Story of the day

With 1.2.0, they say that tier 4 tanks won't be matched against tier 6.  Because of this I've been looking at my tier 4 tank's guns to see if I might want to trade the best penetrating for one that does more damage, like the 105mm gun in the T40.  The change also makes it more fun to play tier 4.

The story: I'm playing the Hetzer (I believe it's clearly the best tier 4 vehicle) on the desert map (the original), and I'm in the south corner up high setup to snipe.  And I wait.  Soon it's only me and another, so I get down and head for the occupied base.  Before I get there, my teammate is eliminated, so it's 3v1.  I make a kill at the base, and then run up against another Hetzer.  I get the first shot off, so I know I'll win a face to face.  I dodge a shot somehow, and keep pounding him.  I start getting pinged by a tank from behind.  I kill the Hetzer and spin to attack the A32 (premium tier 4 medium)  again I start slugging it out in the open with no cover near.  He gets me down to 10 hp, and I know he fires next.  He fires and PING, a deflection!  Point blank, with no movement and a bounce?  Looking at stats that should have been a kill, plus why not aim at the view port, the lower glacis, or the very weak 'bumpers' inside the treads (OK, the 'bumpers' [tow cable brackets? wheel superstructure?] are a little known weak spot).  I get the kill, and am awarded both the Spartan and Kolobanov's Medal  achievements. (for the deflection and winning a 1v3)


Hetzers are a priority target for me.  They're damn good vehicles and I've got a very healthy respect for them.  In fact, if faced with one I'll generally try to escape.

  As for your bounce, remember that the shot can deviate from where it's aimed.  It's quite possible that the shooter just had bad luck.  You listed your stats the other day so I went and looked up mine.  Can't remember any of them, but I can state that it seems that even when my side loses I am the last tank a disproportionate amount of the time.  I guess it's just conservative play that gets me there (though when being chased down by four + opponents I can't say that my life expectancy is particularly high...  


The only other tier 4 I respect is the M3 Lee.  As much as I'm enjoying and doing well with the DW2,  I'll ignore it for a Hetzer or M3 if I have a choice of shot.  That's not to say I want to get hit by the big guns on some of the TD, but their light armour and low HP make them easy prey.