Developers posts on forum

Captain_Judo:   Only the top 6 teams are guaranteed a playoff berth.    The playoff schedule will be confirmed after group play. The first playoff round is normally used to bring the number of teams down to 2^x, granting byes to several teams in the process. Beginning with playoff round 2, half the teams advance each round until there are only two teams left.

Captain_Judo:   Only the top 6 teams are guaranteed a playoff berth.    The playoff schedule will be confirmed after group play. The first playoff round is normally used to bring the number of teams down to 2^x, granting byes to several teams in the process. Beginning with playoff round 2, half the teams advance each round until there are only two teams left.

Quemapueblos:   You think that will change anything? I'll see if I can get them some handicaps

Quemapueblos:   You think that will change anything? I'll see if I can get them some handicaps

Quemapueblos: I will see what I can do about the exact numbers for the specific actions that affect riot chance  

Quemapueblos: If you own more land, you will have more riots and all provinces will have a higher chance to riot  

Quemapueblos: I will see what I can do about the exact numbers for the specific actions that affect riot chance  

Quemapueblos: If you own more land, you will have more riots and all provinces will have a higher chance to riot  

Quemapueblos:   http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/321773-clan-wars-mechanic-change-riot-mechanics/ Now the magic is lost

Quemapueblos:   http://forum.worldoftanks.com/index.php?/topic/321773-clan-wars-mechanic-change-riot-mechanics/ Now the magic is lost

Yoott: http://worldoftanks.com/en/news/eSports/wglna-silver-streams/   or    http://na.wgleague.net/en/news/category/event/silver-division-streams/    

Yoott: http://worldoftanks.com/en/news/eSports/wglna-silver-streams/   or    http://na.wgleague.net/en/news/category/event/silver-division-streams/    

Yoott: http://worldoftanks.com/en/news/eSports/wglna-silver-streams/   or    http://na.wgleague.net/en/news/category/event/silver-division-streams/    

Quemapueblos: I'm sure you have noticed that there are a few interesting things happening on the Clan Wars map in regards to Riots. The riot formula was changed to allow small but active Clan Wars Clans a chance to attack out and expand while not worrying too much about riots. This change means owning a few provinces will not result in as many riots as those who own large swathes of land.   The riot mechanics were changed in the following way: 1)Max amount of riots is now defined by the formula:  (N+1)/3 = Riot Limit  where N - amount of provinces owned by a clan.   2)The basic chance of riot is now calculated by the following formula: 0% + N*k = basic chance of riot, where N - amount of provinces owned by a clan.           k - special coefficient, equal to 0.05   3)If clan holds only one province, there is no chance of riot happening on their province.     The table below shows Riot Chance and Riot Limit per province owned   Amount of provinces Riot limit Basic riot chance 1 0 5.00% 2 1 10.00% 3 1 15.00% 4 1 20.00% 5 2 25.00% 6 2 30.00% 7 2 35.00% 8 3 40.00% 9 3 45.00% 10 3 50.00% 11 4 55.00% 12 4 60.00% 13 4 65.00% 14 5 70.00% 15 5 75.00% 16 5 80.00% 17 6 85.00% 18 6 90.00% 19 6 95.00% 20 7 100.00% 21 7 105.00% 22 7 110.00% 23 8 115.00% 24 8 120.00% 25 8 125.00% 26 9 130.00% 27 9 135.00% 28 9 140.00% 29 10 145.00% 30 10 150.00% 31 10 155.00% 32 11 160.00% 33 11 165.00% 34 11 170.00% 35 12 175.00% 36 12 180.00% 37 12 185.00% 38 13 190.00% 39 13 195.00% 40 13 200.00%   The factors affecting Chance of Revolt are still in effect: Chance of revolt increases In a particular province When this province is ransacked When any neighboring province is ransacked If the province has no connection with the owning clan’s HQ When the owning clan’s HQ is removed from this province When a clan captures a province that previously belonged to another clan for more than 7 days in a row In all clan’s provinces When the clan loses any of its provinces as a result of revolt When the clan loses its HQ When the clan loses any of its provinces When the number of owned provinces increases   Chance of revolt drops In a particular province If the owning clan’s HQ is located in this province If a counterspy is active in this province If the clan has chips located in this province In all clan’s provinces When the clan represses a revolt in any of its provinces When the clan successfully defends any of its provinces against an enemy attack      

Quemapueblos: I'm sure you have noticed that there are a few interesting things happening on the Clan Wars map in regards to Riots. The riot formula was changed to allow small but active Clan Wars Clans a chance to attack out and expand while not worrying too much about riots. This change means owning a few provinces will not result in as many riots as those who own large swathes of land.   The riot mechanics were changed in the following way: 1)Max amount of riots is now defined by the formula:  (N+1)/3 = Riot Limit  where N - amount of provinces owned by a clan.   2)The basic chance of riot is now calculated by the following formula: 0% + N*k = basic chance of riot, where N - amount of provinces owned by a clan.           k - special coefficient, equal to 0.05   3)If clan holds only one province, there is no chance of riot happening on their province.     The table below shows Riot Chance and Riot Limit per province owned   Amount of provinces Riot limit Basic riot chance 1 0 5.00% 2 1 10.00% 3 1 15.00% 4 1 20.00% 5 2 25.00% 6 2 30.00% 7 2 35.00% 8 3 40.00% 9 3 45.00% 10 3 50.00% 11 4 55.00% 12 4 60.00% 13 4 65.00% 14 5 70.00% 15 5 75.00% 16 5 80.00% 17 6 85.00% 18 6 90.00% 19 6 95.00% 20 7 100.00% 21 7 105.00% 22 7 110.00% 23 8 115.00% 24 8 120.00% 25 8 125.00% 26 9 130.00% 27 9 135.00% 28 9 140.00% 29 10 145.00% 30 10 150.00% 31 10 155.00% 32 11 160.00% 33 11 165.00% 34 11 170.00% 35 12 175.00% 36 12 180.00% 37 12 185.00% 38 13 190.00% 39 13 195.00% 40 13 200.00%   The factors affecting Chance of Revolt are still in effect: Chance of revolt increases In a particular province When this province is ransacked When any neighboring province is ransacked If the province has no connection with the owning clan’s HQ When the owning clan’s HQ is removed from this province When a clan captures a province that previously belonged to another clan for more than 7 days in a row In all clan’s provinces When the clan loses any of its provinces as a result of revolt When the clan loses its HQ When the clan loses any of its provinces When the number of owned provinces increases   Chance of revolt drops In a particular province If the owning clan’s HQ is located in this province If a counterspy is active in this province If the clan has chips located in this province In all clan’s provinces When the clan represses a revolt in any of its provinces When the clan successfully defends any of its provinces against an enemy attack      

Captain_Judo:   You can find your battle schedule on your team page. If you didn't bookmark your team page, you will need to locate your team on the tournament page.    The tournament page currently displays all the groups for tonight's group-play round.  

Captain_Judo:   Yes, we closed registration this morning allowing entry for all teams submitting their rosters yesterday.  

Captain_Judo:   No. A team simply needs to avoid losing a single battle throughout the tournament. FWIW, this has never been completed by any team in the history of our challenge tournaments  

Captain_Judo:

Captain_Judo:   You can find your battle schedule on your team page. If you didn't bookmark your team page, you will need to locate your team on the tournament page.    The tournament page currently displays all the groups for tonight's group-play round.  

Captain_Judo:   Yes, we closed registration this morning allowing entry for all teams submitting their rosters yesterday.  

Captain_Judo:   No. A team simply needs to avoid losing a single battle throughout the tournament. FWIW, this has never been completed by any team in the history of our challenge tournaments  

Captain_Judo:

Yoott:     OMG You are right HOLY COW.... err actually thats why we had the captains agree to use training rooms :-)     

Yoott:     OMG You are right HOLY COW.... err actually thats why we had the captains agree to use training rooms :-)     

Yoott:     OMG You are right HOLY COW.... err actually thats why we had the captains agree to use training rooms :-)     

Quemapueblos: The fortnightly Clan Spotlight is back after a short hiatus! This week's Clan is the winner of Campaign 2, Havok! This isn't their first time winning it big either, they also collected a good bit of Gold and some unique medals from Rise of the Americas. You are sure to find the Havok logo somewhere on the Clan Wars map at all times as these tankers are not interested in sitting around. As the commander, callmesarge, puts it, "We put the 'War' in Clan Wars.   This is the extended version. Check out the Portal Article here! We interviewed these players to learn more about the history of Havok:
Callmesarge - Commander of Havok and Strategist
BlackCompany - Deputy Commander and Recruiter
Unknown0ne - Deputy Commander, Field Commander and Strategist
TofuSmurf - Deputy Commander
m5m5 - Strategist and Field Commander
Arty_Takes_Skill - Strategist
Henrik - Artillery  Strategist
Tevix - Treasurer
The_Decoy - Strategist
togood2222 - Diplomat   You can challenge Havok to Absolute Tank Companies this Wednesday at 3:00 PM PDT on the NA East server.   When and how did Havok get started? Callmesarge – A group of us from the Brothers Grimm followed RumNcolt and Boots to Havok. As soon as we were formed we kinda had a foot in the door with the organization called NASA. Our spot was already set, in terms of where we were going to situate ourselves on the map. Thanks to Boots, we had a fairly solid player base from the start. He knew his players and he knew what he wanted. Anyways, we added members and I was calling battles with flashender. Basically, we set out to take Scandinavian panhandle.   Henrik - When we first started sarge was our main Strategy guy.   Callmesarge – I called a lot back then. I do have to highlight the excellent talent of the rest of the Battle Callers that we have had come throw our doors.  We all had our own styles and I am very happy to have worked alongside them.   Henrik – I can't say enough about RumNcolt. When he started a meeting there was no talking. You could have the most brash 18 year old in here and he spoke like a lawyer, he was a lawyer, and everybody would follow him to the end of the earth. He set the tone of what the clan would be long term. He set it up to be a clan that would fight. We would be the working arm of NASA.   What have you learn about running a clan that you wish you knew when you started out? Callmesarge – When I came to HavoK I said I was going to do this job (Battle Calling) and that's it. Having specific roles for people is important.  You can have a lot of plans and expectations but it is never going to go as planned. You just have to keep trucking on with a vision, you have to keep going but have contingencies. In looking to solve a problem, you don't have to find a solution right away. You just have to let the dust settle and then you can make a decision.   Henrik – When sarge first took over he kind of burned out but now he has a large officer core of around 10 people that help him out so he doesn't burn out and I think this time around he is actually enjoying it.   Callmesarge – Am I? Haha. Well first time I came in I had a lot of expectations. I was trying a lot of things too and did a lot of things on my own.  Second time around, I'm delegating a lot more. I don't care how long it takes, if I'm looking for a particular kind of person to do a job I'll just keep asking because in the long run it will help. I came to realize that there are hidden talents in Havok. With the right incentives and nourishment we've been able to get the right players to contribute. As Commander it makes me proud to see players grow in their contributions to the clan as a whole and we have done a lot of things. We have had a lot of wars and had a lot of accomplishments because of it. All I have had to do is make sure I don't go too far in that ambition to play and compete. Everyone, Commander included, has to learn and progress no one is above that.   Tevix – You can't do all by yourself.   Do you find players burn out faster in being in a top clan? BlackCompany – I guess but I think the bigger thing is we are looking for players who have that highly competitive attitude. For the most part we don't have a big turn over and for the most part players know what they are getting into. It's finding that competitive player that is more challenging.   What were your goals as a clan starting out and what is your goal today? BlackCompany – As far as Havok goes, a lot came here just to fight. That is one thing that a lot of other clans just didn't do. The whole Burning Legion was premised with that concept of let’s just go out there and fight. The whole NASA thing did not sit well with me. They only reason I came on board with Havok in the first place was because they were going to fight. That was the whole concept, we weren't going to sit on a plot of land; we were going to fight. I think that is what has made Havok so strong is that attitude of having a 100 guys that want to fight. They want to do it the best that they can and they are willing to put in the extra time.    Tevix – We definitely aren't farmers for sure.   The_Decoy – The best part of this game is blowing things up.   Henrik – We fight everyday too. If we didn't have a fight today, sarge would go find one for us.   Callmesarge – We want to fight. It is not easy.   What did the map look like when you first stepped on to it? BlackCompany - NASA   Callmesarge – Yeah, everything was NASA with Red Sky kind of there with [AOD] in the middle with [MLP]. [IR] wasn’t there anymore. There was one patch of territory that was really unclaimed for the most part and had some hostile clans to NASA. RumNcolt was the chair of NASA at the time, so with the creation of Havok… well a lot of newer clans would have had to go through a lot of red tape so to speak,  a lot more bureaucratic stuff at the time with NASA being involved. As soon as we were formed, I was just a field commander and wasn’t interested in politics. The only instructions that I was given was that we need to take the Troms landing.  That was pretty much the first main objective that we had as a clan.   During the NASA era, you guys owned 4 separate areas of the map. What was your reasoning for being so spread out over the map? Why did you wait so long to change your logo and color? Callmesarge – We never actually changed our logo to the NASA emblem. At the time when I came in as Deputy and started attending the NASA, we didn’t have a commander present to actually change the colors to match the rest of the NASA Clans and the emblem. It was always pressed on us during the NASA meetings but we didn’t actually end up changing it. It kinda made us look like rebels. I didn’t mind.  The NASA Wars exploded not too long after that. Callmesarge – We were all over the place because of the mechanics of Clans Wars at the time. You could apply to landing zones while still on a territory. That allowed us to be active members of NASA. Landing and clearing LZs and facilitating what not. So that kind of thing was enabled by the changes to ownership rules.   How do you prepare for a Clan Wars match? The_Decoy – It depends on what we are doing. If it is a map we have done a lot, we just right into it; we know what we are doing. If it is a new map, we will go into a training room and figure out angles and timings and all sorts of things to know what we are getting into before the battle starts.   togood2222 – Almost every time we do 15 on 15 practices, to make sure everyone understands what they are doing.   The_Decoy – Once we have the basic plan we run the guys through a couple times to make sure everyone knows their place and how the plan is going to go. We will come at each other with different strategies. If sarge has got a plan, unknown will try to beat it and vice versa.   Unknown0ne – It also comes down to how much time is available. If there is not much time available you just have to come up with a strat and just go with it.   The_Decoy – Oh yeah sometimes we wing it. If we have the ability, we try to plan things out especially if it is an important battle.   Is this how it has always has been done? Or has the process evolved over time? Callmesarge  – No, before for Clan Wars, as field commander, I would be notified of the map(s) we were playing on for the night. I'll come up with a plan and then go back to Boots (the recruiter at the time) and give him my tank line-up. 3 T30s 5 IS-7s and 2 artillery and a scout or a couple mediums. I didn't need to pick a team; I didn’t know the players too well back then. I would just get a roster but I got the guys best suited to the position. From there I would have my team and prep them. I'd do maybe a run though in ATC and we would be good to go. As we did that, eventually we realized that it a little better to run it through and that way you have a feel how you need to call the battle, what needs to be done specifically. So at some point we changed over to actually doing training rooms. It is important to note that as far as the player base of Havok goes, we didn't start with a bunch of unicums. We started with minimum requirement of 50%, so players that could play but great to mediocre players.  To even that playing field a bit, we started doing training rooms to make sure everyone was on the same page when it comes to a battle. So yeah we started doing training rooms and practice battles before Clan Wars.   Henrik – In the beginning, we were mostly playing on Erlenberg and Karelia. I think it was generally known by Boots that we were going to train all the time and because we had 50 guys that played almost every week so we have always been able to field 2 teams, sometimes 3 or even 4. But because we had a large player mass, which is unusual for most clans at the time, the combinations of players kept changing. You could have 5 great heavy tank drivers but hardly did they play together because we were running 2 or 3 matches at the same time. I think that is unusual compared to other clans out there. In that sense, we were always in training because let’s say a flank of 5 heavies is always changing and your cooperation is always changing between the 5 tanks because they don't know the guy next to them. About a year ago, we said we wanted to put together 4 trainings a week and that was the minimum to get your Gold pay, but what do you think sarge?   Callmesarge – I think it's the norm in Havok now to do a training room. All Field Commanders should know that the explanation of the plan is central to preparation for us in Clan Wars now. If we don't do it now we are in trouble. Everyone expects that we do a training room. Some guys have just come on and haven't had a chance to play yet today, so it’s nice to get into a training room and warm up and either, depending on which side you are on, get rolled over or win.   togood2222 – Unless you are sarge's team!   Tevix – Be there until sarge wins because you are not leaving until sarge wins.   TofuSmurf – Whether or not we have time before Clan Wars...   togood2222 – There have been so many times with 3 minutes left before battle starts and sarge is yelling “One more! One more! ONE MORE!”   Callmesarge – There are lots of times where we have done the same strat that we are run in Clan Wars and it has just gone horribly wrong in training rooms and through feedback from players, I've changed it before the battle starts. “Ok this is what we are doing!” At that point I have a feel about how I want to call it. How I need to explain what a player needs to do. It also helps to go in to the real battle with a win under our belts.   Henrik – You aren't trying to win in a training session. You are trying to throw a strat against a strat.   How often do you change what strategies you run on a map? Tevix – We vary quite a bit. Other clans now are too good now to be running same over and over again.   togood2222 – They watch the replays   Callmesarge – With replay's being implemented, that kind of changed the way a lot of strats were run for the whole community because clans can replay strats but when you actually see a replay and see how things are done, it's different from hearing how so and so did a strat.   What does it take to be a good FC and how do you go about developing a new strategy? Unknown0ne – I think if it is a map you haven't done before, you go into a training room and see what it’s like. You also look at how it plays out in pubs too. You can't apply all that but you can get a feel for how everything works and how different parts of map react. You can judge somewhat how a map is going it play by playing it in pub battles hundreds of times. You can take that knowledge into a training room and you talk to other field commanders. You get idea of what might work and if you have enough time take 15 people and go try that against 15 others. Or you go into a Clan Wars battle and hope for the best.   Callmesarge – What I have seen is that strategies for Clan Wars usually match the field commander calling it. I can tell that a strat is an Unknown strat. People can tell that a strat is my strat. We have had various field commanders over the years and I can tell even if I'm calling; this is totally not my strat.   How can you tell who created a strategy by looking at it? TofuSmurf – It's because sarge likes to cap fast.   Henrik – For instance Endo liked to take his best drivers, put them all together, and charge one line. He will overwhelm a particular area of the map.   Callmesarge – There is a certain temperament that each field commander brings. Some field commanders love to utilize the scouts a lot regardless of map they are on but they are probably better at open maps.   Arty_Takes_Skill – They cater to own play style. So say in pub battles they play really aggressive then they try to have aggressive strats because they know what is going on when you are playing aggressive. If they are a passive player, they know how to play passive. They are more comfortable with passive strats.   TofuSmurf – It is basically people's comfort zones. If something happens that is not in their comfort zone in the middle of the battle, that's why we have the quality of players we have in the clan, just so we can help our field commanders by being good players and compensating for that.   What do you look for in replays to help you determine weaknesses in your opponent’s strategies? Henrik – You can't really phrase it that way because if you are going against someone like SIMP, that takes a real strat and they've seen everything and we have seen everything. So it comes down to how well you really execute the plan you were putting forth.   Tevix – It’s more making it look like something they have already seen and then turning it around into something else to surprise them.   Callmesarge – Some nights it just doesn't go that way. If it is a top tier team, your strat isn't going to turn out as you wanted it to.   The_Decoy – We force them to have to react to what we are doing. Like chess, we check them and see if they can counter it. There is never any specific weakness to any clan we are going for, we are trying to make the weakness.   Henrik – If they don't respond then we will continue to overwhelm them until we are in their backyard.   How do you analysis your own replays? Arty_Takes_Skill – You load up the replay and see which flanks didn't do so good. There is usually something you could have done like fallen back from a bad position instead of holding out or reinforced it with more tanks. It's about repositioning and getting your forces where you need them. World of Tanks is mainly about positioning. That is what wins the games.   TofuSmurf – There are so many of us that are knowledgeable about what goes on in a Clan Wars battle that when we all look at it together, you get a large database of people’s minds to draw from about how you could do something better. Maybe where you flexed wrong and you take all that information and better your strat for next time. We will run it through practice the next day before the battle and continue to work it to perfection. It is just fine tuning everything with a large reservoir of people that know what they are doing.   Arty_Takes_Skill – It doesn't have to be the strat that is the problem. Sometimes it can be that the strat was fine but somebody didn't execute it right. So you have to be able to tell if someone made a mistake which caused the strat to go bad. Some people when they lose just blame the strat but what you need to do is look at how people played their roles and if they didn't do everything right. If they did do everything right, well then you have to look at the strat.   How do you think the recent changes such as to allowing shells to penetrate through walls will affect strategies in Clan Wars? BlackCompany – I was thinking about that and a lot of times in Clan Wars you've got HEAT and Gold rounds and a lot of HEAT rounds are not conducive at all to taking advantage of shooting through a small barricade as AP or APCR can. So I think you are going to see tanks with selection of armament now. If you can use ACPR, tanks cannot use those things for temporary cover. APCR round is going to go right through and still hit him. I think it is going to come more into play as it goes.   Arty_Takes_Skill – I don't think it will make much of difference in Clan Wars.   Callmesarge – Depending on the map, most of those things get run over anyways. In my experience you say don't run over the car... ughhh someone ran over the car. As a player, if I'm in a fire fight and I am going to look around for objects that I can use as far as stopping the opponents from shooting me but from my experience you tell people to not run over it and they do it anyways.   What about in the future, do you see any changes coming that would affect Clan Wars?  Arty_Takes_Skill – When they allow you to penetrate through whole houses, that is going to change the game play a lot because it is going to make a lot more positions less viable. It is going to change how you are going to play the map but the stuff right now, like the cars and little fences, is not a big deal.   Callmesarge – It comes down to the players and their playstyle and it will also involve a lot more research of the map.  For example, you don't want to be sending people to where they are going to die too quickly. You don't want them next to a house that is going to be down in a second and they are going to go next because they have no cover to go to. The ability to take some cover out entirely will change game play a lot and make strats more dynamic. Alot of strats you get a group of tanks in one spot and they are there for a while because they have cover to fight from.   The_Decoy – If you can shoot through big buildings, 261 AP rounds are going to be big.   What were your most exciting moments from Campaign 2? BlackCompany – I like that the Campaign really opens up map. It had a lot of movement. We saw lots of clans moving around the map. We got to see a lot of different maps and opponents.   Henrik – It was those two days before the end of the campaign.   Callmesarge – The first night everyone was excited and dialed into having to participate in the Campaign. I was excited to see that. The second to last day of the Campaign was exciting as well; it included our battle for the Gold Pot versus Guerillas.   Tevix – A day into Stage 1, we decided to raid riots instead. We knew we could make a lot of Victory Points from doing that. Me and Tofu came on every day to see where the riots were that we could hit.   TofuSmurf – Everyday once the riots processed we were looking at it and Unknown built a program that made things a little easier.   Tevix – Nobody else decided to do that until like 4 day before the stage was over. They realized that raiding the riot were where the Victory Points were at. I don't think we ever put our HQ down except for some of the trains and the last few days.   TofuSmurf – During all of the first stage it was never down. During Stage II it wasn't down much. Every battle during those last few days though.... the nerves.   Henrik – At one point we realized what they were doing and sitting on a multiplier. At that point we had a wakeup call.   What was your plan going into the last few days of the Campaign? TofuSmurf – I think we were doing the math. Any decision we made was based purely on the math involved. We all looked at the last set of Goldmines and we had to figure out how many different ways can we guarantee number 1. As easy as it would be go to another spot and get the gold and the tanks, sarge is a competitive person and we all are competitive people so settling for less than what we know we are capable of isn't our thing. So we looked at what we needed to do mathematically speaking and went about doing it. Just so happen on the last day, we had to take as many of the three Goldmines as we could and we had to keep [-G-] off of one.   What was going through you guy's heads when you realized you needed to hit -G- head on to keep first place? TofuSmurf – It is one of those things that sucks to do but we have never been shy about who we face. It has never been about who we face.   togood2222 – We were excited!   Henrik - When we win campaign sarge does sing   Callmesarge – No, no   togood2222 - Yes   Callmesarge – I've found karaoke brings people together   If you had lost that battle for the multiplier, did you have another plan? Callmesarge – I didn’t really want to have another plan. The night before I sat down with all the guys and said “we need to get this done.” It was going to come down to winning that battle. We acknowledged we did a few things that put us in this predicament and very uncomfortable situation but at the same time the opportunity to do something that wasn't going come around again was there for our taking. That's what made that battle the highlight of my Clan Wars experience.   We noticed you changed your logo. Care to explain why? Callmesarge – Actually this logo was already made as mostly a joke and I had seen it and liked it. I didn't hesitate once the idea was dropped as a show of respect and recognition to SIMP's help in the last stage of Campaign 2. Thank You Drake!   togood2222 – As a sign of gratitude.   callmesarge – And it looks good too.   TofuSmurf – Short version, SIMP has been really good to us and continues to be.   Callmesarge – Proud to be the Best_Subclan_NA   TofuSmurf – As well as Best_Feeder_Clan_NA        

Quemapueblos: The fortnightly Clan Spotlight is back after a short hiatus! This week's Clan is the winner of Campaign 2, Havok! This isn't their first time winning it big either, they also collected a good bit of Gold and some unique medals from Rise of the Americas. You are sure to find the Havok logo somewhere on the Clan Wars map at all times as these tankers are not interested in sitting around. As the commander, callmesarge, puts it, "We put the 'War' in Clan Wars.   This is the extended version. Check out the Portal Article here! We interviewed these players to learn more about the history of Havok:
Callmesarge - Commander of Havok and Strategist
BlackCompany- Deputy Commander and Recruiter
Unknown0ne - Deputy Commander, Field Commander and Strategist
TofuSmurf - Deputy Commander
m5m5 - Strategist and Field Commander
Arty_Takes_Skill - Strategist
Henrik - Artillery  Strategist
Tevix - Treasurer
The_Decoy - Strategist
togood2222 - Diplomat   You can challenge Havok to Absolute Tank Companies this Wednesday at 3:00 PM PDT on the NA East server.   When and how did Havok get started? Callmesarge – A group of us from the Brothers Grimm followed RumNcolt and Boots to Havok. As soon as we were formed we kinda had a foot in the door with the organization called NASA. Our spot was already set, in terms of where we were going to situate ourselves on the map. Thanks to Boots, we had a fairly solid player base from the start. He knew his players and he knew what he wanted. Anyways, we added members and I was calling battles with flashender. Basically, we set out to take Scandinavian panhandle.   Henrik - When we first started sarge was our main Strategy guy.   Callmesarge – I called a lot back then. I do have to highlight the excellent talent of the rest of the Battle Callers that we have had come throw our doors.  We all had our own styles and I am very happy to have worked alongside them.   Henrik – I can't say enough about RumNcolt. When he started a meeting there was no talking. You could have the most brash 18 year old in here and he spoke like a lawyer, he was a lawyer, and everybody would follow him to the end of the earth. He set the tone of what the clan would be long term. He set it up to be a clan that would fight. We would be the working arm of NASA.   What have you learn about running a clan that you wish you knew when you started out? Callmesarge – When I came to HavoK I said I was going to do this job (Battle Calling) and that's it. Having specific roles for people is important.  You can have a lot of plans and expectations but it is never going to go as planned. You just have to keep trucking on with a vision, you have to keep going but have contingencies. In looking to solve a problem, you don't have to find a solution right away. You just have to let the dust settle and then you can make a decision.   Henrik – When sarge first took over he kind of burned out but now he has a large officer core of around 10 people that help him out so he doesn't burn out and I think this time around he is actually enjoying it.   Callmesarge – Am I? Haha. Well first time I came in I had a lot of expectations. I was trying a lot of things too and did a lot of things on my own.  Second time around, I'm delegating a lot more. I don't care how long it takes, if I'm looking for a particular kind of person to do a job I'll just keep asking because in the long run it will help. I came to realize that there are hidden talents in Havok. With the right incentives and nourishment we've been able to get the right players to contribute. As Commander it makes me proud to see players grow in their contributions to the clan as a whole and we have done a lot of things. We have had a lot of wars and had a lot of accomplishments because of it. All I have had to do is make sure I don't go too far in that ambition to play and compete. Everyone, Commander included, has to learn and progress no one is above that.   Tevix – You can't do all by yourself.   Do you find players burn out faster in being in a top clan? BlackCompany – I guess but I think the bigger thing is we are looking for players who have that highly competitive attitude. For the most part we don't have a big turn over and for the most part players know what they are getting into. It's finding that competitive player that is more challenging.   What were your goals as a clan starting out and what is your goal today? BlackCompany – As far as Havok goes, a lot came here just to fight. That is one thing that a lot of other clans just didn't do. The whole Burning Legion was premised with that concept of let’s just go out there and fight. The whole NASA thing did not sit well with me. They only reason I came on board with Havok in the first place was because they were going to fight. That was the whole concept, we weren't going to sit on a plot of land; we were going to fight. I think that is what has made Havok so strong is that attitude of having a 100 guys that want to fight. They want to do it the best that they can and they are willing to put in the extra time.    Tevix – We definitely aren't farmers for sure.   The_Decoy – The best part of this game is blowing things up.   Henrik – We fight everyday too. If we didn't have a fight today, sarge would go find one for us.   Callmesarge – We want to fight. It is not easy.   What did the map look like when you first stepped on to it? BlackCompany - NASA   Callmesarge – Yeah, everything was NASA with Red Sky kind of there with [AOD] in the middle with [MLP]. [IR] wasn’t there anymore. There was one patch of territory that was really unclaimed for the most part and had some hostile clans to NASA. RumNcolt was the chair of NASA at the time, so with the creation of Havok… well a lot of newer clans would have had to go through a lot of red tape so to speak,  a lot more bureaucratic stuff at the time with NASA being involved. As soon as we were formed, I was just a field commander and wasn’t interested in politics. The only instructions that I was given was that we need to take the Troms landing.  That was pretty much the first main objective that we had as a clan.   During the NASA era, you guys owned 4 separate areas of the map. What was your reasoning for being so spread out over the map? Why did you wait so long to change your logo and color? Callmesarge – We never actually changed our logo to the NASA emblem. At the time when I came in as Deputy and started attending the NASA, we didn’t have a commander present to actually change the colors to match the rest of the NASA Clans and the emblem. It was always pressed on us during the NASA meetings but we didn’t actually end up changing it. It kinda made us look like rebels. I didn’t mind.  The NASA Wars exploded not too long after that. Callmesarge – We were all over the place because of the mechanics of Clans Wars at the time. You could apply to landing zones while still on a territory. That allowed us to be active members of NASA. Landing and clearing LZs and facilitating what not. So that kind of thing was enabled by the changes to ownership rules.   How do you prepare for a Clan Wars match? The_Decoy – It depends on what we are doing. If it is a map we have done a lot, we just right into it; we know what we are doing. If it is a new map, we will go into a training room and figure out angles and timings and all sorts of things to know what we are getting into before the battle starts.   togood2222 – Almost every time we do 15 on 15 practices, to make sure everyone understands what they are doing.   The_Decoy – Once we have the basic plan we run the guys through a couple times to make sure everyone knows their place and how the plan is going to go. We will come at each other with different strategies. If sarge has got a plan, unknown will try to beat it and vice versa.   Unknown0ne – It also comes down to how much time is available. If there is not much time available you just have to come up with a strat and just go with it.   The_Decoy – Oh yeah sometimes we wing it. If we have the ability, we try to plan things out especially if it is an important battle.   Is this how it has always has been done? Or has the process evolved over time? Callmesarge  – No, before for Clan Wars, as field commander, I would be notified of the map(s) we were playing on for the night. I'll come up with a plan and then go back to Boots (the recruiter at the time) and give him my tank line-up. 3 T30s 5 IS-7s and 2 artillery and a scout or a couple mediums. I didn't need to pick a team; I didn’t know the players too well back then. I would just get a roster but I got the guys best suited to the position. From there I would have my team and prep them. I'd do maybe a run though in ATC and we would be good to go. As we did that, eventually we realized that it a little better to run it through and that way you have a feel how you need to call the battle, what needs to be done specifically. So at some point we changed over to actually doing training rooms. It is important to note that as far as the player base of Havok goes, we didn't start with a bunch of unicums. We started with minimum requirement of 50%, so players that could play but great to mediocre players.  To even that playing field a bit, we started doing training rooms to make sure everyone was on the same page when it comes to a battle. So yeah we started doing training rooms and practice battles before Clan Wars.   Henrik – In the beginning, we were mostly playing on Erlenberg and Karelia. I think it was generally known by Boots that we were going to train all the time and because we had 50 guys that played almost every week so we have always been able to field 2 teams, sometimes 3 or even 4. But because we had a large player mass, which is unusual for most clans at the time, the combinations of players kept changing. You could have 5 great heavy tank drivers but hardly did they play together because we were running 2 or 3 matches at the same time. I think that is unusual compared to other clans out there. In that sense, we were always in training because let’s say a flank of 5 heavies is always changing and your cooperation is always changing between the 5 tanks because they don't know the guy next to them. About a year ago, we said we wanted to put together 4 trainings a week and that was the minimum to get your Gold pay, but what do you think sarge?   Callmesarge – I think it's the norm in Havok now to do a training room. All Field Commanders should know that the explanation of the plan is central to preparation for us in Clan Wars now. If we don't do it now we are in trouble. Everyone expects that we do a training room. Some guys have just come on and haven't had a chance to play yet today, so it’s nice to get into a training room and warm up and either, depending on which side you are on, get rolled over or win.   togood2222 – Unless you are sarge's team!   Tevix – Be there until sarge wins because you are not leaving until sarge wins.   TofuSmurf – Whether or not we have time before Clan Wars...   togood2222 – There have been so many times with 3 minutes left before battle starts and sarge is yelling “One more! One more! ONE MORE!”   Callmesarge – There are lots of times where we have done the same strat that we are run in Clan Wars and it has just gone horribly wrong in training rooms and through feedback from players, I've changed it before the battle starts. “Ok this is what we are doing!” At that point I have a feel about how I want to call it. How I need to explain what a player needs to do. It also helps to go in to the real battle with a win under our belts.   Henrik – You aren't trying to win in a training session. You are trying to throw a strat against a strat.   How often do you change what strategies you run on a map? Tevix – We vary quite a bit. Other clans now are too good now to be running same over and over again.   togood2222 – They watch the replays   Callmesarge – With replay's being implemented, that kind of changed the way a lot of strats were run for the whole community because clans can replay strats but when you actually see a replay and see how things are done, it's different from hearing how so and so did a strat.   What does it take to be a good FC and how do you go about developing a new strategy? Unknown0ne – I think if it is a map you haven't done before, you go into a training room and see what it’s like. You also look at how it plays out in pubs too. You can't apply all that but you can get a feel for how everything works and how different parts of map react. You can judge somewhat how a map is going it play by playing it in pub battles hundreds of times. You can take that knowledge into a training room and you talk to other field commanders. You get idea of what might work and if you have enough time take 15 people and go try that against 15 others. Or you go into a Clan Wars battle and hope for the best.   Callmesarge – What I have seen is that strategies for Clan Wars usually match the field commander calling it. I can tell that a strat is an Unknown strat. People can tell that a strat is my strat. We have had various field commanders over the years and I can tell even if I'm calling; this is totally not my strat.   How can you tell who created a strategy by looking at it? TofuSmurf – It's because sarge likes to cap fast.   Henrik – For instance Endo liked to take his best drivers, put them all together, and charge one line. He will overwhelm a particular area of the map.   Callmesarge – There is a certain temperament that each field commander brings. Some field commanders love to utilize the scouts a lot regardless of map they are on but they are probably better at open maps.   Arty_Takes_Skill – They cater to own play style. So say in pub battles they play really aggressive then they try to have aggressive strats because they know what is going on when you are playing aggressive. If they are a passive player, they know how to play passive. They are more comfortable with passive strats.   TofuSmurf – It is basically people's comfort zones. If something happens that is not in their comfort zone in the middle of the battle, that's why we have the quality of players we have in the clan, just so we can help our field commanders by being good players and compensating for that.   What do you look for in replays to help you determine weaknesses in your opponent’s strategies? Henrik – You can't really phrase it that way because if you are going against someone like SIMP, that takes a real strat and they've seen everything and we have seen everything. So it comes down to how well you really execute the plan you were putting forth.   Tevix – It’s more making it look like something they have already seen and then turning it around into something else to surprise them.   Callmesarge – Some nights it just doesn't go that way. If it is a top tier team, your strat isn't going to turn out as you wanted it to.   The_Decoy – We force them to have to react to what we are doing. Like chess, we check them and see if they can counter it. There is never any specific weakness to any clan we are going for, we are trying to make the weakness.   Henrik – If they don't respond then we will continue to overwhelm them until we are in their backyard.   How do you analysis your own replays? Arty_Takes_Skill – You load up the replay and see which flanks didn't do so good. There is usually something you could have done like fallen back from a bad position instead of holding out or reinforced it with more tanks. It's about repositioning and getting your forces where you need them. World of Tanks is mainly about positioning. That is what wins the games.   TofuSmurf – There are so many of us that are knowledgeable about what goes on in a Clan Wars battle that when we all look at it together, you get a large database of people’s minds to draw from about how you could do something better. Maybe where you flexed wrong and you take all that information and better your strat for next time. We will run it through practice the next day before the battle and continue to work it to perfection. It is just fine tuning everything with a large reservoir of people that know what they are doing.   Arty_Takes_Skill – It doesn't have to be the strat that is the problem. Sometimes it can be that the strat was fine but somebody didn't execute it right. So you have to be able to tell if someone made a mistake which caused the strat to go bad. Some people when they lose just blame the strat but what you need to do is look at how people played their roles and if they didn't do everything right. If they did do everything right, well then you have to look at the strat.   How do you think the recent changes such as to allowing shells to penetrate through walls will affect strategies in Clan Wars? BlackCompany – I was thinking about that and a lot of times in Clan Wars you've got HEAT and Gold rounds and a lot of HEAT rounds are not conducive at all to taking advantage of shooting through a small barricade as AP or APCR can. So I think you are going to see tanks with selection of armament now. If you can use ACPR, tanks cannot use those things for temporary cover. APCR round is going to go right through and still hit him. I think it is going to come more into play as it goes.   Arty_Takes_Skill – I don't think it will make much of difference in Clan Wars.   Callmesarge – Depending on the map, most of those things get run over anyways. In my experience you say don't run over the car... ughhh someone ran over the car. As a player, if I'm in a fire fight and I am going to look around for objects that I can use as far as stopping the opponents from shooting me but from my experience you tell people to not run over it and they do it anyways.   What about in the future, do you see any changes coming that would affect Clan Wars?  Arty_Takes_Skill – When they allow you to penetrate through whole houses, that is going to change the game play a lot because it is going to make a lot more positions less viable. It is going to change how you are going to play the map but the stuff right now, like the cars and little fences, is not a big deal.   Callmesarge – It comes down to the players and their playstyle and it will also involve a lot more research of the map.  For example, you don't want to be sending people to where they are going to die too quickly. You don't want them next to a house that is going to be down in a second and they are going to go next because they have no cover to go to. The ability to take some cover out entirely will change game play a lot and make strats more dynamic. Alot of strats you get a group of tanks in one spot and they are there for a while because they have cover to fight from.   The_Decoy – If you can shoot through big buildings, 261 AP rounds are going to be big.   What were your most exciting moments from Campaign 2? BlackCompany – I like that the Campaign really opens up map. It had a lot of movement. We saw lots of clans moving around the map. We got to see a lot of different maps and opponents.   Henrik – It was those two days before the end of the campaign.   Callmesarge – The first night everyone was excited and dialed into having to participate in the Campaign. I was excited to see that. The second to last day of the Campaign was exciting as well; it included our battle for the Gold Pot versus Guerillas.   Tevix – A day into Stage 1, we decided to raid riots instead. We knew we could make a lot of Victory Points from doing that. Me and Tofu came on every day to see where the riots were that we could hit.   TofuSmurf – Everyday once the riots processed we were looking at it and Unknown built a program that made things a little easier.   Tevix – Nobody else decided to do that until like 4 day before the stage was over. They realized that raiding the riot were where the Victory Points were at. I don't think we ever put our HQ down except for some of the trains and the last few days.   TofuSmurf – During all of the first stage it was never down. During Stage II it wasn't down much. Every battle during those last few days though.... the nerves.   Henrik – At one point we realized what they were doing and sitting on a multiplier. At that point we had a wakeup call.   What was your plan going into the last few days of the Campaign? TofuSmurf – I think we were doing the math. Any decision we made was based purely on the math involved. We all looked at the last set of Goldmines and we had to figure out how many different ways can we guarantee number 1. As easy as it would be go to another spot and get the gold and the tanks, sarge is a competitive person and we all are competitive people so settling for less than what we know we are capable of isn't our thing. So we looked at what we needed to do mathematically speaking and went about doing it. Just so happen on the last day, we had to take as many of the three Goldmines as we could and we had to keep [-G-] off of one.   What was going through you guy's heads when you realized you needed to hit -G- head on to keep first place? TofuSmurf – It is one of those things that sucks to do but we have never been shy about who we face. It has never been about who we face.   togood2222 – We were excited!   Henrik - When we win campaign sarge does sing   Callmesarge – No, no   togood2222 - Yes   Callmesarge – I've found karaoke brings people together   If you had lost that battle for the multiplier, did you have another plan? Callmesarge – I didn’t really want to have another plan. The night before I sat down with all the guys and said “we need to get this done.” It was going to come down to winning that battle. We acknowledged we did a few things that put us in this predicament and very uncomfortable situation but at the same time the opportunity to do something that wasn't going come around again was there for our taking. That's what made that battle the highlight of my Clan Wars experience.   We noticed you changed your logo. Care to explain why? Callmesarge – Actually this logo was already made as mostly a joke and I had seen it and liked it. I didn't hesitate once the idea was dropped as a show of respect and recognition to SIMP's help in the last stage of Campaign 2. Thank You Drake!   togood2222 – As a sign of gratitude.   callmesarge – And it looks good too.   TofuSmurf – Short version, SIMP has been really good to us and continues to be.   Callmesarge – Proud to be the Best_Subclan_NA   TofuSmurf – As well as Best_Feeder_Clan_NA        

Laera: Hey nutcracker! 
That's awesome that you want to run a giveaway for fellow tankers!   Unfortunately since this isn't an official contest and you're giving away a physical prize, these forums aren't the best place for it. I'd be happy to work with you and our Marketing team if you're interested in making this an official contest. Let me know if you would like more information on the possibility of a WoT partnership for Brickmania. In the meantime, I'm going to have to close this thread for now.    Please send me PM so I can point you to the appropriate contact. Thanks! 

Laera: Hey nutcracker! 
That's awesome that you want to run a giveaway for fellow tankers!   Unfortunately since this isn't an official contest and you're giving away a physical prize, these forums aren't the best place for it. I'd be happy to work with you and our Marketing team if you're interested in making this an official contest. Let me know if you would like more information on the possibility of a WoT partnership for Brickmania. In the meantime, I'm going to have to close this thread for now.    Please send me PM so I can point you to the appropriate contact. Thanks! 

Laera: Hey nutcracker! 
That's awesome that you want to run a giveaway for fellow tankers!   Unfortunately since this isn't an official contest and you're giving away a physical prize, these forums aren't the best place for it. I'd be happy to work with you and our Marketing team if you're interested in making this an official contest. Let me know if you would like more information on the possibility of a WoT partnership for Brickmania. In the meantime, I'm going to have to close this thread for now.    Please send me PM so I can point you to the appropriate contact. Thanks! 

TragicLoss: And/or were on the losing team.   Edit:Some awards have the hidden requirement of surviving/winning the battle.

TragicLoss: It's probably because you died...

dance210:
It could take up to a week for the gold to be credited to your account. I try to get them done the day after the tournament ends, so it should be within the next couple of days.

dance210:
If your team is in pending approval tonight, then you will be accepted and playing tomorrow. The groups should be up by early afternoon pacific (late afternoon eastern). Remember though, only teams in Pending Approval will be accepted.

TragicLoss: Double post yo.

dance210: Who knows,..maybe you could be the new RedPrince for the Gold league ;)

dance210: If y'all want a pinned discussion thread in the Gold League folder, just let me know...I can have that done and open in no time 

krazyone:   LOL thanks yeah they did kind of just fade away didn't they? They still have some of the guys that used to be in it but they are not a big clan anymore.

krazyone:   LOL thanks yeah they did kind of just fade away didn't they? They still have some of the guys that used to be in it but they are not a big clan anymore.

krazyone: Was a part of D-O-S when they split from UFTS and it's sad to see them go but, as always, new big clans will always take the place of the clans that leave.

krazyone: Was a part of D-O-S when they split from UFTS and it's sad to see them go but, as always, new big clans will always take the place of the clans that leave.

Captain_Judo: Reminder to all team captains   Sunday is the last day to submit your team's roster for approval. All teams not pending approval will miss this month's challenge. You must submit your team for approval in order to participate in Monday's opening round.

Captain_Judo: Reminder to all team captains   Sunday is the last day to submit your team's roster for approval. All teams not pending approval will miss this month's challenge. You must submit your team for approval in order to participate in Monday's opening round.

Quemapueblos: The formula should not have changed since the last sandbox but I will look into if that is the case. 

I've been pouring over this page to try and figure out some answers and the only parts that pop out at me are:
"When a clan captures a province that previously belonged to another clan for more than 7 days in a row" Possibly to do with the break that just ended and that rule?   And as you expand out riot chance on all territories increases "When the number of owned provinces increases" and you took some provinces yesterday correct?   If you see something that seems fishy please take some screenshots for me  

Quemapueblos: The formula should not have changed since the last sandbox but I will look into if that is the case. 

I've been pouring over this page to try and figure out some answers and the only parts that pop out at me are:
"When a clan captures a province that previously belonged to another clan for more than 7 days in a row" Possibly to do with the break that just ended and that rule?   And as you expand out riot chance on all territories increases "When the number of owned provinces increases" and you took some provinces yesterday correct?   If you see something that seems fishy please take some screenshots for me  

dance210: Hi Tank_Creeper!!   PMing Laera may do something; however she is the community manager and if I'm reading you correctly, you need help with your roster for the Radley Walter challenge, correct?   Send an email to tournaments@wargamingamerica.com with a)link to the team you want changed b) your in-game name and c) link to the profile of the player(s) you want to add. If you get that to us before the registration deadline, we should be able to help.   Let me know if you have any other questions :)

Major_Rampage: All the tanks that you can buy in game are indeed available in the gift shop.  The rare tanks are not,  those are the ones that show up in the bundles like these.