Hello, I’m Luke Kneller and welcome to Best Replays of the Week.
In this episode we have:
a Wall of Soviet Steel,
an Easy Eight in a hard fight,
and Raphtorne being unleashed onto Fisherman’s Bay.
Let’s find out what that means.
Let’s start by putting Soviet Steel to the test,
as Nemanja89 takes an IS-7 over to El Halluf.
The battle is an Encounter on an American server,
with four top tier machines on each side.
Nemanja gets off to a strong start,
with the opening shot scoring the first kill of the match.
But the Reds seem to have a strong position in here in the North-West,
and one of them even manages to dent the armour.
Nemanja drives around to the side to casually wreck a couple of autoloaders,
before returning to the main fight.
That Centurion is one of those rival tier 10s.
Taking it out early is a priority, as it will make things a lot easier.
An Indien Panzer isn’t much of a threat,
just another obstacle to be brushed aside.
This Emil won’t go down with a single shot,
but a high speed ram should be enough to finish the job.
This is going almost too well for a Steel Wall, isn’t it?
Shells keep pinging off the IS, for sure,
but the theme seems to be Nemanja owning everything that comes into sight.
Huh, here’s another tier ten.
This time it’s a dangerous foe, especially when backed up by a Skorpion G.
But somebody else can finish it off
as Nemanja is more interested in dealing with the Skorpion.
Now it’s a wreck, its carcass makes for a handy shield.
Forward, ho!
A damaged gun adds to the challenge,
but our Steel Wall lands their shots regardless. No problem.
Time to forget clever tactics and charge, forwards!
Pfft, it’s not like they can stop an unkillable tank anyway.
The Reds give it their best try,
but we already know how this will go down, don’t we?
And indeed, once Nemanja gets into melee range,
the squishy Borsig might as well just give up.
That was almost too easy.
9k, both blocked and dished out, and with a respectable seven kills.
It’s too bad the opponents ran out, as the IS-7 was still fit for battle.
Well played, Nemanja!
Confederate
This week’s Confederate is jaeckefa from the EU region
who drives out onto the Arctic Region, armed with a T25 Pilot Number 1.
This lovechild of a Pershing and a T20
excels in mobility, gun handling and rate of fire,
at the expense of pretty much everything else.
In theory those traits should make it an excellent Confederate.
Let’s see how it performs as a bottom tiered tank.
The first clash goes well,
in part because jaeckefa has stocked up on APCR shells,
and otherwise because jaeckefa is just plain awesome.
Fancy ammunition or not, the gun won’t punch through an E 75’s glacis.
Captain America needs to find softer targets.
Like a Skorpion G, perhaps?
I guess not. After just a single shot,
a rival T25 punctures the fuel tank,
and a Jagdpanther II kills the radio operator. Mission abort!
Time to play it safe.
jaeckefa pokes around pinpricking a Tortoise, then harassing several Tds.
That Object 252U is a hard nut to crack,
but ah ha, its TD buddy, is made of softer stuff.
The Object may be tough, but it has an Achilles heel…
It didn’t look like jaeckefa hit the turret ring,
but the opponent’s gun is frozen in place.
Rage quit, maybe?
I like to think so, but who can know for sure?
Now it’s time to play with everyone’s favourite class,
as a couple of artillery pieces receive some long range love and attention.
The Jagdpanther from before wants to start something,
but it really shouldn’t have.
Arty time again, hello!
Yet another TD charges into its death, what’s going on today?
Well that brings the enemies down to two and that Tortoise has seen better days.
After a spot of hesitation, jaeckefa decides ‘to hell with it’,
and will take it out the old fashioned way.
Right, the last opponent is a massive artillery piece. Easy peasy.
jaeckefa lands two shots,
but… gets taken out in return. Oh.
Well, the game has turned into a two-on-one artillery fight,
which luckily doesn’t last for long. gg.
Nicely played, jaeckefa.
That was a great showing for a bottom tier medium tank.
Although being the last tank alive, then dying isn’t a usual Confederate carry.
Sniper
Our Sniper of the week is Raphtorne_Unleashed,
demonstrating the accuracy of the Rheinmetall Skorpion G.
The map is Fisherman’s Bay, with the Skorpion in the middle of the list.
Our Sniper spends some time looking for a suitable vantage point,
ready to snipe foes at 450 meters.
This position is only good for another two shots
before it’s time to find a new one.
Hitting from more than half a click away? Not a problem.
Penetrating? A bit more of one…
APCR fixes that though.
Rapthorne is a true Sniper, not pulling the trigger unless it’s good.
But at this range, a lot can go wrong...
The distance drops down to 400 meters so regular AP is what’s needed.
No need to be wasteful!
Concerningly, the Reds are three points in the lead.
This would be a good time to start notching up some kills.
Rapthorne chambers the last APCR round, tracking several targets.
Again, holding fire until the hit is all but guaranteed.
Opportunity arrives to take out an SPG,
but there’s no time to swap ammunition.
So be it.
Regular AP makes this a bit more challenging.
Then again, the ST-I is closer this time,
and our Sniper knows exactly where to place the shot.
That evens out the score. It’s time to go hunting the remaining ones.
Boom, head shot!
The next target is in the City.
Our Sniper would prefer to engage from long range,
but that’s not on the cards here.
Peek-a-boom will have to do.
Just two T28 variants to go now.
The first clash is a little ugly,
but our Sniper can afford to burn some hit points at this stage of the game.
The premium version gets a shot in as well.
And then another.
But it doesn’t matter. The Skorpion soaks up the damage,
finishing the game with a Top Gun kill.
That was quite a show.
Raphtorne_Unleashed picked each long range shot like a true Sniper.
It clearly works, as we can see from the 16/16 accuracy.
Top Gun
Let’s follow deadeye precision,
with some full on mayhem on the Asian server.
Our champion is azmania3000, in command of an Strv m/42-57 Alt A.2.
The battleground, as you can see, is Sand River.
Here we go. Azmania drives to the top of a sand dune, and opens fire.
The results are a little underwhelming at first,
but the second volley begins to show promise.
The Swedish autoloader keeps up a steady drumbeat,
bringing in the second kill before long.
With impeccable timing, the next victim comes into view
as soon as the reload is done. Noice.
The rest of the team aren’t doing so great,
but that’s how you get to be Top Gun.
A rival Strv goes down with an exchange of shots,
but Azmania will have to watch those hitpoints.
“Stop it”
“Seriously.”
“Help me!”
Phew, luckily the last ally comes to the rescue of our Top Gun
or this would’ve been over
as there’s six Reds to kill and only 77 hit points remaining…
That’s one.
Azmania dodges SPGs who give it their best but can’t even splash our Top Gun.
That’s two, four to go.
A SAu 40 gets the drop on us but RNGesus is not with them
and Azmania turns it around.
Here’s the last TD, but what about those pesky arty?
Probably best to deal with them first.
The Bishop makes things nice and easy.
But before the second one can be found, Churchill Gun Carrier comes into view.
Azmania unloads the rest of the magazine into the TD,
before intelligently disengaging and resuming the Arty hunt.
There it is, and although one shot misses, the Grille is still doomed.
That Gun Carrier does manage to get a shot off,
but when it misses, it is known that the game is over. gg.
Not bad at all. Ten kills, respectable damage for the tier,
a one-versus-six endgame,
and although an ally had to save the day early on,
it was still a solid Top Gun performance. By Azmania.
Crucial Contribution
And now it’s time for the episode finale,
a Crucial Contribution from the American servers.
Our champion is Spiritus_Vitae,
who commands an Easy Eight at the Siegfried Line.
The tier six Sherman is a nice medium tank,
but how much can it do against tier eights?
Only fools rush in, especially bottom tier fools,
so Spiritus creates a bit of cover, and waits for customers.
First up, a Strv.
A cautious duel goes on for a while
until our hero shows the spirit of life and heads into town.
Ah an O-Ni!
Now, beating this piñata would be fun, but a T32 spoils the game.
Spiritus drills another hole into the Strv,
before driving off to try to ambush the big American.
Look at this.
A few well-aimed shots are enough to doom the powerful heavy tank.
The Swedish machine tries to resume the duel,
but Spiritus isn’t interested and drives away into town.
Instead the E8 takes the fight to more enemy heavies. With good results.
The VK wants to avenge its fallen comrades,
but this is a fight it’s not going to win.
Now it seems the town is eerily quiet,
with the remaining combatants dispersed to the outer edges.
This mighty Ferdinand was too slow
and takes a few shots through its side for it.
Afterwards Spiritius_Vitae even manages to put a T26E5 down for the count.
So that’s why the Ferdi was looking the other way—it’s dealing with a Comet.
Well, it just became the meat in an allied sandwich.
Damn, the teammate is done for, but their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
Once again it has come down to this.
One surviving tank, against a pair of self-propelled guns.
The Hummel is soon found, and quickly disposed of.
But the American SPG tries to be clever,
however only manages to make itself an easier kill. It’s over.
What can I say?
Impressive work from a bottom tier med.
Lehvaslaiho’s medals are rare for a good reason.
That’s all for this episode.
No Maus this week, that was the biggest surprise for me.
Anyway, I’m Luke Kneller.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.