Skin A Rooicat?

The latest acquisition in Armored Warfare comes from a surprising source.

Oscar Faraday was a new dealer that was introduced to the game while I was absent, on other projects.

Unbeknownst to me, I had made significant progress towards unlocking my first vehicle from the man who has a cobra for an emblem. Since I was so close, I wondered if I was within a light tank battle or two to collect the Rooicat 76.

Sure enough, one sortie with the premium tier V Sheridan Hi-Tech sealed the deal....

....along with some credits from the bank and off to my first battle.

ZZZzzz...

It's not that I haven't been putting anytime into Armored Warfare this past while.

I am still able to collect the Daily Login Bonus....

....and still knocking out a few battles. 

However, I am more tired than usual after working during these past days, so going to bed at a decent hour is a little more important than blowing up virtual tanks. I think over the next coming day or two, I should be adjusted to the routine and be back into a more real swing of things ingame.

A Deal's A Deal

In a previous post, I made myself a deal about how I would proceed with a certain mission in Armored Warfare.

The requirement was to collect 25 Blue Stars (being the absolute best player in a particular battle)....

....or the option of using 2100 banked up Battle Coins to move onto the final chapter of my "Abrams Storm" adventure.

I opted for the latter, thanks to a very good sortie in my Ramka-99 (BMPT Terminator).

With the rewards added to the coffers, I am now just over half way done for the final prize.

I am laughing to myself, since the very next battle after making this decision, produced these results.

It Was Written

A long time ago, I tried my hand at crafting a piece of fan-fiction based on characters and the environment of Armored Warfare. Although I haven't written anything new in quite some time, here are the previous chapters of that story.

Perhaps, if I get enough comments, I might return to tap the keys to try and continue....

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/valkyries.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/knockout.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/shadows.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/dismissal.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/transition.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/rendezvous.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/snare.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/reflections-reader-discretion-advised.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/family.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/trials.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/addition.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/concerns.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/04/guarded.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/05/patton.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.com/2016/12/reserve.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.com/2016/12/observance.html

http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.com/2017/01/proposal.html

A Bit Of A Push

Although it wasn't my first battle for this session of Armored Warfare, I thought it was a cool enough screenshot to put in this post.

Even the game went well for me, decent returns and a fairly good team.

With a pretty busy weekend coming up, I decided to put in as much gametime as I could, so I ran the gambit of nearly all my premium vehicles, along with a few progression assets I have been slowly building the reputation for.

Since the current Battle Coin bonus is a limited time event, I wanted to bank up and cash in as much as I could to move on to the next task.

I will give it my very best shot at collecting those twenty five Blue Stars, but I have this feeling that getting enough Battle Coins will be a much easier thing to do to pass on to the final chapter of my "Abrams Storm" progress series.

Terminator Can Now Terminate

A short while ago, I unlocked and installed a much needed ammunition upgrade for my Ramka-99 (BMPT Terminator) in Armored Warfare, but waited for the right time to showcase this increase in firepower potential.

Merely coincidental in timing, there is also a limited time bonus on the go, so why not show off the one and collect on the other....

In some belated sad news, a valuable Armored Warfare news source for me (and many others), Gamestone, has decided to throw in the towel. Read their last post here and check out their older articles, contests and content.

Fortress Conquered

Perhaps I should have had the cameras rolling for this epic battle in Armored Warfare.

I started things off with collecting the Daily Login Rewards.

Next, I set about in my attempt to finish off the Fortress portion of the "Abrams Storm" mission. A solid start with what some would consider "too weak a contender"....

....with a "I am not sure why it didn't happen for me during this battle" interruption....

....and finally concluding the whole venture with an old favorite.

Fortress is now complete.

I have no desire nor interest in completing the next task as required....

....so I will just "buy pass" it.

Now, just to save up through the "rise and repeat" cycle of collecting BattleCoins for the next task.

Writing On The Wall?

The whole Armored Warfare experience has changed in a very big way and that has raised my concern level about the future of the community and the very game itself.

For some time now, my.com has been pushing the use of their official Armored Warfare Discord service and now the final nail has been driven into the coffin for the forums. However, it's only the NA/EU regions that are affected, the RU forums are still running with no announcement mirroring any discontinuation of service there (I find it rather ironic that Drew is the one who posted the close down of the forums, since he was a big part of the last MMO I enjoyed for many years, Need for Speed World, which shut the game down first, then the forums quite some time later).

The bigger question I am asking myself: why?

Armored Warfare lost money in 2018, so could this be an attempt to cut costs? Although I am not an expert, but I seriously doubt turning off the NA/EU forums is going to save them any significant amount of funds for improving the game and/or other services associated with it.

As for Discord, I am not overly interesting in using that as my source of information and asking questions. Unlike the forums, there isn't a powerful search function and it's archive capabilities are nothing more than a scrolling-in-hopes-I-find-what-I-am-looking-for waste of time.

I guess for now, I will just use the game portal in the client to keep me up to date on what's going on and coming up, along with checking out translations from the RU forums for additional information.

Even after I discovered (and contemplated) this today, I proceeded to make a video on the final chapter of Caribbean Crisis. However, I couldn't and can't shake this uneasy feeling about the untold future that's coming....

Blockage

Sometimes, performing a certain task in a video game sounds like a relatively easy thing to do and Armored Warfare is not exception to this deception.

Take this for example, earn 15 Target medals to advance to the next mission. Without knowing what that would entail, it sounds pretty straightforward, right?

However, after one reads the description of the requirements, that task comes more into focus.

Despite the fact I have already three out of the fifteen needed, the task is far from easy and if you are willing to continue, I will share my tips for how I did and hope to continue to do it.

First, I weigh the dangers and approach known spawn points or capture circles and prepare to take a beating. Auto-cannons are the best weapon to be attack by, since the penetration and damage levels aren't nearly as worrisome as larger caliber cannon shells (which can be mitigated to a degree with angling the vehicle I am using).

Having a field rebuild kit installed (since this is to be played out in PvE mode anyways) is a very necessary thing to have, just in case I underestimate the strength of the single or multiple opponents attacking me. I have discovered the best results for collecting on this requirement is being alive at the end of the battle.

The hard part is gauging how much "potential" damage I have shrug off, since these metrics are not readily available during the battle.....

It boils down to the vehicle I am using, the team and map I am assigned with and the strategy the enemy using, along with their compliment assets they brought.

From The Green And Uping The Mean

When last I posted something about Armored Warfare, I had just completed the second chapter of Caribbean Crisis.

Now it's the weekend and  higher rewards bonus was made active in the Special Operations game mode and there is one machine I have that could use all the help it can get for a much needed upgrade.

Sadly, I wasn't anywhere near the beginning of Caribbean Crisis to take full advantage of this, but every little bit helps (especially when I experience "all the stars lining up" like the above pictured battle results).

Some players could and might still point out that I could have used some of my banked up free Reputation to bypass the pain and frustration of playing the tier VIII BMPT Terminator (Ramka-99) in it's "fresh from the showroom" condition.

The funny thing was, I was just getting used to playing with a....deficiency when I took another look at my progress towards some badly needed, better ammo.

However, I am not going to allow myself to "suffer" through with more missed opportunities in the future, like I had to endure since I got this Russian machine.

The orange line represents what I am currently firing from the guns, the blue line is the ATGM install and the inserted image is the new rounds for the "pew-pew" dispenser. Before to showcase the changes to that asset, a little excursion on a tropical, Atlantic island....

Two Birds, One Stone

In Armored Warfare today, I collected on this....

.... and went to that, thanks to Chapter 2 of Caribbean Crisis....

Caribbean Crisis Returns! Chapter 1

Caribbean Crisis is back in Armored Warfare, for a limited engagement. Read the details here.

If you want to check out my take on the first chapter, since I didn't play it when it was originally released, then look no further....

Show Me The Money!

I present to you a little something from Armored Warfare and a little something from Real Life.

Starting with Armored Warfare, here was my opening Credit balance for the day.

First things first, I collected the guaranteed payout from the Login Bonus. 

Next, I took a little trip to myLoot and picked up three Gold Chests. The picture above shows a person's chances at the prizes, light green representing "most likely," orange indicated "possible, just don't hold your breath."

Needless to say, I didn't cash in big, but I didn't walk away empty handed either.

Anyhow, the credit total with the previous balance and what I collected before my first battle of this session in my tier X Turkish Altay premium MBT.

Not too shabby in the results department, although the Credit payout would have been somewhat better if I had activated some Premium. Also seen is the state of my progress for the "Abrams Storm" mission.

After running through most of my higher tiered premium vehicles, I decided to work on my tier VIII BMPT Terminator (Ramka-99) progression. Auto-cannons do speed up the mission progress.

I admit, making Credits in PvE without premium, can be a long, slow endeavor, especially when a player isn't pulling off a spectacular performance.

And of course, there was another denomination I am banking up.

From the Real Life files, a scam.

Like millions of people around the world, I use Facebook, mostly for personal and family reasons. However, there was an ad Gather-Trend that popped up a few times over this last Christmas Season that was too irresistible to ignore (well, at least for me it was).

Despite my better judgement and ignoring that little voice in my head that warned this seemed to good to be true, I placed an order for what I thought was going to be a "smoking deal" and left for my two week rotation for work.

While I was gone, the package arrived and my wife texted me a picture of it. For some odd reason, it struck me as a little on the small side for being a 1/16 scale Tank....hmmm.

With my two weeks over and safely returned home, I couldn't wait to see this remote controlled Leopard replica I had ordered.

I guess this must be a "secret sphere variant" I haven't heard of before?

In all seriousness, if a deal, be it in Real Life or on the internet looks too good to be true, take the time to research the product you might be considering to buy (compare values/prices) and take a close look at the seller, especially if the name is unfamiliar to you.