krazypenguin

Got the email. I hadn't played for maybe 2 or even 3 years, I think, until a couple of weeks ago when I updated the game, logged in and played a few games. Still salty about ARP Nachi ;-)

Zipangu - and it annoys me whenever WG feel the need to change it to anything else.

Doesn't work for me - copy and pasted it but get "The WG code is not valid. Please try again." :-( Thanks anyway. There is: KEEPANCHORSREADY From @Jethro_Grey 's thread here:

Bought the Shiny Horse's shark teeth camo and the Atago's "special" camo. Are these 2nd year anniversary camos that have been re-released? Both feature large 2's on them. Either way, stunning camos. There's a really talented artist in WG somewhere who should rightly be proud of their work. Out of doubloons now so will probably buy some just to get the Atago's jungle camo too. Good job WG - more like these please - Atlanta next, ok ;-)

Ah, ok - I kind of assume that every Warships player started on Tanks. The point I was making was that, so long as people are still paying and playing, WG will keep finding blueprints and plans to keep making new lines of ships in the tech tree. The original WoT tech trees were pretty much all real vehicles which were mass produced. I don't know the current ratio of real and mass produced tanks to single prototypes\blueprints\outright fantasy designs, but I wouldn't be surprised if over half of the vehicles in WoT weren't made in numbers greater than 1 or 2. e.g. Japanese super heavies (lol, I nearly wrote IJN super heavies) and Chinese TDs for example). So don't worry about new lines - WG will find them. As for ageing premiums, WG can always buff them if needed. Or maybe offer a trade-in process - they just started to do this in WoT, allowing players to trade-in selected, older premiums, for new ones - of course, you don't get a one-to-one swap, you still need to pay at least some real money for the new premium, but it's an option for WoWS down the line, if needed. I have no idea how profitable WoWS is, assuming it even is profitable (I mean I guess it must be, but I don't want to presume), but like I say, so long as it has a decent number of players who pay, WG will try and keep it alive with new content (game modes, line etc...). Just look at World of Warplanes - someone said peak player numbers are 3k. That cannot be making money - but WG have not (at the moment anyway!) pulled the plug on it - and WoWS has got a long way to go before it reaches that level. :-) Chances are you will burn out of playing before the game dies.

In addition to what everyone else has already said, I would just respond specifically to this line and ask if you have looked at the WoT tech trees recently? Because of course they cannot add stuff "forever", but they can and will milk the hell out of it whilst the game still has paying players. Personally, I am really looking forward to the Botswana CV line in 2024 - because a child in Botswana once drew a picture of an aircraft carrier so it's historically accurate. Besides, the game does have Operations at tier 6 and 7 which they can expand upon if needed. But yeah, just enjoy it whilst it lasts and don't overanalyze it.

It's a few less games to have play in the Emerald before unlocking the Leander. Everyone should be celebrating that.

Same but I'd also like a discount on regular tech tree ships to help with some purchases I've had on hold for months now... Out of everything listed, only the 10 point captains really interest me - always nice to have a few of those knocking around for alternate builds etc... Edit - forgot about the Scharn and Atago camos - might be tempted by one of two of those...

Yep, same problem started for me in the last day or two. No mods at all. Wondering if it's related to either Ops (since I started playing those a lot recently) of the whole eagles/shark post battle screen that pops up before the regular post battle screen (my hunch is it"s related to this somehow) Oh, literally just thought of something else - I'm pretty certain, maybe 95% sure, that it started happening after I started using the Game Centre thing... Surely cannot be related to that, can it?

When I have been in a team that has 5 starred this OP, this is always how we've done it: At the start of the battle everyone should push up to the front of the transports, BBs in the middle, CAs on the flanks. The idea being to try and get the flanking cruisers out just wide enough to force the enemy ships to launch their torps outside of range of the transports. BBs should focus the forts using AP - it's significantly more effective than HE. CAs should focus on enemy DDs first, then cruisers that have torps, then whatever is closest after that. Once the initial wave is destroyed one fast cruiser should head to the enemy transports down in the South West. I shall refer to this as the Southern Force (even though it's only one ship) Everyone else should group up, just ahead of the allied transports, with the strongest AA ships on the East flank (to defend against King). The timing on the next action is hard to describe, but around the time that you reach the middle of the map, with the enemy Missouri having spawned in and being visible in the distance, an AA cruiser and a fast BB should peel off to the East and head towards CV King (still shooting the Missouri on the way). I call this the Northern Force. I've only very rarely seen one ship successfully deal with King on it its own, so I think 2 ships are the requirement here - a lone ship tends to get overwhelmed by the Nicholas, the Phoenix, the King and her repeated air attacks. A combined BB and AA CA can put up enough AA, dish out enough DPM and tank enough damage to pull it of. Once King is dealt with these ships should head South down the East side of the map at top speed. Meanwhile, the Centre Force should still have sufficient firepower to deal with the Missouri and any other ships that are still around (typically one or two DDs and usually another BB like a Wyoming or similar). Missouri is easy to deal with if you have maintained position and have one or more ships with torps leading the group. Ideally, the ships in the Centre Force should try and take turns tanking damage and leading the group, dropping back into the repair area as they take damage and letting another ship lead. Another important job for the Centre Force BBs is to continue to pump AP into any fort that they can, especially the one down to the South West as this makes life easier for the allied CA down there. Speaking of which... By now the Southern Force (fast CA that went South West after the transports) should have met the enemy DD (a Nicholas I think) which guards the enemy transports. This is probably the riskiest part of the OP. If this CA driver messes up and eats a wall of torps then the transports (and their star) are probably lost. Assuming the CA driver doesn't mess up and deals with the Nicholas, the transports themselves are free kills. This cruiser should swing East as soon as possible and head into the enemy's main base. If everything has gone according to plan, you now have your Centre Force steaming into the enemy base, just ahead of the allied transports, with friendly ships coming in from the North East (Northern Force) and South West (Southern Force). At this point it gets messy. Lots of enemies spawn in at close range, including several DDs, CAs with torps and a Ranger, so there are torpedoes everywhere. It's important to kill anything with torps very fast and, if necessary, to physically block them yourself to stop transports getting sunk. It can help if one or two ships, usually the BBs, keep pushing into the enemy force as it spawns, in order to force them to fire their torps and shoot the BBs who can hopefully still tank some damage by that stage of the Op. All of that said.... AAAARGHHH THE PLAYERS!!!! Frustrating highlights include: The Atlanta who immediately reversed into the North West corner and went AFK for the whole game. Why? 5 cruisers all going South to kill enemy transports, leaving 2 BBs to deal with literally everything else. Why? Players who obviously go AFK mid-game or get heavily distracted IRL (multiple instance where allied ships have ceased firing) I get the RL happens but it seems to happen a lot to some people. Players who go after the transports on their own and manage to run themselves aground. I just... you're shooting fish in a barrel, how can you run aground? Several players seen sailing in circles around islands. Yeah, literally like the were sightseeing. Maybe exploring for Easter eggs or something. Me announcing I will go for the transports and heading South. Several "Wilcos" in chat - seems promising. 2 minutes later, when I am clearly heading South, 2 ships on the other side of the formation steam across the middle, ramming half the ships, to head South with me. Forces me to reverse back, wasting time and positioning BBs using HE against forts and enemy cruisers. Just BBs using HE generally, I guess. Only slightly less annoying than... BBs ignoring forts completely Players hanging too far back, sometimes (actually, often) behind the transports. Ships not rotating the lead position. I get it's too much to ask for in randoms (though it really shouldn't be) but there's usually at least one BB driver who insists on sitting in the middle of the transports, refusing to take his\her turn leading the group and tank any damage. This leaves the remaining BB (or two) to use all their consumables and health so they cannot survive long enough at the end. All in all, I enjoy the Operation, but I don't generally enjoy the players. Not sure how to fix that other than being in large and active clan, which isn't really my thing. I checked the chat channels but couldn't find any operation related ones that actually had people in it. Outright defeats in this operation are very common for me - had 5 in a row a few days ago. Sorry for wall of text ;-) krazypenguin

I'm very tired right now and when I initially read the OP's post I thought he was complaining that a Mogami did 37,825 damage to him. Nothing special, I thought, obviously fire damage by the Mogami, OP is probably just a typical BB player who doesn't know how to manage fire and use his consumables and is just whining about fire being OP against BBs. Then I realised that 29,608 of that damage was by AP shells. Wow I thought, I know I suck at the Mogami but either that Mogami player has gone some serious skills to do almost 30k AP damage to a Yamato, or the OP has got a point and the devs have massively nerfed the Yamato if a Mogami can do 30k AP damage to it! Having read it again a bit more carefully, I find it amusing that all of my initial mistaken reactions seem more sensible than what I now realise the OP is saying... Night night everyone ;-)

For me it's the Yubari. I hadn't played it in ages so decided to try it again recently and was immediately reminded why I hadn't been playing it. It seems to attract awful teams and enemy BB shells. Officially retired now.

Some decent discounts for regular tech tree ships wouldn't hurt either... got 3 tier 9s I need to buy.

Cinema night on board HMS Belfast? Must be able to rig up a temporary cinema somewhere on board. Not sure about what to show - The Battle of the River Plate?

I played 2 or 3 more games for a total of 8 or 9. Got the offer after the last game.

No idea - I just played 6 games - mix of 3 wins and 3 losses - I and didn't get the offer to switch teams.

Tru dat, but when the battle starts loading and you see 2 CVs per team, you know it's going to be an unpleasant 5 minutes or so... ;-)

I don't know if it needs a buff or not but I'm about 53 battles in on my Leningrad now (so still learning) and started with a 10 point captain. I decided against EM, taking LS instead, because I figured that as an experienced IJN player I knew all about playing ships with poor turret rotation. What I didn't consider is that IJN ships have a low rate of fire, which effectively masks the poor turret rotation, because the guns spend so long reloading they have time to track your target before you are ready to fire again. But in the Leningrad with it's ~4.5 second reload the poor turret rotation becomes a big issue, and I personally find that she can be uncomfortable to play. Sure, if I am sitting in smoke or shooting lone BBs from 11km away it's not an issue, but what with there being so many cruisers around at the moment, and most of the ones I meet seem to actually be able to shoot straight, I find that I am having to constantly alter course (and speed) to dodge salvoes, so even at long ranges I often find myself waiting for the guns to track my targets. If it doesn't get buffed I'll definitely need to invest in EM somewhere down the line - I just hit my 13th skill point and took DE so I guess EM will have to wait until I get to my 15th skill point.

That's going to be a matter of personal opinion but I reckon any of the tier 7s for 50% off and the Warspite for £10 were all a bargain. (Well..... I'm still not sure about Ashitaka but she is getting buffed, so maybe her too) Personally, I picked up the Scharnhorst and don't regret it for a second.

Good for you :-) As an IJN collector I would like her myself but I really cannot justify the purchase at the moment and there's still that nagging doubt that she's not even a good ship - plus the MM at tier 8 is painful ;-) Hope she's a good ship for you.

Called it :) Picture the scene. It's earlier in the year, maybe April or May, and deep in their underground bunker with the emergency lighting on and dust falling from the ceiling as shells land nearby, or possibly just in a luxurious meeting room on the 12th floor of their Cyprus HQ, with beautiful panoramic views across the Mediterranean and coffee and pastries being served because it's a morning meeting, the Wargaming marketing team meet to discuss the 2018 Summer Sale... Head of Marketing: Ladies and gentlemen, I'll be honest with you, we are losing the war. You all know about the ARP debacle (everybody winces) and the Grand Finale disaster (several gasps from the team, one weaker member faints at the mere mention of it) and our attempt to fix it by offering the Tirpitz at 30% off on the last day of our previous sale (a muttered conversation is overheard between two members of the team: "I don't understand it, that should have done it") but it's just not working. The players remain unimpressed by our efforts and continue to complain and lightly mock us for our efforts. This year we must try something totally different, completely radical and amaze the players. Ideas? Marketing person #1: How about, since it's just for one day, we offer a tier 8 ship at more than 30% off? (Snorts of derision from around the room) Marketing person #2: Maybe we could launch a new premium ship on the last day of the sale? (Laughter at this foolish suggestion) Several other ideas are floated and all are shot down. An awkward silence fills the room as people scratch their heads and try to think of a way to impress the player base and have a truly great end of sale item... Marketing person #3 hesitantly raises their hand: What about if we stick the Kii on 30% sale..? Head of marketing: My god, I think that's it! Whoops and cheers fill the room and the team hug each other, safe in the knowledge that this time they've got it right... (Note to WG - no offence intended, just a bit of fun)

Won't happen but if it did that would be hard to resist - especially because I am out drinking tomorrow night so a drunken purchase would be highly likely. 30% off I can resist, no matter how drunk!

Hi Nechrom :-) Trust me, they are. I picked up the Scharnhorst when it was on sale and I've already torpedoed and sunk an enemy DD who hid in his smoke near me. Hilarious!!! Before the Tirpitz, we'd had 6 BBs and 4 CAs - not exactly massively unbalanced, swap one BB for a CA and it would have been even. Besides, there are more BBs and those ships are more popular, so I think WG are just catering to the masses, which is fair enough really. Surely it's good that there's only been one tier 6? Those are much cheaper anyway and also more likely to be on sale more often that tier 7 and 8 ships. Better to get the higher tier ships on sale, especially the tier 7s at 50% discount. I reckon it will be the Kii.

I know we're onto another ship now, but I just wanted to say that I got the Scharnhorst yesterday. Only had time for one game in it and the circumstances weren't good (me, a DD and another BB versus 3 BBs, 1 CA and 2 DD) so I may have been overly cautious (I legged it along with our DD!) but she feels really solid. First shot got me a citadel, which has to be a good sign, right?! Thanks to OP for this thread and to everyone posting comments on the ships - super helpful :)

Thanks for mini-review. I am sooooo tempted by this ship...