Soviet or German cruisers are more friendly for a current Japanese cruiser player?

[CLeclerc16]

Hi all.

Just want to hear some opinions about this topic- which line would be better for a japanese cruiser player? (currently just got Myoko)

I do have the Murmansk  and some battles played in it with a decent captain to start the line with as well- i think she is a pretty good ship despite the armor.

However being possibly a Wehraboo i really like German ships too..

Thanks

[Zim_Xero]

Soviet destroyers are so far different.  They fire faster and have short torpedo range.   Go with them for something new.  Else, the German ships are jack of all trade cruisers with very good AP... but will fail if you never switch ammo type.

[Kingfishercritic]

It depends. If you like heavy cruisers better than light cruisers, and you like using AP more than HE, I'd say German cruisers. The guns are great tier IV and up, and they also have decent torps too.

[SunTzu71]

It depends. If you like heavy cruisers better than light cruisers, and you like using AP more than HE, I'd say German cruisers. The guns are great tier IV and up, and they also have decent torps too.

 

You mean great Tier 5 and up, right?

 

Karlsruhe is horrid.

[Macabe]

KMS line is somewhat forgiving. Their armor scheme makes getting citadeled relatively rare so you're more survivable but you need to know when to swap ammunition types.

[Kingfishercritic]

 

You mean great Tier 5 and up, right?

 

Karlsruhe is horrid.

 

Karl is a lot better than Kolberg. 150mm AP won't do ya wrong.

[collisionSpace]

 

You mean great Tier 5 and up, right?

 

Karlsruhe is horrid.

 

Karlsruhe was horrid, now it's just distinctly average to bad. That's nothing to be ashamed about for a tier 4 cruiser though.

 

[DerKrampus]

They're both good lines, but the Soviet line feels more consistent as a whole.  You dont need to shift gameplay styles all the much.

[X15]

I'd say the IJN line is the most forgiving cruiser line. After that the Germans, then the USN, then the Soviets, and the British make sailing broadside in an Iowa look like a fair chance.

[CLeclerc16]

They're both good lines, but the Soviet line feels more consistent as a whole.  You dont need to shift gameplay styles all the much.

 

yeah i read a post about how to play german cruisers, and from what i gathered yorck is somewhat different from konigs and nurnberg, and then t8-10 are consistent?

[CLeclerc16]

But i heard the premium German cruiser is pretty bad.. i kinda want to try out Scharnhorst, as i have some experience with BB, but i dont really want to go down the German BB line just yet. Would it be a good idea?

[Peacemaker100]

Try the brits. I started IJN cruiser line, at Ibuki rn. Picked up a Leander from Santa's Convoys and haven't looked back. Granted, I played US dds up to t9 and IJN dds up to t8 before that so ymmv

[centarina]

actually, each cruiser lines have some uniqueness to them.   IJN is most generic and good all around cruisers.      German has good AP and Hydro overall with tankier upper tier cruisers.   Russians are all long range  snipers/fire starters.   UK is mostly  smoke and fire artists while US is closest to brawling/ambusher of  DD and cruisers.  After IJN,  Germans have the most similar style.  

 

t5-6  germans are  long range  snipers with opportunistic  close range fight.  Yorck is HE spammer deluxe and can brawl pretty well   when situation demand it.   AP is powerful at close range.    Hipper start to become AP sniper with HE used to start fires in between.   accurate guns.  can take some hits, but still a cruiser.    

[crzyhawk]

The Russians are my choice.  They are excellent, effective ships.

[BossmanSlim]

German cruisers are pretty fragile until you get to T7 and they lack decent HE, which means you have to pick your ammo type based on what you are fighting.  They also lack radar, so dealing with DDs can be a problem.

Russian cruisers are fragile and turn like bricks, so you have to maintain range with them or you will end up in trouble.

 

I like the German cruisers more, but the Russian ones could be good as well.  USN is the only cruiser line I wouldn't recommend.

[hanesco]

German cruisers are consistent, only the tier VII is an exception (Yorck has very good HE, and good AP at less than 10 km). The others all have excellent AP dmg, good penetration, average (lackluster) HE and are somewhat difficult to citadel (at close ranges with BB guns, at almost any range with cruiser guns).

 

 

IJN cruisers are all around ships. Heavy hitters, good AP performance, excellent HE and a lot of long range, packing-a-punch torpedos. They have a very huge citadel (their only handicap, along with its rudder fragility), but have stealth to compensate for it. The amount of guns make this ships a priority target for BBs that don't want to be turned into charcoal.

 

American cruisers are good, but not exceptional. They have an improved AP shell, but their penetration is lackluster. Their HE is not as good as IJN, but its worth firing. The lack of torpedos make knife-fighting totally unnecesary on these ships, they are better at 8+ km. Armor is just enough to prevent shells from overmatching your ship.

 

Russian cruisers are long range (12+ km, the farthest the better) snipers. Until the tier 8, their armor is non-existant. Their rudder performance is awful, so you have to move and wiggle your ship in advance. The guns have the flattest arcs in its respective tiers, so they are very accurate at long ranges. All that make for ships better for raining down shells from afar, lighting fires regularly (good RoF and HE performance). The tier X is a battleship in disguise.

 

The british cruisers are an oddity. They only have AP, but the shell has an impresive performance from tier VI onwards. Have smoke and hydro, so they are very good for hunting DDs. Long range torps, but they lack some punch. Their fragility is a very important issue, so its better to play them like very big DDs.

 

The incoming french cruisers can be modified upon release, but the ships seem average. They have some interesting ships (the tier VI and the tier IX). Their armor is not good (at low tiers), very fragile and a relatively high citadel. They will probably be more powerful than other cruiser on the same tier but with worse armor until tier VI. The tier VI has good armor (for a tier VI cruiser) and is powerful, but its very slow, as the Kongo can chase you and you can't get away. The tier 7+ are average, but have a consumable that allows them to be the fastest cruisers in the game.

[WhiteRecon]

More friendly for IJN CA player, have to be German.  They are different enough it gives you variety as well as most German CAs fight best while kiting away.

 

The RN and VMF cruisers are very different and we're actually my choice for a couple reasons (have Zao, Moskva, Neptune).

 

One big thing to consider is what premium ships you have/want for training and to have high rank captains run in the future.  For instance, I have 2 19 point German captains and 4 German premium ships to run and create free commander xp for all my other captains.

[Eisennagel]

 

This question is a bit more complex than it should, and one needs to also consider the British lines.

 

What particular aspect of the IJN cruiser line are you fond of?  Burning down HE?  The alpha of your AP?  The speed and stealth?  The torpedoes?  

 

No cruiser line has this all around qualities the IJN has.  The speed, stealth, the torpedoes, the HE burn, the high alpha.  No line has them all in the way the IJN cruisers have.

 

If you like burning down the house with HE, go with the Russians.

 

If you like torpedoes, and IJN captains often finish off their kills with torps, go with the Germans.  

 

If you are addicted to citadeling with 8" AP shells, go with the Germans.

 

If you like your Mogami with 155mms, go with the Russians.

 

If you like stealth, speed and torpedoes, go with the British.

 

If you enjoy your Tenryu and Kuma, you might, forbid the thought, enjoy the earlier British cruisers.

 

What the other lines don't have relative to the IJN:

 

Russians have speed and HE burn and damage.  They lack the long range torpedoes and  the stealth.  Has better rate of fire, and generally better AA.

 

The Germans don't have the speed and the stealth.  Their torpedoes have superior arcs to the IJN, but lack the range.  HE damage is poor although AP damage is high.  Has superior rate of fire, has superior AA and the power of the German hydro acoustic.  

 

The British lack the HE damage and burn.  Has repair and smoke though. Fast cruisers with long range torpedoes, except they don't have the spread and density of IJN torpedo fire.

 

 

 

 

[ReddNekk]

If you like getting cited form right, left, front, and rear, and like ships that maneuver like a garbage truck, the Roo-Shin Cruisers are just the thing! The only saving grace for the borscht buckets is their guns, which are excellent.

 

I'd recommend the German line. Some of them aint so good (like all of the lines) but overall they're IMHO, the best Cruiser line. (BBs too)

[Komrad_B]

The Russian cruisers are all very similar - they cruisers are pure long range support ships, not front line ships. If you get focused on you die. If you can avoid getting shot at you can quietly rack some impressive damage totals with fires and interdict enemy destroyers since Russian 155mm cannons are accurate, long ranged and have flat trajectory. The 180mm have similar characteristics, but more punch and lower reload speed. Because they are fast they can kite enemy ships, if someone is out to get you just flee, wiggle and set him on fire. You can also get out of unfavorable engagements, which you must do or you'll die because you just can't take hits.

 

If aesthetics matter to you, then Russian cruisers are all over the place. Premium Kutuzov (which I recommand and is a perfect reflection of the entire line) is a looker, so is Budyonny, Kirov and hell, Moskva has its own charm. Donskoi and Schors are incredibly ugly imho. 

 

German cruisers are less homogeneous. The early ones are pure crap, I don't know if they buffed Karlsruhe but it was the first ship I free XPed past from, very underwhelming. Konigsberg and Nurnberg are fun, but similar to Russian cruisers - good accurate 155mm guns and no armor. The Yorck is strange and unforgiving, in that its a mediocre ship with big guns with slow shells. Hipper is more of a classic heavy cruiser, which feels more IJN like with a bit more survivability, fewer guns, less HE but more AP power. I can't comment on Roon and Hindeberg since I don't own them.

 

German ships are all lookers except the Yorck. And Karlsruhe, because I can't like anything about that tub. A good german premium cruiser is beautiful Scharnhorst, who might be classified as a battleship but might as well be a cruiser. Heck it could be a destroyer, I torpedo more things with than anything else! Prinz Eugen is a Hipper clone apparantly, so not a bad ship just not very interesting. Anyways, I must plug that ship in all my posts, its just that much fun.

 

If you're in to get to tier X then maybe German cruisers are worth it, but they don't get real interesting until much later imho. The Russian ones you know what to expect from the beginning, no real lemons.