Verblonde

My feeling is that they are ludicrously overpriced; a sensible price point would be double that of a 'regular' coal captain i.e. 70K coal. The main issue regarding the insane current cost is that it hands an advantage to the old lags: I think I have all the 'historicals' apart from Lutjens and Swirski (I'll get the latter too, in a couple of weeks, most likely), earned from campaigns/missions etc. - that feels an awful lot easier to me than grinding an absolute -ton of coal, which is what a new arrival needs to do...

This is undoubtedly a good thing; can you imagine how annoyed everyone would be if something that now costs resources* (and didn't before, except time) and you can only get after bagging five silver T10s was also effectively essential? *'resources' being defined as - at least - the silver it costs to reset a line (half the sold ships' silver value), even if you don't free xp any of it and/or use high value flags/cammo.

First, the requisite warning: T7 premiums won't help your stats on their own; if your primary aim is to improve your stats, you'll be able to do that just as effectively with a well-chosen T7 silver ship. That out of the way, there are some decent T7 premiums, although do be mindful that this is the point where the Concealment Module have/have not thing starts to really bite. Some thoughts: Indianapolis: very hard to play well; your impact is all about the radar (which is great for T7 - 10 km for 25 secs, with no coal mod), but you'll get citadeled by BBs breaking wind on the adjacent map. Boise/NdJ: nice heal, although you lose some dakka to get it (compared to Helena); I find the ship most use for Narai, but then I'm not really a cruiser fiend. The NdJ incarnation is a much less useful buy as a) you can't captain train with her, and b) you have to spend elite xp to get a 'good enough' captain if you want to go straight to randoms. Atlanta: fun, but probably not worth it given the ship's current state; the old 'majestic AA' version of Atlanta (pre-reework) was hilarious/glorious, but now it's really all kinds of meh (IMO); better to wait for Flint to return for coal. Boise is a much better buy at the moment. Z-39: one of the best T7 DDs - IMO - as she's kind of a tubby T-61 a tier higher. Gets the 150 mm guns, so BFT isn't as much use as on most other DDs (thinking captain skill crossover with the silver line); you do get a concealment module though which is rare for the tier, and smoke/hydro never gets old (5 km ship detection and 2 min run time with the coal mod). T-61 is better tier-for-tier, but I do feel that Z-39 is still excellent. Haida: really very good; one of my favourite premiums. Great dakka, okay torps (only one launcher though), creeping smoke and defensive hydro (ludicrous 216 sec run time, with coal mod!); you even get to intimidate your foes with Mighty Secondaries! The only real down-side to Haida is that (like NdJ) there is no silver line to nab a decent captain from and you need at least ten points, if not 13-15 (to add BFT/AR on top of the 'standard' DD ten points), to get the most from her. Scharn is excellent, if you fancy something a bit more tubby, but she does suffer against BBs (especially higher tiers) with her dinky guns; she can make cruisers really regret their life choices though. For me, she's most fun in Narai, where you can make a lot of use of your torps/secondaries with a clear conscience!

Me too. Objectively, it's probably not an entirely bad thing (although steel/coal would have been nice) - it dramatically decreases the time I 'need' to be playing multiple Coop games, so I can just do as little or as much as I want (after collecting the ramming flags from the SCs of course)...

I have Gearing and Groz, with only the former in use - the extra stealth is valuable enough (IMO) to warrant losing the DPM for, especially in modes where you can rely on team-mates to shoot at what you spot. It's useful even in randoms sometimes, as there seem to be relatively few about, and a sneaky Gearing can come as a nasty to surprise to the unwary. I have the pre-RB missions underway for Zed, YY, and Shima too, although I doubt I'll use them. So far, I see nothing to encourage me to get any others with research points...

If memory serves, the first edition of snowflakes gave rewards for all premiums, all the way down to the T2s; later ones didn't worry about these lower tiers.

Noble effort at a haiku; I fear there are too many syllables though...

If you fancy a giggle, have read about Texas (I think) shelling a long way inland at Normandy; I think they flooded a torpedo bulge, or something, to give the guns a shade more elevation...

Warspite seems to be credited with the longest range BB hit with main guns: around 24 km, so - presumably - the longest effective range will be something like that? Presumably, this is one of those areas where the difference between theoretical and practical starts to matter a lot though; also, the availability of spotting matters too - even with a bloke at the masthead, how far a ship can see matters too...

+1 to commander xp and credits. Make maximum use of signals/cammo, and 'first win' bonuses.

Hence 'flaky'; I've lost count of the number of smoke camping DDs I've caught this way even so. True, 3 km, but *much* longer lasting; it's possible to make Loyang regret his life choices with the superior dakka that the RN DDs get (after that, as you allude to, the rest of each respective team matter hugely too), and timing one's attack for later in Loyang's hydro run time. Orkan (not so much PA) is a better idea than you might expect; there's so much radar about that smoke is less useful than it used to be, and you get a heal to make up for it. I found the two to be extremely effective. I suspect your last point may explain our differing views: I stopped at R10 (and am not a good player), so was mainly facing 'typical' players, whereas going higher, a larger proportion of those you're facing will be competent Loyang drivers, and that makes a significant difference.

I'm not actually 100% sure - I think it may be five; four goes through the Shima line, and once through the artist-formerly-known-as-the-Moskva line (the latter as a semi-efficient thing to do with Moskva and the 'necessary' selling of for the semi-premium transition). I could be mis-remembering though. Bought Colbert (which is a giggle, but I almost never play due to being rubbish in her), and I'm about half a reset away from Siegfried, which I'll tick off with the next bonus in a week or so. After that, I think I'll leave it alone for a bit (Slava and Ohio don't strike me as 'must haves', and the LUs that I don't have - besides still being changed - aren't essential IMO either).

There are a few elements in here: Playing against real people requires that you unlock Randoms (and Clans, if you join one, plus Ranked/Sprint, and occasional special events); playing against real people - besides being a more interesting challenge - tends to net you better rewards. Don't discount PvE entirely though - Ops can be fun, and Coop mode is often the most efficient pick for doing some missions. As far as I know, you can only use the in-game voice chat with people you are in a division with (which is probably just as well, all things considered!); most folk who use voice comms as standard usually make use of Discord or TS, usually the former, it seems. Besides participating in forum discussions, the most effective way to get to know new people is probably via joining a clan (you'll probably get economic bonuses too); note that clan choice isn't a 'forever' thing - you can switch clans, albeit with a 48 hour (I think) cooling off period between. If you're very new, suggest trying to join a clan with members who are willing/happy to teach.

Easy: Click on the empty captain panel, like so: Click on 'recruit' if you don't have a commander in reserve etc. that you want to use: Select which commander you want to recruit: You basically have the same options as when you get a captain at the same time as buying the ship initially. BTW don't forget to think ahead when dealing with your captains - you'll want at least a 10 pointer when you get to T5 (that's where +2 MM starts)...

I fear we may all be misunderstanding: this is clearly a complaint about WG's genetically-modified newt breeding program, which risks the purity of the existing natural newts! Our OP is simply a distraught follower of the teachings of Gussie Fink-Nottle. Be kind, chaps!

Ouch! Assuming it's a similar sketch to last time, I'll probably start at T10, and work downwards from there (although one season I recall that the T9 rewards were better than T10; I think it was because coal was more useful to me than SCs with their inevitable ramming flags) and see how much playing time I have available. Hopefully, that sterling chap who did the 'Steelwhaling' site will repeat the feat this time - it made keeping track a bit easier...

Perhaps the 'anti-Loyang' skill-set has got rusty amongst the players? Leaving aside the fact that a smoked up ship is blind (beyond 5.5 km, for 132 secs with a coal mod, in Loyang's case), there are a number of options for countering Loyang: Torps into the smoke is the perennial favourite, albeit flaky, if the Loyang driver is any good. Another hydro equipped DD is highly effective if they know their business, and there are quite a few options these days. Orkan (countering Loyangs, and anything else keen on smoke was one reason I took her into Ranked so often) - as far as Loyang is concerned, she's basically a Lightning that makes smoke almost irrelevant. You could also take the PA T8 with a radar build, but no-one does. I'm not disputing that Loyang is very good (see my posts on the subject of 'why on earth would you buy a Z-35 when Loyang exists'), but I don't believe she's an instant 'I win' button; to be lethal, she's needs a more experienced player that knows how to leverage her abilities. So, good - yes; OP - no. IMO, of course.

This. I think having a 'win' requirement is (unusually) a good thing for snowflakes; by their very nature, assuming a fairly diverse ship collection, the pressure is to cycle as many games as quickly as possible. If one doesn't have to win, then the most efficient thing is to drop into a battle, get killed, return to port, and repeat; the mode doesn't really matter. The danger with this is that it would probably make Randoms (as well as Coop) largely unplayable for the duration. With a 'win' requirement, only Coop gets rinsed (sorry, PvE mains!), and even then you at least have to vaguely play properly (although it is pretty hard to lose at Coop, unless you're playing at spectacularly weird hours when there are very few real people about). Full disclosure: I personally currently have 290 ships in port (plus rather fewer on my alt), a significant majority of which qualify for snowflakes (assuming T5+), so anything that makes it easier to knock off snowflakes would help me significantly...

I'm not sure how good an example Loyang is for this discussion, for a number of reasons: Personally, I would rate Lightning as a superior DD - assuming a competent player and similar captain - as her dakka is better, the torps are superior (especially if you're any good with single-fire), and you have the RN smoke which is more versatile than Loyang's (particularly against CVs). Loyang does get the cruiser hydro, which is magnificent, but Lightning's 'self-defence' hydro is good enough, and runs for an awful lot longer. Also, recall that Lightning gets almost class-leading concealment (5.5 km). I suggest that people with Loyang are most commonly either old lags who have her (and the associated skill-set and captains) from way back - she did used to be the undisputed master of T8 competitive - or are at least vaguely dedicated players who are taking the game moderately seriously (the less serious will pick Tirpitz or similar); on the other hand, anyone can get a Lightning, and she'll be a high priority for anyone with an enthusiasm for tea, so lots of players - regardless of skill - could have her. In that sort of context, one would expect Loyang to do better than Lightning, overall, but not because of the ship itself necessarily, but rather because of the demographics of the people who are more likely to play each ship. Incidentally, someone with a 54% WR is a lot better than average; on the forum, I suspect we occasionally forget that the bulk of the players in the general population are a lot worse than typical forumites (excluding me - I suck!)...

This. There are - all things being equal - broadly two ways a Halland-CV game can go: You get a typical CV player (much more likely), and his first attempt to get you will probably make you a no-fly zone for most of the battle. You get a good CV player, and they'll take you to the cleaners anyway, but at least you'll probably get some rewards for a few plane kills. Compare that with almost every other DD, and you have to work a lot harder, and often for far less return; is anyone surprised a lot of folk play Halland? That's not to say non-AA DDs are entirely impossible (I've been playing Yuki a lot lately - yay, +200% xp mission - for instance), but that you have to try a lot harder and it does get frustrating at times when your entire battle is experienced through the lens of having to play around a CV.

There's your answer right there. Plus, as @Khaba_Gandalf points out, it would be an unfortunate inconvenience to players to remove them; whilst I know there are a *few* notoriously OP ones, the bulk of premium ships are - IMO - fine, and a lot of players use them because they lack a suitable captain on many of the relevant tiered silver ships. Also, some of the premiums do interesting things that silver ones don't e.g. I played most of the recent Ranked and Sprint seasons in Orkan, because a) she's fun, b) I could put my Halland captain on her, and c) the radar provides something interesting/different. Despite the radar, I don't think I've seen anyone having conniptions about Orkan being OP...

I don't mind Detonation flags; when the mockers gods hate me, I get ramming flags....!

One would hope so, but I would sound a note of caution: the first snowflake event was pretty generous, whereas the rewards were somewhat reduced the next time around. It's probably worth us trying to keep our expectations moderate, so whatever (inevitable?) way that WG find to disappoint us isn't too gloom-inducing...

Well, that'll probably be me missing my next few targets as I check it out...!

Yup - I rather like her so far, *but* I've only been playing PvE, with the vast majority of games being Ops. She isn't just a premium Weser; some initial thoughts: You get one of the +200% xp missions, that lasts for ages (mine's showing another 53 days to go, I think); this is pretty valuable, especially for captain training. Rocket planes are good - as people have mentioned elsewhere, they're the stock ones from the T8 silver ship; you get three lots of two planes. Torps are rather meh: they're slow (mine are going at roughly Furious speeds with TA captain etc.), don't do much damage, and the flood chance is lousy - they aren't the zippy things the silver line gets. Dive bombers are HE, not AP; in their favour, the damage is pretty good, if you pen, and their fire chance is excellent. The aiming circle is small enough that you can even hit DDs, with a bit of luck/lack of dodging by the target. You're not so good at dealing with DDs, but everything else is reasonably fair game (although you're rather reliant on fires for doing lots of damage to BBs); sticking rockets in cruiser's citadels never gets old (provided you can get the hang of the aiming reticle). Nothing's been silly enough to get close to mine yet, so no idea how good, or otherwise, the secondaries actually are. Finally - Stukas! I'm liking her a lot more than I thought I might, but she does take a bit of getting used to, and what works with Weser doesn't coincide much with EL...