but this time we're only taking replays from Europe, North America, Asia and Korea.

Not only that, but after this episode we will be only accepting replays over a two week period to make sure only the freshest replays are used.

Right, as always I'm your host Luke Kneller and today we are going to see a master sniper at work, a killer who looks like a toaster,

and a lightweight champion who dances like a butterfly, but stings like a bee.

So let's get to it shall we.

We kick off the new season with an excellent display of Sniper gameplay.

The Sniper goes by the name PavTabk, and he's driving the T-34-85 on Westfield.

With fifteen targets out in the field, a professional marksman doesn't waste any time.

He makes use of his nimble medium tank's speed and powers up the side of the valley.

On the other flank, a T49 driver seems to suffer a nervous breakdown, and has to be sent back to the garage for a little rest.

It's not a promising start.

But never mind, today's sniper is a lone wolf, and this looks like a target rich environment.

The driver barely has time to bring the vehicle to a stop before the gunner engages an enemy Cromwell from across the valley with deadly accuracy.

Just look at the speed and power of this gun!

From his eagle's nest, PavTabk is the king of all he surveys.

If he can see it, he can hurt it, as enemy after enemy feels the sting of the 85mm gun.

The sniper rules his side of the valley, but allies pushing on the other flank are in trouble.

The score is eight-to-five, and being one machine down from the start is starting to be felt.

What does a true sniper do? Does he rush in to help the main push? No!

He keeps his calm and waits for an opening.

It's time to relocate as the allies' push has moved too far to support from here.

PavTabk makes use of the ground cover, stopping as soon as the commander senses they have been spotted.

Instinct and training warn him it's time to duck into cover, and they are proved right as a shell flies over the tank's turret.

Two enemies are revealed, a Panther and a Type 58, both at perfect health.

Getting the intel comes at the cost of a few hits, but now our sniper knows exactly what he's up against.

Allies distract the opponents and PavTabk wastes no time, drilling a hole into the side of the Panther's turret.

The enemies are forced to disengage and once again our master sniper is in his element, gunning down fast, distant targets,

and making it look easy.

With no enemies in sight, he dashes forward to the next covered position.

Once again an enemy is revealed, dashing down the side of the valley, and the lead shot connects without any trouble

Now it's just a question of mopping up.

Moving a little shift his avenue of fire the sniper doesn't let this game drag on any longer than it has to.

This perfect display of Tank Sniper gameplay makes PavTabk our Sniper of the Week!

Congratulations!

Defender

Next in line is this week's Defender.

TurboParkiet drives his SU-100 on Live Oaks, and shows us how sometimes the best defence is… a really good defence!

The battle starts typically enough.

Turbo positions his TD on the small hill, and looks for targets in the city.

A shot at the ELC may or may not have connected, but it definitely revealed his position as a rival TD opens fire and damages his gun.

Turbo backs off a little, and soon has an opportunity to return the favour.

The 100mm barks once, and the smaller machine is out of the match.

It would be nice to engage that KV-Sport, but the allied one being in the way makes the shot too risky.

Luckily another one presents its side for perforation soon enough.

The finishing shot fails to connect however, and the overall state of the match is starting to look troubling.

The score is 2:4, but more importantly, the bridge is wide open!

Another ally falls, as the SU-100 turns its attention to guarding the rear.

A masterful shot leaves the ELC hanging on by a thread.

Let's see it get away this time!

In a face-off of low tier machines, the ELC and the Hetzer take each other out!

Spectacular enough, but now there is nobody left to spot the approaching enemies.

And right on cue, the Chi-Nu starts taking fire.

There is little Turbo can do besides backing into cover as his ally is rapidly dismantled.

Elsewhere on the map yet another ally falls, making the score 4:8.

The push is making headway towards the enemy base when the real test begins.

An enemy is threatening his flank, and at the same time the capture siren starts to blare.

The allied Hellcat charges forward, and reveals a VK 30.02 M hiding behind the ammo crates.

The ally lives just long enough for the cap to be reset before vision fades.

A low tier TD is also spotted for a moment.

It's not enough for a killing blow, but it's a warning that more cappers are coming.

An enemy Hellcat is encountered by the push, and swiftly dealt with.

Turbo has his work cut out for him though, as the alarm goes off again, and this time there's no-one left to spot for him!

Moving forward to engage he's relieved to see that the flanking enemy also decides to defend, rather than engaging him.

A T1 Heavy and the SU-85B were seen before.

In theory the SU-100 should be able to deal with them just fine, but the capture bar is moving awfully fast.

The third capper foolishly reveals itself by taking a shot.

Lucky for Turbo! Shells ping off the SU's front armour as he works hard to keep resetting the capture bar.

Two down, one to go!

Excellent use of cover, and the really beefy gun is turning this into a fight the enemies just can't win.

Really, how long does that T1 think he can last?

But it's getting a bit frustrating as the rounds just aren't getting through.

It shouldn't really matter though, as the allied capture is nearly done.

Then, disaster!

An allied capper is killed by that nosy Hellcat from before, and it seems all the capture points went with it!

How? Why? Suddenly it's all up in the air again, and the T1 is still not taking any damage!

It looks like Turbo has to go in close and personal to reset this cap.

The dead tank is not making this easy, but the commander's hatch is still visible.

Careful aim, and… fire! There, it's reset!

There's no time to celebrate though, as an AT-2 starts pumping rounds into the our defender's back.

The damage is 28 points shy of a kill, resulting in a 2 vs. 1 DPM fight which the SU-100 probably can't win…

The T1 heavy is finished off before the AT 2 puts the final round into the SU, but it doesn't matter; the work is done.

The remaining ally finishes the capture, and there is nothing the last enemy can do about it.

TurboParkiet made it his mission to keep the home base secure, and his resolve held firm.

With that exciting display and 275 base defense points, he is our defender of the week.

Well done.

 Top Gun

Our next nominee goes by the name _Black_Dawn_, the match is an encounter battle on the Steppes, and he appears to be driving a giant toaster.

The Panzer oh-when-will-I-be-able-to-pronounce-this-toaster IVc has to be one of the least threatening looking machines in the game

and right at the start we get to see that its ability to climb is nothing to write home about.

On the other hand, that 88mm anti-tank gun looks like it can get the job done.

By the time the first victim comes close enough to be shot at, the score is 3:6.

The Pz I C is barely a morsel though.

This toaster is hungry, and it's appetite for destruction is far from sated.

The unarmoured TD is a careful tanker's machine, and somebody has to stay back to guard the artillery.

The score is 5:9 however, and it's starting to look like this may be his game to carry.

Maybe there's more to this thin-skinned metal box than meets the eye?

Three enemies charge the artillery position, only to die rapidly.

The allies are halfway through with the capture.

Could it be this easy? Probably not, and in any case it's best to head that way to make sure.

The capture is reduced to almost nothing, but a rival toaster makes the mistake of showing it's top.

A single accurate shot, and there can be only one.

With only two allies left, and the capture at 70%, it's time to get creative.

It's not often that you one of these machines charging a heavy tank.

The KV-1S turns to face the unexpected attacker, but _Black_Dawn_ doesn't intend to stick around.

The enemy artillery is on the ball, but doesn't quite land its shell on the fragile TD.

The hit and run tactics are flawless, but the team are being obliterated by the relentless enemy artillery.

Only a Matilda is left.

The 88mm is doing a number on the KV-1S, but something warns _Black_Dawn_ that it's time to move.

And indeed, the enemy artillery have realised that the true threat is this toaster from hell.

First a round flies overhead, and soon after a double strike hits the ground just metres away.

_Black_Dawn_ claims the 1st artillery piece, and keeps his slow and clumsy machine moving to present a slightly more difficult target.

The Matilda is dead, it was only a question of time, but there are still five enemies to toast, including the Tier VI heavy tank and an AT 8.

Many would think its game over, but not our protagonist.

What matters to him is that there are two more artillery pieces to kill, and the other three enemies can wait their turn.

The missed shot is unfortunate, but a follow up leaves the arty a small nudge from death… so death by nudge it is!

The remaining arty uses the moment to strike, but once again misses by metres.

There's no time to look for the SU-5 now though, as the enemy have decided to win with a cap.

The Churchill is late to the party, and it's easy to make sure it never gets there.

Seven kills, three enemies left, and through all of this the German-made death-box has not been so much as scratched.

Impressive, and unexpected.

The base capture is starting to be a problem.

One scouting loop reveals the enemy positions, but there's no safe direction to approach from.

A head-on duel with an alert AT 8 would clearly be suicidal.

Retreat, and try another approach.

Ouch, the aim of that SU-5 is getting better.

Two enemies left, and the TD evades frantically against an artillery shell which fails to arrive.

The cap is approaching 50%, so the AT 8 has to be dealt with first.

Once again, its indestructible front is facing the right way, so the toaster has to trust its luck.

Quick, get the shot off before you're dead!

And this time luck is with him.

The APCR round finds a weak spot, and the higher tier TD is no more.

Sometimes heroes need luck, as well as skill.

The sensible thing to do is to start the cap and force the SPG to respond.

The wait is not long, as the SU-5 reveals itself.

A single shot is enough.

Victory.

10 kills (!), ace tanker and a double handful of awards.

We are truly impressed, especially as this is not the sort of machine you expect to see going on a rampage.

The Top Gun of the Week award is well deserved!

Congratulations.

Crucial Contribution

Sometimes we get a replay that just has to be shared, even though we aren't quite sure what category it fits in.

For those games we have created the Crucial Contribution award, and DeAtHxRuSh has the honor of being the first winner.

The standard battle takes place on Northwest, and we get to see a somewhat rare machine in action –

the Taiwanese tier VI premium light tank, Type 64, which combines incredible speed with the Hellcat's turret and gun.

The battle starts, and DeAtHxRuSh is off like a shot.

Within moments he's racing west at 72km/h.

A panther is spotted and quickly dealt with.

There isn't much to do on the high ground, so he moves to see where the Type can be put to best use.

A long range shot at a second Panther fails to connect, but here we have a Stug who really should take a look behind him.

Four quick shots, and it's all over for him.

The next customer is a T29 pushing into the allied base.

All its attention is focused on the SU-100Y, so DeAtH has a chance to get several free hits in.

When the enemy Chaffee decides to join the fight, it's time to leave.

The Type can't afford a DPM contest.

The Chaffee doesn't want to let its rival escape, and is causing a lot of damage.

In the end the enemy leaves an opening, and a single quick shot silences its gun for good.

An IS can be seen far below, and it also receives some rounds for good measure.

The M4 narrowly misses what could have been a crippling hit, and the capture alarm goes off.

A quick duel goes poorly for the Sherman, and the fighting scout speeds off to deal with the capture.

What is this IS doing? Does DeAtH need to do it all by himself?

One round to reset the capture, and then running like the flash seems like the right idea.

The IS is still not moving, what a time to take a nap!

At least it will draw some fire.

Bang!... Bang! And then back into cover.

The enemy heavy must be getting pretty annoyed by now.

Repeat the same manoeuvre, when the enemy decides to hit the IS again.

That seems to finally wake them up to who the real threat is.

Luckily he's a one shot now, and the speed of the Type means it controls when and where the final engagement happens.

Then again, a single hit is all it takes to blow up the fragile light tank as well, and there is no chance of a bounce.

Once more the enemy can't resist taking a shot at the comatose IS.

If he doesn't learn, he shouldn't expect any mercy.