the Pensacola

[ArchMadman]

Im not sure what to do with this ship i've tried everything and not getting anywhere

This ship is giving me an ulcer and only 29 games with it and a 34% winrate. only had 1 great game with it

i've tried everything and i guess i found my kryptonite.

doesn't help when 8 out of ten battles is tier 9 i guess

i've tried watching youtube videos but they don't help at all

not sure what to do except perhaps sell it after i try my 30th game in it and see if something changes

hell i made good with the colorado and played well with it but this ship is just frustrating

not sure what to do anymore

[ArchMadman]

never mind it seems like everytime i vent i end up having a great game, guess i need to be mad more often

[DoctorMcDerp]

It has great AP, iffy HE (I do not advise HE spamming everything you see in it like every other cruiser), tin can armor (AVOID BROADSIDES OR BIG GUNS), a ton of maneuverability (helps with murdering DDs, which it is good at), and decent AA power.  Don't fight BBs unless you must, don't be afraid to use AP on them, punish cruiser broadsides, and raid smoke screens and laugh as you juke their torps and keep shooting them with your 10 guns and good turret traverse.

[LastSamurai714]

People (BB's) looooooooove shooting at Citacolas.  I rage sold my Pensa and Myoko during a drunken 40% win rate night and never bought them back.  Good luck Sir.

[Capt_Sassypants]

Pensacola hits hard but can't take a punch. I play it like the Phoenix,  lots of dodging and firing from long range. Unlike the Phoenix though its guns do significant damage and can obliterate other cruisers with ap. I will tend to kite bb's and keep enough distance to dodge the big guns. Use your concealment to pick your engagements and get into good positions.  Overall I did much better in the Pensacola than the Cleveland.

[Greenday4537]

Great ship for sneaking up on people around islands than blowing them away with your ridiculous AP.

[gil5461]

Having just finished my grind through the Pensacola to unlock and purchase the New Orleans which I did last night, Thank you WG for the discount! I am going to keep the Pensacola as I found it to be a powerful and fun cruiser to play.It does take a lot of work to stay alive and do good damage...aka hug those Islands and stay alive to end game for results,however it is very Map dependent so some Maps may not just work well with it and you.It gave me a Kracken in my last game and a report from a sore sinker,imagine that! I will say the end result that is the New Orleans is worth the effort as it is a much improved ship with Great Concealment and a bit more tougher. Hang in there and good luck to you.

[ArchMadman]

Thanks for your responses,

i played my final game with the crusiser today selling it and getting the New Orleans and sure enough on my final battle i went out with a bang

 

 

[Nikarus]

On 9/16/2017 at 2:13 AM, DoctorMcDerp said:

It has great AP, iffy HE (I do not advise HE spamming everything you see in it like every other cruiser), tin can armor (AVOID BROADSIDES OR BIG GUNS), a ton of maneuverability (helps with murdering DDs, which it is good at), and decent AA power.

 

On 9/16/2017 at 8:59 AM, Capt_Sassypants said:

Pensacola hits hard but can't take a punch.

 

On 9/16/2017 at 10:13 AM, Greenday4537 said:

Great ship for sneaking up on people around islands than blowing them away with your ridiculous AP.

What they say
>Great AP, she hit's hard, ridiculous AP.

The reality
>Worst AP DPM in tier, Second worst HE DPM in tier, Worst fire chance over time in tier.

[Greenday4537]

3 hours ago, Nikarus said:

 

 

What they say
>Great AP, she hit's hard, ridiculous AP.

The reality
>Worst AP DPM in tier, Second worst HE DPM in tier, Worst fire chance over time in tier.

The difference being the size of the shells. Pepsi has the best.

[Nikarus]

16 minutes ago, Greenday4537 said:

The difference being the size of the shells. Pepsi has the best.

"Size" meaning what? And how does that "size" somehow make the Pensacola competitive with her contemporaries in terms of damage output? Or in any other category for that matter?

[Greenday4537]

9 minutes ago, Nikarus said:

"Size" meaning what? And how does that "size" somehow make the Pensacola competitive with her contemporaries in terms of damage output?

More penetration. I don't believe you get citadels in other T7s like you do in the Pepsi.

[Nikarus]

Just now, Greenday4537 said:

More penetration. I don't believe you get citadels in other T7s like you do in the Pepsi.

And what does that have to do with size? Myoko and Algerie have the same size guns, the York's are bigger.

And even in the rare case that it does get "more" citadels than a comparable ship, they're all still winning more often and doing more damage. Clearly that extra tiny bit of penetration isn't amounting to much.

[DoctorMcDerp]

9 hours ago, Nikarus said:

 

 

What they say
>Great AP, she hit's hard, ridiculous AP.

The reality
>Worst AP DPM in tier, Second worst HE DPM in tier, Worst fire chance over time in tier.

Pepsi shells are heavier, and with the arc they are very good at dropping plunging fire through the decks of any hapless ship who finds themselves getting shot at by you.  I've wiped 9k hp off Bismarcks at 14 km before, and have deleted or removed most of the HP on cruisers at those ranges as well.  The shells also have excellent normalization, and are better at dealing with angled ships than cruisers of other nations.  It also quite good close up, and with the absurd rudder shift on it along with the sharp angles of the bow, when fighting other cruisers you can dodge torps and goad them into firing, then flick your back guns into position and fire, then flick the ship back into bow on.  If they do shot HE, you will do more DPM with AP to them.  The rather quick turret rotation also helps a lot with this close range combat thing, as well as the secondaries being oddly accurate (you only have 4 per side, so don't rely on them, but it is fun to see secondary hit ribbons keep going up, especially on a cruiser), so abuse the quick rudder and bow angles to compensate for the thin armor and you can kill any cruiser you meet.

[sasquatch_research]

Hey

My wife this weekend got the Pensacola and yesterday I took it out for a spin and of course got up-tiered to a T9 game but found the ship to be very manageable with great ship handling, being able to dodge and weave nicely, guns were very good even though 15.8km or whatever made me nervous for a bit but they did very well even with HE and was able to start more fires with them than I can with my German cruisers (Yorck, Hipper/Prinz Eugen).  I played it pretty conservatively and got almost 60K when the game ended in a loss.  The game I played earlier was a T8 game and it took was slightly less than 58K but it was equally fun.  I am thinking of maybe trying the Indy and seeing how it is But the Pensacola with her 6pt captain was very playable, just having to always check the broadsides, stay away from BB's (just set them on fire) and shooting from cover of islands and from range.  The T10 game I sailed about 1/2 the game with an Izumo who got focused on much of the heavy fire and I supported whom ever he shot at or if I had my own target of opportunity.

 

Pete

[LastSamurai714]

Rebought Pensa yesterday.  I thought I was closer to NO than I was.  Only had 70k on the Pensa.

 

Dont give broadside.

Dont give bow.

Dont give stern.

Great AP with terrible reload.

Mediocre HE with terrible reload.

 

The only thing you can hope for in this ship is people don't shoot at you and if they do the shells miss.  If they hit you take massive damage.  One mistake and you're gone.

[AdmiralThunder]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 2:05 PM, LastSamurai714 said:

Rebought Pensa yesterday.  I thought I was closer to NO than I was.  Only had 70k on the Pensa.

 

Dont give broadside.

Dont give bow.

Dont give stern.

Great AP with terrible reload.

Mediocre HE with terrible reload.

 

The only thing you can hope for in this ship is people don't shoot at you and if they do the shells miss.  If they hit you take massive damage.  One mistake and you're gone.

Oh man you are so right. LOL

I had Pepsicola researched for like 6 months but never bought it. Too chicken based on how much I like shooting AT them to want to be on the receiving end. LOL. But, with the apparent upcoming US Cruiser line split, and not wanting to take a chance on losing all that invested XP, I just bought it this morning. Threw an 8 pt Capt on and used some Free XP to fully upgrade it. Then took it for a spin. 

The guns are very accurate and have good arcs. The HE is meh. I never got to try the AP. The ship is fairly stealthy and very maneuverable so you can dodge a lot of shells. Some good to report. However, God help you if ANY shells land on you anywhere. LOL.

I took exactly 3 shells the entire match. I didn't quite swing the tail enough as I was kiting away from a Scharnhorst and 3 shells landed on the tail - POOF there goes 1/3 of my health (12616). Even the Emerald would have turned 1-2 of those and taken only minor damage. Not the good old Pepsi. LOL. Pensacola redefines the term "fragile". WOW!!!!

[Big_Tidday_Goth_GF]

the way you describe it (the hatred) and your ratio in it are exactly how I felt about the Dimitri Donskoii.  I can't believe I free XP'd half a ship but I hated that so much.

 

anyway the Pensacola I liked better than the Indianapolis, which I made the mistake of buying instead of Atlanta.  I figured it would be more like a regular cruiser but really it fails at everything.  I liked Pensacola because of the extra gun turret allows you to move around and not have to overcommit to get your guns on target.  Basically it is a lot like the Omaha.

[AdmiralThunder]

7 hours ago, Bolo_MkXX_Tremendous_DMD said:

the way you describe it (the hatred) and your ratio in it are exactly how I felt about the Dimitri Donskoii.  I can't believe I free XP'd half a ship but I hated that so much.

 

anyway the Pensacola I liked better than the Indianapolis, which I made the mistake of buying instead of Atlanta.  I figured it would be more like a regular cruiser but really it fails at everything.  I liked Pensacola because of the extra gun turret allows you to move around and not have to overcommit to get your guns on target.  Basically it is a lot like the Omaha.

I actually kind of liked Omaha. Pensacola is so much more fragile. Maybe due to seeing bigger and more powerful guns? All I know is Pepsi is extremely fragile to the point of absurdity.

[crzyhawk]

On 9/29/2017 at 8:49 PM, Greenday4537 said:

More penetration. I don't believe you get citadels in other T7s like you do in the Pepsi.

Pensacola can't touch my Myoko.  I citadel people like crazy in that.

[Wrongtrack58]

On 9/15/2017 at 10:00 PM, ArchMadman said:

Im not sure what to do with this ship i've tried everything and not getting anywhere

This ship is giving me an ulcer and only 29 games with it and a 34% winrate. only had 1 great game with it

i've tried everything and i guess i found my kryptonite.

doesn't help when 8 out of ten battles is tier 9 i guess

i've tried watching youtube videos but they don't help at all

not sure what to do except perhaps sell it after i try my 30th game in it and see if something changes

hell i made good with the colorado and played well with it but this ship is just frustrating

not sure what to do anymore

Played My first game in her was sailing around liking her (kept running into islands hate the way they are always moving around. Any way guns  were good and then out of nowhere My ship blew up new paint was ruined and I didn't not have the extra insurances so deductible will kill me( what happened)!

[AdmiralThunder]

Well the Pepsi is growing on me... a LITTLE!!! LOL Have a few games in it now. Actually got brave enough to take it out a bit. LOL

I guess a lot of my initial issues in those 1st 2 or 3 games were getting too close. I am used to my BRN and KM Cruisers with their torps and rapid fire plus smoke in BRN. So I am more aggressive with them and push up. That is not wise in the Pepsi. LOL

I am hanging back more and providing long range fire support and only closing in at opportune moments (like a Russian Cruiser). Also using the concealment a lot which I really never have and playing hit and run (not my preferred playstyle but I prefer living over dying LOL). By not being as aggressive I am doing ok in the ship. The AP is actually really good. I was surprised when I chunked a Nagato for a bunch of citadels and 17K with a salvo when I caught it broadside after coming out behind it from an island.

I am even getting the correct angles down so you only lose 1/4 of your HP to a shell hit vs 1/2-all LOL.

Let's be honest, it isn't a great ship and never will be because the armor is just so bad. BUT it actually can do okay if you play to the few strengths it has. I am learning and at least I don't feel like I will die within the 1st 10 seconds like I did at 1st. Now I feel like I can make it a full minute. LOL

[sasquatch_research]

Hey

If you don't like the Pensacola, don't do what I did and buy the Indianapolis.  I think it's even worse than the Pensacola, which I kind of liked.

 

Pete

[AdmiralThunder]

No intentions of buying the Indy but thanks.

[TomGladius]

If her guns stay unchanged she should be pretty competitive at tier 6 for sure. Basically is she stays as is when she drops in tier she will be serviceable.