Cruisers, please escort battleships

[_Zeromancer_]

When I play cruisers, I usually escort the biggest battleships to pester the enemy battleships and protect from planes, destroyers and other cruisers. Though I'm not a very good player, this way I end up in a winning team as one of the top players more often than not.

But when I play battleship, I see the cruisers just run straight into the cap and the enemies to die just to leave the battleships behind to their own fate, which more often than not ends with bomber and destroyer strikes, and I can't remember last time I had a winning team while in a battleship.. I try to carry when top tier battleship, but there's only so much I can do when left alone..

 

Can you cruiser guys please start escorting your big guns? You helping battleships will pay of, I can guarantee it.

I know teamwork is an unknown word for most of the WG playerbase, but give it little try, and you will gain more than from the solo run you're used to..

Just the slightest of effort to teamwork makes wonders..

 

Edit; added snaps of some of todays games in Omaha to show what you can earn as escort. I don't say you will earn less solo running, but this helps the team more.

[Dbars_eu]

Battleship stop sitting in the back "sniping" and i will think about it.

[_Zeromancer_]

Battleship stop sitting in the back "sniping" and i will think about it.

 

Totally agree. Though I never sitting back sniping unless I'm left all alone. And when in cruiser trying to do my escort job, if the battleship(s) I escort do this, I leave them to escort someone worth escorting..

[Kais_S012]

Battleship stop sitting in the back "sniping" and i will think about it.

 

Dbars hits the nail on the head perfectly. Sitting back and nurse maiding a boarder hugger be they a BB or CV effectively takes your cruiser out of the game while you pray a DD or CC comes close enough for you to intercept

 

If a Battleship driver wants a escort they need to be in a position where escorting them is beneficial to the team, the cruiser players xp requirements as well as the battleships functionality

[Hesp]

I agree. The game was created with the intention that different types of ships complement each other. The team that takes advantage of this point wins the game easily.

[inAbag]

Battleship stop sitting in the back "sniping" and i will think about it.

 

Battleships "snipe" from the back because getting close to the other classes sets you on fire, breaks all your modules and makes you constantly take large amounts of damage because HE ignores all armor values. And to top it off you get a load of torps directed at you from all the DDs that start to swarm you.

 

But you got it all wrong. With the current AA statistics on ships it's pointless to escort. They did the math on the German section of the forums, CAs like the Cleveland and Des Moines have such low AA capabilities that escorting is a futile attempt. The only REAL protection is by getting a fighter escort from your team's CV. Again, the Germans also did the math on that one. Very productive bunch there.

[Dbars_eu]

 

Battleships "snipe" from the back because getting close to the other classes sets you on fire, breaks all your modules and makes you constantly take large amounts of damage because HE ignores all armor values. And to top it off you get a load of torps directed at you from all the DDs that start to swarm you.

 

But you got it all wrong. With the current AA statistics on ships it's pointless to escort. They did the math on the German section of the forums, CAs like the Cleveland and Des Moines have such low AA capabilities that escorting is a futile attempt. The only REAL protection is by getting a fighter escort from your team's CV. Again, the Germans also did the math on that one. Very productive bunch there.

 

OMGERD not mah paint!

[Exodude]

Add to that that Im not closing in on a New York when I can outrange him by 5km, why put myself at risk?

[Mindfulcrane07]

Add to that that Im not closing in on a New York when I can outrange him by 5km, why put myself at risk?

 

because of the increased dmg output. in most cases you will do more dmg in closer range

[_Zeromancer_]

 

Battleships "snipe" from the back because getting close to the other classes sets you on fire, breaks all your modules and makes you constantly take large amounts of damage because HE ignores all armor values. And to top it off you get a load of torps directed at you from all the DDs that start to swarm you.

 

But you got it all wrong. With the current AA statistics on ships it's pointless to escort. They did the math on the German section of the forums, CAs like the Cleveland and Des Moines have such low AA capabilities that escorting is a futile attempt. The only REAL protection is by getting a fighter escort from your team's CV. Again, the Germans also did the math on that one. Very productive bunch there.

 

But the AA is just a tiny part of the escort job. Your main job is to protect from sneaky destroyers and fire spitting cruisers.

Got no AA guns is no reason not to escort..

[Ghoststalker]

 

Battleships "snipe" from the back because getting close to the other classes sets you on fire, breaks all your modules and makes you constantly take large amounts of damage because HE ignores all armor values. And to top it off you get a load of torps directed at you from all the DDs that start to swarm you.

 

But you got it all wrong. With the current AA statistics on ships it's pointless to escort. They did the math on the German section of the forums, CAs like the Cleveland and Des Moines have such low AA capabilities that escorting is a futile attempt. The only REAL protection is by getting a fighter escort from your team's CV. Again, the Germans also did the math on that one. Very productive bunch there.

 

Not sure if you've noticed, but while you're being afraid of fire, the rest of the classes is getting butchered because you don't move up. You have more HP and armor, so you're atleast the most qualified to take the attention of the enemy. Then the other classes can rain down the DPS on the enemy, so they can prevent too many fires from being set on you. What you described is the result of a battleship moving up all by himself instead of sticking to his cruisers. Teamwork is a two way street.

[Hesp]

 

I would add that a cruise always do better accompanied by a battleship. Mainly because the battleship will be the punching bag while your cruise is ignored. This way you get more xp than going solo also the survival of both will be higher.

This way no one loses and everyone wins. It is a selfish vision and protect the battleship will be something collateral. It not is sacrificed as some try to see.

 

In fact both help each other.

 

[inAbag]

 

Not sure if you've noticed, but while you're being afraid of fire, the rest of the classes is getting butchered because you don't move up. You have more HP and armor, so you're atleast the most qualified to take the attention of the enemy. Then the other classes can rain down the DPS on the enemy, so they can prevent too many fires from being set on you. What you described is the result of a battleship moving up all by himself instead of sticking to his cruisers. Teamwork is a two way street.

 

So your whine is pretty much how I should get butchered by your counterparts HE spam because you hate being butchered by your counterparts HE spam? Besides I can't "stick" to cruisers, in case you forget you cruisers sail faster than me, YOU  are the ones who have to stick to me. I can't keep up with you once you decide it gets a little to much fun for you to handle and hightail it back. I've had enough "escorts" run away like rats as soon as two enemy CAs came around the horizon.

 

Besides I ain't the one you should be looking at. The CVs are the ones who win the games for you in the current meta.

[Tinbawx]

Add to that that Im not closing in on a New York when I can outrange him by 5km, why put myself at risk?

 

More targets = less focus fire. The team with better focus fire wins an even engagement. If you make it easy for them by presenting only one or two targets they can shoot at, they have an advantage.

They will have an easier time evading your fire, while they intuitively focus down the ships in range and overwhelm the rest with numbers.

 

 

Battleships "snipe" from the back because getting close to the other classes sets you on fire, breaks all your modules and makes you constantly take large amounts of damage because HE ignores all armor values. And to top it off you get a load of torps directed at you from all the DDs that start to swarm you.

 

But you got it all wrong. With the current AA statistics on ships it's pointless to escort. They did the math on the German section of the forums, CAs like the Cleveland and Des Moines have such low AA capabilities that escorting is a futile attempt. The only REAL protection is by getting a fighter escort from your team's CV. Again, the Germans also did the math on that one. Very productive bunch there.

 

The most important aspect of AA is the panic button at T6+, doesn´t matter how shitty your AA guns are, as long as you can pop that panic button, you´re useful. That aside every TB that goes down before he drops torps helps.

[rainmakerltu]

I would add that a cruise always do better accompanied by a battleship. Mainly because the battleship will be the punching bag while your cruise is ignored. This way you get more xp than going solo also the survival of both will be higher.

This way no one loses and everyone wins. It is a selfish vision and protect the battleship will be something collateral. It not is sacrificed as some try to see.

 

In fact both help each other.

 

hehe... It looks very nice in theory. But when enemy meets a BB  - a punching bag and a Cleveland as his escort, they immediatelly turns attention to big bad Cleveland... Because of simple thing - Cleveland has less HP. Of course sometimes it plays right, sometimes not. But when it plays right teamwork of cruiser and battleship is very good looking thing. I most times try to accompany some BB or BBs, if not in division with them already. Sometimes outcome is good, sometimes not.

[Ghoststalker]

 

So your whine is pretty much how I should get butchered by your counterparts HE spam because you hate being butchered by your counterparts HE spam? Besides I can't "stick" to cruisers, in case you forget you cruisers sail faster than me, YOU  are the ones who have to stick to me. I can't keep up with you once you decide it gets a little to much fun for you to handle and hightail it back. I've had enough "escorts" run away like rats as soon as two enemy CAs came around the horizon.

 

Besides I ain't the one you should be looking at. The CVs are the ones who win the games for you in the current meta.

 

Did you just skip over the whole "You've got more HP and armor"?

 

I regularly sail at half speed to keep up with Battleships. That said I don't have a 15 k/m range, so your "sniping" doesn't really allow me to help you one bit. I've already told you, it's a two way street, a cruiser and a battleship both have to work together. Battleships that move up I can protect, battleships that camp far away I can't protect as there are objectives to defend and capture as well. Choose your poison, either be ready to take some blows, as you're quite capable of, or don't expect to be helped.

 

[ttchip]

...and here's what you earn if you play opportunistically while escorting if necessary:

 

 

 

The Omaha and Pensacola games were quite exceptional, the Baltimore one wasn't. Those rewards include Premium.

 

The bottom line is: Escorting is basically a lot like playing an air superiority CV. It pays badly and you run the risk of not contributing at all if the escorted ship isn't attacked. In mid tiers you can dive in and out of that role because BBs tend to be a lot slower than CLs and CAs. In high tiers, the speed difference is almost negligible, meaning that you really don't have the flexibility.

[Hesp]

 

hehe... It looks very nice in theory. But when enemy meets a BB  - a punching bag and a Cleveland as his escort, they immediatelly turns attention to big bad Cleveland... Because of simple thing - Cleveland has less HP. Of course sometimes it plays right, sometimes not. But when it plays right teamwork of cruiser and battleship is very good looking thing. I most times try to accompany some BB or BBs, if not in division with them already. Sometimes outcome is good, sometimes not.

 

It depends on the distance. About 12km the enemy Cleveland It will not hit shots on you if you move a little. The Cleveland is unreasonably overrated, harmless in long ranges for anything other than a battleship. 

If an Omaha keeps distances exceeding 12km, will win versus cleveland.

[Mister_Greek]

I would prefer Cruiser escorts to protect the CV first and foremost from enemy planes and then if necessary,protect  the BB from DD and CA.

 

Its been proven in battle and in stats that Fighter squadrons do a better job in Air superiority than a CA AA fire.

 

Although its much appreciatted,its not entirely needed on high tier BB's because of their Good AA,you would be more useful somewhere else.

[Kartoffelmos]

Well, blaming non-Omaha/Yubari(?)/Murmansk/clonewars cruisers for not performing AA-duties is somewhat silly, because that amazing AA DPM of those ships is not nearly enough to cover friendly battleships.

 

On higher tiers on the other hand, AA will be a viable action, but until then, the battleship captains will have to learn how to use other keys than just "W" and "M1".

[deathcaster]

 

Battleships "snipe" from the back because getting close to the other classes sets you on fire, breaks all your modules and makes you constantly take large amounts of damage because HE ignores all armor values. And to top it off you get a load of torps directed at you from all the DDs that start to swarm you.

 

We (or I) wouldn't ask you to storm trough headfirst but if you are just hugging the edge of the map I won't protect you. It's not worth both my time or the lost points for being in such a passive position. Is it that hard to at least get into a good range so you can effectively support the fleet?

 

 

But you got it all wrong. With the current AA statistics on ships it's pointless to escort. They did the math on the German section of the forums, CAs like the Cleveland and Des Moines have such low AA capabilities that escorting is a futile attempt. The only REAL protection is by getting a fighter escort from your team's CV. Again, the Germans also did the math on that one. Very productive bunch there.

 

Yet the moment I escorted a battleship (in a Aoba no less) I killed around 25 planes besides effectively crippling the torpedo-bombers attack and thus saving a lot of the battleships HP. Sure sounds useless huh.

 

[_DarthGunny_]

folks renember this is a game. in order for me to progress to my next ship i need to earn xp to unlock it.  ive tried escorting battleships and aircraft carriers but biggest problem with this is most battleships ive had in my games tend not to move to far from the start point.  great youve got the range to fire back if something comes into your range but by the time thats happened half the game time has gone, your usualy the last ones left alive and moaning that everyones left you on your own.

just because you might have a range of over 15km+ dosent mean you have to sit there all the time how about sailing forward and supporting the cruisers that way they can last a bit longer instead of gettintg blown to crap by the opposition.

you want support from the cruisers guess what they want your support aswell but they rarely get it

[knaveofengland]

to play like you say wont happen in most random games or coop period just look at wot  the only thing you can do is have a tutorial to show the benefits but even then most wont bother , bbs have to lead most don't  have played some games where a few bb lead take the hits then the cruisers finish them off that does work but that's few and far between .

 

but it also depends on what map you are on as well some maps favour this tactic but some  with the 3 bases does not work the 3 bases map is the won where you get less draws the other maps to many draws

[Vanhal]

Would be enough if the cruisers paid attention to enemy destroyers. I can't even count the battles when the detected DD in a cruiser EFFECTIVE range got just ignored by cruisers sailing away, and then they rekt BB's and CV's.

[Khul]

Would be enough if the cruisers paid attention to enemy destroyers. I can't even count the battles when the detected DD in a cruiser EFFECTIVE range got just ignored by cruisers sailing away, and then they rekt BB's and CV's.

 

This is something I'd like to see in, say, ten mile high letters of fire across the sky in the background when loading a cruiser:

 

"PRIORITY TARGET: DESTROYERS. YOU'RE MADE TO BEAT THEM UP"

 

This is something I'd like to see in, say, ten mile high letters of fire across the sky in the background when loading a DD:

 

"AVOID GOING 1-ON-1 WITH A CRUISER UNLESS YOU HAVE TO. YOU CAN RELIABLY TROUBLE EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE GAME, BUT CRUISERS ARE MADE TO WRECK YOU".

 

People just refuse to play their ships to their strengths, & then complain when results don't go their way, blaming the game & the mechanics. This then has a knock-on effect, as CVs get undefended BBs to strafe & DDs also get to torp, stay out of sight, reload, come back & do another run without really being bothered, because there's no screen.

 

& that's when you get the loudest screams of "OP THIS" & "OP THAT", because the team isn't working together so each class's hard counter gets to stomp the thing it can stomp the hardest.

 

Yesterday, a "friendly" Isokaze & my Iso were capping D on Two Brothers; two battleships are approaching. As I suggest coming at them from two different directions, an Omaha appears from behind an island. "RUN AWAY" I scream in chat, dropping smoke & firing off my engine boost. The Isokaze goes straight for the enemy cruiser, gets sunk in a suicide run & fills the chat with "KHUL LOOSER ["looser than what"? I wonder] COWARD!! COWARD!! RAPORT11!!"... Whilst I ran & dodged & wheeled & eventually broke sight contact with him, though he got my engine.

 

I'm sitting there, waiting to die, all he had to do was sail 1-2 km towards me, & if he didn't get me I would be lit up for his two approaching BBs. The enemy Omaha though, knowing that he'd killed one DD & had another (me) at his mercy, then TURNS 180 degrees & YOLOs toward our battleship line, coming around the corner to the south. I sit there staring open-mouthed, wait until I can repair my engines, & then happily turn around & torp the two oncoming enemy BBs to the bottom of the ocean.

 

We won the game. The "friendly" Isokaze sent me messages in port, telling me what a looser coward disgrace I am.

 

The amount of games (&I have a lot of DD games) where I get basically free access to battleships, over & over & over, because the enemy's cruisers have deserted them--even when they weren't trying to snipe, just, you know, get to a place where they can do something--is... It makes me feel a bit wrong. I keep taking advantage of it, but it's still wrong. & that's not the game's fault. I'm not exploiting game mechanics. I am exploiting people's arrogance & stupidity.

 

PS: Also, it's why I like playing battlecruisers rather than straight battleships. At least you can try to keep up with a YOLO pack of cruisers & try to tip the balance in whatever fight they get into... (as long as it's not straight into the mass of enemy BBs, that is...). Or try to run away if they're being too stupid.