Gaming: Weekly Roundup 21/2/2014

Did rather less gaming than expected as got hit by another cough/cold that has impacted my game time somewhat. On the plus side the weather has been somewhat better this week.

World of Tanks

I have had some good times in World of Tanks this week, but also two abominable losing streaks where seemingly everything I touched turned to dust. Despite that my win rate has reached a new high (though as a result of last night’s loss streak it is now lower) and I have passed 8000 games.

As far as my big grinds are concerned I am one decent battle away from eliting the Panther. I haven’t really done much on any of the others, so their slow grinds continue. What I have done this week is play a bunch of lower-tier matches.

A few more games in the M5A1 (which were, alas, mostly terrible) and starting up in the Valentine, Alecto, and AMX 40. My experience of the AXM 40 so far is not too bad, but I can see it will get frustrating relatively quickly with its slow speed. My one game in the Alecto was rather nice, if nothing special. I have played a few more in the Valetine and had a really good game where I got the Ace Tanker award. A very powerful little tank – a small Matilda.

I have managed to spend pretty much all of my credits on odds and ends – at one point I was down to less than 100k. I would like to get the Crusader this weekend now that it will be on offer, which will clean me out again. I am hesitant otherwise to say too much about what I might manage to achieve in the week ahead, as I think it quite possible my gaming will once again be reduced.

World of Warplanes

Played considerably less than I would have liked, really only a handful of games just ticking along. Saving up credits to get equipment for the Bristol 146.

Skyrim

I did achieve quite a bit when I played this on Tuesday, even if it was not the most interesting. I went back to Whiterun where I keep most of alchemical ingredients and just sat down and burned my way to Alchemy 100. I also had a pre-crafted set of Daedric armour there, which I now Enchanted each piece with two enchantments. Whether my “build” is as good as it could be I have no idea, but I rather like what I have.

Otherwise I have just arrived at the Imperial military camp in The Pale, and am ready to start plotting the takeover of the hold, possibly with a sidequest or two thrown in along the way.

Hearthstone

Played a little more on the Hunter, but actually played more games back on the Mage deck. I have now managed to unlock the Priest and Warlock, leaving me with just Shaman and Paladin to go.

Long Live the Queen

I got this off Steam for 50% discount at the weekend, having read about it on Mrrx’s blog. I must say I am rather taken with it. Simple, but not simplistic. I have managed to survive once so far, and died several more times.

Gaming: Weekly update 14/2/2014

I have to say I have never really understood the modern incarnation of Valentine’s Day. As a child/youth at school I never understood it, and just tried best to ignore any cards that I was sent (and never sent any myself). I am therefore most fortunate that my wife holds the commercial creation with same disregard. Besides, given there is a gale blowing outside it is hardly the day for dining out – and usually it would be a rip-off now anyway. So, following Matt Yglesias’ advice (if not his practice) the money saved tonight can be made to go further on other occasions 🙂

Well, that aside out of the way, my gaming this week was interrupted by all of us falling down with the cold mid-week. That said I did manage to get a reasonable amount done. I have also decided that Tuesdays nights are going to be my Tank-free night. This is something I was thinking about back in the autumn, and I am finally putting it into practice.

World of Tanks

I played considerably less tanks this week than I originally thought I would. Partly this is because I played nothing on Tuesday, but then on Wednesday I played no games at all. Despite this I managed to continue my progress on various tanks.

My crew on the ST-I is now just over 50% on the fourth crew skill. Just for fun that means it will take about 1.5 million xp until the fourth crew skill is maxed. On the T29 I have researched the mid-engine, which has improved the mobility a bit though I am looking forward to the top engine. I am about 13k away from eliting the Panther, and the Sherman Jumbo is elited. Also I have just about 20k to go to unlock the top gun on the Ferdinand, which will also be very welcome.

My crew on the KV-1 is now in the mid-40s on the second crew skill, which is enough to re-train and keep the first skill at 100%. However, I will put off doing so until I can actually purchase the IS-4. I will be taking advantage of the equipment discount this weekend to buy what I want for the IS-4. The discount is only 25%, but I would rather take it now than wait for a 50% that might not come. It will also mean that I just have the plain cost for the tank to gain.

Also this week I bought and equipped the Loyd Gun Carriage. So far only had a single game, but it was a lot of fun.

Looking forward to the week I am intending to acquire the Valentine on the offer. I will probably also get the Matilda Black Prince. It has the reputation of being a fairly underwhelming premium, but on the other hand I will be getting it at 75% discount. The next Tier VI I am going to work on is going to be the M4A3E8, the crew of which will eventually end up in the T20. The crew I have in the Sherman Jumbo I will keep there for the moment, with the aim of retraining it into a later tank in due course.

World of Warplanes

I have gotten though some games now on the Bristol 146, though I still have a way to research. I almost have finished upgrading the Skua as well – just one battle to finish researching the top bomb. In the coming week I hope to get a few games in to keep things ticking over.

Skyrim

Made the decision to return to Solitude and kick of the Re-Unification of Skyrim. Along the way I got my Enchanting up to 100. I now have to return to Whiterun where I have a set of Daedric Armour waiting for me to enchant. Also Whiterun is where most of my alchemy ingredients are stashed. I think it is time to burn through a lot of them to boost my alchemy score as much as possible.

I never swift-travel in Skyrim, so it takes me time to travel. While this no doubt slows down my progress it does have advantages. I ended up having two quite enjoyable fights with Ancient Dragons on my meanderings on Tuesday.

Hearthstone

Now that my initial Mage Pack has all the main cards researched I am trying to do the same for the other packs I have so far unlocked. My next first option was the Warrior, and this turned into a long hard slog. After much tinkering I have a build that is not terrible, but just doesn’t feel very good either. I have, however managed to get out a few victories along the way to unlocking all those cards. I am now starting on the Hunter, and whilst my first game was a wipeout with me on the losing side, my second was a slaugher with the sides reversed.

I have the Cleric, Paladin, Shaman, and Warlock left to unlock.

Gaming: Weekly Round-up 7/2/2014

All in all I have had quite a reasonable week’s gaming, though I have had to keep one eye on the various floods in Somerset happening just down the road. While not on the Levels themselves, the local rivers and streams were just on the verge of overflowing when we had a break in the weather allowing them to subside slightly. At times as well surface water flooding has threatened to stop us moving around, flooding in various dips and hollows. So far, however, all remains accessible.

World of Tanks

On one level World of Tanks has been quite kind to me this week – on the other I have had one particular run of very bad luck earlier in the week, and last night finished with some crackingly good games that ended in losses. The best (or worst, depending on point of view) of these was in my Dicker Max, where I did 3400 damage and 6 kills, earning my Ace Tanker badge, but the team could not bring it home at the end. Though the game just before, when in the Marder 38T I 1300 damage and 3 kills in a Tier V match – but no fewer than nine of my teammates did absolutely zero damage.

In terms of my grinds it was quite a successful week. I have now elited the ST-I. Unfortunately I do not yet quite have the credits to acquire the IS-4 – being a small matter of 4.6 million credits short! Credit-grinding is in my future. 🙂 The crew for the IS-4 is progressing very nicely, getting to 100% on that first crew skill now, which means it should be in a good place when it comes to retraining. On the IS-3 I have unlocked the turret, meaning I have just the tracks before starting the grind to the IS-8. On the Panther I have just under 30k to go, whereas on the T29 I have now unlocked the turret and have started to work on the engines, and on the Ferdinand I am just over half-way to the top gun. I also have just about 3k to go before eliting the Sherman Jumbo. Finally the Crusader is also now unlocked.

Yesterday I took a good look at my progress in the monthly missions, and I have decided that I am just not going to be able to manage to do the 375 battles (always finishing in the top 10 on the team). Well, I might if I super-prioritised my time, but realistically that feels a little too much like work. The 500 kills I might do, but probably will not for the same reason. On the other hand I am well on the way to getting the 150 victories, and that will just have to content me.

World of Warplanes

I have done less WoWP than I wanted to, out of an initial desire to try for those battles. I have, however, purchased the Bristol 146 (on 50% discount last weekend). Now just putting together the credits to retrain and the equipment. I hope to manage this in time to have it ready for when I next play with my friend in the coming week.

Heathstone

I downloaded this as the weekend, after seeing it on Quickybaby’s stream. I have not played it very intensively – something like 12-15 matches total in both Practice and Play mode. So far I am finding it a fun occasional diversion. I was never a big Magic fan back in the day, though I dabbled in it and some of the other various CCGs that were on the market when I was at university.

There is therefore a certain nostalgic quality of playing Hearthstone, that I am sure is part of its appeal to others and not just me. I really doubt I will ever play more than a handful of games here or there.