Forgive me father for I have sinned

[Migizikody 234]

Forgive me father for I have sinned

For I have played arty and further tainted my garage.

 

So I've heard about the crazy arc of the british tier 5/6 arty and wanted to give them a go. And have been thoroughly chewed in tier 6 CW by the little chihuahua FV's and have had people recommend them and of course, I've seen replays on how fast and how crazy the gun arc is. So you could say I was Interested.

I free XP'd all the way to the bishop (Didn't have enough to go through)

so I decided I'd play it, thinking it would be horrific and I'd have to only do X2's for a few weeks.

 

But I soon found out it is not at all bad.

Setup:

 

Stats so far: 23,000 XP ground out just today

First game, 4 kills, 1600 damage 

Spoiler: Dem graphics

Best games today: (*Me being good@scumbag)

 

I do not advocate playing arty

But damn, 

Thing reloads in 11.5 seconds at 93% crew/rammer/vents, The flight time is long and im still getting used to it. 

But this is the thing, It DROPS shells onto the engine deck and about 20-30% of the time you hit for 400-500 damage and a somewhat rare, you set them on fire along with that 400-500DMG

 

 

[Agamemneon 1,079]

I just ground the whole line to the FV304 on an alt account and it was a lot of fun from the tier 4 up. The Bishop is so limited with the incredibly limited gun traverse compared to the turreted tier 4 and 6 but that gun is devastating.

[Private_Miros 2,966]

FV 304 is my only arty, and is one of the tanks I play to relax. It's not OP IMO, but it's incredibly rewarding for players that can read and adapt to the flow of the game.

[Thannos 17]

[dualmaster333 3,324]

I also picked up and played through the Bishop this weekend.  The gun traverse is awful and being on a Valentine chassis makes it painfully slow.  But other than that, it is pretty ludicrous.  The shell arc lets you hit all sorts of places.  I've also laughed at the number of full penetration since you can drop shells on engine decks fairly often.

 

I just started in to the FV 304 as well.  It's like a Bishop with mobility and some gun traverse.  I look forward to just chilling and clicking.

[SoliDeoGloria 417]

9 times of 10 I get called a hacker for dropping a shell on a M6/T1 engine deck for 600hp

[Aircrewman 0]

speed and traverse are the only things I do not like about this tank. 

 

only arty since the su-26rest in peace That I actually dont mind being in Himmelsdorf.

 

some maps really are a challenge due to the fact you have to be in sight distance to even hit something. 

[badkenney 7]

You lost me there? What's to forgive?

 

Ken "arty-only since July 2013" Florian

[Ruestir 692]

Every time I see them in game when I'm driving something slow I await the hit plus multiple module/crew destruction. I hates them!

[vonKaiser 176]

The amount of rage you get in El Haluff when spawned north.  Everyone goes to the hill, takes up the usual arty safe position on the rocks *Bam* how'd he hit me?  Relocate closer *Bam*  Dafuq?  *Bam* BS HACKER!!!

[Agamemneon 1,079]

The amount of rage you get in El Haluff when spawned north.  Everyone goes to the hill, takes up the usual arty safe position on the rocks *Bam* how'd he hit me?  Relocate closer *Bam*  Dafuq?  *Bam* BS HACKER!!!

It's even better from south where you can freely permatrack heavies behind the north hill to death.

[ratseal 4]

I started down this line this weekend. Tried to start at IV but the Birch is simply unplayable (worse than average mobilty, even for arty), low tier gun and meh trajectory. 

At V the Bish rewards players with big improvements - steep arc, turret, better mobility and much better shells. This is much better than I remember arty being when I rage sold my GWP after the Great Arty Nerf. My goal is to play the Brit comedy wagon at VI. I can't see grinding 260K xp for the X, or the 300K xp for the IX (counting required modules). 500K xp for top tier arty? Whoa

 

But, the Bish - first game = 3 kills, #2 in dmg. Works.

[Brad 106]

I rarely played arty during beta. But I like playing my own countries artillery line. 

 

The Birch gun can be fun knowing you can hit the pretty much the whole map. Just as well as it can hardly move. The fire rate plus the turret can mean you can lay down alot of shells, repeatedly tracking, causing module damage and generally pissing off the opposing team. Especially when your paired with a platoon mate that can then drop the hammer on them with a larger gun while they are stuck. I kept mine. Struggles a bit with heavily armoured 5's and 6's. 

 

I find the Bishop a bit tricky due to its speed. I tend to follow the attack and play it sort of like a close assault mortar winkling people out of those campy spot for em. Trying to keep up is an issue and when your screen is gone you can be a big fat slow easy target. Though bouncing something like a hellcat and then finishing him with a direct shot will reward you with much sobbing. More than a few tanks seem to underestimate the armour on this vehicle at their peril. 

 

The FV304 fixes the mobility issue. Support an attack here, then run over there. It's like the scarlet pimpernel of artillery. I'm really enjoying this scallywag. 

 

Not sure I'm going to like the Crusader SP though....

[koel76 1,355]

I have completely stopped playin arty but that line just makes m want to buy one again on test server it was really fun to play

[jayohaitchenn 11]

So many arty players just come out the closet!

[letsgofaster 18]

Hmm... I thought the terrible alpha would make these terrible to play... but, now I think I might have to get me an FV304.....

[Getsome 431]

When engaging tank columns, start with the tank furthest from your friendlies.  Bishop fires fast enough to keep them tracked, and when they drop off spotting, you can continue doing damage without sharing xp/creds with the spotter.

 

I should be ashamed.  I am not ashamed.

[dualmaster333 3,324]

Anyone know what the line is like beyond the FV304?  I know the Tier 7 is supposed to suck (loses its gun arc).  What about the 8/9?

[vonKaiser 176]

I'm on the 7 now (FV still in the garage though).  While I don't know exactly how much I can attribute to it just being bad after having so much fun in the FV304 I'll just say I'm pulling my hair out with it.  Driving around in reverse is a novel concept however I can't get the gun to hit anything I want it too.  So loses the arc, loses the accuracy, loses the aim time and reload... 

 

I want to say it's a combination of me and having such a good SPG before it that colors my opinion but...  yeah I'm hating it. 

[PMJ79 15]

Has anything changed on the Crusader SP? I've unlocked the SP just by playing the fun as hell FV304, but everything I've read says it is horrible. I mean, the damage looks decent on the upgraded gun, but I've yet to read anything positive on this Tier 7 arty.

[kudzu 1]

I find the Bishop a bit tricky due to its speed. I tend to follow the attack and play it sort of like a close assault mortar winkling people out of those campy spot for em. Trying to keep up is an issue and when your screen is gone you can be a big fat slow easy target. Though bouncing something like a hellcat and then finishing him with a direct shot will reward you with much sobbing. More than a few tanks seem to underestimate the armour on this vehicle at their peril. 

^

It didn't happen that often, but it was always hilarious when you got to duel overconfident T4/5-tanks and won; felt like a slighly armored Valentine AT.