Such fun... First five games in Bismark...

[Estimated_Prophet]

Received Bismark as a part of the Hunt; did reasonably well testing it in Co-op, (for Co-op, of course.)

 

Waited until Hunt was over to try in out in Random battles so no one would be trying to get a 'Kill a German battleship' task kill on me.

 

First random game; Tier 10; second; Tier 10, third; Tier 8; fourth; Tier 10; fifth; Tier 8...

 

Gee; thanks Wargamming; whether tier 8 can face tier 10 or not; just thanks a lot for making my first Random battle in a ship I've never used there before be the absolute worst MM it could possibly be. I may have a touch over 1,600 games in battleships in Randoms, but just; whatever....

 

My own inexperience; teams that apparently can't shoot, (one game was a 3-12 blowout, with one of the three kills being mine,) one game being the classic "Yay! We're up 6 kills to 3! Then suddenly turning around a few minuites later and it's 6 kills to 9,) getting rammed by an Amagi that apparently had nothing better to do when his team was winning, and like I said; just the absolute BEST that match-making could have possibly been...

 

 

Such an utterly pathetic inability to influence high-tier games in any real meaningful way is pretty much why I say they can go to hell; and why I don't care to play them unless forced to by some mission/task...

 

Last night I was questioning wheter or not to sell my Gneisenau; when I looked this morning its earned ship xp was exactly 17,000. That was converted to fxp and as of right now the ship is as good as sold.

 

If not for the ship effectively being 'free' (except for modules and upgrades,) I would not hesitate to sell Bismark as well; since there's no point in wasting time with a ship I apparently can't perform with. Pretty much the only reason keeping me from doing so is that I can make it work in Co-op. Lame game mode that may be to some; but there is fun to be had with it there.

[Skpstr]

Don't feel so bad. It's my worst T8 BB. I'm not a big brawler, so the close range ability it gives up other things to get is wasted on me to a degree.

 

When I do get into a close range situation though, it's lots of fun.

[RipNuN2]

5 battles is probably too small a sample to really understand a ship and make it shine. It took me quite a while to understand the Warspite for instance but she is now a favorite.

[IronWolfV]

Wow really? Well I guess the old battle axe ain't for everyone.

[Panzer1113]

Everyone needs to find that ship that works for them... have to say that Bismarck is still my favorite ship in the game.  As I have gone up the ship trees, one of the only tech tree ships I have not sold (other two Fuso and Clemson).  Main guns take some getting use to, and need to learn of course when to brawl and when to get the f out of dodge to heal... but once you get a high point captain in, you can hunt anything.  Can't say that I enjoy getting up tiered in any tier 8 BB, but can still contribute in a Bismarck (vs Imagi or NC) on tech tree BBs.

[AVR_Project]

There's not a lot that can be done in a tier 8 ship stuck in a tier 10 heavy battle.  1 or 2 tier 10s on a side is not so bad..  but if it's 1 or 2 tier 8s?  -- sorry.  Your game is going to suck.

You will be citadeled by ships you can't see without warning, your health will grind down to zero in 30 seconds from a stealth firing cruiser or DD, and you will generally do about 4 digits of damage before being deleted.

The best thing you can do is get 'accidentally' stuck behind an island for the first 5 minutes of the game.  At least wait until the smoke clears off.

Otherwise, you are a dead liability.  Better to do nothing rather than adversely effect the score.

[Skpstr]

Wow really? Well I guess the old battle axe ain't for everyone.

 

Yup, I can't initiate an engagement where the Bis shines, but when somebody gets too close for their own good, oh yeah baby!

[JojoTheMongol]

The Bismarck might be one of the best line ships to get thrown into Tier 10 games at tier 8. I have no trouble doing work in a Tier 10 game in it.

 

What are you running?

[anonym_OlK73e329bMY]

Bismarck's not for everyone, I suppose.

[IronWolfV]

 

Yup, I can't initiate an engagement where the Bis shines, but when somebody gets too close for their own good, oh yeah baby!

Bismarck is my current holder of my highest damage game. She truly is a wrecking machine.

[Estimated_Prophet]

Yup, I can't initiate an engagement where the Bis shines, but when somebody gets too close for their own good, oh yeah baby!

 

I actually managed to stealth up to within 8k on a full heath North Carolina in my Gneisenau by masking myself behind an island, and hammered and torped it to bits. That was why I was hesitating to sell it. Gneisenau's fate was sealed by the utter drubbing I received in Bismark.

 

Not being able to win a single bloody battle in my first five games utterly destroyed any confidence I had in the ship from what I'd done using it in Co-op.

[Skpstr]

There's not a lot that can be done in a tier 8 ship stuck in a tier 10 heavy battle.  1 or 2 tier 10s on a side is not so bad..  but if it's 1 or 2 tier 8s?  -- sorry.  Your game is going to suck.

You will be citadeled by ships you can't see without warning, your health will grind down to zero in 30 seconds from a stealth firing cruiser or DD, and you will generally do about 4 digits of damage before being deleted.

The best thing you can do is get 'accidentally' stuck behind an island for the first 5 minutes of the game.  At least wait until the smoke clears off.

Otherwise, you are a dead liability.  Better to do nothing rather than adversely effect the score.

 

I disagree. I have issues making Bismarck work to be sure, but NC, Amagi, and Hipper? They work just fine. I do a bit less damage, but it's worth more, so it all works out.

 

It's no worse than being on the bottom at any other tier, and better than some, the guns work just fine.

[Aschenblume]

The Hydro is what lets the Bismarck be so aggressive. With commander perks it turns the Bismarck into a whole new level of power. Bottom tier its should stay away from the big guns and pick on cruisers and DDs up close.

[Skpstr]

 

I actually managed to stealth up to within 8k on a full heath North Carolina in my Gneisenau by masking myself behind an island, and hammered it to bits. That was why I was hesitating to sell it. Gneisenau's fate was sealed by the utter drubbing I received in Bismark.

 

Not being able to win a single bloody battle in my first five games utterly destroyed any confidence I had in the ship from what I'd done using it in Co-op.

 

I feel your pain, although Gneisenau was better for me, average damage was in line for me in T7 BBs, and my hit ratio was actually the best, 30% vs. Colorado and Nagato at 24%.

[Estimated_Prophet]

The Bismarck might be one of the best line ships to get thrown into Tier 10 games at tier 8. I have no trouble doing work in a Tier 10 game in it.

 

What are you running?

 

MAM1, SBM2, PM1, SGM2, TASM1.

 

Captain is 16 points; PT, PM, EM, BFT, AFT, MFCfSA, with 1 skill point currently unassigned.

[JojoTheMongol]

I run basically the same except BFT.

 

AR > BFT all day every day. When low health your primaries get down to low 20 second reloads and your secondaries blaze away.

 

Maybe watch some videos online. That's usually what I do when I suck in a new boat.

 

[Parliament_Funkadelic]

Biz ruined BB play for me. It's so much damn fun that playing any other line is like watching paint dry. Get in and brawl, get some fires on one guy, switch manual secs on to another, truck another ship, yeah you may die but you take two with you and bang out 100k+ easy in 5 minutes. remember, it's a video game, we aren't curing cancer here. Have fun with it

[Estimated_Prophet]

AR > BFT all day every day.

 

Yeah, realized that when I looked at the captain just now. His build is a holdover from what I was using on Bayern originally, (without the MFC,) maybe I take out PM and use the extra skill to get AR, or just use some Elite xp and pay for it.

[SuperNikoPower]

I spent a couple weeks forcused on BBs. Bismarck was my go to BB. I never learned so fast how to play decent games outside of Bismarck. 

[IronWolfV]

I run basically the same except BFT.

 

AR > BFT all day every day. When low health your primaries get down to low 20 second reloads and your secondaries blaze away.

 

Maybe watch some videos online. That's usually what I do when I suck in a new boat.

 

 

Sure AR is a good skill, but combine them, watch those secondaries just turn into gatling guns.

[Ronin_ICOP]

A full secondary spec Bismarck is, for me, the most fun I have had with a BB. As others have said, it can be a wrecking ball once you have the upgrades and a captain with lots of points. If you haven't seen it yet, Flamu has a

highlighting the strengths of the boat.

 

Respects,

 

Am

 

Edit: Cuz spelling

[Mizzerys_Fate]

Are you secondary build?

2 days ago I was top of my team in a heavy tier 10 battle.

She performs well at 12 to 14 km.

[desmo_2]

Have you upgraded Bismarck at all, yet?  With only 5 games I would assume not, but you may have Free XP'd your way into a few upgrades.

 

My point being, NEVER judge a stock ship.

 

My first dozen battles or so with Benson were painful.  I seriously thought my US DD grind was ending.  Then things started clicking, I got some upgrades, and before long I was in absolute love.  Fletcher is widely reported to be Benson, but better at everything.  Yet, again my first several games were just horrible.  Things have started to turn around and I see why so many people rave about her.

Never judge a stock ship.

[AVR_Project]

 

I disagree. I have issues making Bismarck work to be sure, but NC, Amagi, and Hipper? They work just fine. I do a bit less damage, but it's worth more, so it all works out.

 

It's no worse than being on the bottom at any other tier, and better than some, the guns work just fine.

 

I've had good days and bad days at tier 8.

Folks give the advice -- if you are having a bad day, walk away.  Unfortunately, for me and many others, it's the only time we have.

Seems the good times start when it's time for me to go to bed:  11:00 on a work night.  And it's nothing but wins and high scores.  But that 5:30 AM alarm to go to work sure is painful.

Weekends...   Yeah, yeah...  you know it.

 

 

 

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Never judge a stock ship.

 

With 4mil plus fxp, I just upgraded the ship completely, then tested it out in Co-op while waiting for Hunt to end. All the confidence in the ship I'd built up with that was smashed to kindling the first game in Randoms.

 

My first dozen battles or so with Benson were painful.  I seriously thought my US DD grind was ending.  Then things started clicking, I got some upgrades, and before long I was in absolute love.

 

Benson was and still is utter trash to me. Considering its reputation, I can't believe I wasted 95 games on it and couldn't get any better than a 37% WR out of it. One of the most despised destroyers I've ever had the displeasure of using.

 

Fletcher I like; but Benson, Sims, and even Gearing have all been worthless.

 

Seems the good times start when it's time for me to go to bed:  11:00 on a work night.

 

This is one of the things that hacked me off the most; normally I don't see high-tier games unless I play at night. Seeing such a mob of tier 10s in the late morning/early afternoon was annoying to say the least.

 

I didn't want to be carried; I may have been overly cautious in a new ship, but I did try to get into the fight; it just wound up being a pointless effort. Getting to ease into things a bit more would have been nice; but the consequences of ragequiting (my team being down a ship at the start,) were the only thing that kept me from doing so when that third tier 10 game rolled around.