewhere, this would be a pretty good place. If you can’t afford, or don’t want to spend money on the game, all is not lost. You can just grind out the tech tree VK 28 and you’ll have much the same experience.

Just like the Thunder and the BP 44, the Agent is not a “must have” vehicle. It’s a slight variation on an existing tank that is already both popular and competitive, and I think the tradeoffs are worthwhile. The gun depression especially gives the Agent slightly different capabilities.

It’s a thumbs up from me. This tank is going to be good. It’s not going to be too powerful, it’s not going to break the game, and if you don’t like the look, you can just stick with the tech tree tank and choose your own camo.

I still have a day or two before I can release this review, so I logged back in today to drive some more. It turns out I did almost 20 games at a 56% winrate and around a thousand average damage, which is good but not spectacular, as expected.

As I said, the Agent is good because the VK 28 always was, and what it does is just breathe some new life into an old but competent tank. “Competent” may actually be an understatement, I would say the VK is the best tier VI Light tank in the game.

The average winrate numbers agree, by 2-3%. It’s also the most popular, with about 30% more players than the next runner up, which is the MT-25.

So I drive a few more games to see if the “new tank smell” had perhaps clouded my judgement a little yesterday, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. And why would it? This is just a slightly modified VK 28 after all, and you would have to really bring the nerf bat down on it to make it underperform.

You don’t want to go frontline and brawl in the agent. Other tanks will have more DPM and sometimes higher alpha damage, and you can’t really rely on the armour except at autobounce angles. But for doing Light tank jobs like spotting, tracking, capping, isolating, and harassing, the Agent fits the bill, with bells on.

I don’t feel there is anything more to say. The Agent is solid.

Please enjoy some gameplay while you consider:

So the best thing about the whole CC/NDA thing is you get some time to prepare your review before you can actually post it, and so that’s what I am doing now. It’s about half an hour before Battle Pass 3.0 goes live, and I just ran a couple of games in the Agent to make absolutely sure my head wasn’t spinning from that new tank smell I was talking about.

I still don’t think it was. A premium/collectible VK 28 is still a no-brainer, it just can’t fail.

But let me be clear. If you are struggling against tanks like the Smasher and the Annihilator, the Agent isn’t going to fix that for you. It’s a tier VI, 160 alpha Light tank, and it does take some driving in order to perform.

If you were happy with your Thunder or BP 44, then this is very much the same deal except it’s a Light tank. I have put it through its paces, and it holds up under pressure, which is really no surprise since the tech tree tank always did. You may not be in the market for a Light tank, and if so you can just keep playing as usual and pick up some freebies along the way.

I will however stand by my assessment the Agent is a competitive and enjoyable drive. I might even go so far as to give it the coveted tank philosophy seal of approval.

Stay classy out there. And if you decide to pick up the new Agent, then best of luck with it!