Torp spam..

[Tanz]

 

i've had DDs be invisible up to 2km away and at the higher tiers japs can fire torps from 20km away

 

If now a DD gets to within 2km to its target without being seen ..then its pretty amazing....that or the Target wasn't paying attention. 

I've playing many battles in my Shimakaze and Kagero with 20km torps. If I got a hit on a ship at that far of a range  its total luck but possible or its total lack of awareness on that player. 

 

After a time you will see the DD on the map and know what to expect on torp ranges...which will really help you out. 

 

[Spongeman131]

In general, AA fire on most ships need to be increased in the tier 3-4 range.

[Oliver_Clothes_Offenbed]

I actually wish we can go back to the 0.3 instead of this 0.4 update. Since DD modules get destroyed so easily, once US DDs' gets destroyed, they are pretty much useless unless they ambush targets and even that is difficult against cruisers. Sometimes, those DDs end up doing those eye for an eye torp runs.

Back to the topic.
I was in a kongo and we had like 85% battleships and one Minekaze and one Phoenix. Our only top tier was a tier VII Colorado and the enemy team also had a similar team loadout except they had a tier VI Ryujo and 2 Mutsukis. And I might add that those two mutsukis did nothing but stealth torpedo and torpedo bomb us. At that moment, I already knew that it was GG. Seriously... during the amount of battles I played to get to the Gearing, the one type of ship that I love the sink the most with my guns is the IJN DD. Since IJN DDs have high stealth and high torp capability, in exchange for low health and crappy guns, we (former or current) US DD players go in and take them out. Now that there are more IJN DD players than US DD players, it's hard to counter that on a Destroyer vs Destroyer aspect.
Just like in CAT and CBT, once people understand what their roles are, you will see much more proper gameplay scenarios such as Cruisers actually supporting battleships and killing destroyers.
Oh, I might add one crucial thing
I've seen those destroyer players doing some nasty but legal tactics and if they get spotted, they smoke and run and trying to maintain a safe distance before doing the same thing. Since DDs have that new engine boost upgrade, they are even more difficult for battleships to chase down. That's when the US DDs come in to lay them to rest with their superior guns. The types of ships on your team (assuming that each player is evenly skilled altogether) will be the biggest determining factor whether or not you will be victorious.

TL : DR

We need more US DDs and un-nerf them to counter IJN DDs.

 

[obliviondoll]

I've only been killed by torps once.

 

...I was in a Destroyer.

 

Not seeing the problem. You have to screw up REALLY bad to get torped in a Destroyer or Cruiser. And your teammates' Destroyers and Cruisers have to screw up really bad to let a Destroyer get that close to you when you're in a Battleship.

[Destin65]

I have some ideas.

 

What should be done to protect BBs from DDs and make it historically accurate... massively increase the damage output of their secondary weapons to the point that no DD would dare get within their 5km no-man's land. Too often I see DDs and CLs drive right up to a BB, about a half ship's length apart, and then open up with the torpedo salvos at point blank range. In reality a DD would have never gotten that close to a BB in the first place and that from the secondary fire alone, in the second the torps would never have had enough time to arm and all would have been inert duds harmlessly pinging off the feet thick armor plating.

 

Like it or not but torpedoes, like BBs main guns, are stand-off weapons. That's why even puny PT boats were often able to engage much larger warships and survive the encounter.

[obliviondoll]

For game balance reasons, DDs need to have some ability to YOLO in closer than you'd normally think reasonable for real-world encounters. 5km seems a little too far for the way this game works and the ranges in which everything operates.

 

That said, having secondaries becoming significantly more accurate at 50% of their current range would be great. Having them able to fire further with even more of an accuracy penalty would also help.

 

From what I've seen, secondaries seem a little too inconsistent and unreliable. I'd say maybe give them, for experimentation's sake, a 20% accuracy buff as a base, with an additional +30% within half range. Keep the current accuracy, or even nerf it further, out to about 2km beyond the current range limit. Keep the ranges listed, but make them "secondary effective range" instead of a hard maximum.

[Reiter]

I have some ideas.

 

What should be done to protect BBs from DDs and make it historically accurate... massively increase the damage output of their secondary weapons to the point that no DD would dare get within their 5km no-man's land. Too often I see DDs and CLs drive right up to a BB, about a half ship's length apart, and then open up with the torpedo salvos at point blank range. In reality a DD would have never gotten that close to a BB in the first place and that from the secondary fire alone, in the second the torps would never have had enough time to arm and all would have been inert duds harmlessly pinging off the feet thick armor plating.

 

Like it or not but torpedoes, like BBs main guns, are stand-off weapons. That's why even puny PT boats were often able to engage much larger warships and survive the encounter.

 

Cool story bro, than historically BB should fire a handful of shots at the ships and for the rest of the match concentrate on pounding dirt.  They where not stand off weapons, they where strategic weapons meant for a decisive battle between another battleship and the IJN had no clue when that was going to happen (stand off weapons are actually something like a missile, the way you put would be in reference to the cannons only...where as the entire ship is in being employed strategically and a missile could be launched from the other side of the globe in complete safety unless intercepted...BB could be intercepted which isn't stand off).  The definition is kind of fuzzy, but a battleship stands off at range but is employed strategically over all....which is why it itself is not a stand off weapon from the point of view of the entire ship

 

Logically, and this is my own opinion, Battleships where just an arms race of epeen to see who could build it bigger and faster to counter a constant threat of better cruisers which kept getting bigger guns to the point you had to build a massive floating fortress, put an engine on it, and arm it with the worlds largest cannons...fortresses are not exactly a stand off weapon, they where defensive emplacements.  Only difference being that a battleship could of been employed offensively.  The fleets could of gotten by with just destroyers and cruisers + carriers if people had never even conceived the notion of a battleship, the big gals where just a scared counter attempt a threat that was mostly in the head where only a handful of battleship on battleship actually happened and spent most of the time shooting at islands in support of the ground assault.  Those big gals though, could wreck any other destroyer or cruiser they encountered .

 

If you want torps to be stand off weapons, than you would have to completely remove the ability to see torpedoes coming at you to even make a destroy effective at range because even a slight turn will make that torpedo miss by a mile since torpedos where dumbfire salvo weapons.  Destroyers have to broadside a battleship in its own personal space to make the DD effective as a class and BB secondary that are too strong would obliterate the DD as a whole....its a delicate issue that is fine as is so long as 1) keep allies nearby 2) Don't scope out and always turn.  If a DD got near you, grats to them cause you lost...they are hard to play right now and need a buff again...slight buff only, cause smoke is next to useless and the speed boost is laughable when your engine/rudder are shot up twice right after repairing as the boost is running...with that long [edited]recharge mind you.

[Kaeldian]

Meanwhile,  most torpedos never hit their intended target.  In fact - most ship launched Torps miss because the ship changed course randomly....

 

Funny how that works.

[IronWolfV]

This game is completely about situational awareness. You have to keep your head on a swivel. Go into sniper view to shoot, but soon as you fire get out of it and start looking to see who's a threat.

 

Also sail in a straight line at the same speed, you're a target waiting to be killed.

 

Also unlike tanks DO NOT EVER COME TO A STOP.

[Carrier_Furious]

Also AP seems to be really inconsistent to the extent your better off just using HE against every thing.

 

Low tiers ap is only really good against battle ships and carriers (shoot at the side into the boiler is an instant citadel on a cv). Use HE on DDs and st louis as ap over penetrates that cruiser.

 

[Akina_Cray]

 

While drinking a soda and watching tv?

 

Clearly you have no idea how hard destroyers are to play.

 

Go play a destroyer in Co Op mode for a few games to get a feel for them. Once you know their tricks, you won't fall for them so easily.

 

This is really good advice.

 

Destroyers at lower tiers (less than tier VI or so) walk a very, very fine line. Generally, they have a surface detection range of about 6km, and torpedo ranges between 5 and 8km (the Minekaze gets 10km ranges at tier V, but it's the exception in lower tiers). It's very, very tricky to just stay hidden and spam torps. Once you try it for yourself, you start to get a really good idea of how best to muck up an enemy destroyer's happy torp spamming enjoyment.

 

Seriously - nothing will teach you anti-DD tactics faster than setting up the perfect torp run, then watching the target screw it up for you. Conversely, you'll also learn very quickly what NOT to do, because you'll quickly learn to spot people who don't evade properly.

 

Destroyers are not nearly as carefree and easy as you would think. This isn't EVE-Online where you can click "keep at range" and your ship will automatically hold the range open. Even with a maneuverable ship, it is frighteningly easy to screw up and stray inside of detection range of the enemy. Once you do, you can kiss your unarmored, low-hitpoint self goodbye.

 

 

[Akina_Cray]

 

Low tiers ap is only really good against battle ships and carriers (shoot at the side into the boiler is an instant citadel on a cv). Use HE on DDs and st louis as ap over penetrates that cruiser.

 

 

Generally speaking, HE can also be highly effective against CVs. Once on fire, a carrier cannot launch or recover aircraft. If you get that citadel penetration, you can do some damage, but generally speaking, carriers don't have much more armor than destroyers. Unless you get a hit that's juuuuuuuuuust right, you're not going to do much to a carrier by firing AP at it.

[Blondie_the_Good]

So no subs they said only to add stealth destroyers that launch torps congratz you added surface subs that remain unseen till your so close you have the ability to put your foot in their [edited]but it won't matter because they just torped you and you where only able to detect said torps after they had already hit you,..

 

Instead of spending your time on the forums complaining about torpedoes, maybe you could have utilized it better by looking at the countless posts about how to avoid torpedoes/kill destroyers.

 

Also, it isn't shocking that you are yet another person complaining about torpedoes and destroyers yet don't have a single game played in destroyers... typical. You could obtain a wealth of knowledge about the weaknesses of destroyers if you would actually play them.

[Blondie_the_Good]

I have some ideas.

 

What should be done to protect BBs from DDs and make it historically accurate... massively increase the damage output of their secondary weapons to the point that no DD would dare get within their 5km no-man's land. Too often I see DDs and CLs drive right up to a BB, about a half ship's length apart, and then open up with the torpedo salvos at point blank range. In reality a DD would have never gotten that close to a BB in the first place and that from the secondary fire alone, in the second the torps would never have had enough time to arm and all would have been inert duds harmlessly pinging off the feet thick armor plating.

 

Like it or not but torpedoes, like BBs main guns, are stand-off weapons. That's why even puny PT boats were often able to engage much larger warships and survive the encounter.

 

How close do tier 2-7 USN destroyers have to be to launch torpedoes?

 

Oh yeah, inside that zone of death you are proposing that destroyers wouldn't dare enter.

 

So, you are saying that the primary weapon on tier 2-7 USN destroyers should be rendered useless/suicidal?

 

Edit: You at least have 2 whole games in destroyers. I guess that is better than zero, but not much.

[Midnitewolf]

So no subs they said only to add stealth destroyers that launch torps congratz you added surface subs that remain unseen till your so close you have the ability to put your foot in their [edited]but it won't matter because they just torped you and you where only able to detect said torps after they had already hit you,..

 

Ok. So I see you have not yet played a single game in a DD so first of all go play some games in DDs, then once you have do that, we will be happy to listen to your comments about DD torpedoes.   If you chose not to play DDs then your comments hold little weight because you will lack critical understanding of DDs and how torpedoes work.

 

If you do play DDs you will first realize that it is very hard to actually score a hit with torpedoes and that your almost completely reliant on the enemy being unskilled, not paying attention and/or lazy in order to score more than a lucky hit once in a while.   You will also quickly realize that your getting torped because of your own mistakes, not because of DDs firing from outside your ability to detect them.   You will also likely never post a single complaint against DDs again in your entire life, in fact your posts will change dramatically in that you will be asking them to buff DDs instead.

 

Note:  While I have not played a single DD game in the OBT, I have over 500 matches played in DDs during the CBT.  The current state of DDs is why I have no games in DDs in the OBT.

[CPT_Nelson]

It's not that easy playing a DD effectively and that's why I enjoy the Minekaze so much. You get a detection range of 5.9km and 10km torps. So that's a detection ''buffer'' zone of roughly 4km to play with. One thing I do not see mentioned here is the detection captain skill. It's a really good tool for anyone. You are in a BB and see nothing but your ''detected'' flashes, there's probably a DD stalking you and torps heading your way. I think everyone should get it. Worst case, you become paranoid every time it lights up, but at least you know somethings afoot! 

[InukamiHai]

Oh, I might add one crucial thing

I've seen those destroyer players doing some nasty but legal tactics and if they get spotted, they smoke and run and trying to maintain a safe distance before doing the same thing. Since DDs have that new engine boost upgrade, they are even more difficult for battleships to chase down. That's when the US DDs come in to lay them to rest with their superior guns. The types of ships on your team (assuming that each player is evenly skilled altogether) will be the biggest determining factor whether or not you will be victorious.

 

TL : DR

We need more US DDs and un-nerf them to counter IJN DDs.

 

...Was there a gun/speed/not-smoke nerf to USN DD's only that I'm not aware of? I mean... Even now I GTFO when I spot/Know there's a USN DD because they WILL wreck my sorry IJN DD [edited]with their guns. USN DD's counter IJN's pretty damn hard as it is... unless they have changed something besides smoke and I don't know about it.

[Blondie_the_Good]

 

...Was there a gun/speed/not-smoke nerf to USN DD's only that I'm not aware of? I mean... Even now I GTFO when I spot/Know there's a USN DD because they WILL wreck my sorry IJN DD [edited]with their guns. USN DD's counter IJN's pretty damn hard as it is... unless they have changed something besides smoke and I don't know about it.

 

USN destroyers definitely counter the IJN destroyers very well.

 

That said the smoke nerf affected the USN destroyers more than the IJN in my opinion. I also think the buff to battleship's main gun accuracy inside of 5 km also had more of an effect on the majority of USN destroyers (tier 2-7). That said, neither of these things really has anything to do with countering the IJN in destroyer duels.

 

So, like you, I don't really understand the comment you responded to.

[Destin65]

 

Cool story bro, than historically BB should fire a handful of shots at the ships and for the rest of the match concentrate on pounding dirt.

 

That is because there was very few large engagements of battleships, most for the reason that the nations did not want to commit their front-line forces to one or two decisive battles. It's like the tip you see in the World of Tanks loading screen, if you are in a fair fight you are doing something wrong. Like it or not but many battles are won because one side often had an unfair advantage. Even Sun Tzu advocated such tactics centuries ago. A nation will not say, "Hey, the enemy has 50 battleships located here... let's send our 51 battleships out to meet them!"

 

What historically happens is that which happened to the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. Carriers, a much further stand-off weapon than the battleship could ever be, were sent in to sink a very large battleship force without ever firing a shot from their own battleships. Also, the Bismark and Yamato were brought to heel through Carrier stand-off weapons like torpedo planes. Prior to the aircraft carrier's arrival in battle the previous stand-off distance was determined by the battleships themselves. If one side's BBs could fire 22 miles and the other side's only 18 miles, guess what? The one side would make sure the battle was fought at a range of more than 18 miles for as long as possible. Meanwhile the cruisers and destroyers simply played a support role until, or if, there was a time to help mop things up.

 

But yes, BBs pounded lots and lots of dirt. That's because the BB, like tanks, were also largely used as an infantry support weapon, a stand-off weapon where it could stay back out of the enemy's fire from shore and just pound targets inland all day and night. The USS Pennsylvania took part in both the rare "crossing the T" battle in the Philippines campaign as well as shore bombardment duties. The USS Pennsylvania, during that single campaign, fired more shells from its big guns than any other warship in history. Even more than the HMS Warspite did supporting the Normandy invasion.

 

So yes, BBs pounded lots and lots of dirt. Now it's up to the developers to give us that role in the game as well.

 

Those big gals though, could wreck any other destroyer or cruiser they encountered .

 

 

Again, historically that is true, however the game is not historically accurate enough in that respect. But with the game mechanics the way they are a DD could avoid the one battleships salvo, use it's speed boost and smoke to suddenly pull up alongside the BB and pump 6 torpedoes into them before they can do anything about it. I have had that happen to me so many times that when I got my DD I was already sinking battleships from the very first battle onward. It's almost too easy to attack BBs with a DD in my opinion. I am far, far from the best player but when I can get in a Sampson and wreak havoc by myself against a large enemy force that includes BBs and CLs.........

 

If you want torps to be stand off weapons, than you would have to completely remove the ability to see torpedoes coming at you to even make a destroy effective at range because even a slight turn will make that torpedo miss by a mile since torpedos where dumbfire salvo weapons.  Destroyers have to broadside a battleship in its own personal space to make the DD effective as a class and BB secondary that are too strong would obliterate the DD as a whole....its a delicate issue that is fine as is so long as 1) keep allies nearby 2) Don't scope out and always turn.  If a DD got near you, grats to them cause you lost...they are hard to play right now and need a buff again...slight buff only, cause smoke is next to useless and the speed boost is laughable when your engine/rudder are shot up twice right after repairing as the boost is running...with that long [edited]recharge mind you.

 

Look at the Battle off Samar as an example and which featured the legendary "Taffy 2" task force. The US destroyers in that action were routinely engaging the IJN at ranges between 5-7 kilometers. Even at that range many were being chewed to pieces by secondary fire from IJN cruisers and battleships.

 

Think about it, if the main gun on a cruiser/destroyer can fire 9-12km with ease, shouldn't a battleship with those same weapons as "secondary armament" be able to fire the same exact ranges? After all, they are the same exact weapons in most cases. The BBs main guns, however, were for extreme ranges to out-range most of the enemies other guns. BBs didn't pull up alongside each other and fight from point-blank range like they did in the age of sails and wooden ships. The more modern BBS from WWI-era and onward fought primary engagements from horizon to horizon, often 20+ nautical miles. Why should a BB hold its fire until the CLs and DDs weapons got into range? A BB captain doing that would be relieved of command quickly.

 

Something people need to consider with respect to the role of the DD. In a typical task force the DD was the outer perimeter largely consigned to anti-sub duties. Like CLs they provided a protective screen. Cruisers had longer range guns and AA to protect any carriers with them. Destroyers further out would use smoke to screen their advance, confuse the enemy or to cover their retreat when things went badly. Nobody plays like that in the game. With the current, almost bizarre, game mechanics DDs are employed often as lone-wolf or wolf-pack lead forces who use smoke to cover their own advance (which is historically and realistically inaccurate) who then carry the battle all by themselves as they sink BBs and CVs in a single pass and make even fast CLs shake in their hulls.

 

When DDs are getting 5-9 kills every battle and all other ships struggling to get even 1 kill, things are a bit out of whack. Just like what is said about the E 25 in WoT can be said about DDs, if they are in fact historically accurate then WWII would have a very different outcome and nobody would have ever heard of something as obscure and vague as an aircraft carrier. Heck, the IJN could have just sent 10 DDs into Pearl Harbor under the cover of smoke and sank more ships than the historical counterpart of aircraft carriers which were wildly inaccurate at the time.

 

[Cas00022]

i just wish it would be more like RL a BB and not able to hit my DD at under 4km with most its weps  well and my 15km torps  should be harder to spot like in RL!

 

 

Shortly after dawn on 25 October, Samuel B. Roberts was protecting Taffy 3's small escort carriers. These were serving as bases for small bombers and fighters that were supporting the Army assault. These warships were steaming off the eastern coast of Samar when the Japanese Center Force — a 23-ship task force under the command of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita — suddenly appeared on the horizon and opened fire. At 07:35, Roberts turned and headed toward the battle. She charged toward the heavy cruiser Chōkai. The commanding officer, Copeland, announced "We're making a torpedo run. The outcome is doubtful, but we will do our duty." With smoke as cover, Roberts steamed to within 2.5 nmi (4.6 km; 2.9 mi) of Chōkai, coming under fire from the cruiser's forward 8 in (203.2 mm) guns.

Roberts had moved so close that the enemy guns could not depress enough to hit her and the shells simply passed overhead. Many hit the carrier Gambier Bay. Once within torpedo range, she launched her threeMark 15 torpedoes. One blew off Chōkai‍ '​s stern. The American sailors cheered "that a way Whitey, we hit 'em" as if it were a ballgame, as shells were still incoming. Roberts then fought with the Japanese ships for a further hour, firing more than six hundred 5 in (127.0 mm) shells, and while maneuvering at very close range, mauling Chōkai‍ '​s superstructure with her 40 mm and 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.^{[citation needed]} At 08:51, the Japanese landed two hits, the second of which damaged the aft 5 inch gun. This damaged gun suffered a breech explosion shortly thereafter which killed and wounded several crew members. With her remaining 5 in (127.0 mm) gun, Roberts set the bridge of the heavy cruiser Chikuma on fire and destroyed the "Number Three" gun turret, before being hit by three 14 in (355.6 mm) shells from the battleshipKongō. The shells tore a hole 40 ft (12.2 m) long and 10 ft (3.0 m) wide in the port side of her aft engine room.

[Faerkhan]

Destroyers are powerful... when they get to attack on their own terms. One-on-one, destroyers can very easily outmaneuver and torpedo just about anything else. One on one with other destroyers, things devolve into hilarious, brutal, close-range, torpedo knife fights.

 

However, destroyers are also insanely fragile. They can generally dodge battleship fire, but against cruisers, if the cruiser can spot them (due to friendly aircraft, other friendly ships in the area, etc), it really doesn't take much to blow a DD out of the water.

 

There are a variety of things you can do to mitigate torpedo effectiveness, however. First and foremost, you don't actually have to see the torps or the destroyer to know that the torps are coming. If you see a destroyer running perpendicular to you... guess what. Torps are on their way. Don't wait until you actually see them to start evading. Additionally, torps have limited range. If you turn away from a place where you know a destroyer is lurking (present your stern), the destroyer has a much harder time hitting you. You're also moving with the torps, which gives you the greatest time to dodge and adjust once you see them.

 

Most importantly... don't tunnel vision. I make it a habit to zoom out after every shot or two to look around me. Very often, I've been able to dodge torps because of this. However, if I'd stayed zoomed in because I wanted to get just one more hit in... I'd be dead. Dead ships do no damage. You're better served by taking an extra second or two between shots to make sure you're not about to run aground (which is basically an invitation to get torped) or into torps than by firing your guns very slightly faster.

 

Lastly, keep track of the map and the icons at the top of the screen. Know how many enemy DDs are alive, and try to account for them on the minimap. Sure, they'll be invisible quite often, but they'll pop up on the map here and there.

 

TLDR:

- Start dodging before you actually see the torps

- Don't tunnel vision when shooting

- Keep track of where enemy destroyers are on the map, and know when you need to be on the lookout

 

Listen to ^this guy, he's exactly right (and this is coming from a Captain who's favourite class is DD)

 

[Faerkhan]

 

That is because there was very few large engagements of battleships, most for the reason that the nations did not want to commit their front-line forces to one or two decisive battles. It's like the tip you see in the World of Tanks loading screen, if you are in a fair fight you are doing something wrong. Like it or not but many battles are won because one side often had an unfair advantage. Even Sun Tzu advocated such tactics centuries ago. A nation will not say, "Hey, the enemy has 50 battleships located here... let's send our 51 battleships out to meet them!"

 

What historically happens is that which happened to the US fleet at Pearl Harbor. Carriers, a much further stand-off weapon than the battleship could ever be, were sent in to sink a very large battleship force without ever firing a shot from their own battleships. Also, the Bismark and Yamato were brought to heel through Carrier stand-off weapons like torpedo planes. Prior to the aircraft carrier's arrival in battle the previous stand-off distance was determined by the battleships themselves. If one side's BBs could fire 22 miles and the other side's only 18 miles, guess what? The one side would make sure the battle was fought at a range of more than 18 miles for as long as possible. Meanwhile the cruisers and destroyers simply played a support role until, or if, there was a time to help mop things up.

 

But yes, BBs pounded lots and lots of dirt. That's because the BB, like tanks, were also largely used as an infantry support weapon, a stand-off weapon where it could stay back out of the enemy's fire from shore and just pound targets inland all day and night. The USS Pennsylvania took part in both the rare "crossing the T" battle in the Philippines campaign as well as shore bombardment duties. The USS Pennsylvania, during that single campaign, fired more shells from its big guns than any other warship in history. Even more than the HMS Warspite did supporting the Normandy invasion.

 

So yes, BBs pounded lots and lots of dirt. Now it's up to the developers to give us that role in the game as well.

 

 

Again, historically that is true, however the game is not historically accurate enough in that respect. But with the game mechanics the way they are a DD could avoid the one battleships salvo, use it's speed boost and smoke to suddenly pull up alongside the BB and pump 6 torpedoes into them before they can do anything about it. I have had that happen to me so many times that when I got my DD I was already sinking battleships from the very first battle onward. It's almost too easy to attack BBs with a DD in my opinion. I am far, far from the best player but when I can get in a Sampson and wreak havoc by myself against a large enemy force that includes BBs and CLs.........

 

 

Look at the Battle off Samar as an example and which featured the legendary "Taffy 2" task force. The US destroyers in that action were routinely engaging the IJN at ranges between 5-7 kilometers. Even at that range many were being chewed to pieces by secondary fire from IJN cruisers and battleships.

 

Think about it, if the main gun on a cruiser/destroyer can fire 9-12km with ease, shouldn't a battleship with those same weapons as "secondary armament" be able to fire the same exact ranges? After all, they are the same exact weapons in most cases. The BBs main guns, however, were for extreme ranges to out-range most of the enemies other guns. BBs didn't pull up alongside each other and fight from point-blank range like they did in the age of sails and wooden ships. The more modern BBS from WWI-era and onward fought primary engagements from horizon to horizon, often 20+ nautical miles. Why should a BB hold its fire until the CLs and DDs weapons got into range? A BB captain doing that would be relieved of command quickly.

 

Something people need to consider with respect to the role of the DD. In a typical task force the DD was the outer perimeter largely consigned to anti-sub duties. Like CLs they provided a protective screen. Cruisers had longer range guns and AA to protect any carriers with them. Destroyers further out would use smoke to screen their advance, confuse the enemy or to cover their retreat when things went badly. Nobody plays like that in the game. With the current, almost bizarre, game mechanics DDs are employed often as lone-wolf or wolf-pack lead forces who use smoke to cover their own advance (which is historically and realistically inaccurate) who then carry the battle all by themselves as they sink BBs and CVs in a single pass and make even fast CLs shake in their hulls.

 

When DDs are getting 5-9 kills every battle and all other ships struggling to get even 1 kill, things are a bit out of whack. Just like what is said about the E 25 in WoT can be said about DDs, if they are in fact historically accurate then WWII would have a very different outcome and nobody would have ever heard of something as obscure and vague as an aircraft carrier. Heck, the IJN could have just sent 10 DDs into Pearl Harbor under the cover of smoke and sank more ships than the historical counterpart of aircraft carriers which were wildly inaccurate at the time.

 

 

Nice comments, I disagree with your points about DDs, but it's a fair opinion. However, your comments about battleship combat are precisely correct, and that's why I'm annoyed by the abysmal range WG decided to give the USN BBs. It makes no sense when historically all BBs were fighting at ranges in excess of 30-40km rather than the paltry 10-15 we get in USN BBs for a long way up the tiers.