Verblonde

I'll probably pick both of them up, although I imagine mine will never emerge from PvE. Given how battered with the nerf bat Dido (one of the more anticipated ships in the game, at least in tea-drinking quarters) has been, she has rather gone from 'gimme' to 'meh, if I must...'. At the very least, they're both 'Satan Crate blockers' for next Xmas, assuming the return of submarines hasn't driven me away by then...

Apologies - I totally missed that you were there; clearly old age is getting to me...!

Yes. In the name of all that is holy, YES!

<pedant> The T5 is the tech tree version of Huanghe; the T6 is a Dido.</pedant> Not really; it's been pretty obvious since the beginning what this line was like (fat DDs, with a citadel, and less bad AA) - one only need read the published blurb on them, and/or look at the ships you get for free just by playing. There seems to be a misapprehension that all new additions to the game need to be more powerful than what went before; it's a good thing that the new cruisers aren't - less power-creep. What they do provide that is valuable is something interesting, and a challenge for the good players (meanwhile, poor players like me get something fun to mess about with in PvE). To be honest, there's only one aspect of this new line that disappoints me: the vast majority have really boring permaflage options (presumably, deliberately - to encourage whaling for the more interesting ones), and even those will make more traditionally-minded folk happy.

You're not wrong, but I think there is an additional aspect too: in Randoms at least, most BB players are so hopeless that they aren't much of a direct threat (especially early on), so you might as well go after the more influential/threatening ships i.e. other DDs, and cruisers (if they do something silly). If a BB does something silly, I'll lob torps at him on general principles of course, but my focus is usually on just about everything else to start with...

Very early days for me, and I've only tested them very lightly, and in PvE only so far: T5 is worth having because she's - I think - historical (kind of), and that's about it. Mind you, there isn't exactly a shortage of poor T5 cruisers... T6 is a Dido, so yay! On the other hand, I suspect she'll last about two seconds after first contact with the enemy in any hands other than an expert, so I imagine mine will be limited to PvE only. T7 is a Juneau more or less, so yay! She feels much like a slightly weird Flint to me but: T8 strikes me as the most pointless: she's not real (unlike T5-7), she's horribly fragile, and doesn't seem to have the offensive capability to make up for it. Why play this when you can play - say - Chapy? T9 is vaguely fun (although another fever dream): plenty of dakka, torps, and a heal. Stick a permaflage on her, and she'll be an excellent Coop mission grinder, which is what mine is probably going to spend her time doing. T10: no idea yet, as I'm damned if I'm paying 20,000 doubloons (or whatever it is) for a ship I get for nowt in a few weeks. Overall, I think the line isn't a bad addition, as they don't break the game, they do something a little different, and I quite like having an air spotting distance the same as the AA range (not that AA does you much good, but still). This isn't going to supplant anything else I have in port though, but they will be a 'go to' for 'earn x ribbons' missions if I fancy a change from things like Smol or the IJN dakka DDs. For me, all of them are PvE only...

Dev Blog (another blog, another Dido nerf, amongst other things): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/275 Edit: another Dev Blog (new ships): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/274

FWIW I might think along the following lines: Don't get anything until you have a sense of which sorts of ships you like to play; it's also helpful if you have a decent captain from a silver ship to put in any premiums you may get for coal (for example, any DD pretty much needs *at least* a ten point captain, once you're into +2 MM, for the CE skill). If these are amongst your first premiums, it might be worth looking around T6-7, as you can use those tiers for Ops (especially T6), but be aware that taking DDs into Ops is generally a spectacularly bad idea if you aren't yet a very good DD player (they're too flimsy). People have already mentioned the resource discount coupons (there are matching doubloons ones too); you only get two of these a year (the most recent reset was a couple of weeks ago +/-), so you want to use them where they'll save you most resources. If you're generating meaningful amounts of steel, save them for steel ships; if you aren't, save them for the most expensive coal ship you can get before the next reset. Happily, coal can be earned fairly easily, so it's usually a bit of a waste to use a coupon on anything lower than T9 at the moment. In terms of which ships to get: at this stage, I would focus on T6+; the lower tier ones can be fun, but their utility (especially if they're your only premium ships) can be limited. If you get something of higher tier than you're currently comfortable with in PvP, play them in Ops and Coop until your skill-set catches up.

Dev Blog (New French cruisers): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/273

Dev Blog (Early access for Italian DDs, amongst other things): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/272

Due to regrinding the IJN dakka DDs (which - finally - unlocked Yolo Emilio for me last night - yay!), I'm a bit low on silver, so no coal bid for me this time; I probably would have otherwise. I already have Gremy, but I *might* have put in a bid for my NA account if the price was remotely sensible, but 10 thousand doubloons minimum?! Jayzus! Realistically, the successful bids are going to be in the T8-9 premium ship range - no way Gremy is *that* good/fun!

FWIW the approach I usually take for this sort of thing is along the following lines: Try and do every other mission that I need to get done first, and hope that just by pure luck I get at least some of the plane kills needed en route. When the only thing left is kill planes, playing Coop can be a worthwhile activity: WG often give you bot CVs because we're *clearly* not having fun without CVs in the game, and their planes are usually dumber than even the average Randoms player. I've found playing Ranked in Ikea DDs can be a productive source of plane kills, if you have the patience to wait for the daft bugger that takes a CV into the mode. Other than that, take a CV into Coop yourself, and play very manly (KM ones are good for this), such that the opposing planes go after you, whilst also dropping your fighters in front of oncoming strikes. Basically, play like a selfish emulator-of-Onan, but it's Coop, so who cares? A slightly less morally indefensible (but less effective) approach is to take a hybrid (if you have one of them) and do something similar. Something similar with a Dutch cruiser might be worthwhile (I think shooting down air-strikes counts as plane kills). There's always the classic 'go-to' of playing in a division with someone playing a CV, and hoping the opposing CV attacks you; of course, you have to pick your ship carefully - unless you get a complete idiot *or* a unicum facing you, you won't get attacked if you take something with obviously good AA (and the latter will sink you regardless). Edit: if you've unlocked any of the early access PA cruisers, they're possibly worthwhile for the 'play in a division' approach, as (with full concealment build) their AA range is the same as their air detection distance, making it a bit easier for planes to blunder into you.

So, ignoring all the stuff that comes before (permaflage, early access ships and whatnot, plus whatever you got from the 1K/freebie bundles en-route to being able to buy the T10 for doubloons), the offer is 20,000 doubloons for early access to a T10 silver ship? At the usual conversion rate of 1 doubloon to 25 free xp, that kind-of equates to 500K free xp to bag the T10 early; from memory, isn't that of the order of double what a normal silver T10 costs to unlock? I mean, I'll often whale with the best of them, but - blimey - that's entirely ridiculous!

Eh? I thought the Dutch were all about the airstrikes?

I can only really comment on the alt DDs (although my impressions so far of the Italian BBs and Dutch cruisers aren't terribly positive, neither class is really my thing): Z-31 is pretty dreadful, mainly due to having lousy stealth, and not much to make up for it (her shortcomings are even more obvious if you have Z-39). Happily, things get less bad after that, although the main KM DD line is - IMO - a lot better. I quite like T9-10, although I haven't played them that much; as others have said before, they're kind of like small cruisers without citadels, so they're a bit flaky at doing several of the 'classic' DD jobs, but you can really ruin people's day if they give your AP broadside. They're quite a decent pick in Coop for 'citadels' missions...

My view for what it's worth: Kami sisters are still very good (the silver equivalent is pretty fearsome after all, and her torps take a lot longer to reload), but it is still abundantly possible to lose playing one, if the opposition know what they're doing (or your side is particularly clueless - trust me on this!). If you don't understand the vision mechanics, and how to make most use of them, you may struggle to get the best from the Kamis as well. CVs are also a complete menace, and you need to be cautious if you meet a competent T-22. I don't think Gremy is nearly as unpleasant, mainly due to her lack of stealth; she's effective (although I struggle to make the most of Russian gunboats), but her being a lot easier to find than a Kami makes her a lot less scary than in any hands other than an expert. IMO, of course.

That's the order I'd probably go with (although I'm mindful that it's Narai week at the moment), although I do like Scharn...

Knowing nothing about you, the simple answer is Cossack: I wouldn't say she's OP, but she is very good, assuming you know how to leverage the vision mechanics, and make good use of single fire torps. Going into a little more depth: Cossack is great for pretty much any game mode that doesn't heavily feature CVs, and she can even do okay in those (thanks to RN smoke). You've got plenty of dakka for making life unpleasant for other DDs, and your single-fire torps are more than sufficient for dealing with fatties (10 km range is handy too, versus 8 km on Lightning). Put a coal hydro mod on her, and the defensive hydro run-time is entirely ludicrous. You're one of the sneakiest things in your tier spread (5.5 km, versus 5.4 km for Kagero sisters) which is always useful, especially in Randoms where the opposition often won't know what to do about a sneaky opponent. Scharn (IMO, but I don't play BBs much against real people) is worthwhile for PvE, especially Narai where she's glorious; she's less useful in PvP though, due to having been powercrept rather in recent years. She's enormous fun with her mix of multiple main guns, secondaries, and torps, but 'fun' with BBs usually means non-optimal if your primary aim is to win. If you're going to get just one, get Cossack; that said, 'both' is a good answer! <insert that 'both' meme here> Harekaze is magnificent if/when she's ever available again: more or less a Kagero, with stock torps, and approx. 2/3 of an Aki's dakka (less dreadful AA too), albeit shorter-ranged, if memory serves. Same sneakiness. If she is ever available again, get her! Harekaze is not to be confused with Harekaze II, which is - by and large - pi$$-poor, although you do get hydro. Basically, buy something else, anything else (well, maybe not Cheshire/Tiger 59, but you get my point)...

Dev Blog (mostly standard SITREP stuff, although Huron gets a mention): https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/271

Happily, in my case, I rather like the IJN 'dakka' DDs, so I'm currently regrinding them again; having plenty of dragon flags kicking around means that I'm making some useful progress with my captains for the line too, which'll make future regrinds more comfortable (my 'other' regrind line is the IJN torp line, and I have - I think - at least a 19 pointer on everything from about T6). +1 though to the 'play something you like' thing though; it makes sense to do the same line over and over (keeping the captains for each ship you'll actually play), so it *really* helps if it's a fun line to play. If the OP is anything like my NA account, doing the dockyard opened up regrinds without completing the usual number of required silver T10s...

FWIW my approach on the rare occasions when I'm asked about this game (WOT too, come to that) is along the following lines: The basic game is fun (sometimes even a lot of fun), with some caveats (the equivalent of 'stealth' sections in FPS games when you *really* hate stealth play, say). The Lord High Suits behind the game appear to be entirely unprincipled, making Rasputin appear to be a fine, wholesome, upstanding pillar of society. Perhaps try the game - on a *strictly* F2P basis - for a bit, but be really aware of who is making the game, and what their agenda is. *If* you find you really enjoy the game, *maybe* spend a little money, but with no allusions who is getting your money, and that they will use every marketing trick that they know of to get you to spend more. Basically, any spend will be on a similar basis to money spent on stuff like beer i.e. you get nothing tangible for it. For some unaccountable reason, I don't think anyone has started playing the game based on my recommendation; I confess myself perplexed...

Y'all need Cthulhu...

I've gone with doing the mission, as I'm a bit too airheaded to reliably remember to do things needed to just get the cammo without it. That said, I have - I think - two permaflages for Fuso already, so the level of wailing and gnashing of teeth will be small if I don't complete it...

This was where my brain went too! Surprisingly, you can get the stuff over here too...

I've just done a test: Before: After resetting IJN DD 'dakka' line: I believe I had T5-10 in port, so the six gained slots appears to be right. It looks like it's working okay, for me anyway. @ColonelPete has several worthwhile suggestions that might explain what you're seeing...