Viking m2 is a great choice :) Drift is something that can be good if handled well!

For me, the advantage is not worth the cost. Do the maths and you'll find that with the crystals spent on micro upgrading fully m1, you could already buy a few items to m2. Agree with crashyoyoyo

Not unless you micro uprgade it significantly - just get hornet m2 on an appropriate sale. It's much cheaper, and better in the long run too! You'll have more items to play with

The first few levels for sure :) Make sure you spread your MUs out over your main combos, not just a particular item/parameter, since the first steps are the most cost effective. If you have the crys though, I'd say speed is pretty important for hornet, along with protection!

Woooooo nice :)

Love that feeling ;)

Question 3: The diagram shows the major paths as arcs which can be used to travel between the flags in Sandbox. How many different ways are there for travelling between both flags, without returning to any point previously visited? Extension: What about if the question was to find the number of routes between the flags if you can visit the same point multiple times, but you can't use the same arc more than once? Credit to @DarthvaderjonGTR for the picture.

Question 2: At a particular point in time, time = 0, a fully micro-upgraded Hornet M3, travelling at top speed, leaves the north gate and travels down the map, depicted by the light blue arrow. At the same time, a fully micro-upgraded Dictator M3, travelling at top speed, leaves the south gate and travels up the map, depicted by the green arrow. Both tanks continue at top speed, and do not decelerate. At some time, time = t, a fully micro-upgraded M3 Railgun user can fire one single railgun shot to hit both the Hornet and Dictator, with the Railgun pointing across the map (perpendicular to the movement of the Hornet and Dictator). Given that the distance between the north and south gates is 120 metres, find the vertical distance of the Railgun from the North gate, and find the time, t, at which the Railgun user must fire. Credit to @DarthvaderjonGTR for the picture.

Question 1: Which square in the grid minimises the average distance to the gold drop zones in the map Noise? To describe the square, give me the column number, followed by the row number. Since the gold zones sometimes span multiple squares, assume the gold is in the square that has the largest share ofthe gold zone. To further reduce ambiguity over which square the gold lies in, I will be accepting a range of squares for the final answer. Credit to for the picture.

The English Newspaper is well known for organising contests that test your writing skills, so I thought I would organise something that may appeal to the more mathematically minded out there. Below are three Tanki related problems, in no particular order of difficulty. Prizes of 15,000, 10,000 and 5,000 crystals are given to the fastest three who complete each of the three problems. So, get them all right first and win yourself a hefty 45,000 crystals for a few simple sums! You may submit your answers in the form below - you can submit your answers one at a time, but for each question you do, only your first entry will be accepted. http://goo.gl/forms/XQfiC8CKYa Good luck!

Thanks to everyone who participated! There were many entries, but just a few standout ones... In first place, winning 50,000 crystals, is @GoldRock: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=242005&p=4414078 In second place, winning 30,000 crystals, is @HUGHIY: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=242005&p=4462135 In third place, winning 20,000 crystals, is @fighter310: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=242005&p=4383889 A consolation prize of 10,000 crystals goes to @irfaan12 for his noteworthy entry. May I remind everyone for future contests to stick within the word limit... Thanks again for participating and I hope you enjoyed it!

Just being blunt, but yep prizes for everyone will never be implemented. Knowledge test... We have had "Quests" in the past which have done similar things and tested players knowledge of the forum. I will work on some kind of intellectual contest for next issue.

I make that maybe 25-30k on a decent sale, maybe it's a good short term investment, maybe not, who knows :p

Of course everyone has a choice, you can choose whether to save for solid upgrades, or spend them on temporaries like MUs at low modifications, supplies which you can get free, and weak paints that you won't be using when you reach the high ranks. Try and be less short sighted! (Not directed at you in particular)

You could get something similar, or alternatively you could get a contrasting combination to diversity your garage a bit! The rank differences are quite large, I think you should pick 2-3 combinations that you like and try not to spend much on anything else, like paints and other weapons.

As I say, the first few MUs are alright. The first damage step on m1 shaft let's you one hit m2 Hornets for example, but genuinely I think you're wasting after them :p MUs add up very fast, and you probably spent a lot more than you thought you did! And the difference that a micro upgrade makes becomes barely noticeable after a point... But eh I'm not in a position to say whether it was worth it for you in the end! Especially with a weapon like shaft skill accounts for way more than a 1% damage boost Just taking damage of shaft to a reasonable micro upgrade level, even with a good micro upgrade sale.... That's the same price as the m2 on sale :p and that's just one parameter!

Never micro upgrade past the first couple levels unless it's m3 :) you will end up losing much crystals (check the wiki for the MU tables) and no, when you full micro upgrade everything you don't automatically get the next upgrade (it's 70% off) but the MU cost is far greater You cannot get through the game on one combination, since the unlock rank means at particular ranks your gear will be very underpowered. You should pick a secondary combination in addition to smoky hunter (which is an amazing combination by the way)

I've gone down the route of a few M4s and I'm loving it - it means I can have the best equipment on the field

Thought it was already m4 :p

Great celebrations!

Thanks DVJ! But if this is shlurp to win the contest think again ;) haha

Just a gentle reminder - the contest is for the best STATEMENT. Maybe the title pic and clear wording doesn't make it obvious, but I'm not looking for an article, or a bullet point list addressing each of the criteria I suggested. Furthermore, these criteria were only suggestions - they are not exhaustive as mentioned in the contest. Thinking outside the box and being creative earns you credit. Good luck guys, I see some great entries and don't forget the first step to any contest is to read what you are being asked for carefully :)

Welcome readers, to the second Garage Analysis of mine in the newspaper! You might be wondering why I have posted another analysis just five months after my last one, but a lot has happened between now and then, so without further waffle let's get straight to it! The first part can be found here, in case you missed it, and I will try and write in the same style - giving you my detailed thoughts and reflections instead of the all too common ratings. Title picture courtesy of - one of my favourite pictures! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The first item I bought was Savanna on a 50% paint sale last year, the paint that I had been hyping up to get for a long time. It was a good looking paint, one that had a great combination of protections (namely Smoky and Railgun), and provided good camouflage, though admittedly that's not a major factor. Another great thing about this paint was that it was one of the main paints in clan competitions, and at the time I had minor aspirations of joining a clan and participating in some tournaments. Though, as many of you who have played XP with me before, I'm not there yet... I never anticipated buying Needle, so at the time I thought Savanna would be a great choice. However, as I did eventually get Needle for reasons that I'll come to, and since Savanna is now banned from the light format, I regret splashing 60,000 on this paint which I never use any more. My favourite hull in the game is Viking, and so understandably I was elated when Viking underwent a 70% plummet in price last year. Viking M3 is a purchase that I will never regret, especially for the bargain price I got it at. I use this hull nearly all the time now - it is a great balance between speed, agility and protection. One note that I would make with this hull is that it is in desperate need of MUs. It improves drastically with microuprades, so if you really want the most from this hull, make sure to set aside some extra crystals for the right MU sale. Now, when Halloween came round I was not expecting the existing kits to go on sale, namely the old Light Kit containing Hornet M3, Railgun M3 and Needle, since I was under the impression that only the newly introduced kits would be affected by external discounts. However, as soon as I heard about this on the day, I went into the garage and bought this kit immediately. For just over 200,000 crystals, this was again an absolute bargain, equivalent to buying the three items at almost 70% off base price! Hornet is a reasonably dynamic hull to play with, packing a lot of speed, and Railgun, as we all know, is a weapon to be feared. Another perk that came with buying this combination was that it allowed me to begin getting into XP battles (Hornet-Rail only). It provided a nice change to the normal games elsewhere. The next discount that came round was a 50% cut on both Thunder and Shaft. Thunder was a weapon that many had advised me to get, so I did not hesitate to take advantage of the sale and purchase Thunder M3. Shaft, I debated over for some time, before deciding to buy it. It provided a unique playing experience that I had to at least try. It turned out to be an alright weapon, though its slow pace disappointed me. Shaft M3 is a weapon that I do regret buying, and I wish I could have the crystals to pump into other items for my garage. I even put a fair amount of MUs into it on the Runet Sale - it has over 50% of the MUs on every parameter, which only makes this purchase is even more of a regret in hindsight. The other item that I pumped plenty of crystals into MUs on the Runet Sale was Thunder, and after the sale it was 80% on the way to M4. Now, contrary to Shaft, this was definitely a worth investment. Thunder could dominate any enemy who was ill-prepared, and with drugs it was just unstoppable in some cases. With the ability to take out most enemies in two or even one shot with a Double Power, this weapon was truly scary. On the New Year's MU sale of 2014, I completed micro-upgrading this weapon completely, and I could now call it Thunder M4. Over the two MU sales, the Runet sale and the New Year's sale, I also fully upgraded my trusty Viking to Viking M4. Viking complemented Thunder perfectly, giving me the speed to handle a weapon as dynamic as Thunder, but also the strength to be able to confront enemies in a head-on grind. Again, a definite rate from me, I could not ask for more from a hull. I did not only use the New Year's sale for MUs (although most of it was). I also bought Isida M3 on impulse - I thought it was a unique turret, and an essential in particular team situations. Doing the maths, I also saw that Isida statistically is not only great for support, but also extremely dangerous in head-on confrontations, even against other short range specialists like Freeze and Firebird. However, with the recent addition of hull hitpoints, it has become harder to take on the heavy hulls with this turret. During the New Year's sale, I also micro-upgraded Isida significantly, and completely it fully on the 2015 Women's Day MU sale to Isida M4. As I have already mentioned, statistically Isida is an awesome turret, and practically it does not let down. Isida, has great potential, especially on small and medium sized maps. It is extremely versatile, and you can play a large number of different positions with it. It can be used effectively to defend, self-heal giving you more staying-power, and healing allowing you to heal other defenders; it can be used effectively in the middle ground, to support all areas of the battle; t can be used aggressively, the self-heal coming in especially useful in allowing you stay alive while you make quick runs with the enemy flag. On the Iron Days sale, in anticipation of the Women's Day MU sale, I decided to splash out on some more gear, even though the sale was only 25%. This was a tough choice for me, since I have always waited for at least 50% discounts before making purchases (apart from Isida M1 which you will know from the first Garage Analysis). When choosing which items to get, my desire to save crystals overwhelmed, as I chose Freeze M3 since it was the cheapest M3 turret that was in my list of future purchases, and Rock, as it was one of my favourite paints. I was very underwhelmed by Freeze M3, though this may have been due to my experience with an M4 short-range weapon already. I could not reach the higher scores in the team, and I seemed like I was confined to more defensive roles in the team. The freezing effect is useful, but I regretted not choosing a different weapon instead. When I upgraded it to Freeze M4 on the Women's Day sale, I noticed a significant improvement, and it is much more usable and fun to play with. I might warm to it more in the future, who knows. The final major investment I made was full-MU Rock on the Women's day sale. Rock is one fo my favourite paints for quite a few reasons. Firstly, it has a great combination of protections - 50% Twins, 50% Isida, 39% Freeze and 15% Hammer. Twins, Freeze and Isida are all of similar range, and are relatively common on small-medium maps. Especially in the case of CTF. Twins, Freeze and Isida users thrive on small-medium CTF games, where they are essential for defence , the combination of infinite firepower, knockback, freezing ability and healing meeting each other perfectly. Hammer 15% protection is a useful one to have too, allowing me to survive four Hammer shots instead of three with my Viking, which is key as Hammer only holds three shots per clip. Secondly, it suited two of my main combinations, Isida-Viking and Freeze-Viking, extremely well. Thirdly, it has the highest overall protection of all paints in the game. And finally, a personal one, it looks absolutely stunning in my eyes. I'm completely spent after the recent sales, so it will take me another long period before I can earn enough crystals for another major spending spree. For the future, I plan on getting another one of my favourite paints Clay and MUing it of course, for my Thunder-Viking combination, offering me great self-protection and guarding against three extremely annoying turrets Ricochet, Thunder and Railgun. Firebird, Ricochet and Smoky are also on my long list, as well as a strong light hull - I'm still unsure whether I will get Wasp or simply continue and micro-upgrade my Hornet. And that's it! All feedback, comments, thoughts, are all welcome below. And any suggestions on where I should take my garage next would be greatly appreciated!

:)

Would you rather be attacked by a bear sized cockroach or 100 cockroaches sized bears?