In this episode we have:

a cunning Defender,

a Spähpanzer on a rampage,

and spectacular display from a T49.

Let's get started!

Let's begin by listening to the familiar sound of high speed projectiles,

striking thick steel plates.

Heading into a firestorm at Live Oaks is a Type 4 Heavy,

commanded by betabug from the EU region.

The Heavy rolls into town,

announcing its arrival with a blast from the boom tube.

Early on, the match is more about punishing the opposition,

than tanking their shots.

The Reds do try their best,

but fighting this Japanese monster has to be demoralizing.

It seems to shrug off any hits, and the return fire is truly devastating.

The Mäuschen, at least, should provide a challenge.

Sparks fly off the armor in the clash of titans,

but for the longest time, that is all that happens.

Betabug's teammates tip the scales,

as the German gunner finds a chink in the armor.

This inspires the gunner to pay it back in kind.

Farewell, oh worthy foe.

The endgame starts four against four,

but the squishy teammates aren't long for this world.

The open ground here seems a little too dangerous, even for a Wall of Steel.

The other side of the hill has healthier climate.

The tier 9 Leopard attacks with courage,

causing severe damage.

The IS falls back to firing HE rounds.

It's mostly just annoying, but the damage is mounting up.

Ouch, this is actually starting to get serious.

The Type 4 is a mighty beast, but even dragons can be slain.

Reload seems glacially slow, but the payoff is worth the wait.

Boom! Just one more to go.

Make no mistake. The IS could totally win this.

But it's not going to.

A single mistake is all it takes, and the Steel Wall remains unbroken.

Eight thousand damage, nearly nine thousand blocked,

and an impressive number of kills.

The HE shells did a surprising amount of damage,

but the Steel Wall stood firm.

Great job, betabug!

Sniper

The Sniper of the Week is Altansar, who plays in the American region.

Their weapon of choice is a UDES 03,

which gets to see some action at Erlenberg.

Finding a good firing position is a bit of a challenge,

but Altansar does find it eventually.

The location brings in a couple of kills,

as well as a respectable amount of damage.

A fast reverse gear comes in handy when the targets run out.

Nice shot, but you probably shouldn't stay out in the open.

Reds attempt a rather cheeky capture.

The tall grass gives just enough cover, for taking them apart in relative safety.

The survivors try to run, but it's much too late for that.

The slaughter is complete.

The foes have been reduced to a few stragglers, such as the Easy Eight here.

Let's put it out of its misery as well.

A Tiger P is a sturdier target,

but that just means firing a few additional shots.

The end result is the same.

Impressive accuracy, with even more impressive damage numbers.

Add in nine kills, and a chest full of medals for Altansar.

What's not to like.

Top Gun

Let's follow that with a Top Gun game.

The player is EPlay, in command of a Spähpanzer SP I C.

The location is Karelia, on an EU server, with our champion

on the defending side of an Assault match.

The Spähpanzer dashes across the swampy terrain,

scoring the first kill just forty seconds into the match.

The remaining shells find a new home in the soft body of a Borsig.

This is dangerous ground, but EPlay isn't going anywhere.

The next trio of shells deals punishing damage to a Löwe,

which doesn't stick around to be finished off.

The FCM, likewise, draws back when engaged.

A critically damaged Škoda T 50 dies on the second attempt,

which leaves an extra round for securing an un-eyed kill.

This has been a rather nice start.

Let's finish off that Löwe while we're at it.

Maybe with a second un-eyed kill, just for style.

A third attempt at the trick fails,

as does the attempt on a rival Spähpanzer.

Oh well, as long as it's dead.

The FCM is still there, and it's in trouble.

Let's give it the help it needs.

Is there anybody up here?

Oh boy, yes there are.

Tag, you're it.

The plateau is a little too hot,

so EPlay offloads the next magazine into an E 75…

which turns out to be difficult to damage.

Would a Caernarvon be squishier?

Apparently so.

Now the E 75 is showing its butt. That's just rude!

Taking out the Skorpion G would be great,

but a single magazine doesn't quite do the trick.

After a reload the TD has vanished.

Not to worry though, here's another one of the same make.

And the Borsig from before, as a bonus.

Once again, the wounded Skorpion manages to get away.

Slippery creatures...

It decides to stop running and fight back, which is probably a mistake.

A hunter's instinct suggests that the first one is somewhere close.

Maybe just around the corner.

Boom!

That's ten kills.

Better do a reload before going after the remaining heavy.

One… Two… Three.

Nice damage, but the foe is still standing.

Is there enough time for a reload?

Teammates take the heavy down to a sliver of health,

but it's EPlay's final HEAT shell which hammers in the last nail.

That was just about perfect.

I'm not sure we've seen a light tank dominate the opposition

quite so hard before now. Amazing work, EPlay!

Defender

Staying on the EU servers, we'll go from Top Gun to Defender.

rolinagy98 brings an AMX CDC to El Halluf,

showing us how these things are done.

The battle is an Encounter,

giving a lot more time when it comes to defense.

The first customer is an Ru 251, loitering on the edge of the circle.

Rolinagy has a pair of HE shells for soft skinned targets like this one.

The first round works like a charm,

but the second one is a bit disappointing.

As a consequence, a rival CDC gets in a shot, before the kill is secure.

This is a dangerously open spot for the Defender's unarmored machine.

Survival will depend on gun depression and mobility.

A hit from the E 75 could ruin the whole day.

It needs to die before the gun goes off.

The next shell very nearly hits a teammate…

Luckily, “almost” doesn't count.

Rolinagy is on a roll,

putting on a display worthy of a Confederate award on its own.

The rival CDC does some damage,

but it doesn't live long enough to boast about it.

The battle seems to be going quite well for the Greens,

until the team suddenly collapses.

Another one bites the dust, but there's still four to go.

I wonder if this Jagdtiger is going to do anything useful.

The big TD does manage a kill before getting owned.

That leaves three to deal with.

And here we go.

It's about time this turned into an actual Defender game.

Since there's just one capper in the circle,

our Defender has plenty of time to play this smart and sneaky.

Since the capper can't be seen from here, let's take care of the others first.

And speak of the devil, there's the SPG.

It's likely the tank, rather than the TD, in the circle.

Yup, there it is.

There's no shot to be had from here, and the Reds will be waiting.

Better head back the other way.

Detection happens suddenly,

and the quick-draw contest isn't a great success on either side.

The Waffenträger pulls back for a moment, before resuming its watch.

Peeking out where it expects would be suicide.

Here, on the other hand… Au revoir, mon ami.

Nicely done, but now the capture is getting uncomfortably close.

I guess we'll see if the mobility of the CDC lives up to the hype.

99… 100… and reset!

The T34 is too strong to fight in the circle.

Rolinagy puts in another shell, before sprinting away.

Time is not really an issue, so the shots can be carefully set up.

When sixth sense goes off, it's time to back off.

In theory, the match timer could become an issue,

but our Defender wraps up the game, with almost a minute to spare.

Not the most dynamic Defense fight,

but the opponents were completely outplayed.

The early game was worthy of a Confederate award in itself,

which is quite a trick combined with a 7 kill Top Gun.

But with a hundred percent reset that makes it a defender in my eyes, Rolinagy.

You know what the name is.

Crucial Contribution

And now, let's wrap up the episode

with a piping hot Crucial Contribution from the American servers,

courtesy of WK_Franz.

The game is a tier 9 Encounter at Redshire,

with a T49 as the machine of the hour.

And as you can see, Franz has brought along a friend.

The action starts on the fly, without slowing down to aim.

After circling around the hill, the next target is a rival T49.

The capture circle and its surroundings are a hot combat zone.

Franz stays on the move, dealing damage as the opportunities arise.

This Panther is so focused it's almost a shame to break its concentration.

Almost.

With a three machine capture on the way, Franz is free to go hunting.

Where do you think you're going?

Some enemy hero seems to be sabotaging the capture,

while our own champion is busy shutting down the artillery support.

As the cappers deal with the problem,

Franz arrives to guard them from further interference.

The O-Ho gets a pounding,

and the S-tank finds out it's not quite as sneaky as it thought.

Can the capture be saved?

Not with such hasty shots, it can't.

The O-Ho blows up on the next attempt, but an E 75 has broken through.

There's a fox among the chickens.

A slow, heavily armored fox, but a fox, nonetheless.

This game isn't going to be decided with a capture.

It's time to just kill everyone.

Another one goes down, as the teammate pulls out all the stops.

The last one is a French autoloader, which proves to be surprisingly sturdy.

The SU charges in, bravely but foolishly.

Let's try another HEAT round.

Now that's more like it.

One more hit should do it,

but there's no need to risk facing that autoloading cannon.

Franz sneaks in close, charging when Sixth Sense lights up.

Boom! And that is all she wrote.

What an excellent game.

An eight kill Top Gun is pretty sweet on its own,

but as that base experience shows, this one was something special.

Well done, WK_Franz!

That's all for this episode.

Nice, aggressive games, with plenty of skill.

We look forward to seeing more of those from you guys.

I'm Luke Kneller.

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

Boom! That's 11 kills!..

It says ten, I don't know why I said eleven.

I don't know how that comes out sometimes.

Apparently, I can't read English.

Nice damage, but the foe stays...

The FCM, likewise, draws back when engaged.

♫I'm still standing, yeah yeah yeah...♫

Au revoir, mon ami.

Where's my coffee?

O-Ho, get to pounding!

Bada boom, bada bing.