War Thunder: Investigating Russian Bias

I've been playing War Thunder for a long time, and while I haven't played nearly as much of it as I have of Space Engineers, I want to do some research on the topic of Russian Bias. For those who haven't heard, Gaijin, the developer of War Thunder, is a Russian company. Thus, some players claim that the game is biased to favor Russian planes and tanks.

I think this will be split into three parts.

Part 1: Motivations for bias (This one)
Part 2: Checking the numbers (I won't look at all of the planes... Just a few.)
Part 3: Other less obvious opportunities for bias (Stalinium? Nerfed .50 cals?)

I will be going country by country with what Russia's general feelings towards them could be. All of this comes from my observations, and being an American, my views of potential Russian grudges will definitely be inaccurate in one way or another. Let's begin:

The United States of America:
  Overall Feelings: Kapitalist Scum!
  World War I: Stayed out of the war for a while. Finally joined on the side of the Allies (Which included among others Britain, France, and Russia)
  World War II: Allied only because of a common enemy: Nazi Germany.
  Other interesting facts: America was Russia's main enemy during the Cold War, in which the Korean and Vietnam Wars occurred between America and it's allies, and Russia and it's allies. The United States also won the Space Race, "putting a man on the moon and returning him safely before the decade is out."
  Predictions: Negative bias will probably be low through the early to mid tiers, worsening through mid to late tiers.

Bias graph

Britain:
  Overall Feelings: Most likely mixed
  World War I: Allies with Russia
  World War II: Allied only because of a common enemy: Nazi Germany.
  Other interesting facts: While Britain was allied with America during the Cold War, they didn't play as big a role. Thus, most of the Cold War dislike will be aimed at the U.S.A.
  Predictions: Low negative bias overall. Perhaps a little more in the late tiers.

Bias graph

Germany:
  Overall Feelings: Likely resentment.
  World War I: Enemy of Russia. War declared on Russia August 1st, 1914.
  World War II: Briefly allied with Russia, agreeing to split Poland between them. The Nazis then attacked Russia during the Battle of Britain. This two-front war is one of the things that caused Germany to lose.
  Other interesting facts: After WWII and during the Cold War, Germany was split between the Capitalist West and the Communist East (Russia). The Berlin Wall was built by the Russians to keep their citizens from fleeing West and telling about Communism's true nature. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Germany was united again, and a Capitalist government was put into place (By America).
  Predictions: High levels of negative bias early on, only reducing a little in mid to late tiers.

Graph of who knows what

Japan:
  Overall Feelings: Neutral to moderate dislike.
  World War I: Allies with Russia.
  World War II: Border conflicts with Russia prior to and early in the war.
  Other interesting facts: After WWII, America set up a Capitalist government in Japan, and Japan was used as a base of operations during the Korean War. The ideological differences (Capitalism vs. Communism), along with Japans support of America during the Korean War doesn't suggest that they are on the best of terms with Gaijin.
  Predictions: Less negative bias in the beginning, slowly growing through the mid to late tiers, but not as much as the U.S.A.

Bias graph

Arduino Part 5: Mounting

A few weeks ago, I picked up the Arduino Uno that I've had for a while, and started thinking about what I should build with it. I decided on modifying an old toy rover that I had, and making it wirelessly drivable... but with 2 way audio and a camera feed. single-frame camera-broadcast.


This is the fifth part of several posts. I will be explaining about how I mounted my Arduino and the breadboard to the rover.

Links:
Part 1: Initial Plan and Reverse-Engineering
Part 2: Preparing the Rover Chassis
Part 3: Motor Control
Part 4: Bluetooth!
Part 5: Mounting
Part 6: Batteries
Part 7: The Test

Almost all of the rover's circuitry and coding were done. I had to start thinking about how I would keep the delicate brains from falling out.

One thing was certain: I wouldn't be able to directly put the Arduino onto the rover: Not enough flat space, and I would be taking a chance of damaging it.

To minimize the damage risk, it would be a good idea to have something to mount the Arduino on, like a cushion in-between the rover pieces and the Arduino.

First, I looked at acrylic mounting boards. These were either expensive, or wouldn't get here very timely. I finally chose the totally-professional-looking recycled-cardboard and string approach.

Steps I took were:
Marked locations for holes with Ultra Fine sharpie through Arduino's.
Punched holes with some sharp screws I had lying around.
Found that the ink was conductive and had to repeat steps 1 and 2 on another piece.
Tied Arduino on with super thin threads.

Just under the top piece of plastic (supposedly designed to give the impression that it was a tinted windshield) was the battery cover. It was long enough that, with some modifications, the Arduino could fit on it sideways. There were two supporting triangles in the way, and I had to find a way to chop off the excess.

Sorry. This image was taken after I chopped it up.

Remember how I said that my soldering iron cut through the plastic way back in Part 2? (In between the first two images) That gave me an idea: I could melt through the plastic and remove just enough. Searching on the internet to see if anyone has found disadvantages, I found this Instructable. No need to get out the hammer, though. I have a small container with a variety of soldering tips... One of them is a fearsome looking knife blade.

Need I remind you not to break into my house?

Cutting through the plastic was very easy. I just held the blade on it, and pressed.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for fingers lost while waving hot knives around. Call a doctor, not a lawyer.

After the cutting was done, there was enough room for my Arduino with a little bit extra.

Picture was taken with the inky cardboard.

To mount the cardboard to the battery cover, I had a few options: Double-sided tape, sticky "Zots", and hot-glue. I chose sticky Zots as the best blend of reliability and non-permanence. After the Arduino and breadboard were secured, it looked like this.

The battery cover went right back on the rover body, and had no obstructions. Naturally, I won't be putting the original top piece back on.

Part 6 will be about how I decided to power the rover. This is made more difficult by the fact that by default, the rover carries only 3 AA batteries: 4.5 Volts.

More tips!

1. Don't wave hot knives around... I think you would be very disappointed with only nine fingers.

2. Try not to do things that will be irreversible. Later (Part 6), I found that I needed a bigger breadboard. Had I used hot glue to attach it, I would be trying to cut it off with the soldering iron.

3. Take time to do things right. While it probably wouldn't have been fatal, conductivity between leads would not have been healthy for Arduino. I'm glad I checked with a multimeter.

Edit: 8/25/16: Updated list of links

Edit: 7/6/17: Updated list of links