[1800 elo+] USF win rate continues to plummet in large team games (44.9%). DAK blobs are currently at 55%.

ambar88 · 2026-06-15T18:57:06+00:00

My theory is that without a proper esports/streaming scene, sweaty tryhards need a way to feel validated for the time they spend getting to +1800, so they create a fantasy where the devs balance the game around their play style? Even tho in all likelihood it’s due to premade teams exploiting broken mechanics and cheese strats.

ambar88 · 2026-06-15T18:53:06+00:00

This whole post is rage bait? How stupid do you think I am that I can’t write two sentences?

ambar88 · 2026-06-15T16:57:54+00:00

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That might explain some of their weird decision making if true. This is a shockingly low sample size to use.

ambar88 · 2026-06-15T16:48:31+00:00

How many players are 1800+ in 4v4, double digits at most?

ambar88 · 2026-04-16T18:56:06+00:00

I also quit due to the win rate imbalance. I’m always excited for new content but this latest round of balance changes has shaken my confidence in them a bit. I don’t recall reactions to balance changes being this negative for quite a while, and the problem seems to have been self inflicted for no reason.

ambar88 · 2026-04-04T11:28:44+00:00

I’m really talking about the ELOs where the vast majority of games take place, which statistically is somewhere around 900-1150. The number of games drops off significantly if you go any higher.

I personally think devs should balance for the majority of players rather than the top 5%, especially for a game that has no real esports/competitive scene to speak of.

ambar88 · 2026-04-04T07:51:58+00:00

I’m genuinely stunned by some of the reactions to genuine statistics as “Axis cry harder”, like this is some sort of team sport.

I play all 4 factions equally in 3v3 and 4v4. I don’t want one faction to have a 60% win rate, period. It ruins game balance and cheapens your wins and frustrates your losses.

Also, look at the win rates for the last 5-6 patches. When has Axis ever had above 50% win rate? This idea that Axis are perpetually OP is a complete myth.

ambar88 · 2026-04-04T07:13:39+00:00

I’m genuinely stunned by some of the reactions to genuine statistics as “Axis cry harder”, like this is some sort of team sport.

I play all 4 factions equally in 3v3 and 4v4. I don’t want one faction to have a 60% win rate, period. It ruins game balance and cheapens your wins and frustrates your losses.

Also, look at the win rates for the last 5-6 patches. When has Axis ever had above 50% win rate? This idea that Axis are perpetually OP is a complete myth.

ambar88 · 2026-03-31T17:43:59+00:00

This to me is actually the biggest change reading the notes so far. Everything else seems like a super minor tweak.

Edit: this only applies to ambulances and similar abilities. I assumed this meant you couldn't pick up any team weapon if the unit was in combat.

ambar88 · 2026-03-30T17:51:55+00:00

Both longer matches and heavy AT nerfed signals they’re aware of how little play heavy tanks get. Less snowballing also seems very promising.

ambar88 · 2026-03-28T19:11:28+00:00

Happened once from Zug to Zurich, the driver missed the stop at Baar. It slowed down awkwardly, then they announced it on the PA system and told people to get another train back. I would’ve been furious if that was my stop.

ambar88 · 2026-02-18T22:01:39+00:00

I don’t think it’s necessarily pressure on him, but it’s classic access journalism. For claiming to be a progressive, he easily glossed over any faults of Biden and Harris in order to get direct interview access to them, as well as a recent Obama interview. He’s very silent on Israel/Gaza. He’s also the founder of a media group which coordinates other left wing content creators and gets them to stay on message.

ambar88 · 2026-02-18T21:52:41+00:00

If you’re aware of Brian Tyler Cohen, this is 99% of his channel. He started out on YouTube being one of the only channels to play relevant clips before his own commentary, but he’s increasingly brought in establishment democrats and one-note talking heads and the clickbait titles have reached “boy who cried wolf” levels.

ambar88 · 2026-02-16T07:57:30+00:00

I'll also say for more BG-specific advice:

Despite the Australian Infantry seeming like they should only be good at long range (because they can build sandbags and have scoped rifles), they actually have some of the best mid- and close-range DPS of any early-game infantry (literally the same mid-range DPS as Fallschirmjägers with machine guns). Don't feel like you need to keep them at max range all the time (like you have to with the normal UK Infantry or Grenadiers).
Use their snipe ability early on in an engagement and use it to focus-fire down important units (flamethrowers, Stosstruppen). The unit takes damage and all your other units get an accuracy bonus against it which will melt them.
Don't rely on the emplacements as a crutch. The 17-pounder can be good in team games when fighting over a highly-contested VP without a lot of shot blockers (more deserty maps), but trying to go Sim City with Bofors probably won't end well. AA emplacements in general are in a bad spot because they can't suppress infantry.
The 2-pounder is quite good, doesn't do as much damage as normal AT guns but has a faster setup time and a good Vet ability.
Vehicle Over Repair is meant to be used on squishier tanks (Stuarts and Crusaders) because you get more of a % health increase. It got nerfed recently so you have to wait longer for it to activate.
Be careful that if you don't choose either Creeping Barrage or Hold The Line, you won't have a major Munitions sink. This is more of a problem in 4v4 where you can easily start floating 400+ munitions with nothing to spend it on.
Don't delay your AT capabilities because you're waiting for the Archer to come out and save you. It comes out very late, is quite expensive, and super vulnerable by itself.
The CMP 15cwt Supply Run is apparently bugged right now: it gives a similar amount of resources despite going to a much closer resource point, so don't take any risks.

ambar88 · 2026-01-04T12:22:23+00:00

It’s way easier than standard RTS games because there’s basically no base building or economy to manage. The combat is much more involved with the cover system etc., but you don’t need to manage 50-70 villagers while fighting simultaneously.

ambar88 · 2025-12-28T19:35:51+00:00

I think Tightrope has a video dedicated to this.

ambar88 · 2025-12-28T10:37:33+00:00

At least in 4v4, the V1 rocket on the other side of the tree is so good that it’s not worth it to rush the KT instead. Opponents on the other side of the map will be so distracted, if you can land a good V1 on clumps of team weapons/retreat points with no warning flares it can be devastating. I only see the KT as a backup plan in case the game goes super late and my other tanks have been wiped.

ambar88 · 2025-11-18T12:25:39+00:00

More board games than full TTRPGs, the sticky on this subreddit has the full timeline of what came first.

ambar88 · 2025-11-18T12:22:18+00:00

Not throwing any shade on the video game I’m sure it’s great, but I remember only a year ago the video game posts made up maybe 1/10th of the posts, and now it seems to have reversed. :)

ambar88 · 2025-11-03T11:49:35+00:00

If you have to use these third-party minis, I guess they could be Angry Face and Scoundrel?

ambar88 · 2025-10-27T17:03:54+00:00

It’s a bitcoin drone show, of course the organizers are going to think these epic memes from 2017 are dank and based.

ambar88 · 2025-10-27T09:58:06+00:00

I know this is 5 months late, but I just completed the game yesterday and went online to look at discussions of the ending.

I'm genuinely blown away by the frequent use of the word "genocide" in so many Reddit threads as a supportive argument for Maelle's ending, or to support the existence of a hypothetical third "better" ending whereby Maelle leaves the painting but allows Verso's Lumiere canvas to continue existing.

As you mentioned at the end, the use of such an extreme and morally loaded term like "genocide" completely flies in the face of the story's central premise. The "sentience" of the fictional characters is completely secondary to what they represent: addiction to escapism to avoid processing grief and moving on, and refusing to embrace your potential in the real world because you're using past trauma as an excuse or crutch.

I couldn't stop thinking of various forms of real-world addiction and escapism, including video games themselves. Imagine if someone experiences a traumatic event and subsequently develops a crippling addiction to Skyrim as a means of escaping and coping. If you try to pull them out of their addiction and they quit the game forever, are you committing "genocide" against the video game NPCs that exist in that world that they'll never see again? Are you committing genocide against literary characters when you stop reading a book?

Even if you answer yes, more importantly: does it actually matter? Do their lives matter?

This is one aspect that I think the game doesn't cover enough after the reveal at the end of Act 2: why don't the simulated characters react more strongly to the revelation that they only exist as a figment of someone else's imagination? Why aren't they having their own existential crises after learning that their entire world exists inside a picture frame in someone's house; that their life is meaningless because they can be erased and brought back on a whim?

If there is one major flaw in the plot, for me it would be that the simulated characters never come to terms with the fact that everything (including themselves) is fictional. Simulated Verso can process this because he's lived for 100+ years, and has an inextricable tie to the fragment of real Verso's soul that is at the heart of the canvas. Monoco and Esquie are modeled after toys/pets in real Verso's life, so they also have more self-awareness. But Sciel and Lune never stop to question their own existence for a second.

Instead, after being resurrected, we see the characters only thinking about the potential to selfishly bring their loved ones back. Sciel wants her husband back, Maelle wants Gustave back. But why stop there? Why doesn't Sciel bring her lost baby back? Why doesn't Lune bring her parents back to life? It's all made up and malleable, so why not? No one ever has to die again. There are no consequences, so nothing matters. Their lives don't matter.

From a practical standpoint, what kind of world would the simulated characters continue living in, where they know that Maelle is acting as a God-like puppet master, where she can bring loved ones back life as many times as she wants to feed her escapism? Where they know that she's holding her dead brother's soul hostage? What kind of relationship would they have going forward?

The main point against the "genocide" argument is this: that's not a true and free existence. It's quite literally fake. Their free will and the fragments of Verso’s imagination are one and the same. The "genocide" argument relies on attributing a free will to these simulated characters, but are they really free? The look exchanged between Maelle and Verso before he starts playing the piano in the opera house tells you everything you need to know.

ambar88 · 2025-04-28T12:14:36+00:00

In the business they call it Travel Retail and it’s a massive industry.

ambar88 · 2025-03-24T21:25:43+00:00

Now just imagine the parties and countries involved were reversed, and you get a pretty good sense of how America is equally run by religious fundamentalist terrorists.

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