American Contract, A Mostly British Machine

I have it on good authority the closest items to a free Christmas vehicles this season in Armored Warfare will be the tier IX Chinese QN-506 and that will be only a three day rental (watch during the last two days of the current Winter Calendar), which is on par with the past offerings, the Challenger 1 Wolf for Day 13 and the AMX 10RCR for Day 19.

Although some would be quick to point out the current American Dream Battle Path, where no less than six permanent premium vehicles can be earned, should be more than enough. However, I think a "token" vehicle, with no effort or strings attached, would have been a nice gesture given the time of year.

Instead of brooding over that situation, I decided to cash in the American Contract (and spend 700 Gold for the bottom two missions, since they want PvP requirements to be met) and see what new things I will get....

The Challenger 2 ATDU Delivers

In Armored Warfare, I have always fallen back on my tier VII Challenger 1 Wolf for those times I have uncertainties about a new game mode, a fresh campaign or certain challenges. Turns out it's big brother, the tier X Challenger 2 ATDU carries that same family torch.

All I needed was eight more "Crush Enemies" points and I would roll over into the next mission. Well, the Challenger 2 collect that and a few extras to spare.

Voila Tada!

Hmmm....this part might take awhile.

Another added bonus is completed a modules upgrade for the tier V XM247 Sergeant York.

After reading the fine print, I think I will keep things just the way they are.

A Friendly Reminder

The Spec-Ops crate that can be earned from completing the returning Caribbean Crisis, Black Sea Incursion and Arabian Nights campaigns can come in very handy if you are progressing through the current American Dream Battle Path in Armored Warfare.   

Not only that, but the Battle Coin payouts are too bad either (assuming you are attempting this during the right time of day, some hours are slower to connect in than others).

Although I used my tier VIII Terminator Reaper, I would recommend using that (if you have one) or just about any other "quick gun" machine will help racking high potential damage and increasing the Reputation, Credit and Battle Coin payouts (free advice, no refunds).

From my perspective, this has to be one of the quickest ways to earn Battle Coins. Not only do you collect from the battles themselves (107, if my math is close to be correct)....

....but an additional 500 at the end (for a grand total of 607 Battle Coins). That's for playing just over an hour! However, I am not sure how many times this can be done during the time Spec-Ops is active, I will check later today, after the server reset and see if it can be done again.

Of course, there are a few folks who see this current Battle Path as "too grindy" or time consuming, so Armored Warfare recently activated this (the same thing as the M-95 Degman during the last campaign). More details on that can be found here.

Destroy And Net Experience

 For the "Destroy" mission portion in the current Battle Path in Armored Warfare, I have have been just bouncing back between my tier VI WZ-1224 and tier IX Type 99A, since that limitation was solely for Zhang Feng MBT's (and those are the only two I have actively working at the moment). 

 Two more kills, one battle should be enough to secure that.

Just to be safe, let's throw in a margin of overkill, shall we?

 For "Net Experience," the mission calls for nothing but Marat Shishkin Light tanks.

Good thing for me, the premium tier V M551 Sheridan Hi-Tech keeps it's dealer origins.

Despite the glacier reload times, this feisty little machine delivered not too badly.

On the flip-side, the tier IX Thunderbolt II has a very quick reload speed, but at the cost of lower damage. The Sheridan hits you with a wrecking ball, the Thunderbolt II is more like a nail gun (from a distance).   

Somewhere along the updates, it would appear I lost some of my progress onthe tier V Begelitpanzer 57?  Short of going through this blog and searching out what I may have written, I am at a loss to why I am only 50% through this vehicle. Still, a job half done performed adequately. 

This is a vehicle I almost never use, except for very rare occasions (and perhaps again in similar circumstances in the future). I was somewhat surprised with the results, but I was kinda disappointed with my teammates (it's a well known fact the some highly skilled players will "hide out" in the lower tiers to "pad their stats" and it looks like not one of those was among them).

I rolled into battle with what I thought was going to be a major disadvantage with the tier IV Scorpion 90, the stock ammunition....

 ....then I remembered this was a tier IV/V battle and all was good in the end.

Now, to continue on with "Deal Damage."

Tis The Season, Again Part 2

If you have been checking on the Winter Calendar for Armored Warfare (the website link has....technical issues) and noticed things were working as planned, that's okay, the items just might take a little longer to appear than expected.

Pictured above is the "Advent" camouflage the was given out for Christmas Eve and Day (until it rolls into the next item).

My goal for today was to break over 50,000 Battle Coins, an attempt to lessen the struggle towards the 70,000 needed to get to Rank 30 (okay, that made more sense in my head than reading it right now).

Once again, I activated another Battle Coin Booster and rolled out in my tier VIII Abrams M1A2.

 Not a good way to start the day....

....and the streak continued. 

Finally broke it here.

A collecting I went....

....and went....

....until the time ran out.

In the allotted two hours, I just barely surpassed the goal I set, despite the "bad vibe" start.

Tis The Season, Again

Well, running around the Christmas Village has returned to Armored Warfare.

I am going to sit this one out, but here's how it went down for me last year. If you interested, take a look at the details here.

The final T-14-152 Crates from the Winter Calendar came in for me today, there had been some kinda of technical issue with distributing them. And before you ask, no, I didn't get one and the parts I manage to put together is around the quarter mark needed for a full machine.

I am still slogging it out with the Caliber Mission.

I knew that Sheridan would finally come in handy! With it's monstrous cannon and HEAT shells that wreak havoc in the mid tiers, yeah....

The "Top Cat" loaded with HEAT also is paying off, the only serious problem is competing with other players for damage.

The Challenger 2 ATDU doesn't have a HEAT option (and the low penetration values on both the PISH and HESH made the decision for me), so I rely solely on the Improved APFSDS to get the job done.

Russian HEAT for the T-90MS is another reliable choice.

A disappointment from the tier IX Leopard 2A6. The HEAT rounds don't always penetrate to their maximum values, nor damage output, so I might just put this cat back to bed.

A Flame Job Light

Until now, the only premium, mid tiered Light Tank I had in Armored Warfare was the tier V M551 Sheridan Hi-Tech that I earned last year.

The upside was I already knew what to expect from it, since it is a premium version of an existing, progression vehicle I used before. The downside, I haven't used it much since I got it (however, that will change).

Having just completed the HEAT Mission for the current Battle Path, I was rewarded with the premium tier VI RDF/LT, a real scourge of a machine in the virtual opponent's hands. Now it's my turn to see if I can do half the stuff the programmed AI can do, with no previous experience....