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STORYLINE CAMPAIGN - MEGATHREAD

Vehicle category choice  

18 members have voted

This poll is closed to new votes
  1. 1. Which category should we all play towards?

    • Cold War - Russian MBT
      0
    • Cold War - NATO MBT
      0
    • Cold War - Squishy things
      0
    • Modern - Russian MBT
    • Modern - American MBT
      0
    • Modern - Euro MBT
    • Modern - Squishy things
    • Experimental stuff


Recommended Posts

Mod edit: shameless plug, if people want to coordinate the campaign (ie. want to all play towards the same goals) I would highly encourage everyone to join our Discord server for instant information and strategy talks. Our Discord server can be found here: https://discord.gg/scTRpBb

Also added a poll to make coordinating easier.

-H

Everything you need to know for the storyline campaign: https://aw.my.games/en/about/storyline-campaign

 

CURRENT MISSIONS: https://aw.my.games/en/mission-training

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In this mission, Samuel Thorpe trains with the Perihelion troops and learns various tactics and to operate in the desert while participating in a series of mock battles.

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Objectives:

Complete the objective between September 15, 2021 and September 26, 2021 (23:59 CEST):

  • Play 42 matches in Random Battles, standard PvE or Special Operations using any of the Storyline Campaign vehicles

Special Rules:

  • Introduction: This mission does not use the Asset and Morale rules. Simply complete it to see what’s next. However, at least 25% of Storyline Campaign participants need to have the mission completed by September 27, otherwise the campaign ends right here and now
  • Driving while Black: In a previous article, you chose dark colors for Perihelion’s vehicles. These, however, are not very suitable for hot environments as they absorb heat and make the crew compartment as well as training extremely uncomfortable, even for the accompanying troops. Added an extra 5% difficulty modifier (already reflected in the requirement above)

Rewards:

  • 550.000 Credits (+10% included)
  • 2 Gold Loot Crates

 

Episode 1 stuff: https://aw.my.games/en/news/general/storyline-campaign-episode-1-now-available

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Registration

 

But first things first. To participate in Episode 1, you need to have registered by submitting your name and by completing the relatively simple Prologue chapter.

 

List of Currently Eligible Players who completed the Prologue chapter (Click to Open)

 

The good news is, even if you missed out on Prologue, you can still catch up and become eligible to participate in the campaign. There are four ways to do this:

warrior1

  • Way of the Warrior:

You are a part of the Perihelion infantry outfit undergoing training under Samuel Thorpe. There aren’t enough tanks to train everyone, but, luckily for you, Perihelion also purchased a couple of obsolete IFVs for training.

To become eligible for the Storyline Campaign, win 100 PvE matches or 70 PvP (Random Battle) matches using one of the following vehicles: BMP-1 or BMP-2 until the end of Episode 1 (which will take several weeks, so there’s a plenty of time).

Please note that these PvP/PvE objectives cannot be combined. You complete one or the other, but they do not add up in any way. You can complete this objective at any point during the Episode – you will become retroactively eligible to all the prizes of the Episode missions you have completed. In other words, if you aren’t eligible right now (having missed the Prologue chapter), you can start with the first mission (as described below) and only complete the Way of the Warrior mission at the end of the episode, at which point you receive the reward and will be added to the list of eligible players.

This is the main and most reliable way to obtain access.

merch

  • Way of the Merchant:

You are a small-time dealer procuring arms, spare parts and other military items for Perihelion – whatever the customer desires. You decide to align with Perihelion because you can smell profits from a mile away. Conflict’s good for business and this might be a big one. You can become eligible immediately by purchasing the Perihelion bundle via MY.GAMES Market – as simple as that.

Click here to open the Market website and acquire the bundle.

analyst

  • Way of the Analyst

You are a military or financial analyst seeking new challenges in private sector and Perihelion, led by a legendary investor, seems like just the right career move for you. You can become eligible by being the first to complete a secret objective. Each Episode has one or more secret objectives. Secret objectives do not require direct gameplay. They are more about your ability to understand the lore and to solve puzzles.

They can be extremely difficult and only the first winner will receive the reward. On the other hand, the reward is typically substantial.

luck

  • Way of the Merc

You are another soldier fortune drawn to Perihelion and its emerging military force. You can become eligible by winning the access in an official contest on Discord or Armored Warfare Social Media. This way relies on luck more than anything else, but you are free to try!

Updates on eligible players will be published regularly (approximately weekly). Please follow the portal to find out more.

 

Episode 1 Rewards

 

Episode 1 will feature several unique rewards:

  • Samuel Thorpe player avatar
  • Black Mamba skin for BMPT Mod.2017
  • Perihelion Grey base paint
  • Perihelion Black base paint
  • Perihelion logo decal
  • Premium vehicles
  • Camouflages

And more! In case you are wondering about the first four items – yes, you voted for them in a previous Storyline Campaign article! For each objective reward, please check the description of that respective mission.

 

Active Campaign Rules

 

Vehicles of Choice – Samuel Thorpe chose to arm his outfit with Russian MBTs. These vehicles are considerably rarer than their older Cold War era counterparts, but a number of them made it to the American market. They are expensive to buy and even more expensive to keep running, but only a few of these will give your outfit the firepower normally reserved for actual military units and corporations, and the respect that goes with it. This category includes the following vehicles: T-80U, T-90, T-72B3, T-90A, T-90MS, BMPT-72 and BMPT Mod.2017.

  • Difficulty modifier: +30%
  • Professional: Only professional PMCs and large corporate units can afford contemporary military-grade hardware. Your opponents and allies will take you very seriously, which is not always a good thing, as you will definitely not pass unnoticed. On the bright side, with one of these vehicles, you can take on pretty much anyone. (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: 0%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +20%, all rewards are increased by 10%)
  • Russian: With these vehicles in your outfit and some preparations, you can (at least generally) pass as a member of the Russian military (may lead to some contextual bonuses, depending on your choices), but don’t expect a warm welcome in the United States of America
  • Mods: These vehicles will be possible to upgrade using a Modification mechanism in later episodes

Bonus Rules

  • Smart: During his interview, Samuel Thorpe displayed an affinity for solving complex issues on the fly. Difficulty modifier: -20%
  • Codebreaker: Samuel Thorpe is proficient in breaking basic forms of code. This may lead to contextual bonuses depending on your choices.

Difficulty modifier refers to the basic difficulty of the event (which is 3 played battles per day or a derivation thereof) – in other words, a hypothetical future 30 day objective will require you to play 90 battles, while a 10% difficulty modifier will increase the requirement to 99 battles and so on.

  • Current base difficulty modifier: 10%
  • Current base reward modifier: 10%

 

Additional Rules

 

  • The official launch of Episode 1 (for the purpose of log checks) is September 15, 17:00 CEST
  • Having your in-game name changed is forbidden and doing so will lead to Storyline Campaign disqualification
  • Serious in-game infractions (griefing, excessive amount of matches spent AFK or with little contributions) will lead to Storyline Campaign disqualification
  • Unsportsmanlike or toxic behavior both in the game and on Armored Warfare-related platforms may lead to Storyline Campaign disqualification
  • The decisions in the abovementioned cases are taken by Armored Warfare staff, they are always final and cannot be appealed

Campaign Mechanics:

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Asset System

 

Currently, Perihelion forces consist of 200 men with light transportation and 7 heavy armored vehicles of different types:

  • 1 T-80U (Tier 7 MBT)
  • 1 T-90 (Tier 7 MBT)
  • 1 T-72B3 (Tier 8 MBT)
  • 1 T-90A (Tier 8 MBT)
  • 1 T-90MS (Tier 9 MBT)
  • 1 BMPT-72 (Tier 9 TD)
  • and 1 BMPT Mod.2017 as Samuel Thorpe's personal vehicle

For each mission, you will have to use one of these vehicles (unless stated otherwise). Additionally, your 200 troops will serve as the core of Perihelion infantry. After all, no objective can be captured and held using tanks alone. The following asset rules apply:

  • Vehicle lost cannot be used to complete the missions anymore
  • Manpower losses will increase the difficulty of all missions
  • Operating with 80% manpower will increase the difficulty of all missions by 10%
  • Operating with 60% manpower will increase the difficulty of all missions by 20%
  • Operating with 40% manpower will increase the difficulty of all missions by 30%
  • Losing 75% or more manpower means the campaign is at an end

Additional assets can be acquired by completing missions or other special Storyline Campaign-related objectives. For the purpose of the campaign, the vehicle considered used for a mission is the vehicle used by most participants to complete for the mission. This is the vehicle that will be lost in case of a defeat.

Please note:

  • Lose all vehicles and the campaign is over
  • Premium vehicles (BMPT Mod.2017, T-72B3) can be lost twice each (in the campaign, Perihelion will invest significant resources to keep them running)
  • Some missions will require more than one committed vehicle (if you do not have more than one vehicle available, these missions will not be available
  • Rewards connected to specific campaign vehicles will not be available if that vehicle is lost for good (for example, a BMPT Mod.2017 skin will not be issued if the vehicle is lost before or during the completion of the mission that would normally award it)
  • Skins and reskins (vehicles with hard-coded skins) do count except for Hades vehicles

 

Morale

 

Aside from the abovementioned performance, you will have to take the morale of your troops into account. Men are not robots and few people are inherently evil. Committing unsavory acts will resonate poorly with your crew, but they will also be demoralized by failures. Morale status affects your rewards and, in extreme cases, difficulty level.

Your troops’ morale is represented on a scale of 1 to 10 and begins at 6. The following effects apply.

morale2

Neutral States

  • Morale 5: No additional effects
  • Morale 6: No additional effects
  • Morale 7: No additional effects

morale3

Positive States

  • Morale 8: You’ve earned your troops’ trust and they will carry out orders they normally would not, but only within reason. You are not one of them, but they do consider you a competent commander (divisible rewards increased by 10%)
  • Morale 9: The troops consider you an excellent commander and have full faith in you. They will complete even very difficult objectives to prove themselves in your eyes (divisible rewards increased by 15%, additional missions become available)
  • Morale 10: The troops would follow you to hell and back (Orderly Retreat and Pyrrhic Victory results no longer reduce morale, Rout reduces morale only by -1, divisible rewards increased by 20%, additional missions become available)

morale4

Negative States

  • Morale 4: You’ve messed up. The troops are grumbling with discontent and it will take quite some effort to bring them back in line. Winning trust is much harder than losing it (Orderly Retreat result now reduces morale by -2, divisible rewards decreased by 10%)
  • Morale 3: Your troops are now seriously unhappy and have passed their complaints to your superiors, who are appraising you with a wary eye (Orderly Retreat and Pyrrhic victory results now reduce morale by -2, divisible rewards decreased by 30%, some missions become unavailable)
  • Morale 2: Your last chance. You really need a win now (Orderly Retreat and Pyrrhic victory results now reduce morale by -2, divisible rewards decreased by 50%, some missions become unavailable, some high-profile rewards become unavailable)
  • Morale 1: You have lost the loyalty of the troops, the campaign ends

Morale changes always take place at the end of an Episode and are a summation of all your results using the Morale status at the beginning of the episode. For example, starting an episode with Morale 6 and achieving 3 Solid Victories, 1 Major victory and one Rout will change your morale as such:

Initial State (6) + 1 (More than one Solid Victory) +1 (Major Victory) -2 (Rout) = Morale 6

 

Mission System

 

For each mission, you will be required to commit one or more vehicles from the pool above (see each mission for details) and to complete its objectives that are influenced by special modifiers (see below). The fate of the committed forces is determined by the mission result.

The actual result of the mission and its impact on the Storyline Campaign is determined by the amount of players completed following table:

  • 0% to 15% of participants complete the mission objective – No Attempt

For the purpose of the story, the mission is treated as not even attempted. None of the players who completed it will lose any committed forces, but will also not receive any reward whatsoever.

  • 15% to 25% of participants complete the mission objective – Rout

The mission failed and you took heavy losses. The objective of the mission was not achieved. The committed vehicle is lost and so are all of the troops participating in the mission. Some of them technically make it back of course, but these are mercenaries – seeing your leadership incompetence, they won’t work with you every again. You will not receive any rewards and the enemy now knows the identity of the attacker. Next time, they will be ready for it, or might even retaliate. In case of powerful enemies, this will have severe consequences.

Morale effect: -2

  • 25% to 35% of participants complete the mission objective – Orderly Retreat

The mission failed, but you managed to retreat in an orderly fashion. The objective of the mission was not achieved. You lose the committed vehicles and one half of your committed troops. However, you managed to cover your tracks well enough for the enemy to be unable to discern your identity. Players who complete the mission will receive 50 percent of divisible rewards and no indivisible rewards.

Morale effect: -1

  • 35% to 45% of participants complete the mission objective – Pyrrhic Victory

The mission succeeded, but only just about. The objective of the mission was achieved. You do not lose the committed vehicles, but you lose one third of the committed troops. As a result, you will receive 50 percent of divisible rewards, one indivisible reward of the lowest value (if multiple indivisible rewards are offered) or no indivisible reward (if only one was offered). Such “victories” can hardly count as a success and Perihelion cannot afford them in the long run.

Morale effect: -1

  • 45% to 65% of participants complete the mission objective – Solid Victory

This is the main “success” result – the mission succeeded, you do not lose any assets and will receive full rewards as per the mission description.

Morale effect: 0 (+1 if multiple Solid Victory results appear within one episode)

  • 65% to 80% of participants complete the mission objective – Major Victory

The mission went better than expected. You routed the enemy and it will take a lot of effort for them to rally, which leaves you with enough time to properly do what you came to do. The mission succeeded, you lost no assets. You will also receive 150 percent of divisible rewards.

Morale effect: +1 (+2 if multiple Major Victory results appear within one episode)

  • 80% and more participants complete the mission objective – Legendary Victory

They never knew what hit them. The mission succeeded, you lost no assets. You will also receive 200 percent of divisible rewards.

Morale effect: +2

Just to clarify:

  • Divisible rewards are rewards that are not singular – that is, for example, Gold, Boosters, Loot Crates, Credits and other such items
  • Indivisible rewards are rewards where you only receive a single item (decal, flag, title, avatar, camouflage, base paint, skin or a vehicle)

Please note that the number of players determining the result is based on the initial status of the Episode. If an Episode starts with 2500 eligible players and 1000 join during it (if this option is available), a 50% requirement translates into 1250 players (those 1000 newly joined do not count).

Our advice at this point would be to think very hard on what missions you actually want to complete. Depending on the context, completing some missions can complicate your situation considerably or even prevent you from completing some future objectives. If you aren’t sure what to do (or if you are and want to share), it’s highly advisable to visit our dedicated Discord channel and discuss it there.

FAQ

Spoiler
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Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is the Storyline Campaign?

The Storyline Campaign is a multi-month story-driven event where players complete difficult objectives to win considerable prizes. The core of the Storyline Campaign is an Armored Warfare storyline and lore where player decisions influence the progress of the story directly. The campaign consists of several Episodes. All Episodes must be completed by you to receive the ultimate reward.

How can I participate in the Storyline Campaign?

First, you need to register yourself for it with your in-game name. Open registration was available during the Prologue episode and ended with its conclusion. Registration may open again during the course of the Storyline Campaign, please follow the Armored Warfare portal to learn about new opportunities to gain access to the campaign.

Once registered, you must complete the main objective indicated in each Episode to continue. Please see the Current Status section for the list of objectives. Please also note that to continue in the campaign and to gain the Ultimate Campaign Reward, you must complete all its episodes in sequential order. What that means is, to be able to complete Episode 2, you must complete Episode 1. To be able to complete Episode 3, you must complete Episode 2 – and so on.

What is the Ultimate Campaign Reward?

To be disclosed but rest assured, it will be substantial (think high-Tier Premium vehicle).

What if I need to skip an episode, for example due to vacation or health reasons?

Catch-up mechanics of various types will become available throughout the campaign so if you miss an episode, you’ll be able to continue. However, please note that this is not advised for multiple episodes in a row.

How long is one Episode available?

Roughly a month with a break of several weeks between Episodes. The whole campaign will take roughly a year or more to complete.

I am interested in the story. Where can I read it from the beginning?

On our dedicated page. Please note, however, that the story is only available in English.

I am seeing references to campaign choices. What’s that about?

During the Storyline Campaign, the community will be able to make various choices either by voting, or by their action. As an example, playing a certain vehicle may influence the story direction in a specific way. These conditions are described in separate Episode articles and in dedicated portal articles. Participating in these choices is optional and is there for the players immersed in the campaign’s lore and story. To get your hands on the ultimate rewards, all you need to do is completing the main objective of each episode, as described above.

 

 

 

 

Prologue stuff:

 

Spoiler

 

 
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NEWS

 STORYLINE CAMPAIGN – PROLOGUE
JUN 02ND | 2021

Welcome, commanders!

Before you lies the beginning of the Storyline Campaign. Are you ready? We hope you are, because we all have a long road ahead of us.

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First things first – if you haven’t registered, please do so, otherwise you won’t be eligible for the event’s rewards.

Secondly, if you are wondering what the Storyline Campaign is, please visit our dedicated web page for a short FAQ as well as the state of the campaign. Now, let the story begin!

  • June 2028, Chicago

I woke up drenched in sweat and shivering. The nightmare’s been the same for a couple of years now and I was already familiar with it, each picture burned like a still frame into my memory. A day on the beach. Parents smiling. A dinner at my favorite childhood place. And then only darkness, a thick black cloud swallowing it all. First it took my mother, then my father, both of them so familiar and yet so distant. I couldn’t remember their faces, but I was sure it was them all along; felt it in my heart, one of the few certainties left in my life. And then it was all gone, moved to the edges on my mind by my racing heart and acute thirst.

Like every morning lately, I looked around first and noted my surroundings as if it was the first time. It was still early but the heat reflected by all that concrete surrounding the flat I was living in was already creeping in. A few hours more and it’ll become unbearable. Chicago in summer, I hate you with every fiber of my being.

 

Read More

 

In this episode, you’ll be assisting Samuel Thorpe in outfitting the team for future operations. You’ll have several vehicle categories to choose from, each with its advantages and drawbacks. Weigh your options carefully; they will be extremely important down the line.

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HOW TO CHOOSE?

 

The way you choose the Storyline Campaign vehicle is simply by playing. Participate in as many battles (of any type) as possible with the vehicle you’ve chosen. At the end of the Prologue episode, we’ll compare the statistics of the vehicles for the duration of this event to a similar period of time before the event to see which group saw the highest increase. The group with the highest increase will be chosen by Samuel Thorpe for his outfit with the most-played vehicle from the group being chosen as his personal vehicle.

To summarize:

  • To qualify for the basic reward, simply play at least 80 battles in any vehicle listed below and any standard mode between June 2 and June 30, 2021
  • You can use only the vehicles specifically listed below in the “What to Choose From?” section
  • The vehicles you choose will be required to complete future Storyline Campaign objectives
  • Additional optional objectives with extra rewards will appear during the course of Prologue

Please note:

  • You need to have registered to participate in the event (the registration will be available through the Prologue so you can register at any point)
  • You need to complete the basic objective (play at least 80 battles) of the Prologue to qualify for the main Storyline Campaign event and to become eligible for any prizes Difficulty modifier refers to the basic difficulty of the event (which is 3 played battles per day or a derivation thereof) – in other words, a hypothetical future 30 day objective will require you to play 90 battles, while a 10% difficulty modifier will increase the requirement to 99 battles and so on
  • The list of standard modes includes standard PvE, standard PvP (Random Battles), Global Operations, Special Operations and weekend modes (War Games)
  • Skins and reskins (vehicles with hard-coded skins) do count (for example, T-72AV ICE counts as a T-72AV)
  • Hades vehicles are not admissible
  • Inactive participation in battles won’t count towards the result (we’ll discard the battles where the vehicle just went AFK)
  • We’ll be conducting a special investigation at the end of the episode and all serial AFKers will not only be punished in accordance with the existing rules, but also permanently disqualified from the Storyline Campaign
  • Tracking your progress is very easy, simply compare the amount of played matches before and after the event

 

PRIZES

 

The prizes are as follows:

  • Every player completing the 80 battle objective will receive 3 days of Premium Time plus the option to continue the Storyline Campaign (which really is the main prize of Prologue)
  • Top 20% of players with most played battles will receive 3.000 Battle Coins for the Northern Wind Battle Path
  • Top 10% of players with most played battles will receive additional 10.000 Battle Coins for the Northern Wind Battle Path
  • Top player by the amount of battles played during the Prologue will receive the RST-V Shadow Tier 10 Premium AFV (or the ability to gift it to another player of their choosing)
  • Reward for the Secret Objective: REDACTED (Secret Objective currently unavailable)

 

WHAT TO CHOOSE FROM?

 

There will be three eras to choose from:

  • Cold War (covering Tier 4-6 vehicles)
  • Modern (covering Tier 7-9 vehicles)
  • Experimental (covering Tier 10 vehicles)

Cold War vehicles are easy to come by and cheap to maintain, these are the baseline and come with no difficulty penalty. These include retrofitted older vehicles, as you’ll see further below. Modern vehicles are, on the other hand, the mainstay of the official militaries and corporate forces. Their parts are hard to come by and they are more difficult to maintain, which means you need to earn more to keep them running. Experimental vehicles are the hardest to keep running. Any repairs need to be made by hand-fitting existing components, original parts are almost impossible to obtain and fixing any damage will inevitably be extremely expensive.

You need to choose your vehicle type as well. Each category comes with a special set of rules that may be useful down the line, depending on your choices. Once again, choose carefully – some of these rules are obvious at first glance, but may not be as big as you might think. And, vice versa, some of these rules may not seem like much, but could turn into an extremely high advantage, providing you play your cards right.

With that being said, here’s what you can choose from:

 

Soviet, Russian and former Warsaw Pact MBTs (Cold War)

 

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Unlike the T-64 and T-80 series, the T-72 series tanks were exported all over the world after the fall of the Soviet Union. Tens of thousands are still in service in the late 2020s, with many in the hands of PMCs after a massive wave of import. When it comes to PMC choices, these are the most popular heavy armored vehicles on the planet and the storyline campaign baseline.

  • Difficulty modifier: -10%
  • Includes: T-72 Ural, T-72A, T-72AV, T-72M1, T-72B

Special rules:

  • We Are Many: Spare parts for these vehicles can be found anywhere and the tanks are cheap to maintain (Baseline campaign difficulty decreased)
  • Obvious Choice: Every rookie mercenary outfit, militia, or wannabe warlord and his grandma drives one of these. These vehicles won’t impress your foes. While sufficient against other PMCs and militias, corporate armed forces and national armies will look down upon you with disdain (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: +30%, difficulty level when fighting national armies: +100%)
  • Mods: These vehicles will be possible to upgrade using a Modification mechanism in later episodes

 

NATO MBTs (Cold War)

 

nato

The collapse of the Soviet Union released a tidal wave of armored surplus, not all of which came from the Soviet Union. With the downsizing of the NATO forces, many of the older vehicles became available on the market and were promptly snatched by PMCs, typically based on the area of operations. French PMCs would therefore operate French vehicles and so on. In the late 2020s, these vehicles are typically operated in small numbers by minor corporations (but big enough to need its own security detail) and more solid PMCs. On the downside, they aren’t nearly as easy to maintain.

  • Difficulty modifier: 0%
  • Includes: AMX-30B2, AMX-30B2 Brenus, M60A1, M60A2, M60A3, Chieftain Mk.10, Chieftain Mk.11, Leopard 1A5, M1 Abrams

Special rules:

  • National Pride: If the campaign takes you to a place of origin of the most played vehicle from this group and you fail your objective, the failed objective will automatically count as passed for the purpose of campaign results (although you will only receive half the objective prize)
  • Respectable: You aren’t using the cheapest equipment on the market and people notice. Corporations might even mistake you for an auxiliary unit of another corporation, or you may pass as a PMC respectable enough to be entrusted sensitive tasks. You’ll still be no match against a regular military, but to engage actual armies in open combat would be foolish anyway (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: +10%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +100%)
  • Mods: These vehicles will be possible to upgrade using a Modification mechanism in later episodes

 

Armored Cavalry (Cold War)

 

acav

You don’t always need a tank to do your job. Sometimes, it’s better to have a platoon of light, highly mobile vehicles that are air-transportable, can be deployed on moment’s notice and can take an objective before anyone has a chance to react. The bad news is, that’s exactly what raiders, bandits and shady PMCs think as well, which won’t put you in a good company. Additionally, having to fight off an armored assault in a box with less armor than your aunt’s Prius is not exactly a pleasant experience.

  • Difficulty modifier: -40%
  • Includes: LAV-150 90, Scorpion 90, LAV-300, BMD-2, BMP-2, ERC-90 F4, OT-64, M551 Sheridan, VBL, BMP-3, BMD-4, FV721 Fox, Stingray

Special rules:

  • Hit and Run: Fast in, fast out. Using your easily transportable and fast vehicles, you can overwhelm the target quickly, making your mission much easier in the process (as reflected by the difficulty modifier). If at least 50 percent of the players participating in the episode don’t manage to complete all episode objectives within half of the allotted time, it means you weren’t fast enough and will have to fight enemy reinforcements. An additional, very difficult objective will appear and not completing it in time will result in episode failure, in which case you will receive no rewards whatsoever
  • Mechanized Infantry: It pays off to carry some infantry with you all the time without having to wait for the “squishies” to catch up (All rewards are increased by 20%, objectives requiring Infantry involvement are passed automatically)
  • Vulture: Due to the shady nature of the outfits using this vehicle type, pretty much everyone you encounter in your travels will look down upon you or will think you’re out to rob them. You’ll have very hard time with any diplomatic solutions. Anyone you encounter will see you as extremely weak and fighting heavily armored enemies is definitely not advised (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: +150%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +400%)

 

Russian MBTs (Modern)

 

modern

These vehicles are considerably rarer than their older Cold War era counterparts, but a number of them made it to the American market. They are expensive to buy and even more expensive to keep running, but only a few of these will give your outfit the firepower normally reserved for actual military units and corporations, and the respect that goes with it. This category also includes two Terminator-class vehicles.

  • Difficulty modifier: +30%
  • Includes: T-80U, T-90, T-72B3, T-90A, T-90MS, BMPT-72, BMPT Mod.2017

Special rules:

  • Professional: Only professional PMCs and large corporate units can afford contemporary military-grade hardware. Your opponents and allies will take you very seriously, which is not always a good thing, as you will definitely not pass unnoticed. On the bright side, with one of these vehicles, you can take on pretty much anyone. (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: 0%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +20%, all rewards are increased by 10%)
  • Russian: With these vehicles in your outfit and some preparations, you can (at least generally) pass as a member of the Russian military (may lead to some contextual bonuses, depending on your choices), but don’t expect a warm welcome in the United States of America
  • Mods: These vehicles will be possible to upgrade using a Modification mechanism in later episodes

 

American MBTs (Modern)

 

american

These beasts are as fuel-hungry as they are heavy. Additionally, they are expensive to purchase and even more maintenance-heavy than their Russian counterparts. But they will get the job done, no question. These vehicles are, unsurprisingly, used only by the American military and the richest of U.S.-based corporations.

  • Difficulty modifier: +40%
  • Includes: M1A1, M1A1 Storm, M1A1 AIM, M1A2, M1A2C

Special rules:

  • Professional: Only professional PMCs and large corporate units can afford contemporary military-grade hardware. Your opponents and allies will take you very seriously, which is not always a good thing, as you will definitely not pass unnoticed. On the bright side, with one of these vehicles, you can take on pretty much anyone. (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: 0%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +15%, all rewards are increased by 15%)
  • American: With these vehicles in your outfit and some preparations, you can (at least generally) pass as a member of the American military (may lead to some contextual bonuses, depending on your choices), but don’t expect a warm welcome in Russia.
  • Mods: These vehicles will be possible to upgrade using a Modification mechanism in later episodes

 

European MBTs (Modern)

 

european

High-tech, high-maintenance; definitely the top shelf stuff used only by the richest and most powerful corporations and, of course, the European militaries. To have your unit outfitted with these vehicles is a mark few will fail to notice, but exclusivity comes with a price tag. The maintenance costs of these vehicles are very high and you have to be careful not to let them ruin your bottom line.

  • Difficulty modifier: +60%
  • Includes: Challenger 1, Challenger 2, Leopard 2, Leopard 2A5, Leopard 2A6, Leclerc, C1 Ariete

Special rules:

  • Elite: Only professional PMCs and large corporate units can afford contemporary military-grade hardware. Your opponents and allies will take you very seriously, which is not always a good thing, as you will definitely not pass unnoticed. On the bright side, with one of these vehicles, you can take on pretty much anyone. (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: -10%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +10%, all rewards are increased by 20%)
  • Corporate: With these vehicles in your outfit and some preparations, you can (at least generally) pass as a member of pretty much any corporation on the planet (may lead to some contextual bonuses, depending on your choices)
  • European: With these vehicles in your outfit and some preparations, you can (at least generally) pass as a member of a European military (may lead to some contextual bonuses, depending on your choices), but don’t expect a warm welcome in Russia or the United States
  • Mods: These vehicles will be possible to upgrade using a Modification mechanism in later episodes

 

Fire Support Vehicles (Modern)

 

fsv

Modern MBTs are notoriously costly to keep running, but some units do want to keep things modern and advanced without having to pay the full price. Modern IFVs offer just that, providing you use them in the right manner. Instead of rushing into battle, their users need to bide their time and advance slowly and methodically. The reward will be the ability to stand toe to toe with pretty much any enemy while keeping the costs at a fraction of what a tank unit.

  • Difficulty modifier: +10%
  • Includes: BMP-2M, BMP-3M, Centauro 105, Centauro 120, KTO Rosomak, Rosomak M1, Type 16 MCV, Warrior, Bradley, AMX 10 RCR, Harimau, K21, M1128 Stryker, Sprut-SD, Hunter AFV

Special rules:

  • Elite: Only professional PMCs and large corporate units can afford contemporary military-grade hardware. Your opponents and allies will take you very seriously, which is not always a good thing, as you will definitely not pass unnoticed. On the bright side, with one of these vehicles, you can take on pretty much anyone. (Difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: +10%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: +20%)
  • Mechanized Infantry: It pays off to carry some infantry with you all the time without having to wait for the “squishies” to catch up (All rewards are increased by 30%, objectives requiring Infantry involvement are passed automatically)
  • Methodical Warfare: You cannot take on a tank unit head to head and expect to survive. You have to rely on a series of carefully laid ambushes and long-range combat. Such tactics require planning and, of course, dedication. If at least 80 percent of the players participating in the episode don’t manage to complete all episode objectives within the allotted time, it means you failed to entangle the enemy in your way of warfare and were forced into close combat. An additional, very difficult objective will appear and not completing it in time will result in episode failure, in which case you will receive no rewards whatsoever

 

Prototypes (Experimental)

 

prototype

Only very few prototype vehicles ever make it to the market, which typically only happens once every few years as a result of an official military program closure. These are invariably one-off vehicles and keeping them operational requires an extremely high amount of resources, time and dedication. Most customers stay away from such machines – the cutting edge technology they offer is rarely worth the price. Some PMCs and corporations buy these machines for their distinguished commanders as a status symbol, but the times they were used in combat can be counted on the fingers of one hand. This is by far the least subtle option.

  • Difficulty modifier: +150%
  • Includes: T-14 Armata (including the 152mm variant), Challenger ATDU, Altay, XM1A3, Leclerc T4, Leopard 2AX, Panzer 87-140, Type 99A2-140

Special rules:

  • Shock and Awe: Owning even one of these vehicles designates your outfit as the best of the best, even if you are not. That can be both a boon and a curse, as while it might make anyone knowledgeable enough to think twice about attacking you (difficulty modifier when fighting corporations: -40%, difficulty modifier when fighting national armies: -40%), it will also paint a massive target on your back and every warband out there will want to take a shot at you.
  • High Tech: These vehicles carry technologies few others can dream of and can single-handedly turn the tide of any battle. Once per campaign, a failed episode result may be overturned (the episode will count as completed even if the objectives were not met)
  • Notorious: The world is a small place and news travels fast in the mercenary world. By using experimental vehicles, you’ll quickly become notorious and any attempts to pass as someone else will automatically fail

That’s it, commanders. Let us know about your choices by playing your favorite vehicles to learn more about the story. We’ll be updating the storyline as the Prologue progresses; you can find all updates either on the portal, or on our dedicated web page.

See you on the battlefield!

 

wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==

It is important to note that you don't just need to play 80 battles, you need to play 80 battles in one of the listed vehicles.

It isn't stated specifically, but I think it is reasonable to assume that you do not need to play all 80 battles in the same vehicle.  If that were required, I would hope that they would have made it very clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Haswell
Added general campaign info (see edit history)
  • Upvote 2

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Trying to make some order of things (errors are possible)

Simplest and probably profitable thing (because i play premiums mostly) is just spamming T-14-152 -- 200 battles. I may not get reward bonus, but I free of IFV/support vehicle "rules of surprise".

SbCGqAa.png

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4 hours ago, dfnce said:

Simplest and probably profitable thing (because i play premiums mostly) is just spamming T-14-152 -- 200 battles.

For the Prologue, you need 80 missions in any combination of any of the listed vehicles.  So you would only need 80 missions in the T-14 152, not 200.

Those adjustments/bonuses only apply to future events during the Storyline Campaign, and are only if that class of vehicles is chosen during the Prologue.

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The cold war IFVs look like they're a complete non-starter. They've got terrible modifiers against PMCs and armies (even after taking the reduced difficulty into account), and have a requirement where 50% of the players will need to meet all of the objectives in half of the allotted time (I'm guessing the allotted time is measured in days/weeks?) or the entire episode is  effectively failed (I have no faith that enough players will be able to complete the "very difficult" additional objective). 

The modern IFVs have a bit of unclear wording that will either make it one of the best choices or one of the worst ones. Depending on whether "at least 80 percent of players don't complete the objective in the allotted time" is taken to mean "at least 80 percent of players must complete the objective" or "the number of players that do not complete the objective cannot exceed 80 percent", the exact difficulty of this class will either be really high (the first interpretation) or potentially fairly easy (second interpretation). I hope it's the latter, but I suspect it's the former.

 

I'm a bit peeved that most of the high-tier light tanks (Stingray 2, XM8, Dragun, XM8-120, Anders, PL-01, K-21 XC-8, etc...) aren't available as choices, but I'm not exactly sure where they would end up if they were choices...

Edited by MK_Regular (see edit history)

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Something else that could use confirmation is whether or not you have to win your 80 battles.  It doesn't look like it - "simply play at least 80 battles" - but it wouldn't hurt to have that confirmed.

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I'd say we should all play modern Russian MBTs.

The difficulty spike isn't high, the buffs are generous, and most importantly the vehicles in the pool are easy to play and very accessible. If people of all skill levels are to participate the campaign, I would have more confidence in them performing well in the modern T-series than all the other categories.

My second choice would be Euro MBTs, but I don't have much confidence in most people playing the Leo series well.


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2 hours ago, Haswell said:

I'd say we should all play modern Russian MBTs.

The difficulty spike isn't high, the buffs are generous, and most importantly the vehicles in the pool are easy to play and very accessible. If people of all skill levels are to participate the campaign, I would have more confidence in them performing well in the modern T-series than all the other categories.

My second choice would be Euro MBTs, but I don't have much confidence in most people playing the Leo series well.

The Abrams series wouldn't be a bad choice either. It has decent buffs without a massive difficulty spike, and with the 0.33 changes the vehicles actually play a lot better than they used to (they tend to be tanky as long as they don't get uptiered, good mobility, good firepower, etc...). It might be worth picking them over the European MBTs since the Abrams would perform better (Challenger) or be easier to play (Leo, Leclerc) than most of them.

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9 hours ago, knutliott said:

Something else that could use confirmation is whether or not you have to win your 80 battles.  It doesn't look like it - "simply play at least 80 battles" - but it wouldn't hurt to have that confirmed.

Also, it would be good to understand what "standard PVE" is .... presumably that includes both standard and hardcore difficulty, because only Hardcore is available for the higher tiers.

I haven't played enough tanks in each category to have an informed opinion about what we should all pick, but this discussion is very useful. I agree with @MK_Regular that the Abrams series is very playable by average players.

For this first stage, I'm grinding T72 because a) I still need to unlock Taco  b) at T5 I get a broader choice of maps. For once, Ricochet as a short map is actually OK. c) if we eventually decide on modern Russian MBTs I'm going to need one in my garage... so this grind heads towards a T90 if that becomes necessary.

Funny how this launches just when the schools let out... so I suspect that the top 20% will be full of folks on summer holiday crushing it over those of us who have jobs to tend to. Sigh.

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NEWS FROM THE DERAILMENT WAR ROOM

First day of the campaign, the collective wisdom from the forces of chaos have nailed down suitable vehicle categories to one practical choice: Euro MBTs. The reasoning is as follows:

  • Second highest reward bonus
  • Good buffs, being able to masquerade as corporate forces will theoretically be very beneficial in the lore
  • Reduced difficulty against both national armies (compared to other options) and PMC forces
  • Overall difficulty multiplier won't make the entire campaign unbearably grindy (up to 128 games/month), unlike prototype vehicles
  • Campaign upgrades will be available
  • Relatively easy to obtain progression vehicles
  • Inclusion of the C1 Ariete and Leclerc, two of the best in class MBTs to make gameplay more bearable

The most significant arguments against the prototype and squishies categories are the high difficulty that entail them. Playing prototype vehicles will increase the baseline participation from 80 games per month to a whopping 200 games per month, and squishy categories have minimum participation requirements that will likely become unsustainable as the campaign drags on, especially with the inevitable burnout following the upcoming Battle Path.

The accessibility argument is also significant. Given that the difficulty of the campaign will likely be the inverse of the number of active participants (ie. more participants make it easier to complete future missions), it is best to choose a category that is accessible to more players. This immediately throw prototype vehicles out of the equation since we can't expect the majority of participants to even have the lineup of tier 10 vehicles. Squishy vehicles are excluded based on their high skill requirement for good gameplay performance, which isn't something the majority of players are expected to have.

Excluding the two Cold War categories can be boiled down to a single, simple reason: low tiers are not fun to play.

This leave all three modern MBT categories. US MBTs got excluded very quickly also for reasons of not being pleasant to play (low DPM, mediocre mobility, mediocre armor). Russian MBTs and Euro MBTs went on a see-saw as proponents for both sides pitch their arguments: Russian MBTs are easiest to play for the majority; Euro MBTs have higher skill ceilings and give better buffs. It is decided to focus efforts on Euro MBTs.

 

 

If you haven't registered for the campaign yet, do it now! You have until the end of this episode (June 30) to sign up >>>>>> https://forms.gle/8qYXmXwwXDFFA5ny6

If you want real-time strategy chats and coordination for the campaign missions, join our Discord server and meet hundreds of other like-minded players! >>>> https://discord.gg/scTRpBb


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I get the on-paper arguments for Euro MBTs, but disagree entirely because of the Ramka and 2017 being included in the modern Russian category.  Those two vehicles are so OP that by rights it should tilt everyone toward that category.  10% of other things here or there is nowhere close to out-weighing the strength of the Ramka and 2017 in PvE, which - let's be honest - is where a vast majority of Storyline games are going to be played.

I really hope we don't have a bunch of PvP players arguing for the Euro tanks because they're better in PvP.  Who cares?  90+% of these games will be PvE so in this case picking the strongest PvE option is what matters.

Choose the broken AF Terminators.

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Quote

It is important to note that you don't just need to play 80 battles, you need to play 80 battles in one of the listed vehicles.

It isn't stated specifically, but I think it is reasonable to assume that you do not need to play all 80 battles in the same vehicle.  If that were required, I would hope that they would have made it very clear.

Any clarification on that front?

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3 hours ago, knutliott said:

I get the on-paper arguments for Euro MBTs, but disagree entirely because of the Ramka and 2017 being included in the modern Russian category.  Those two vehicles are so OP that by rights it should tilt everyone toward that category.  10% of other things here or there is nowhere close to out-weighing the strength of the Ramka and 2017 in PvE, which - let's be honest - is where a vast majority of Storyline games are going to be played.

I really hope we don't have a bunch of PvP players arguing for the Euro tanks because they're better in PvP.  Who cares?  90+% of these games will be PvE so in this case picking the strongest PvE option is what matters.

Choose the broken AF Terminators.

Oops, it's not the Ramka, it's the Terminator 2.  Still a pretty OP vehicle in PvE at Tier 9, but not on the same level of OP as the Ramka is at Tier 8.

1 hour ago, Zafir said:

Any clarification on that front?

Yes it's been confirmed.  I don't have a screenshot, unfortunately.

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12 minutes ago, knutliott said:
1 hour ago, Zafir said:

Any clarification on that front?

Yes it's been confirmed.  I don't have a screenshot, unfortunately.

Which of the two then? :classic_ninja:  80 games in the same vehicle or 80 games in vehicles of the selected group?

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What its the difference between very high maintenance, high maintenance and expensive maintenance costs can we get them quantified? because they might for the campaign knee cap us on budget or getting replacements for our pmc.    

Edited by LeoAegisMaximus (see edit history)

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[7:57 PM] пушистый колодец: 

This is exactly like pubs, except on a grander scale
 

[7:57 PM] пушистый колодец: 

You have people who want to work towards a common goal
 

[7:57 PM] пушистый колодец: 

And people who just want to do whatever they want
 

[7:58 PM] пушистый колодец: 

And people who actively spread chaos
 
I said pretty much exactly this in some chat/forum somewhere as soon as the new Storyline Campaign was announced.  These large group activities tend to go sideways almost immediately because there's a significant percentage of the playerbase that just wants to cause chaos and watch the world burn.  They will deliberately coordinate to make the worst choices so that they can laugh as everyone else then struggles to recover from their bad decisions.
The Prototypes are basically a given - it's easily the most played and most popular tier.  Enjoy trying to do 200 missions a month!

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5 hours ago, LeoAegisMaximus said:

What its the difference between very high maintenance, high maintenance and expensive maintenance costs can we get them quantified? because they might for the campaign knee cap us on budget or getting replacements for our pmc.    

Just an educated guess. But either it will be harder to repair damage to vehicles in the storyline or what I could also imagine is that it will be significantly harder to upgrade vehicles with high maintenance costs

5 hours ago, knutliott said:

The Prototypes are basically a given - it's easily the most played and most popular tier.  Enjoy trying to do 200 missions a month!

I mean I really hope you're wrong but at this point I'm not sure. Though they will monitor the increase so given most people already were playing a lot of those prototype vehicles before the campaign I think it could be significantly harder for that group to get a high increase. I don't know the statistics on vehicle/tier usage but I'm quite sure it's easier to get a gain on non T10 stuff. So there's some hope left.


Spoiler

fdassdaas.jpg.c709df3e98adc5265f232fe9458a3043.jpg

 

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36 minutes ago, TeyKey1 said:
5 hours ago, knutliott said:

The Prototypes are basically a given - it's easily the most played and most popular tier.  Enjoy trying to do 200 missions a month!

I mean I really hope you're wrong but at this point I'm not sure. Though they will monitor the increase so given most people already were playing a lot of those prototype vehicles before the campaign I think it could be significantly harder for that group to get a high increase. I don't know the statistics on vehicle/tier usage but I'm quite sure it's easier to get a gain on non T10 stuff. So there's some hope left.

Past  storyline campaigns did run fairly smoothly, lets hope this one will as well. It is also completely behind closed doors, if it is not going in the direction they want it to go (pumping up player numbers in general as well as available players in queue), there are plenty of options to "help" it along. I doubt they will let it crash and burn after just the Prologue if it is meant to be to run for a year or so.

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6 hours ago, LeoAegisMaximus said:

What its the difference between very high maintenance, high maintenance and expensive maintenance costs can we get them quantified? because they might for the campaign knee cap us on budget or getting replacements for our pmc.    

My guess -  if some category is more expensive in maintenance or fuel hungry, the player (or worse, whole community) would get a requirement of doing extra number of missions (let call them scavenging or "war for profit" ones), additionally play alternative more cheaper and ineffective vehicles (to compensate shortages).

16 hours ago, knutliott said:

I get the on-paper arguments for Euro MBTs, but disagree entirely because of the Ramka and 2017 being included in the modern Russian category.  Those two vehicles are so OP that by rights it should tilt everyone toward that category.  10% of other things here or there is nowhere close to out-weighing the strength of the Ramka and 2017 in PvE, which - let's be honest - is where a vast majority of Storyline games are going to be played.

I really hope we don't have a bunch of PvP players arguing for the Euro tanks because they're better in PvP.  Who cares?  90+% of these games will be PvE so in this case picking the strongest PvE option is what matters.

Choose the broken AF Terminators.

Agreed

4btk4Xk.png

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14 hours ago, knutliott said:

 

[7:57 PM] пушистый колодец: 
You have people who want to work towards a common goal
 

Glad to see so many [LABS] rats out there, even a sighting of Haswell playing where I had not encountered him previously. Wow.

Is there an effort to coordinate strategy among the major battalions? [XARMY] is gone, but if [LABS] [MAHOU] [ELOD] [R3PERS] and the other big ones formed a virtual council (?? Division/Corps HQ) we might be able to improve the signal/noise ratio. 

It will be interesting to see how this interacts with the upcoming battle path. There are (a lot of) gaps in my progression chain, so I might acquire a prem vehicle from the shop if we choose something out-of-inventory (eg Chally 1 Falcon or Leclerc T40 for Euro MBT). I feel bad I can't really help vote here, but will try to position as best I can for the next stage, whatever the outcome.

On the other hand, if we wind up using MBT for the storyline (most likely), all the BP missions that require something squishy will be on top of storyline requirements. Yikes! The burnout potential is very real... I hit the wall for a couple weeks last BP even without another campaign on top.

15 hours ago, LeoAegisMaximus said:

What its the difference between very high maintenance, high maintenance and expensive maintenance costs can we get them quantified? because they might for the campaign knee cap us on budget or getting replacements for our pmc.    

I tried asking my wife this question and had to jump to protect my kneecaps.

QR

 

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8 hours ago, dfnce said:

Agreed

4btk4Xk.png

23 of my 24 currently completed missions have been in the BMPT Mod.2017.  The 24th was in the M1A1 AIM.

23 minutes ago, Quantum_Ranger said:

I tried asking my wife this question and had to jump to protect my kneecaps.

In our house, I'm the one who is "expensive maintenance" because I collect (and drink) Port wine.  She likes to knit.  Even the fanciest normal yarn is only a fraction of the cost of a normal bottle of Port, so she pretty much gets to buy anything that strikes her fancy.  (Neither of us has any idea what the most exquisite yarn might cost... though I'm sure someone has spun gold thread into silk at some point in time.)

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8 hours ago, Quantum_Ranger said:

Is there an effort to coordinate strategy among the major battalions? [XARMY] is gone, but if [LABS] [MAHOU] [ELOD] [R3PERS] and the other big ones formed a virtual council (?? Division/Corps HQ) we might be able to improve the signal/noise ratio. 

I'm trying to get everybody here on the forum and Discord server exactly for this. I'd really appreciate it if people can help spread the word.

 


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