We Have Our "First to the Top!"

Pilots!

Though we've been running our First to the Top contest for only a few days, we've already been presented with an overall winner: Mongooser! In an impressively short amount of time, Mongooser reached tier X after the release version of World of Warplanes, and for that, he wins 10 years of Premium time! But the promotion is still running, and you can earn Premium time by researching and purchasing high-tier planes! Check the contest article for more details.

We reached out to Mongooser to get some insight into his process in reaching the top, along with a few interesting personal details! In the meantime, we extend our thanks and congratulations to Mongooser.

How long have you been a gamer? How did you get into gaming?

Mongooser: My first game was on an Atari 2600; my first computer game was on a TRS 80, and consisted of flying a plane to deliver mail; however I cannot remember the name of it. The first gaming computer I actually owned was a Commodore Vic 20. I guess that would put the start of my gaming around 1978-1979. After that, I played/owned most of the gaming systems.

As for how I got into gaming, it was just addictive; always seeing if I could complete the game or get to the next level. My first job was at McDonald’s; I was getting paid $3.35 an hour. I could go to the arcade and play for hours on $10 (until I got a girlfriend, then my gaming slowed down until I went into the military).

What drew you to World of Warplanes and Wargaming products?

My first Wargaming game was Massive Assault, which was turn-based, and you could play online against others. I was actually pretty good at it and was close to the top on the leaderboards, but never got to the top spot.

The first thing that drew me to World of Tanks was that I was a tanker in the military, so I thought I would take a stab at it. World of Warplanes was obvious, being that it was designed like World of Tanks with short, intense PvP battles, plus, the accounts would be linked. With over 16,000 battles in World of Tanks, I have over 2,000,000 million XP that can be converted into Free XP, which was a good reason to at least check out World of Warplanes. I also like the increased difficulty. In World of Tanks, you can get away with “2D thinking,” whereas in World of Warplanes, you must be able to think spatially, because you may have threats from any of the three dimensions.

Do you have any military  or aviation experience?

I enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 17 as a 19E (M60A3 crewman). The M60 series is the successor to the M48 series, which is actually a tank in World of Tanks. I was later cross-trained to 19K (M1A1 crewmen). I took basic and A.I.T at Fort Knox, was later stationed at Ft. Polk, and did a little desert warfare training at NTC in Ft. Irwin. I actually qualified on the grease-gun (M3A1 a World War II sub-machine gun).

The only aviation experience I have is when I had a burst eardrum and loss consciousness (not wearing proper hearing protection; most of us didn't). A noob medic stuck [a needle in] me six times and could not start an IV, so he panicked and called for DUSTOFF, which was a chopper ride to the hospital.

How did you go about planning for First to the Top?

Upon the announcement of the tourney, I wanted to make a list of who I thought would be the top 20 threats. Since I had six tier IX planes in Open Beta, I knew most of the higher-tiered pilots. Using the player search function, I came up with a list of 17. Then I looked at every plane line from tier I to X and the exact amount of XP needed. As with any player, there were planes I was better at than others, so I had to exclude planes I did not feel I could do it with.

How did you select what Tech Tree to focus on for the event?

The Japanese, Yak, and LAGG lines were removed because of ceiling limitations. (I understand that for release, their ceilings were made higher, but I had no time in retail to see if they were made high enough to be feasible). No way in the world I could level a bomber (IL line) quickly; Ground Targets do not yield the same XP as killing planes does. The German fighter line had too many mixed calibers, which would throw off the lead sighting. The German HA was a contender; however, at tier VIII it had gimped guns until they could be upgraded.

This left me with the U.S. line and the British line. Since the XP from I to X for the U.S. "P" line was 731,855, and I was decent at that line, I went with it. I was concerned, though, because the U.S. planes had weak firepower until upgraded, and I would not be upgrading unless it was in line with tiering up. Of course, like in any battle, the plans went out the window very shortly; when I first saw the flight groups at tier VI, I had to change everything on the fly.

What was your biggest obstacle during the event?

The tier VI flight groups. I knew what they would be doing, which would be to farm the lower tiers. They were always in a group, always on voice comms, and always tiered out with modules. That kind of a force multiplier I knew I could not compete with, so I went down to tier III and IV Premiums to bypass the obstacle.

The greatest threat to actually hitting first place was Truemush; [Initially,] I could not out-play him, pass him, or even catch up to him. He had made a very small error at the start of the tourney which allowed me to cap out first, only by 2 hours. I had made numerous mistakes, such as oversleeping after the first session and not thinking about the tier VI flight groups in my planning, but if you removed all my mistakes and the mistakes Truemush made, he would have handed my *** to me.

What are your favorite planes?

That's tough. I am more of a “team” player, so I really do not have a favorite plane. When I was in a Clan in World of Tanks and had all the tanks capped, I played whichever tank the clan needed. To me, it is more important to contribute to the success of the team than to be happy with an individual plane, as I hate to lose. If someone straight up out-skills me, then I get to learn something, because you only learn when you lose.

What was your diet throughout the event? Did you sleep?

Two 1-lb. bags of pretzel sticks (small sticks, not the big fat ones) and about 8 gallons of my wife's tea. I would have a footlong sub from Subway before I went to sleep each time. I had 4 sessions: I slept 9 hours between sessions one and two, four hours between sessions two and three, and I slept four hours between session 3 and 4.

I learned through military training that the human body only needs 4 hours of sleep per 24 hours to be combat effective. Since World of Warplanes is a lot easier than actual combat, I figured 4 hours of sleep per 24 hours was more than enough.

What advice would you offer to other players?

Here's Mongooser's top 10 tips on Losing your Noobness:

• 1. DO NOT fly solo.
• 2. To stay mean and lean, stay in the green (i.e., keep your altitude in the green, or your planes speed/performance suffers horribly).
• 3. If you are strictly a turn-and-burner (Japanese, Yak, LAGG lines), stay with the bombers. When a bomber attacks a target, the opposing team sees a “blip” on their map, they WILL respond. Since bombers fly low, this is your primary kill zone; they attack the bombers, and you attack them.
• 4.  If you are a boom-and-zoomer, stay about 2,000 feet back and 2,000 feet above whatever you are escorting. This changes with tier of course but always behind and above.
• 5. Try not to go head on with anything (unless you are a HA/Bomber). Try to fly outside of your target’s threat lane.  When it is obvious your target is not going after you, turn toward it and kill it.
• 6. DO NOT chase up unless the target is less than 1500feet, and you have boost available. Instead, choose a target at your altitude or below that may be slightly farther away.
• 7. When a boom-and-zoomer is on you, descend in tight circles. He won’t be able to hit you much and smart HA pilots will not chase you down. If they chase you down, they are out of the green and their plane will have horrid performance.
• 8. DO NOT fight on the deck) unless you are in Japanese, Yak, LAGG.
• 9. A target is MUCH easier to hit from the side than the back. If directly behind a target, boost higher then hit him from an angle above.
• 10. Remember the words of Patton: “It is not your job to fight and die for your country. It is your job to make the other son-of-a-***** fight and die for his!”