So, Hood owners. Your opinions please?

[Drunken_Jedi]

As the title suggests, how are those of us who purchased the bundle doing... and how would you rate her performance?

 

As ashamed as I am to admit it, I got the top bundle yesterday... I wanted Hood in her clean historical appearance and the top bundle was the only way to achieve that with her flag. Never thought I'd spend that amount of money on a single premium, however as a Brit the Hood has a special place in my heart and I wanted to sail her since the CBT days trolling everyone in my Warspite.

 

I would also like to state, that although I purchased the bundle... I do not condone the use of a staggered release by Wargaming. I was going to get the top package regardless of release date to achieve the look I wanted. Sadly, Wargaming knows this and bleeds us dry for it. My views of the staggered release in other threads still stand.

 

Anyhow, on to the reason why I created this thread in the first place...

 

In the first nine games I played in the Hood, I've found her to be a fast and quite fun ship to play. She's a hell of a tank and with the turret traverse buffs her guns are actually comfortable to play with even if their overall accuracy leaves something to be desired at times. My main problem currently, is the number of non-penetrating hits I'm getting. I know that the Hood uses extremely similar ammunition to the Warspite, in that they are quite heavy shells with a longer time to target than those fired on the IJN and Kreigsmarine BB's.

 

However, despite their weight I'm getting a lot of non-pens even against the sides of broadside on BB's at ranges of <10km. Did Wargaming's alterations to the fuse delay on them skew their performance somehow? Never seen this kind of shell behaviour on other BB's I play.

 

The AA is decent too, and the defensive fire is strong although it doesn't counter torpedo bombers are hard as it does dive bombers. To compare I got dropped by a Hiyru who kept his planes outside the short range of my UP Rockets and met with moderate success due to the size of the ship. The Ranger who tried the same thing didn't fare well, losing about 9 planes in quick succession with only a few hits.

 

Hood's speed is quite something for a BB, I was able to switch flanks and rush back to defend our cap several times which simply wouldn't have been possible on other lines especially in the Colorado!

 

In all, I'm pleased with the ship. If nothing else, she's an absolute BEAUTY and it's easy to see why she was held in such high regard during her peacetime service career. 

 

[Jethro_Grey]

My verdict after playing her quite a bit: a collector's item.

 

She is quite tanky, the short range AA is deadly, though she struggles against TBs.

She gets focused quite often, which can be an advantage when some players ignore everything else just to get the kill on the Hood....ah, the envy! ^^

 

The guns are horrible against cruisers no matter the range as i get overpens, shatters and bounces even against the broadside of an AFK Nurnbergs at 8km.

In all my games in had 2 Citadel hits with her versus cruisers, one was an angled Hipper at 16km, the other cruiser was 15km away and sitting bow in.

The damage against BBs is ok-ish, though inconsistent as even a slight angle results in low damage.

DDs are screwed when hit with AP which is nice, but overall the guns are her biggest weak point.

 

Would i recommend buying the Hood? No. A big loud resounding No.

Unless you are a collector or just have to have the Hood for her historical value, don't buy her and even then wait for the standalone ship unless you need the extras.

If you want a battleship that can perform well, get any of the other BBs from the shop.

Warspite, Arizona, Texas, Scharnhorst and even the Dunkek are way better than the Hood, with better guns that do perform much more consistent and can actually damage cruisers.

 

 

 

[tenacious_torps]

In all my games in had 2 Citadel hits with her versus cruisers, one was an angled Hipper at 16km, the other cruiser was 15km away and sitting bow in.

 

Now, I'm not going to buy her no matter what as a matter of principle by now, but doesn't that suggest that the way to go in the hood is plunging fire?

[Drunken_Jedi]

Why are her shells not penetrating or shattering against broadside targets like that though, they are heavy shells like the Warspites which have strong penetration values. IS the shorter fuse delay screwing with them or something?

[22cm]

I have already opened such a topic in the section Ships/ Battleships: http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/80173-hood-first-impressions/

 

And it already has 3 pages...

[Pekoe_Darjeeling]

I have already opened such a topic in the section Ships/ Battleships: http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/80173-hood-first-impressions/

 

And it already has 3 pages...

 

Your parents must be proud.

[Kosorog]

I agree. Penetration is poor. I'm frustrating trying to citadel any BB or CA. So far - 10 battles, 1 citadel at BB, 2 citadels on CA ( about 5-6 penetration info) on spite of perfect position.  Even no citadel on Kirow or Aoba on 6-7 km. When I had any other BB it would be completely different...

 

What a shame. To get 5 star on "Hunt for Bismack" i get it 5 times faster without Hood. Disapoint. But... AA is very decent. One air raid - 8-9 aircrafts are shoot down.

[22cm]

 

Your parents must be proud.

 

Yes. They give me chocolate and money to buy premium ships.

[Jethro_Grey]

 

Now, I'm not going to buy her no matter what as a matter of principle by now, but doesn't that suggest that the way to go in the hood is plunging fire?

 

I'd say yes, but the guns aren't reliable enough to make this kind of playstyle viable.

 

[G01ngToxicCommand0]

Ship is ok to above average, however it can not carry the average window lickers that play this game.

[Nechrom]

tl;dr - Worse Scharnhorst.

 

Plays a bit like the fast German BBs. Nice speed and rudder shift but bad turning circle.

That aspect alone is enough for me to like her as I enjoy being able to shift around and react to changes in the battle.

As for her other properties... Guns are a bit meh but has decent penetration when they hit.

Armor is really strong against cruiser guns and you'll see a lot of RN CL AP bounce off your flat broadside when they usually do massive damage that way to most other BBs. Versus other BBs her armor isn't a big deal. She can bounce when angled just like any other BB and her citadel is hard to hit but otherwise easy to pen.

AA is very gimmicky with that short range Defensive AA. Give her full AA spec and you can actually do some work with her 100mm guns, but not with other builds.

 

While she's an okay ship I'm constantly reminded that 95% of the time I would be better off in the Scharnhorst. It just does everything better, except being able to pen cruisers from stupid angles due to overmatch.

[tenacious_torps]

 

I'd say yes, but the guns aren't reliable enough to make this kind of playstyle viable.

 

 

Hm... interesting. I'd have suggested that her rather low muzzle velocity makes the average sigma bearable at plunging ranges, but maybe krupp just isn't good enough. 

[mediaman1111]

needs to get the shell pen sorted and the rng is worse than derptz/smark standard ie nearly unplayable. the guns after warspite spoil it for me I like accuracy and this just sucks with shell shatters etc. ive resorted to HE and even tried IFHE in despearation it should play better then this tbh not happy and I never post in here so it must be crap!         

[fallenkezef]

She is surprisingly forgiving of insanity. On weekends, I just go full leeroy Jenkins due to the weekend warriors. I've been dying (meh, I judge performance by how much fun and damage I've done, not how long I can hide and camp) and the Hood has favoured this playstyle scarily well.

[GhostRiderMax123]

I'm quite liking her so far

 

Why are her shells not penetrating or shattering against broadside targets like that though, they are heavy shells like the Warspites which have strong penetration values. IS the shorter fuse delay screwing with them or something?

 

I'm sure I saw something on this forum saying that Hood was not using the same ammo as Warspite?

 

Anyone know about this?

[Vogel]

Hood was using an older type of ammunition than Warspite historically (afaik), and thus has less Krupp ingame (i.e. less penetration power).Can't remember the site where I saw that.

[Nechrom]

I'm quite liking her so far

 

 

I'm sure I saw something on this forum saying that Hood was not using the same ammo as Warspite?

 

Anyone know about this?

 

Hood AP: 2190 krupp and 15m fuse.

Warspite AP: 2330 krupp and 33m fuse.

 

That's the only difference I know of. Not sure if both have the better ricochet angle or only the Hood.

[pUREsTORM]

This is my opinion and observation after 40 or so games.

 

I very much like her and her playstyle. 

 

As much as people have been bitching about her guns (waah 1.8 sigma, etc, etc), I like them more than German 15 inch guns. They feel more consistent. I haven't really had issues penetrating enemy BBs, not really getting many citadels, but I'm penning them pretty reliably. That said, when 90% of BBs in matchmaking are German, I'm usually aiming slightly higher for pens rather than citadels.

 

Her tankiness is very nice. The large HP pool, decent armour when angled, and the special repair party makes for quite the combination. She just soaks up damage. Even with her arguably weak DPM so long as you don't get into close range you can 1v1 other tier 7 BBs by having more HP and healing more AP damage.

 

Her speed is more for getting into position. Once I get into position I usually slow to 1/4 speed and maintain my position; be the rock against which the enemy's wave breaks.

[shockinhockin]

So far iv been finding the ship very capable indeed, fast, handle rather well for its length. Accurate guns at least in finding good AA, large Heath pool.

 

Gererally I'm going well in this ship,

 

Missing the secondaries from warspite tho as hood really doesn't have any.

 

On a shell shatter front iv been having good success with IF HE when facing agled targets. Seems I still have good fire chance and good damaged pening fore and aft platings and then using ap on ca and flat bbs

[22cm]

On a shell shatter front iv been having good success with IF HE when facing agled targets. Seems I still have good fire chance and good damaged pening fore and aft platings and then using ap on ca and flat bbs

 

Are you using IFHE on a 38 cm gun? It can pen 6+ cm armor without IFHE...

[shockinhockin]

Yeah using it on hoods 381 mm main guns as an experiment. Seems to be giving fairly good damage salvos on the angled bbs with the fire also.

 

[Penguin_Sentinel]

Much as I love the ship, the bundle wasn't worth the cash. I STRONGLY dislike the concept of staggered bundle.

 

In my humble opinion, complete with an acknowledged Royal Navy bias;

 

She's a fast, lightly armoured Battlecruiser, but she is NOT the strongest ship in the game by far. Nor should she be.

 

That said, put her with a pair of RN Light Cruisers and there's a potential to do an astounding amount of damage at medium range. The CL's can keep her concealment down and the DD's away while she puts the hurt on Cruisers and BBs.

 

Do I think you should buy it now? No.

Buy it later? Perhaps.

When it's on sale? I don't see why not.

 

[Cosseria]

So, has someone sunk a Bismarck with her already?

[pUREsTORM]

So, has someone sunk a Bismarck with her already?

 

Yes I have. Ironically I haven't been detonated at all, even though I don't have detonation flags equipped.

[Drunken_Jedi]

For lol's I actually equipped the det flag for my first game . Have to say I've been getting mostly tier VII or VIII MM, only a few tier IX game mercifully. 

 

Much as I love the ship, the bundle wasn't worth the cash. I STRONGLY dislike the concept of staggered bundle.

 

In my humble opinion, complete with an acknowledged Royal Navy bias;

 

She's a fast, lightly armoured Battlecruiser, but she is NOT the strongest ship in the game by far. Nor should she be.

 

That said, put her with a pair of RN Light Cruisers and there's a potential to do an astounding amount of damage at medium range. The CL's can keep her concealment down and the DD's away while she puts the hurt on Cruisers and BBs.

 

Do I think you should buy it now? No.

Buy it later? Perhaps.

When it's on sale? I don't see why not.

 

 

It's funny you should mention that. I plan to try and division with some friends in a Belfast and a Fiji at some point and watch the chaos ensue. I imagine it will be quite an effected combo with all that smoke, hydro and radar.