Procrastes

Mikasa: 14 - 3. See post 10 above. Smith: 15 Emerald: 15 Krasny Krym: 19 + 1 = 20. I saw one of these elusive ships once, at a great distance. It disappeared behind an island, and did not appear again. Presumably, it was flooded with the tears of its owner, and sank. All fighter setup CVs: 12 Campbeltown: 15 Nürnberg: 13 Albany: 16 New Orleans: 13

The list in post 133 seems to be from a while back; the voting has moved on quite a bit since then. Why don't you start from post 132, BaronTest, and place your votes from there?

Mikasa: 17 - 3 = 14. With just a little bit of luck, and some judicious use of high explosive ammunition, you can get a surprising amount of damage done. Smith: 15 Emerald: 15 Krasny Krym: 17 + 1 = 18. I haven't played her. I have heard absolutely nothing good or even slightly ameliorating said of her. It's months since I've seen her in battle. Surely, she has to be the very worst of the lot? All fighter setup CVs: 12 Pensacola: 3 Campbeltown: 15 Nürnberg: 13 Albany: 16 New Orleans: 13

Independence (1/1/1) : 2 - 3 = 0. Sorry, Indy, it's nothing personal.New Mexico : 12 Cleveland : 31Farragut : 23Arizona : 18Shinonome : 20Mutsu : 18Ryūjō (1/2/2) : 14Fusō : 14Aoba: 21Fubuki : 20Graf Spee : 23Ernst Gaede : 9Warspite : 16Leander : 24Molotov : 13Budyonny : 6Dunkerque : 15Duca d'Aosta : 26Perth : 33 + 1 = 34. This is the ship that successfully defended Newport, with a plucky combination of smoke, guns, torpedoes and koalas!

I defended Newport again yesterday evening, this time in division with a friend. And in spite of him sinking after three minutes during the first attack wave, we got four (4) stars! I was in my Perth, and I must say, this little Ozzie cruiser seems to be just perfect for the job. She's manoeuvrable enough to be able to dodge a lot of unwanted attention, her comparatively low speed is not a problem because the enemies all come to you, she's got smoke which enables her to keep up a withering barrage when the enemies get in range, and she's got torpedoes for when things get close and personal. The combination of moving smoke and torpedoes, seems to be especially effective against bots. They don't seem to register a smoke cloud as a source of danger even when it's firing 152 mm shells at them, and so they will quite happily sail straight on past it. I torpedoed a Kaiser (or was it the Izumo?) at only 2,8 km range from inside smoke, and I would have gotten an equally close Gneisenau as well if I'd only kept my wits about me. Anyway, this PvE mode is great fun! I hope Wargaming keeps up the good job with creating well balanced and challenging scenarios like this!

+1 fro me as well, both to gazzbot2point0 for enthusiasm and to the whole 'Defense of Newport' scenario!

Independence (1/1/1) : 5 - 3 = 2. Clearing the lists.New Mexico : 12 Cleveland : 31Farragut : 23Arizona : 18Shinonome : 20Mutsu : 18Ryūjō (1/2/2) : 14Fusō : 14Aoba: 21Fubuki : 20Graf Spee : 23Ernst Gaede : 9Warspite : 16Leander : 24Molotov : 13Budyonny : 5 + 1 = 6. I will strike at least one blow for the Budyonny. She's sleek, she's fast, and she's got those quick-firing rail guns.... a real pistoleer!Dunkerque : 15Duca d'Aosta : 26Perth : 33

I have a simple question to all of you: Which captain skills are the best choices, on the Dunkerque? (I have been tossing this question about in the odd, skill-related thread now and then, but I got no answers. So now I'm making a dedicated thread of it instead.)

Absolutely. Independence (1/1/1) : 14New Mexico : 11Cleveland : 30Farragut : 26Arizona : 18Shinonome : 20Mutsu : 21Ryūjō (1/2/2) : 14Fusō : 13Aoba: 21Fubuki : 20Graf Spee : 26Ernst Gaede : 9Warspite : 16 Leander : 24Molotov : 13Budyonny : 4Dunkerque : 18Anshan : 3 - 3 = 0. Sorry, little lady! You are good, but the Gremyaschy is just better.Duca d'Aosta : 23Perth : 32 + 1 = 33. Special smokes, special spotter, koalas... what's not to love?

This sounds like an echo of all those frustrating, sadistically ill-programmed escort missions you could get in various computer role playing games. You know the sort. You'd get a mission to act as a bodyguard to Mr Wesley Mouse, the timid/rabid accountant, on his way to city hall to deliver crucial evidence against Don Calzone. And when you run into the first ambush on the way, Mr Mouse charges the biggest, baddest mobster in sight, and throws himself in front of the tommy guns... mission failed. And again. And again...

You don't say? I didn't know that; I haven't played carriers all that much. Even so, my point stands - I firmly believe that there should be no tier discrimination as to the ability to ALT attack. Especially since you are supposed to learn the ropes for a certain ship class on the lower tiers. How is that supposed to work out, if you aren't tossed into the ATL-fray until you reach tier VI?

Unless Wargaming gives tier IV-V carriers back the ability of ALT attack - that is, strafes and manual drops - I'd say things look a bit bleak for them. Where's the point of playing, if individual player skill doesn't make a difference? Of course, it's still a matter of choosing where and when to deploy one's squadrons. But compared to carriers that can ALT attack, it's like comparing chess with three-in-a-row.

Ewww. I'm not questioning the theoretical tactical viability of such a move, mind you, but to actually go ahead drop some bombs on myself, in order to spook my crew into overdrive... I'd feel like such a schmuck. (And I would probably end up in the "scumbag" section of the next Jingles video, to boot! )

The combination of smoke and your own spotter plane, that on Perth has that extra flight time, is a neat thing to have. And I also love that special, "moving smoke". You don't have to sit and wait for the torpedo walls to arrive. Edited: But yes, I can see how the Leander would also be a solid choice. The 'Repair Party' consumable is a great thing to have!

The Perth is simply the world's cutest little cruiser! Also, it's got koalas!

Oh, the horror!

They don't allow two CV:s in the same division, as I quite recently found out. I suppose it does make sense - two Saipan, working well together, would be a terror!

You make a sensible case, Captain MrWastee! The early bird catches the worm - and maybe a stray Bofors shell as well, mais c'est la guerre! I must confess, I hadn't thought about how that extra spotting range that a circling plane will give, will be especially useful at the start of a battle. And yet, this is precisely what floatplanes were for, in the first place. If I have a spotter plane, I do believe that it would be most sensible to wait until I could use the extra gun range to best effect. But if I have a fighter, and no carriers are in play, then it could, as you say, be useful as a means of early detection. However, the fighter plane is also a very useful tool for detecting incoming torpedoes - it is effectively a five-minute sonar, albeit with less than 360 degrees of cover. Having it buzzing overhead is a source of great stress relief, when I navigate my cruiser around islands and peninsulae. So it's a matter of priorities.

You are quite right, Captain, I have not played the Anshan! How, then, can I feel qualified to vote on her? When I began placing votes in these "Elimination threads", I had some doubts stemming from the fact that I had to vote on ships that I have never played, as well as vote down ships that I consider to be very good ships in and of themselves. Voting down good ships is not a problem, though, since it just means that I consider another ship to be better. Voting on ships I have never played, is another matter. How do I justify that? If I refrain from voting on them at all, the idea behind these threads breaks down - I can't just upvote and not downvote, or the threads would run on for ever. So I place my votes based on what I know of the game, and what I have heard from others, or perhaps seen in a youtube video. And I try to do this as fairly as I can. With regards to the Anshan, I have heard nothing but good about her. She is by many considered to be the best tier VI destroyer. But when I have compared her stats with those of the Gremyaschy (I do own both ships), the Anshan falls short on almost all accounts - and yet she's a tier higher. With the Gremyaschy in the game, I don't feel that the Anshan adds anything of her own. The Farragut on the other hand - and just to take an example - has a playstyle that is widely different from that of the Anshan and the Gremyaschy. So even though I would consider the Anshan and the Gremyaschy to both be stronger ships than the Farragut, I'd still rate the Farragut above the Anshan - for the purposes of this thread. It might be argued, with reason, that it's unfair to downvote the Anshan based solely on the comparison with a ship that is so admittedly overpowered competitive as to no longer be available in the shop. It took me some time to get there as well - and I am not sure that I would have done it at all, unless the Anshan was already on her way to being outvoted by others. Sometimes, when a ship gets closer to vote zero, I tend to speed up the process in order to shorten the list. But I don't do this unless I can also justify the vote objectively. So, there's a rather longwinded answer to your well merited question, Captain! I hope I haven't bored you! And just to be clear - I have nothing at all against the Anshan. She's a beautiful ship!

Well, then I'd say that the same question - namely, "Why the ---- did he do that?" - tends to pop up regularly to us all in the game. We all play the game differently, and make different tactical choices. More than once, I have wondered about the actions of my allies, only to later find them vindicated by how the battle turned out. My advice would be to let it slide. It's only a game, after all.

Have you tried asking these players, in the battle chat? Anyway, please don't report players for shooting at enemy ships.

Independence (1/1/1) : 14 New Mexico : 11 Cleveland : 30 Farragut : 26 Arizona : 18 Shinonome : 20 Mutsu : 21 Ryūjō (1/2/2) : 14 Fusō : 13 Aoba: 21 Fubuki : 18 Graf Spee : 25 + 1 = 26. One of the legendary Atlantic raiders, with a flavour all of its own in the game! Ernst Gaede : 15 Warspite : 16 Leander : 24 Molotov : 13 Budyonny : 4 Dunkerque : 18 Anshan : 6 - 3 = 3 Duca d'Aosta : 23 Perth : 32

Have I got this right: The Kidd might be getting the 'Smoke', 'Defensive AA' and 'Repair Party' consumables? Usable at the same time? All the while retaining all her five gun mounts? If so, I think I can deal with having only one torpedo launcher, even with the normal Benson torpedoes...!

Ah. I guess that shows how much I know... ...but my point still stands, sort of. While I would welcome a nice, plump FreeXP USN destroyer, I still think it might be perceived as a bit of a nutcracker to players who had previously got it as a reward for reaching a certain rank in ranked battles. Although, since rank and a busload of free xp are two different kinds of rewards for long and exceptional play/effort, I see how it might also be considered fair trade. It would certainly be better than to just offer it for a lot of money in the shop. Double checked on the Wiki. I am totally out to sea, here. What a mix-up. Sheesh. I was so sure the Kidd was a ranked reward ship... my bad. Sorry for wasting space on the forum!

I quite agree. The removal of manual drops on tier 4-5 carriers did put me off the whole carrier thing, at least for some time. I was planning to learn the ropes of manual drops and strafes on that tier, so as not to make too much of a hash of it when I reach the middle and higher tiers. Now that plan is effectively down the drain. And there wasn't even a real seal clubbing problem that needed fixing to begin with... I've been around since closed beta, and I think I would have noticed a carrier problem if there'd been one. I have never been insta-sunk by a carrier attack, on any tier, without feeling that I could have avoided it if I'd just kept my wits about me. I am still hoping that WG will give back the ALT attack option for carriers on tiers 4 and 5. What do you think; is there any chance of that?