Hello, I’m Luke Kneller and welcome back to Best Replays of the Week.
In this episode we have: an indestructible O-Ho, a Scout with a sturdy helmet,
and a nature documentary from the North American Arctic Region.
Let’s Rock!
Let’s start with this week’s Defender, who is FaQ_Tank from the Asian servers.
The vehicle is an M41 Walker Bulldog, and the tier 8 battle is fought on Swamp.
FaQ sprints to a forward position, and opens fire on a VK 30.01 P.
It’s a strong start, even though the kill goes to somebody else.
FaQ doesn’t want to do any scouting, rather focuses on dealing damage instead.
This attack on a Ferdinand is very effective,
but the TDs allies come close to ending the Defender’s run right here.
The Bulldog can’t take any more punishment.
FaQ has to be very cautious from now on.
Some of the enemies are at death’s door too,
so it’s up to our Defender to push them through first!
Here’s another one.
“Goodbye Caernarvon, thanks for playing.”
And this one as well.
The four shells should be just about enough.
Yup. The game is now two against four.
Both FaQ and the remaining ally discover artillery pieces at the same time.
The Defender finishes one off immediately,
and the ally manages to deal with the other one.
Unfortunately, the remaining enemies have invaded the capture circle,
and the bar is moving fast!
There’s no time for a reload.
The shells in the magazine will have to be enough.
Uh oh, the capture is at ninety percent!
The Defender desperately fires on the move,
praying to RNGesus and killing the target from nearly 400 meters!
FaQ must be some sort of prophet…
The Type 62 fires, revealing its position.
FaQ hides and returns fire, fully resetting the cap.
It seems our Bulldog doesn’t have enough shells ready to finish the kill,
but it doesn’t matter, their ally arrives and secures the victory.
Nice work FaQ_Tank.
A Defender rises to the challenge, and you got there just in time.
That was a lucky shot, of course, but you miss all of the shots you don’t take!
We’ll follow that up with a Steel Wall replay, featuring the thick skinned O-Ho.
The battleground is Lakeville, and commanding this particular
Steel Beast is 99xtzzz,
oh, sorry, from the European region.
The battle starts, and 99 takes the shortest path towards the enemy.
And speaking of the enemies, here they are, still streaming out of the base.
The O-Ho’s boom-stick barks, and puts a satisfying dent into a Jagdtiger.
99 pushes on, and enemy gunners seem to suddenly wake up.
It’s like the start of a rain storm.
First a couple of drops, then a few more,
and all of a sudden it turns into a torrent.
The rock offers a bit of protection, and 99 stops to pick off a Chaffee.
Nothing is penetrating the armour though, so maybe cover isn’t even necessary.
The Jagdpanther is the next to go,
but this time the Steel Wall receives a dent as well.
Ouch. That one actually hurt.
99 still trusts the armour, so endures the hits,
rather than repairing the track and backing away.
When the track is back up,
the O-Ho rocks back and forth, but stays in the area to draw enemy fire.
Ouch! One more hit like that, and it’s all over.
The Steel Wall backs away,
and the drumbeat of fire slows to a steady hammering.
The Skorpion G is focusing on somebody else.
Vision is soon lost, but 99 knows where it is.
Boom! Take that!
Allies finish off the TD, and the Steel Wall joins the mopp up operation.
A lonely Black Prince is all that remains of the force trying to breach the Wall of Steel.
99 sends a couple of shells at his royal highness,
but the kill yet again goes to someone else.
The game is over, and the Steel Wall stands unbroken.
As with the Maus, it’s rare to see this tank being quite so shellproof.
It looked like our O-Ho had 99 problems
but blocking damage ain’t one! Look at ‘dem stats!
Staying on the EU servers for one more game, we have a Scout from Mrmrmr68.
In a high tier match on the Fiery Salient,
what a Scout needs above all else, is a sturdy helmet.
The IS-7’s turret should definitely qualify.
Let’s see how it holds up in a game where everyone seems
to have brought a tier 10 machine.
Mr68 heads directly south,
and immediately takes a Grille 15 shot to the side of the turret.
That opening shot sets the tone for the whole game.
The IS-7 keeps peeking out, spotting enemies, and bouncing shells off its turret.
Mr68 shoots plenty, dealing reasonable damage,
but it seems the main objective is revealing enemy positions.
Are you still not convinced that the IS-7 is a scout?
Look how Mr68 disappears into that bush. The tank is practically invisible!
Teammates sweep the Eastern flank clean, and surge forward.
The Scout goes forth as well, peeking over a new ridgeline.
Here’s some more typical Scout gameplay, including a cautious duel over the ridge.
Ouch. You know, if you stay still for too long, the arty will get you.
This is not as easy as it looks.
As you can see what happens, when a rival IS-7 pokes its head out.
OK, it’s time to finish this. Charge!
Look at that. Everything that is lit up by the Scout goes down in a hail of shells.
A tracking hit stops the advance for a moment,
but it doesn’t change the outcome. It’s a Victory!
A true Scout can take almost any tank, and do well with it.
And over 15,000 in assisted damage is clearly enough to prove that
the IS-7 makes for a pretty fine scout, when needed.
Now let’s hop over to the American servers, for a Crucial Contribution from Eackzem.
That’s quite a name you’ve got there commander, let’s go with Zem for short.
Zem rides into battle with a Škoda T 40, landing in the middle tier for a battle at the Fjords.
Matchmaker is kind, and there are only three top tier opponents to worry about.
The first encounter is with a VK scout, which gets swiftly dealt with.
Our Škoda fires through the trees,
killing an O-I Experimental without getting spotted.
Pushing forward, Zem lands a hit on a Stridsvagn,
and picks off a speeding Luchs.
A platoon mate dashes forward, and meets a grisly end.
Zem plays more cautiously, holding back and destroying a low tier TD.
The Škoda is the last tank standing in this part of the map,
and the reds are four points in the lead.
It’s time to get the heck out of here.
Zem stops for a moment to ambush the O-I, however the rest of the team
are getting crushed, and our hero is soon left alone.
One against five.
“Ok, let’s do this.”
That’s one down, four to go.
Hmph! That’s not good.
The T-34 got in a free shot, but Zem sends it back to garage for it.
The O-I drives into the capture zone, forcing Zem to have to go and deal with it.
Firing through the tree cover worked once before,
but even HEAT rounds can’t penetrate reliably.
Zem’s cover is blown, and has no choice but to charge into close combat.
“Take that!”
Strangely, the behemoth doesn’t fire.
Did it run out of ammo?
Was the ammo-rack hit?
In any case, this toothless herbivore is terminated.
That leaves two, a TD and an SPG.
The Sturer Emil is met on the road.
Repeating what looks like a signature move, Zem puts in a single shot,
then speeds away to find the other.
Which is here.
A single shot puts the arty out of commission,
and turns the endgame into a duel.
Damaged as it is, the St Emil is one of the top tier opponents.
If it has the upgraded gun, a single hit could blow up the Škoda.
Zem drives into the capture circle, and prepares for the fight.
If she’s coming around the mountain when she comes, yeehaw!
Then, err, this is a good spot.
The capture is almost ready when the St Emil appears on the flank!
Man, that stings, but the Škoda is still in one piece.
No need brooding over the mistake, Zem charges in, but misses a hasty shot.
Safe for the moment, but what to do now?
There’s a brief standoff, and Zem lures the Emil into taking a bad shot.
The risk pays off, but the opponent still holds the upper hand.
As it so happens, the standoff continues,
even the blare of the 2 minute siren doesn’t change anything.
I think Zem is trying to hypnotise their opponent.
Maybe it worked.
When the Škoda finally does make its move, the Emil seems to get caught by surprise!
Zem is free to drive out and end the game. GG
Phew! That was a good game all around, but duelling with a capping O-I,
and of course the final showdown made it stand out.
Well played, Zem!
Our final replay takes the form of a nature documentary
from the North American server’s Arctic Region.
The lynx looks soft and cuddly, but it is a powerful hunter,
perfectly adapted to the Northern Wilds.
This litter of three siblings is ready to go hunting.
In a tier 4 battle like this one, the little Luchs’ are apex predators.
_Monkeys_ takes point, loping fearlessly through the snowy terrain.
The Pz. I C flashes its claws, but ferrule0327 trips it,
and the trio bring it down together.
A small herd is spotted by the mother.
The lynx cubs pounce, but in the excitement
Monkeys gives RedoxTV a bit of a scratch.
The stricken sibling sulks for a while,
and Monkeys leaps upon two outlying prey.
After redox joins in, they all have proven themselves with a kill.
Monkeys seems to be the alpha, charging first from the pack,
fearlessly towards the next target.
It tries to fight back, but the agile lynx hopelessly outmatches it.
Redox takes down a Ke-Ho, bringing the hunt up to six.
Ferrule, feeling overshadowed by the others,
has something to prove, charging forward and pounces on a fierce Pz 38.
The D2 tries playing dead, or maybe just paralyzed by fear.
Either way, it falls victim to the pack just like the others.
With their recent success, the, now overconfident,
cubs split up desperately trying to outmatch each other.
Monkeys is the first to track something down, shortly after, Redox finds a D.W. 2.
Sadly, Redox’s overconfidence has let it to bite off more than a Luchs can chew,
and takes a mortal wound during the attack.
Monkeys succeeds, but one of the cubs will be missing at the end of the day.
A Hetzer slowly crawls up a slope, unaware of the impending danger.
It’s a tough creature, but superior knowledge
of the terrain allows the kittens to overwhelm it.
That’s eleven kills for this hunt. Enough to feed them for a month.
They are not alone however, as other predators show themselves
trying to intimidate Ferrule.
The Luchs isn’t impressed however, and accepts the challenge with fever.
The area is almost clear of opposition, with just two creatures remaining.
They are both here, and the siblings battle them with practised skill.
This massive hunt has left Monkeys thirsty and dirty,
so the cub dives into the icy water to freshen up.
So three siblings were able take and hold significant portions of the Article Circle
here in North America.
Unfortunately, nature is cruel, and Redox was unable to live to an old age,
as a dominating predator, of the region.
Well, that’s it for this week.
A good start to the season me thinks.
I hope you’ve enjoyed our little documentary, a different approach than usual.
I’m Luke Kneller.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.
Allies finish off the TD,
and the Steel Wall joins the mopp up operation.