Sunday, January 29, 2012

Wyatt Earp & Doc Holliday: Gunfight at Lakeville

A Battle in the Tiger II with an IS-3 Ally


Map: Lakeville
Tank: Tiger II



Map opens with a T59 on my team TKing a Hummel. This sent the team into a flaming tailspin as the T59 says tersely, "he was in the way." I dismiss my own rage at the crime, and realize there's the Dalton Gang to contend with, and I only hoped the team wouldn't dissolve into a responsive TKing mess. Things managed to calm down. Top tier was 8: me, an IS-3, a 45P/A, Ferd & 2 T59s vs. two T32s, a KV-5, Tiger II & two T59s. Me and a single IS-3 go town with no others. I take upper road solo while the IS-3 heads bottom. I go into full defensive mindset at 1st building corner, as I realize we are too weak in the east to do much else. Most of the team has gone valley. With an opening TK and extremely weak east push, this looks like a loss in the making.



I face-off vs. one of the T32s, a KV-5 and a 3001P. T32 wisely hulls down, at far end of upper town road, only showing me his turret, and KV-5 does little effective besides snipe with weak cannon for the first four or five volleys, before finally rushing me. The 3001P snipes from beside the T32, but misses nearly every time.


I knew I had to take out the T32 quick, as I'm alone, and not sure the true number of enemies in this urbania, and his is the most worrisome gun. I ignore the other two tanks, and aim carefully at his commanders cupola with my Doc Holliday shotgun, AKA, the trusty 105. I land four consecutive rounds that damage the T32 nicely, as they surprisingly remove 15 to 20% hp with each shot. By the time the KV-5 decides to rush and bring encroachment, the T32 is down to 10% and I'm at 75% (the T32 bounced mostly off me -- I kept hull angled and angled turret btwn shots). Just before they rush, the 3001P exposes himself over the hilltop of the road, and I remove half his life.




As the KV-5 and 3001P make their run at me, the T32 is now scared and not exposing or shooting, and I have time to plant 3 shots into KV-5's front, taking about 1/3 hp or more. He fully flanks me, and I cannot ignore him, this causes the T32 to get brave and make the long run toward me as well -- I've pulled around the building entirely to fight the KV-5, and I ignore the 3001P completely. My full-flanked-fight with the KV-5 has the 4th round land into his side, setting him afire, and I'm happy to see his HP now tick-off well below 50% as I'm reloading. The T32 has now cleared the building corner, and is ready to join-in the feeding frenzy. All three continue to eat at my HP and damage modules, but the Tiger II, to quote from the movie, "Das Boot": "is incredible." It bounces many of their shots, keeping Doc Holliday in the fight, like some sort of undead, amazingly staying alive.


I gamble the KV-5 does not load HE as I might do in that tank, and his gun is therefore much less worrisome. The T32 then finds that I have decided to entirely ignore the wounded KV-5 and fully engage him instead. Now, at near point-blank range, he realizes that Doc Holliday ain't dying too easy, and is turning his shotgun on him again. Wide-eyed, he makes a useless retreat, giving me full perpendicular penetration into his front hull, and at 10% he now egresses life in this battle. I turn back to the KV-5, who sits nearly facing away from me, giving me his side and rear, and makes no other maneuver for the remainder of his life. At his 3%, I swear at Odin and Thor, as I bounce three shots off his flat, rear-side at dance-floor range, before the IS-3 comes sauntering from town bottom, and completes his death, but not before eating another kill point with the 3001P. Having used repair on engine, and med kit on my gunner, that ordeal is over.


Me and the IS-3 (who is at 100%, like some sort of Wyatt Earp, and who will finish the game with Top Gun, making me ever the sickly Doc Holliday), now head back down the lower town path. He has had a nice meal of lower tiers in the bottom of town, while I fought for my life, hacking-up lung, in town top. I am torn since I gravitate to defense, and the match is basically tied. As we are about halfway through town, the teams trade deaths. Two enemies have pushed the middle mountain road. Wyatt and Doc damage both, as defenders finish them. Now, I see a red diamond nearing our base, on our side of the town. I decide to turn back, and leave full eastern push to Wyatt Earp.

As I come out at the lake road, the VK3601 is fully lighted. He is bearing down on our last artillery, who survived the earlier, opening T59 TKing plague. Before I do him any harm, he is 100%, and oblivious to the 105, sawed-off about to befall him. I take careful aim and land two rounds into him, the first removing over 50% hp, and the 2nd finishing him.


Wyatt, I mean, the IS-3 has decided to take the upper east town road again, and I move down the lower toward enemy base. Our valley defenders have done their job, and now we are clearly ahead in kills. As I leave the final building, I alight the base defenders, and an artillery round disturbs the cosmos all around me. Now I am clearly below 1/4 health. Pale-faced and hacking horribly, Doc now sees the Hummel who added to his misery, and clears away the vast majority of his hp with a single shotgun blast consisting of a roll of quarters. He then is destroyed by the ever-mopping-up IS-3 Earp, coming from top road, and loved by the gods of the old west. The Dalton Gang Hummel, however, has brothers too: a Grille, is over the ridge from me. Amazingly, I damage him down to single digits without killing, but the IS-3 gets him as well, and continues to live his charmed life, with all hp intact.


I come into the circle as the IS-3 is leaving the far side of it, and as our valley allies kill the last Dalton T59. Now, only a brave, dressed-in-all-black, T29 remains of the enemy, making a final stand in the far northwest corner, but with full range over his flag. The IS-3 has hurt him. I come up, and land a round into his front, and place Wyatt Earp-IS-3 between the T29 and me. But the Dalton T29 can smell a kill with Doc Holliday, and manages to get around the IS-3 and take my HP now down to single digits. I land another round into him, as the IS-3 completes his Top Gun.


Confederate, Sniper, Steel Wall, 3,839 (x2) and 62k credits. Lots of fun as I only wanted to do my daily double, but as you can see from the vast amounts of text, I had fun, love the Tiger Royale, and as of 1/29/2012, love WoT still....


As the battle drew to a close, the IS-3 rolls up to me and says, "Doc, now that this is over, let's get you to that sanitorium, you're a good friend." And I replied, "go to hell...."

Wyatt Earp
Doc Holliday
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral 

No comments:

Post a Comment