The Albany in Preview

[Hayashio]

The Albany

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Preview hub

Tachi: http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/53816-the-tachibana-in-preview/

Katori: http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/51683-the-katori-in-preview/

Smith: http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/52693-the-smith-in-preview/

 

Hey guys. This time we're looking at the Albany, the second most expensive ship up the line. Now I am aware that many of you may already have the Albany so hang in there, this is for people that are considering getting it over other ships.

Now before we go ahead, I want to clarify that the Albany has a kind of a negative stigma asociated with it. During the closed beta, one could purchase an Albany for 500 Dubloons, making it the cheapest premium ship to get. So why the negative stigma? Well, the Albany back then had a gun range of 6.3 kilometres. Without camo being introduced for visibility, and AFT to increase the gun range, this ship wouldn't be able to shoot targets that could detect it for 2 kilometres. The ship has however received a buff since then. Let's take a closer look.

 

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Pros:

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Guns:

The guns on the Albany are the real deal. It has 6x152mm main armament with the fastest shell speed of all TII ships of this calibre. The shells also have a low trajectory making shooting at citadels very easy.

The ship can fire 4 guns at full broadside at a time, this is due to the placement of the guns. It can also fire up to 3 guns facing forward and backwards, allowing the player to face their opponent and minimize their silhouette. The guns are identical to the ones found on the upgraded Chester, with the key difference being the 1s less reload time for the Chester.

The Albany however gets quite punchy 120mm secondaries, 2 on each side. These a capable of finishing people that get way too close to you, that being 2 kilometres.

The buff to the guns gave it an extra 2.2km of range. This allows it to fire 0.1km after it is detected.

 

Front facing guns

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Concealment:

The Albany comes in second regarding concealment, at 8.6km detection range with it's premium camo, the first place going to the Chester, since this is the closest ship to it statistically. It would only be fair if we put them side by side.

 

The concealment statistics, with and without the premium camo (if you're that kind of a guy)

 

Despite the higher detection range, the Albany has a much smaller profile than the Chester.

 

Chester and Albany Waterline Profile

 

 

 

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Cons:

 

Maneuverability:

Bottom at speed with 20 knots at most

Quite a long rudder shift time of 7.0s

The turning circle is not bad, a solid 350m.

 

Survivability:

It comes in second last in survivabilty with 16300HP.

It has terrible armour 8-38mm, people have the ability to penetrate your armour from the front.

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Conclusion

 

The first impression of the Albany is it being very average. But is there really anything wrong with that? I have had this ship in my port lying around for ages and only recently took it out to try it. Now, let me say this again like with the Katori, I am not really a cruiser player, I like my ships fast and small. Nevertheless I found the Albany quite enjoyable. There are a couple of small things that make this ship good.

      Like before mentioned, the Maneuverability wasn't anything to get excited about. This is very true, the Albany is the slowest cruiser of them all, at TII. The rudder takes ages to shift for a cruiser, remember the Chester get's a 3.8 second shift time and is it's closest comparison. But there is something that makes this ship feel a lot more nimble than the numbers would tell. This is probably due to the good turning circle. At Tier II, the map pool usually encourages closer style combat, so a few knots difference often don't decide the outcome of a match.

    The survivabilty might be the second worst, but we're talking about maybe 1000 or 2000 hitpoints difference. That's 1 or 2 salvoes effectively, if we're looking at an average damage of 500 per hit, unless they're firing AP, which will be hell on the high sea for you if they do. If one plays cleverly this handicap shouldn't be a problem. Above I've talked about the waterline profile of the ship, it sits quite low, therefore it is harder to hit, citadels damaging hits are not a commodity, but don't leave it to chance. You can fire 3 guns from the front, which should allow you to minimize your profile.

    The guns are good enough to deal with a lot of enemies, with the AP you're  able to penetrate TIII battleships' sides. No problems there, the reload swap for a few better secondaries doesn't seem such a good trade, but makes a close quarters expert on the Albany all the more satisfying.

    The AA is terrible, but that doesn't matter, since it'll only be able to shoot down the Katori's catapult fighter anyway.

Fun AA fact

The AA on the Albany are Maxim machine guns pointed at the sky. This was the first ever recoil operated machine gun to be made. It's probably most well known for being in extensive use by the Russian army during the First and Second World War.

 

   All in all, The Albany is a very nice addition to your collection if you haven't done so yet, I'd rank it 3rd place from all the ships available. It's fun to play but is very oridinary, which is no bad thing at all. It definitely plays more cruiserlike than the Katori does. So if you're looking for a ship that does what it should, and doesn't really excel at anything while still managing to stay afloat, give her a try. I am a bit of a sucker for the pre-dreadnought era looking cruisers with the nice white paintjob. If you don't have her, got the diamonds, and are wondering whether to get her or not, I'd say go for it. But I personally wouldn't pick her over the Katori or the Smith.

What do you guys think?

[lafeel]

Actually, for want of anything bigger and better, I have used mine as my primary USN cruiser skipper trainer..

 

Doesn't do too bad in that role at all.

[Hayashio]

Actually, for want of anything bigger and better, I have used mine as my primary USN cruiser skipper trainer..

 

Doesn't do too bad in that role at all.

 

I agree, although the XP yield can't compare to a higher tier premium vessel, the daily 1.5x can go up to 4k for a great match.

[puxflacet]

pros:

shes beautiful

[Trigger_Happy_Dad]

What do you guys think?

 

I think you made another really nice GNB diamond ship preview here. ;)

 

I'd rate the diamond ships like this:

 

1st (best) - Katori

 

2nd - Smith / Tachibana

 

3rd - Albany

 

The Albany is a nice little fun ship, she's just not very strong.... ;)

[Hayashio]

 

I think you made another really nice GNB diamond ship preview here. ;)

 

I'd rate the diamond ships like this:

 

1st (best) - Katori

 

2nd - Smith / Tachibana

 

3rd - Albany

 

The Albany is a nice little fun ship, she's just not very strong.... ;)

 

To be quite honest, I have played the smith a bit today, (preview also coming up) and I have to say it is quite a lot more fun. Sure, the Katori is an awesome ship,  but the Smith is crazy. Collectorwise: 1. Katori, Fun-wise 1. Smith.

[Trigger_Happy_Dad]

 

To be quite honest, I have played the smith a bit today, (preview also coming up) and I have to say it is quite a lot more fun. Sure, the Katori is an awesome ship,  but the Smith is crazy. Collectorwise: 1. Katori, Fun-wise 1. Smith.

 

True. ;)