First Steel ship - Guide me please!

[Matt_FSR]

So when the resource coupon renews, I will finally have sufficient steel for my first steel ship, and I really want to get something that I'll actually enjoy playing....  I can discount a few options to begin with:

 

1) FDR.  I don't CV, so that's out. 

2) Shikishima.  I'm having massive troubles getting any vague semblance of enjoyment (or damage) out of Yamato, so the idea of a Yamato hull with even less guns just doesn't appeal. 

3) Bourgogne.  Yes, I know she's regularly recommended as a first steel choice, but ye gods, I just threw 100k FXP at getting the Republique because I HATED the Alsace, despite enjoying the Richelieu, Alsace is just garbage.  Despite the reload booster potential, she's just too easily damaged and too little health to be a BB at tier 10. 

 

So my shortlist is basically Plymouth, Austin or Ragnar.      I don't play T10 in any competitive formats, so it'll just be for random battles.   Perhaps low-level ranked T10 if I can be bothered enough to grind there.  (Cossack will carry me there, if I want to!)

 

I love the Minotaur, but Plymouth is not a Mino -  She's more like a fat Edinburgh as far as I can tell, and while useful, I'm just not sure if she's sufficiently different from the tech tree cruisers to warrant purchase.

 

Austin -  That MBRB tho....  hnnnnggg....    there's nothing else in the game shoots HE or SAP like that, and in a similar vein to the Mino, I can see the skill/enjoyment of getting into position, and waiting to unleash destruction at the right moment.  And ofc she's squishy, but that's no surprise.   Very tempting.    Anyone bought one and regretted it tho?   Does it get dev struck too easily?

 

Ragnar -  I've been playing a lot more gunboat DD lately, and thoroughly enjoying it for the most part.  The lack of torps is a big downside, as is the 7.5km concealment, but she's a CL without a citadel, and radar, not a DD....   which is very tempting.

 

Advice?  Thoughts?   

 

(For the love of god I wish I could give WG some money to test drive these ships for a day or 2, they literally are unbelievable blind at making money on anything other than lootboxes!    One test drive allowed per account per 6 months.  500 dubs. Easy money)

[B051LjKo]

Dont go Austin for the first steel ship, that is advice I can give you.

 

Stalingrad is not the monster it used to be, but that would be my first pick.

[Miscommunication_dept]

I don’t have Austin, Plymouth or Ragnar but for Me Ragnar will be my next steel ship.

 

Bourgogne is very nice and to be honest a hybrid cruiser battleship. Really a lot of fun and very effective.

 

Stalingrad is strong but just so awkward now.

[Mad_Dog_Dante]

I have the Plymouth and she's basically the fattest of the UK light cruisers. I've mentioned this before: She is a blast, 16 guns, 10 km-62 knts torpedos, depthcharges. 50+ sec radar, 2 min Hydro, Smoke, 7,6 km secondairies - she's got it all. She's got tools for almost every situation, and a real teamplayers bote. Best thing: most players dont have a clue she's got all those tools onbaord and will make hilarious mistakes attacking it. I don't know why the usual spreadsheet warriors dont like her, but I chose her over the Austin.

 

The Austin, as funny as the brrrrrrr is, gets more downtime then uptime as far as I can tell. I don't have her but played with teammates that do. During the downtime she seems to be a very mediocre cruiser. That means that you will spend most of your time looking for positions and waiting for the brrrr gimmic. She's situational, and spreadsheet warriors claim that she is fantastic. I see her as too much situational and a flaoting gimmick that will be port queen most of the time, and in half the battles a usless POS.

 

Ragnar I have no experience with. I hear she's fine and she is my next RB pick.

 

I can recommend the Plymouth if you are looking for something useful, but only if you are not looking for a minataur clone and want something unique at tier X that has utility instead of gimmicks.

 

EDIT: Dont fall for the Stalingrad recommendations. She's boring.

[Gvozdika]

13 minutes ago, Matt_FSR said:

So when the resource coupon renews, I will finally have sufficient steel for my first steel ship, and I really want to get something that I'll actually enjoy playing....  I can discount a few options to begin with:

 

1) FDR.  I don't CV, so that's out. 

2) Shikishima.  I'm having massive troubles getting any vague semblance of enjoyment (or damage) out of Yamato, so the idea of a Yamato hull with even less guns just doesn't appeal. 

3) Bourgogne.  Yes, I know she's regularly recommended as a first steel choice, but ye gods, I just threw 100k FXP at getting the Republique because I HATED the Alsace, despite enjoying the Richelieu, Alsace is just garbage.  Despite the reload booster potential, she's just too easily damaged and too little health to be a BB at tier 10. 

 

So my shortlist is basically Plymouth, Austin or Ragnar.      I don't play T10 in any competitive formats, so it'll just be for random battles.   Perhaps low-level ranked T10 if I can be bothered enough to grind there.  (Cossack will carry me there, if I want to!)

 

I love the Minotaur, but Plymouth is not a Mino -  She's more like a fat Edinburgh as far as I can tell, and while useful, I'm just not sure if she's sufficiently different from the tech tree cruisers to warrant purchase.

 

Austin -  That MBRB tho....  hnnnnggg....    there's nothing else in the game shoots HE or SAP like that, and in a similar vein to the Mino, I can see the skill/enjoyment of getting into position, and waiting to unleash destruction at the right moment.  And ofc she's squishy, but that's no surprise.   Very tempting.    Anyone bought one and regretted it tho?   Does it get dev struck too easily?

 

Ragnar -  I've been playing a lot more gunboat DD lately, and thoroughly enjoying it for the most part.  The lack of torps is a big downside, as is the 7.5km concealment, but she's a CL without a citadel, and radar, not a DD....   which is very tempting.

 

Advice?  Thoughts?   

 

(For the love of god I wish I could give WG some money to test drive these ships for a day or 2, they literally are unbelievable blind at making money on anything other than lootboxes!    One test drive allowed per account per 6 months.  500 dubs. Easy money)

No love for Stalingrad? After all, you get pretty much the most accurate guns in the game with a tanky hull taking up a cruiser slot. Plus Soviet radar. With the general gameplay trending towards standoff/sniping it is still workable - whereas the other cruiser/DD options require you to operate closer and use your concealment to a greater degree. With CVs, radars and now submarines running around I'd say it is harder now than before to work at the mid ranges in something that relies on sneaking around. Just a personal opinion.

 

Base your decision on what you currently know and/or enjoy from the tech trees.

 

If you like Worcester but would like a bit of a whacky spin on it with smoke, etc. - Austin. 

If you like Edinburgh/Fiji but want the boon of smoke AND radar AND more guns - Plymouth all the way. 

Ragnar is a real outlier - not sure what tech tree ship you might compare it to. 

 

 

 

 

[RigorMortis76]

Like you i have enough steel to buy any of the steel ships. But I won't buy any coz i am not very charmed by whats on offer. The Ragnar looks like the Smaland which i have and the Bourgogne doesnt seem that different then the Jean Bart (which I like and have). 

Point is that there is no need to immediately spend the steel, maybe something else will be on offer. I bought the Stalingrad with my first steel and dont really like it. Take your time before you decide.

[B051LjKo]

11 minutes ago, Europizza said:

The Austin, as funny as the brrrrrrr is, gets more downtime then uptime as far as I can tell. I don't have her but played with teammates that do. During the downtime she seems to be a very mediocre cruiser. That means that you will spend most of your time looking for positions and waiting for the brrrr gimmic. She's situational, and spreadsheet warriors claim that she is fantastic. I see her as too much situational and a flaoting gimmick that will be port queen most of the time, and in half the battles a usless POS.

+1 for this, you said it all, I have it, and it is exactly as described...

11 minutes ago, Europizza said:

EDIT: Dont fall for the Stalingrad recommendations. She's boring.

It can be a blast to citadel someone at 24 km... She can be boring from time, but if you don't have any steel ships,  I would not disregard her

[Matt_FSR]

Forgot to mention the Stalingrad.   While I love the idea of the 2.65 sigma guns, as others have mentioned...  she's..... boring.  I like an exciting ship to play.    Just had a match in AFT Akizuki, killed 6 ships, still lost, but at least it was FUN!    

 

I have Moskva and Petro, and neither of them does it for me, they're far too fat and sluggish and I honestly cannot find where these amazing 220mm guns are, because I have peashooters on my Mosk and Petro that get full pen hits for 625 dmg per shot, 1 out of 6 shells fired.   Or overpens, for similar or less dmg.   Against a broadside Iowa, ideal aim, still couldn't get a citadel at 5km.   

 

So the idea of spending a long accumulated resource on a sluggish, boring, 1 dimensional ship just doesn't hold that much appeal.

 

Fair point on the Austin, I like the idea, but the downside is 14 mins of waiting for 2 mins of shooting and match over...    zzz.  

 

Plymouth is tempting, especially given how rare it is.   However, given the long-range camping snipe-fest that T10 has become, and her standard heal compared to Mino's trademark "citadel-mender" I'm still unsure. One good salvo from Yama, Shiki, Thunderer or the new upcoming german GK replacement will surely end Plymouth? 

[Miscommunication_dept]

9 minutes ago, Matt_FSR said:

Forgot to mention the Stalingrad.   While I love the idea of the 2.65 sigma guns, as others have mentioned...  she's..... boring.  I like an exciting ship to play.    Just had a match in AFT Akizuki, killed 6 ships, still lost, but at least it was FUN!    

 

I have Moskva and Petro, and neither of them does it for me, they're far too fat and sluggish and I honestly cannot find where these amazing 220mm guns are, because I have peashooters on my Mosk and Petro that get full pen hits for 625 dmg per shot, 1 out of 6 shells fired.   Or overpens, for similar or less dmg.   Against a broadside Iowa, ideal aim, still couldn't get a citadel at 5km.   

 

So the idea of spending a long accumulated resource on a sluggish, boring, 1 dimensional ship just doesn't hold that much appeal.

 

Fair point on the Austin, I like the idea, but the downside is 14 mins of waiting for 2 mins of shooting and match over...    zzz.  

 

Plymouth is tempting, especially given how rare it is.   However, given the long-range camping snipe-fest that T10 has become, and her standard heal compared to Mino's trademark "citadel-mender" I'm still unsure. One good salvo from Yama, Shiki, Thunderer or the new upcoming german GK replacement will surely end Plymouth? 

If you don’t like

Moskva you’re right to avoid Stalingrad. Playstyle is similar but it’s far moreAP focused but 60s fires suck on a huge immobile platform that can be seen from space.

 

Plymouth does seem to take citadels like a Minotaur from my experience shooting it.

 

 

[Mad_Dog_Dante]

26 minutes ago, Matt_FSR said:

Plymouth is tempting, especially given how rare it is.   However, given the long-range camping snipe-fest that T10 has become, and her standard heal compared to Mino's trademark "citadel-mender" I'm still unsure. One good salvo from Yama, Shiki, Thunderer or the new upcoming german GK replacement will surely end Plymouth? 

Absolutely. Like all light cruisers, and like mino,  she can be brutally punished for mistakes, but isn't that the point of the light cruisers? For me it is what makes them great: positioning can bring you pending doom, but also great and hilarious rewards - a fantastic risk vs. reward type of gameplay that makes the game shine. She's got smoke, hydro, torps and radar. Damn right she's not a minotaur. 

 

Other then that, the defensive tools will help immensely in mitigating mistakes or surprises, as well as be a great team asset: 50 sec radar, hydro, 10 km torpedoes, smoke - it's the sheer usability that makes it a utility ship instead of a gimmick.

 

In the end it is what you want out of the game or the ship.

 

DISCLAIMER: subs. Fekkin subs.

[Isoruku_Yamamoto]

I have:

Stalin

Flint*

FDR

Shikishima

Austin

And my next will likely be plymouth.

 

Flint is obvs a bad choice now

You wrote off FDR yourself, i would also not recommend it (the one steel ship i really regret, much more than flint)

Stalingrad is very good, but a tad boring. It is insanely powerful & fun in competitive, but in ranked its a different story.

I really like shikishima & also much prefer her over yamato, due to the insane shell alpha, the penetration and the gun sound. Its a yamato but with bigger guns tho, and if u dislike yamato then nope.

Austin is special. I like it, but its hard to play. You cant brawl, you cant take 1vs1 fights with bbs or cruisers. But you have so much utility.

Torps, HE, SAP, amazing AA, the MBRB gor DDs or to nuke a cruiser- the gameplay can be very rewarding when things work out.

Its comparable with an even flimsier version of Flint/atlanta at tier X imo. Gotta like the style

 

Plymouth: 

I got austin first cause i thought compared to mino the plymouth seems weaker in a lot of aspects. But if u compare it to neptune, which i also really enjoyed, then u get a superdeluxe edition of a neptune, be it with some tweaks. Far less torps, which can be a clear drawback (my old mino dmg high was 256k, mainly through torps), but radar+smoke is an amazing combo already, add hydro to that and whats not to like? Ofc if u dont like nept/mino then dont.

 

[totally_potato]

1 hour ago, Matt_FSR said:

2) Shikishima.  I'm having massive troubles getting any vague semblance of enjoyment (or damage) out of Yamato, so the idea of a Yamato hull with even less guns just doesn't appeal. 

3) Bourgogne.  Yes, I know she's regularly recommended as a first steel choice, but ye gods, I just threw 100k FXP at getting the Republique because I HATED the Alsace, despite enjoying the Richelieu, Alsace is just garbage.  Despite the reload booster potential, she's just too easily damaged and too little health to be a BB at tier 10. 

Shikishima is basically a Yamato with bigger yet fewer guns, and better auxiliary armaments. Its not a bad ship, but preference does matter

 

Bourgogne is not for everyone. She is basically an oversized heavy cruiser with insane damage potential but a fair amount of limitations which increases the skill floor and ceiling significantly. 

 

2 hours ago, Matt_FSR said:

So my shortlist is basically Plymouth, Austin or Ragnar.      I don't play T10 in any competitive formats, so it'll just be for random battles.   Perhaps low-level ranked T10 if I can be bothered enough to grind there.  (Cossack will carry me there, if I want to!)

 

I love the Minotaur, but Plymouth is not a Mino -  She's more like a fat Edinburgh as far as I can tell, and while useful, I'm just not sure if she's sufficiently different from the tech tree cruisers to warrant purchase.

 

Austin -  That MBRB tho....  hnnnnggg....    there's nothing else in the game shoots HE or SAP like that, and in a similar vein to the Mino, I can see the skill/enjoyment of getting into position, and waiting to unleash destruction at the right moment.  And ofc she's squishy, but that's no surprise.   Very tempting.    Anyone bought one and regretted it tho?   Does it get dev struck too easily?

 

Ragnar -  I've been playing a lot more gunboat DD lately, and thoroughly enjoying it for the most part.  The lack of torps is a big downside, as is the 7.5km concealment, but she's a CL without a citadel, and radar, not a DD....   which is very tempting.

 

Advice?  Thoughts?   

 

(For the love of god I wish I could give WG some money to test drive these ships for a day or 2, they literally are unbelievable blind at making money on anything other than lootboxes!    One test drive allowed per account per 6 months.  500 dubs. Easy money)

Plymouth is a rather solid choice. It has very high alpha with 16 guns and decent reload, decent torps, and a insane utility. She is ca perform various roles and is a dangerous cap guarder as she murders DDs and chunks bigger ships thnx to her high alpha potential (I literally did consistent 8-10k salvoes on Repub 9km away before in this ship). Basically an Edin on steroids. 

 

Austin is a high risk high reward ship. You require high positioning skills to do well in her. She doesn't have radar like her American counterparts but her insane damage potential under the right circumstance makes her a threat and a half. She also has rather good armor for a CL, with 32mm plating which is quite unique, and allows her to bounce upto 457mm guns. She is also well concealed, has +1 heal over the rest, rather agile, and has some nasty torps to top it off. But her rather low HP pool, 16mm bow and tern plating, and exposed citadel make her prone to eating citadels, and her sustained damage isn't that impressive.

 

Stalingrad. Its basically a supercruiser with as great gunpower as a BB. She is very survivable for a cruiser yet the lack of FP greatly limits her. Her guns are excellent, so much so that I'd call it the best in the game class for class. However, she is sluggish and has poor detection so one wrong move can lead to serious consequences.

 

Ragnar is a bigger gunned version of Smaland. She retains Smaland's toolkit and concept, but there are a few twists. She carries light cruiser artillery, 4 six inch guns with fast reload, Heavy German DD (Elbing) accuracy, and good alpha with decent range to top it off. She also gets very god survivability, as she is the second destroyer in the game, capable of crossing 30k HP, backed up by a heal and a 25mm plating which while less efficiently covered compared to Elbing, is still a good defense against DD HE shells. She also has good AA. But she is rather sluggish, big, and her concealment is very high. And she also carries no torps whatsoever. She is basically a Mini cruiser version of Smaland. Is it better? No. Is it more interesting? Yep. Note, she can kind of stealth radar so keep that in mind too

 

 

I'd honestly recommend Plymouth as your first steel ship, as she is most well rounded of the 4 (you already explained your distaste towards Shiki and Borg, so forget about them). But if you want something unique, then go Ragnar if you don't have Smaland, and if you do then go Austin. Stalingrad is a nice compromise but you can get a better version of it for free in the tech tree in the form of Petropavlovsk.

 

 

 

 

[Chaoskraehe]

Stalingrad was my first and I hate her. She is strong but very boring to play.

Ragnar is my second steel ship. She's ok,  but Daring, Vampire 2 and IJN gun ships will tear you a new one if they see you. I find Vampire 2 and Haru more fun.

[tocqueville8]

4 hours ago, Matt_FSR said:

3) Bourgogne.  Yes, I know she's regularly recommended as a first steel choice, but ye gods, I just threw 100k FXP at getting the Republique because I HATED the Alsace, despite enjoying the Richelieu, Alsace is just garbage.  Despite the reload booster potential, she's just too easily damaged and too little health to be a BB at tier 10. 

Alsace was definitely more bearable with Dead Eye, but I wouldn't call her "garbage": at least she's not overmatched everywhere by most BBs at her tier (*cough* Nagato *cough*)...

 

Anyway...the Bourgogne gets a MUCH better speed boost consumable than the tech tree line (and the Jean Bart): 15% speed bonus instead of 8%, 90s cooldown instead of 120.

Just like with the DDs and the cruisers, it's so good it's worth investing in the coal module for extra duration, which would make her very slippery indeed.

 

Also, apparently you've only played the Strasbourg once, so let me spend a few words on how powerful the MBRB consumable is.

It basically doubles your DPM when you need it the most, especially against BBs at mid range and DDs up close.

It means DDs can't really rush you from behind an island, as they're going to be dead before they can get to your side and hit you with more than a couple of torps on the nose.

It means that you can be a lot more adventurous during brawls, take more offensive positions because you can get away with it.

It means that you can be much surer to set a permafire on someone who was about to go undetected.

 

Just for comparison, this is me when I got the Jean Bart, a Richelieu with a bit more hp and the MBRB:

 

 

JB still has my highest BB WR at T9, highest damage, highest number of kills, and it's got to be mostly the MBRB.

Also, the Bourgogne gets better sigma (dispersion) than the Alsace, even more so than the Jean Bart compared to the Richelieu.

 

 

I'm not saying definitely get the Bourgogne, I didn't: I got the Shikishima (much better than the Yamato, though I'm not sure why...), then the Plymouth (I don't regret it, either). The main reason I wouldn't get the Bourgogne at the next round is that I play Jean Bart and République regularly, so I'd go for something of a different nation, but she is a very strong contender.

 

TL; DR

Unlike the Plymouth, which requires a lot of finesse (smoke, radar, bad turret angles...), the Burger has the speed and firepower to always be relevant.

[Ocsimano18]

I have the Bourgogne, and she’s great. Does not feel like an Alsace. Also, she’s not that squishy, as people say. She is fast, nimble, has good guns, a joy to play. You should be always on the move, bow camping is not advised.

 

By the way, I have a similar dilemma as you concerning my second steel ship.

Stalin is boring and getting nerfed, Ragnar just farms damage, Plymouth and Austin are weak, Shiki is just a Yamato sidegrade, FDR is boring/nerfed. I have some hope for a new steel ship for Christmas, when my coupon arrives.

[arttuperkunas]

I have Stalingrad. I don't really regret the purchase; some people might consider it static or boring, but there is nothing else like Stalin guns in the game. That said, a downside that hasn't been mentioned here is that the Stalin is a victim of its own reputation. You get an insane amount of focus fire from the enemy team, and everyone angles against you. They would rather show broadside to two Yamatos and a Thunderer than you. That's kind of good for the team - as the Stalin is able to exert map control like a battleship - but it can be a bit boring for the Stalin driver.

[Prophecy82]

My little list....

 

1. FDR:

I regret buying it. In Randoms its a mindless DMG-Farmer with rather little impact (Midway is way better), in comp its the most broken CV there is and pretty much a must. Lame ship. 

 

2. Bourgongne:

A great BB. Alsace feels pretty pathetic nowadys after playing Burger. I really dont want to touch Alsace even more, it feels so sad these days. 

Burger can do so much more, is faster, more range, better dispersion.... except for better matchmaking its Alsace on crack. Very recommended. 

 

3. Austin:

Fun in Ranked but rather painful in all other modes. You´re in most cases better off with a Wooster. Austin is so map-dependent. Best tactic for me is to play it like a AP-only-Kleber: Stalk targets and BRRRRRT them  when they are in a weak postion. Its defnitly not an easy ship and you can get dev-striked rather easy, which is emberrasing at T10. Not recommended if you are not an absolute master-brain in CLs. On the other hand in a div (with a Black f.e.) you can murder pretty much everything. 

 

4. Stalingrad: 

I really dont get why it gets nerfed all the time... It was insane when it came out but these days dealing with Balansgrad isnt much of a problem... there are more broken ships (hello, Petro). Is it a bad ship? Hell No! Think of Moskva with DM-levels of AP but with Moskva shell-arcs. You need to know how to position since bow-tanking isnt working anymore these days. 

 

5. Ragnar: 

This one is great. Love it in Ranked atm. The bad concealment isnt a problem since 7,5km is the same as your Radar range. 

The rest is with like all other Gunboats: Avoid ships with flat ballistics, laugh over those with high arcs. Due to its 155mm Guns its just so easy to farm a DM to death at 12km+. But this ship can deal with pretty much everything, except subs. OMG just stay as far away from subs then you can. Your ASW is complete garbage and due to the front-mount it just invites the sub to just point-blank you. 

 

I dont have Shiki or Plymouth... but im actually not interested. 

 

[arttuperkunas]

2 minutes ago, Prophecy82 said:

My little list....

 

1. FDR:

I regret buying it. In Randoms its a mindless DMG-Farmer with rather little impcat (Midway is way better), in comp its the most broken CV there is and pretty much a

must. Lame ship. 

Impcats should ttly be the latest addition in the US WW2 "-cat" series.

[AkerJack]

All ships have their up and down. 

 

Austin is a good ship but difficult to play because of her poor armor. But for sure with that 15 secs booster reload you can shred any DD on sight of.

 

Shikishima, has devastating guns and all Yamato pros but has less guns and overpens happen very often just because of the guns caliber.

 

Ragnar is great in DD hunting but you need to be always supported because of lack of smoke and Toros.

 

Stalingrad was a great ship, they nerfed to the ground and still doing her job ina great way. She is easy to citadel and the the reload is almost like a BB but you can alfa-damage ships at almost every salvo.

 

Bourgogne is a very good ship, my next steel ship, she is a monster but the weaknesses you underlined are there. It is not a ship for camping but you need to be constantly on the move. Beside that she has good secondaries.

 

FdR is a good ship...I am not a CV player but I enjoy her...it is not a sporting CV but an attacking CV. Now she is getting e plane hp pool Nerf so she will be a little more human. But still fun.

 

For the other ships I have no direct experience..good luck

[Prophecy82]

1 minute ago, arttuperkunas said:

Impcats should ttly be the latest addition in the US WW2 "-cat" series.

fixed. Too early to proof-read... 

[Mad_Dog_Dante]

1 minute ago, AkerJack said:

FdR is a good ship...I am not a CV player but I enjoy her...it is not a sporting CV but an attacking CV. Now she is getting e plane hp pool Nerf so she will be a little less toxic more human. But still toxic AF fun.

FFY

[__Helmut_Kohl__]

So your choice is Plymouth, Austin or Ragnar?

 

If you can't make Alsace work because of survivability, you certainly don't want to play Austin and maybe not even Ragnar, but rather hide in smoke (Plymouth).

[Miscommunication_dept]

I remember a lot of people here saying that FDR is boring but I ignored them and bought it anyway.

 

It certainly can be fun but I got bored after about 90 battles.

 

Comparatively, I have over 300 battles in my Immelmann and never got bored.

 

I don't recommend the FDR to anyone but CV mains to be honest.

[Matt_FSR]

Also, apparently you've only played the Strasbourg once, so let me spend a few words on how powerful the MBRB consumable is.  

 

2 games now!  :-D     And....  i still hate it.    8 shells downrange, 1 pen for 2k dmg, 1 overpen for 1k dmg.    Same or less damage from the MBRB'd salvo, and then I'm back to wondering why I'm not actually playing a decent ship.  (Got the token off it, it can stay in port now.  Luckily I got it for free, but I still feel violated by having wasted credits on the modules on her)

 

Maybe MBRB works on ships that have a slim possibility of hitting something, but I'm not going to blow all my steel on hoping I get a ship which can hit things.   I don't have a JB, so can't compare.  Wish I'd bought her, but didn't have enough resources for everything. Had a lot of fun from Georgia instead, so can't complain too much.  

 

So I think it's down to Plymouth or Ragnar now.  And I'm leaning a little towards Plymouth, because utility, decent guns and excellent concealment for a cruiser....    might be time to watch a whole load of videos... 

[Jvd2000]

My advice is also for the Bourgogne. 
 

Basicly I strongly disliked Richelieu. Relative low calibre, 30 sec reload, not the best accuracy..just nope. Then I got my hands on JB. It’s one of my favorite. While still retaining the small calibre it is just such an improvement. Then go to the Alsace. It got nerfed. But I still liked it more then the Richelieu even in nerfed situation. The Bourgogne in regard to Alsace is alike the Richelieu—JB upgrade and more. It’s Alsace on steroids. Yes it keeps the small guns ( at T8 they were small at t10…) but you throw a lot at the enemy more often and more accurate then the silver line Alsace. And then you have RMB and an improved speed boost. But it requires a bit of brain to work ( to enforce those enemy broadsides you need) and be aware that HE spawn is your enemy due to low HP and 32mm all around.