Colorado advice

[MoltenSilver]

Recently I managed to reach the Colorado(My highest tier ship), and while I knew I wasn't a great player before, I've reached the point where my sloppiness is really costing me and I feel like I have a lot of improving to do. I know the generic tips:
'don't go alone'
'have a plan ahead of time'
'Don't show your broadside',
etc

but I feel like I'm struggling to put them into practice. For example I find myself in a lot of situations where I angle to block damage from one source, but now find myself going a direction i don't want to, while also afraid to turn because I know I'll get chunked through my broadside and get stuck in a 'don't know what to do' moment that usually gets me killed. I'm guessing this is probably where planning poorly is coming back to bite me.

So I wanted advice for questions like
What kind of things should be in my plan?
How do I change course without losing half my health? Is it better to stick to a bad course or to try and risk showing the broadside for a few seconds?
Can my AP do decent damage to Bismark and Tirptiz? If so, what am I aiming for on them?
What should I do if my team is turning away and I can't keep up?
Is it better to stick with a cowardly sniping team, or try to take initiative alone?
What do I do if I am outnumbered (for example, holding a flank on a Home Base game against a larger enemy push, or if my allies die)?
What's my best strategy if I am in an up-tiered game?
What are the best ways of measuring success and improvement?
and such

Despite these problems, i do very much enjoy the USN BB line, and the Colorado. I was even considering purchasing the Alabama.

Edit: I forgot to note, I currently have the Hull upgrade on the Colorado, but not the propulsion or gun fire control systems yet. I have the Main Armaments Mod 1, Artillery Plotting Room Mod 1, Damage Control System mod 1, and steering gear mod 2 mounted.

[Kapitan_Wuff]

5 minutes ago, MoltenSilver said:

I was even considering purchasing the Alabama.

 

The Alabama/NC is a totally different beast than the CO. I couldn't stand the CO, the slow bath tub just wasn't really my style.

 

[MoltenSilver]

Just now, Kapitan_Wuff said:

 

The Alabama/NC is a totally different beast than the CO. I couldn't stand the CO, the slow bath tub just wasn't really my style.

 

I should probably have indicated I'm aware that T8 is where USN start following the 'Fast battleship' philosophy, but it slipped my mind

[InclinedToRun]

14 minutes ago, MoltenSilver said:

Recently I managed to reach the Colorado(My highest tier ship), and while I knew I wasn't a great player before, I've reached the point where my sloppiness is really costing me and I feel like I have a lot of improving to do. I know the generic tips:

'don't go alone'
'have a plan ahead of time'
'Don't show your broadside',
etc

but I feel like I'm struggling to put them into practice. For example I find myself in a lot of situations where I angle to block damage from one source, but now find myself going a direction i don't want to, while also afraid to turn because I know I'll get chunked through my broadside and get stuck in a 'don't know what to do' moment that usually gets me killed. I'm guessing this is probably where planning poorly is coming back to bite me.

So I wanted advice for questions like
What kind of things should be in my plan?
How do I change course without losing half my health? Is it better to stick to a bad course or to try and risk showing the broadside for a few seconds?
Can my AP do decent damage to Bismark and Tirptiz? If so, what am I aiming for on them?
What should I do if my team is turning away and I can't keep up?
Is it better to stick with a cowardly sniping team, or try to take initiative alone?
What do I do if I am outnumbered (for example, holding a flank on a Home Base game against a larger enemy push, or if my allies die)?
What's my best strategy if I am in an up-tiered game?
What are the best ways of measuring success and improvement?
and such

Despite these problems, i do very much enjoy the USN BB line, and the Colorado. I was even considering purchasing the Alabama.

Edit: I forgot to note, I currently have the Hull upgrade on the Colorado, but not the propulsion or gun fire control systems yet. I have the Main Armaments Mod 1, Artillery Plotting Room Mod 1, Damage Control System mod 1, and steering gear mod 2 mounted.

1) Try to go where you want to be at the end of the game, and don't chase stray ships, or else you'll get too far away from where you need to be.

2) Colorado has good heal, and you should try to not be too far forward, or too far back, also, make turns after enemy BBs shot, it should give you 40-50 seconds to turn.

3) AP on colorado does so much to german BBs, just aim for upper mid belt, 1/2 way between superstructure and water line.

4) This usually only happens if you're in the lead, which is a whole other issue related to positioning

5) Stick with the team, unless you're top tier then you can try to do something, but be careful, as it will most likely lead to failure

6) If outnumbered take down the lowest HP ships ASAP then work on the larger ships

7) Stay with the team and do everything else like normal.

8) Measure XP, dmg, and survival rate.  Dmg shows you're shooting well, XP shows you're doing well for your team, and Survival shows you have good positioning, or are improving it.

[FayFay731]

As a VMF cruiser player, what I do is rush into the enemy, turn around early and kite. I don't know if this works for USN BBs but kiting is a great way through to deal damage and tank at the same time. Most ships in WoWs actually have better firing arcs while kiting than facing forward. 

For example: The Dimitri Don Skoi, people who have played this ship will know that it has absolutely horrible forward firing arcs and you have to show a lot of your broadside to use all 4 of your guns. It's rear firing arcs however are amazing.

[1Sherman]

15 minutes ago, MoltenSilver said:

Recently I managed to reach the Colorado(My highest tier ship), and while I knew I wasn't a great player before, I've reached the point where my sloppiness is really costing me and I feel like I have a lot of improving to do. I know the generic tips:
'don't go alone'
'have a plan ahead of time'
'Don't show your broadside',
etc

but I feel like I'm struggling to put them into practice. For example I find myself in a lot of situations where I angle to block damage from one source, but now find myself going a direction i don't want to, while also afraid to turn because I know I'll get chunked through my broadside and get stuck in a 'don't know what to do' moment that usually gets me killed. I'm guessing this is probably where planning poorly is coming back to bite me.

So I wanted advice for questions like
What kind of things should be in my plan?
How do I change course without losing half my health? Is it better to stick to a bad course or to try and risk showing the broadside for a few seconds?
Can my AP do decent damage to Bismark and Tirptiz? If so, what am I aiming for on them?
What should I do if my team is turning away and I can't keep up?
Is it better to stick with a cowardly sniping team, or try to take initiative alone?
What do I do if I am outnumbered (for example, holding a flank on a Home Base game against a larger enemy push, or if my allies die)?
What's my best strategy if I am in an up-tiered game?
What are the best ways of measuring success and improvement?
and such

Despite these problems, i do very much enjoy the USN BB line, and the Colorado. I was even considering purchasing the Alabama.

Edit: I forgot to note, I currently have the Hull upgrade on the Colorado, but not the propulsion or gun fire control systems yet. I have the Main Armaments Mod 1, Artillery Plotting Room Mod 1, Damage Control System mod 1, and steering gear mod 2 mounted.

 

1: Your plan should be to stick with the fleet and to attack the objective. If your teammates don't go with you, be ready to retreat. Focus on cruisers and BBs at mid-close range, that's where the big damage comes from.

2: If you want to change course without losing a lot of HP, time your enemies' reloads and turn when they can't shoot at you. You have a fast rudder and a short turning circle, you can get to a good angle before most BBs can reload.

3: Against a broadside Tirpitz and Bismarck, your AP can do between 10 and 25k damage per well-aimed volley. Don't be afraid to take them on, even up close. You have strong armour and powerful guns, just watch for the torpedoes. If they're giving you a broadside, aim slightly above the waterline for good penetrations.

4: If your team is turning away and you can't keep up, follow them regardless. Provide a rear-guard action and make the enemy team have to earn every inch of water they gain.

5: Better to stick with the fleet. Try to convince them to take the objective and fight the enemy team by Ctrl+F3ing a point and/or by leading a charge. If they don't go with you, then turn around and rejoin them. If you don't, you'll be focused down by every single HE cruiser, BB, DD, and CV on the enemy team that sees you.

6: If you're outnumbered, do a fighting retreat. Head back to where your teammates are, kite the enemy, make them regret going after you.

7: If you're up-tiered, pay extra attention to your angling and to enemy DD positions. Aside from that, you have nothing really to worry about. I've taken on NCs and Iowas in my old Colorado before and kicked their high-tier *sses before.

8: Your best way of measuring improvement is by how many good games you have, i.e. 100k+ damage, citadels, good XP. If they show up with regularity, you're doing well.

Finally, get the upgraded equipment on the Colorado as soon as possible. Before I sold her to buy my NC, she was my favourite ship and she remains statistically my best.

 

[InclinedToRun]

5 minutes ago, FayFay731 said:

As a VMF cruiser player, what I do is rush into the enemy, turn around early and kite. I don't know if this works for USN BBs but kiting is a great way through to deal damage and tank at the same time. Most ships in WoWs actually have better firing arcs while kiting than facing forward. 

For example: The Dimitri Don Skoi, people who have played this ship will know that it has absolutely horrible forward firing arcs and you have to show a lot of your broadside to use all 4 of your guns. It's rear firing arcs however are amazing.

Doesn't work on non-montana US BBs, the ones that have enough rear guns to do it effectively are too slow to do it, the t8-9 have to expose lots of broadside to do it.

[BladedPheonix]

Don't give up! Colorado maybe slow but in the right hands shes a great ship! shes also a good ship if you don't have the Nagato, to use in ranked battles due to her AA and durability! I'll list some things below to help you out!

 

1: Colo is great facing BBs and CL/CA at short-midrange range (10-14km)

 

2: DO NOT try to chase DDs or engage them in close combat (under 10 km) because if you miss its GG!

 

3: spec your ship for AA and durability! She has some of the best AA for BBs at her tier and she can also, when angled, can take quite a pounding!

 

4:  when in higher tier battles make sure you stay with other BBs/ Cruisers of similar speed! DO NOT GET CAUGHT ALONE!

 

5: when you are the highest tier ship in your match, play smart but be aggressive. you have the HP and armor to tank and if done right you'll earn a lot of EXP!

 

6: know your shells! Colo can really hurt other BBs with her 16 inch guns! if you don't know where the citadel is, aim for the enemy BB's upper hull instead, you'll do massive damage.  your HE shells can also ruin come CL's days when you aim for their upper hulls as well as knocking out their AA guns helping your friendly CVs!

 

7. Learn how to torpedo beat! (dodge torpedoes) assuming you don't have the shill already, Colo although slow can be very good at dodging torpedoes! learning how to dodge with her will help you later with the NC, Iowa and Montana!

 

8: ranked battle (A) use her in ranked matches! with smaller teams, quicker battles and bigger EXP when you win matches, this can allow you to grind her even faster than normal battles will!

 

9: ranked battle  (B) Colorado can dominate in Ranked matches because most of the maps are small and demand that the team stick together. add in the fact that you have good AA, the few CVs in Ranked will mostlikley avoid you, allowiing your ship to throw its weight around!

 

10: if the grind it too hard, equip EXP camo and bonus giving flags that increase your EXP and F-EXP! 

[Ajatcho]

 

[Utt_Buggly]

15 hours ago, 1Sherman said:

 

Finally, get the upgraded equipment on the Colorado as soon as possible. Before I sold her to buy my NC, she was my favourite ship and she remains statistically my best.

 

 

This last point here of Sherman.

I suggest the propulsion/speed upgrade first.

With where you're at (having hull upgrade, not the others), you won't be able to keep up even with a Texas, or upgraded New Mexicos, New Yorks, Arizonas. If the MM permitted the pairing, you wouldn't even be able to keep up with an upgraded Wyoming.

 

With higher-tier BBs, you'll hear (correctly) that speed can easily get you into trouble by overxtending (outrunning the team and making yourself a handy target). At the 21 knots that the propulsion upgrade will give you, overextending will still be hard to do. It will help you get to/keep up with the battle, and be of some help in keeping up with a retreat.

[Psycodiver]

Now that you don't have the original A hull anymore, speed is first. Personally I suggest Plotting Room mod and rudder shift mod, then propulsion upgrade. Next is your choice, B hull or FCS, I suggest B hull because of rudder shift along with improved AA and then finally FCS upgrade. After that I switched Plotting Room mod for AA mod and Rudder Shift for DCS mod and for captain skills I pushed for a combination of AA and Tank. If you want to get cheeky then you could also run Secondary Range mod instead because while the secondaries lack punch, they do light ALLOT of fires in my experience

[UrPeaceKeeper]

17 hours ago, Ajatcho said:

 

 

Was just reading the thread to post this and found it already posted! :D  Thanks!

[AdmiralThunder]

On ‎8‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 6:50 PM, MoltenSilver said:

Recently I managed to reach the Colorado(My highest tier ship), and while I knew I wasn't a great player before, I've reached the point where my sloppiness is really costing me and I feel like I have a lot of improving to do. I know the generic tips:
'don't go alone'
'have a plan ahead of time'
'Don't show your broadside',
etc

but I feel like I'm struggling to put them into practice. For example I find myself in a lot of situations where I angle to block damage from one source, but now find myself going a direction i don't want to, while also afraid to turn because I know I'll get chunked through my broadside and get stuck in a 'don't know what to do' moment that usually gets me killed. I'm guessing this is probably where planning poorly is coming back to bite me.

So I wanted advice for questions like
What kind of things should be in my plan?
How do I change course without losing half my health? Is it better to stick to a bad course or to try and risk showing the broadside for a few seconds?
Can my AP do decent damage to Bismark and Tirptiz? If so, what am I aiming for on them?
What should I do if my team is turning away and I can't keep up?
Is it better to stick with a cowardly sniping team, or try to take initiative alone?
What do I do if I am outnumbered (for example, holding a flank on a Home Base game against a larger enemy push, or if my allies die)?
What's my best strategy if I am in an up-tiered game?
What are the best ways of measuring success and improvement?
and such

Despite these problems, i do very much enjoy the USN BB line, and the Colorado. I was even considering purchasing the Alabama.

Edit: I forgot to note, I currently have the Hull upgrade on the Colorado, but not the propulsion or gun fire control systems yet. I have the Main Armaments Mod 1, Artillery Plotting Room Mod 1, Damage Control System mod 1, and steering gear mod 2 mounted.

Colorado is actually my favorite of the 3 standard T7 BB's. I really like it overall and just love the guns. It's glaring weakness is the weak armor and low HP pool. I personally do not feel the supposed super heal it has is any better than a standard heal.  You take big hits very easy, regardless of your angle (as you have found out), and with such low HP to draw on you are at a major disadvantage. However, the guns are just insanely good and can dish out far more damage than you take.

FWIW here are my thoughts re: some of your questions. No going to answer all as others have said a lot of what I would...

The ship is slow like all USN BB up to T8. Play it like you have the T3-T6 as far as location and direction and try to avoid going off alone. You just don't have the armor or HP to take sustained hits from multiple ships if they catch you alone.

If you don't have Priority Target get it. You can change course when no one is targeting you. If you have to change course during a fight with another BB do it right after they shoot at you and you have taken the hit. You should have 20-25 seconds or so to make the turn. The ship turns pretty quick. Don't delay the turn though or you could get caught broadside and that isn't good in this ship

Yes, your AP can put a big hurt on Tirpitz and Bismarck as well as the T5-T7 KM BB's too. Haven't played against a T9 KM BB so can't comment. 10-15K+ salvos are common although citadels are rare. I have citadeled both Tirpitz and Bismarck( as well as Gneisenau )with my Colorado however (while coming at me sort of through the bow/turret area or at range through deck). On KM BB's I aim for the line where the deck meets the hull or just below it. Don't shoot at the waterline like you do on other ships. Colorado can instadelete other USN and IJN BB's her guns are so good.

I spec'd my Colorado for AA. Her max gun range fully upgraded is enough for me. I spec'd mine like your except I went with the AA mod instead of the plotting room. My Capt has BFT and AFT too. While the ships is not a no fly zone it has excellent AA. It is good enough to seriously reduce full squadrons, if not take them out completely, and if reduced squadrons attack it wipes them out easily.

Great ship. Use those fantastic guns to just obliterate ships out to 15km. She is fragile though so you need to pick your fights and try not to expose the sides ( hard to always angle to every threat I know). Watch UrPeaceKeeper's video above. It is excellent as he always does and shows how good the ship is and how to play it.

. 

[Hangoverhomey]

If they made it's armor worth a damn or gave it some more HP it would be a decent ship, right now it's a 1 trick pony that usually just ends up being everyone's punching bag.