Well here we are 231 games later and Season 8 has come to an end. A huge congratulations to Kuba (aka Mr James), Stardekk, Mimile, Yamin and of course Gonzo who were crowned champions in each of their divisions. In this update we will look at the overall stats but also talk about the finals in particular.

First up lets flip things around and talk maps. Probably the biggest difference betwee the group phase and the finals was the extensive use of Kostritsa. Used 9 times during the finals (second highest), in fact nearly every map was used during the finals. The only maps missing out were the two "Wests", Slutsk West and Brest West. Even Lenina got its first run when Mimile and CK530 used it in one of their semi-finals match, it was shortlived game though when Mimile employed the burning hot fromage and CK530 felt the burn of the Vietnam Napalm bomber. Sizzle indeed!

Overall Shechdrin ended the season at the top of the pile, used in 32 games of the possible 231. A very healthly 13.9%. Other popular maps were Orsha East (25) , Kostritsa (23), Orsha North (22) and Slutsk (20). In fact the top 5 made up 52.8% of games, so you better make sure you know these 5 maps.

Average length of games was a very respectable 29mins 24 secs and there was 15 games that went the full distance of the 50min time limit. Only two games during the finals series went to the time limit. In one of the Div 4 quarter finals The Tusk's 4. Fallschirmjäger outlasted Wantsomenoob's 3-ya VDV on Kostritsa. While in Div 5 semi finals, DrakeMallard's 44-ya Gvard. Strelkovy edged out Lszek's 2nd New-Zealand on Bobr. Interestingly no map stood out as having the most 50min matches as it was spread around and there was no clear stand out div that stood out in the 50 min matches.

As expected incomes were dominated by Maverick v Maverick matchups. 88 of the possible 120 divisions were played with Maverick income in the finals, that is a whopping 73.3%. Balanced of course was second with 24 (20%), then 4 Vanguard and finally 4 Juggernaut. A huge call out the Mimile who not only was reponsible for all 4 instances of Juggernaut but actually won 3 of those (and one of the wins was against Maverick!!). At the other end of the income scale Khers lead the way with 3 of the 4 Vanguard appearances (winning two of them, one a cracking game against Onord's VDV with Panssaridivisioona on Kostritsa in the Div 1 semi finals).

Overall we saw a total of 56 games with Maverick v Balance during the entire season (14 during finals). Maverick just had the edge with 31 wins (55%), while balance won 25 (45%) of the matchups. In finals of the 14 Maverick v Balance games, 10 were won by Maverick

Faction wise, Axis maintained their slight perference throughout the season. Of the 231 games they were chosen 244 times of the possible 262 (52.8%) and Allies were chosen 218 times (47.2%). That translated into 142 Axis v Allies matchups (a very heathly 61.5% of games), of which Axis won 81 of them (57%) and Allies won 61 (43%) so it does look like Axis does have a edge. In the finals there was 42 Axis vs Allies matchups. The trend remained with Axis winning 28 of them (67%) and Allies winning 14 (33%).

It's only right to talk Axis first. Overall the most popular divs were 28. Jäger (22 times for a 12-10 record), Panzerdivision Tatra (20 times 13-7), 20. Panzer (19 times 8-11) and 78. Sturm (18 times 12-6). Best performing div goes to 17. SS-Panzergrenadier, played 16 times for a 13-3 record. Worse performing divs were 11. SS-Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier, played 11 times for a 2-9 record and Verteidigungsbereich Toulon, played 9 times for a 3-6 record. In the finals 28. Jäger was the most popular (7 times for a 4-3 record) but biggest surprise was probably 26. Panzerdivision getting 5 runs for a 3-2 record (overall it finished with 12 appearances for a 6-6 record)

In terms of the Allies, the clear favourite was 1 Piechoty which was used 21 times (11-10 record), interestly in the finals it struggles, being picked 7 times but only getting 2 wins. 2nd Infantry Division "Indianhead" was overall second fav with 19 appearances (7-12 record), a shocking 1-5 in the finals. Then its a big drop down to 126-y L. Gornostrelkovy which showed up 15 times (7-8). The dark horse for the Allies was 358-ya Strelkovy, it only appeared in 7 games by won 6 of them. The worse performing goes to Morskaya Gruppa Bakhtina, 8 appearances for only 1 win. In the finals 3-ya VDV was exposed badly, having 5 appearances and losing all 5. 44-ya Gvard. Strelkovy was probably the top allies div in the finals, only used 3 times but won all 3.

Well that brings me to the end of my Season 8 wrap. If anybody wants my detailed stats sheet just yell, happy to share it now the season is over. May you always dodge the Ju88 S-1, may your opponents Tractions always find the boggy roads and remember always assume Onord and Stardekk have PTRS squads near your spawn!!