When we say 'well behind the main force' we do mean well behind the main force. If you're capping a point you're smack-dab in the middle of the action, which is an easy way to get shot.

As Keroko said, Tank Destroyers are meant to be well BEHIND the main force. As a tank destroyer I found the best way to survive is to not join in any assaults whatsoever. Find a good place to camp, hide, and wait for any victims. Tank destroyers typically excel in maps that have good overwatch positions or large, open fields with lots of concealment like El Halluf or Malinovka. Tank destroyers should only join in on assaults if there is no one left to fill the ranks.

And heavy tanks of equal or higher tier always have the advantage in sight range afaik, hence why you need your tank destroyer's camouflage advantage to stay safe. There have been times when I'm using a heavy tank (US M6 currently) and yet can't see a tank destroyer that's shooting at me until I get very close to it... if I don't get killed first :T_T:

Like I said I don't rush in or join in with the main force I generally find a good covered position in a wooded area or group of bushes and take shots at range unless in some instances that I join a smaller group on a flanking run but thats generally when it looks as if the bulk of the enemy has funneled down a single side of the map.

The problem is no matter how far back or how well hidden I am as soon as I take a shot I'm insta-killed from miles off and when I do land a shot it doesn't ever really do much damage against a lot of the tanks I'm pitted against since most are massive KV's and such.

Don't get me wrong I understand the role the TD fills do get kills but it just seems that we're at a constant disadvantage.

Made a major boo-boo last night when I sold my SU-85B to fund the SU-85 I sold the crew along with it X[

I take most here on the US server ? pity since we could have set up our own AS tank battalion!

I've been playing this for a while now on the EU server.
It was taking forever for my crew to level up to 100% so I just spent the 200 gold to get them to learn the skill you can have. Currently using a BT-7 because I'm going down a path to get to the T-54 because that's one of the tanks the Edelweiss from Valkyria Chronicles is based on. Yep.

I'm not really good at this but it's extremely fun.

Edelweiss is more King Tiger than T-54

I've come to the following conclusion about World of Tanks. It's two competing teams of new types arranged in a telepathic hive mind fighting each other in a minovsky particle heavy environment. LOS is extremely limited, even against targets out in the open within your line of sight. However, if anyone on either team spots an enemy, the entire team will know it's exact location and be able to target it.


Whether or not this is the best game mechanic I'm more dubious about.

Yes, the 'cloaking effect' is extremely bugged at the moment. Don't know what they did, but it needs fixing.

It's not really cloaking. It's just that a tank might only have a view radius of say, 400 meters, even if you have a clear view of a tank 500 meters away. But if any friendly (with the radio range) spots the enemy tank, you can target him accurately.

why would i call to pay me attention.. i will have to stand upper the game

I think the mechanic was implemented to prevent sniping and artillery from becoming the most dominating element of the game. Sure both are incredibly powerful when done right, but if you had unlimited vision range then all your battles will deteriorate into base-on-base shell lobbing with no more need to maneuver, which frankly isn't really fun. And of course being that you're commanding large multi-ton vehicles hiding in maps where you have large, open spaces would be frankly difficult. Hence the entire system of limited vision, radio communication and camouflage.

It admittedly is somewhat confusing at first, but once you've grasped the mechanics of the entire system its contribution into making the game a teamwork-based tactics game instead of being just a twitch shooter shows.

****

Also, found this on danbooru, with the original Pixiv link:

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...4c12210d79.jpg

This would have been your normal 'girl on tank' image, if not for the following:

A hint to people in the lower tiers: You are probably being shot at by higher tier tanks from very far away because higher tier tanks generally have a higher view range. Tank destroyers tend to also have lower view ranges than turreted tanks (this encourages you to have friendly tanks in front of you). Additionally, higher tier tanks require more grind and therefore their crew levels are likely higher, the crew % makes a WORLD of difference. I wouldn't go for a new tank unless I could use credits to raise the crew to a respectable %. Also, as you go up in tiers it may be beneficial to retrain your crew to the new tank.

EDIT: To people who aren't penetrating a tank when they are lower tier:

don't use auto aim, it often aims for the most armored part of the enemy (their turret).
- use weak points to your advantage. For example, hatches, viewports, machine gun ports, are often weak spots on enemy tanks.
- flanking is a good strategy, if you are sufficiently low tier, enemies will often ignore you while they are engaged with a higher tier ally, allowing you to get some damage in. Just make sure to retreat when the enemy turns a turret towards you.
- sides / rear are often the weakest point of a tank.

<-- Just got the tier 10 American heavy tank, T30 and it kicks ass except for a few things:

- lower tier tanks on my team think "OMG, top tier tank he must be godly!" and follow me everywhere blindly. Therefore, whichever side I go to, will be heavily stacked with tanks, leaving no one to guard the other flanks. When we lose I often get blamed because I couldn't race back and destroy half of the enemy team by myself.

- lower tier tanks on my team think "OMG, top tier tank he must be godly!" and therefore hide behind me everywhere I go, restricting my maneuvering space as well as using me as a shield. I have camouflage training on my crew so my tank isn't spotted as easily as the folks behind me, but when they shoot at them they end up hitting me. The T30 has TERRIBLE armor for a top tier tank and every time I take a hit it hurts.

- being the highest tier tank is like having a bright neon sign that says "SPGS SHOOT ME" flying atop of the turret - expect that everyone on the enemy side is gunning for you, and whenever you reveal yourself half of the enemy team will rapidly ping their minimap and announcing your presence.

- I often get blamed when you don't destroy half the enemy team, cap their base, and protect all of the artillery by myself at the same time.

Hmm... People in this game are quite the accusers arnt they? They tend to follow whoever has the better tank since they get shot down when they first tried it very easily, but I was able to beat a tank 2-3 tiers higher then me with a surprising trick of mine :heh: but they should learn that having the highest teared tank doesn't always mean victory (of course having a high tier tank is a changing factor in some way, if the player doesn't know what he/she is doing, then they are basically done for)

Well I must be rambling nonsense :heh: But just got up to Tier 4

It's a common mistake of many beginners in WoT: That somehow, getting a better tank will make you better in combat. This is true in some ways (A Tier 1 vehicle that gets into a game with Tier 4 and above vehicles won't survive a single hit), yet your survivability in a lot of games depends greatly on your actions and decisions and not your tank's specs. Even the heaviest Tier 10 vehicles can get creamed if you don't know what you're doing and try to lone wolf everyone :heh:

I've seen alot of Lone Wolves try to show up to the team, but they always end up going blank on the map the next minute.. I even tried it once and fell prey to an ambush :heh:

What makes it more hilarious is usually they scream "NOOB TEAM" when they die from what was undoubtedly their own fault.

I've slapped the 122-mm gun on my SU-85 for the time being as it seems to be a lot more powerful than the previously fitted gun and I can usually take down a light/medium tank with a single shot however the reload time is nearly twice as long so I really have to pick my shots.

Someone is learning the ways of the Soviet tank destroyer ^^;; huge damage, long reload

Definitely true, although sometimes I see IS-7 drivers who go afk for 5 minutes then come back when half their team is wiped out, and try to save the day by himself. Usually doesn't end well since my gun takes off 30-40% of his life in 1 shot ^o^

Also, new patch today. Seems like they're adding a new map which is neat.

The new map is nice but imo its extremely one sided, and if you start at the bottom of the map your at a huge disadvantage.

Steel Wall: American Tank Destroyers

The T95 as the Tier XI TD for the Americans... wow :eyespin:

Wow... everyone's in T1's, MS-1's and Loltraktors... no more screaming of insane matchmaking for the moment :heh:

*Game is now live for those wondering*

Well, atleast they fixed the matchmakings :D