October Digest #2

World of Warships

The news article excerpts posted in October Digest #1 contained a fair amount of information and nearly all enticements. For me, the only enticements I'm interested in is not contained in that info dump. Hanging out instead for the ongoing Holiday Convoy tokens doubloon exchange and the 4 Supercrates rewards.

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WOWS servers routinely go down for maintenance prior to every Update. Tried to find out how long after being unable to log in to the NA server earlier tonight (Wed 7 Oct). I usually log in between 9pm and 10pm. 

Asked the question online and got a reply that seemed reasonable from an answer found through a facebook page. Extrapolated from that answer which was based on an earlier Update this year. All speculation for now.  

NA server - 5 hours from 7pm to midnight. Why so long I wonder?
EU server - 3 hours from noon (tomorrow) till 3 pm 
ASIA server - 3 hours from 5am to 8am

Proof that this might be probably was when I logged in after midnight tonight. And got in! 

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NA account (Wed 7 Oct)
The Pacific Squadron missions are like the previous card missions (Dunkirk for example) WG have foisted upon the player base. Did the first EASY Operation with the NA account that resulted in sinking the Myoko. Wasn't all that impressed as I forgot how much waffle goes into making this sort of event "engaging". 

Actively committed to the Marlborough B dockyard event now by purchasing the 5-phase Starter pack. For better or worse as they say when making a long-term commitment.

SEA account (Thur 8 Oct)
Grabbed the remaining three Pan-American destroyers today now that they're out of Early Access. Total cost came to over half a million Free XP and nearly thirty-nine and a half million credits. Happy to do that as I wasn't interested in grinding for them anyway. 

After my usual grinding of my three 20-pt commanders (on Narai, Leipzig and De Grasse), I jumped on 20 de Julio to see what it had to offer. Ok. Interesting outing. In my only game with it, I ended up in a cap facing off against a Republique and Vermont steaming down on me. 

Earlier I and the friendly Black B had successfully taken out the destroyer and cruiser escort. But then my ally died leaving all alone to face off against the two enemy BBs with no other friendly ship in close support. The others were on the other flank unable to help except provide the occasional long-range firing. 

Anyway, I got lucky and survived using my speed and island cover to steer clear of those big guns. First the Republique died as it was less than half health and I used my fast reloading funny bunny to burn her down. But the Vermont was a different prospect as it was still full health and looked very annoyed with me. So I ran and hid around the island while waiting for my torps to reload. 

By then the others were steaming to assist. In the end, however, I farmed "The Brick" (as she's sometimes known in the game) down to help us win out.  

Quick impressions: Torps are weaker compared to other Tier X torp destroyers. It has a funny button for increased fire rate which came in handy whittling down an enemy's health pool. There's another automatically activated AP shell button that operates once you reach the limit (like other similar such buttons) but I didn't pay too much attention to its function and/or capabilities because I was distracted with staying alive against the Vermont. 

Ordinarily I would have died much sooner (against live players), but it was a BOT Vermont and Republique. So I stood a small chance of surviving by being the sneaky DD that I was playing although I kited away and avoided being one-shotted. 

Will unlock the second level of the Event Pass just to get the credit compensation for having the Warspite. Need the credit boost after the big spend on those three Pan-American destroyers.

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NA Account (Thur 8 Oct)
I realised I don't have Monaghan. D'oh! So I jumped into the Pacific Front event with enthusiasm. Woo!

Took me a few moments to get the gist of this card game (when it don't stick, it don't stick). Here's what the memory jogger reminded me:

1) Use your cards to find the best combination to win. Some cards in your fleet offer buffs and debuffs; use these to improve your chances to win. Once settled with the winning combo, then press battle. 

2) Use the enemy unit's HP to determine which of your fleet's cards to line up against. This is to maximise your fleet cards potencies. And pretty important because the closer you get to your objective, the more dangerous the enemy becomes. So save your best units for the end mission phase (if you can). And that means looking at all the entry points of a particular phase to identify which are the more difficult ones. I usually play those first up while I still have full health on my ship cards.

3) 100% victory is a guaranteed win. So go for that as much as you can. Anything less is okay as long as it doesn't drop to less than 65%. If so, use buffs/modifiers to boost your chances if you have them. Focus is a good one. And don't forget to find the best card combos before battling. 

4) Knocking off the primary objective means moving on to the next operation. If you fail however you can repeat until you get it right. Which means that all progress up to that stage is lost which is why restart is not the preferred option because you haven't thought this through properly. 

5) Simply ignore matchups that you will lose. As long you commit one winning card in any phase, you are good to go. Exception will be the final mission objective which must be completed in order to complete the whole mission. 

Once I overcame this massive Homer J brain freeze moment and realised I'm starting all over again with this NA account, I also decided to buy the second Dockyard package so I can finish the event sooner and fast track receiving the Marlborough B given the event has only 19 more days to go. Yeah, I know I made a vow to spend once an Update. Unfortunately plans change. Like my mind. 

As I said before, I have the original Marlborough on my other WOWS account. Back then t was tough to play because of its numerous failings (high citadel, weak guns with poor gun angles, poor armour to name but three). Maybe they've improved it with this version. That's the scuttlebutt. Who knows. 

Not complaining however as it will be my first Tier 9 ship. Already have my first Tier 10 in the Tempesta Nera. And I will eventually have my first Tier 8 with the Holiday Convoy premium Bismarck '41 once I've earned enough Holiday Convoy tokens..    

Eventually I will unlock the second level to the current Event Pass because therein awaits the Tier 6 UK premium battleship Warspite as mid-event reward. Loads of "new ships" to look forward to over the next few weeks. 

Am I having fun though? Is my original aim showing true since starting this second WOWS account? In part, yes. I will form an opinion once I reach one hundred ships. I've currently played eighty-two although my port fleet is thirty-two sold off all my Tier 1s and 2s as well as much of my Tier 3s. Aim will be to starting collecting exclusively from Tier 5 up. 

Then, and it's a big then, I will start playing Randoms in 2027. Just to see how far I can go.   

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SEA Account (Fri 9 Oct)
Played the Pacific Fleet card game first up. Got as far as I could before switching over to the usual Holiday Convoy token grind using my 20 point captains. Then logged out. 

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SEA Account (Sat 10 Oct)
Played and completed the next daily-updated Pacific Front campaign today. Here's how I fared.

First Operation "UNIFORM" rewards. Difficulty: medium.

Second Operation "TERRATHREE" rewards. Difficulty: medium.

Third and final Operation "MAIN FORCE". Difficulty: hard. 

Got all the Fleet ships bar one now so no more "new" units. 

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October Digest #1

World of Warships

Logged into the NA account last (Wed) and saw the Sail Around the World with Emden event just dropped. Figured why not. Won't say no to the free ship. 

The German Unity event also dropped. Among the Unity package are a couple of other ships being offered singly, both Tier VIII - Schill and Wiesbaden. There is a third, Z-35 which is offered along with the two as part of a sequential bundle package. 

The three ships are unobtainable on this account for me but I DO have all three on my SEA account. 

To unlock the free gift Emden I first had to complete three mission task. And was able to do so playing the Tier V Konigsberg. It is really nice to play this ship after grinding the lower tier vessels although the lower-tiered battleships - Konig and Kaiser - play well enough. Especially when they one-shot ships foolish enough to present open broadsides - cruisers, even other battleships.  

In my time playing this game, I have heard of but never seen these two unobtainables - DD 214 and Arkansas B on the SEA server - ever. Both ships are unavailable for sale. But tonight, I saw and played with them. My collector heart sighed. 

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Saw a YT streamer earlier today (Friday) go through the current Research Bureau ship listing for 2026. And it was pretty much similar to my own conclusions. Some stinkers that I was aware of, but his insights on a few others surprised me. 

Only ship I'm interested in therefore is Vampire II. Primarily because it's a Commonwealth vessel, and has links to Australia. Possibly Irresistible. Also another Commonwealth ship. 

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What to expect in the next Update. Dropped today (Tuesday 6 Oct) on SEA server. 

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Kriegsspiel

Just saw Little TV's 2026 International Kriegsspiel Cup highlights after grinding Clemson for Nicholas in WOWS tonight (Fri/Sat 2/3 Oct). Part I showed two rounds with eight team competing. 

Part II will show the grand final between Little TV, two-time winners, and the other team (I forget the name). I wonder who will win?! 

Interesting to say the least. The game, not the event. 

It's more or less the original wargaming which has always fascinated me. I joined a global PBEM game several years back through facebook that unfortunately fell through for whatever reason. 

I may look deeper into Kriegsspiel now that I know where to look. Need a change from the usual same-old same-old that's become quite stale - very stale. A new interest that's definitely worth investigating. 

While wargamers can be welcoming, they can be quite cliquey. I'm not expecting too much as I'm only going to be making enquiries. It depends on how much I want to learn about the game. And I really want to learn as much as possible. 

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Steam games

Now you cannot preview R-rated games on Steam without first supplying a credit card.

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September Digest #6

World of Warships

NA Account (Thu/Fri)
Interesting session for part way through I got distracted by Akira Kurosawa's epic masterpiece The Seven Samurai. Happened to switch tv channels and there it was. Even though the movie was halfway through, I couldn't stop watching it till the very end. Game simply had to wait, and I didn't mind at all. 

After that pleasant interlude, I resumed playing. Ended up playing nearly twenty games, some more than once. Boosted both Italian and Pan-Asian tech tree lines by adding new ships - Longjiang, Nino Bixio, Phra Ruang, Taranto, Curtatone, N. Sauro. Not much to say except to say I cannot wait to upgrade to the mid-tiers (Tiers VII and VIII). 

SEA Account (Fri)
Played just three ships today. And of these I played Perth the most, in Operations, in order to fast track ship XP earnings for the usual daily coal loot crates. To my surprise I had fun playing her. The new and upgraded Operations missions were also interesting adding variety and novelty. 

Relogged in tonight to check something unrelated out and learned this is now happening.

You can find it in the Update History section of your main port screen.

Progress is revealed when you click on the icon. Total of twenty games. Rewards are four Supercrates. 

Should be more; at least ten or twenty! It's little surprise side events like these with generous rewards that will bring please us and likely bring back the player base of yore in numbers that will deflect the general opinion that the game is dying. But they generally say that about most games given people's attention span tends to be short anyway. 

Reward will be automatically credited when Update 15.9 kicks in next month (they state 8 October). This was a total surprise to me and quite unexpected. No indication concerning that this was happening unless one took time to read the reams and mire that is the WG devblog (you know, TLDR).

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NA Account (Sun/Mon)

Two reasons for creating this second account. One was accidental. The second reason was "to see how the other half lives", so to speak. And to have some fun as opposed to the heavy grind associated with my other account. 

Started to see myself repeating what I'm doing with my SEA account in that everything was both a worry and a grind. So I did something about it tonight. 

Sold off just under half the ships in my port fleet of fifty-six ships. Basically got rid of the ones I've already played and I am unlikely to replay. Kept a few that I enjoyed and would like to continue playing some time in the future. 

This sell off freed up valuable port slots as well as earned some credit back. Kept the few upgrades I'd deployed on certain ships. I was able to upgrade a couple of lines with new ships, at least six more Tier 4 and 5. 

Goal for the rest of this year will be to upgrade all the tech tree lines I'm currently playing (seven) to Tier 5. Which is an exceedingly generous amount of time for achieving given a couple of lines are already there. 

Wanting this second account to be a fun chilled one, a proper alternative to my SEA account. 

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NA Account (Mon/Tue)
Change up after grinding the new ships at Tier 5. Upgraded and acquired Acasta, Emerald, Hawkins, Iron Duke, Tiger, Shenyang, Guissano, Turbine to the port fleet. But also sold off all my Tier 2 ships, a fair amount of the Tier 3 ships (with a few exceptions). There are others but I need doubloons so I can demount their upgrades and redeploy them on future ships. Then I can sell them off. 

Decided to end out the session playing my only Tier 10 ship, the premium Tempesta Nera. Just for laughs. Ended up also playing it to complete the credit mission in the Dockyard Event. And score the three Dockyard tokens on offer. Which I traded in for some necessary free XP, elite commander XP, and coal. 

Last mission was rewarding. One-shotted the carrier United States. It went from full health to sunk in one broadside salvo from the Tempesta. As one player commented, "Dang!"

It's times like this that makes playing the game "fun" and "worthwhile". But such moments are extremely rare. And to be treasured when they occur. 

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NA Account (Tue/Wed)
Started grinding the German tech tree line last night. Reached Konigsberg for cruisers. Shy one Tier for destroyers. Not touched the carriers yet. Or battleships. 

Played with no commander all the way through till Konigsberg. Such a difference once this ship; felt "normal" once I recruited a commander and played her. 

German destroyers come in all configurations. Slow torps on the G-101 caught me out the couple of times I played her. Tried my usual yolo confrontation style and got punished. V-170 with its twin splayed setup and slighter faster speed fared no better. Didn't matter; I was in a hurry to reach T-22. But ran out of desire.

Limited in Free XP as I've been using what I have to fast track last night's grind. Would play a ship once or twice, then spend Free XP to upgrade. Fortunately the ship XP requirement in these lower tiers is low. Will try again later on today to complete the destroyer and battleship lines.

Only seven more days for the Festive token exchange. Aiming for a Supercrate. But more likely will settle for just economic bonuses and/or sigs as rewards.

Ships acquired: Dresden, Kolberg, Karlsruhe, V-25, G-101, V-170, Konigsberg. 

SEA Account (Wed)
In seven years of playing this game, there have been numerous ships that I have hated, despised, disliked, could not understand, or simply played badly enough to embarrass me calling myself a sentient being. Eventually though that unpleasant memory has faded from my consciousness as life moves on. Forgive and forget. Yada yada. 

The more reasoned me might (eventually) come to terms that I simply lack the patience or skill to make good on my targeted vitriol. Which, of course, says more about my skill level than the vessel itself. All that claptrap. 

Anyway, it's been a very long time since I have utterly hated a particular ship. The more I play this ship, the more I am convinced this POS is current contender for most crap ship ever - the Tier VII Pan-American Early Access destroyer Marcilio Dias. Out of seven hundred and thirty two ships, that's saying a lot. 

Nothing about this rubbish pixel works for me. Ever. Despite my "best" efforts.

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Cinematic Trailers

Saw a YT streamer react to the recently released Starcraft trailer in the weekend. To be honest, I did not think much of it. Loud and overhyped. Too much bombastic noise. As the reactor herself mentioned several times, she kept getting "Starship Trooper vibes". 

The trailer depicts the career of a new recruit from induction through to training before graduation as soldier fodder. And the closer to his graduation he gets, the louder the propaganda becomes until the day of reckoning. Then reality hits. Only his name tag remains to record that he ever existed. But, more importantly, indoctrination always comes at a price. Don't buy into the hype that Big Brother foists upon you. 

What made me smile was one commenter pointing out, the only steady seemingly safe career in that effed up world is that of equipment maintenance technician - the individual cleaning out and repairing the armoured suits. For the next sucker. 

Perhaps the more relevant career is weapons technician because the character died due to weapon malfunction.

On Syama Pedersen's Digital Bones YT site, I saw that he had just released the teaser trailer to Astartes II that's been circulating for about a week now. There is a lot of excitement and hype surrounding this upcoming release, more so since he's been involved with it. Shows how much impact the guy has had on the 40K world, especially in regards to how he portrays the Grimdark universe. 

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Sports

Well done the Wallabies for smacking the Springboks in Perth. And with a depleted side too. Impressive courage and spirit shown by Australia. I think they've got a winner in their coach, Les Kiss. And their rebuild is coming along really well. 

It seems the Wallabies are the bogeymen for the rampant World Cup winners and #1 side in the world. As it should be. The Rugby World Cup next year is looking to be an interesting one for sure.

Congrats also to the Brisbane Lions for winning the AFL Grand Final over Freo on Saturday. Three-peat. Again. Wow. Just wow. 

And what a win for the Newcastle Knights over Penrith last night in the NRL semi final. From wooden spooners last year to Grand Finalists this year. What a turnaround. I wouldn't like to bet on who's gonna win this weekend though. I can barely win a Division 9 in Lotto. 

Did I watch any of these games? Of course not. But well done to Australian sports. Glorious weekend. Praise to the winners. Commiserations to the losers. 

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September Digest #5

World of Warships

NA account (Tue/Wed)
Worked out I can earn two of the Holiday Convoy token ships - Bismarck '41 and Messina - and still exchange tokens for three Updates. Or 9,000 doubloons in total. It means skipping the last Update (January 2027). 

Dallas and Pensacola play different. Not better or worse, just different. Slower reload on the heavy cruiser while her guns also are slow to turn than the light cruiser. Both are made of explodium though so angling right is critical if fight close-in. Or else keep your distance and rely on your gunpower (such as it is). Just don't yolo in unless you have support, like I found out a couple of times when I found myself on my own in a gunfight with a knife.

Cervantes can do damage to light cruisers with her AP. Against enemy destroyers however, I just wish she had HP as well. But that's asking much too much at Tier 6 level for a DD. 

SEA account (Wed)
Short and sweet five-ship Holiday Convoy tokens grind. In and out. Not keen on playing today.

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NA Account (Wed/Thu)
Notable for two things:

(1) I reached fifty ships in my port fleet by adding three Tier 1s from Germany, Italy, Pan-Asia. Germany, because I've always liked the German tech tree line. Italy, because I got the Tier 10 premium (see below). Pan-Asia, because I scored an Event captain from one of the Three Kingdoms crates. 

(2) Received the reward of a Tier 10 premium Tempesta Nera, the R. Lauria clone, from one of two Black Daruma crates. Today saw the return of the eighteen bundle set. This comes with mixed reward crates and various resources. Got nearly all bar three of the set. Will grab them next week. Was expecting a low tiered premium but this ship will do nicely. 

The session was long enough - mainly to grab as much coal loot crates as I can. Had a shitty game or three while doing the grind though. Got into situations when I shouldn't have, and got punished. Slow take off speed and slow turret rotation were my downfall. 

I am getting better at getting citadels consistently as well as one-shotting cruisers. Which is some degree of compensation for being caught with my pants down by enemy ships and/or making dumb mistakes like not watching where I'm travelling or getting stuck against an island. 

SEA Account (Thu)
Knowing what's coming next after playing on NA server can be useful. Went straight to the 18 bundle set upon logging in and grabbed several bundles. Got useful resources but sadly no ship. 

Then I ran Marcilio Dias, Perth, Numancia. To fulfil my planned Commander Upskill grind, to obtain the max coal loot crates, and complete the Mid-Autumn common missions.

Perth has a long-time crawling smoke which is useful you're being focus-fired upon by several or if stationary longer than half a minute. I do like this ship although I've never played it much. It has single-firing torps as well as firing in a set which can be tough to master but a handy skill to have. 

You have hydro, AP and HP so you're able to take on both destroyers and other cruisers. And like Marcilio Dias, which I prefer to play aggressively, she's capable of taking on bigger ships, but you do have to pick your approach carefully and know where to aim. 

Numancia is an improvement on Perth insofar as it has double sets of torps on either side. But you lose the single torp salvo. But you get good coverage both sides. Its guns are ok but nothing to write home about. Smoke and hydro round out its consumables of worth. Just needs a 21 pt captain. Lol.  

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From The Past

Wife got a family photo album book today from her brother. In it was a photo of an uncle who served aboard the Perth. He was meant to serve on another vessel but got a last-minute transfer to Perth. The cruiser was sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait on 1 March 1942. And he was one of those killed. 

The thing that sticks with me is, according to my wife who learned of this from letters he sent home to his mum at the time of the Sydney sinking (19 Nov 1941) that he was glad he wasn't on that ship. 

He was a merchantman and joined up when war was declared. 

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Warhammer 40K

Enjoyed a story earlier tonight (Wed) about an Imperium Explorator vessel encountering an unknown vessel from the void beyond the Eastern Rim. And the subsequent actions resulting from this encounter. I won't spoil it but I believe there is a comic of this tale. 

Yes, it's an AI retelling but it had me engaged nonetheless. 

The great appeal was that it offered a different outlook to the grimdark universe of 40K than the usual "there is only war" mantra. 

It went beyond the wars, the hive worlds, the Martian Omnissiah, the Lords of Terra. And it involved the God Emperor himself. And his connection to all of it was inevitable but still a surprise when it was revealed. 

The scope of the story is grand scale for me, and I like that. It present that there is a much greater threat to the Imperium and humanity as a whole, more so than the Tyranids or the Necrons. Or even the Orks. And if humanity is to survive, they have to put aside their differences and animosity and come together to defeat the Watchers. 

Archives of the Last Dawn

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Animated shorts

Was rewatching the first animated episode from MechWest while waiting to log onto the NA server when I was reminded that mechanical robots existed in servitude to their human masters, performing mundane and menial tasks. And yet the humans weren't any better off. Dunno why but I made the jump between the series name and treatment and exploitation of Mexicans/Mex-Americans. After that realisation hit me, and mind's interpretation ran wild, i.e. nothing's really change regarding servitude and exploitation, I sort of lost any further interest in rewatching this series.

MechWest Show

Moved on to Kade Voss, another sci-fi futuristic series that is inspired by the human Old Wild West. Kade's a bounty hunter. A successful one so it seems. Reminded me immediately of Bobo Fett which his helmeted visage and menacing resolve. And skill. I believe there's four episodes so far. Studio does other animation but this one caught my eye.

Neon Ridge Media 

The above then reminded me of another Old West inspired sci-fi setting but with anthropomorphic characters with bug eyes and equally bizarre habits. Which I found fascinating on first viewing. Bounty hunters collecting bounty on other bounty hunters. Anyone who had a wanted poster out on them. You never knew who was next. Hilarious. No real storyline, just vignettes joined together.

Crazy Taco Man

Then there is this animation which does historicals but in an appealing animation style. Liked it so much that I have subscribed. I like that this animator deals with the any historical subject of interest. From the tulip market in Holland or Greek Hindus in the ancient world. It tackles the obvious questions and clues by presenting as much known facts and offers valid speculation but without any firm conclusions. Doubt if it adds new light to the known story so you're probably learning nothing new unless it's a subject that you know squat about, such as the tulip markets in the day. 

My favourites has to be the ultimate fate of the Roman legionnaire survivors from the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). Vaguely knew of this story before this animation revived the mystery surrounding their fate. That will never be properly know. As all mysteries should be..unless you're AI. 

Animistry

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September Digest #4

World of Warships

NA account (Thu/Fri)
Jumped into the game last night with a plan - grind and upgrade the Pan-American line as much as possible. Sticking with my plan of researching the module but skipping buying them. Saves on credit for better use buying new ships. Besides, skipping the part where selling off these mods because you're no longer playing these ships becomes a thing. 

Thus I managed to advance from Tier 2 Alme. Barroso through V. Guerrero, Cordoba to Tier 5 La Argentina before switching over to play a few games on T3 UK destroyer Valkyrie. Did more than enough to research the module (B hull) toward Wakeful. Will buy Wakeful next time I log in. Right now, having fun with Valkryie. Mastering firing single torps can be fun. Got a few 7-kill games out of her.

Tonight (Friday) will continue to grind the UK line to Tier 5 - where possible - for destroyers, cruisers, battleships and aircraft carriers. 

SEA account (Fri)
After a short nap, I logged in and played the five Holiday Convoy token ships. Then logged out. In-between, I chose to finally upskill two 20-pts commanders using Elite Commander XP, and then chose to accelerate one phase in the Event Pass in order to grab the elite commander XP booster and thus replenish part of what I'd spent to upskill my two commanders to 21 points. 

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NA account (Fri/Sat)
A couple more ships acquired for the UK tech tree line. Had fun in Caledon before progressing to the Danae. It's like really potent peer-wise at its level. Nice balance between AP and torps. Also acquired Wakeful. Hoping it's as much fun as its predecessor, Valkyrie. 

Now starting on the battlecruiser line by acquiring Indefatigable. Meanwhile continuing to earn the necessary ship XP in the dreadnought Bellerophon to advance to the next ship in line. 

I do recall dimly remembering grinding the UK tech tree line from way back, especially the fun memories I had of the mid-tier battleships and battlecruisers. And the odd cruiser, such as Emerald. Hardly remembered much else, if anything at all, regarding the lower tiers though. Relearning has been both an enjoyable as well as surprising experience. 

Finished off the session by grinding the daily Holiday Convoy tokens and full coal loot crates. 

Total of ships now stands at 43. Aim will be, by end of Dec Update (mid-Jan 2027), complete as much of the four tech lines of the port fleet as possible. This applies to Japan, USA, UK, and Pan-America. Not touching the other tech tree lines until then. 

SEA account (Sat)
Longer than usual grind today. Usual goals reached. Decided to grind the Dockyard rewards so jumped into Asymmetrics with Karl XIV Johan. Doing the same for this account as the NA account in terms of spending a certain amount per Update (no more than AUD20). 

Not unexpected but this 11th Anniversary celebration is leaving one feeling underwhelmed and flat.

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NA account (Sat/Sun)
Longer than usual grind. Continued with the UK tech tree line. Doing so because I want to reach all the ship classes at Tier IV level - that is, destroyers, cruisers, battlecruisers, battleships. And carriers, my first on this account. So three news ships added to the port fleet tonight - Queen Mary, Orion, Hermes.

Playing slow big dreadnought/battleships like Bellerophon and then Orion takes some getting used if you don't appreciate the gun configuration as the images below show.

The above shows the gun layout for the Tier III battleship Bellerophon. Three forward facing turrets - one front and two midships - and two turrets facing rearward. If taking on opponent from the front angled slight slide-on, one of your forward turrets is going to be inactive. If you turn on even more to the extent where you present more of a broadside than angling in, then the rear turrets may be able to fire too. But then you expose your own broadside for the enemy to chomp upon. 

Forward firing while angling slightly is not too bad but dispersion will be bad. So angling-in just a little helps lessen the dispersion effect. 

Until I realised the characteristics of the gun layout and how to maximise firepower as a result, I struggled mightily at first in Bellerophon. But then I improved enough to consistently score well enough once I understood and played to its unusual configuration.

Once mastered and I had enough Ship XP, I graduated to the next battleship, Orion. The gun setup for the Orion (shown above) is a little more "conventional" - in the sense that this is how most modern players will recognise such a gunship layout - of two up, two back. A lot more easier to utilise but still tricky if wanting to maximise damage depending on the target. Temptation is to present broadside but we all know the risks by now so it's a gamble. Less of a problem in PvE than PvP. 

At lower tier level it's recommended to steer clear of destroyers getting too close because these bigs ships are slow as hell and you're a sitting duck to a fast and dangerous torpedo destroyer. Or even a cruiser with torps. You have no maneouvrability because of your awful rudder shift. You will wear a lot of damage if not anticipating torps coming your way. Or worse. 

The battlecruiser class begins with Indefatigable, a veteran relic of WW1. Its gun layout is interesting (see above - bow to left, stern to right). All-round coverage with the two midship turrets able to fire both sides. And to make this class distinguishable you also get torpedoes. Or at least one per salvo per side. More manoeuvrable than the slow battleship class although that isn't saying much. Weak armour so stay angled. Brawling is high risk so choose your fights carefully.

Next ship up from Indefatigable is Queen Mary. Both ships fought at Jutland. And both were sunk. Gun turret config is different yet again with two forward, one mid, and one astern. But similar in play style to its predecessor Indefatigable. Yet to take her out, and will play to advance to the next ship up.

Also added my first carrier on this account, Hermes. It should prove challenging. Whereas they're a barely item played on my SEA account, here I actually want to master this class. Most of the CV players I've encountered since joining this server have been rarely seen; what's been seen have done little or nought. I want to be more useful when it's my turn. 

Scouting's a big plus in a carrier; if you can do so for your team, you're valued. If you can contribute further by causing damage, or even sinking an opponent, that value increases. But don't expect much thanks from the player base. Playing a carrier is often a thankless task given they're so OP in the game.  

SEA account (Sun)
I began upskilling both Unique commanders for Spain and the Commonwealth - Topete and Collins respectively - by placing them on lower tiered premiums and grinding them to 21 pts through a combination long long grind and ECXP spending. But it will take time. Probably won't reach the goal until after Xmas. Perhaps.

Ran Cervantes (for the Holiday tokens) and the Perth and Numancia for the two Unique commanders. Then finished off the session with a nice game in Asymmetrics. Paired with a G. Kurfurst and together we rolled up our flank before joining up with the others to help win the game. 

Almost completed this week's Dockyard event mission (six tasks) bar one mission. But wasn't up to grinding the remaining six thousand plus BASE XP in either Co-Op or Asymmetrics.

Miscalculation (no surprises there). I was playing the Cervantes when I should have been playing the Marcilio Dias (confusing this account with the NA account where I don't have the Marcilio) as it's the last of the Early Access ships. Once the other three are released in a couple of Updates, I can quickly fast track upgrading the classes using accumulated Ship XP and Free XP. 

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NA account (Sun/Mon)
Fully aware that I'm creating double the trouble by having, and playing, two WOWS accounts. No reasonable answer beyond it's something to do.

Tonight I continued with the UK line grind, particularly reacquainting myself with carrier play before switching over to play out the Japanese line for some Event Pass goodies. 

Interesting moment with one game having to defend our base solo against two enemies while my teammates were way off at the other end of the map chasing down the enemy CV. Of course, I tried but eventually died. And only then did the turkeys crowing about sinking the CV realise the issue.

This was offset when, at other times, players did stay back to defend the base. Kudos to them, and I complimented them as such in-game. By then I was playing battleships. 

SEA account (Mon)
Continuing the commander upskill for my two Unique commanders - Topete and Collins. 

So I began the session with the daily loot reward. Scored a Supercrate. Saw the guaranteed drop in 46 more attempts. Not before. No, that wouldn't do for WG. Anyway, hoping to get a nice doubloon reward (not expecting a new ship - God forbid) when it does eventuate. I am not expecting or hoping for a new ship even though there are still well over hundred-plus left (I think WG has released over nine hundred in total).

Had one really good/great game in the Numancia playing Topete. Was chilling out watching, and occasionally helping out, my teammates tackle the enemy. Steered clear of the brawling arena content to float shells in from range. When suddenly I found myself left on my own. 

To my surprise I was expecting my remaining two teammates take out their respective foes. But they somehow died: both had been on full health too. 

I was now the sole survivor left to take on the last two enemies - a Borodino and a Wujing. I was in the cap next door to them. After sussing out where they were both positioned, I decided to wait for them to come to me. And they did. But both decided to approach me from two different direction, from either end of the island I was hiding behind. But I was sort of expecting this. 

Well...to cut a long story short, I managed to sink the Borodino with torps as she turned the island because she was whittling my health down fast when she spotted me. Loosed off three sets of torps at her. Then I took on the Wujing emerging from the other side by loosing off my one remaining torp salvo before finishing off the damage caused by tapping the "F" funny button and farmed her with a burst fire of HP. 

And to my immense surprise, and great relief, we won. Snatched victory from the almost-jaws of defeat, you could say. Or not. 

Jumped into Asymmetrics to finish off the session and grab the final two Dockyard tokens for the current mission. Ended up playing out in the Bismarck '41 which performed only slightly better than Perth which I started with. 

Frustrating part was dealing with enemy BBs which just sat back and blasted away at my cruiser. Even with crawling smoke I could not close the distance without going deep and thus play out of position. 

Hence why I switched to the battleship. Needed some payback. Played her more aggressively as a result but the BOTs still kept their distance content to shoot from distance. Kind of hard to deal with that especially if caught in a crossfire unless you're a Valparaiso or Pommern. Both of these ships can take some damage and their secondaries are great deterrents to both cruisers and destroyers. 

But it's much tougher when you're playing cruisers, such as the Perth. Even with torps and long duration crawling smoke.  In one particular game, I was left with a friendly CV who was doing his best to help out while I was pinned down behind an island using smoke and loosing off torpedoes left right and centre as deterrent. Got nowhere. Health diminished rapidly. Died achieving nothing. 

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NA account (Mon/Tue)
Uneventful grind last night. Did the usual coal crate loot grind. Spent Free XP to research all the mods (possible) for all the ships. Then spent coal to buy the Battle of Jutland crates. Got some Free XP back. Guaranteed drop of a premium (either Dreadnought or Agincourt is 1 in 1000 for ordinary crates, 1 in 12 for premium crates which cost doubloons). 

SEA account (Tue)
Likewise today. Buggered from doing yard maintenance first up so mind wasn't really into playing too long. Did the five ship grind for Holiday Convoy tokens, then logged out. 

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Star Play

New game in development that I happened across last night while watching YT. Immediately subscribed.

As soon I wrote this, I recall an earlier time when I raved about another space game that I harped on in one of my earlier blogs. But nothing came of that time. Here's hoping this doesn't end the same way. But attention span being what it is with me, who's to say? I will try and follow through on this one however because it looks really interesting. 

I was immediately attracted to the sales pitch that it's a space exploration game, with the emphasis on SPACE EXPLORATION. I cannot overstate how disappointed I've been whenever I find space exploration games that never quite follow through on that claim because quite often the focus or theme has been usually something other than purely space exploration. 

Sure, you run into varying stages of alien civilisations, and thus enjoy the consequences of those encounters. Maybe improve your own quality of space life through mastering levels of technologies, and so on. Mine planets for resources. Destroy civilisations. Create and build settlements on unsettled virgin worlds. 

But that's not the kind of space exploration that really excites me; I like being aboard a ship, on my own, exploring space and seeing what's out there. 

Being resourceful is a given (after all you're an astronaut trained) so managing and sustaining yourself aboard a vessel is not a problem. And encountering, and overcoming, problems arising from your space exploration is also a given. But it's about the exploring part that really gets me excited. Venturing beyond the horizon somehow excites me more than pew-pew or expanding a processing line on a new world. That sort of thing might appeal to others - the Johnny-come-latelies - but it's not me. 

Sort of like ancestral sailing into the Pacific from Asia on flimsy-looking but seaworthy craft in search of new lands to settle. Or leaving Hawaii and travelling to New Zealand. Or like the Voyagers spacecraft travelling beyond the bounds of our Solar system. What do they see? What are they learning? Not, what bloody civilisation are we running into now, and how can we exploit or kill them scenarios. 

It's by a lead developer who has worked on the popular Valheim game (which I have played and is in my Steam library). He's venturing solo on this new game. 

The game scratches that itch, that aimless chilled-out itch that can only be scratched by taking a look-see. Like the original Star Trek tv series: to boldly go where no idiot has gone before! And having a blast doing so. 

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Astartes II teaser trailer dropped a couple of days back. Teaser is the word as it was way too short. Wondering if Syama Pedersen is still involved with the project even if his hand is seen in the production just from the trailer teaser. Don't know why I thought this. Yet the idea popped into my head as I watched. And now it persists.   

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September Digest #3

World of Warships

I am getting used to the routine of playing the NA account during the wee hours after midnight and the SEA account later in the day, around mid-morning. 

NA account
Acquired a couple more ships. Concentrating on four tech lines: Japan, USA, UK, and Pan-America because these are the ships acquired when I started.

Later, while relaxing I saw Trenlass opening the 130 Supercontainers using his earned Festive tokens. It was funny because he has all the ships, and was getting excited over getting mostly signals. Funny guy. Foreshadowing perhaps? 

SEA account
Lunchtime I logged in and began earning Festive tokens to put on the Battle of Santiago de Cuba crates for the collection mosaic tiles. 

Then logged out after making sure to first grab the 1200 Holiday Convoy tokens AND make the exchange for 3000 doubloons. 

Calculate I will need to convert all the Tier IX festive tokens to complete the Collection and grab the Spanish Unique commander. 

Yimeng completed the Holiday Convoy token missions. Was planning to play two others - Karl XIV Johan and Prins van Oranje but was having too much fun that I decided to complete the five missions with her alone. 

Lots of dakka dakka coming from her. Her secondaries are full-on and menacing. Meanwhile her mains gobbled up health points like nothing. Even went brawling into a nest of cruisers with her. Sank two with gunfire (mains and secondaries) and rammed the third. Lots of fun.

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Change of strategy after viewing a few WOW YT streamers opening up 130 Supercrates. Seems to be a thing, an opportunity I had initially dismissed as pointless. But now it looks like I'll be doing the same. It means ensuring there are enough Festive tokens for the 130 Supercrates while also having enough to complete the collection and grab the Spanish commander. Fortunately I have enough ships to follow this change of plan. 

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The situation with the NA account currently reminds me of the time when I joined back in early 2019. I got discouraged for a long while when I had around twenty-seven ships. I couldn't quite get the hang of the game. This was when I was playing Randoms as well as Ranked before I twigged to the toxicity in both battle modes. My commitment at the time was quite casual as I was also playing other PC games. And for a while WOWS was never of high interest, and thus I walked away from it for several months, not returning in earnest until early 2020. 

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Monday was a particularly long grind on my usual SEA account. Primarily did so in order to earn enough Festive tokens to exchange for Supercrates, and complete the Santiago de Cuba collection so I could grab Pascual Cervera y Topete, the Spanish Unique commander. 

Got the commander but could only nab ninety of the one hundred and thirty crates before I decided to call it a night and resume tomorrow for the remainder. 

Nice haul of doubloons, coal, premium days, economic bonuses and signals for the effort however so I am not complaining apart from the usual in-game gripes grinding for the rewards. Signals looking more healthier than before with the boost provided by the Super crates loot. 

Started just after nine this morning and finished just now. It's half past midnight.

Now I'm going to log in to the NA account and play the five games for the Holiday Convoy tokens. Then log out. 

NA Account
I forgot about the Orion '44. Got that to add to my growing NA port fleet. Jurua is a decent enough DD (especially in comparison to the current tech tree line DDs I'm grinding). Placed Jose Padilla Lopez on her, and am actually having fun with it. 

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Grind today on my SEA account (Tuesday) allowed me to nab the remaining forty Supercrates. Got doubloons, steel, coal, economic bonuses and, once again, lots of signals from the opening.

No ship but I wasn't really expecting it. 

Still have to convert Festive tokens for steel from my superships. Once done, that's it. I can sort of relax until the next Update.

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NA Account
Exhausted from yesterday's long grind so skipped the NA account last night. After a decent long sleep I jumped on early this morning (Wed) and played the five for Holiday Convoy tokens grind. 

Then acquired four new ships for the Japanese line - Mutsuki, Agano, Furutaka, Kongo. And played them for their festive tokens and the current 200% bonus port fleet deal. This brings the port fleet total to 33 ships of which two are premiums - Jurua and Orion '44.  

Of course, this plan will inevitably change or even cease as your port fleet increases and priorities change. 

The 11th Anniversary Festive tokens page is pretty much a spectator affair for my NA account simply because I don't have enough Festive token for exchange. Focus therefore is different as a result. Do I get a super crate? Or economic bonuses? Signals even? There's another 20-odd days left with the event so no rush to make a decision just yet. See how much I can accumulate.

Interesting to see a lot more violators on this server than in SEA servers. Lot more chat though, probably because there are lot more English-speakers. Learned part of lingo. "glhf" stands for good luck, have fun. I think. Don't see it on the SEA servers...well, not in Co-Op. 

Today I got hazed by a friendly CV who kept water bombing me while I was trying to play the game in the Orion '44. 

SEA Account
Usual Holiday Convoy token grind. 

Grabbed the steel with the Festive. Surplus Festives used to grab a few Red Steel Titan crates. Thus am done with the 11th Anniversary Festive rewards. 

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NA Account
Playing a day behind (Brisbane domiciled) can be confusing. It's Thursday local time but Wednesday US time. 

Change of plans regarding the broader altruistic aim of "playing for free". 

Figured out a simple plan to get a regular monthly amount of doubloons and premium days while starting out. Only applying this to the NA server account. For AUD20 per Update, you can obtain a total of 3000 doubloons and 2 premium days using the combined 2500 Doubloon and Weekend Pass packages. And still have change left over! The value is that you can spend those doubloons to obtain up ten port slots (in two 5-port bundles). This is beside the two premium days. This will cover any shortfalls generated by upgrading ship lines. 

It's a workable solution to deal with expenditure that isn't whimsical and wasteful. Instead of randomised and often grand spending I am moving towards one that's controlled, planned and constrained. 

Will start with the AUD20 per Update plan, and last long enough until I've accumulated enough resources to dispense with this spending plan. 

To fast track upgrading tech tree line, do not buy the mods. Research them, yes, but don't spend credit  to install them. Only spend credit to upgrade to the next ship. Later, at your leisure, spend on whatever mods you want. Of course, you will be customising the specific ship to your playstyle. 

Routine thus far is around 10pm log into NA account. 

Noticing that the latest updates come earlier on the NA server than the SEA server. As with the new Three Kingdoms event when I logged in last night (Wednesday).

Overpriced and really not worth pursuing. You get one free crate for playing so many games but there's no explanation to explain how and why. Not refusing the green economic bonuses received but not willing to try for more when it's one in five hundred chance of a ship drop!! Lol. No thanks. And it seems some - if not all - of these "new" ships are just recycled existing ships. 

SEA Account
Usual five-ship Holiday Convoy tokens grind routine today (Thursday). 

Focus was on the 20-pt skilled captains. Got enough to upskill two to 21 points but I'm holding back for now. A plan might be obtain at least seventy-five per cent commander XP before spending Elite Commander XP points to finish the job.  

Above is why I'm not bothering with this Update's Dockyard event. It's a grind I don't want to participate in because I've done it so many times in the past. It really is a grind. Thirty thousand base XP is a really arduous grind in Co-Op. At least one hundred games to reach that total (based on averages). Maybe less in Operations or Asymmetric. But it's still hard yakka (mind wanders at times during play). 

Ten million credits can be reached relatively easily but isn't going to happen in a few games. And commander XP can be achieved quicker when using economic bonuses. But why would you bother if all you play is Co-Op? And why squander such a valued resource needlessly?

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September Digest #2

World of Warships

Played both servers - one in the morning, the other late at night. So much easier on the latter because I know what I'm doing - most times. Even got a clan invite. But the name of the game for me is playing solo casual and see how far I can go while it's still (largely) free to play. 

Above show where I'm at after my first login session.

Notable for my first ever 8-ship sinking on this server. 

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Monday saw me continue playing my Tier X ships with my SEA account. Played HAYATE, Elbing, Z-52, G. HOFFMAN, Daring, Cassard. Interesting moment in the Cassard. Survived the game with my lowest HP count ever. Just 8 HP left, as the image below shows. A seagull dropping would have sunk me if it had struck! 

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Tough resisting the urge to buy anything in the game. Very hard indeed. Rather than constantly fight the temptation I'm going to restrict myself to just the one or two purchases PER UPDATE. It means being careful about what to spend. Also, the spending amount will be no more than AUD10 per purchase. That's the intent. See how long that lasts. Lol. 

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Last night (Tuesday) I began compiling a spreadsheet covering expenditures and rewards received while playing this over a certain period (June 2025 to June 2026). Why? Short answer: to keep me engaged mentally. 

I began recording daily performance a couple of years after joining the game back in 2019. But I only began creating and then maintaining a spreadsheet of every reward (in-game) and expenditure (money) only last year (started April 2025). As a challenge therefore, I will compile using daily text records from those earlier years into a similar spreadsheet. 

And I managed to extract all the information I needed for the month of January 2025. But I have a long way to go though.

This "new" project is sort of like other major wargaming hobby project but one without models and paint. It's a flimsy reason I know but it appeals to my current engagement and motivation crisis beyond just logging in and switching off with PC games. Pixel wargaming is a thing, believe it or not.  

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Today did my one Update spend to unlock level 2 on Event Pass. Did it primarily to acquire the "free" 10-pt Event captain (Jose Padilla Lopez) plus the Tier VI Pan-American destroyer Jurua. which is also my first premium on this account. 

Aim will be to use the Event captain to initially upgrade either the cruiser or battleship line as quickly as possible. Once upgraded, I will transfer in one of the other existing captains from the Early Access destroyer line to continue completing the grind. 

On the SEA account, it was the usual uneventful holiday token grind with Tier X destroyers. Ran just two today - the Pan-Asian gunboats Lushun and Lushun B. Yes, they are good gunboats with 1.5 sec reload. And their deep water torps make them pretty useful against battleships if they're able to approach close enough to loose off their torps. But the downside to playing it is no smoke or hydro or radar. 

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Update 15.8 began today (Thursday). Where to begin..!?

Spent all this time playing my SEA account. 

Festive (Snowflake) event. As per their blog, the more ships you have, the more bonus tokens you are eligible for.

A Tier X ship is worth 125 Festive tokens. 

A Tier IX ship is worth 100 Festive tokens.

Tier VIII = 75 Festive tokens.

And this sliding scale continues on down till you reach the base which is Tier V ships.

Depending on how many ships you have in your port fleet, there is a sliding scale of bonus festive tokens awarded after you've earned 1000 BASE XP on any of those ships.

Today, this huge port fleet advantage enabled me to obtain Kurama for 11,000 Festive tokens. Had to play over twenty ships to claim the reward. Lengthy grind but nothing I've not done many times before over the past seven years playing this game. 

Kept her 6 pt captain and ran in her maiden game. She performed well enough (2 kills) but I can say she is not a brawler. Barely survived a run-in with a BOT Napoli. The 'F' key - the funny button - reduces the standard 16km range to 13+ km in a brief rapid fire burst. Has submarine radar. No smoke nor hydro.  

To access the Festive listing click on Update Navigator and there you are.

Logging in you receive the 11th Anniversary Gift after playing a game.

Now that I have the Kurama, the surplus Festive token rewards (as shown below) holds varying appeal.

Not interested in the Enemy Destruction Effects crate. Same with the Red Steel Titan crate or Supercontainer.

I am however interested in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba crates because collecting the tiles rewards you with the Unique Spanish commander. Now instead of doubloons I can spend Festive tokens. Nice one, WG.

And I will also spend the tokens on the Bonus Package for Super ships. Pity that you're only limited to one per player.

Speaking of Unique commanders, I finished off the Commonwealth one by purchasing forty-five crates with coal. I will leave John Augustine Collins in Reserve for the time being. 

The rest of the listing hold no interest for me. 

New Operations missions now unlocked. 

You receive a reward for participating which seems worthwhile if new or with few ships but it's what it is, a participation award. See Combat Missions (below) for details regarding the reward received. 

The new Dockyard Event will be a non-event for me. No halfway ship. Not going for the final reward, as mentioned previously regarding why. Which means I won't be buying the starter packs. Happy to grab the mission rewards and exchange the dockyard tokens though while it's active. 

New Event Pass. Halfway reward is Orion '44. Final rewards are just camo. A bit meh to me but worthwhile - again - to anyone low on ships or resources. 

Before I forget, super ships are worth steel instead of festive tokens. 

And finally in this quick review, there is the new Wishing Wharf where you purchase (with real money) Wharf tokens to exchange for a chance at a new ship. Other WOWS YT streamers will have posted ship reviews on these new ships somewhere for those interested.

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SurrounDead

The other day, I "discovered" Lab 1, a place I'd heard about but never came across in my previous travels - until now. Not that I was looking all that hard in the first place. This place is close to the Observatory. Originally headed there to loot a military chopper that had crashed in the area. When I got there I decided to approach it carefully because I remembered an earlier time when I walked into a Coyote ambush by underestimating the situation. 

Immediately marked it permanently on my map so I know where it is every time. 

Anyway, I saw the Coyote soldiers guarding the entrance take on the zombies. So I helped out the zombies by executing the soldiers, then finished the job by wiping out the zombies. 

The bucket list is growing.

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There is a third Safe Zone aside from the main Valley Safe Zone and Ship Safe Zone. I thought it was permanently situated in the far north but in the mode I'm currently playing it's now in the south-east. On the main north-south route in the eastern side of the map. 

Each time I've visited I always pay the Settlement Officer the price for the location of specific loot such as classified containers and/or Coyote outposts. Which yields decent loot. 

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Modelling Corner Global

Relaxing after working on my WOWS spreadsheet project I got this YT notification about some modeller creating a sky table. Curious as to what this involved, I watched him create something awesome for his Gaslands Crimson Skies game. I knew about Gaslands but didn't know they'd gone aerial. 

His design is a 6 by 4 table comprising three 2 by 4 pressboard (or MDF) sheets laid crosswise on a solid table base. 

He rolled out a open water naval mat. 

Then he placed the mirror side wooden panels on top which latch together to keep the shape. Height, he said for this example, was short. He reckons it would look more effective higher though; I suspect he'd be right. 

Once established he followed this with his LED lighting system that consisted of two different coloured reels, one blue and one natural that flickered with sound (thunder and lightning effect) - placed around the table in a random configuration. Then he covered the lighting with cotton stuffing/wool/stuffing. 

Once sorted, on top went the plexiglass overlay (8mm thick I think). And Bob's your uncle. An aerial gaming table. I was floored. What a brilliant idea. It can be dismantled into pieces for travel to conventions and exhibitions. 

The effect is really striking in a darkened room. Envious but in awe at the creativity of certain individuals with a passion. And the models are great too.

His YT channel is SkirmishersGuild. He also has a facebook page. He's from the US. Please support by subscribing to either or both of his channels.

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