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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September Digest #1

World of Warships

Went to check my player profile. My NA account profile exists but my SEA (main) account profile does not exist. Checked the game by logging in. Still there as I anticipated. I log in daily to grind my five ships for the Holiday Convoy tokens. Then log out. Everything hunky-dory via Steam. Steam Guard playing up however. Checked timer sync. 

Halfway done going through my Tier IX tech tree line destroyers. Ran Kitakaze, Yugumo, Christopher, Fletcher, Tashkent. For the most part, been playing these destroyers without a commander. Tomorrow (Friday) it's the turn of Udaloi, F. Schultz, Z-46, Jutland, Mogador. 

Once I've completed this and the Tier X and supership lines, I will return to Tier V and resume going through the premiums. 

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Friday, as mentioned above, ran Udaloi, F. Schulz, Z-46, Jutland, Mogador. Five ships for the holiday convoy tokens. Foregoing the usual daily coal loot crates (three each day). 

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Saturday it was the turn of Orage, Adriatico, Chung Mu, L. Katonis, Ostergotland. Which completed the standard tech tree line for this tier. 

But then I decided to also run the premiums as well mainly to complete the full coal loot crates for today. So also played Friesland, Groningen, Minegumo, Halford, Johnston, Benham, Black, GQ Johnny. 

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Iron Nest

Yeah, not bothering completing the final mission because there is one of three way it can end which doesn't interest me. 

Instead, I'm waiting for news on whether they're going to expand the war theatre to north of the Pyrenees. If you read the daily news of the times, war is looming in the rest of Europe. Again. 

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SurrounDead

Building up ammo resources. Hunting for the elusive rocket launcher. All before I complete the final Global Achievement. Not much to report then. Will return once I have enough to enter the Redacted underground base and clear it of Coyote soldiers and discover the loot therein. 

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Brisbane River Fire Festival

Wife yesterday (Friday) took a few photos of the air force rehearsal flyover while at work. She claims they were going too fast for her phone camera. I asked why not take a video instead. She just glared at me. Lol. 

Above image shows the shadow of the jet. But where is the jet itself?

My personal favourite of this beautiful spring sky. Not much smog too. Shame about the Globemaster marring this photo of perfection. Damned air force and their inconveniencing!

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August Digest #6

World of Warships

Finishing off the last of the Tier VII tech tree destroyers. Today (Saturday) I played Z-31, Jervis, Le Hardi, Vauquelin, L. Tarigo, Gadja Mada. Because it didn't matter how I played these ships, I chose to play aggressively - sailing to capture the cap and attacking the enemy ships. 

Also scored the final rewards for the Event Pass - the Pan-American permanent camos. The Jurua one looks both wicked and silly. Still, I will play it along with the cruiser I. Allende, and then the remaining Tier VII destroyers Grom, Skane, Marcilio Dias. Sunday I will start on the Tier VIII destroyers.

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So tonight (still Saturday) I jumped into my other email account to install Black Wukong through Steam (because I bought it while using this other email account). Noticed WOWS was active in the library so instinctively jumped into the game. Upshot is I am now playing on the NA server with a new user name. 

Starting all over again should be interesting. Especially in a new server location. 

Had a chuckle as I scored one of the Pan-American destroyers straightaway upon unlocking an Access Level. Even played, and won, a Random Battle round while progressing through the various Access Levels. 

Mind you, it was a Tier I game (no seal clubbers fortunately), and I was only facing one live opponent (who appeared to be a "noob" like me) and sunk him/her/it quick. The rest were BOTS, and I managed to stay alive.

Anyway, tally from this brief adventure, after eventually logging out, is five ships (3 Tier I, 1 Tier II, and 1 Tier III), twelve port slots, a 24 hour premium day, and a couple of million credits. 

Of course, I got the usual "create account" notification pop up. Not sure what to do there, but for now I will just wait-and-see what unfolds.  

Primary aim is to try and play this time round for free as much as possible. So, no buying new premiums unless I have the doubloons. 

Aim therefore will be to reach Tier V as soon as possible so I can take advantage of the Holiday Convoy token offer of converting tokens for doubloons. 

Premium days will be tricky. But there will times when premium days will be given out as rewards so no biggie. 

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Played both NA and ASIA servers with my two separate WOWS accounts. The aim of playing on the NA server, as mentioned before, will be to play it for FREE. No money spent. Which means it will be mostly casually played than the more serious and grindy ASIA server account.

Today (Sunday) on the SEA server I played JURUA, I. ALLENDE, Grom, Skane, MARCILIO DIAS. Tomorrow will be start of the Tier VIII tech tree destroyer line. As with each tier, the ships improve in performance. I'd say Tier VIII is the start of the "good ones". First two with their Event Pass unique camo; the last ship is part of the Early Access Pan-American destroyer line which will be released for free grind around October or November. 

Did create a WG.net account yesterday (Saturday) with my NA account. And got the rewards. But then the game glitched. Closed out of the game and then logged back in after waiting to join a game (where screen hung for several minutes). And duly received the notification again after finishing the round. Did not respond as I'd already created a WG.net account. Wondering if it will happen again next time I log in?

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SurrounDead

Did the same thing regarding access/security using the moving gate fencing trick at my warehouse base behind Whitewood with my current character.

Collected a couple more vehicles at one of the irradiated areas to the east of the Valley Safe Zone - the Damaged Nuke site -:  a Utility and a Flatbed truck. The Utility will replace the SUV which is just not robust enough whenever I go jaunting about. I am always having to repair it every time I take it out for a zombie rundown. 

The buggy and the Charger are fast enough to dodge the zippy zombies so they're still useful. But SUV will just go into long-term parking along with the Flatbed truck which I realise now I should have left behind. 

Priority for now is getting and building up stocks of ammo. Airdrops are slim picking at the moment. But at least I have all my crafting stations constructed so I can recycle unwanted ammo for essential ones.

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Went to the port precinct ostensibly to check out a crashed helo. Ran into a bandit team looting an abandoned medical supply truck near the crash site. After taking them out, visited the helo, looted it, camped overnight, and in the morning went into the port to deal to the infestation there. Used the shipping containers to deal with the zombie hordes and the three infestation sites - two secondary and the primary. Then dealt to the two zombie bosses - Captain Philips and Large Zombie. 

Collected several legendary weapon from the loot piles - Colonel's Revenge (5.56) and Survivor (7.62). Picked up another Marksman Legacy (.308) but traded that in for cash. And also collected my favourite, the M32 Grenade Launcher. 

Now it's time to churn out lots of ammo. Either recycle surplus other ammo (.45, flare, or shotgun shells) and/or scavenge lots of scrap metal. (abandoned smoking vehicles littered throughout the valley). 

I live in hope that I will find a rocket launcher somehow. Or maybe either the military trader or the ice cream vendor will have in their inventory to sell. One hopes.

Ignored the ambo that spawned on the road to Longdown Port. Did it earlier with a couple of other vehicles found during one of my jaunts. Temptation is to collect. Resist.

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Got my RV today (Monday). And picked up the modified Glock. Just needing to build loads of ammo for my Lechie and Barret. And M32 grenades. 

Marked a couple of bunker locations (red crosses) on the map for later investigations. On the road in-between the two "X" marked (apartment POI shown) a Coyote base sometimes spawns. Easy take out with the Lechie sniper rifle and M32 grenade launcher, but one has to approach carefully. Do a headcount first before opening up. And take out the Lieutenant as soon as he is identified. Rewards from a Coyote outpost is worth taking them on of course. 

Airdrops are automatically shown on the map (red for medical, green for equipment and weapons, and blue for food, fuel and generators). 

Infestation areas for clearing are displayed. Note: you have to clear the Secondary Infestation areas first before you can deal to the Primary. Usually you encounter one or two Secondary Infestations, sometimes in easy to reach places, other times, not as with the Seconday located on the second floor roof in Grain Valley. 

Example of the latter was one secondary located on an upper storey of an apartment building in last session. The primary was on the ground floor. Whenever you tackle an infestation area, zombies in droves spawn to protect their "nest". 

Of course, each Primary Infestation area comes with its own "territorial" Zombie boss. Usually one. Sometimes two (as in Longdown Port and Redacted Airfield and the main towns). 

And then there is the unclaimed crate which you have to find. As with the one on the roof of the hospital in Whitewood. These are not essential to clearing the Infestation but part of the reward.

The Infestation locations are always in the same spot, regardless. So you can develop a strategy for approaching and dealing with them. For example, in Whitewood one of the secondary infestations is located in a house opposite the primary. I normally approach it from the hole in the fence to the north and take it out with an automatic weapon (mg level). 

The other secondary is situated on the outside of another building located towards the police station. This I take out from a safe distance (for me I use the hill upon which the fire tower overlooking the town sits). Then I switch to the primary using a high powered sniper rifle (such as a Lechie or Barret 50 cal). The zombies will spawn in response but they can't climb the slippery slope directly so you're safe enough.

If checked in settings, you will also get infestation zones that spawn in random locations. These grow if left alone for too long. 

And points of interest (POI) are disclosed upon closer investigation (physically visiting or entering and pausing within the zone). These are shown in white on your map. Their locations are fixed.

Other POI are marked in yellow which disappear from your map once visited and verified. They do linger for a while if unvisited before eventually disappearing because when log back in, they are gone.

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August Digest #5

World of Warships

Chose the simple expediency at the start of the week of playing just five ships, all part of my Commander upskill long-term grind. Kamikaze (proxy for Kitakaze), Cossack, Leipzig (proxying for Preussen), Narai (one of the Rong brothers), De Grasse (for Jean Bart). 

Doing this satisfied the Holiday tokens mission (play five games to collect 1200 tokens) requirement. And plonked blue economic bonuses to grab the daily three coal loot crates. 

In and out!

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Today is Friday. Got another Pan-Am new destroyer, Tier VII Marcelo Dias from the Event Pass. Swapped out the commander that came with the ship and transferred in an Event commander, Jose Padilla Lopez, who is a 10-pt captain. Which is more preferable as a 0-pt commander. 

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Upskilled the three 19-pt commanders to 20-pt today. Disrupted game due to some software update. Fortunately it happened while I was in port and not in-game. 

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Issue with gaming PC. Forced to jump on to my backup. Had to update the game as a result. Took many hours. When I finally jumped into the game (early hours of next day) I managed to play five games on five tech tree line DDs (with no commanders) in order to grab the doubloons. Then logged out.

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Had to reset my gaming PC (clean reboot). As a result had to once again upload WOWS which took all day and night (win10 and laggy). But I finally managed to install the game, logged in and got my doubloons. Now that's dedication...or obsessiveness. Depends on your mindset and outlook. 

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Continuing the five-game grind for the Holiday tokens. Interesting change as it's been a long while with some of these ships. Today it was the last of the tech tree Tier V destroyers line with one premium thrown in - Visby, Muavanet, Kalmar, Antioquoia. 

Tomorrow it's the start of the Tier VI tech tree line - Fubuki, Hatsuharu, Farragut, Gnevny, Gaede. Should be fun.

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Iron Nest

Two missions completed tonight (Monday). High Tide is a beach landing defence with a weak infantry force. Reinforcements arrive soon enough but ideally you want to be knocking the enemy BEFORE they land and debus. 

Managed to knock out the enemy HQ landing crafts (yes, there are several so you will be busy). It was a frenetic firefight. Did enough to complete the task but struggled with hitting the enemy landing craft. Once they divested their forces, it became a lot less frantic. But if not for the friendly reinforcements, we would have been overrun. 

Next mission was Blind Fire. Basically, knock out four AA batteries blind fire. No aerial photo-recon possible, even post-fire. But you have spotters who can report. Some miscalculation involved before I could report success. Now on to the next mission, Phantom Battery.

Projecting ahead, I reckon the developers will expand campaigns into Europe. Or even North Africa. At least that's the wishful thinking. 

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Tuesday saw me attempt Phantom Battery. With much dread. And it was justified as I struggled initially to organise myself with the time pressure. Moreover it was prioritising what actually needed doing to deal with the countdown.

(1) Survive. Make your Emergency Move as soon as possible once you get Iron Nest operational again. 

(2) Confirm new location. Triangulate with just TWO Position Reports, both within the same grid as your gun. Being in the same grid means you are easily locatable with friendlies in close proximity.

(3) Get info from your Spotters as quickly as possible. Once the Phantom Battery is confirmed spotted and reported back, make another Emergency Move to pause Counter Battery timer so you can load the required ammo.

(4) Once in new location and verified, quickly load the AP and double gun fire at the target. May have to repeat to make sure. 

It doesn't matter how well you fared in the end, just that the mission was successful. Now on to the last mission. 

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SurrounDead

Don't forget to resave your current save with a name so it's not overwritten as I just discovered today (Wednesday). Started two new games and suddenly realised I hadn't changed the save settings to save my old current saveslot which I had been playing for months and almost completed. So, everything's gone. Everything I had worked long for. Gone. 

Typical Homer J moment. 

Anyway, started three new characters, one on Nightmare setting, one on Hardened. And one on Standard. Died not soon after spawning in Hardened when I couldn't orient myself and chose to simply take on the zombie spawns with a knife.

Had better luck in Nightmare when I made it to the Valley Safe Zone more or less after orienting myself and choosing to evade the many zombies this time. But don't fancy my chances with just a knife and no food, water, or money. 

Currently surviving in Standard mode at my "old haunt" base after spawning in the area. Dealing with the Primary Infestation not far from my base but skint on ammo. Managed to knock off the Zombie boss by using a nearby friendly group as bait. 

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Continued today (Thursday) with my new character. Slow at first getting established but trotting along nicely. Managed to kill off the Primary Infestation I was tackling yesterday. But had to repeat killing the Zombie boss. Scored some handy weapons. And even collected a second car - a Utility - just down the road from my base. I was heading to the Valley Safe Zone to sell off loot in the yellow Sedan I found yesterday when I was approaching the Primary Infestation farm house. Incidentally, it's visible from my base so it's real close. 

Also learned a new trick for using metal fencing as a gate. 

I've placed a crafted metal fencing as a barrier gate outside the front entrance. Good thing as it saves on materials needed to craft those swinging gates as with my previous character. All you do is interact (F key) by selecting it to move (as shown above). 

Once highlighted, move through (as shown above) and right click to restore the fence in its original position (as shown below). 

Voila! Instant gate! Cheap and effective. Stops the zombies that spawn periodically in this location from entering your base. 

For now, I'm in the early days of establishing myself. I'm past the immediate survival stage for now. Priority is setting up all the crafting benches (just one more table to go - the Weapons and Equipment bench). Need to establish a well too.

Also searching loot crates for useful weapons, better gear, tools and resources, plenty of ammo of all types, medicine, and food and water. And build up plenty of reserves and resources to prosper rather than survive from day to day. 

Took out the Zombie boss at Whitewood which is close to Valley Safe Zone. Yet to tackle the Primary Infestation there. Not enough ammo at the moment to confront it for now. The weapons I currently have aren't powerful enough. Grenades and molotovs - lots of both - would be most welcomed.

I may relocate to the warehouse behind Whitewood because of its close proximity to Valley Safe Zone. But I am thinking of establishing several regional/local bases instead. 

Take a deep breath....!

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Moved to the warehouse behind Whitewood. Dealt to several Zombie bosses in the session - the one at Whitewood and Pacific Mall and the Gun Store between Whitewood and Pacific Mall. 

Also picked up a third car - a Charger just outside of Pacific Mall. 

Collecting legendary weapons quicker this time round. Scored the Colonel's Revenge (5.56), Valkyrie (5.56), Lechie (.300 Winchester), Crusher (7.62) and the Rocket Launcher (66mm) - from crates and Zombie boss kills. All scored in today's sesh. Productive day after the first few days just surviving and establishing myself.

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Last night I continued to improve on my relocation to the warehouse behind Whitewood. Cutting down trees, smashing rocks, looting crates, dealing to bandits. Typical day in Zombie land. Going to keep my first location as either an overnight stopover or a forward base of operations. Considering doing that for the north, west and south.

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BIG NEWS!!!

Should have seen it coming. Doing a clean reset meant a reinstall of the game. Thus all my past saves are gone. Kaput. Every single one. 

Only my Steam Achievements in the game are all I have left to prove I've done time in the game. To my pleasant surprise I learned I've done all except one - the "Redacted" (hidden) achievement. You know the place - out west, the base with all those unexploded bombs and gun turrets, the underground rail lines that I began to explore. That place.

So now I have a purpose for this time round. Currently doing well enough. No car yet but I have a hunting rifle with scope which is my primary weapon for now. I also have an M2010 and CR308, both as backup. And my trusty baseball bat for melee and deer hunting. Lol.

Airdrops now happening so that means more goodies. Need to head east to find a mode of transport.

Even saw the Ice Cream van early on. But no credit so not worth pining. 

Forgot there are three options when launching into. The one I've been using and check the box to always open with it is the unstable one, which is the first option (DirectX 12). But the one I should have been using (and suggested by the AI search) is the second one - DirectX 11 - which is apparently, according to the playing community, the more stable. 

Point of perspective actually. Sure, there were the odd quirks with the version I used (vehicles sometimes spawning scattered on the odd occasion or the clock when you double tap the 'J' key would stay displayed for as long as you're alive; once dead, it will never display again unless you quit and then rejoined the game anew) but it never bothered me that much from dealing with my tasks.

Anyway, all my Global achievements exist forever. Yay! Some good news then.

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Not yet download the NVIDI app I used to take screenshots of my online gaming experience. But that didn't matter as I was able to take a screenshot of my current endeavours in the newly reinstalled game courtesy of the game itself.

Scored myself a SUV and buggy, (shown above), and a Charger which is at the Pine Street neighbourhood forward base. If you spawn in the eastern area there is a long main road running north-south. Down from the roadside motel (north-east, above the contaminated zone), find and take the trail behind the service station/garage that leads to a couple of homesteads. Along there will be a vehicle spawn. 

Once again I have re-established my main base at the abandoned warehouse behind Whitewood. 

Going to limit the number of vehicles this time round. So am only on the lookout for the RV camper so I can overnight camp wherever (no need for sleeping bag and tent).

Am looking to establish a forward base near the Redacted Zone. There's a gunshop back from the area that will serve fine as a temporary base. It has the added bonus of having several display cabinets that will spawn weapons and the like regularly.  

Weapons. I've had to start from scratch again. Lost the rocket launcher and Lechie sniper rifle when I did a clean PC reset the other day. 

In this new game I recently managed to upgrade from your standard hunter's rifle (.308 round - decent damage) to a Marksman Legacy which does slightly improved headshot damage than the hunter rifle. 

I also have the M2010 sniper rifle which I found early in the game but I don't use it much because rounds and mags are hard to come by at this stage of the game. The Marksman Legacy rifle (with heavy scope) does a decent job for the meanwhile.

I do have the Barret 50 cal sniper rifle. From an airdrop. But no mags came with it. And only a few rounds scavenged elsewhere. 

Trying to build up cash and credit so I can purchase a grenade launcher. Having one makes it easier to deal with groups from afar.

I have a couple of other rifles - a CR308 and a M4CQB - as backups. 

No diversified Battle Ready Glock as yet. Just a standard M9 with a 50-round mag.

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