Yup, I got that impression as well! You're totally right though, I just need the last engine for it to have all of the modules researched. Then, I think I'll stick with this one for a while! The 88 is a beast of a weapon...

I'm down to about 25k till my T-54. Can't wait!

Had the Tiger in beta and I definitely agree about the long gun.

I personally enjoy the M-36. That 90mm is a beast :P

I dropped it after beta and only just picked it up again, the grind is so much worse now!

Just got my Pzkpfw IV, with the atrocious turret and long gun. Debating whether to go Panther or Tiger next. Favorite tank is still the Pzkpfw IIIa.

What's your handle in game Gunny?

I went Tiger, now I have the Tiger II. The grind is slow for the Tiger, but quick for the Tiger II! I kept the Tiger as it's Elite. It's one of my fav tanks from WW2.

Been at it over a year now.

I am the Commander of TOTH and we have good days and bad days.

There is a group of clans in central Europe that we call the goons.

These are the ones I saw in this post refereed to as the abusive ones. They troll the WoT forms and are just total butt heads.

TOTH sat in Africa for almost 6 months before we decided to try up north where the gold per day is more for your clan.

We quickly learned that not only were we not welcomed up there but abused in game and out of game constantly by the status quo.

We got landing sites more than a few times only to be knocked back into the water again.

The CLAN activities and friends are what keeps me coming back. We have a great group of guys that are not mouthy young punks and we train a lot.

Big tanks are what I excel at and they are what I like.

Tanks owned,
t-14, Lorraine, T30, T34, KV5, Lowe, T95, JagdTiger, Maus, E100, IS7, E50, KV5, IS4, Obj 261, AMX 13 F3 AM(Tier V arty), AMX AC Mle 1948.

The Maus is my favorite.

Well there is my two cents worth.

Can you enjoy this game if you don't want to spend any money on it? Can I gradually work my way up to an M-18 tank destroyer (a favorite WW2 armored vehicle) just by using points? Or will that take about five years?

Sounds interesting, I might look into this game.

Yes you can and many people do. I had a premium account for a while to get experience points faster. Now I just grind slow and the T-18 is one of my favorite tanks. That and the M-5.
Just try to compete with yourself and not everyone else out there and you don't need $$

Something else, you need two things to advance through tanks or "grind" as they say, Experience points and Cash points. Its a little convoluted but it will make sense soon enough. Early on you will be short on cash (the kind you earn in the game, not real cash). Higher tier tanks make money faster and you can buy (with real money or Gold in the game) a premium tank like a Lowe just for that purpose. so you end up spending a little real money which pays someones bills. not a bad thing...

good luck.

I started playing this game about a week ago. I play medium amerikan tanks and now i have the M4 i think its tier 5. the game have two sides to it. first side its a brilliant and fun game when youre in a team that plays well together even if you lose its fun. the other side thou is youre in a team thats in fact not a team but several individual tanks doing what they want to do... And that is boring even if you manage to win.