Tank Thursday: On Again

Yes, I know it says Tuesday, too lazy to edit.

My on-again/off-again affair with World of Tanks returned this past couple weeks for no real apparent reason. When we left off in July this year I reported thusly:

I'm still working on the tier VII Panther medium tank while working to unlock the Panther II at tier VIII, but honestly the Panther with its long 100 7.5 cm main turret is a hell of a sniper and a lot of fun, perhaps my favourite tank right now. I'll probably keep it and ignore the Panther II.
I gave up trying to do artillery. I was on the tier V Grille but only get frustrated all the time. Either I could not get any shots on target or my shots would land on target and fail to penetrate or do any damage. After 23 battles I had a 26% win rate and a grand total of 4 destroyed enemy vehicles. Yet, despite sucking so bad I still got mastery level 3 on it. Whatever.
Finally, I found I could unlock the VB 28.01 light tank at tier VI from my previously complete tier V Leopard light tank. Figuring "what the hell", I unlocked it and bought it and have been trying out scouting at higher tier battles. After six battles I'm enjoying it so far and working on unlocking the better suspension and motor.

Since then I've been using the tier VI VK 28.01 light tank, the tier VIII Panther II, and started working up the new German Tank Destroyer line, most recently with the tier V Pz.Sfl. IVc.

The VK 28.01 is all upgraded and I'm working towards the next light tank, but its more of habit than any great love. I found I had more fun in the tier IV and V light tanks than in this one even though there is nothing functionally wrong with it. Perhaps the quality of drivers and tanks it has to scout around is higher it seems to get me fewer sneaky artillery kills. Overall not a bad tank, just not a favourite.

The main tank I've been working on has been the Pz.Sfl IVc, affectionately referred to as the "toaster" or the "bus". Take a look at its image and you can see why. Its super high profile, low hit points, and low armour, I've been one shotted so much in this tank, even more than in light tanks. And even with its best gun its a frustrating experience because the arc on the gun is small so I find I need to re-adjust my position a lot. On the positive side of things, the top gun is terrifyingly deadly to lower tier tanks and a serious threat to tier V tanks. Starts to suck against tier VI and VII but overall its ok. Last night I finally got enough experience to unlock the tier VI Nashhorn TD so once I figure out my finances I'll move on.

Seriously, this thing is like driving a huge cardboard box filled with explosives.

Lastly, I've been working on the Panther II. After I mentioned how I loved the tier VII Panther, I was told I would like the Panther II which is similar. My experience was not nice. Even with the same gun as the Panther I, I had terrible games in the Panther II. My theory is that by being in a higher tier I was facing bigger enemies and my 7.5 cm long 100, which murders at range tier VII and lower tanks, struggles to be effective against tier VIII and higher so I was underpowered in my weight class. Then once I unlocked the next turret and got the old favourite Long 88 (8.8 cm L71) the slight increase in penetration and huge increase in damage made me feel competitive again, like a faster version of the Tiger tank.

So now I'm just enjoying it and working towards the E50.

Next step, buy and start working on the tier VI Nashhorn tank destroyer.