Commanders!
The Desert Storm Raid is now available. This month-long event will put you into the role of a raider, conquering the territory represented by a map but unlike the last time, you’ll be able to follow the footsteps of Operation Desert Storm around the city of Basra and win four amazing historically-appropriate skins for the vehicles that participated in the operation back in 1991.
You can access the event by:
- Completing 10 Contract Missions
- Purchasing access for 499 Gold (click on the Raid icon in your Garage)
But, compared to the last time, we’ve decided to upgrade the event a bit. No matter how you obtain the access, upon obtaining it, you’ll also receive the T-72M1 Tier 5 Premium MBT for free! This Premium variant of the T-72A features powerful frontal armor that is, despite the lack of an ERA kit, more than capable of withstanding most enemy fire. Its powerful 125mm gun will make short work of anything on the battlefield.
Aside from this, four main rewards in the form of epic skins await you:
Asad Babil skin for the T-72M1 Tier 5 Main Battle Tank – the T-72M1 MBT was the best tank in Iraqi service during Operation Desert Storm. The domestic modification of this tank was called Lion of Babylon and featured several distinctive elements, such as the IR dazzler on the left side of the turret. You can read more about the skin in our dedicated article.
Challenger 1 Mk.3 ODS skin for the Challenger 1 Tier 7 Main Battle Tank – based on a historical vehicle belonging to the 7th Armoured Brigade, the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. During Operation Desert Storm, the Challengers participated in one of the largest tank battles of all times, the Battle of Norfolk. You can read more about the skin in our dedicated article.
M60A1 USMC skin for the M60A1 Tier 4 Main Battle Tank – the U.S. Marines tank units fought during the Operation Desert Storm still equipped with the old M60A1 MBTs (and some M60A3 TTS models). However, these were fitted with an additional armor kit and some extra equipment. Despite being generally obsolete, these tanks performed admirably against the Iraqi military. You can read more about the skin in our dedicated article.
Daguet skin for the ERC-90 F4 Sagaie Tier 5 Tank Destroyer – the third major military participating in the operation was the French one. Light armored vehicles from the Daguet division performed fast, daring dashes across the battlefield and got into more than one battle with the enemy. You can read more about the skin in our dedicated article.
And finally:
Iraqi Camouflage available for completing each objective and for claiming every other reward. The camouflage is based on a real-life Iraqi pattern that was used during the war, as we mostly have the Coalition patterns in the game already. The pattern consists of sand-colored background and wide green stripes that are perfect for anything that fought on the Iraqi side during the war, for example the T-55 and T-62 models as well as the BMPs.
Apart from the abovementioned rewards, there will be a lot more to earn, including Boosters, Battle Coins for the next Battle Path, Premium Time, Credits and more.
For more pieces of information, please see the Frequently Asked Questions below.
What is the Raid event?
The Raid is a month-long event, in which you, as a Raider, conquer certain territory by moving along the lines representing roads and other paths and forming a grid. Each grid intersection has a point that is either a mission that you must complete (Mission Points), or a reward that you may claim (Reward Points). Completing the mission or claiming the reward unlocks another portion of the grid. The main prizes await you in each of the territory map’s corners. Players who complete all missions and claim all rewards receive a special reward.
Once the map is available to you (either by purchasing access or completing 10 Contract Missions), start from the center by clicking on one of the dots that show the initial direction of your advance.
What rewards are there available?
Standard Reward Points that can be found around the grid will reward you with various items such as Reputation, Boosters or even Battle Coins for an upcoming Battle Path. The top rewards that are waiting for you in each of the map’s corners are the four epic skins listed above.
Please note that these skins do not come with the vehicles themselves. The skins also work with multiple vehicle upgrades where applicable. Finally, completing all missions and claiming all rewards will unlock the top reward, the Iraqi camouflage.
What missions appear in Raid?
There are four categories of missions available:
- PvP missions (which require you to play either Random Battles or Global Operations)
- PvE missions (which require you to play either standard PvE or Special Operations)
- General missions (which can be completed in both PvP and PvE)
- Elite missions (which require you to complete a very difficult objective in order to access major rewards such as the abovementioned skins)
General, PvE and PvP missions have randomized requirements that may include the use of vehicles from specific dealers, or playing specific Tiers. Elite missions are not randomized.
Some missions require me to do things I do not understand, like Kill or Eliminate. Can you explain?
There are several goal categories included:
- Kill/Destroy
- Assist
- Eliminate
- Performance requirement
Kill (or Destroy, which is the same thing) simply means you have to be the player who deals the finishing blow to the target.
Assist means that you have to be the player who deals the most damage to the target (save for killing it). There is no threshold – if player A deals 40 percent of all the damage to the target, player B deals 30 percent of all the damage done to the target and then player C deals the remaining 30 percent and kills it, player A will get the “assist”. Kill or assist requirements often come together, so you can either achieve a kill, or an assist and both will count towards your mission progress.
Eliminate means that you have to destroy the target AND, at the same time, be the player dealing the most damage to it. What that means is that, in the case described above, no player would achieve elimination. However, if two players dealt 30 percent of damage each and then another player dealt 40 percent of damage and killed the target, that player would achieve elimination.
Performance is the percentage of hits that hit your target while dealing main hitpoint damage. In other words, a mission with 80 percent performance requirement requires 80 percent of all your shells to hit your target and deal hitpoint damage to it. What this means is that:
- Shells that hit and deal damage (even without penetration, like HE explosions) will count
- Shells that don’t hit but still deal damage (HE splash) don’t count
- Shells that hit but don’t deal damage (non-penetrations, ricochets) don’t count
- Shells that hit but only deal module damage (hitting enemy ERA, tracks or gun) don’t count
Can I obtain the rewards only by playing my favorite mode? For example, I do not want to play PvP or PvE.
Yes, with one exception. The Iraqi camouflage will require you to collect all the rewards, which requires either play missions or complete the ones you do not wish to play by using Raider Tokens.
Is it possible to change missions if I do not like the conditions?
Yes. You may obtain a Reroll Token from a Reward Point. Using it changes the conditions of a single mission. Please note that PvP missions cannot be rerolled into PvE ones and vice versa, the main mode requirement will always remain the same. Elite missions cannot be rerolled. Reroll Tokens can also be purchased for Gold.
Is it possible to skip missions?
Yes. You may obtain a Raider Token from a Reward Point. Using it will instantly complete the mission you have selected. However, please note that these items are rare and you best save yours for a rainy day. Please also note that completing Elite missions this way will cost you five Raider Tokens. Raider Tokens can also be purchased for Gold.
What are the time limits on this event?
The Raid missions have no timers and, if you wish, the entire event can be completed even on Day 1. The only timer that is present is the one-month deadline that starts at the event’s launch and is therefore the same for everybody. You can see the time left to complete the event in the upper right corner of the Raid window.
Good luck on the battlefield, commanders!
