Panocek

IJN AP crosshair behavior is interesting at times, but kinda baffles me why go for side pens, when late drop reduces overpen chances massively and enables to shrek cruisers just fine, unless you do like <0.5s drops, where you actually risk ricocheting off the deck? Rework train has no brakes and never intended to have them to be honest Minimal AA range always was working as intended tho. And keep in mind "no AA zone" moves with the ship. And out of blue abruptly ending speed boost after attack, especially noticeable on TBs always made me wonder about WG vodka brand working as intended

Indianapolis is as carbon copy of USN heavy cruisers as it can get, which synergizes perfectly well with USN CA captain and skill sets. And those don't differ that much from other heavy cruisers to be honest. Atlanta definitely falls under "fun and unique", but to get the most out of her 18 point captain is in order, preferably dedicated one but most skills are welcome in Cleveland and US light cruisers in general. Depending how much time you can spend on the game, quarterly premium account is not bad option

Keep in mind only from tier 7 onwards you will be able to "stealth torp" with USN DDs. Nonetheless, USN still excel at cap contesting due to quick reloading guns, they suffer from abysmal ballistics though, so long range shelling can be... interesting at times. But high tiers, from Benson onwards are definitely keepers, combining outstanding DPM, solid concealment with good handling, workable (Benson) to best in game (Fletcher, Gearing) torps while having able AA to defend themselves

I'd point tier 6 and 7 as potential keepers (Fushun and Gadjah Mada) as they are pretty much superior to other nations counterparts (RU Gnevny and UK Jervis), if you can work around deep water torps that is. Fushun solves lack of torpedo range, while GM have better camo, acess to Engine Boost, longer range torps and way more useful smoke

That and for some glorious reason every DD I dive upon maneuvers itself into perfect position for drop, longitudinally to the bombers.

Sound and reasonable change? Lex torps in 4 per attack could be done in two-plane attack wing, assuming those BTD Derpstroyers stay, 8/10 total or 4 separate planes in 8/12 squadron. And switch these BTDs with Skyraiders already

And yet, those willing to learn somehow can find their way to the forums/reddit and ask for help. And help they usually get, provided their query doesn't fall into butthurt territory.

And here I thought bewbs Burgers are better served in pairs

If nothing else

Frenchsters are perfect fit for cruisers with other playstyle than max camo and camp islands, so why not make use of it?

Rudder mod 3 (in concealment slot) covers ever breaking rudder with -80% repair time.

Against rather common US hightier battleships IFHE203 is a gain. Same with Alaska deck and upcoming RU battleboats, some of them have 40mm upper hull IIRC

Even then, IFHE won't make up for ze German CA HE, which break 50mm. non Ger CA and IFHE CL have basically equal HE pen, I guess simplest solution is booting up armor layout and looking up for what you can dent within known penetration

Bumps HE pen from 33 to 43mm. I guess if one meets too many NC, Iowas and Montanas (or Fusos/Bayerns for that matter), it *might* matter. IFHEnri is on other hand valid pick, especially if one happens to have De Grasse, which as true CL without IFHE is tad lacking

Double rudder, Engine Boost mod for 4.5min of buzzing around and play her like you would play Kebab with 203mm guns