In this episode we have:

a Steel Wall massacre in Paris,

an inappropriate choice for a Scout,

and a spectacular Top Gun with an artillery piece.

Let's get to it.

Best Replays of the Week

Let's start with warhawk15, bouncing shells of an E 100

under the Eiffel Tower.

The German land cruiser is big and tough,

though not quite as well protected as a Maus.

And indeed, the very first shot punches through.

Don't get too worried though, there are plenty of hit points to go through.

A pile of rubble provides good cover,

while the 15 cm cannon barks like a hound of hell.

VK 100.01 P tries to counter by erecting a literal wall of steel,

but it doesn't really work out.

A Japanese behemoth drills a hole into the commander.

“Get up sir, this is no time to take a nap!”

Armour isn't holding up that well,

but things are going even worse for the Reds.

The Kranvagn makes a play, backed up by the Type 4,

but our Steel Wall bounces every shot.

“Is it my turn now?”

A Kranvagn attempts to side scrape, before firing off another volley.

Warhawk is not impressed.

Taking out a T30 gives the Swede another opportunity to rush in.

The commander is dead again, but the autoloader takes a beating.

Even with the artillery strike, there's only one way this will end.

That was six against one for a while there.

Let's hope that the armour continues to hold up.

The next foe goes down almost immediately,

making our Steel Wall a Top Gun as well.

Opponents swarm all around,

as the E 100 lurks under a bridge like troll from a fairy tale.

An IS-3 gets blown up at point blank range...

...followed by a T69.

The slaughter has been too much for a German Bulldog.

It tries to run, but there is no escape.

This just leaves a tier 10 SPG,

which has some much deserved payback coming to it.

Rather than hiding, the cheeky fellow goes for a capture.

Sorry buddy, not today.

Almost 6.5k blocked, and with an impressive 8k in damage.

The ammunition costs a mint of course,

but with 10 kills you can't argue with the results. Good job, warhawk15!

Scout

Next, one of our traditional “scouting with an inappropriate tank” games,

featuring woj2012 and an Object 907.

The location is Lakeville on the European server.

This tier 10 medium tank was given out to those who did well in Clan Wars.

It's rare enough, to be a bit of a wild card opponent for many players.

As far as woj is concerned though, it only needs two things right now.

A burst of speed to get behind this rock, and a decent view range.

Don't get me wrong, the quick firing 100 mm gun is handy,

but this game is mostly about spotting for the team.

There's a rival scout lurking behind a bend in the road.

It peeks out occasionally, even testing the Object's armour once.

A friendly TD arrives and takes care of it,

before it becomes too much of a nuisance.

The spotter's job is done. There's nothing more to do here,

aside from putting a few shells into this Jagdpanzer.

There are still a few high value targets lurking in the enemy base.

woj puts a shell into an SPG, before pounding the Mäuschen for all it's worth.

Would there be a 3rd kill to be had still?

Oh yes, with the match ending shot. GG.

Short but sweet. The match was only 5 minutes long,

but woj manged to score 10.5k in assistance,

with almost 4k in personal damage on top of that.

No wonder it looked like an easy win for the team.

Invader

Now back to the American region with this week's Invader, Qiyo.

The map is Overlord, with our champion's T49 in the middle tier.

The match starts with aggressive recon and skirmishing.

The short-barreled derp-gun lands several hits,

but early on the damage is somewhat limited.

The first kill is stylish, but not particularly impressive otherwise.

Qiyo drives around, looking for targets.

This E4 has strayed far from its support. That earns it a shell in the rear.

Pushing deep into Red territory brings in some spotting damage,

but also a rather unwelcome artillery strike.

Qiyo drives away, pausing briefly to lob a shell at a distant Jagdtiger.

An attempted shot at an Emil misses,

but there's more spotting damage for a consolation prize.

One of the foes is attempting a capture, but as we can see, Qiyo is no Defender.

Somebody else can take care of the rest.

Though it doesn't mean our Invader can't get in there and pick up a second kill.

This 13 90 is far from its home turf. It probably knows what's coming.

Swedish TDs are butting heads on an incline. It makes for an easy gank.

A third Swede kills the teammate,

earning a 152 mm shell up the tailpipe as a reward.

The things get a little dangerous during the reload.

The 103 gets sent to the garage in the end,

but not before the last teammate has departed the match as well.

One against three, with 226 hit points.

The rival T49 shows its face, only to have it blown to kingdom come.

One of the SPGs is found sunning itself at the beach.

Getting the gun to depress low enough is a bit of an issue,

but Qiyo pulls it off eventually.

That leaves a T92 HMC,

the artillery piece with the biggest splash radius in the game.

Our Invader spends a fair bit of time looking for it,

before deciding to end the game with a capture. Finally!

The stylish handbrake turn into the shadow of the house

might seem like a good idea, but it draws some screams from a teammate.

The Invader picks a more random spot,

which turns out to be just outside the splash radius.

Where's the second shot going to fall?

Qiyo fidgets a little, as there's nothing to do but wait.

Look at that. Staying next to the house would have been a huge mistake.

There won't be time for a 3rd shot,

so our cheeky Invader destroys a bit of terrain, just to taunt the artillerist.

There we go. Victory by capture.

The massive splash of a T92 made for a tense ending,

and it's rather cool how activity in the chat was crucial to the victory.

Well played, Qiyo and chat.

Defender

From Invader to Defender, also from the American region.

kevinvirnoche is the hero of the hour, commanding a WZ-132 at Erlenberg.

The crew seems a little overexcited about the top tier position,

or maybe it's just the driver.

This Chinese scout packs a medium tank's firepower,

which Kevin puts to use right away.

Staying on the front to fight multiple opponents would be suicidal, however.

This machine just doesn't have the armour for it.

The shell velocity could be a little higher for a long range work as well.

Maybe, we should wait for the targets to hold still.

Kevin crosses over to the western flank, picking up a 4th kill along the way.

The castle seems indefensible.

Teammates are engaging a Panther on the other side of the river.

Our champion would like to help, but enemy artillery doesn't like the idea.

The driver is down for now,

but the gunner manages to finish off the German feline.

A T28 prototype crawls into view from between buildings.

It tangles with a teammate,

as the Defender starts hammering it into scrap.

In the end both machines blow up. I guess that's a draw.

The match is now three against five, with only SPGs for backup.

Kevin crosses over to the east, ending up locked in battle with another Panther.

Another crewmember is felled by an artillery strike,

just as the previous one got patched up.

The SPGs are snuffed out. Our Defender is alone, one against five.

On the plus side, the Panther tries to be too clever by half, leaving only four.

Red artillerists do their worst,

but this time they just manage a tiny bit of splash.

Capture siren. Kevin turns back to Defend, but it's a false alarm.

The delay is welcome, as it means getting the loader back into action.

Just in time too.

But the KV-85 gets away despite the rate of fire.

The WZ relocates, attempting a blind shot,

before continuing all the way back across the map.

Both SPGs are in the circle, side by side.

Talk about shooting fish in a barrel.

It's not over yet though.

While the KV is almost dead, a Ferdinand is a serious threat.

It would be good to engage them on the Defender's terms.

One of them enters the circle, but which one?

It's the Ferdi, with plenty of hit points to its name.

Kevin pounces, landing a beautiful tracking hit at full speed.

Up close the big machine is helpless.

Now it needs to die before the KV arrives.

Nice. And just in time too, as the KV's shot whizzes over the turret.

There's an APCR shell in the breech, and some hit points left in the chassis.

Kevin throws finesse into the wind,

finishing the match with a drive-by beat down.

Talk about a Defender carry!

Eleven kills, a respectable amount of damage,

and of course several well executed defensive actions. Nicely done, Kevin!

Top Gun

This week's climax is a spectacular artillery performance by sosniak666.

With the recent changes to the SPGs,

we probably won't see the likes of it again.

Sosniak's murder machine is an American M44

self-propelled artillery piece. The map is Swamp.

First, a couple of warm-up shots to wake the crew up.

Now let's see a real one.

Lead the target a little, and boom. Just like that.

Swap the aiming mode. Wait out the reload, and fire.

A nice un-eyed hit.

Sosniak gets into a nice rhythm,

scoring two more kills in quick succession.

The Red team is surging ahead.

I wonder how well the luck of those four-leaf clovers will hold.

Here's a chance to help out. Good bye, E 25.

The situation continues to deteriorate,

down to a single tank destroyer backing up the SPGs.

Sosniak falls back, setting up a TD-like ambush.

It works, but look at the situation. Is this even remotely winnable now?

And there goes the Grille. Its one against five, in an SPG.

Sosniak waits, and then waits some more.

Suddenly a Cromwell charges in, faster than our Top Gun can pull the trigger.

Don't miss!

Phew. Good job, gunner.

Staying here would be suicide, especially with the counter-arty threat.

And speaking of threats, here comes the next one.

Tier 6 arty vs. a tier 7 heavy tank? What do you think?

Sosniak lines up a shot, arcing over the shallow hill.

Vision is lost, but the HEAT shell finds its mark. Incredible!

You know what? This is actually starting to look survivable now.

Especially when this American SPG can haul ass like a fast medium tank.

Here's the AT 2.

It seems to have fallen asleep,

but just getting detected by it is dangerous enough.

A two-on-one shotgun fight is still quite a challenge.

What's the plan here, Sosniak?

The Grille appears and fires.

Our champion returns the shot, still using HEAT shells.

Sosniak doesn't seem interested in swapping back to high explosive.

I guess they trust their aim.

And not without reason, it seems. The game is now a one-on-one duel.

Our champion sets off at high speed to find the M12,

only to meet it coming the other way.

One last pull of the trigger secures the victory.

A ten kill Top Gun with a mid-tier SPG.

Seeing is believing as they say, and that sure was spectacular.

Take a look at those medals as well. Incredible play, sosniak666!

Best Replays of the Week

That's all for this episode.

I'm really happy about that artillery game,

showcasing the best of the old as we're getting used to the new paradigm.

I'm Luke Kneller.

Thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.