VC381

I like Atago more (my most played ship) but that doesn't mean Kutuzov isn't good. I agree with what ShinGetsu said, Atago is easier to play because of reliably high HE damage, concealment and heal. MK you can do fun tricks similar to what DDs do with invisifire from smoke or you can really shock people with close-up AP DPS but you have to take some risks to do that. Or you can spam from range all day, it's not a problem hitting but you're at the mercy of fire chance RNG.

Thanks guys, I think my captain is 11 points so I'll just be getting AFT for now. Ognevoi already has the same turret traverse as Kiev, might just need to get used to it without EM. Curious though, why Vigilance over SI? I almost never get torpedoed and I usually don't use premium consumables on DDs, so I might stick with SI there.

I agree it's not good that they do what they like and are inconsistent, but it's possible those ships will get new stock hulls in future? Also as you say the argument for AA can be about fire control not just number of barrels. And the single 88mm of WWI are not the same as the twin 88mm of the 1930s, that's a sure improvement, and I saw twin 37mm as well for closer range AA.

Well I looked at the tree and it's not all bad. Nassau looked like she actually did, Bayern stock hull is historically accurate. Konig is "upgraded" but still captures most of the original look (the class did get a heavy pole mast IRL). It's only Kaiser really where they went a bit overboard redesigning the bridge.

Nagato benefits from manual secondaries much more than from BFT so you might want to use that. Fuso I'm not sure, personally I don't care much for Vigilance so maybe take High Alert or Jack of All Trades if you want to put yourself in harm's way you can repair quicker.

I don't know, being able to buddy-up with another CV makes the AA less painful. I had a few very successful Hiryu games where all I did was tag along with my local Taiho or Essex strike, let his planes take the worst of it and finish off what he couldn't. Plus I love the idea of massed air strikes, carriers operating in squadrons as they did IRL, not forced into secondary duty by artificial game limits. It's bad enough you can't division 2 CVs, 2 per team was already a tight limit anyway (could get away with 3). Oh well.

You are correct, it's not based on any statistics. It was a completely hypothetical example and I picked 3 because it's an easy number with which to illustrate a point without describing too many situations. That shouldn't detract from the point I was trying to make.

I'm sorry but people who complain that playing BB is like a lottery either: - have a selective memory and only notice when they miss - have no understanding of randomness and statistics - are expecting far too much - are doing something very badly wrong BBs reliably put out tons of damage across a whole game, more than any other class. Citadel hits are not "lucky" or "unlucky" when you take several salvos into account. People feel cheated when they rush in and expect to click-delete a cruiser then cry about RNG when it doesn't happen. The fact is they have no right to expect that in the first place. Now take the same tatget cruiser and plan around the fact you want to take three shots at him. Sometimes your first shot will delete him, sometimes all three shots will do "some" damage and he sinks on the third, sometimes the first two miss/overpen and the third deletes him anyway. But on average he will be sunk in three salvos. That's randomness made consistent by planning and realistic expectations. Playing a BB is all about planning where you need to be to not be at the mercy of the randomness, but to make full use of your insane damage potential over the course of the game.

I can believe this but they could, you know, actually implement a rumored change that would make CV play more popular and solve the problem that way...

What happened to the rumour about T6, 7 and 8 CVs getting preferential MM? Instead we have a limit of 1 CV per team in high tiers? What's the logic behind that?! As a still new-ish CV player I try very hard to be objective but when you do things like that it's not hard to see why people jump on the "WG hates CVs" bandwagon...

There's a lot more to it than the realism or otherwise of the dispersion mechanics. Real captains and admirals had way more things on their plate when it came to which way to point their ships than optimum armor angle. Usually a naval squadron is made up of many ships that: - need to sail in an orderly line otherwise they will crash into each-other or at least lose effective communication and co-ordination (no mini-maps and teamspeak) - are trying to get somewhere or prevent the enemy going somewhere - overall position more important than individual That's why immunity zones are such a nice concept, even if theoretical. The best an admiral could do was to fight the battle at a range where his own gunnery and armor schemes were at a mutual optimal and/or to gain some tactical advantage from the squadron position (e.g. crossing the T). Angling individual ships would be a monumental task of micro-management that would be more likely to end in disaster than offer some significant advantage IRL. Also don't forget our speeds are compressed as well. We can easily wiggle to unmask rear guns between shots, IRL they would be wasting multiple salvos trying to do that. It was just a numbers game, firing more shells was always worth it. Having said that, US treaty cruisers were designed with immunity zones that quoted a target angle (30 degrees off the beam), not full broadside, so there was some angling taken into account in the theoretical protection of the ship.

Thank you! The uniqueness of this ship makes it the only T10 I actively want to grind for.

Statistically they seem to perform quite well. "Only" +3 guns is still 33% more firepower, and they should have more HP, better AA etc. I only just got the Tier 7 (I have many lines and am easily distracted) and it feels like a pain stock so far, but it's also a pain when I'm on the wrong end of one being played well. The line is consistent, no reason you wouldn't continue enjoying it.

I'm on New Mexico at the moment and my Captain just hit 10 points, so I have 4 spare for... something. What's a "normal" setup for US BBs? There's nothing really at Tier 4 that temps me, and to be honest nothing at Tier 5 looks great either so I'm wondering if it's better to just spread the points around useful lower tier stuff instead. Or should I go full AA even though I almost never see CVs anyway?

USS Farenholt checking in and awaiting orders, sir! (should be able to make it, just to check the time translates to 2000 BST?)

I also get the impression KM will have fewer and/or smaller guns than other BBs of same tier but have better RoF and turret traverse to compensate. But it's simplistic to generalise over a whole line because ships come in generation groups. US have a huge split in playstyle from Tier 7 to 8, KM will have a similar shift from 6 to 7.

When their shells are raining down on my flight deck and there isn't a friendly within range to save me? That probably sums it up. Having said that it's possible to surprise/punish cruisers with long range drops around islands, or if they're doing something stupid like standing still, but usually there are better targets.

In the context of a range buff to the whole US CA line, which indeed makes historical sense, then yes 17km would be good.

Nice summary, although I'm thinking she's unique enough to make her a premium (on the assumption more premiums are significantly more likely than a whole new branch). How do you justify the 17km range BTW? 1.2km more than Baltimore?!

No, not at all. Turret HP all the way in that slot.

I was away yesterday, sorry! Let us know when it's been rescheduled to.

It will take me a while to get there but that isn't a bad idea... I have wondered how a "stealth setup" BB might work, though I assumed it wasn't viable below Tier 8 due to the lack of concealment module.

Well yeah, I have better average damage and win rate with Myoko than Pensacola (although over fewer games) but with Pensacola I have higher average XP. This is probably because it's better suited at Cruiser killing and DD hunting so you get more XP because of the % damage to target thing. For me though it's a matter of perception, not stats. I enjoy the Myoko but some things about it frustrate me, and games where you do well are usually boring. On the other hand it feels really awesome when you have a great game in the Pensacola, and that's more important for me even if it's counter-balanced by a few mediocre games that drag the averages down.

This is true, statistically speaking, I won't argue that. But from a pure "feel" point of view I don't think Nagato lacks accuracy without the Main Battery mod. The effect is too subtle and there are no specific times I sit there and think "damn I wish I had the accuracy mod", you take the RNG as it comes and most of the time it's amazing anyway. The ship is my all time record damage and second highest average damage and I never used that mod. On the other hand, (yes it's anecdotal and probably doesn't happen as often as I think) there are a few times the secondaries saved me from certain DD death and it always feels good when they rack up hits and fires. Put it this way, I always have the secondary flag on and I make them faster than I use them up, so I get "Close Quarters Expert" at least once every 10 games with Nagato. That's good enough for me. So Mr_Burke if you're an optimiser and care about your average damage stat, then I will concede the main battery mod is probably better. But I think without stat checking you won't miss not having it, and secondaries are more fun and occasionally pull off cool tricks.

I'm not sure yet, I'm really enjoying the NM and might keep it. There are ships I kind of want further up the line but US BBs are my "chill out" line so I'm not actively trying to climb the tiers. But if I do move up I would move the captain, because it's easier to get a new 6 point captain to give me the basics I need for NM than to get another 10+ point captain for Tier 7+. So I guess then I'll probably get AFT as it's more versatile, I do occasionally end up in secondary range.