Battlefield 1: The Road to Rank 100, Another Personal Killstreak Best, New Headshot Record and Panzerfahren Exploits

“Those times of transitions are great opportunities to look for recurring patterns in your life and make adjustments to build on the good and reduce the bad.” —Dan Miller

Battlefield V has been available for a few days now, and the ensuing shift in players from Battlefield 1 to Battlefield V has been noticeable. With The Road To Battlefield V now over, I’ve since accumulated a number of super-rare vehicle skins for my tanks. These skinds were the subject of no small debate when first introduced, but with The Road to Battlefield V, it’s been markedly easier to acquire them, either by completing the weekly assignments or else accumulating enough scraps to buy them from the exchange. There’s also been a pronounced increase in new players who’d acquired the older title and its supplementary content for a reduced price, corresponding with an influx of new players who immediately gravitate towards the M1918 Automatico and the bayonet charge for their ease-of-use. The combination of new players and fancy tank skins translates to the unparalleled opportunity to use said tanks: I’m predominantly an infantry player, and so, do not usually choose vehicles, but with my experience in the Ilya Muromets, and the prospect of driving particularly ostentatious tanks around, I’ve recently decided to give armoured warfare in Battlefield 1 a proper go. The tanks of Battlefield 1 are far different than those of earlier Battlefield games, which had battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armoured personel carriers: Battlefield 1‘s armoured vehicles are much more limited in variety owing the time period, attesting to one of the limitations of a World War One time period, and initially, my preferred role in vehicles was either that of the gunner in a Mark V, or the driver of a St. Chamond. My earlier experience with the A7V was limited, since this tank was very slow to manoeuvre, and while the FT-17 was exceptional in the open beta, the final version was also a bit more of a glass cannon.

While my inclination remains to pick the St. Chamond assault tank over the A7V every time, I’ve since picked up a pair of super-rare FT-17 skins during the Road to Battlefield V event. The super-rare skins are over-the-top, ostentatious and very standout – they look amazing and are a fairly amusing way of showing off, so I decided to go back and try the FT-17 out again. There are three variants of the FT-17 in Battlefield 1: the close support is the base tank, armed with a 37mm cannon and co-axial machine gun. There is also a flanker variation that is equipped with an auto-cannon and canister ammunition, and the howitzer variation has a 75mm cannon that is devastating against enemy vehicles. Of these three, the howitzer package is easily the most amusing – the main heavy machine gun is very accurate and suited for dealing with infantry, while the 75mm cannon can destroy heavy tanks in three shots. The howitzer package is further equipped with smoke and emergency repairs, affording the tank increased survivability in combat to the extent where I’ve had exceptional success in using the FT-17 again: during one match of conquest on St. Quentin Scar, I managed a 29-streak (“Untouchable!” in Halo, and very nearly an “Invincible!”) with the howitzer FT-17. This outstrips my previous record of a 20-streak with the Ilya Muromets, and even my original record with the FT-17 in the open beta, by a nontrivial margin. My final few games of Battlefield 1 also saw me best my original headshot distance record of 300 metres. Previously, this was accomplished on Empire’s Edge with the M1903 Sniper. However, on Sinai Desert, my first exposure to Battlefield 1, I managed a headshot from 383 metres using the Gewehr 98, which has the fastest bullet velocity of any bolt-action rifle in the game.

Screenshots and Commentary

• On Halloween, I took the A7V for a spin: the glint of light on the golden surface gives the tank a very visible presence on the battlefield, and I found myself under fire from various assault players. However, as it was early in the match, I managed to go on a 15-streak with the tank, blasting enemy tanks and light vehicles alike. I’ve never been particularly successful with the A7V because of its slow move speed, and while having a few gunners is helpful, the tank ultimately is a deathtrap for passengers if one is careless.

• On the other hand, I’ve gotten quite used to the St. Chamond Assault Tank and have utilised it very effectively in a range of situations. Its low profile makes it much more difficult to hit, and in its base configuration, is exceptionally useful for anti-armour and anti-infantry combat. The only real downside to the St. Chamond is that it tends to roll when one is repairing, although even this can be turned to one’s advantage, by using the inertia to continue backing away over a ridge and out of sight while conducting repairs.

• After unlocking the bronze skin for the FT-17, I decided to give the tank a go. I have the close-support variant here: it’s armed with a light machine gun and a 37mm cannon, plus the ability to drop supplies for friendly players. The 37mm cannon is woefully inadequate – this version of the FT-17 is the toned-down version of the exceptionally powerful beta incarnation, lacking the canister ammunition, and ultimately, is not the tank of choice for any operator. In spite of this, running with this tank for the first time since I picked up Battlefield 1, I somehow managed to make a 7-streak with it.

• Destroying an L30 with nothing more than the Burton LMR in a match of conquest was something I’d never successfully pulled off before: it takes a considerable amount of patience to do so, as even with the LMR’s incendiary ammunition, the L30 has a large health pool. In this match here, multiple of my teammates aggregated at the ruined church and fired on the L30 with their LMRs. I was quite lucky and managed to score the finishing blow here.

• Teammates looking to complete the daily assignments back when Road to Battlefield V was running often resorted to amusing play-styles to finish them. This fellow here, lying prone on my tank, was seeking to complete an assignment entailing repairs. While I exchanged fire with enemy positions, he would repair my tank consistently. However, an onslaught of anti-tank fire soon ruined the party. I usually make it a point to engage enemies at range, and while in a light tank, the worst challenges are the cavalry players.

• While I am very fond of being a support gunner for the Mark V tank, being its operator is a bit more challenging, since I do not have access to the same effective anti-tank weapons as the St. Chamond, and so, it is rare that I take to the Mark V as a driver: without support gunners, the Mark V ineffective against enemy armour even with the tank hunter package. On the other hand, having good gunners make any version of the Mark V useful, and during one match on Passchendaele, I used the mortar variant to decimate infantry while my gunners dealt with other threats.

• The howitzer package for the FT-17 is as close to the open beta FT-17 as one can get in Battlefield 1, featuring a heavy machine gun that is superb against infantry, and a 75mm shell that can surprise other armour. It is absolutely lethal, and despite being balanced with weak armour, is an excellent tank that is remarkably fun to use. The howitzer package has a high skill ceiling, since the 75mm rounds have considerable drop, and is stymied by a very low firing rate. However, when the shots connect, they are devastating, blowing buildings apart and can destroy even heavy tanks within three shots.

• In my last post, the killionaire I got was inferred from the scoreboard (e.g. I had ten more kills after a bombing run than I did prior), but to convince readers that the Ilya Muromets is capable of trampling the enemy when used well, here is a screenshot of me scoring a Killpocalypse (a multi-kill of nine, equivalent to nine kills within four seconds of one another in Halo 3) while using the bomber. I got another Killpocalypse on Empire’s Edge in a match against an individual who was evidently cheating, indicating that the Ilya Muromets can be used to even surprise cheaters.

• Prior to the Ilya Muromets’ introduction, I had very little incentive to fly, but since its appearance in Battlefield 1, I have taken to the skies more often than I had in any previous Battlefield title. My decision to fly or not in a given match is strictly determine by whether or not there is heavy enemy fire: some matches have players who do have an eye on the sky, making it near impossible to run the bomber without being blown from the skies.

• Earlier this week, another super-rare skin appeared on the rotation. With the sufficient scraps to pick up the skin, I ended up acquiring it, and like the previous skin, it looks very sleek. Thanks to Soissons being on the map rotations, I ended up running the FT-17 here; the French maps are memorable for me, and I recall making the plunge to buy the Premium Pass more than a year ago. It was late April, and I was set to go on my vacation to Japan; I remember playing a few rounds with a fellow blogger using the Premium Friends system, helping him to decide whether or not the DLCs were worth it.

• Considering the amount of time I spent in Battlefield 1, this ended up being a good purchase for me. Battlefield V has no paid DLC, and content will be available to all players once it is launched. Since its full launch a few days ago, I’ve noticed that Battlefield 1 servers have become increasingly quiet, or else seeing fewer of the highly skilled players: I’ve been topping the scoreboards frequently and ending matches with a KD ratio of 2 or greater of late. While it’s been a riot to blast low-level players, I admit that Battlefield 1 is getting a little stale for me.

• With all of the videos and discussions out there, I now have enough information to make an informed decision as to whether or not Battlefield V will enter my library: the answer is “yes”, as I am willing to drop a little more to experience the game earlier. I’ve bought Battlefield V now and installed it, with the aim of starting things quite soon, and so, I expect that this will be my last Battlefield 1 post for a while, as I begin writing more about my experiences in Battlefield V once I begin going through both the campaign and multiplayer.

• Before then, I share my luckiest headshot of all time: this shot was pure luck, and I was not expecting it to connect in any way. At ranges under 200 metres, I am fairly consistent in landing shots, but anything beyond this usually require a few shots be fired so I can gauge where things are going, before firing for effect. Sniping in Battlefield 1 has been considered as being “too easy”, and considering that the scout class is my second most-used class in Battlefield 1, I would tend to have to agree. Battlefield V puts the skill back in sniping by removing the sweet spot and reducing the amount of damage centre-mass shots can deal.

• During one match on Sinai Desert, which I’ve disparagingly come to refer to as Saenai Desert (さえない, literally “boring” or “dull”, which is a reference to SaeKano), a persistent cavalry player continued bothering me with light anti-tank grenades. I was down to ten health for my tank, and frustration kicked in. When I saw him coming around from behind me, I immediately activated my repairs, and backed up. The first grenade hit me, but I had recovered enough health to take the damage, then continued backing into his horse, eliminating him and buying me enough time to fully repair.

• The last time I got the Service Medal was more than a year ago, and this was when I was depending heavily on the sweet spot mechanic as a sniper. Since then, I’ve been rolling with the Gewehr 98 more commonly, counting on headshots to save the day. The sweet spot ended up being a mechanic that got me into sniping, and once familiar with it, I found that I could be effective even without it.

• I’m now only two ranks from reaching rank ten for the tanker class, and unlocking the last item in the game that can be bought with war bonds: I still don’t have the sawed-off shotgun for the tanker yet, and there’s still 150 war bonds sitting in my account waiting for this to be purchased. Of course, the question remains as to whether or not I will go through with doing this: there’s a whole new game’s worth of stuff to unlock now that I’ve got Battlefield V. I’m not sure what play-style I will develop once I get further into Battlefield V, but having seen the maps and gameplay, I am rather excited to get started.

• Overlooking the chateau, I hammered enemy forces with the FT-17’s machine gun. Having largely depended on canister shells for anti-infantry, I found myself superbly impressed with how effective machine guns in Battlefield 1 are once I began using them. This is a turnaround from my earlier impressions of the weapon, which was that they were quite ineffectual. With their low recoil and ability to sustain fire, they’re a great solution for longer range engagements, and of late, I’ve found that this newfound love for the machine guns also applies to the armoured train: at Łupków Pass, I managed a streak with the train’s third gunner seat, one that I had previously avoided.

• For me, Sinai Desert vividly reminds me of the September of two years ago, when I first played through the beta and found myself impressed with Battlefield 1. Several trailers later, I was sold on Battlefield 1. Battlefield V‘s marketing campaign was much weaker, but solid gunplay looks to more than make up for this. The campaign of Battlefield V is very similar to Battlefield 1‘s, featuring War Stories that depict relatively unknown battles that place a great deal of emphasis on stealth, and it’ll be a short warm-up to the real party of the multiplayer.

• During a match on Volga River, I was farming points to reach rank 100. I believe that this was the highest rank one could get with the base game, and looking around, people reached rank 100 within weeks of Battlefield 1‘s coming out. While most are inclined to believe that such individuals simply do not have any other obligations in their lives or otherwise have a great deal of leisure time, some have reasonably suggested that individuals who can reach high ranks quickly are simply using resources at their disposal, such as codex entries and squad XP boosts, in conjunction with high-yield game modes, to boost their scores in a natural manner.

• That I have reached rank 100 means that, for all intents and purposes, I’ve gotten as far in Battlefield 1 as I am inclined to go: I recall reaching the colonel ranks in Battlefield 3 and called it quits then, as well. I realise that for my readers, what you’re really looking for is more anime-related materials: looking ahead, I will be looking at The World in Colours at the end of the month, and I’ve got a talk on K-On! The Movie coming out early December, as well. It’s been a hell of a month, and I will be writing about this once a few things are finalised. For now, I decided that in light of everything that’s happened, I’ve at least earned a bit of a treat, in the form of an Ultimate Grill Burger and a basket of fries on a cold, snowy day on Friday, followed up with my picking up Battlefield V today. I will take some time to go through the campaign, and also see to finishing off Destiny 2‘s campaign in the days upcoming, once things settle down.

The sum of these recent milestones is accompanied by my reaching the rank 100 milestone, and with this now in the books, I’ve also begun feeling that Battlefield 1 is finally becoming a little stale for me – I’ve seen and done a great many things in Battlefield 1 now, and most matches, I perform very well. I know the nooks and crannies of each map, and I am comfortable with each class on most maps. With this in mind, I am in search of a new challenge, and Battlefield V looks to be the game that will fill this void: Battlefield V has new mechanics that I am more convinced about now, and with this in mind, I look forwards to my journey through the next Battlefield title. Having seen some of the content, and the directions that Battlefield V is headed, I imagine that my dream of a game that brings Girls und Panzer and Strike Witches into the Frostbite Engine has been realised. From being able to run with the same weapons as the Karlsland Witches, or drive the same tank that Miho commands looks to be quite the experience, especially considering how sharp all of the maps in Battlefield V look. I will be returning in the future to write about my journey through Battlefield V; for the present, it’s time that I close the chapter on Battlefield 1, which turned out to be an exhilarating experience over the past two years. While perhaps lacking in progression and suffering from some mechanical challenges, Battlefield 1 was still reasonably solid as a shooter and quite fun to play. Battlefield V has seen a similarly solid launch, and as it’s being touted as having superior gameplay out of the gates, I expect that Battlefield V will continue following the Battlefield tradition of improving dramatically with time.

Two Years of Service in Battlefield 1: Killionaire, Rampage and…

“That place is a legend; they make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe!” ―Rocket Raccoon to Thor, Avengers: Infinity War

I picked up Battlefield 1 two years ago to this day, and since then, have accumulated some 200 hours in-game. Over this time, I’ve seen the progression of the game from launch to the current day: after a smooth start, Battlefield 1‘s player-base tapered off with the limited progression system, and even as the various expansions were introduced, player counts remained lower than one would like. Even so, there remained no shortage of servers, and each successive expansion brought additional content into Battlefield 1. Constant updates from DICE has also served to fine-tune the game: player experience has improved with each update, and two years after its launch, Battlefield 1 handles very well. After Battlefield V‘s launch was announced, DICE has considerably stepped their game up, and the past few months have seen a superb amount of content, corresponding with an increased incentive to go back and play Battlefield 1 with frequency. Whether it be the newfound means of earning scraps for purchasing weapon skins, or completing the Road to Battlefield V assignments to earn customisations, Battlefield 1 has simply been fun, for the lack of a better word. Coupled with DICE’s recent promotion by giving away Premium passes and DLC for free, the player count has surged, making it possible now to find players on any map. The end result is more people, on more maps, making it easier to find games and play through them to complete the various Road to Battlefield V assignments in good pacing as Battlefield 1‘s time is drawing to a close. Two years is a lot of time, and Battlefield 1 now stands as my most-played Battlefield title, ahead of even Battlefield 3.

Over the time I’ve logged in Battlefield 1, I’ve seen and done some amusing things that I certainly never expected to pull off; the size and scale of Battlefield’s matches means that there is almost always something spectacular happening: whether it be single-handedly demolishing an enemy squad while pressing an attack, sneakily neutralising people trying to sneak onto a capture point with the M1911 suppressed or pulling of some JackFrags level carnage with the Iliya-Muromets, Battlefield 1 proved to be pleasantly entertaining. Of note, as per the title of this post, I’ve managed to score a Killionaire (ten kills, each within four seconds of one another, or ten kills within the space of forty seconds). This medal is counted as being very difficult to score under most conditions in Halo 3‘s multiplayer, to the extent where a clever song was made about the glory associated with earning a Killionaire. My Killionaire in Battlefield 1 came, unsurprisingly, from a particularly lucky bombing run on St. Quentin Scar: most of the opposing team was clustered around the ruined church, and I’d just spawned into the match. I switched over to the twin HE cannons after spotting the point, knocking out three players while softening the target up. When my HUD lit up with markers indicating enemy presence, I unloaded the payload on the target point and came out of it with ten kills. With this bit of skulduggery, I bypass the Killimanjaro, Killtastrophe and Killpocalypse medals (respectively, seven kills within twenty-eight seconds, eight kills within thirty-two seconds and nine kills within thirty-six seconds). I’ve gotten quite familiar with how to handle the Ilya-Muromets and not crash it when taking damage, leading to me going on my longest killstreak in Battlefield 1: twenty in a row, corresponding with Halo‘s Rampage medal.

Screenshots and Commentary

• I still remember when Prise de Tahure was one of my least favourite maps for players camping in the darkness, although with more than a year’s passage since the map’s release and my subsequent learning of the best paths to use, I’ve managed to evade camping players and so, have survived much better on this map as of late. Before delving further into this post, I remark that I’m not too sure if there will be reason to write about Battlefield 1 in the future.

• For the time being, readers will need to contend with one more Battlefield 1 post; this one features thirty screenshots and several of my latest exploits in the game. Late in its lifecycle, DICE added variable-damage fire-modes to the General Liu Rifle and M1903 Experimental: the General Liu gains a bolt-action mode that allows it to one-shot headshot, and this mode is surprisingly fun, giving the weapon a powerful long-range alternate fire.

• Readers following me since the days of when I first began playing Battlefield 1 will note that I had no screenshots of me on horseback, and even fewer screenshots of me on horseback doing anything useful. Horses in Battlefield 1 were a novel feature, being harder to control and manoeuvre to mimic real horses, but I never bothered putting in the time to learn them. However, I decided to give it a go again, and in a few matches, I’ve managed to use them to moderate effect. It was on Tsaritsyn where I earned my first ribbon for using the cavalry class.

• While the cavalry spear is an amusing weapon that can spear opponents, the cavalry sword is much more practical. Requiring long sprints to skewer enemies, I don’t think I’ve ever died to the spear before during my time in Battlefield 1. The main advantage of being on horseback is being able to dump health and ammunition pouches that quickly allow for a player to resupply and heal up.

• This is the screenshot that gives the post its title: during a phenomenally lucky bombing run on St. Quentin Scar, I flew over the ruined church and unloaded my bombs, taking out ten enemy in one go. To convince readers that this was indeed a Killionaire, my score earned in the screenshot for this feat is 2226, and by the time the indicator was through with calculating my score, I earned 2334 points. The blatantly overpowered Ilya-Muromets is the closest thing to a weapon  in Battlefield 1 that could hail from Nidavellir: when properly operated, the plane is nearly invincible and can torment enemy teams unchallenged, hence the page quote.

• To put things in perspective, here’s a screenshot of me earning yet another Killtrocity on Ballroom Blitz: the score is a more paltry 1132, which is impressive but nonetheless pales in comparison to the bonus earned from scoring a Killionaire. These days, taking screenshots is much easier than it was before I had FRAPS: back in my Halo 2 days, I used Print Screen, which meant that I lost my first-ever Killimanjaro screenshot when the button failed to register the screenshot.

• At this point in time, the St. Chamond Assault Tank is my most-used tank: the handling characteristics and vehicle abilities makes this a particularly attractive tank to drive, and I’m surprised at how well it’s worked for me in combat. The disadvantage about this tank is that it’s less stable compared to the Mark V Landship and AV7 Heavy Tank; I can attest to this, having found myself stuck in unfortunate places that ended my kill-streaks with the tank.

• Besides incredible, Halo-style multi-kills, I’ve now become proficient enough with the planes so that I can stay in the sky for extended periods of time. When I first began flying the Ilya-Muromets, my inability to steer the plane meant I would end up crashing or exploding from going out of bounds, but having spent nearly three hours behind the wheel of one, I’ve come to love how it handles. During one Shock Operations match on Giant’s Shadow, I terrorised the other team, who began swearing at my presence in the sky.

• I spent most of that match in the bomber, and my best was a 20-streak, which comes very close to the 21-streak I got during the open beta with the FT-21 Light Tank. As the match progressed, a player going by the name of VictorYao03 got frustrated enough to take to the skies in a plane to try and shoot me down. The end result of this bit of skullduggery was that he would overheat his guns, and then attempt to ram me. I had full health, and after he exploded, I had just enough health to survive. At this point, I was far away enough from the fighting so that I could fly off into the distance, repair and then turn around to go for another run.

• The Road to Battlefield V has given me access to some very flashy-looking legendary skins, including an ostentatious silver-and-gold skin for the Gewehr 98 that I’m rather fond of. The Gewehr 98 is one of the best long-range options in Battlefield 1 for having the fastest bullet velocity, and of late, I’ve been using it a lot more for this attribute. It’s now my fourth most-used bolt-action rifle, after the SMLE Mk. III, Ross Mk. III and M1917 Enfield Silenced.

• Compared to the Russian 1895 Trench, the Russian 1895 Cavalry has a longer damage drop-off, faster bullet velocity and faster recovery, but more spread. It’s a tricky weapon to use, and in general, I usually use the horse to run folk over or rush in for sword kills, but at longer ranges, it can be satisfying to make this weapon work. I’ve actually not used the Russian 1895 series of rifles as a recon: they offer nothing particularly distinct, as the SMLE Mk. III and Gewehr 98 cover off the most effective usages for bolt action rifles (closer range aggressive sniping and long-range precision shooting).

• I’ve actually gotten skilled enough with flying now to score the occasional kill with a plane, although as with all previous Battlefield titles, flying and anti-air combat has never been my cup of tea. While smaller planes are much more manoeuvrable than the Ilya-Muromets, they also require more skill to track targets and use effectively. In my hands, it’s effective for strafing capture points and scoring the occasional kill, but in the hands of a skilled pilot, the attack planes become monsters capable of turning the tides for a team.

• Of late, I’ve noticed that traffic around these parts has seen upwards of a 30 percent reduction, and this curiously coincides with a spike in visitors reading a post I wrote long ago. This post deals with Tango-Victor-Tango, specifically with the community as it would have been when the post was written. I was an occasional reader of Tango-Victor-Tango – some of the content there is interesting and can lead to interesting discussion, or else is absurdly wrong to the point where it can lead to interesting discussion, but by the time I wrote that post, the community had fallen quite far.

• The readers who’ve offered feedback indicate the post provides a very comprehensive account of tango-Victor-Tango’s shortcomings, and with the spike of traffic in, my curiosity was piqued. I followed the referrals back to the source, learning that I was subsequently banned from Tango-Victor-Tango because I’d spoken up. In an act of defiance to FastEddie, Fighteer and Madrugada, I successfully circumvented the ban and  have continued to edit whilst keeping a low profile to prevent pages from being flooded with misinformation. I find that being patient would be the best way to defeat any sort of ban: people usually raise suspicion when they evade a ban and then return to their old habits immediately.

• As far as I’m concerned, I’ve not any malice for Tango-Victor-Tango in general; I pull their points out here and go to town on them strictly for amusement. From what I can occasionally find, however, this sentiment is not mutual, and the post I’ve written has attracted a non-trivial amount of hate. In response to this, I suppose if one really opposed that article, I’d be willing to hear them out, but per the commenting rules, I reserve the right to delete comments that are insulting. Further to this, I’m not exactly big on drama, so folks looking to bring any over here will similarly not have their voices heard. Back in Battlefield 1, I score a kill with the Annihilator Trench with a spectacular-looking skin.

• The “try-hard” weapons, alternatively known as the “comfort” weapons, are the weapons that I fall back upon while trying to score points for the Road to Battlefield V assignments. During those games, my goal is to amass as many points as possible and minimise the amount of time spent playing. However, when I am not doing this, I’ve been exploring other weapons, such as the M1917 Patrol Carbine here. The only assault weapon with optics, it’s actually a fun mid-range weapon whose sights extends the reach of an otherwise limited close-quarters weapon.

• Some of the latest weapon skins are absurdly over-the-top: here, I’ve got the equivalent of a Golden Madsen MG, a legendary skin earned from doing Road to Battlefield V assignments. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Golden guns in video games: the last time would have been 007 Nightfire – in classic James Bond shooters, gold-plated weapons deal bonus damage. The legendary 4.2 mm Golden Gun from The Man With The Golden Gun is also present in some iterations of James Bond FPS, being able to kill with one shot and is balanced out with a single shot and lengthy reload time. It’s an iconic weapon, and I rather miss not having a good James Bond shooter in modern game engines.

• During a game of Frontlines, I decided to give the Carcano M91 Patrol Carbine a whirl: the base weapon is in between the Russian 1895 and Gewehr 95, with a good firing rate and reload speed. I’ve never been particularly good with iron sights, but having optics on this weapon makes it a viable choice for sniping. The Frontlines game mode is a rather interesting one, combining conquest with rush and thanks to an influx of new players because of the Road to Battlefield V promotions, it’s finally nice to be able to play in modes other than conquest.

• The Ribeyrolles 1918 is one of the weapons in Battlefield 1 that handles like an assault rifle: hitting harder per bullet and with a slower firing rate, but also reduced recoil and spread at range, it’s suited for some medium range engagements and handles well enough in close quarters. The quest to unlock this was a brutal one, and I have an inordinate number of kills with the MP18 Optical as a result of trying to unlock this weapon.

• The Golden Hellriegel is pure bling, and here, I use it to swat a certain “brainpoker”, a nuisance of a player who spent an entire match acting as though he were twelve. After I took him out here, he proceeded to spew slurs into the text chat about my anime emblem, and then rage-quit when it became apparent that my team was going to win. I never did get this behaviour, and Battlefield V looks to curb players such as these by introducing a mechanism for suppressing all expletives and profanity, although the side effect is that simple curses are also suppressed.

• The Tour of Duty medal is perhaps one of the easiest to unlock, requiring little more than playing as each class, in order, for ten minutes. If I intend to screenshot this medal, I will usually attempt to get nine and a half minutes on the sniper class, then either spawn into a new match or go somewhere quiet to earn the remaining time required. This match of frontlines on Argonne Forest was a hectic one, and so, I stuck with the assault class until near the match’s end, when I was more confident that my teammates had cleared enough of the map out so I could get the remaining seconds for the medal.

• Over the past few weeks, I’ve had an inclination to snipe, and it suddenly strikes me that as of now, I’m about as comfortable with a bolt action rifle as I am with the sub-machine guns of the assault class. For Battlefield 3 and Halo 2, I performed moderately well in both close-quarters and long ranges, but in Battlefield 4, I could never do well with a sniper rifle. Battlefield 1‘s sniping system was very satisfying, and by now, I do not utilise the sweet spot mechanic as a crutch, instead, choosing my rifle purely based on whatever my inclination for the day is.

• It is immensely amusing when players low on health take on burning damage from the flare gun and I get a kill out of it – apparently, the Frostbite Engine counts deaths to flare guns as an explosive kill, landing me a ribbon for explosive kills.

• I’ve long held that the artillery truck is for unsportsmanlike players who have little inclination to help their team out and instead, play only to further their own personal statistics. Weakly armoured but giving drivers to a powerful array of weapons, artillery trucks are used by those who would farm kills and not contribute to the team. I derive immense satisfaction from destroying these. On maps where there is the option, I prefer running a tank, since it also acts as a mobile spawn point for team-mates and has enough armour to help with a push.

• Both the patrol versions of the Type 38 Arisaka and Carcano M91 Carbine are excellent weapons: I’ve not had too much success with the iron-sight versions of either, and even with the scope glint updates, sniping has not been too difficult: if one could get a flank on players, they won’t be telegraphing their presence, allowing for sniping to remain viable even though the marksman optics now have glint. On the other hand, the updated scope glint mechanics have been useful in helping me avoid snipers who were in their sweet spot: seeing rainbow glint forces me to duck away.

• Towards the end of last week, one of the medals on rotation was the Scout Order of Valour, which involves making use of the bolt-action rifles in combat. Getting twenty kills with the weapons and ten headshots is not particularly challenging, but the final goal, to get five kills in a life, was tricky because I struggled to stay alive in between kills. It took a better part of a Saturday afternoon to find a match where I could not be flanked, and in the end, it turns out that Frontlines is better for staying alive as a sniper compared to Conquest.

• I decided to take a break from sniping and focus on the tanks that were maligning my team. Towards the end of the match, a Mark V crept close to one of the flags, and I managed to destroy it: I was hiding behind the rubble on a raised platform, keeping me out of harm’s way while I reloaded, and for my troubles, I ended up with a Killtacular.

• The next map on rotation was Passchendaele – I imagined that the more linear nature of the map and the usual tendency for chaos to be centered around the brave, charlie and delta flags, would make the map a good place for sniping from alpha. I ended up being semi-correct with this supposition: I ended up reaching four of five kills on several occasions, but the other players caught on, trying to flank. Here I attempt to fend off players with the M1911 Silencer, a nice addition to the game that provides a quieter option. A group of four players had snuck onto alpha flag, and I ended up dispatching three, but the last one took me out.

• As a result of trying to snipe from alpha, I ended up with a bunch of headshots and no 5-streak to show for it. In spite of this, it was still fun, and I reiterate that I don’t particularly worry about winning or losing a match, so as long as I’m having fun. When the match ended, I left and sought out another environment to play in; recalling that Frontlines was very linear and did not provide much opportunity for flanking, I decided to look through the servers for Frontlines.

• In the end, I managed to get the medal, and with this, my post comes to a close. The post title itself comes from Dagashi Kashi, mirroring the mish-mash of content episodes cover. A year ago, I was thoroughly enjoying the content that In The Name of The Tsar provided, and now, two years into the Battlefield 1 journey, I admit that I will be sad to see the support for this game stop, as well as for the inevitable decline in player count as folk migrate over to Battlefield V. In the meantime, there is at least one more week of Road to Battlefield V activities, and I am sure to make the most of things while Battlefield 1 still has players. For my readers, who invariably do not like my gaming posts, my next anime-related posts at the start of November will be for CLANNAD ~After Story~ and The World in Colour. Finally, tomorrow is Halloween, translating to me looking forwards to my tradition of enjoying leftover chocolate while watching It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!.

Battlefield 1 has provided a very incremental experience that allowed me to see the process of a Battlefield game from launch until the end of its support; I had bought all of my previous Battlefield titles on sale, well after the game’s support cycle had ended, and so, was playing a finalised product that was unlikely to see new changes or updates. By comparison, being able to see how DICE handled Battlefield 1, and adjust to the new changes, was a new experience for me. The changes, for the most part, took only minimal adjustments; I was not blown out of the water by the updates and adapted promptly. Overall, I feel that of the Battlefield titles that I’ve gone through, Battlefield 1 has many of the best gameplay mechanics and performance: movement is very smooth, and shooting feels satisfying for the most part, with my only complaint being random bullet deviation. The progression system, however, was very limited, and Battlefield 3 had the best progression system: there was enough content to keep players occupied, but it wasn’t overwhelming. However, towards the end of its life-cycle, DICE was able to create incentive for players to return to Battlefield 1 through its weekly missions and daily assignments. While the changes did come later, they provided motivation to return, and so the sum of these items together mean that Battlefield 1 was definitely a solid addition to the franchise. I am impressed that DICE was able to present as much content as they did using the World War One setting, and the game has definitely gotten replay value from me. Looking ahead to Battlefield V, I presently am still on the rocks about it: one one hand, I had a fantastic time in the closed alpha and open beta, and things handled very well. However, the lack of launch content, and a campaign with only four missions means that I’m cautiously optimistic about Battlefield V: I will wait for more details following Battlefield V‘s launch before I make any concrete decisions as to whether or not this game merits a purchase for launch price.

Battlefield 1: Killtrocities, the Burton LMR and The Road To Battlefield V

“When a team takes ownership of its problems, the problem gets solved. It is true on the battlefield, it is true in business, and it is true in life.” –Jocko Willink

In the days of Halo 2, a Killtrocity was earned by killing six opponents within four seconds of each other (or, at most, six kills within the space of twenty-four seconds). This was the second most difficult to earn medal in Halo 2, with Killimanjaro being the toughest, and during my time in Halo 2, I’ve only ever earned one Killimanjaro medal. The close-quarters chaos of Halo 2, on maps like Lockout and Midship, made earning multi-kills a bit more straightforward. Battlefield 1 has wide open maps and a different scoring metric for multi-kills, which are counted as “kills scored in the same instant”. Simply, the old tricks for getting multi-kills in Halo 2 simply won’t work for Battlefield 1, but for those who’ve become familiar with the game, there are other ways of accomplishing these feats. Multi-kills are required for some assignments, and taking out enemy players in rapid succession is doable provided one knows the game well enough. Destroying fully-occupied vehicles will score multi-kills, as does the abuse of explosives. However, the most amusing way to score Killtrocities or higher is to hop in the Ilya-Muromets running the Strategic Bomber Package: its cluster bombs deal massive damage to infantry, and JackFrags achieves a Killionaire in one of his videos with this approach. Being less versed with flight, my highest multi-kill with the Ilya-Muromets is a more modest Killtrocity: flying over busy capture points in conquest and unloading the Ilya-Muromets’ payload has eliminated a maximum of 18.75 percent of the enemy team. The hilarity of using the Ilya-Muromets is such that I’ve begun lasting more than one run with the heavy bomber: after disgorging its cluster munitions, I fly towards the end of the map and manoeuvre the plane back for another run. In this manner, I’ve scored two Killtrocities despite being a complete novice at flying, and have turned many a game around with the Ilya-Muromets despite its fragility. Over my time in Battlefield 1, I’ve also accumulated enough capture point defense kills to unlock the Burton LMR, a fast-firing LMG whose secondary fire is a store of incendiary ammunition that can disable light planes with a single magazine. As an anti-infantry weapon, it is quite effective, standing toe-to-toe with the faster-firing LMGs and even some of the SMGs.

Whether or not some aspects of Battlefield 1 are over-powered is the topic of no small debate, but at this point in time, my focus has predominantly been on the Road to Battlefield V events. Offering daily and weekly rewards, Road to Battlefield V has been a superb way of stirring my interest in the two-year-old shooter – completing simpler tasks each day will yield scraps that can be used to buy customisations, and scoring thirty thousand points each week will unlock three special items for players, from Battlefield V weapon skins to super-rare vehicle skins. Although simplistic in nature, it’s a powerful draw to come back into Battlefield 1 – with Battlefield V set to dispense with the premium model, I imagine that cosmetic customisations will be a very large part of the game. Ideally, Battlefield V will have a progression system such that items integral to gameplay, such as weapons, equipment and weapon modifications, will be unlocked purely based on playing the game. Then, cosmetic options can be split into two categories: standard cosmetics are given to players for playing the game and completing in-game objectives, similar to the system seen in Battlefield 1‘s daily scrap assignments and earlier Battlefield titles. Finally, a store should exist for premium cosmetic items; players should be able to purchase specific items as they wish, as well as packages of random items, for real-world currency. This approach means that folks who only want to play the game and not worry about cosmetics are free to do so, while those looking to fine-tune their characters can do so as they please without worrying about random item generation. If Battlefield V can successfully implement a micro-transaction system that does not negatively impact gameplay, the precedent for what a proper model EA should adopt would be set, allowing players to truly play a game as they wish to play it.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Battlefield 1 is a shade under a half-year away from its two-year anniversary, and with the Road to Battlefield V event under way, I can say that it’s been quite fun to get back into the swing of things – like The Division, there’s always something to do now, making it fun to come back and continue playing. I’ve actually advanced to rank three for each of the tanker and pilot classes now, and here, I play a one-sided match of conquest on St. Quentin Scar.

• This is one of the two moments that lend itself to the post’s title: killing six people at once with the Ilya Muromets bomber’s cluster munitions on Galicia in a spectacular bombing run. Earlier this match, I had gotten a killfrenzy (five people at once), but I managed to outdo this on a second run. The Muromets is remarkably powerful on offense but offsets this with reduced durability and mobility, so while considered over-powered, it can be countered: pilots and coordinated ground fire can quickly bring down an enemy heavy bomber before it has the chance to deliver its payload. Of course, when I come under fire in the heavy bomber, I will dump all available rounds in the hope of scoring at least one kill.

• The Road to Battlefield V has meant that all of the DLCs have become free to access to all players who already have the base game, meaning that there are now more players around on the different DLC maps. This is fantastic, as it gives more opportunity to do battle on maps that can be quite exciting, and while most might not agree, I personally enjoy the Heligoland Bight map for its extensive naval combat options. It is not uncommon for me to score more than ten thousand points a match here, especially by hopping into the L-Class destroyer and hammering at all of the torpedo boats zipping around.

• Coming back from Battlefield V, the random bullet deviation on the self-loading rifles make them a bit more frustrating to use. I’ve heard that with the community feedback, recoil patterns on semi-automatic rifles will be modified so that medic weapons will take a bit more skill to use, without leading them to be as inconsistent as Battlefield 1‘s self-loading rifles. With this being said, changes made over time mean that medic weapons of Battlefield 1 are not completely outclassed at all ranges: I’ve found the Mondragón Sniper and Autoloading 8 effective at medium ranges.

• They Shall Not Pass had some of the best maps of Battlefield 1, creating a true World War One environment. Verdun Heights is a very well-designed map, and is one of the best maps to snipe on. My only gripe with the map is that the firestorm’s smoke and embers, once they reach the map, impede visibility severely, forcing me to change play-styles to adapt. Dynamic weather in Battlefield 1, while interesting in being able to force teams to take on different strategies, also can become a frustration if they last too long. I hope that for Battlefield V, dynamic weather will purely be an aesthetic effect.

• Playing the L-Class destroyer never gets old, and Heligoland Bight is the most fun when one is seated in the guns of a destroyer: torpedo boats will go down in two hits, and to balance this out, the naval cannons arc a bit and require careful aiming to hit targets. When the shots connect, the results are immensely satisfying.

• If there was a single special melee weapon that I would pick to unlock, it would be the sabre, since it singularly allows me to complete the Perrine H. Clostermann loadout. It’s purely an aesthetic choice, but is useful in that it can cut through barbed wire, as well. During one match on Heligoland Bight, I managed to school a few players with the sabre in the narrow trenches surrounding some capture points.

• Being a secondary gunner on the Char 2C means having access to a 20mm autocannon which protects the rear from infantry and light vehicles. Many players tend to try and flank or get behind an active Char 2C to damage it, to avoid the 75mm cannon, but a good gunner can keep the Char 2C in good condition by actively engaging infantry. While not as exciting as destroying tanks with the 75mm cannon, playing as a secondary gunner is also quite fun.

• The M1917 Enfield Silenced has quickly become one of my go-to rifles besides the Ross Mk. III marksman – both weapons have incredible attributes that make them competitive against the SMLE Mk. III, which was my previous favourite scout rifle. The Enfield reaches out very far, and having optics allows the weapon to be effective at longer ranges, while the Ross Mk. III combines the high fire rate achieved with the straight-pull bolt with the close-range sweet spot of the SMLE Mk. III.

• I rarely pilot, but curiosity led me to get in the cockpit of an attack plane during one Shock Operations match, where I somehow splattered an enemy player without crashing. I’ve never been good with dogfights, as the controls are a bit difficult for me to master, but behind the helm of a heavy bomber, everything changes. The plane’s slow movement makes it easier to control, and I’ve gotten a service star with the Ilya Muromets since I’ve gotten opportunities to fly it.

• A few weeks ago, the Apocalypse medal, “Golden Bullet of the Myrmidon”, came onto my rotation. It has the relatively simple requirements, but the RSC SMG is something that I never could get the hang of: with only eight rounds available, plus one in the chamber, and a 3.9 second reload, the weapon is utterly useless in any practical role, being limited to dispatching one or two opponents at a time. While hitting harder per bullet than other submachine guns, the RSC SMG cannot be tap fired and used as a more precise weapon. It took me considerable difficulty to get this first stage of the medal completed.

• Ever since Apocalypse introduced the lMG 08/18, the Parabellum MG 14/17 fell by the wayside – an excellent weapons by all counts that was well worth the pain it took to unlock it, its recoil is much higher than that of the lMG 08/18. Despite having a faster firing rate, the MG 14/17 thus felt a little more unruly, and I predominantly ran with the lMG 08/18. However, on some maps with plenty of close quarters combat, the MG 14/17 remains quite viable – in the chaos that is Argonne Forest, the Parabellum is more useful than the lMG 08/18 because of the frequent close encounters.

• Once the RSC SMG component of the medal assignment was complete, the others proved to be much simpler. Both variants of the Howell Automatic Rifle can be used: I prefer the sniper version for its optics, and the weapon is magazine-fed, making it quick to reload. However, the Selbstlader M1916 remains the superior magazine-fed self-loading rifle: it reloads faster, has more ammunition in a magazine and a higher minimum damage. Despite being eclipsed, the Howell is a fun weapon to use and has one of the most impressive firing sounds of any medic rifle in Battlefield 1.

• In one particularly memorable conquest match on Neville Nights, I was having an exceptional round. With the Howell Automatic, I slaughtered enemies attacking the Delta flag and went on a nine-streak, then proceeded to get enough kills to finish off the Howell Automatic section of the medal assignment. I continued using the weapon until my death, after which I switched over to the lMG 08/18. I was thinking that with the open spaces of Neville Nights, I would fare poorly with a light machine gun, but this was not the case.

• By sticking in the trenches and defending capture points, I continued to melt through the other team and even got a large number of headshots with the lMG 08/18. The other team would go on to win, but I ended up with a KD ratio I’d never thought achievable with my particular play style. Ever since Battlefield V ended, I’ve been playing Battlefield 1 in a much more defensive manner, staying behind to defend capture points even though the TTK is longer and there are no attrition mechanics. The end result was match after match of landing in the top five with a positive KD ratio.

• I had no difficulty with scoring twenty kills using the Ross Mk. III – the weapon is effective and powerful, even though scope glint has now been enabled for all optics and a special glint was added to alert players that they were in a sweet spot. During one match on Rupture, I ended up dealing enough damage to a player, ducked away after I came under fire and a teammate finished them off, leaving me to finish the medal assignment. The Golden Bullet of the Myrmidon medal is a beautifully designed one and worth the effort to unlock: I love all of the details and accents on the medal.

• Quite honestly, the Ilya Muromets is obscenely powerful, if someone as inexperienced as myself could get another killtrocity with it: on St. Quentin Scar, I managed to hop in a bomber and went on a bit of a killstreak with it, scoring another killtrocity here. By flying high enough over busy capture points, one can clear them out in one pass, then fly off to a remote corner of the map and turn around for another run while the munitions reload. I’ve seen the best players get a Killionaire (ten kills, each within four seconds of one another in Halo, and for Battlefield 1, a multi-kill involving ten kills in one go), although since Halo 2 is best Halo, my goal will be a little less lofty: I aim to get a Killimanjaro in Battlefield 1 at least once.

• I’ve not picked up a shotgun in Battlefield 1 for quite some time, but the close quarters layout of Praise de Tahure makes shotguns like the Model 10-A Hunter viable. Barely visible is the new skin I got through completing the Road to Battlefield V assignments: the gold skins look amazing and are Premium-only, so while all of the DLCs might be available to all players free of charge now, only Premium players have access to some unique skins as a bit of a consolation. I personally don’t see spending the cash on Premium as a waste, since it got me access into the DLC contents earlier when people were actively playing them, and means that I don’t have to go through the trouble of unlocking things at present.

• Of late, Battlefield 1 has been a whole lot of fun: it could be because of the influx of new players as a result of the free DLC, or it could be because I’m playing a lot more defensively than I did previously. Either way, my performance has improved, and I’m consistently KD positive most matches now. However, an influx of new players also means a lot of new folks for whom luck seems to favour: I usually have an even footing against players who’ve been around a while, but low level players always seem to get the better of me, in that during some matches, I’m completely unable to do anything to them.

• While I’ve seen my share of aimbots and wall hacks in Battlefield 1, one of the most blatant and disgusting cheating displays was encountered with one [CNM] Moheim, who ended one match 200-9 by sniping people with a tank from across the map and registering the kills as being made with a repair tool. Countless players reported this individual, and this individual’s actions have been noted in both the Japanese and Chinese Battlefield 1 communities, as well. What compels individuals to cheat like this is beyond me, and I hope that for Battlefield V, DICE implements strict hardware blocks, so individuals are forced to build an entirely new computer if they are caught cheating.

• Here, I score a killfrenzy by destroying a fully-occupied tank using the AT Rocket Gun. DICE added an AA Rocket Gun version into Battlefield 1 with the Apocalypse DLC for taking on aircraft, but truth be told, it is not particularly useful, so I predominantly run with the AT version. It is about as effective as the RPG and SMAW of earlier Battlefield titles, but forces players to deploy the bipod before it can be fired. With experience, once can quickly get set up, fire and then relocate before a vehicle can retaliate.

• After fifty defensive kills, scored by eliminating enemies while standing on a capture point, players will unlock the Burton LMR for the support class. This Light Machine Rifle was originally intended for use on aircraft, and with a high firing rate of 830 rounds per minute, stands toe-to-toe against the fastest firing weapons in the game. Its distinctive V-shaped magazine brings to mind the likes of Battlefield V, and the LMR trench variant can be hip-fired with some success.

• The most unique feature about the Burton LMR is the fact that its second magazine carries incendiary ammunition: while less effective against infantry, incendiary rounds can shred aircraft, and careless pilots can find themselves disabled if they fly too closely to the ground. The LMR thus gives infantry a viable anti-air deterrent: belt-fed LMGs have been modestly effective at giving aircraft trouble from the ground, and the whole point of the Parabellum MG14/17 assignment was to remind players that the support class could be used to distract pilots.

• Besides being effective against planes, the Burton LMR’s incendiary ammunition is effective against the L30 Airship. A support player running with a Burton LMR and an ammunition box essentially becomes a mobile AA emplacement, and shortly after the LMR’s introduction, I put this to the test by blasting a L30 airship, dropping it from full health to ten percent before someone had the presence of mind to take me out. A teammate then finished the airship off.

• Is the Burton LMR overpowered against planes? Having used it, I can say that it’s not overpowered in the sense that any player could pick it up and go to town on the enemy pilots on their own: leading shots and predicting where the pilots will go still requires skill, and the weapon’s high firing rate, coupled with a small magazine capacity, means that missing too many shots will reduce the damage on planes. It’s reasonably balanced, and fun to use in its own right.

• This past weekend has been a very relaxing one: after enjoying a scrumptious steak and half-lobster on Saturday, I enjoyed a walk under the mid-morning skies. Even though it was early, temperatures reached a warm 23ºC, and the eastern skies were a bit smokey. However, the western skies remained a vivid blue: there are plenty of parks and pathways in my city that provide fantastic views, and the quieter places in the area decidedly remind me of rural Japan. I was drenched by the time I returned home, so I quickly changed, got some water and then set about preparing home-made burgers for lunch, accompanied shoe-string fries and finished off with a tall glass of soda.

• During one match of conquest where my team had fallen behind in score, I entered the gunner seat of the Char 2C and helped the operator clear the infantry around the tank to the best of my ability. I’m a bit surprised as to how quickly July’s passed by, and August is very nearly upon us. With only Harukana Receive on the table right now, blogging for the summer has turned into a much quieter endeavour. It’s been cathartic to write on Friday evenings, a time I normally reserve for playing Battlefield and other games.

• The Medic Order of Valour medal is the first weapon medal I’ve earned in Battlefield 1, being achieved for scoring kills, headshots and being effective with self-loading rifles. Although they are among the toughest weapons to use in Battlefield 1 for their random bullet deviation, they are surprisingly versatile, and the latest updates make the General Liu rifle capable of switching between semi-automatic and bolt-action modes. The iron sights make the General Liu tricky to use, but being able to land headshots while in bolt-action mode gives the medic class an interesting longer-range option.

• Long after the weapons crate update gave all players the Type 38 Arisaka Patrol for free, I’ve finally had the chance to try the weapon out. Having optics makes the weapon much easier to use in its sweet spot range, and the weapon has a very powerful firing sound that makes it satisfying to use. It’s the rifle featured in Girls’ Last Tour; Yuu uses the standard infantry version, although I’ve never been fond of iron-sight weapons in general.

• Now that we are entering August, I do have a few posts lined up for the month beyond the weekly discussions for Harukana Receive. I still have a small set of screenshots left over from the Battlefield V closed alpha and plan to do a special topics post on my thoughts on what I’d like in Battlefield V as content, as well as some remarks on gaming and culture wars. We are nearing the two year anniversary of Your Name‘s release, as well, and later in August, I will also be dropping by to bust some myths surrounding Your Name. Beyond this, the posting  schedule is pretty open, and I’ll be writing about things as the opportunities present themselves.

As of late, my exploits in Battlefield 1 have become increasingly outrageous, and I have similarly seen some outrageous things while participating in Road to Battlefield V events. Scoring MVP in various matches, ending games with a KD of two or better, chaining back-to-back multi-kills and going on killstreaks have become more commonplace – a glance at my hours show that I’ve now put in 191 hours at the time of writing, which means it’s now cost me less than a dollar per hour in Battlefield 1 (including the price of premium). This game has been remarkably fun despite its shortcomings, and I’ve certainly had a phenomenal time coming to familiarise myself with the game’s mechanics, to the point where having fun in a match and seeing the “Only in Battlefield” moments have been much more frequent. In part because I don’t play the game as often as the more dedicated members of the community, Battlefield 1 has remained very enjoyable and novel for me, and was well worth the price of admissions. I believe that in August, there will be one more Road to Battlefield V event – they’ve been awarding special dog tags for some stages, and since three of the four DLC dog tags have been presented, it makes sense that there should be one more event. As August draws to a close, we could also see the Battlefield V open beta become available for players to try out. Whether or not I’ll purchase the game on day one will ultimately boil down to my impressions of the beta and whether or not the single player campaign is enthralling enough to warrant a purchase. In the meantime, I have one more post on Battlefield V ahead of the beta, where I will be considering some of the content I’d like to see in Battlefield V and also, my perspectives on some of the controversies surrounding Battlefield V and the presence of agendas in an entertainment medium long held to be a place for exploration rather than indoctrination.

Battlefield 1: The Weapons Crate Update, Trench Raider and Char 2C Gameplay at the Endgame, and Future Directions in Battlefield V

“Life is the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises.” —Samuel Butler

Battlefield 1‘s reaching the end of its support cycle, and yesterday, the first cinematic for Battlefield V was released detailing that the upcoming game will be set in World War Two. Before delving too deeply into the trailer and speculate to our heart’s content, there also been some experiences in Battlefield 1 that I would like to recount. Since DICE made the They Shall Not Pass expansion free for all players, the French maps have seen a resurgence in player count, and more players means a corresponding increase in opportunities to experience Only in Battlefield™ moments. In one match of conquest on Rupture, I picked up a trench raider kit and went on an amusing 10-streak with it. In another match, my team was losing and was granted the Char 2C behemoth. I was lucky to spawn in as the driver and proceeded to break a personal best with a 13-streak. Besides free DLC content for non-premium players, DICE has also released a new update that adds eleven new weapons for all players. Eight of these are variants of the DLC weapons (four each for the assault and scout classes), two are melee weapons and finally, there is the all-new and long-anticipated Thompson Annihilator. The new variants add variety to the gameplay: the M1917 Enfield Silenced and Ross Mk III Infantry are superb weapons. With the introduction of scope glint for marksman optics, the Ross Mk III Infantry’s highly usable iron sights make it a superb choice for aggressive snipers. The Annihilator’s inclusion is a very positive indicator that DICE is very much attuned to community feedback, and after the disappointment of its exclusion from the underwhelming Apocalypse DLC, that the Annihilator is now available for all players (who earn it in an assignment) is simply fantastic.

Yesterday, Battlefield V‘s reveal trailer was released, and with the reveal come broad, sweeping changes to the gameplay. The trailer itself shows some interesting concepts, as well as some aspects that feel out of place in a Battlefield game. Regardless of what this trailer entails, I’ll have a better idea of whether or not Battlefield V is the kind of game I would buy later, and with the trailer out in the open, we now that we know what the setting for Battlefield V is going to be World War Two. I would like to go over my very own wishlist for what Battlefield V would need to entail if I am to purchase the game close to launch. Battlefield 1 marks a considerable departure from the mechanics of Battlefield 4 and 3. While some of these were good, others were more lacking. Battlefield V should have a more substantial progression system: leveling up a soldier rank should unlock all-class weapons and soldier specialisations, and levelling up a class rank or weapon rank should unlock currency for buying new weapons. Medals should follow the old Battlefield approach of being always available, or players should be able to select their own medals to work on. Achieving specific milestones should also give players weapon skins and dog-tags to show off. The Battlepack system should return to its old system in Battlefield 4, where using a class or its weapons gives additional accessories and customisation options for that weapon. Micro-transactions can take the form of a system where players can pay to buy the skins of their choice without a random system, and on this token, skins that can be purchased should not be available through normal gameplay. While Battlefield 1 had its share of problems, the community is still very much alive and well; all of my issues with the progression system aside, Battlefield 1 has managed to keep me entertained for the past two years.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Elite classes in Battlefield 1 are very situational, excelling only in specific roles to balance them out, but once picked up, one cannot drop the kit and revert back to their old loadout. When done right, however, it is possible to go on absolutely hilarious and devastating kill streaks with them: during one memorable match on Rupture, I picked up a trench raider kit and dominated the enemy team, even landing a headshot with the trench raider club: the combination of a one-hit-kill weapon, with a ten percent boost in movement speed and a medical crate allows raiders to be lethal in defending tight areas.

• I never did have much of a chance to play the trench raiders when They Shall Not Pass had just released, as other players would always reach the pickups first. While elite classes are more powerful than standard infantry, a well-coordinated team can eliminate them on short order, and players with a good position can take them out with a single melee attack, as well. As an elite player, one must advance and retreat as needed and remain mindful of their surroundings. Having a good medic around also helps, and it is for this reason that the trench raider is so powerful: having a health crate allows the trench raider to survive far longer than normal by enabling them to attack, then retreat to heal up, and continue attacking.

• Over the past year and a half in Battlefield 1, I’ve managed to get legendary skins for most of my favourite weapons, but a good skin for the Model 10-A has continued to elude me: I’ve not even gotten a basic skin for the weapon yet, and skins don’t seem to be available in the exchange. Here, I knock out a player by the name of “Teyama Ayano” – there’s no shortage of low level players running around with unusual properties, and unfortunately, for every legitimate player trying out the game for the first time, there are others who feel compelled to enhance their performance. I’ve personally seen that folks from Mainland China are bad with cheating, for instance.

• The Howell Automatic Factory was a pain to use, but once I got the fifty kills for it, I unlocked the Sniper variant. With its optic, the Howell Automatic Sniper is an excellent mid-range weapon: while outclassed by the Selbstlader M1918 in magazine size and reload speed, the weapon hits slightly harder at closer ranges and is a fun medic rifle that was worth the unlock. Of late, I’ve also unlocked the General Liu Rifle after trying out the Mondragón Storm: while I was ineffectual with this weapon earlier, it’s been a different experience as of late.

• The Ross Mk III Marksman is the best marksman rifle in Battlefield 1 at the time of writing, being a faster-firing version of the SMLE Mk III. On the slopes of Caporetto, snipers are perhaps the most effective class to run with, and by this point in time, I’ve noticed that the imbalances of conquest assault have been rectified by resourceful players using cavalry and vehicles to quickly breach enemy lines: players on the defending team instinctively all spawn at point alpha, leaving the rest undefended, so a few attacking players with a vehicle can pop over to the distant echo and delta points and capture them unimpeded. This gives the attacking team a chance to spawn behind enemy lines and disrupt the defending team.

• One of the biggest issues I had with the spotting system in Battlefield 1 was that players remained off the minimap until actively spotted. Older Battlefield games put players on the minimap for firing, and to stay off the minimap, players needed to equip a suppressor, which traded damage for stealth. The design of some maps allows players to stay invisible, making camping a viable tactic. This is actually one of the biggest reason I play the scout class: the spotting flares are indispensable and allow for my teammates to be alerted to the presence of unskilled camping players.

• In Battlefield V, they should make elite kits something players can freely drop and dispense with the health boost: the old battle pickups of Battlefield 4 were perfect, allowing players to pick up super-powerful weapons and assist their teams out, but did not increase their durability. Similarly, while I’ve found Behemoths to be a fun way to pad my KD ratio in a losing match, they’ve actually not had too much of an impact on the performance for a losing team. They can be used to frustrate enemy players, but in the time since Battlefield 1 released, players have figured out how to down Behemoths quickly to the point where even I’ve taken a few out to score that thousand-point bonus.

• Besides the endless grenades that unskilled players use (especially gas grenades), one other aspect I would like to see Battlefield V implement is reduced random bullet deviation: Battlefield is most certainly not Kantai Collection or Gun Gale Online, so when I shoot my weapons, I expect the bullets to land where I aim, and if I miss those shots, then it’s my own responsibility for trying to land them better, rather than some random number generator deciding whether all of my shots landed or not.

• Looking back through Battlefield 1, I would say that They Shall Not Pass had the best maps and additions, and In The Name of The Tsar had the best weapons. Turning Tides was fun for implementing behemoth-on-behemoth combat, and Apocalypse was lacklustre overall, although it did add Passchendaele to the maps available in the game. The upcoming Battlefield V title will feature no premium model at all, and I’m wondering how DICE will continue to make money now that a premium pass is gone. If they go the route of shortcut kits and purchase-only cosmetics, that will totally be okay, since I know that for all of the vociferous complaints out there, the most dedicated and hardcore players will want to make it known to others that they are a cut above the remainder of the community.

• After a year-and-a-half of playing Battlefield 1, I finally got a chance to sit in the driver’s seat of the Char 2C Behemoth. This is the ultimate tank of Battlefield 1, being the heaviest tank in the game, and equips a 75mm Canon de 75 modèle 1897 that is so powerful that it can destroy any other tank in two shots. Light tanks and other vehicles can be shredded in a single shot. In exchange for its awesome firepower and resilience, the Char 2C is very slow-moving and has a massive turn radius.

• In my first run using the Char 2C, I ended up staying on the north side of Rupture, shelling distant opponents with the 75mm cannon and eliminated the armour trying to capture point charlie on the bridge. I managed to keep the tank alive for the remainder of the match and went on a 13-streak. Against this tank, the best countermeasure is air support: during one match, I used the Ilya-Muromets to damage a Char 2C on the ground, but the match ended with our victory before I could destroy it.

• It’s a bit late, but one of the things I would have liked to see would have been a map where a Char 2C would go up against another Char 2C. With this being said, this is unrealistic (since nothing of the sort ever happened in history), and moreover, Behemoth-on-Behemoth combat is a laborious process. On Heligoland Bight, the Dreadnought on Dreadnought combat ends up being a manner of who has more supportive teammates, who knows their minimap better and who times their shots better: the battle is a matter of knowledge rather than raw skill owing to the slow, lumbering nature of the Behemoths.

• Battlefield 1 gave each class a well-defined role at specific ranges, whereas in earlier Battlefield games, the medic class and their assault rifles were versatile enough to operate at all but extreme long ranges. Class balance has always been a bit of a challenge in Battlefield, and Battlefield 1 ended up ensuring that all classes, except the scout, were balanced. The sweet spot mechanic was fun early on for me, but as I became accustomed to how rifles worked, I became more comfortable with using weapons out of their sweet spot ranges. The sweet spot was meant to encourage a specific style of play, and while it was successful in getting scouts to play closer to the objective, it also made it too easy to chain back-to-back kills with a bolt-action rifle.

• The suggestion that I would have for Battlefield V is to use a combination of Battlefield 1‘s sweet spot and the damage model of Battlefield 3, where bolt-action rifles did a maximum damage of 95 in close quarters and dropped out to 59 damage at range. In this system, shots fired by bolt-action rifles would deal 80 damage at extreme close quarters, deal 95 damage at the sweet spot and then drop down to 60 damage at very long ranges. Headshots at any range should still be a one-hit-kill. This approach would incorporate the sweet spot, encouraging players to stick closer to the combat and help their team out, while at once allowing the most skilled snipers to still perform at range (an average sniper like myself would then be discouraged from camping).

• The high bullet velocities of Battlefield 1 reduced the need to lead one’s shots and compensate for bullet drop, but earlier iterations of Battlefield had bullets travel almost comically slow. A good bullet velocity would be somewhere in between the 800 m/s of Battlefield 1 and the 600 m/s of earlier titles. Here, I shred another player using the lMG 08/18: this weapon was nigh-unusable for me during the CTE, but in the actual game itself, has been a modestly fun weapon for the fact that it has less recoil than the Parabellum MG14/17.

• The Ross Mk III Infantry was an unexpected surprise with its iron sights: the ghost ring makes it much easier to acquire a target than using the post on open sights. I demonstrate the efficacy of the ghost sights by shooting out an enemy sniper with a headshot at 110 metres, and in the same match, took out several other snipers whose scope glints gave them away. Since the last patch, all rifle optics now have glint, and iron sight rifles suddenly gain a bit of an advantage for closer ranges.

• Following the Apocalypse DLC, the SMG 08/18 Factory has displaced the Hellriegel as being the most overpowered weapon in the game: sporting a larger ammunition capacity than the Hellriegel, faster fire rate (770 RPM against the Hellriegel’s 650 RPM) and better damage at close quarters, the SMG 08/18 is a monster that shreds at close ranges. The Hellriegel does have less recoil and a faster reload speed, however, making it more suited for slightly longer range engagements. For various assault community missions and the Thompson Annihilator mission, I’ve used the SMG 08/18 to great effect, playing through multiple games where I was KD positive.

• As it turns out, the No. 3 Revolver was a bit of a hidden gem for me: all revolvers have a two-hit kill in Battlefield 1, but the No. 3’s fast draw time means it’s an excellent weapon to rely on in a pinch. In this match here, I use it to help me score the sidearm kills needed for the Thompson Annihilator mission: I ended up being banned from the server for suspected cheating by a salty admin who goes by the name of “GF_Six66”. This is the first time this has happened to me in Battlefield: previously I’ve been kicked from Halo 2 servers for PC for similar reasons, but this was a first, suggesting that I’ve definitely gotten a little better in Battlefield 1. This particular asshole has a Patrick Star emblem, and I note here that I personally hate all reaction macros and reaction GIFs from that particular series.

• The top contender for best long range rifle is challenged by the M1917 Enfield Silenced: the suppressor is a cool aesthetic addition that dampens the rifle’s report and muzzle flash, but the true champion is the sniper optic, which finally allows the Enfield to be used at the ranges it was meant to be used at. Coupled with the fact that it fires slightly faster and has one more round than the M1903 Sniper, the Enfield is a true winner that acts as the ultimate long-range option. On wide open maps with chaos, where scope glint can be hard to spot, the Enfield has no equal.

• The M1917 Patrol Carbine is a cool weapon concept that gives the assault class its first-ever weapon with an optic. This is neat, and allows the M1917 Carbine to reach out further, but because the weapon was meant to be a close-quarters semi-automatic option, the damage drops off at ranges requiring a scope: it feels like I’m throwing rocks at distant opponents, and when they are armed with self-loading or bolt-action rifles, the M1917 Patrol Carbine is not the weapon to have.

• The powers of the SMG 08/18 and No. 3 revolver allowed me to wrap up the assignment for the Thompson Annihilator on very short order. This cool-looking gun handles like the Automatico and is a hipfire machine designed for overwhelming individual targets. In practise, it’s a fun weapon that, like its real-world counterpart, which was shipped out to Europe the same day the First World War ended, comes into Battlefield 1 a bit too late to change the game.

• My thoughts on the Battlefield V trailer are that it’s quite unlike any of the previous Battlefield reveal trailers, showcasing some very early pre-alpha footage that straddles the line between gameplay and cinematics. I’ve heard that Battlefield V will bring team-play into the equation far more strongly than any previous game, to the point where one must be with their teammates in order to heal and resupply. Squadmates can now revive one another to a very limited extent, and teammates can pull downed players to areas of safety where they can await reviving.

• Operations will make a return in Battlefield V as “Grand Operations”, which are so dynamic and great in scale that even the world-changing events of Alfheim Online look weak in comparison, and War Stories are coming back. I’m hoping that this means we’ll get to see some missions set in the Pacific Theatre: being able to storm the beaches of Iwo Jima and participate at The Battle of Midway would be truly spectacular. So far, the concept art shows European locations, which means I’ll be able to play Girls und Panzer and Strike Witches in the Frostbite Engine, but being able to fight in the Pacific would mean Battlefield V would truly be Kantai Collection in the Frostbite Engine.

• I admit that I’ve waited quite some time for something like this: being able to drive a Tiger I, Panzer IV, M4 Sherman and T34 around in the Frostbite engine would definitely put the likes of Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match to shame. While the European concept art suggests a European setting for Battlefield V, the prospect of free content (there’s no more premium pass) and how DICE had handled diverse locations in Battlefield 1 means that we could see some interesting theatres with new updates. DICE has been marketing Battlefield V as #NeverBeTheSame, and with the trailer now out, it’s clear that Battlefield V is going in a very different direction than its predecessors.

• Having seen things for myself now, I believe that it is still too early for me to be making a call as to whether or not I will be buying Battlefield V: instead, I will do as I have for Battlefield 1 and make the decision once I’ve had a chance to see more trailers, learn the system requirements for the game and if I can run it, try out the open beta. If my impressions are favourable, then I will make the purchase, otherwise, I will hang on to my coin and wait for a sale to occur. Having said this, the prospect of being able to drive a Panzer IV is very tempting.

• While Battlefield V will very likely begin dominating all things Battlefield in the near future, there’s still one update left for Battlefield 1 that will introduce Shock Operations, shorter operations set on a single map. In addition, the CTE has also suggested that the Thompson M1919, the Winchester Burton LMR, the Mosin Nagant M38, the Fedorov Degtyarev, the BAR A2 and the Single Action Army Revolver will be included in a future release. Since DICE had kept their word about introducing the Enfield Silenced and the Thompson Annihilator into Battlefield 1, I have confidence that these new guns will be included come the June patch.

• At the time of writing, DICE has made In The Name of The Tsar freely available to all players to claim, and so, I expect that in the near future, we could be seeing more players on the Russian maps. Having an influx of new players is great, as it increases variety, but one challenge that DICE faced in Battlefield 1 were the presence of cheaters, especially the non-obvious ones who can whip around and one-shot someone with a pistol or Chauchat when they need to but otherwise give little indicator that they are cheating on the scoreboard. I’ve long been supporting the notion of a hardware ban to dissuade cheaters as Blizzard has done with Overwatch.

• Under the beautiful skies of Amiens, the first Battlefield 1 map showcased in the alpha, I score kills with the Annihilator Trench. It’s been almost two years since Battlefield 1 was announced, and back then, I was similarly cautious about buying the game with information based purely on the reveal trailers. The results speak for themselves, and I’m not going to jump to any conclusions with Battlefield V – once I know a little more, I will be better informed to decide whether or not this game will enter my library.

• In this post’s final moments, I showcase some moments I have flying the Ilya Muromets Heavy Bomber: I’ve seen the sort of damage the strategic bomber package can do against infantry and was curious to try it out. During a game of conquest where my team was losing, I decided to hop into a plane and see what it could do for fun, seeing as there were planes available. I was not disappointed: capture point bravo was very crowded, and I flew over, unloading the bomber’s cluster munitions overhead. My first few runs netted a few kills, but as the capture point became busier, I managed to score three killtaculars.

• With the Ilya Muromets’ ability to score ridiculous multi-kills, I’ve experienced yet another aspect of Battlefield 1 that I never thought I would, and in the process, earned a second Royal Order of the Imperial Crown (score in the top five overall, get two multi-kills and then get twenty kills in a round): the bomber is simply so powerful that scoring well is trivially easy, and even though it can be destroyed quickly, the Ilya Muromets can be instrumental in denying an area to the point where mounting comebacks can be possible, even more so than the Behemoths. This brings my latest Battlefield post to an end, and as we near the end of May, my attention turns towards Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu Ka?? Dear My Sister, which will release next week and will see a review on very short order.

What are some of the things that Battlefield 1 did correctly from the gameplay perspective? The first thing I can think of is a consistent length conquest game mode. While ticket bleed for controlling a majority of the flags should be brought back to accommodate for comebacks, the game mode has been superbly enjoyable for me because I know that when joining a match, I am entering a game that will likely last for half an hour. Destruction in Battlefield 1 is also of a very high standard, being comparable to that of Bad Company 2. Buildings can be levelled, the terrain deformed and overall, the game begins looking like a battlefield the longer a match progresses. Some buildings cannot be destroyed, so players know how to utilise cover and the like when softer targets are destroyed to strike a balance between impressive visuals and good gameplay. The ability to vault over some obstacles has also been superb: it offers players with interesting flanking routes and forces one to be alert, as enemies can now approach from more directions. DICE also experimented with weapon roles: without all-range assault rifles, players are forced to play in their weapons’ effective ranges more in Battlefield 1. It took some time to balance every class out, but at the endgame, it does feel like most of the challenges have been addressed. In Battlefield V, I would like to see some of these features return, and with the reveal now behind us, I am looking forwards to seeing what Battlefield V has in store for players. I will make a decision on this one after trying out the open beta and looking at community feedback following launch, and in the meantime, there is at least one more patch from DICE for Battlefield 1 to look forwards to.

Battlefield 1: Apocalypse and Hell on Earth

“No-man’s land under snow is like the face of the moon: chaotic, crater ridden, uninhabitable, awful, the abode of madness.” –Lieutenant Wilfred Owen

Battlefield 1‘s final DLC package is titled Apocalypse for bringing players to the most infamous battles of World War One. When the most ferocious and brutal battles of World War One are mentioned, my mind immediately conjures up The Somme, Passchendaele, Vimy Ridge and Verdun. Verdun was already covered in the They Shall Not Pass DLC in the Verdun Heights and Fort de Vaux; Apocalypse finally brings to life the wretched wastelands of Passchendaele and the devastation wrought by the Battle of The Somme. With these inclusions, the only battle to have not received its proper portrayal was Vimy Ridge. Alongside Passchendaele and The Somme is the Battle of Caporetto. Befitting of its name, Apocalypse brings to Battlefield 1 two of the most vividly-rendered maps to be available to players: Passchendaele in particular stands out for its incredibly detailed design. From the burned out husks of trees, to mud-covered routes, embers of burning fires and water-filled shell craters, Passchendaele in Battlefield 1 embodies Hell on Earth, capturing the sense of desolation and destruction that World War One brought to the world. The Somme acts as a map of contrasts – on the British deployment are pristine wheat fields and small villages. As they push across the river, shelled out factories, shredded railway tracks and scorched land give an idea of the devastation ahead: the entire landscape is aglow with the fires of war. Caporetto is similarly impressive, with the Austro-Hungarians deploying the Livens Projector to cover a snowy hill by a swift sunrise in a brutal bid to crush the Italian defenses. As far as visuals go, the last of the Battlefield 1 maps are impressive and truly capture the atmosphere that Apocalypse had aimed to present.

While the sheer detail and immersion offered by the new Apocalypse maps are nothing to sneeze at, the sudden, unexpected deployment of the Apocalypse DLC meant that a great deal of content and concepts were rushed into production. Against the community’s feedback, The Somme and Caporetto were made conquest assault maps, as opposed to standard conquest; these maps heavily favour the defending team, and offense is remarkably tricky if the attackers are not well-coordinated right from the start. A good attacking team could make use of vehicles and horses to open up new paths and capture points to give their teammates a chance, but more often than not, it turns into a one-sided slaughter in which the attackers cannot even leave their deployment. These maps would have been more balanced and fun to experience as standard conquest maps. In addition, the new update also introduced a bug that consumed additional CPU resources, causing the game to lag whenever an action producing points was carried out. I’ve been fortunate that this isn’t affecting me as substantially, but for some players, Battlefield 1 is rendered unplayable – DICE has since deployed the update that rectifies this. Compared to the previous DLC offerings, Apocalypse has the least amount of content: Turning Tides was released in two phases and brought in an exciting new mode of naval combat, In The Name of The Tsar introduced a staggering six new maps and host of weapons whose unlocks were rewarding for those who undertook the challenge, and They Shall Not Pass immersed players in the French fronts and weapons, adding a new behemoth to the game. By comparison, Apocalypse adds only three new infantry maps and six new firearms to the game. It definitely does not feel complete, and I was originally expecting Apocalypse to release mid-to-late March to both better tune up the maps and perhaps add new infantry maps.

Screenshots and Commentary

• In this first screenshot of thirty, the desolation and destruction wrought by constant artillery barrages on the landscape is apparent. Passchendaele is one of the new maps, and it is the image that immediately forms in the mind’s eye when World War One is mentioned. With total devastation as far as the eye can see, Passchendaele is the only map in Battlefield 1 where there is complete destruction; no corner of the map is untouched.

• I had originally been expecting Apocalypse to release in mid-March: to learn that it would be coming out this month was a bit too soon for me, and so, I shelved plans for the second instalment of the Terrible Anime Challenge, where I would write about Sansha Sanyou, and Violet Evergarden, which I subsequently decided to not write for until the series ends. So, if you’re wondering about the absence of anime posts, you can thank the good folks at DICE for deciding to release Apocalypse much earlier than anticipated.

• As noted previously, I’ll take a look at Violet Evergarden in April after everything’s settle down a little. Sansha Sanyou will similarly get a post in due course. After spawning in with the German forces on The Somme, I decided to play the role of a medic. Having tried this map during the CTE, I knew that the Germans held the advantage on this map in that, if the British advance was too disorganised, it would grow increasingly difficult to break out and capture the other points. I thus took advantage of this to constantly heal and revive teammates, which is a part of the assignment to unlock the new Howell Automatic rifle for the medic class.

• Having relied on the Federov Avtomat since In The Name of The Tsar as my primary medic weapon, the wide open wheat of The Somme means that a good long-range option is more viable here. I thus fell back to using the Selbstalader M1916 Marksman; with its optics and large magazine, the weapon is perfect for mid-range engagements. Since the TTK patch, it’s only become more reliable at range, and I was able to use this weapon to keep distant foes at bay while reviving teammates.

• While researching The Battle of The Somme for school projects years ago, I found a plethora of images depicting the soldiers in trenches and marching in open fields with mud and dampness all around. The Somme in Battlefield 1 features wheat fields and houses interspersed with trenches on the British side, while on the German side, ruined factories and rail lines form the landscape. It was interesting to see the DICE team’s interpretation of one of the most infamous battles of World War One, and while the gameplay evidently does not capture the mode of warfare, the atmospherics are highly authentic.

• The mud and filth of Passchendaele means that combatants on both teams blend into their surroundings. To support my team, I made liberal use of the spotting flares and found myself out of flares on numerous occasions. Being able to alert teammates to where the enemies were was immensely helpful: craftier players tend to hide among the rubble or shattered buildings to score kills, remaining invisible owing to the chaos unfolding around the map. As such, spotting flares are highly valuable on this map.

• Passchendaele is actually a remarkably well-designed map that allows for all playstyles. Assault players can decimate enemies in the trenches and narrow spaces surrounding the capture points, while snipers have enough of a vantage point to pick off distant foes. Medics and support players perform well in the intermediate ranges. There’s something for everyone on this map, similar to Nivelle Nights; the best maps of Battlefield 1 accommodate all of the classes such that players never feel vulnerable with their class.

• The largest issue gripping Apocalypse, aside from the reduced content and seemingly lack of attention paid to community feedback from the CTE, is the micro-stutter introduced. DICE developers have confirmed that it stems from the assignment tracking mechanisms, causing a momentary spike in CPU consumption that causes the game to jitter whenever one begins accumulating points, from hitting enemies to the mere act of standing on a capture point. According to the DICE Battlefield Twitter, an update was rolled out earlier today that will address these issues. I was lucky in that this issue did not seem to affect me as severely (i.e. the game remained very playable at 60 FPS and did not dip below this), but it’s good to see that DICE has fixed things.

• I’ve been lucky in that I’ve not noticed this micro-stutter on my end: the game remains playable for me. However, ping was a bit of a concern for me on account of a lack of good servers available to me, and so, I entered servers suffering from a high ping, along with the attendant punishment for players whose ping exceeds 100. Some of my earlier games were less enjoyable for this, but I’ve managed to have matches on servers with reasonable ping now, which confers a more accurate representation of how Apocalypse handles. Here, I make use of the M1917 MG Low Weight: I unlocked the secret “An Escalation” skin for it a few weeks earlier. The process involves Morse code, which dissuaded many from attempting, but I’m glad I took the efforts of giving it a whirl – the new skin is very fancy.

• As my most-used primary weapon, the SMLE Mk. III Marksman has been with me through many dangers; I unlocked the Elite Codex Entry for it here by shooting out an elite class player. Folks who play Battlefield 1 regularly (or at least, with a much greater frequency than myself) will have earned these codices already, and one of the things that I’m curious about are those who have more than a hundred service starts for their weapons (or more impressively, those with a hundred service stars for their gas grenades). More than a year after Battlefield 1 released, I’m still unsure as to how some folks find so much time to put into Battlefield 1 (and games, in general), especially considering just how busy things are.

• Caporetto is a beautiful map set under a sunrise, and bits of snow cover the hillside. Of the Apocalypse maps, it is the least desolate, and the lighting effects on the map are absolutely stunning. There is a great deal of open space on Caporetto, so long-range weapons are the most effective for combat taking place between capture points: scouts can perform well on all of the Apocalypse maps, so one of the first things I decided I would go for was unlocking the Ross Rifle, which can be earned with a mere fifty kills using the scout class.

• The weapon assignments in They Shall Not Pass were reasonable, but In The Name of The Tsar, they were brutal: my efforts to unlock the Parabellum MG14/17 Low Weight and Mosin Nagant Marksman forced me to abandon my usual play-styles in favour of a lone-wolf approach and cost me dearly in performance. Determination led me to unlock the MG14/17 Low Weight, and the weapon was well worth it. It was only recently that I managed to get all of the HE trip-wire kills for the Mosin Nagant; I accomplished this by planing the mines, one across the other, at high-traffic areas in Domination matches and eventually got the kills. The Mosin Nagant isn’t really anything standout and suffers from a long reload time: of all the weapons for the scout class, the SMLE Mk. III remains the champion right up until Apocalypse.

• The Explorer’s Golden Globe is one of the new medals introduced in Apocalypse, requiring that players get ten kills on each of the new infantry maps. It’s quite straightforward, and here, I spawned into a match on Caporetto that allowed me to get the last of the kills for this medal. There are many new medals introduced with Apocalypse, and with Battlefield 1 reaching the end of its development, I’m hoping that the day will come when we can pick the medals we wish to work on (even if the game only allows players to track one at a time), rather than being given only a week to work on whatever five medals are available.

• The conquest medal can be unlocked through playing conquest assault modes as well as standard conquest, and here, I earn another one after capturing a point at Passchendaele. Earlier today, I stepped out for a coffee (or hot cocoa, in my case) with my former supervisor, where we caught up on things ever since he became the department head. While I’m right at home in the higher-paced environment of industry, where everything is different each day, I admit that I somewhat miss the slower environment of academia. From what I gather, life in the lab is the same as it was previously, and there are many new faces there – with numerous projects in progress, my old Master’s projects remain at the forefront of demonstrations for its completeness and visual impact despite their age.

• The Hellriegel is perhaps one of the most maligned weapons of Battlefield 1, being considered the beginner’s choice of weapon, but I personally find the Automatico to be less of a skill weapon, if only for the fact that it unlocks earlier. Players who have the Hellriegel have at least earned it, and I’ll fall back on it when I feel the necessity to help my team more has come. By comparison, the ultimate skill weapons for the assault class is the new RSC 1917 and the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16: despite their short time to kill, they only hold enough ammunition to guarantee one kill, requiring players expertly manage their reloads in order to be effective with them.

• The open plains and players making a rush over the top across the landscape means that scouts, with their bolt-action rifles, are incredibly effective. While scouts will get wasted in close-quarters combat of the trenches, having a good team providing support means that it is possible to pick off opponents from a range without fear of retribution. As players push further away from the British deployment in The Somme, the changes in the landscape are profound.

• Fires rage in the distance towards the far side of The Somme; early concept art showed fields of brilliant yellow under darkening skies. The actual map is a bit more subdued, and while I generally prefer maps with clear skies, Battlefield 1 excels at making use of volumetric clouds to create realistic weather and sky conditions that I’ve not seen in any other game: most games come with pre-defined weather patterns that look very convincing, but the fact that Battlefield 1 has real-time weather effects sets it ahead of everything else that I’ve experienced.

• Shotguns are only really effective on Passchendaele and some parts of The Somme, where there are enough trenches so that one could conceivably spend an entire match running through them and slaughtering anyone within. Since the TTK patch, shotguns have become much more consistent in performance, although despite DICE’s efforts to balance the Model 10-A Hunter out, it nonetheless remains the most effective shotgun to roll with.

• Here, I unlock the RSC SMG Factory: a modified RSC 1917 capable of firing on automatic, this weapon only has an eight-round magazine (and one extra round in the chamber). Offsetting the small magazine is the fact that the RSC SMG hits much harder than any other of the submachine guns available for the assault. The weapon is evidently designed to excel at one-on-one combat, similar to the Maschinenpistole M1912/P.16, but it’s got a slightly faster reload.

• The wide expanses in the Apocalypse maps mean that the Gewehr 98 is a fantastic weapon: it is more suitable for scouts that wish to support their team from a distance, compared to the SMLE Mk. III Marksman, and because of the scope glint from the sniper optics, I’ve elected to go with the marksman optics, which do not have scope glint at the cost of having a bulkier housing. I’ve come around to like marksman optics in Battlefield 1: at the ranges I play the scout at, having less magnification and no scope glint is to my advantage.

• The Battle of The Somme began in July 1916 and ended in November; originally conceived to be a quick victory over German forces, the battle quickly became one of attrition and is remembered for having the highest casualties of any battle in World War One, as well as being the first place where tanks and aircraft were deployed. Battlefield 1 chooses to wisely disallow aircraft on this map, and only the British have access to a pair of Mark V tanks. I’ve found that, now that players are getting used to the map, strategic-thinking players will take their tanks and ignore the first capture point outright, making a beeline for the echo and foxtrot capture points instead.

• The end result of this is that British players can now spawn in behind the German team, and begin capturing the other points. Being pinned down at point alpha only occurs when tank drivers stubbornly insist on using their tanks to shell alpha, rather than using them to break through the ranks. With this strategy in play now, as well as the inclusion of new trenches and cover, the British team is not consigned to defeat at The Somme, and players on the German team must similarly be watchful of the other points beyond just alpha: keeping a handful of assault and support players further back has its merits.

• The River Somme runs though the side of the map closer to the British deployment, and across this river is capture point bravo, which consists of a windmill. The lighting in The Somme is absolutely stunning, and while exploring the map for the first time, I did die on a few occasions because I was too immersed in the visuals to be mindful of my surroundings. The relatively dark environments of The Somme means that soldiers can blend in with the grasses and trenches, especially if one is heading East towards the factory and rail lines: again, the scout class, with its spotting flares, become an indispensable asset here.

• During one memorable match, I used the spot flare to tag two players camped out under the bridge, and my teammates subsequently dealt with them. I then secured the remainder of the kills necessary to unlock the Ross Mk. III Marksman rifle. I was quite disappointed to learn that Vimy Ridge and the Canadian faction would be absent from the proceedings, but as a bit of consolation, DICE added the Ross Mk. III rifle to Apocalypse. A rifle of Canadian design, the real world equivalent was renowned for its high muzzle velocity and accuracy at range, making it a preferred weapon for snipers despite the weapon’s low reliability; the weapon jammed very frequently.

• In Battlefield 1, the Ross Rifle is unlocked by the simple requirements of scoring fifty kills with the scout class. The cross between the SMLE Mk. III and the Gewehr M.95, the Ross rifle has the same sweet spot as the SMLE and also features a straight-pull bolt, allowing it to fire quickly. It is balanced out by a five-round capacity; the weapon will run empty very quickly. In practise, the combination of a close range sweet spot and straight-pull bolt means that the Ross rifle could displace the SMLE as the single action rifle best suited for the aggressive play-style.

• Because I’ve become so accustomed to scoping out to chamber a new round after every shot, I must remind myself that I can stay zoomed-in for follow up shots. It seems I’m not the only individual who thinks this way: several players that I follow on YouTube will instinctively zoom back out as a reflex after firing a shot. Here, I land a clean headshot in Passchendaele with the Ross rifle: snipers can do a bit of damage on this map if their team controls point alpha at the ruined church, or if they can find a suitable spot amongst the ruins and holes scattered throughout the map.

• I decided to give the RSC SMG a whirl, and the weapon is quite entertaining to use, being able to drop lone targets with ease. Each shot causes the gun to kick like a mule, however, and tap-firing isn’t too effective with this weapon. The stats report the RSC SMG as having a firing rate of 900 rounds per minute, which puts it at the same level as the Automatico M1918. However, it’s even more specialised in its intended role as a weapon for single combat, and the best way of countering the RSC SMG (or M1912/P.16) is simply to travel with others.

• While it took some getting used to, the RSC SMG can be an entertaining weapon to use on individual targets. Amidst the ruined landscape of Passchendaele, I managed a large number of kills, primarily by sticking close to my deployment and picking off stragglers trying to capture additional flags. We ended up losing this match, but despite the pandemonium, I ended up KD positive. Overall, I’d say that Apocalypse, while easily the weakest of the DLC offerings, nonetheless remains modestly enjoyable with the weapons and maps: with the last of the DLCs now out, one wonders if there will be a few more community updates that will add free content for all players, premium or not, as Battlefield 4 had done previously.

• I’ve never been a particularly skillful pilot in Battlefield 1, so the new air superiority game modes that Apocalypse added did not particularly catch my interest. There’s a dogfight mode, which is essentially TDM with fighter planes, as well as Raiders and Scourge. Raiders is the most fun for me, since there’s the option of spawning into a Behemoth or passenger seat of friendly bombers and C-class airships. Defending the friendly L30 is a particularly enjoyable task: there’s nothing like the rush of defeating approaching enemy attackers and blowing them out of the sky. In the skies of London, the view is fantastic, and I shoot down a plane here to a brilliant sunset.

• The Behemoth on Behemoth action at London Calling is immensely appealing, and while some may not like being a support gunner, it’s a role I’m fond of. With this in mind, the mode does have its share of bugs: I count a few kills where I shot at a plane and did minimal damage to it, but somehow got the kill anyways. I foresee that many air superiority servers will empty out once all players have given it a whirl: Apocalypse releases in full for all players in a little more than a week, so there will be more folks who can access the game modes. Not shown in this post is me unlocking the Howell Automatic factory, the new medic rifle. My next goals now will be to unlock the Howell marksman and the lMG 08. With this Battlefield 1 DLC post in the books, I will return in the future to consider my Battlefield 1 experience as a whole; this is the first Battlefield title I followed shortly after launch and during the update cycle, so I’ll be recounting what this was like, and where I’ll be going with Battlefield in the future.

Having put in a few hours into Apocalypse, the map balance issues are quite noticeable on The Somme and Passchendaele; I’m either on the receiving end of a beatdown or dealing one out. Passchendaele, on the other hand, has been superbly entertaining, although the sheer amount of stuff on the map, from shattered barbed wire fences to pieces of splintered wood jutting from the ground and exposed rocks, means that navigation is quite difficult. I’ve been killed simply by getting stuck in the level geometry. Evidently, Apocalypse was rushed into production and did not receive adequate testing – I feel it to be the weakest of the Battlefield 1 expansions, and this is disappointing, considering that I had been looking forwards to this one the most when it was announced. While there’s missed opportunity to have made a more fully-fleshed DLC in Apocalypse, there is no denying that what Apocalypse does have truly captures the sense of what made World War One such a terrifying chapter of our history. This DLC also continues in Turning Tides’ path of making weapon assignments much more approachable for players, which is appreciated, considering that not everyone has the time to invest in playing in a way that is contrary to their preferred play-style. Moving ahead, I’m looking forwards to DICE patching up the performance issues affecting all players, and hope that adjustments are made to the way The Somme and Caporetto play out; it would be very straightforwards to set the map rules to play out as standard conquest matches. These maps are beautiful, and it would be fantastic to have balanced gameplay that leave players feeling satisfied with their contributions to each match on top of immersing them in World War One’s most infamous battles.