Here we are again - a nice relaxing day off on my own so I can concentrate of some serious gaming! Obviously World of Tanks and the new French tech tree will be the main focus of the day, but there are a couple of other things I will be up to - including getting back into Borderlands in anticipation of next month's release of Borderlands 2.

WoT targets for today - there are a couple of things I would like to achieve in World of Tanks. First of all I am grinding very hard so I can acquire a decent French heavy tank, I have my eye on the tier 7 AMX M4 (1945). This is the first really modem looking and decent French heavy and in appearance obviously owes much to WW2 German tank designs - it's an odd mix of features which remind you of the Panther and King Tiger but also of the late model 76mm Shermans like the 'Easy 8'.

Now I always secretly fancied getting the German Panther II as my WoT team mates rave about it, but I do have this instinctive aversion to playing Jerry tanks! It just doesn't feel right to me - so the AMX M4 will give me the chance to play something similar guilt free!

Oh, and the second thing I want to try and work out (plan B) is to get my M4A3E8 'Easy Eight' up to the T-20 Medium tank. But that's probably asking too much, even with a full days dedicated grinding...

8am Good morning Malinovka! - I've calculated that I need to grind 63,190 XP today to get a AMX M4, so the day begins with the daily doubles!

Above: Rather ironically my first game ends ignominiously (and mockingly) with this duel to the death with the very French tank I'm trying to earn! My team mates put those lovely big holes in it, but not before his mate - an e100 - blew my T-54 to tattered pieces! Still, a team win and 2,253 XP to me!

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9.30am - A pleasant surprise WoT Monte Casino Battle promo!
Well, if I needed XP (and I do) today is a good day for it - World of Tanks is doing a special promo where you get 3x XP for first win of the day AND 20% discount on gold to XP conversion! I can fairly taste the garlic as my AMX M4 dream seems to be closer than I thought!

The Monte Casio promo mean that even my non-premium tanks - like my 'Slugger' (pictured above) will earn me a nice triple bonus on XP! Sadly, being non-premium it won't really contribute to my French quest BUT it bangs on a good haul of XP towards the next tier of American tank destroyers! Whoo hoo!

AND THERE's MORE...

My mate Magnus is also having a day off - so I will have company today too. OH what a great day!

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1pm And I'm so easily swayed! After some brutal peer pressure I succumbed to the allure of the Chinese Type 59 tank! Although similar to my T-54 this 'paid for' tank (the first one I have bought in WoT!) is a terrific little earner of silver...

After just a few games it had earned back the amount I spent adding extra modules to it and now my hoard of silver is starting to look very healthy!

Another new tank in my garage is the diminuative Mk. VII Tetrarch. This was a very light tank designed by the British for Airborne troops, but in WoT is given a Soviet colours...

This tank eased my guilt about paying for the Type 59 as it's a freebee from WoT! It's fun to play with as it gets you into the lower tier games without too much fuss. It has a handy little gun which has good penetration - given it's lowly tier - and is reasonably fast.

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5pm, a hard day at the office!

Well, that's a bout it for now, going to take a much earned break. But I guess you will be wondering if the 12,500 gold for the T-59 was worth it?

Today I have made over one million silver! And to understand why, just take a look at this score card from a T-95 game...

Oh, I'm a happy chappy! And incedently, it's been chalking up XP quite nicely too - I am now a third of my way to my goal of the AMX M4.

POSTCRIPT - oh, and it get's better, LMAO...

Having written the above I couldn't resist one more game, I nearly wet myself when I read the score (check out the credits):

Click on image to enlarge in new window

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MIDNIGHT - Yawn, mission accomplished!

Well, I managed it - just! I got the French AMX M4 (1945), it's stock and only a 75% trained crew but at least I did it...

And with that I say - GOODNIGHT!