Community Scoop: Kaga - ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS

[EtherealPresence]

 

Sup. Remember that time when I asked for Hood stuff? Good times. 

 

I've returned in search of more QUALITY WEB CONTENT and SCORCHING HOT TAKES, but this time for Kaga.

 

From now until June 14 at 12:00 PT / 15:00 ET, I’m accepting content for consideration. Here’s the kind of stuff I’m looking for:

Videos

In-depth reviews of Kaga

Cool footage of you winning in Kaga

Hilarious footage of you sucking in Kaga

Short Text (1 paragraph or less)

Your take on Kaga’s strengths and weaknesses

Kaga battle tactics

Commander/Modification loadouts

Retelling of a cool moment from a battle with Kaga

Spicy Kaga memes, GIFs, shenanigans, etc.

SPICE ADVISORY: Last time around, most of your memes contained images directly from movies/shows/etc, making them TOO SPICY for our legal eagles to allow on WorldofWarships.com.

 

I’m shooting for a healthy mix of informative content and blatant ship-posting. So have fun, but keep in mind that Community Guidelines are still a thing.

 

I’ll be checking in on this thread if you’ve got any questions. 

 

[212thAttackBattalion]

your legal eagles need to be like homer.... coat mouth in candle wax so they can handle the spicy, spicy memes we come up with

 

[Ace_04]

Does URL Guy actually play pixel boats?

 

Would be cool to catch him on the high seas.  I'm sure he'd have a witty comment or two along the way.

[RivertheRoyal]

I am unable to provide anything this time around even though I have a nice shiny and new Kaga sitting in my port. 

 

 

 

Yeah, but I can't do that. 

 

Because, I tried playing earlier, and this happened: 

 

 

 

No planes for me....

[StrykerNC]

Does URL Guy actually play pixel boats?

 

Would be cool to catch him on the high seas.  I'm sure he'd have a witty comment or two along the way.

 

438 battles so far... and he seems to like DDs... << (that can make for some witty comments, for sure)

[SullyQuindarius]

Kaga.

 

Pros:

Deletes ships like the Death Star deleted Alderaan.

T9 hangar size.

Trippy staggered torpedo drop setup (see what I did there) on a maximum of twelve planes.

The DBs can land bombs in a pickle barrel.

She's one of the coolest looking carriers ever.

Bigger plane squads than any other IJN CVs.

Huge secondaries that can citadel cruisers.

She gets a meatball!

 

Cons:

Planes die to AA like flies to flypaper.

She's fat. And oversized. Did I mention she's big?

Gets spotted from the Moon.

The meatball makes a great target, just like in real life.

The secondaries have less range than a whiffleball.

The bombs hit as hard as pillows.

 

[I_obsessed_I]

I am unable to provide anything this time around even though I have a nice shiny and new Kaga sitting in my port. 

 

sigh... with a 19 point cpt... BBs everywhere are crying...

[Bill_Halsey]

Do you need the replay file for that? Not sure how to convert it to an mpeg or avi file?

[SullyQuindarius]

No planes for me....

 

Ouch. *gives hug*

 

River, are you.... playing on low graphics? 

[RivertheRoyal]

 

Ouch. *gives hug*

 

River, are you.... playing on low graphics? 

 

 

 

 

Might also have to do with my being on the wrong side of the world this summer for the NA servers.

And horrifyingly inefficient routing on the part of my internet provider.  

[Khrunos]

If you're top tier and not against a Saipan you can God mode.

 

If you're bottom tier or against a Saipan who knows what they're doing, you're relegated to losing planes while trying to accumulate experience via spotting.

[aethervox]

If you are a 'Sucker for Lollipops', imho, you bought one.

[RivertheRoyal]

If you are a 'Sucker for Lollipops', imho, you bought one.

 

[MrDeaf]

The Torpedo bombers are glass cannons. At least you get 43 of them.

 

Kaga the Magician. She makes ships disappear in front of your eyes. She does not make them reappear.

[Zampy]

Kaga - allowing Saipan to become more powerful than you could have imagined

Kaga - Simulated night battles at sea

Kaga - Zapp Brannigan's choice against the killbots

Kaga - the closest thing we'll get to kamikaze pilots

Kaga - Here, have a Clear Sky achievement

[SullyQuindarius]

 

 

 

 

Might also have to do with my being on the wrong side of the world this summer for the NA servers.

And horrifyingly inefficient routing on the part of my internet provider.  

Wine display? Are you on Mac too? 

---

[Atom_Alchemist]

Like i must.

 

The Kaga URL should be.

A_New_t7_Amagi_Battleship

 

Runner ups for Url per my household

Zergling_Rush_now_with_100%_more_warships

A_Ship_with_an_identity_Crisis 

 

 

 

damn i really wanted to make a meme out of a screen grab of a team with 2 kaga vs a enemy team with 2 as saipans, 4 north Carolina,s and 6 clevelands, subtitled something like" and now we go to war, then see the enemy layout and instant rage face but i can't load a premium ship in the training room that i don't have access to do"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TenguBlade]

Do:

-Get Dogfighting Expert.  You will very rarely be pitted against any fighters that are not at least same-tier compared to yours - this will help even the odds even if it's still stacked against you.

 

-Learn to use strafe and associated tactics.  Kaga's fighters don't produce much damage output without it, and you will need it to break away from enemy fighters that lock yours up or your squad will face total annihilation at their hands more often than not.

 

-Go 2/2/1.  1/1/3 is unquestionably inferior.  If you want to murder DDs with bombs, you should have bought Saipan.

 

-Be prepared for CV snipes.  Kaga's fighters are slow, and if they're far away from your ship when enemy bombers show up, you are in serious trouble.  Likewise her improved survivability over other T7 CVs is insignificant when same-tier carriers can erase battleships with much better defenses and maneuverability than any carrier in one fell swoop.  Even more so because her anti-aircraft battery is typical of a Japanese ship: weak.

 

Do not:

-Be deceived by the "T6" label of your aircraft.  Remember that Hiryu has the same "T6" torpedo bombers as well, but you field 50% more TBs with a total aircraft reserve nearly 20% larger.  While all of her children are exceptional, do not be afraid to throw a few planes away to make whatever play is necessary to win, as you can afford the losses more than the enemy carrier.

 

-Go secondary build unless you plan on using it for Training Room shenanigans.  Even then, you're better off moving a captain from an actual Japanese battleship onto her rather than raising a dedicated one.

 

-Underestimate her torpedo speed.  48 knots sounds slow for a torpedo, but other air-dropped torpedoes run at 34-35.  Expect to have to relearn how to drop your torpedoes from square one when you play this ship.

 

-Be near the front line, or the line after that, or the line after that one.  Despite being built on a battleship hull, Kaga's armor is less than a tier above Hiryu's, barely matching that of Shokaku and Lexington.  Basically everything besides the main belt is also free damage.  In addition, while turning better than most carriers of her size, Kaga is a lot slower, so she doesn't turn as fast.  She also retains her absolute inability to hide from anything leftover from her battleship days.

[AustralianOptometrist]

Here's my bigger writeup where you can pick and choose what you like. I wrote that post an hour after Kaga came out, and it still holds true.

 

As a TL;DR of that:

 

• Kaga is the glass cannon of aircraft carriers.
• The B5N2s are the stars of the show, with fast aerial torpedo speed and unexpected drop pattern.
• Kaga has amazing damage and kill potential, but she can be quickly neutralized by an experienced CV player.

 

Also here's a quick and dirty MSPaint picture (I don't have access to Photoshop anymore )

 

EDIT:

 Short Text (1 paragraph or less)

• Your take on Kaga’s strengths and weaknesses
• Kaga battle tactics
• Commander/Modification loadouts
• Retelling of a cool moment from a battle with Kaga

 

Ok so I'll write something that better fits this, and is a bit more entertaining.

 

Kaga is a strong carrier in skilled hands. Her primary goal is to inflict as much damage and kills on the enemy team as possible. Her plane loadout is optimized for this goal; an extensive supply of bombers, torpedo bomber squadrons consisting of six planes with a unique spread, fast aerial torpedoes, and dive bombers with precision drops. This comes with a cost, as all planes have low HP and slow speed compared to their counterparts at tier VII. Also, Kaga can't maintain control of the skies, and fares poorly against an experienced CV captain. She is a great representation of the real Kaga during the first six months of the Pacific War; powerful surface strike capability, but weak in all other respects. Kaga is the glass cannon of aircraft carriers.

 

An average Kaga captain places his squadrons in optimal positions to launch attacks, while maintaining an eye on the enemy plane squadrons in the air. Fighter squadrons are effectively sacrificed to allow torpedo bombers to strike key targets such as destroyers and battleships. Picking an isolated or damaged target is a tactic that must be used at all times, as Kaga's weak squadrons will not survive an attack against a fleet or target with strong AA. A good Kaga captain is separated from an average one by adapting to battle conditions and striking priority targets such as ships in caps or reinforcing a flank. The Zeroes can strafe enemy bombers with mediocre effectiveness but every bit helps your team. Using the Zeroes to hover over enemy destroyers and keep them detected for your team to focus on is an important contribution to victory.

 

In terms of commander loadout, the standard IJN CV captain skills work fine here, as she should be used as a captain trainer anyways. Aircraft Servicing Expert, Torpedo Acceleration, Torpedo Armament Expertise, Air Supremacy, and Dogfighting Expert are must-have skills. Kaga's 127 mm AA guns have higher DPS than Hiryu, so Manual Fire Control for AA Armament is a good pick. Evasive Maneuvers, Expert Rear Gunner, and any ship survivability skills are NOT recommended; Kaga should strive not to be seen at all costs, especially by surface ships. The expensive Kaga bundle has the best modifications for her.

 

My very first match with Kaga was fantastic. The enemy Hiryu did his best to counter me, but I was able to divert his attention with fighters and strike with impunity. The match ended with 6 kills, 86k damage, and 24 plane kills. Although my fighter and dive bomber squadrons were wiped out, I managed to wipe out Hiryu's fighter complement and still had enough torpedo bombers to continue an assault against another three ships... but the enemy team ran out of ships to feed me.

 

EDIT 2: A GIF of me sniping an unaware Kaga.

[Izolyn]

Kaga.

 

Pros:

Deletes ships like the Death Star deleted Alderaan.

T9 hangar size.

Trippy staggered torpedo drop setup (see what I did there) on a maximum of twelve planes.

The DBs can land bombs in a pickle barrel.

She's one of the coolest looking carriers ever.

Bigger plane squads than any other IJN CVs.

Huge secondaries that can citadel cruisers.

She gets a meatball!

 

Cons:

Planes die to AA like flies to flypaper.

She's fat. And oversized. Did I mention she's big?

Gets spotted from the Moon.

The meatball makes a great target, just like in real life.

The secondaries have less range than a whiffleball.

The bombs hit as hard as pillows.

 

 

Really missed opportunity here: You could have said that she deletes ships like the Death Star, but also gets spotted from about as far away.

[Atom_Alchemist]

Ok so i made this

 

 

Whatcha think?

[Herr_Reitz]

Kaga torp drop reminds you of the Flying W Ranch... 

[WardedForbidden]

Can't match Kaga's torpedo speed with enemy ship's speed.

Btw Why WG gave Kaga 221 and 113, I thought WG would give her 122 or 213 or 312.

221 is overpowered.

T6 IJN planes * 10 beats T7 USN planes *7