A_Horde_of_Sharks Guide to Battlecruisers

[A_Horde_of_Sharks]

 

    A Horde of Sharks guide to Battlecruisers  

 Anyone who noticed the massive skip in the IJN battleship line between the tier 3

Kawachi and the tier 4 Myogi, may find the change hard to adapt too, as the ship plays

in an entirely different manner.  If you find the Myogi difficult to play, this is not

your fault.  The ship is actually not a Battleship at all, but a Battlecruiser.

    

You see, in order to make things simple, the design of the game managed to  

merge the classification of numerous classes and subclasses of ships into umbrella

terms, in order to make the game less confusing for the sake of simplicity.    

For example, Cruisers can be divided up into Light Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers.  Some

of the low tier cruisers like the St.Louis, can also be classified as a Protected Cruiser; and of

course, the subject of this discussion, Battlecruisers varying from Battleships.      

 

    

    To put it into simple terms, Battlecruisers are capital ships that sacrifice armor

protection in exchange for extra speed. The designers of these ships believed that the

ocean could be dominated with vessels that can deploy a large amount of firepower in a

short period of time.

    Here is a list of Battlecruisers found in the game:

tier 4 Myogi

tier 4 Ishizuchi

                                                                           tier 5 Kongo (after WW2 refits it was classified as a fast battleship)

tier 6 Dunkerque

                                                                  tier 7 Gneisanau   (this was also classified as a battleship)

                                                                 tier 7 Scharnhorst  (this was also classified as a battleship)

tier 8 Amagi

                                                                                            tier 10 Moskva  (more closely related to cruisers then the other ships listed)

     Note: The tactics and strategies provided can also be applied to some of the fast

Battleships in the game due to the parallels and similarities in their play style.

 

       So how should you play Battlecruisers?

 How do they vary from Battleships in World of Warships when in a match?

        

     It’s simple, they can flex into areas of the battlefield that are normally “cut off”

from standard Battleships due to their faster engagement speed.  In many cases,

Battlecruisers can travel with the team’s faster ships into the flanks of the map;

ambushing enemy cruisers that previously thought it would take more time for BBs to

reach their position.  They are also more flexible, allowing them to adapt to changing

circumstances more easily.  This comes at a cost however, the sides or deck of

Battlecruisers are usually less armored, making enemy Battleships a serious threat if

not properly angled.

                 

          

  Battlecruisers can perform a maneuver called “Kiting”

 

        “Kiting” is a tactic performed by faster ships with good range that can

minimize damage taken by short range enemy ships. You do this by increasing their engagement

time with you, which in some cases, will force them to break away and run entirely.  When kiting, turn your

ship away from a rapidly closing enemy and start sailing away from them at high speed. Only occasionally

turn your ship to fire your guns, keeping your large profile as small as possible. 

  

 Use this tactic against ships with poor range, such as aggressive destroyer

captains.  It increases the chance that enemy torpedoes will disarm at max range before

reaching you; or will be spread out, no longer posing a threat by the time they intercept

your ship.  It also increases an attacking ship's exposure time before they

reach a range where they could generate serious damage. This allows you to fire more

salvos from your main battery and secondary armament, allowing you to dictate the

pace of the engagement.

 

      Manage your speed carefully.

        Most Battlecruisers have a hull configuration that is long and narrow.  This allows

the large ships to travel quickly in a straight line, but suffer a large decrease in speed

when forced to make a hard turn. They are also slow to accelerate due to their large

size.  This means that when between engagements, when you know the area is

free of enemies (especially destroyers or ships with concealment builds), minimize the

number of course corrections you make. This ensures that the top speed of the ship is

maintained, allowing you to reach your goal faster.

  

 I hope this helps players that are struggling in an unfamiliar play style, or are just

willing to learn something new.  Battlecruisers can be a great addition to any port if you

   give them a chance. Thanks for Reading!

 

 

 

[ckupf]

I love battlecruisers. Dunkerque, Amagi, and Ishizuchi are three of my favorite ships in the game. Myogi was crap.

 

Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Moskva are not battlecruisers and should not be played like battlecruisers (maybe the Moskva a little). Scharn and Gneisenau have better armor than a lot of other battleships but are also more maneuverable. Scharn and Gneisenau are excellent cruiser killing BBs that can also stand up to other BBs. BCs don't have the armor to stand up to BB. The Moskva is a cruiser despite it's appearances, it's side armor is cruiser like. It's just oversized. It's bigger than any other cruiser but it's playstyle is a lot more like the Des Moines than a battleship. 

 

Kongo fully upgraded gets an armor boost that makes it less of a battle cruiser, but the playstyle doesn't change too much.

[Doomlock]

Kongo changed from a battlecruiser to battleship during her first reconstruction and then to a fast battleship in the 30s. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (the real ones) while having smaller main guns than most at 11" vs the 14, 15, and 16 inch guns of most other ships, were classed as fast battleships by the Kriegsmarine. Their main guns performed well above their size would suggest, operating as good as the British 14 and 15 inch guns that they mounted. Moskva, while being absolutely massive, is still a cruiser with cruiser armor and slightly bigger cruiser guns. Amagi is a BC as is Ishizuchi and Myogi, Kongo was a BC in her first hull until it was removed from game.

[A_Horde_of_Sharks]

Thanks for the input; I'm going to update this guide to change/add additional info as time goes on.

[TheKrimzonDemon]

I've always considered Scharn and Gneis to be BC's. Every book I have lists them as BC's, and to the best of my knowledge, they performed that way. There were quite a few differences between them, Gneis when rebuilt was much closer to a BB than Scharn, and Scharn became even more a BC with her main armament. Scharn and Gneis were both originally built to be cruiser and destroyer hunters, but only Scharn was ultimately armed as one, Gneis had fewer main barrels when rebuilt, but they fired BB weight. If I'm correct in memory, their performance in Gneis was what got them put onto Bismarck and Tirpitz. Scharn in real life had zero chance against a real battleship, her main battery was simply too small a caliber. Gneis honestly didn't stand much of a chance either, even though she had BB main guns, she only had 6 barrels in 3 turrets, and those 2-4 extra barrels in 1-2 more turrets made a huge difference. Their only real hope was their speed, they could outrun anything BB-wise the RN could throw at them. Even after refits, neither could stand up to anything over a 13-inch shell, and virtually all BB's of their time, WW2, had at least 14-inch main guns, most had 15-inch.

 

While Kongo was a BC during WW1, it saw most of its service life after that, rebuilt as a BB. It also performed all around much better as a BB. As a class, they were fairly good, and well armored, as the punishment they took from SD and WA during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal could attest to. It took a LOT to sink an IJN BB.

 

Myogi, by anyones estimation, in the game performs nothing like she would have IRL. Honestly, IRL she'd have been beat down even worse. No armor, lack of gun barrels, combined with slow loading would have ensured her destruction by even one cruiser of her time, and even with her speed, cruisers were still faster. The IJN never built a good BC of their own, the entire Kongo class was designed in the U.K.

 

We'll never know how Dunk would have done IRL, she never got the chance to show it, but structurally, she was built much, much better than a BC, she was in fact a BB, but one built specifically to chase cruisers around the Med, which was the primary purpose of a BC, to run down and chase off the scouting cruisers and destroyers of the enemy. In the game, she performs well in that role, at least for me, she's a lot easier to play than most BB's, because you don't have to show your broadside to fire her main guns, doing so in the game is suicide, IRL it was the total opposite. She had, and has in the game, both armor and speed, and firepower, she honestly performs above a T6 level, plus, when all else fails, she's really fun to YOLO and ram something with.

 

Also with Amagi, we'll never know, as she never made it to completion.

 

I'll shut up now. Painkillers have kicked in and I'm ultra talkative. :p

[Doomlock]

I've always considered Scharn and Gneis to be BC's. Every book I have lists them as BC's, and to the best of my knowledge, they performed that way. There were quite a few differences between them, Gneis when rebuilt was much closer to a BB than Scharn, and Scharn became even more a BC with her main armament. Scharn and Gneis were both originally built to be cruiser and destroyer hunters, but only Scharn was ultimately armed as one, Gneis had fewer main barrels when rebuilt, but they fired BB weight. If I'm correct in memory, their performance in Gneis was what got them put onto Bismarck and Tirpitz. Scharn in real life had zero chance against a real battleship, her main battery was simply too small a caliber. Gneis honestly didn't stand much of a chance either, even though she had BB main guns, she only had 6 barrels in 3 turrets, and those 2-4 extra barrels in 1-2 more turrets made a huge difference. Their only real hope was their speed, they could outrun anything BB-wise the RN could throw at them. Even after refits, neither could stand up to anything over a 13-inch shell, and virtually all BB's of their time, WW2, had at least 14-inch main guns, most had 15-inch.

 

While Kongo was a BC during WW1, it saw most of its service life after that, rebuilt as a BB. It also performed all around much better as a BB. As a class, they were fairly good, and well armored, as the punishment they took from SD and WA during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal could attest to. It took a LOT to sink an IJN BB.

 

Myogi, by anyones estimation, in the game performs nothing like she would have IRL. Honestly, IRL she'd have been beat down even worse. No armor, lack of gun barrels, combined with slow loading would have ensured her destruction by even one cruiser of her time, and even with her speed, cruisers were still faster. The IJN never built a good BC of their own, the entire Kongo class was designed in the U.K.

 

We'll never know how Dunk would have done IRL, she never got the chance to show it, but structurally, she was built much, much better than a BC, she was in fact a BB, but one built specifically to chase cruisers around the Med, which was the primary purpose of a BC, to run down and chase off the scouting cruisers and destroyers of the enemy. In the game, she performs well in that role, at least for me, she's a lot easier to play than most BB's, because you don't have to show your broadside to fire her main guns, doing so in the game is suicide, IRL it was the total opposite. She had, and has in the game, both armor and speed, and firepower, she honestly performs above a T6 level, plus, when all else fails, she's really fun to YOLO and ram something with.

 

Also with Amagi, we'll never know, as she never made it to completion.

 

I'll shut up now. Painkillers have kicked in and I'm ultra talkative. :p

 

Gneisenau was never refitted with the 6x15 inch guns seen in game. She was planned to and work was begun to do so, but other war needs prevented the finishing of the reconstruction. As for classification, remember that Nassau has 11 inch guns too and less armor than The sisters but was still a battleship, thus why I said fast battleship for them. As I recall the Myogi (stock) was a pretty design for Kongo, but she never came to pass. Dunkerque was the first purpose built fast battleship (Haruna was finished in her fast battleship reconstruction while Dunk was on the slipways, hence why I say purpose built) designed to counter the Deutschland class panzerschiffes. She was then countered by the Scharnhorst class and the Littorio class battleships and thus the French built Dunk's sister Strasbourg, though they found out Littorio was to have 15 inch guns so they started the Richeliu class.

[Royeaux]

Is there any difference in tactics between a BB vs BB duel, against a BC vs BB duel?  Fundamentally, if any side shows broadside, they take heavy damage right?  If so, then what's the point of having all that extra armor?

[VannKraken]

+1 for explaining "kiting," a term which I had read multiple times but hadn't had time to research, yet!  I've found myself doing this while running for my life trying to get through the Kawachi with its wing turrets, horrid range and dispersion.