USS New York - The Brawler from Brooklyn

[Captain_Edwards]

For your perusal, I present to you my overview/review of the USS New York, a Tier 5 Battleship.

 

 

USS New York BB-34

The Brawler from Brooklyn

The US Battleship tree is a hard graft early on and may put off a few newer captains. While new players may struggle early on with battleship gameplay, the NY class will give you some real confidence and some stellar matches once you learn the ropes with her. Upon reaching tier 5, you are rewarded with a combat capable and highly potent warship in USS New York. New York was the first of two planned New York-Class Battleships, though construction on her began after her sister, Texas. She was constructed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1.7m north east of Battery Park. She was launched on 30 October 1912 and commissioned on 15 May 1914. The fifth ship to be named for New York State, she was sponsored by Elsie Calder, the daughter of New York politician William M. Calder.

 

New York on maneuvers with Oklahoma and Nevada, 1932.

 

The Big Apples "Big Hitter"

The basic New York in game at first glance does not seem to be a good match up at tier 5 to the IJN Kongo. On stat's alone she seems inferior, but stat's alone do not paint the whole picture. New York can and will take the fight to the enemy and will make them pay dearly. Treat her with respect and she will reward you handsomely with credits and be quickly upgraded with various pieces of technology. Engines, hull and fire control systems can all be improved within the module screen after earning some experience and credits.

 

Main Weaponry

She was ordered in 1911 as the first class of Battleship in the USN to carry 14 Inch (356 mm) guns. The guns are arranged in a slightly odd A/B -Q- X/Y layout. This gives the ship two forward turret positions, two rear turret positions, and a center turret placement for a total of ten guns. With a maximum damage output of 10,300 per shell on armour piercing, and 5000 per shell on high explosive, she packs one helluva punch. This level of firepower comes at a price however, as the range on the New York is initially only at 14.2km. This can be upgraded in the modules screen to 15.6km which is still far shorter than Kongo. While she may have shorter range than her Japanese counterpart, what she does have in her favour is reduced dispersion. New York has a maximum dispersion of 216m, compared to Kongo at 237m. This means New York can out dps her Japanese rival in a dps race thanks to the brace of extra guns, lower dispersion on shots, and tougher armour.

 

Secondary Armament & Anti-Air

In her top configuration New York features six 127mm cannons with a range of 4km. They are fitted on the port and starboard hull around the super structure in a 3/3 configuration as her secondary weaponry. In concert with this is her eight 20mm Oerlikeon, four 30mm Bofors and ten 76.2mm/50 mk2 anti-aircraft guns. She is the first BB of the tree to feature the US preference for anti-air weaponry over cannons for secondary armaments. This gives her the enviable position of having better AA defences than the T5 cruiser Omaha. But this does leave her at a disadvantage in defending herself against high speed surface vessels making close range attacks.

 

 

 

Combat & Conclusions

New York at first blush seems a bit of a stinker much like earlier US BB. Her slower surface speed and shorter range guns make her look like an easy target for XP farming. This is not the case however if you play to her strengths. She is designed to be a brawler. This means she is tough, extremely bloody tough particularly when your angling her. And here is where she has a major advantage over the Kongo, she has a really quick rudder and short turning circle for a BB. With both tough armour and good manoeuvring together in one package, it means you can brawl your way through targets with her and come out smelling of roses. Zig-zag, fire with accuracy, keep her moving and she will steam happily through the enemy like a boss. The center turret position can not be rotated enough to be a full time turret without presenting your broadside to all and sundry 24/7. As such I tend to keep this in reserve for ships that may try to flank me as a backup to the lacklustre secondary guns. Its worked out well this way so far, and New York is a firm favourite of mines now.

 

Module Selection

Slot 1 - Main Battery Modification 1 ; Losing your guns is a nightmare in combat, so reducing the chances of it happening with this module is a good idea.

Slot 2 - Gun Fire Control System 1 ;  This module increases the maximum range of your main guns by 16%. This means you can fire at just over 17k, which is a must have imo.

Slot 3 - Damage Control System 1 ;  Fire and flooding are the two really bad things for a BB so even though the bonus is terrible its better than nothing for fire & flooding defence imo.

 

Final Thoughts

NY is not a friendly ship to new players who want to hang back. She excels at getting stuck in to the battle and engaging targets at medium to long range. While just over 17k range may seem short, its in practice not that bad thanks to NY being able to sneak in a bit closer with her 16km surface detection range. So unless your detected consistently from extreme range you can get in to a firing position quite easily. Im keeping her for good, I like her that much. But as always, this is my thoughts and opinions; Feel free to share your own thoughts and insights in to the NY class.

 

 

Parting screenshot;

[Kaptain_Tripps]

Nice write up.

 

I'd heard a lot of bad things about this beauty but I was very pleasantly suprised, picking up 3 kills first time I took her out. To be honest I've enjoyed every ship in the line thus far, I was thinking about keeping the Wyoming but will probably rebuy in the future at some point.

 

The reload is longer than any other BB I've played thus far and she is more than a little slow but the guns are accurate and pack a hell of a punch. The AA and fast turning make her less vulnerable to TBs than other BBs which round off a very nice package.

 

I got the same upgrades as OP and they seem the most sensible and I'll have to try holding off and middle gun, seems like a plan.

 

All in all an excellent ship. Anybody who has been put off by the bad press needs to check this ship out for themselves, even stock it's a total beast!

[Vanhal]

Will try it soon, but i'm not looking forward to it, in closed beta it was the worst battleship imo after the Izumo (way, way after the Izumo ofc), as it have very long reload time combined with rarily usable middle turret and ridiculous dispersion.

[ManTheLittle]

Could not agree more.

 

A classic brawler at its best. Packs a punch, quick rudder for a BB and decent amount of hp.

 

Love it.

[MilkPowder]

Nice write up! Im curious why you think the US BB line isnt so good up until new york though?

 

Ive only played US BB's so far so ive no basis for comparison, are the IJN ones substantially better?

[Captain_Edwards]

Nice write up! Im curious why you think the US BB line isnt so good up until new york though?

 

Ive only played US BB's so far so ive no basis for comparison, are the IJN ones substantially better?

 

The t3/t4 ships are hampered by high dispersion and low range guns. Combined with the slow speed it makes them huge targets for DD attacks, as its easier to appoach a BB when under fire as it has such bad dispersion. Newer captains have said they find this to be hard work and off putting with US BB early on. As such I mentioned that NY in this regard is far superior thanks to her increased range and low dispersion. She is the "whole package", and the first one you get that can and will make you feel uber when it all goes to plan.

[Aurelius789]

Nice post! But regarding the accuracy in comparison with kongo, your statement is common mistake.

By logic you stated, t10 BBs should be less accurate with max dispersion around 300 and t3 BBs should be most accurate BBs with max disp. around 150, but it is quite other way around. Let me explain:

It is MAXIMAL dispersion, which means it is dispersion on maximal possible range (you can check this when you upgrade fire control, max. dispersion will increase appropriately to range change).

Lets look, New York got in stock 14.2 range and 202 dispersion.

Kongo got 19.3 range and 223 dispersion.

 

So it is true that Kongo is less accurate on max range.

But lets look at unit which can be used to calculate accuracy with max range differneces in mind. Lets use Dispersion / 1 km (maximal dispersion / firing range) and then it looks like this:

New york: 202/14.2=  14.2 max dispersion on 1 km

Kongo:      223/19.3=  11.5 max dispersion on 1 km

 

That means: when shooting at ship 1 km away, your shots will disperse 14.2m and 11.5m respectively.

So, when both shooting at New Yorks max range, New York got its max dispersion which is 202, but Kongo should have something around 164.

Which means Kongo is far more accurate then New York, not the opposite. Hope it helped and good hunting captains! 

 

 

PS: I know it is more complicated then my calculation and they are far from exact, as shell trajectory is not linear but parabolic. Nevermind, I suppose that as example it is sufficient. 

 

[Captain_Edwards]

That's all well and good but you made one basic error from an incorrect assumption. You assumed both ships were firing on one another. My point was that with either ships firing on a target at their respective max ranges, the New York has lower dispersion at its max range resulting in higher DPS than a Kongo firing at its maximum range because of the extra guns and lowered dispersion. Basically I used a "sea trials" criteria rather than direct combat comparisons

[Aurelius789]

Yup thats right, I compared their accuracy on same range. That means in close combat Kongos guns are more precise. Added range is just bonus, you dont have to (or maybe shouldnt?) stay on max range and shoot from 20 km away, because from that distance you will hit nothing

[Captain_Edwards]

Indeed. As I said though I was comparing in a different manner.

[TheIdesOfMarch93]

Am currently working my way up the US BB tree, and sailing the Tier V USS New York is a dream. Won big, lost big with her. To me it's as much about individual competency as well as teamwork that will really bring out the best in this BB. 

 

I'd respectfully disagree with the notion that this is not a "hang-back" BB. I regularly hang back and provide fire support for my cruiser line at least 3 or 4km ahead of me in games and surprisingly for me so far all the US BB ships I've sailed (SoCal, Wyoming, New York) don't seem to suffer that badly from the infamous RNG-ed scattershot that was evident in CBT videos on Youtube. It helps to learn your ship and in particular corresponding speeds of you vs other ships such as the Kuma and Omaha which you will regularly go up against. Ten-km deflection left/right (depending on which direction the enemy is sailing in) at ten-km range usually lands me solid seven shots at minimum on a straight-parallel sailing cruiser, which is more than good enough to kill after three broadsides, or scare the enemy captain shitless about being zeroed in so quickly that he just turns and runs. 

 

AA for this ship is a beast too. Took out 15 planes in one game once, mainly because I was right smack in the right place as my CV fighters brawled with them over my AA field. As long as you know how to preempt torpedo attacks you will be fine from the planes, and dive bombers are way too weak at the moment in the game to matter much. 

 

Decent rudder turning time, many a times I've had to turn away from a badly-picked fight where my cruiser friends ahead got their T crossed and crushed, and I've managed to escape with a third of my health left from a pounding that would have sunk a Wyoming in half the time. All thanks to quick and prompt turning as well as good zig-zagging, not to mention the armor which so far is the best at deflection for the ships I own. 

 

She's a permanent keeper in my books. Learn your BB long-range sniping skills well, learn the reaction time and speeds of the New York well, and she will reward you handsomely time and time again! 

[Captain_Edwards]

When I say "not hang back" I mean the type of player who only ever stays are maximum ranges taking long range shots. While NY can provide this role, she is not best suited for it and instead excels at medium range engagement (I.e. 10-15k)

[Kaptain_Tripps]

Anybody else suffer from a lot of gun damage on this baby? Seems like every third salvo I lose one or two. 

 

Yes I have the Main Gun Upgrade.

[Xmen]

Honestly after wyoming this thing feel terribad.

 

"really quick rudder and short turning circle for a BB""

lol wut ? it is way worse than wyoming

 

the firepower is underwelming too, i struggle to penetrate citadels

 

What am i doing wrong ?

How do succesful player play it ?

 

 

[Gerudan]

I don't have her yet but the New York doesn't look much better (if at all) than the Wyoming. The has slightly larger guns but less of them which in WoWs seems to be more of a disadvantage. The rest is pretty much the same. 

[Xmen]

After getting all the upgrades, I got the hang of it.

has said in previous post it is a brawler, it is very tanky with good armor, with some angle you bounce a lot. 

I think it has to do with the hull upgrade because before that my HP went away very fast.

Now in close combat  Kongo and lower tier BB just get ripped appart.

 

still feel very clumsy though.

 

 

[Jamezdin]

Closing in on the New York (experience wise) I need 2 maybe 3 good battles before I can buy her, any suggestion on the upgrade path? Also is it worth retraining my Wyoming commander for the New York, or should I just go with the new guy? 

[Jamezdin]

Gotta say Im liking the New York, it's much better as a stock ship than the Wyoming was (when stock), and with the first engine upgrade it's already a better drive. Once my captain completes his training and aquires his "new" skills Im guessing it will get even better. Fun BB, but then again, IMO all of them were fun, even the apparently terrible ones. 

 

P.S. I don't think Im going to be retraining captains again any time soon, what a terrible game mechanic (Much worse than in WOT). Complete P2W, rather sad...

[bathoz]

On all of the standards, I tend to think you want the upgraded hull and speed (what there is of it) as soon as possible. Range a distant last.

 

And you've got about 60-70k of experience to go on the New York, so retrain the captain. (Unless you're keeping the Wyoming.)

[Jamezdin]

Thanks for the tips bathoz. Already bought the engine, was thinking of getting range first for less dispersion at 10-12 klicks but yeah, hull makes more sense.

[Gerudan]

The speed upgrade is an absolute must have as early as possible. Honestly it should come with the stock in my opinion, but well...

[__MrC]

Hi..I'm just wondering if NY has the torpedo belt armor and how she deals with torps, being so slow....For me, it's a nightmare to dodge torps in my Wyoming, as it seems that nobody in these low tier MM cares about the real threat of DD's, and there's no tactic or coordonated actions....IMHO, this game will be best played when the "team-battles" mode will be implemented, if will be one...

[Jamezdin]

Sen, you need better situational awareness. THe thing about dodging torpedo's is learning to anticipate them. You need to turn into (or away from) torpedo bombers, BEFORE you see the torpedo launch warning, same thing with destroyers, although you shouldnt find yourself alone with a destroyer like EVER. 

[Bismarck_chan]

Yeah, the slower your ship's rudder is the more paranoid you should become regarding anything that might carry torps. Flashing up the tactical map every now and then helps, too.

[Gerudan]

Sen, you need better situational awareness. THe thing about dodging torpedo's is learning to anticipate them. You need to turn into (or away from) torpedo bombers, BEFORE you see the torpedo launch warning, same thing with destroyers, although you shouldnt find yourself alone with a destroyer like EVER. 

 

A few problems with that: 

 

If the CV captain knows what he is doing, you are screwed and there is nothing you can do. Yes, he might have to reposition slightly and you might shoot down one of the planes with AA, but specially against Japanese carriers with two TB units and the dive bombers you will take massive damage. 

 

And against DDs: 

 

Well, it is not always in your power NOT to be alone with a DD. The NY, specially in the stock version, is very slow, so in pug games everyone else of your team that isn't an US BB will simply drive away form you. Or you might drive in a bulk to a point and then everyone in your team turns and steams away from you with like 30+ knots, while you are left behind. 

 

That is the problem the US BBs: You can't really react to anything, because they are so slow and if you try to zick-zack you will be even slower.