Search the Community

ST. 0.10.6, new ships - Development blog BETA (worldofwarships.com) This ship is now in testing, and I like the concept....but the tier is wrong. The Oregon City class was an upgrade to the Baltimore Class. The ship that is described in the Dev Blog is at best a side-grade, with worse (non-historical) reload, worse radar range, and worse rudder shift. Plus, it is quite similar to the USS Wichita which is already available for doubloons at T8. Why not make this ship similar to the pre-US cruiser line split USS Baltimore (which was a T9 CA) and make the USS Rochester the first T9 premium non-super cruiser? There are already more than enough T8 premium cruisers already in the game, and certainly too many for the USN with the USS Congress is on its way as well soon. T9 needs non-super cruiser premium ships. Give us a premium CA with a war record at T9. She is a fitting replacement for the recently removed USS Alaska.

The latest season of clan battles reminded of me the total lack of premium T9 non-super cruiser options. I mostly played in USS Alaska, which is not as good as it once was due to the loss of fire prevention. I find it curious that WG has not released any premium non-super cruisers at this tier. I consider T9 tech tree cruisers to be weak for their tier when compared to their T10 successors (e.g. USS Buffalo vs USS Des Moines), unlike several T9 tech tree DDs and even some BBs. In addition, many have some glaring vulnerability (e.g. HMS Drake's rear turret firing angles). Instead of a steady stream of more premium cruisers at T8, or more premium T9 CBs, why not cash in on the considerable pent up demand for balanced premium T9 CAs or CLs? Here are a few ideas based on ships that actually were built: USS Rochester - This ship belonged to the successor to the Baltimore class heavy cruiser, the Oregon City class. It was in service from 1946 to 1961. Here is how to bring the ship to the game: Start with a fully upgraded Baltimore Add a few thousand hit points Add a repair party and upgrade slot 6 (like all T9 cruisers get) Adjust the radar consumable to last 35 s (consistent with other T9 US cruisers) Increase turret rotation speed by 1 degree per second Decrease rudder shift by 0.5 - 1.0 s Slightly improve AA continuous damage to reflect historical AA battery and the better firing angles offered by the smaller super structure of this class Everything else stays virtually identical to the USS Baltimore The cool thing about Rochester is we know WG can balance what would essentially be a T9 Baltimore since that is where the ship was slated prior to the US cruiser CA/CL split. USS Fargo - This ship belonged to the successor to the Cleveland class light cruiser, and was the lead ship of the Fargo class. It was in service from 1945 to 1950. Here is how to bring the ship to the game: Start with a fully upgraded Cleveland Add a few thousand hit points Add a repair party and upgrade slot 6 (like all T9 cruisers get) Adjust the radar consumable to last 35 s (consistent with other T9 US cruisers) Decrease rudder shift by around 0.5 s Improve her concealment by -200 to -300 m Slightly improve AA continuous damage to reflect historical AA battery and the better firing angles offered by the smaller super structure of this class. Her AA should not be quite as strong as USS Seattle's because she did not have a dual purpose main battery. Everything else stays virtually identical to the USS Cleveland I'll do some further research on other historical T9 premium non-super cruisers that could be added to the game. One that comes to mind is the already in development: HMS Tiger. Maybe add HE shells, or a short range hydro and some more hit-points and up-tier her to T9? If anyone has any other cruisers that could fit in this category, historical or not, please share below. Thanks!

Sooo, just came out of this battle. I believe people will notice something is missing . With that fresh example, this brings up the biggest impact the skill rework had, aka the disruption of the class ecosystem. It isn't just Deadeye; it plays its role in attracting BB players as if it will suddenly make them godlike snipers. It's that cruisers aside from a few lighthouse build exceptions got the short end of the stick and it shows while the other surface classes profited quite a bit. Why bother playing a CA/CL? To be target practice, or to stick to a specific playstyle that's just farming damage without any other impact? What's the point to punish myself in a cruiser when I can mimick a CL in a Kleber with 16.3km range, that goes 55 kts and has no citadel? Damage isn't everything, and in the case of cruisers their consumables can have real, meaningful impact on a battle without even firing a shot. Without them around there are no real hard counters to things like vision control of the DDs, nor DPM that can melt a fragile class. And when there are loads of BBs and almost no cruisers around DD populations surge. At that point the greatest enemy of a DD becomes an enemy DD, something which relies heavily on personal skill, something which the average DD player is lacking. Meanwhile aside from that original announcement there is still no info on the specifics of skill tweaks. But hey, at least I got my pound of flesh from the enemy BBs/DDs so everything is fine, there's absolutely no need for changes nor is the situation slowly turning toxic.

There are many topics on the forum that cover cruisers, ATF, battleships hiding, cruiser roles, torpedoes spam, cruisers hiding,aircraft carriers, and teamwork. But the topic of the role of cruisers is one major idea that kind of covers and unites them together. If a forum reader reads through the threads on any of the topics listed above he/she will notice something; in many of these topics a player speaking from the point of view of battleship players will tell the cruiser players that cruisers are a "support" class. So, this question is primary for battleship players, what do you mean by "support"? How do you actually define "support role"? Also take in consideration the play-ability of your definition, enjoyment that cruiser player would have playing by your ideas, and also the take into consideration current game mechanics. P.S. If you are a player that primary plays other classes, or want to speak from the point of view of destroyers, cruisers, or aircraft carriers feel free to speak your own mind on the role of cruisers and the meaning of the idea of "support." Be civil everyone and thank you.

Man

Title says it all. I really enjoy playing my UK Ships, but I find they are really crappy at earning XP and Credits. Why? I just finished a game in my Goliath where it was a decent performance and I barely made any $ and XP. I dropped 101.8 k damage of which like 15k was fire. Not a super game but not horribad. Any idea why when I play my conqueror and goliath the XP and Credits are so garbage. I can land 150k on my conqueror and find myself #6 on scoring and have only a mild credit gain. I netted about 80k this match which is horrible. It feels to me like the scoring does not like Fire / HE and that it favors AP hits when scoring and doling out credits. Is this my imagination?

Finished playing and grinding the Pensacola, was fun, and now I've got the New Orleans and I think I'm doing very poorly with it, I always find myself in T9 matches where I'm very vulnerable with my 25mm armor so I get discouraged to even play it. I've watched videos on how to play the New Orleans and I'm still trying to comprehend them, so while I'm finding help on how to get out of probably my most hated ship right now, how do I play it?

Yorck. It’s not that fun to play, but in the right hands, you are getting over 1.5k FXP per match! Armor protection is generally good, but the ship has a slower turret traverse that can prevent kills at close range along with a long reload and armor that is very prone to citadels and is better off giving broadside than going front-on. The armor can be penetrated by HE at ranges under 10km and if you go to full ahead you will go faster that ur team and get rekt when the BB starts shooting at you. This is my opinion, but Yorck has my rating of GARBAGE! I am glad to go to Hipper because i am a bb/dd player and do not enjoy light armor.

IndexStart and stop times Earning Royal Tokens (Directives, Daily Chains, & Daily Shipments) Spending Royal Tokens (Cmdr, dubs, premium time, flags, camo, & credits) UK CA London and UK CA Cheshire premium ships and the UK CA (heavy cruiser) Tech Tree released Random Token Bundles for Doubloons Updates to Normal Upgrades Start and stop times. Patch 9.1 is scheduled to drop at 8am EST on Wed, Feb 12th. The maintenance window starts at 5am EST. Patch 9.1 is expected to end at 5am EST on Wed, Mar 11th when the maintenance window for 9.2 starts. A new Directive starts each week and ALL Directives end at 2am PST Mon, Mar 9th, so plan on being done by end of day on Sun, Mar 8th. Directive I starts with the patch drop, likely 8am EST, Wed Feb 12th. Directive II starts 5am EST, Mon Feb 17th. Directive III starts 5am EST, Mon Feb 24th. Directive IV starts 5am EST, Mon Mar 2nd. You must complete Dir I, before you can start on Dir II, even if Dir II has started. Daily Chains will have Royal Tokens starting 5am EST, Thu, Feb 13th and will end at 2am PST Mon, Mar 9th. So 25 days from Feb 13th to Mar 8th is the 20 per day between the two Daily Chains for the total of 500 Tokens. Daily Shipments will start at 8am Wed, Feb 12th and end at 2am PST Wed, Feb 26th. So the last day to collect a Daily Shipment is Tue, Feb 25th. To collect all 10 rewards, you have to start collecting by Sun, Feb 16th. Daily Challenge will have Royal Tokens for victories with 3 specific UK CAs starting 5am EST, Wed, Feb 12th and will end at 2am PST Wed, Mar 11th. So 28 days from Feb 12th to Mar 10th is the 10 per day that you can get for a total of 280 Royal Tokens. Earning Royal Tokens (1,380 total available, but only 1,100 total available if you do not have T8 Albemarle tech tree ship and/or the T6 London premium ship) You will be able to earn Royal Tokens in the Directives, Daily Chains, Daily Challenges and Daily Shipments only during 9.1. You will be able to spend the Tokens in Armory from 9.1 through 9.2. When 9.3 drops they will be converted to credits. So 9.3 is scheduled for Wed, Apr 8th currently and Royal Tokens will be converted at the rate of 1 for 9,000 credits when that patch drops. Directives (550 total Royal Tokens) There will be 4 Directives with one coming out each week. Each Directive will likely have 8-10 Missions (36 total) and you will likely need to complete 5-7 Missions to complete a Directive. There will be 550 Royal Tokens in the Directives. Note the underlined sentence in the screenshot below. It probably means that the Missions to complete each Directive may have Nation, Ship Type, and/or Tier restrictions to complete the mission. So do not be surprised if you get a mission for torp hits on DDs by one particular nation, secondary hits by BBs of a particular nation, bomb hits by a carrier of a particular nation, or something else similar. Those with fleets of a few to one nations and/or ship types may have problems completing Missions for the Directives. We will not find out the Mission details until the patch drops on Wed, Feb 12th. A new Directive starts each week and ALL Directives end at 2am PST Mon, Mar 9th. Directive I starts with the patch drop, 8am EST, Wed Feb 12th. Complete 4 of the 9 Missions to complete the Directive and the reward is 100 Royal Tokens. Directive II starts 5am EST, Mon Feb 17th. Complete 4 of the 9 Missions to complete the Directive and the reward is 150 Royal Tokens. Directive III starts 5am EST, Mon Feb 24th. Complete 4 of the 9 Missions to complete the Directive and the reward is 150 Royal Tokens. Directive IV starts 5am EST, Mon Mar 2nd. Complete 4 of the 9 Missions to complete the Directive and the reward is 150 Royal Tokens, the T6 premium ship London, a Victorian White perma-camo for London, a port slot, and a 3 pt Cmdr. You must complete Dir I, before you can start on Dir II, even if Dir II has started. Daily Chains (500 total Royal Tokens) The Daily Chains from Thu, Feb 13th through Wed, Mar 9th will have a TOTAL of 500 Royal Tokens. That is 25 days of Daily Chains with 20 Royal Tokens per day which would be 10 per Daily Chain that day. We do not know if you get Tokens for each task in the chain or only for completing each of the two chains. We will get that detail on Thu, Feb 13th. You get 2 Royal Tokens for each stage and 4 Royal Tokens for completing a Daily Chain. So each Chain is 10 Tokens and both in a day are 20 Tokens. Daily Shipments (50 total Royal Tokens) The Daily shipments run from Wed, Feb 12th through Tue, Feb 25th. If you want to collect all the Daily Shipment, you have to start by Sun, Feb 16th at the latest. To collect a Daily Shipment, you need to log into the game and go to the Daily Shipments tab to click and collect your Shipment for that day. You can set the Shipments tab to come up automatically when you log into the game in the Shipment tab. Shipments Rewards are below. 1st - 3x Union Jack one-use camouflages 2nd - 50,000 credits 3rd - 10 Royal Tokens 4th - 3x Union Jack one-use camouflages 5th - 50,000 credits 6th - 10 Royal Tokens 7th - 1 day of Warships Premium Account 8th - 10 Royal Tokens 9th - 50 doubloons 10th - 20 Royal Tokens You can buy Royal Tokens in the Random Bundles that will be in the Armory for 9.1 and 9.2 patches. See the dedicated Random Bundles section below. Daily Challenges (280 total Royal Tokens) There will be Daily Challenges (2nd option under the Combat Missions tab in port) for the T8 CA Ablemarle tech tree ship, T8 CA Cheshire premium ship (end of Feb release) and T6 CA London premium ship (likely patch day release). You can get up to 10 Tokens per day for a victory in those those 3 ships (not each ship). So 10 Royal Tokens for one victory in one of those ships. The T6 London will likely cost between $20 and $24 for the ship itself and there will almost certainly be bigger bundles of stuff available. The T8 Cheshire will likely cost between $44 and $48 for the ship itself and there will almost certainly be bigger bundles of stuff available. The T8 Ablemarle will change from early access to Tech Tree ship this patch. So you will be able to grind it like any other tech tree ship after the patch drops on Wed, Feb 12th. Spending Royal Tokens NOTE: IF you want to get the UK Cmdr Andrew Cunningham for Royal Tokens, he will cost 1,000 of the 'free' total of 1,380 Royal Tokens. So hoard your Tokens if you want the Cmdr. He will come back in the Armory for coal in patch 9.7, which is likely late July to Aug as a SWAG. You will need to complete ALL 4 Directives and get most of the Daily Chains to get the 1,000 Royal Tokens you will need. There will be Random Bundles you can buy for doubloons that will have camo, flags and Royal Tokens, see more below in that dedicated section. You can spend Royal Tokens in patches 9.1 and 9.2, but can only earn 'free' Royal Tokens in patch 9.1. In patch 9.2, you will still be able to buy the Random Bundles for doubloons that will have Royal Tokens. The time to spend Royal Tokens is scheduled to be from Wed, Feb 12th to likely Wed, Apr 8th. When patch 9.3 drops, on what is scheduled to be Wed, Apr 8th, any left over Royal Tokens will be converted to credits at the rate of 1 to 9,000 credits.  The big item to spend Royal Tokens on is the UK Cmdr Andrew Cunningham who will have the following special bonuses and talents. You can buy the following with Royal Tokens in the Armory from Wed, Feb 12th to very early morning likely Wed, Apr 8th: 1,000 Royal Tokens = UK Cmdr Andrew Cunningham 140 Royal Tokens = 200 Doubloons 70 Royal Tokens = 1 day WoWs premium time 50 Royal Tokens = 450,000 credits (NOTE: this is the same as waiting for them to be converted on Apr 8th.) 10 Royal Tokens = 1 Union Jack one-use camouflages 84 Royal Tokens = 10 Victor Lima signal flags (+0.5/1% causing fire bonus and +4% causing flooding bonus) 40 Royal Tokens = 10 Sierra Mike signal flags (+5% to ship's max speed) 40 Royal Tokens = 10 India Delta signal flags (+20% to the amount of HP recoved from Repair Party) 32 Royal Tokens = 10 India Yankee signal flags (-20% to fire duration) 32 Royal Tokens = 10 Juliet Charlie signal flags (-100% detonation chance, still 0% if you mount flags with a det chance) 32 Royal Tokens = 10 November Foxtrot signal flags (-5% reload on comsumables, stacks with Jack of All Trades) UK Premium ships and Tech Tree ships The UK CA London will be the reward for completing the 4th Directive in patch 9.1. The premium ship will come with a port slot, Victorian White perma-camo, and a 3pt Cmdr. It may or may not have the Type 10 premium ship perma-camo and my guess is that it will not get that normal perma-camo. You will need to complete the 4th Directive by 2am PST Mon, Mar 9th, so plan on being done by the EOD Sun, Mar 8th. If you buy the premium ship before earning it, you will get doubloon compensation, but the amount has yet to be disclosed. A guess would be 4,850 to 5,800 doubloons, but this is only a guess. The T6 London will likely go on sale in the premium shop on Wed, Feb 12th for around $20 and $24 for the ship itself and there will almost certainly be bigger bundles of stuff available. London leaves the premium shop at 2am PST Friday, March 13th. So if you want to purchase it, buy it by EOD on Thursday, March 12th. The T8 Cheshire will go on sale in late Feb and likely cost between $44 and $48 for the ship itself and there will almost certainly be bigger bundles of stuff available. Cheshire is on sale as of February 28th and leaves the premium shop at 2am PST Friday, March 13th. So if you want to purchase it, buy it by EOD on Thursday, March 12th. $45.20 for the ship, $78 for the mid-bundle, and $90 for the big bundle. UK CA Tech Tree ships The Early Access T5 Hawkins, T6 Devonshire, T7 Surrey, and T8 Albemarle will become tech tree ships as the full UK CA split is dropping. Any Cmdrs NOT trained for the early access ships will need to undergo training once the ships are tech tree ships, like normal tech tree ships. The UK CA line will branch off of the Emerald or Danae CL and run to the T10 Goliath. Random Bundles (1,920 total Royal Tokens) There will be Random Bundles you can buy in the Armory for 1,000 doubloons each. There will be 48 total bundles and 6 Bundles in each category. You will be offered one bundle and if you buy it, you will then be offered another bundle. Since there are only 6 Bundles in each category, you can only get a bundle six times. The bundles have 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Draconic signals, 10 combat signals and 40 Royal Tokens. The breakdown is below. 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Dragon signals, 10 Sierra Mike signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Wyvern signals, 10 India Yankee signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Red Dragon signals, 10 Juliet Charlie signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Ouroboros signals, 10 November Foxtrot signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Hydra signals, 10 India Delta signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Basilisk signals, 10 Victor Lima signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Scylla signals, 10 Mike Yankee Soxisix signals, and 40 Royal Tokens 6 Union Jack one-use camos, 6 Leviathan signals, 10 November Echo Setteseven signals, and 40 Royal Tokens https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Flags Updates to Upgrades Normal upgrades in slots 2 through 5 are being changed and added to. Here are the details. Free demounting of modules until very early morning Thu, Feb 20th, so make sure to get all your upgrades set by EOD on Wed, Feb 19th. Articles referenced British Cruisers: Obtain Cruiser London https://worldofwarships.com/en/news/game-updates/british-cruisers-london/ Patch Notes: https://worldofwarships.com/en/news/game-updates/update-091-british-cruisers-part2/ Premium shop: https://worldofwarships.com/en/news/sales-and-events/premium-shop-091/ Edits 0837 Tue, Feb 11th added Upgrades section Wed, Feb 12th Directives, Daily Challenges, etc. Multiple updates today 1010 Thu, Feb 13th Daily Chains and free module demount time 1306 Fri, Feb 28th premium ships

I think it can be done. Though, WG would need to think of an exclusive gimmick. Thoughts?

I would like to commend Yuzorah for posted the article of the new Soviet VMF light & heavy cruisers recently: https://thedailybounce.net/world-of-warships/world-of-warships-the-russian-cruisers-line-split/ I thank him for sparing me the trouble from making a long article, which I'll save it for my other articles in the future. Still, I would like to help making an introspective to complete the circle. Tier V - Kotovsky appears to be, from my knowledge, is possibly an overhauled light cruiser Admiral Butakov of the Svetlana-class (which was incomplete prior to the Russian Civil War). Largely based on Project 78 training cruiser modernization & refit plan, in addition to the Project MK-4 prior to Project 94 Budyonny development & postwar Project MLK-series design studies, particularly the 4 x 2 -152mm MK-4 twin guns. Данные Проект МК-3 МК-4 МК-5 МК-6 Проект 94 по ОТЗ июня 1940 Проект 94 по ОТЗ декабря 1940 Дата — 2 апреля 1940 — 20 марта 1941 Июнь 1940 Декабрь 1940 Водоизмещение 7760 8000 8130 7800 7500 8200 Главный калибр 3х2 152 мм 3х2 152 мм 3х2 152 мм 5х2 130 мм 3х2 152 мм 3х3 152 мм So instead of the 130mm B-2LM turrets, the 152mm MK-4 turrets are selected in place of them. Alexander Nevsky is indeed the Project 84 air defence cruiser. The namesake is befitting for Tier X, given Alexander Nevsky was made a saint in Russian history & is considered as one of the most respectable men among the Russian people with high esteem. Besides, I like how WG devs opted for two SM-48 twin DP gun turrets on the aft of Borodino in place of the nonexistent single quad DP gun turret as shown in the draft blueprint (sensible choice). Just in case if anyone has yet to know what is Borodino & which project she came from, Borodino is, in actuality, the Project TsNII-45 small battleship - Variant III+III-3 Tallinn is indeed an ex-German Hipper-class heavy cruiser Lutzow, and she was formerly Petropavlovsk before renamed to Tallinn after raised from sinking. This Tallinn was, in actuality, to be officially retrofitted under Project 83-K. But it seems like Tallinn is given Kirov's MK-3-180 main gun turrets instead of the supposedly Chapayev's 152mm MK-5 triple gun turrets as originally planned for Pr. 83-K. 4 x 3 – 152mm/57 MK-5 triple gun turrets 6 x 2 – 100mm/70 SM-5-1 twin DP gun turrets 3 x 4 – 45mm/78 SM-20-ZIF quad heavy AA gun mounts 6 x 4 – 25mm/79 4M-120 quad light AA gun mounts I'm not entirely clear about both Riga & Petropavlovsk. But the one thing is certain to me, is that both Riga & Petropavlovsk are supposedly representing a direct parallel to Project 69 - Kronshtadt & Project 82 - Stalingrad. Whilst Petropavlovsk is possibly the Variant III of the Pr. 82 development before it officially laid down as Stalingrad with more modern 305mm main guns, Riga could likely be Project 22 heavy cruiser/battlecruiser that was later cancelled & carried forward to the development of Pr. 69 - Kronshtadt. Other source suggested that Pr. 22 was later picked up for studies to develop Pr. 66 - Moskva. (I sense a slight discrepancy in regards to the fate of Pr. 22) In addition, with Nevsky announced to be the top tier AACL, I got the feeling that Dimitri Donskoy could as well receive a 152mm BL-118 triple DP gun turrets upgrade to keep in the line with the general trend of Tier IX & X being an AACLs like USN's Seattle & Worcester, as well as RN's Neptune & Minotaur.

Saw a German(I think) premium a week ago, couldn't find anything through using a search engine or browsing the WOWS wiki. It's either a Cruiser or a BB. Name ingame was displayed as A. Marke or E. Merke or something like that, and I think it was German from the name. Yes I know this is pretty vague, that's exactly why I am bringing it to the forum. Anyone know what it is? I just want to be able to check out the stats and description.

Out of curiosity, has anyone actually run Inertial Fuzes for High Explosives (IFHE) on 203mm guns, and is there any noticeable benefit to doing so? I'm asking because 0.8.2 is around the corner, and I'm considering specializing one of my Exeter captains toward brawling. You see, I play hyperaggressively with Exeter and often end matches with 15+ Secondary Battery Hit ribbons for ~400 damage. Most of the damage I deal with secondaries is against BB superstructures, and IFHE would open up penetration of 102mm secondaries to a much wider surface area on several ships from Tiers 4 through 7, BBs and CLs alike. My current captain focuses heavily on tracking enemy DDs and predicting torpedo attacks: While the extra heal from Superintendent is nice, I find that I rarely (if ever) have cause to use it (I run Damage Control Party II, Repair Party II, and Hydroacoustic Search II), and my aggressive play style means Radio Location is generally pointed straight at the nearest visible enemy - not exactly the most useful. At best, RPF is helpful late-game when hunting for the last DD or CV hiding out on the fringes of the map. Which brings me back to the question: does the 42mm penetration matter at all, or should I get AFT instead with this build: Note: The extra flak from AFT is of little importance to me because I still think flak relies too heavily on OpFor CVs' misplays to deal damage. I'm also considering keeping RPF, but again, it feels like it's not super relevant the way I play Exeter. (I'd never consider taking it off of more "conservative" cruisers like Furutaka or Aoba, though.)

Exeter, I'm taking back everything negative about you that I've said with one exception: your 8.4-second rudder shift is still horrendous. Note: I accidentally used my 10-point Bert Dunkirk with DCF, LS, BFT, and CE rather than my 19-point Jack Dunkirk. Oops. 20190331_212705_PBSC505-Exeter_04_Archipelago.wowsreplay

USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) "Longest Ship in the World" Tier VIII American Heavy Cruiser Haven't you ever checked the premium shop, looking for a special and unique ship, only to find that it's littered with South Dakotas, a Bismarck with torpedoes, a down tiered Amagi, and two of the exact same light cruiser (except for one is Argentinian)?* Well I'm here to fix that problem! Well, hopefully. I'm here to bring a ship so unique that it probably won't ever be considered by WarGaming, or by anyone reading. This ship is an absolute crazy idea, but I think it is fantastic. None of what I am about to post is completely serious, however. So please, sit back, and enjoy the crazy train wreck that will probably occur with...PITTSBURGH! * This was not meant to be a stab at WeeGee, just merely poking fun And yes, I do know WG is making the Wichita. History/Background USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) is a Baltimore Class heavy cruiser that was commissioned in October of 1944. She was originally supposed to be named USS Albany, but, I have not found out why her name was changed. She served exclusively in the Pacific Theater throughout World War II. She participated in the battle for Iwo Jima and Okinawa, providing anti-aircraft support to carriers. During the Battle for Iwo Jima, she along with the light cruiser Santa Fe actually pulled the USS Franklin, an Essex Class carrier, to safety as the carrier burned from a Japanese air raid that had occurred earlier that morning. She saved 34 United States sailors from the waters after Franklin had been attacked and saved the carrier from being attacked furthermore, which would undoubtedly have caused her to sink to the ocean floor. Less than two months after guarding carriers during the battle for Okinawa, she was caught by Typhoon Connie and famously had her bow ripped off. She was able to return to Guam under her own power and not a single sailor was lost. She was given the nickname "Longest Ship in the World" because, as the USS Pittsburgh sat in Puget Sound being repaired, her bow was thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean. While she continued to serve in the United States Navy until 1956, she was mainly used for cruises throughout the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean. She received two battle stars for her service in World War II. Statistics Displacement/HP HP - 36500 While she was a Baltimore class, which in game is represented with 42400 HP, the Pittsburgh lost her entire bow. As many of you know, ship HP is determined from its displacement/tonnage, and therefore, the Pittsburgh has less HP than its sister. Concealment Surface Detectability - 12.6 km Air Detectability - 9.06 km Nothing changes here in comparison to the Baltimore. When given the concealment module and having a captain with concealment expert, this ship can be quite stealthy. Maneuverability Maximum Speed - 32.5 knots Turning Circle - 730m Rudder Shift - 7.8 seconds As with concealment, the Pittsburgh doesn't change from the Baltimore. While it isn't incredibly sluggish, it's not the greatest either. Main Battery 3 x 3 203mm/55 Mk15 Reload - 10 seconds RoF - 6 shots/minute Range - 15.83 km 180 Degree Turn Time - 30 seconds Maximum Dispersion - 132 m Sigma - 2.05 HE HE Alpha - 2800 Fire Chance - 14% Shell Velocity - 823 m/s AP AP Alpha - 5000 Shell Velocity - 762 m/s IS/SS Fire Chance - 5% Duration - 15 seconds Spotting Range - .2 km Shell Velocity - 680 m/s The Pittsburgh still has the same values as the Baltimore for gun performance. However, the Pittsburgh has a little trick up her sleeve. The Pittsburgh has access to the IS (or SS) shell. IS stands for Illuminating Starshell, or SS for just Star Shell. These illuminating rounds would be able to spot ships that were located in smoke or ships in cyclones. The round would have an action time of 15 seconds, enough for the Pittsburgh to fire off a single salvo before losing sight of the enemy ship. With a spotting range of only .2 km, the Pittsburgh captain would have to have very precise aim in order to illuminate the enemy ship. If a ship was hit by the IS/SS round, it would not cause any damage to the ship. The round was made up of white phosphorous after all. It would have a 5% fire chance because white phosphorous is pretty nasty stuff that catches fire quite easily. The IS/SS round is much lighter than the HE or AP rounds used by the Baltimore, and therefore, would have a horrendous initial velocity. In real life, the illuminating starshell round had a much shorter range than traditional ammunition, however, I highly doubt players would be able to successfully illuminate targets that they can't already see at ranges beyond 6 km. Historically, American cruisers did perform these roles, however, they mostly shot starshells at icebergs in the North Atlantic. While I do not know if they were ever fired out of main battery guns, I do know they were fired out of the 5" secondary batteries. However, WeeGee has yet to implement player controlled secondaries, so, we cannot be 100% historically accurate. Secondary Battery 6 x 2 127mm/38 Mk32 Reload - 6 seconds RoF - 10 shots/minute Range - 5 km HE HE Alpha - 1800 Fire Chance - 5% Shell Velocity - 792 m/s Unchanged from the Baltimore. These 5" secondaries are used all throughout the mid-high tier USN cruisers. They are nothing special but are pretty good for AA. Anti-Aircraft Defense 6 x 2 127mm/38 Mk32 Range - 5 km DPS - 91 23 x 1 20mm Oerlikon Mk4 Range - 2 km DPS - 83 12 x 4 40mm Bofors Mk2 Range - 3.5 km DPS - 191 The AA suite is nothing to scoff at, and if used in conjunction with captain perks and AA modules, can be quite fearsome. This is unchanged from the Baltimore. Armor Belt - 152mm Turrets - 38-203mm Universal - 27mm Unchanged from the Baltimore. The Pittsburgh can reliably bounce 15" guns when angled. Her belt is great for Tier VIII cruisers. Miscellaneous So, that's all? It's just a Baltimore with worse HP and a new ammunition type? Of course not! That's silly. This ship has more gimmicks than that! In fact, it has more gimmicks than the Conqueror! (Well, that's a bit of a stretch...) Torpedoes No, the Pittsburgh doesn't have any torpedoes, but... Torpedo Reduction - 0% Yes, the Pittsburgh eats full torpedo damage. The reason behind this is that she was built with poor plate welds, and if a typhoon can rip her entire bow off, I don't think she's stopping a torpedo. Flooding - 0% Yes, you read that correctly. The Pittsburgh does not take ANY flooding damage. Whether this be from torpedoes, both ship or aircraft launched, or from ramming. The Pittsburgh might eat 100% torpedo damage, however, she does not flood. Cyclones/Severe Weather You knew I had to include a gimmick concerning cyclones! The Pittsburgh is a beast in cyclones. Her crew has experience with Typhoon Connie, so now, they're ready for whatever Mother Nature throws her way. Pittsburgh has access to radar, like the Baltimore, and a new illuminating starshell. However, that's not all. During cyclones, Pittsburgh's spotting range is only hampered to 10 km. She can outspot everyone else by 2 km in the worst conditions. Pittsburgh is not hampered during cyclones or thunderstorms concerning dispersion and retains her 2.05 sigma and 132m dispersion. Modules/Consumables As for modules, she is like every other Tier VIII ship. No Arkansas Beta here. As for consumables, there isn't much special either. Slot 1 - Damage Control Party Slot 2 - Defensive AA or Hydroacoustic Search Slot 3 - Surveillance Radar or Repair Party Her consumables remain the same as Baltimore, but with one exception. During Typhoon Connie, the Pittsburgh actually lost her catapult aircraft, and so, I translated that into WoWS. She has no catapult fighter, but instead, Repair Party! She was able to sail all the way back to Guam without a bow, so, I think she rightfully deserves a repair party. There is nothing gimmicky with the Repair Party. It is your standard repair party that you see with the Buffalo and Des Moines. Overall Performance Pros Some of the best armor for Tier VIII cruisers American "Super-heavy" AP shells Fantastic AA AB-X turret layout Can shoot over islands 27 mm universal plating that can bounce 15" shells when angled Long lasting radar Good concealment New illumination round Takes no flooding damage Outspots all enemy ships in cyclones and loses no dispersion in severe weather Cons Less HP than Baltimore Takes full torpedo damage Vulnerable citadel Definitely not the most maneuverable ship High shell arcs and long travel time are easy to dodge and are harder to aim No torpedoes Playstyle Pittsburgh would play very similarly to the current Baltimore. With the amazing US "Super-heavy" AP, she would punish enemy cruisers and battleships. Her concealment is very good when fully spec'd. She would spend a lot of time lobbing shells over islands. Her radar and illuminating shells would allow her to be a potent DD killer, however, she takes full torpedo damage. Her AA is great, like all high tier American cruisers and would play great in a carrier division. Her consumables are great and make her a capable support ship. All in all, she's meant to be played as a support ship that pushes capture points, but also spends time lobbing shells over islands. She's a DD killer, but isn't immune to them. Pittsburgh becomes a beast in cyclones and can easily pick and choose which fight to take in severe weather. Closing Statement The USS Pittsburgh is quite a gimmicky ship, but she is very unique. She is a jack of all trades kind of ship, however, she is best suited in killing destroyers and punishing broadside cruisers. She is not idiot proof and can be punished. She can defend herself, but is excellent when paired in a division with a CV or DD (or both!). She is a monster when tested with mother nature's fury. However, her lack of HP in comparison to her sister Baltimore leaves a lot less room for error. She would be popular among cruiser and possibly destroyer players, however, her low HP and short(er) ranged guns with slow travel time might not appeal to battleship mains. Thank you for taking the time to read my proposal for this American Tier VIII Heavy Cruiser. All feedback is welcome. This proposal is not entirely serious and should be taken half-heartedly. I understand that WeeGee is developing a future Tier VIII USN CA, Wichita, but I think this ship is a bit more unique. - Thank you for reading, Providences Apparently, this is the USS Pittsburgh in Typhoon Connie Works Cited

Got a Santa crate from the PEF directive and got the Perth. Really know nothing about the ship as I just got it a minute ago... :)

Austro-Hungarian Cruisers Intro: Quite some time ago, I made a short, rather scantly detailed thread on Austrian battleship and battlecruiser designs which can be found here: In this new thread, I intend to take a deeper look at Austrian cruisers and how they might fit into World of Warships. As with other of my threads, this one will be built up over time and will have new ships and sections added. I will be using a mix of sources including NavWeaps.com, Navypedia, and the book "Austro-Hungarian Cruisers and Destroyers 1914 -18" by Ryan K. Noppen. Without further delay, lets dive in. When calculating HP, I will be using Fr05ty's formulas. Protected Cruisers: Kaiser Franz Joseph I History: Austria Hungary, having been expanding its navy for a number of years on an incredibly limited budget encountered an issue in the late 1880s. On a very limited budget it was difficult to build a sufficient number of vessels with large caliber guns to be able to challenge Italian and other forces in the Adriatic. Admiral Maximilian von Sterneck, one of the leading naval minds in Austria at the time believed Austria would be best served to instead focus on a coastal force of inexpensive torpedo boats supported by small but well armed coastal battleships. Sterneck, after the ordering of two coastal battleships in 1884 cost more than two years of the navy's annual budget, turned to producing large, steel hulled cruisers with as large guns as possible at a minimal cost. This lead in 1887 and 1888, to the ordering of two Torpedorammenkreuzern (Torpedo Ram Cruisers, named as such as Sterneck, being a fan of the tactics used by Austria at the Battle of Lissa in 1866, still believed ramming to be a viable tactic). By the time of the turn of the century, it was clear that this idea was hopelessly behind the times, and the navy was left with two cruisers which would be of little use in a modern war. Thankfully for the Austrians, they were able to modernize the two cruisers (named Kaiser Franz Joesph I and Kaiserin Elisabeth) to more useful forms in 1905-1906. Regardless, what had been designed as "battleships of the future" became jokingly known as "Sternecks Sardinenbüchsen" or "Sterneck's Sardine Cans." Aside from the history of the design, the two ships actually made a fairly great impact on history. Franz Ferdinand circumnavigated the world aboard Kaiserin Elisabeth, and some historians credit this as being one of the reasons for his liberal, unitary, and navy-friendly policies. Kaiserin Elisabeth was also one of the European ships that assisted in putting down the Boxer Rebellion. Kaiserin Elisabeth was the only proper Austrian warship caught outside the Aidriatic Sea when the First World War began, and participated in the Siege of Tsingtao alongside German forces before being scuttled. Design: As originally designed, Franz Joesph displaced 3967 tons standard and 4494 tons at full load. She had a length of 103.7m and a beam of 14.73m She could achieve a speed of about 20 knots with around 8000 shaft horsepower. (My book source states 19kn, but wikipedia and Navypedia state 19.65-20kn for her top speed) Her primary armament consisted of two 240mm SK L/35 C86 guns in two single turrets- one fore and one aft. These originally had a rather unreliable hydraulic training system. On top of this, they had an abysmal muzzle velocity of only 600 meters per second, and a low rate of fire at only 2rpm. Her secondary armament consisted of six 150mm SK L/35 guns. These were mounted in casemates amidships in the hull, as was typical for her era. These fired a 40kg shell at 800 meters per second. Vertical traverse was -7 to +20 degrees, and the horizontal traverse was + and - 150 degrees. HE filler for the HE shells ranged from 1.6kg to 3kg. Her Tertiary armament consisted of four above-water 400mm torpedo tubes (one fore, one aft, and one to each beam) and 16 47mm L/44 Skoda guns. She also had two 66mm L/15 Skoda landing guns. After the 1905-06 refits, she had a changed primary armament: two 150mm SK/L40 guns in electrically traversed turrets replaced her antiquated 240mm guns. These were essentially the same gun as her secondaries, but a tad newer and with a longer barrel. Her secondaries were moved from the casemates to the Deck, where they had improved coverage and were less effected by sea conditions. Her Tertiary armament also changed: four 47mm L/44 guns were removed and replaced with four 47mm L/33 Hotchkiss AA guns. She retained her remaining 12 Skoda guns and her torpedo tubes though. Also of note, Kaiser Joseph I featured a ram bow. Her armor was as follows: She had an armored deck that was 38mm thick, but in the slanted areas this was effectively 57mm thick. Her conning tower was protected by 50mm of armor. (though some sources suggest this was up to 90, the more reliable sources I have suggest 50mm). Her 150mm gun mounts had gun shields that tapered from 90mm to 50mm thick. Finally, she had a 57mm thick belt In-Game: In Game, the Franz Joseph I Class's original form would be both out of date and difficult to play with only two main guns to work with. However, her updated form could function as a low tier cruiser with some solid hitting power if all her 150mm guns were considered her main battery. This is not without precident, as the battleship Kawachi had main guns of varying lengths in reality, but they function as one battery in World of Warships. Though her main battery would be eight 150mm guns, she would have a rather slow reload. I find the NavWeaps number of 4-5rpm to be a bit suspect for these guns, but even in a best case scenario I doubt these guns would even make 10rpm due to their age. In the post refit deck mountings, I'd expect their rate of fire to be similar to the 152mm guns used by the Albany in game (figure an 8-10sec reload). That being said, unlike Albany she could train up to five guns on a single target, whereas Albany can at best train four. Her torpedoes, though above water, are fixed, and so they would not be used in game. Her tertiary battery of 47mm guns are smaller than any represented in game, and as such would not be used. She might have some token AA power with the four 47mm/L33 guns though. Her speed is comparable to Albany's, but her armor is largely better. Her belt, though thin is still over three times as thick as Albany's 16mm and her citadel is better protected. Also unlike Albany she features an armored deck thick enough to stop most HE at tier 2 and 3. She displaces 500 tons more than Albany even at standard load, so she'd have a fair bit more HP as well. At Standard Load, Franz Joseph I would have 17250 hp, about 750hp more than Albany or just 150hp more than Emden. At full load she would have 18232 hp, just about 1750 more hp than Albany or 1132 hp more than Emden. In essence, she'd play like a beefier, but more methodical Albany. She has more main guns to play with, but no meme-worthy secondaries, minimal to no AA, and a quite slow rate of fire. She also sacrifices a tiny amount of shell diameter. SMS Zenta: History: SMS Zenta and her sisters were the last class of protected cruisers produced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They were smaller, lighter, and faster than the older Kaiser Joseph I class, and were intended to show the Austro-Hungarian flag around the world, much like the American White Fleet had been doing at the time for the US. The class of three ships were all commissioned from 1899-1901. That being said, they were quickly outmoded by ships like the Dresden class, which were a good few knots faster and with more, if slightly smaller guns. Regardless, Zenta and her crew fought admirably in the Boxer Rebellion and in the First World War. Zenta was sunk during the Battle of Antivari as she allowed the destroyer SMS Ulan to escape. Her sisters survived the war to become prizes of war for the British. Design: As mentioned above, Zenta and the rest of her class were designed as lighter, more modern protected cruisers to replace Sterneck's Sardine Cans. They were faster by up to two knots, and featured a more modern (though lighter) homogeneous main armament. Zenta displaced 2503 long tons at a full combat load. She had a length of 96.88m and a beam of 10.52m. She achieved a maximum trial speed of 21.87 knots, though the average was 20.8 knots. Her primary armament consisted of eight 120mm SK L/40 Skoda guns in eight single mounts. Two were in single mounts fore and aft, and the other six were in hull casemates. (Information on these exact guns seems to be scarce so any help would be appreciated). She also had two above water 450mm torpedo tubes, and a set of eight 47mm Skoda L/44 guns. These torpedoes were in fixed mounts as far as I'm aware, and would not factor into her armament. For potential AA, she had two 8mm M1893 Slavator-Dominus machine guns, but these seem to have been in carrages for use by the landing party, not actually mounted in fixed positions on the ship itself. Her armor was rather lacking, with the thickest protection being the 50mm armored deck (and this was composed of a double layer of 25mm thick plates, so the effective thickness is less). She has no belt armor at all, and her gun shields and casemates are only 45mm and 35mm thick respectively. In Game: I'd place Zenta as low as tier 1 or 2. While newer than the Kaiser Joesph I, she has small guns, thin armor, and is still barely faster than her predecessor- even when giving her the fastest trial speed. She'd be slower than Emden and Chester, but faster than Albany. That being said, she has an awkward gun arrangement and low displacement. Thus, she would be thinly protected and have a low HP pool- lower than even Emden. At a standard displacement she'd have 14522 hp, almost 3000 less than Emden. This makes tiering her difficult as with that much HP, it may be difficult to place her as a tier 1 (she'd have more than twice Hashidate's health pool), but she's a bit on the weak side for tier 2- low on hitting power and durability. Light And Scout Cruisers: Monfalcone No.64 Small Light Cruiser History: The Chinese Government, following the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 found itself in need of a modern navy to better protect itself. As a result, the Chinese shopped around and placed orders with a number of European shipyards. One such yard was the CNT in Monfalcone, Trieste, which was then a part of Austria Hungary. There were a number of cruiser designs offered and that were sent back and forth between the Chinese and the CNT (Skoda was also involved in the process. Eventually, the Chinese settled for ordering three 1800 ton light cruisers. However, by the time construction had begun, the war broke out shortly after. As a result, none of the Chinese cruisers were completed, though the Austrians intended to complete one of the designs for their own use. When the Empire broke up, and Czechoslovakia was left with the yards, they offered to complete the ships for the Chinese, but due to a budgetary crisis, this did not occur. All the ships that had begun construction were scrapped. Design: Here, things get a tad difficult as there were a number of designs floated between Skoda and the Chinese. In this case, I will discuss the last Skoda suggested version of the design. The Skoda proposed design had a displacement of 1800 tons. It would have had a length of 106 meters and a beam of 10.9 meters. With 12,500 horsepower, it was to be capable of a speed of 24.5 knots. Her armor was to consist of a 20mm deck, and a 60mm conning tower. Thickness of the gun shields is unknown. Primary armament was to be four 150mm Skoda K/10 guns in two twin turrets. These fired at a rate of 6RPM, making her total broadside shell output 24RPM. Secondaries were to consist of eight 66mm Skoda L/50s. These were duel purpose guns, and fired at 15-20RPM. Tertiary armament was to be four 47mm L/33 Hotchkiss guns and two single 450mm torpedo tubes. In Game: Using the standard cruiser formula, the Monfalcone No 64 design would have 13213 HP. This is at a strange midpoint between most tier 2s and the tier 1s, making her placement awkward. Her armament is solid- even with only four guns, her 150mm guns are more modern than most at tier 2 or 3 and have a quick fire rate. Her 150mm guns fire a 45.5 KG shell at 880 m/s. AP damage would be 2960 per hit. Her secondaries are quickfiring, but are practically inconsequential due to their minimal penetration, damage, and low fire chance. Having two torpedo tubes is always nice, but not enough to offset her guns. As such, the No.64 is an awkward ship to balance. She might be able to function as an analog to Katori- a small ship with comparatively large guns for her size and tier. However, she's just a tad under twice as fast as Katori, trading HP and number of torpedoes for speed and larger guns. SMS Admiral Spaun History: In 1906 the MTK (Marinetechnischen Komitees der K.u.K) began development of a new turbine powered 3,500 ton cruiser that was to be as fast as foreign competition. In 1908 the first of the "Rapidkeruezers" was laid down. Due to the new (to the KUK Marine) technology of turbine propulsion, the design process took much longer than initially expected. Regardless, the design largely proved to be successful. Due to some quirks of her design and her very high speed (the fastest cruiser in the world at the time of her commissioning) she is sometimes considered to be the first true light cruiser. Instead of continuing with identical designs, the following Novara/Helgoland class was a slight improvement in many regards (especially as far as reliability and armament were concerned). Design: Admiral Spaun displaced 3500 tons standard and 4000 tons at full combat load. She had a length of 130.66 meters and a beam of 12.78 meters. Her turbines produced 25,130 shaft horsepower, bringing her maximum speed to 27 knots. Her primary armament consisted of seven 100mm L/50 K10 guns made by Skoda. These were mounted in single mounts. They fired a 13.75kg shell at 880 meters per second. She also had two single deck mounted 450mm torpedo tubes on deck (one to each side). This was increased to four twin 533mm mounts (two per side) in 1915. In Game: Admiral Spaun is slightly lighter than SMS Emden, her current closest contemporary in game. This would likely translate to a slightly lower HP pool. If her HP pool were based on her standard load, she would have 16380 hp, though if her HP pool were based on her full load she'd have 17311, just a smidge over Emden's 17,100. On top of this, she has two fewer guns than Emden, and they are also slightly smaller in caliber. That being said she has a number of key advantages over Emden, even if she is not given her original or 1915 refit torpedo outfit. She is 4 knots faster than Emden, and unlike Emden has proper belt armor- some sources site her belt armor as being up to 73mm thick. Other sources suggest a 60mm belt. Her guns, though fewer in number than Emdens do have a much higher muzzle velocity (by 170 meters per second in fact). Their rate of fire would be slightly lower, varying from 10 to 12 rpm depending on the source. If her torpedoes (after the refit) were factored in, Admiral Spaun would easily overpower almost any tier 2 in an ambush situation, and even many tier 3s. Regardless, I reckon that Spaun would make a solid tier 2 without the torp refit, and a modest tier three with weak gun power with the torps. Novara/ Helgoland/ Saida Class History: Following the relative success of the Admiral Spaun design, plans for an improved version began almost immediately. In 1911, the first two of three of the new improved type (Saida and Helgoland) were laid down and Novara followed in 1912. These combined the high top speed and turbine propulsion of the Admiral Spaun with more reliable machinery and heavier gun armament. In 1917, some of the class were refit to have an AA mount as well as traversable torpedo tubes. Design: The Novara class displaced 3,500 tons as designed and had a full load of 4,417 tons. It had a length of 130.6 meters and a beam of 12.77 meters. It's 30,178 shaft horsepower propelled it to a maximum speed of 27 knots. The Novara class had a primary armament of nine 100mm L/50 K11 guns in single mounts. Initially, the secondary battery consisted only of a single 47mm gun. However, in 1917 the ships were given refits. Some received six 450mm torpedo tubes in a rather unique arrangement. Others received four 450mm tubes and two 533 tubes. However, all received a single 66mm Skoda K10 dual purpose gun. There were some plans to rearm the class with a pair of 150mm guns in place of the three forward 100mm mounts and two 100mm mounts on the quarter deck, however this was never done or even attempted for any of the ships. Her armor consisted of a 60mm belt, 50mm conning tower, gunshields that were up to 50mm thick, and a 20mm armored deck. In Game: The Novara class weighs in at a bit lower displacement than Tenryu if going by standard displacement. It also has smaller guns, even if it has more than twice as many. Even so, it has some other key quirks and advantages that I reckon would make it at least solid tier 3. If her HP was based on her standard displacement she would have 16380hp. If her HP is based on her full load she would have 18088 hp. The first value would place her with a bit less HP than Emden, but with a much greater alpha strike and DPM- enough to probably warrant her placement at tier 3. The Novara has six torpedo tubes in twin mounts. Not super special for a tier 3 cruiser at first, but there is a further quirk to her torpedo tubes- She'd have some of the best aft arcs in the game, able to fire two tubes directly aft, and would have excellent broadside arcs as well, for up to four tubes training on a target. Her aft tubes, being on the far stern would also have decent forward arcs as well. As a result, even though Novara is a tad below average on gunpower for a tier 3, she'd play comfortably due to her speed, torpedo power, and rather nice muzzle velocity on her main guns. She'd also likely have half decent concealment due to her comparatively small size. Aspern / Szigetvár (Ersatz Zenta) History: In 1913, Admiral Haus, the Commander in Chief of the Austro-Hungarian navy submitted his new construction plan. Included in this plan were three scout cruisers that were intended to replace the aging and by then obsolete Zenta class. Over the next few years, a large number of designs were submitted by a number of ship designers. During the process, Franz Ferdinand requested that the third of the three ships be equipped as a "yacht cruiser" during peace time. However, he was assasainated before even the first of the ships were laid down. The "yacht cruiser" was cancelled after his death, and the others were cancelled as the ship yards lost their workers to the army drafts, even though they had been approved and included in the naval budget on April 18th 1914. As such, none of the designs were built. There were four main designs submitted for the Ersatz Zenta project: one by Morin, two by Fiala, and another by Pitzinger. Morin's design was rejected early on in the process. The Navy preferred Fiala's IIb design due to its heavier armament and comperable speed. Ptzinger's design was the lowest in displacement, and had a larger but less numerous main battery. In 1915, Fiala made more changes to the design, coming up with a new version with a mixed armament of 190mm guns and 150mm guns with a 90mm secondary battery. This version was also not constructed due to the situations mentioned above. Design(s): The accepted version of the replacement for Zenta would have had a standard displacement of 4950 tons and a full load of 5611 tons. The class would have had a length of 151.2 meters and a beam of 13.7 meters. Using its 40,000 shaft horsepower, it could achieve 30.1 knots. Her primary armament was to consist of 14 120mm Skoda L/45 guns in single mounts. Her secondary battery was to consist of a single 47mm L/44 Skoda gun and one dual purpose 66mm gun. Each side had a single trainable 533 mm torpedo mount. She was to have only 20mm splinter plating for belt armor, but would have had a 40mm deck. In Game: Using Fr05ty's HP formular for cruisers, the class would have 19081 hp at standard load and 20313 hp at full load. This would be a rather solid HP pool for tier 3, but not bad at all for tier 4 either. Her armor, regardless of how you look at it would be rather abysmal, but she largely makes up for this with her high speed and large number of guns. Her torpedoes are very few in number, and likely only about poor to average in performance. As such, I reckon she'd be best tiered as a solid tier 3, though she could fit tier 4. Exact details on her guns and torpedoes are quite scant, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Monfalcone No.68 (Austrian Redesign) History: The Number 68 was one of the two cruiser designs ordered by the Chinese Government and was the larger of the set (The aforementioned Number 64 being the other). Due to the start of the war, it was not completed, though the Austrians made plans to finish her and fit her out as a large light cruiser instead. She was redesigned to be armed with more numerous but smaller guns, and to have twin torpedo launchers on the deck instead of single fixed tubes on each beam. However, the war situation by 1917-1918 prevented any work on the hull, which was eventually scrapped. Design: This version of No.68 was to displace 4872 tons standard and 5353 at full load. No.68 was to be 137 meters long and have a beam of 14.7 meters. Her 37000 horsepower was designed to propel her to a maximum speed of 28 knots. Her armor consisted of a 100mm belt, a deck that tapered from 63mm to 25mm, and 100mm around the sides of the conning tower. Her primary armament was to consist of eight 150mm L/50 K/10 guns- the same type that were used by the Tegetthoff as secondaries. These guns fired 45.5 kg shells (same mass for HE and AP) at a velocity of 880 m/s. Rate of fire was 6RPM. Her secondary armament was to be two single dual purpose 90mm guns, and two twin 450mm torpedo mounts. In Game: This version of No.68 would have 18936 HP using the standard load or 19832 using a full load. 28 knots is fairly quick for a low to mid tier light cruiser, but is quickly outclassed by other competition by tier 5 and above. Her guns are solid, firing heavy shells at a solid muzzle velocity. I lack data for the bursting charge, so I have no numbers for HE damage or fire chance. However, as the shell weight and type is similar to that used on the Karlsruhe, I'd expect HE Damage to be around 1800 and the fire chance to be about 10% if not slightly less. The AP, on the other hand has a higher muzzle velocity than that used by the German 150mm guns. Armored Cruisers: SMS Kaiserin und Königin Maria Theresia History: Maria Theresia was the first Armored Cruiser built for Austria Hungary. Her design was entirely unique, and she had no sister ships in her class. In part, this was due to the limited budget of the Austro-Hungarian navy. Regardless, she was laid down July 1st 1891 and commissioned in November 1894. In 1897, she served in the International Squadron- a squadron composed of ships from many European countries including France, Italy, Germany, Britain, Imperial Russia, and of course, Austria Hungary. The International Squadron was sent to force neutrality in a conflict between the Ottomans and some Christian Greek separatists. The operation was largely a success. She was sent to protect Austrian interests in the Pacific during the Spanish-American War, and was even almost fired upon by an American ship after being mistaken for a similarly named Spanish vessel. After this, she served in the Boxer Rebellion, and then was sent home to Austria. Over the following years between the Boxer Rebellion and the Great War, she was modernized, receiving new main guns, tertiary guns, and had her early, large masts removed. Design: As designed, Maria Theresia was to have a standard displacement of 5330 tons. At a full combat load after her refit, she displaced 6,026 tons. She had a length of 111.66 meters and a beam of 10.77 meters. In addition, she had a maximum speed of 19.4 kn (though some sources suggest as high as 20kn) Her armor consisted of a 100mm belt, and a deck that varied from 38-57mm. The faces of her gun mounts were also protected by 100mm of armor. Her casemates were 80mm thick, and the conning tower was protected by up to 50mm of armor. Her original primary armament consisted of two 240mm L/35 guns made by Krupp. These were mounted in two single turrets. I have not been able to fine data on the exact gun, but I would assume it was the same as that used by the German Siegfried and Odin classes. Her secondary armament consisted of eight 150mm L/40 Skoda made guns. I am missing exact data on these weapons as well, however I suspect they would be comparable to the Krupp 150mm L/40 of the same era. Her Tertiary battery consisted of twelve 47mm L/44 Skodamade guns and two 47mm Hotchkiss L/33 guns. She also had four fixed 450mm torpedo tubes: one in the bow, one astern, and one on each beam. She was refitted in 1906-1908 and again in 1909-1910. During these refits, her antiquated 240mm guns were replaced with more modern 190mm L/42 guns. According to some sources she also received four Vickers 37mm revolving guns. In Game: Her original armament would be difficult to make work. While they'd be substantially more powerful individually than most guns at tier 2, it would be extremely difficult to play a ship with only two main guns that fire at only 2 Rpm. As such, all suggestions here will be in relation to her after her refits. Using the normal cruiser formula and standard displacement, we would get 19,789 health. This is certainly on the upper end for tier 2, but it's honestly needed. In fact, the health she'd get with her full load displacement may be needed to offset her rather low dpm and having the smallest number of main guns in the game. Using her full displacement, her HP would be 21,086. Still not the highest HP at tier 2, but certainly on the far upper end. With her post refit 190mm guns, she'd have the largest guns implemented for a tier 2 cruiser. They had a rate of fire of 4 rpm, giving this ship a mere 8 rpm total fire rate if both main guns can bare on one target. This is the same as Mikasa as she'd have half the number of guns but they reload twice as quickly. That being said, there are some key benefits she has as a result of having smaller, lighter main battery mounts. For instance, her main guns would have a traverse rate of 7 degrees per second which is faster than Mikasa's stock turret traverse by 2.5 degrees per second. Their stock traverse speed is actually the same as the guns on Weymouth. The muzzle velocity for her guns was 825 m/s, above average for a heavy gun at such a low tier. The APC (which here will be standard AP) shells for her 190mm guns weighed 97 kg. Using Fr05ty's formula this would give her a max AP damage of 4128. Multiplying this damage per shell by the maximum number of shells fired in a minute (8), we get 33,026 DPM with AP. Mikasa, by comparison has almost twice that. The CPC (Common Point Capped) shells (the closest thing to HE used) weighed 90kg. The bursting charge was 6.07 kg. Using Fr05ty's formula for HE damage, this would give her a max HE damage of 2,520. Using Fr05ty's formula, the fire chance would be 11.59% standard. Her historical main gun range at 15 degrees elevation (the maximum allowed by her mounts) was about 12km, so certainly within the realm of reason for tier 2, if on the upper end. This, combined with her speed of 19.4 knots allows her to kite around or pursue most battleships of tiers 2 and 3, while allowing lighter cruisers to out run her with some advance warning. Her armor is decent, but not actually great for a cruiser of her tier. Due to the age of her design and limited Austrian naval industry, her armor is a bit thinner than some of her tier 2 peers. Her deck armor is fairly good for the tier, and so at longer ranges she will prove quite resilient to fire from lighter guns. All in all, Maria Theresia would be a slow, but well armored cruiser with long range guns able to punish other large cruisers and slow battleships at a range. Her secondary battery is heavy enough to allow her to reliably brawl, but fairly slow in rate of fire. As such, she'd be most useful against larger ships, even at close range. Kaiser Karl VI [15:32 History: Kaiser Karl VI was the the sole ship in the second class of armored cruisers produced by Austria Hungary. She was named for the Holy Roman Emperor Karl VI. In many ways, the new design was a simple modernization of the Maria Theresia's, but the armor was substantially improved, and the lines were far cleaner. As a result, she was also slightly faster. She served for a number of years in the training squadron before the First World War. In 1914, she was used as part of a bombardment group in order to destroy Montenegrin and French artillery batteries near Cattaro. Later, when the full fleet was mobilized, she was part of the Cruiser Flotilla. Throughout her service in the war, she saw no major combat after that bombardment action, instead functioning only as part of the Austrian "fleet in being". In 1918, her crew joined with that of the Sankt Georg's in the Cattaro Mutiny, demanding better rations, shore leave, and for the Austrian government to put an end to the war. This rebellion was quickly put down by shore batteries and several Erzerhog Karl class battleships. After the end of the war, she was ceded as a war prize to Great Britain, and was then sold to Italy for scrap. Design: As designed, Karl VI had a standard displacement of 6166 tons and a full load of 6864 tons. She had a length of 118.96 meters and a beam of 17.27 meters. She could reach a speed of 20.83 knots. Her belt armor was 220mm thick amidships, and tapered to 170mm at the ends of the machine spaces. Her bow and stern were protected by about 38mm of armor (according to Brassey's Naval Annual of 1915). She had an armored deck covering most of the key spaces that tapered from 60mm to 40mm. Her main gun turrets were protected by up to 200mm of armor. The 150mm gun mounts were protected by up to 80mm of armor. The conning tower had sides up to 200mm thick, and a roof of up to 100mm thick. Her main guns were two 240mm K94 L/40guns in two single turrets fore and aft. Nav Weaps cites these as having a rate of fire of 0.25 to 0.33 RPM, but other sources give a rate of fire of 2-3 RPM. I'm not entirely sure what would be correct for this ship, but I would assume at least 2RPM, even given the manual hoists. Her secondaries were eight 150mm L/40 guns in single case mates. As noted above, I am missing detailed information on these guns. Her tertiary battery consisted of sixteen 47mm L/44 guns in mixed deck mounts and casemates and two 47mm L33 guns. The L33s were replaced with a singe 66mm L/50 AA/ DP gun in 1917. She also possessed two 450mm torpedo tubes, one in each broadside, though it seems these were submerged. In Game: Using her standard tonnage, Karl VI would have an HP pool of 21347. Using her full load displacement, Karl VI would have an HP pool of 22647. Either would be reasonable for tier 2 or 3. Her main guns are somewhat lackluster. Though they would hit harder than any cruiser gun at tier 2 or 3 (and still harder than the majority until tier 5) she only has two of them. Assuming the very best case scenario, she'd be able to fire six rounds a minute from her two 240mm guns (three rounds from each gun). Her secondaries are quite good for low tier, but unless given a better than average range would be almost a joke in terms of any addition of practical damage output. She is over twice as well protected as the preceding Maria Theresia, but at least the Maria Theresia had the refit of 190mm guns with a much more reasonable rate of fire. She would be incredibly tanky at tier 2 or tier 3, and would be able to chase or kite around most battleships due to her relatively high speed of almost 21 knots. In essence, Karl VI would be a pure tank with limited DPM, but with moderately high alpha damage. Sankt Georg History: Sankt Georg, like all the preceding armored cruisers was the sole ship of her class. She was laid down in 1901 as a heavily improved version of the preceding Karl VI. She featured a far heavier secondary battery, as well as increased anti-aircraft and close in defense weaponry. She also was the first (and last of the armored cruisers) to have her primary armament in a twin turret. She was launched on December 8th 1903 and completed on July 21st 1905. Following this, she was used in the training squadron for a time, and then was sent to the United States in 1907 to represent the Austro-Hungarian Navy at the Jamestown Exposition. When World War 1 began, she participated in the Austrian action to cover the German Battlecruiser Goeben's retreat to a safe port. Goeben made it to Ottoman territory, and later became a part of the Ottoman empire's fleet. On May 23rd 1915, she shelled the Italian city of Rimini, and then rejoined the main fleet. While she was too slow to see action (the Allies retreated after they saw her smoke), she did cover the tail end of the formation covering Saida as she towed the damaged Novara back to port. At the end of her war, some of her crew mutinied, starting the Cattaro Mutiny. During the struggle, the ship's commander was shot in the head- injured, but not killed. The mutineers were forced to surrender when some battleships made their way to the port. Following this, she was decommissioned, and then turned over to the British at the end of the war. She was then sold to Italy and scrapped. Design: Sankt Georg had a combat displacement of 8070 tons, though she was designed to displace 7289 tons. She had a length of 124.28 meters and a beam of 19.2 meters. Her 15000 horsepower propelled her to a top speed of 22 knots, making her one of the fastest Austrian armored cruisers. She had a 210mm thick upper belt, the lower portion tapering to 165mm. Her armored deck varied from 50 to 38mm thick. Her main gun turret had up to 200mm of armor, the 190mm mounts had up to 160mm of armor, and the casemates were up to 150mm thick. The main barbette was up to 200mm thick, as was the conning tower. Like the preceding armored cruisers, Sankt Georg had a main armament of two 240mm guns. However, these were much newer guns, and were mounted in a modern twin turret forward. These were L/40 guns of the K/01 type. They featured an increased rate of fire, and compatibility with more modern shells. Thus, out of the set of Austrian 240mm guns, these had the best rate of fire and muzzle velocity. The 240mm L40 K/01 could fire 2.5 rounds per minute (with some sources citing as high as 3 rpm), and had a muzzle velocity of 725 mps. The guns fired shells weighing 229 kg. The secondary battery was far heavier than preceding designs, consisting of five 190mm L/42 guns and four 150mm L/40 guns. The five 190mm guns were mounted in four casemates (two per side) and a single turret aft. These guns fired a 97 kg AP shell (or a 90 kg CPC shell) at 825 meters per second, and had a respectable rate of fire of four rounds per minute. The 150mm guns were also mounted in casemates, two to each side. Again, these are the 150mm Skoda guns I am lacking data for. Any help here would be fantastic. Her light gun battery consisted of nine 66mm L/50 Skoda guns (in anti surface mounts), and six 47mm/ L44 guns. She also had two 8mm machine guns, and another 66mm/L50 in an AA mount was added in 1916. Finally, she had two torpedo tubes, one on each side. In Game: Using her design tonnage, she'd have an HP pool of 23440 (rounded up). Using her combat load, she'd have an HP pool of 24895. Either is certainly respectable at most lower tiers. Using the lower number of 2.5 rpm, she'd be able to fire five rounds per minute from her forward 240mm turret. With 3 rpm, this would change to a total of six rounds per minute from her main guns. Calculating her HE performance had a few hiccups as the shells she would have used in reality had heavier bursting charges than the older shells I have data for. So, her final HE damage and fire chance would likely be better than what I've calculated below. Rounded up, the 240mm HE would do 3627 max damage and have a fire chance of 7.4%. Considering the lower rate of fire value of 2.5 rpm per gun, her HE DPM would be 18135. Her AP would do 5861 damage per shell. Using the lower RPM value, her AP DPM would be 29305. While Shell for Shell these 240mm guns would be easily among the most powerful guns mounted on cruisers even through tier 5, having only two guns in a single turret is certainly limiting. That's where Sankt Georg's secondary battery comes in. Her 190mm guns had a rate of fire of 4 rpm. Up to three of the five guns could bear on one target. The HE would do up to 2547 damage per hit and have a fire chance of 11.59%. HE DPM on one target would be up to 30564 ( three guns firing four rounds each) The AP would deal up to 4128 damage. AP DPM would be 49536 if three guns can bear. Her 150mm guns had a rate of fire of 4-5 rpm. Up to two guns could bear on one target. Muzzle Velocity was 690 m/s. The HE would do up to 1998 damage per hit and have a fire chance of 8.37%. HE DPM would be 19980, if 5 RPM is assumed. Finally, her 66mm guns fire at a rate of 15 to 20 rpm. The HE shell would do up to 1229 damage, and have a fire chance of 6.26%. All in all, Sankt Georg is a hefty gun platform that like other armored cruisers is largely secondary centered. Her 190mm secondaries would be the largest in the game if implemented now, and their damage output is quite respectable. Her primary guns are powerful for a cruiser, but few in number and limited in utility. Across the board, Sankt Georg would make for a superb brawling platform at low to mid tier, perhaps at tier 4 due to her strong secondary battery. Despite this, she is slow for a cruiser, only about as fast as the slowest battleships of tier 3 and 4, and is easily outrun and outgunned. by the Japanese battlecruisers. Sankt Georg at tier 3 or four would have easily one of the strongest secondary batteries, but due to the limited rate of fire of all but the 66mm guns would require greater than average range to be effective. Early Heavy Cruisers: Monfalcone No.68 (Original Design for Great China Cruiser) History: The Number 68 was one of the two cruiser designs ordered by the Chinese Government and was the larger of the set (The aforementioned Number 64 being the other). Due to the start of the war, it was not completed, though the Austrians made plans to finish her and fit her out as a large light cruiser instead. Design: This version of No.68 was to displace 4900 tons. No.68 was to be 137 meters long and have a beam of 14.7 meters. Her 37000 horsepower was designed to propel her to a maximum speed of 28 knots. Her armor consisted of a 100mm belt, a deck that tapered from 63mm to 25mm, and 100mm around the sides of the conning tower. She was to be armed with four 203mm L/50 guns (Supposedly 203mm/47 G.L50 K16, but I have found no information on these) Her secondary battery was to consist of twelve Skoda 120mm L/45 guns and ten 47mm L/40 guns. Her AA battery was to consist of eight machine guns and four 37mm guns. She also had two 450mm torpedo tubes, though the placement of these is unclear- likely submerged in the beam. In Game: It is difficult to say much about No.68 without further information on the guns. That being said, four 203mm guns would be a respectable armament at lower tier, but at tier five or above would be incredibly lack luster. With her tonnage being as limited as it is, she's likely to be placed at tier 4, if not lower. Considering her 4900 ton displacement, without buffs or modernization's she'd have 18989 HP, certainly not stellar by any means- she's quite the small ship. Thus, in this form No.68 would be best suited as a low tier glass cannon with monstrous modern guns but limited protection. Project VII Heavy Cruiser History: The Project VII was born out of the realization of the KuK Marine that their 100mm and 120mm gun armed cruisers were inadequate in the face of foreign designs armed with modern guns with shell diameters of 150mm and larger. Initially, work centered around improving the Ersatz Zenta designs I mentioned above back in the light cruiser section of this thread. These proposals were drawn up in 1915, but the committee decided that the hull of the Ersatz Zenta designs was inadequate for the armament and armor desired. Thus, in 1917, Franz Pitzinger proposed what would be accepted by the committee as the Project VII Heavy Cruiser of 1918. Due to the war situation, work on the ship never began. Design: The Project VII was to displace 10,000 tons standard and 12,000 tons at full load. She would have had a length of 184.5 meters and a beam of 18.2 meters. Her engines provided 90,000 shaft horsepower to two shafts, and could propel her to a top speed of 33 knots. The Project VII's armor consisted of a belt that was up to 150mm thick and a 30mm thick deck. Other armor is not detailed. Her primary armament was to consist of six 190mm guns in three twin turrets. The exact model of gun is not stated, but I believe either the 190mm L/42 Skoda or some planned improved version is most likely. The drawings of the design show that the bow and stern turrets were to have a traverse range of 135 degrees and that they were not originally designed for 360 degree rotation. The amidships turret has a firing arc of 110 degrees off each side. Her secondary armament was to consist of four 88mm dual purpose guns and two submerged 533mm torpedo tubes. Light AA was rarely included in design paperwork at the time, but it's probably safe to assume that had the ship been built she would have received more AA in a later refit. In Game: The Project VII would have 28490 HP using standard displacement and 32,000 HP using the full load displacement. Her full load HP is comparable to the top hulls of Aoba and Pensacola, the current tier VI heavy cruisers already in game. On the other hand, her standard load is comparable to the stock Furutaka. Her guns have a solid rate of fire for early large caliber cruiser guns- 4 RPM if we stick to the same numbers as on the older armored cruisers and the pre-dreadnoughts. I reckon that a higher rate of fire would have been possible aboard Project VII due to more modern hoists and the turret installation. Muzzle velocity was 825 m/s with the original shells- again this could likely have been improved with either newer shell designs or a newer version of the gun. AP Damage would be 4128 per shell and maximum AP DPM would be 99,072. (Assuming that all six guns hit every shot, get full damage, and fire at four rounds per minute per gun, twenty four shells would be the maximum possible in a minute and 4128x24= 99072) HE Damage would be 2515 per shell and maximum HE DPM would be 60,0360. (Assuming all twenty four shells fired in a minute hit and do full damage). Fire Chance would be 11.53% if rounded up. Because her torpedo tubes were submerged, she would have none unless WG magiced up some deck mounted torps in a possible "B" or "C" hull. Project VII's gun power would make her a strong tier V heavy cruiser or on the low to mid end of the tier 6 heavy cruisers. She also has thicker belt armor than most cruisers at tier V or VI- only Graf Spee trumps her in that regard. That being said, her gun arrangement is slightly awkward and would require angling to keep most of the battery in play. She also has no torpedoes to back that gun armament, and lacks a strong secondary battery. As such, while she could be made to fit into tier VI, I think she'd be best reserved for use as a solid tier V

This ships pretty good

Facebook Dev Blog post Text from post for those on mobile. ST, American cruiser Alaska, Tier IX Hit points – 60 800. Plating - 27 mm. Armor belt – 229 mm. Torpedo damage reduction – 13%. Main battery - 3x3 305 mm. Firing range – 20 km. Maximum HE shell damage – 4300. Chance to cause fire – 27%. Maximum AP shell damage - 8900. Reload time - 20 s. 180 degree turn time - 36 s. Maximum dispersion - 216 m. HE initial velocity - 762 m/s. AP initial velocity - 808 m/s. Sigma value – 2.05. The parameters of the dispersion ellipse are equal to the values of the Graf Spee cruiser (better than battleships, but worse than common cruisers). The parameters of the ricochet angles of AP shells are equal to the values of the American cruiser Des Moines. Secondaries - 6х2 127 mm, range - 5,0 km, Maximum HE Shell Damage - 1800, Reload Time - 6.0 seсonds. AA defense - 34х1 20 mm, range - 2,0 km, damage per second - 122. 14х4 40 mm, range - 3,5 km, damage per second - 223. 6х2 127 mm, range - 5.0 km, damage per second - 91. Maximum speed - 33 kt. Turning circle radius - 850 m. Rudder shift time – 13,8 s. Surface detectability – 16,2 km. Air detectability – 12,1 km. Detectability after firing main guns in smoke – 12,8 km. Available consumables: Slot 1 - Damage Control Party Slot 2 - Defensive AA Fire / Hydroacoustic Search Slot 3 - Spotting Aircraft / Catapult Fighter / Surveillance Radar Slot 4 - Repair party All stats are listed without crew and upgrade modifiers but with best available modules. The stats are subject to change during the testing. Please note that the information in the Development Blog is preliminary. USS Alaska Wiki page This thing is going to be a monster. 305mm AP with Des Moines autobounce and penetration angles is going to be disgusting. Free XP or we riot!! I'm stoked for this ship. It doesn't have as colorful a history as some ships, given how late in the war it was commissioned, but I couldn't be more excited for it.

First time I start a topic, so please be gentle. Opinions welcome and encouraged. First of all, I am a Zao enthusiast. And this will be a Cruiser Vs. Cruiser centered article. Second, I have lived the stealth fire era, which was kind of this ships does whatever the crap it likes to(mostly staying far away HE spamming). Third, I have lived Zao's demise as its distinguishing characteristic was removed from game making the ship somewhat unbalanced as the other ships of its class did not see their treats affected. Now to current times, the torpedo choice is more than welcome however this is a Heavy Cruiser and not a Torpedo Boat(also, those weird and absolutely random firing arcs. Take Admiral Graf Spee as an example, also has stern mounted launchers yet has great firing arcs.). So even as being an upgrade as it is it does not give it an edge, in particular as they do not fire rearwards and that would be a chasing deterrent tool. So lets compare the roles of ships of the class by their damage output: Alpha Strike AP Shells Henri IV: 9Bx6200HP=55800HP(3rd) Zao: 12Bx5400HP=64800HP(2nd) Des Moines: 9Bx5000HP=45000HP(5th) Worcester: 12Bx3200HP=38400HP(6th) Hindenburg: 12Bx5900HP=70800HP(1st) Moskva: 9Bx5800HP=52200HP(4th) Minotaur: 10Bx3200HP=32000HP(7th) Damage Per Minute AP Shells Henri IV: 9Bx6200HP=55800HPx4.9=273420HP(7th) Zao: 12Bx5400HP=64800HPx4.4=285120HP(6th) Des Moines: 9Bx5000HP=45000HPx10.9=490500HP(3rd) Worcester: 12Bx3200HP=38400HPx13=499200HP(2nd) Hindenburg: 12Bx5900HP=70800HPx5.5=389400HP(4th) Moskva: 9Bx5800HP=52200HPx5.8=302760HP(5th) Minotaur: 10Bx3200HP=32000HPx18.75=600000HP(1st) Alpha Strike HE Shells Henri IV: 9Bx3400HP=30600HP(2nd) Zao: 12Bx3400HP=40800HP(1st) Des Moines: 9Bx2800HP=25200HP(6th) Worcester: 12Bx2200HP=26400HP(5th) Hindenburg: 12Bx2500HP=30000HP(3rd) Moskva: 9Bx3100HP=27900HP(4th) Damage Per Minute HE Shells Henri IV: 9Bx3400HP=30600HPx4.9=149940HP(6th) Zao: 12Bx3400HP=40800HPx4.4=179520HP(3rd) Des Moines: 9Bx2800HP=25200HPx10.9=274680HP(2nd) Worcester: 12Bx2200HP=26400HPx13=343200HP(1st) Hindenburg: 12Bx2500HP=30000HPx5.5=165000HP(4th) Moskva: 9Bx3100HP=27900HPx5.8=161820HP(5th) As you can observe Zao comes out champion only in HE Alpha Strike(Certainly not the greatest asset.). There is also a clear role distinction between DPM and Alpha Strike ships, Zao being part of the latter. Now in the wiki the ship is described as the ninja that gives a killer blow and vanishes like a gasp of wind a thing that seldom happens in practice. It also lacks both smoke screen and/or radar(a thing that should see some sort of countermeasure soon). It does have however good odds of landing several shells at range(As it has the better dispersion and among the fastest shells) even to faster moving ships. But the game at range is a very different one. When you get close to another cruiser or happen to meet one up close you either expect the captain in charge sucks or to meet Davy Jones pronto. As you have seen with the previous data and your personal knowledge of the game due to being playin tier 10 the ships has no tools at all to deal with another cruiser at close range(lower fire rate, lower HP pool, no BB class armor, no good torpedo arcs). So to start closing this wall of text, the point here is to propose a small change to Zao as to give it a few more odds of coming out victorious of a close encounter with another cruiser and I have personally considered two options, also these being one or the other. 1st: Since WG decide to tweak the torpedo armament, that option works in a somewhat different fashion. If the ship sports Type 93 torpedoes they should have the classic rear firing arc of IJN heavy cruisers and if the ship sports the shorter range torpedoes to give it a more brawling capable arc(yes a forwardish firing arc and no F3s as they would be damn OP) with a longer reload time than current. 2nd: To create its own unique consumable in the like of a Banzai charge for let's say 30 seconds in which the ship goes sort of berserker with a faster reload rate and improved maneuverability and somewhat more damage tolerant, this with a long cooldown and little charges so as to not promote abuse of it(like, see that dude around the island, he's done). Anyhow, this is not a "Zao sucks" post. I do like the ship, yet I see that the changes in the game have left it victim of power creep. For those who took the time to read though, thank you for your time and fair seas.

The DD and cruiser legendary upgrades are all beyond god like. In comparison, BB's upgrades are just suck. No BB in their right mind would take the new rudder shift and fire control buff to get in closer. Because that's not the main reason BBs die quickly. The improvements in rudder shift time is pointless, just... in what situation currently people playing BBs think to themselves "geeeez 1 sec faster rudder shift would've so carry the game there" - almost never. WG should stop inflating T10 performances with "upgrade" modules. People don't like to play T8 or above because the economy suck, not because they don't like powerful ships.

So I was watching a WOWS gameplay video on youtube (panzerknacker). It was a tier 10 match with a prinz eugen in the friendly team. It was the first ship to be destroyed in like 3/4 minutes after match started. A person commented that "nobody is surprized that prinz eugen died first". Then another person replies that "it's prinz eugen syndrome" and he himself has it. What does that mean? Is the ship bad or people target premium ships in general?

I am currently at Tier 6 - La Galissonnière. I have played the tier 5 Émile Bertin and it was great. Its AA were very good. But I feel the tier 6 is a bit inferior. Should I go up the tech tree (Tier 7,8,9,10)? Is it worth the grind?

How is this possible? I torped another Caledon and then my ship blew up (Was at 1/3rd of health). I did not understand that part.