I love japanese cruisers..

[MajesticMtnKing]

Had a pretty good game.

[BLDoom]

Kuma for life.

 

Seriously tho. That is one of my favorite ships. 

[HowitzerBlitzer]

And then, there's the Furutaka.

[Shinkirou_]

Despite how I feel about Kuma and Clemson historically, I love these two ships in game and these two are my go-to tier IV ships.

 

And then, there's the Furutaka.

Aye, which is sad because I love Furutaka historically.

Such a bold ship that started the whole IJN "qualitative superiority" complex.

And performed quite finely at Guadalcanal, namely Savo Island (where a group of Furutakas and Aobas sank multiple cruisers and destroyers including three New Orleans...Imagine that happening in game ).

[GiN_nTonic]

I love IJN cruisers as well - much more than the US.  

[pinarous]

Nerf Furutaka,it's OP in CO-OP.

[BGrey]

Despite how I feel about Kuma and Clemson historically, I love these two ships in game and these two are my go-to tier IV ships.

 

Aye, which is sad because I love Furutaka historically.

Such a bold ship that started the whole IJN "qualitative superiority" complex.

And performed quite finely at Guadalcanal, namely Savo Island (where a group of Furutakas and Aobas sank multiple cruisers and destroyers including three New Orleans...Imagine that happening in game ).

 

It helps when they don't shoot back.

[Shinkirou_]

It helps when they don't shoot back.

Well, they did shoot back, but the IJN 8th Fleet had the jump on them and did fire first.

When USS Vincennes and the rest of the lot starting firing back, the Japanese had already trained searchlights and starshells onto them, and had already launched their torps.

[Suzunami]

And then, there's the Furutaka.

 

But after that several good ones. Aoba, Myoko and Mogami are all very good ships. They all have better guns than Atago, which most people would think is above average.

[Shinkirou_]

They all have better guns than Atago, which most people would think is above average.

Myoko and Mogami yes, since Atago uses the 3rd year type mod E. for some reason.

But Aoba having better guns than Atago?

[Suzunami]

Myoko and Mogami yes, since Atago uses the 3rd year type mod E. for some reason.

But Aoba having better guns than Atago?

 

They all do same amount of damage in game, Aoba's gun fire at 5.5 round per min(also with slightly smaller dispersion), Myoko at 5 round per min, Atago ... 3.8 round per min. I thought they were the same model of gun in history, but WG has their own minds about this.

[Seraphil]

Well, they did shoot back, but the IJN 8th Fleet had the jump on them and did fire first.

When USS Vincennes and the rest of the lot starting firing back, the Japanese had already trained searchlights and starshells onto them, and had already launched their torps.

 

Just goes to show that even with a quality disadvantage, a well-executed surprise attack by a group with cool heads and discipline will trump a group caught flatfooted and panicking.  It was pretty much textbook-perfect.  Battle of Cape Esperance a short while later was the scenario in reverse, ironically with a lot of the same players on the board.  Even then I'd say the IJN defeat there was not as overwhelming as the USN defeat at Savo Island.

[MrDeaf]

Well, they did shoot back, but the IJN 8th Fleet had the jump on them and did fire first.

When USS Vincennes and the rest of the lot starting firing back, the Japanese had already trained searchlights and starshells onto them, and had already launched their torps.

 

The 6x single 20cm turrets were so terrible, that the IJN DID change them to 3x dual 20.3cm turrets before the outbreak of war, if I remember correctly.

So what you want to play, is actually an Aoba.

[Shinkirou_]

They all do same amount of damage in game, Aoba's gun fire at 5.5 round per min(also with slightly smaller dispersion), Myoko at 5 round per min, Atago ... 3.8 round per min. I thought they were the same model of gun in history, but WG has their own minds about this.

Yes, but Aoba lacks Atago's range, which is the biggest defense IJN cruisers have against USN cruisers.

As for why Atago has crappier guns, WG has made a new policy where their premiums will not outperform normal ships so that people don't complain about "pay to win".

 

Battle of Cape Esperance a short while later was the scenario in reverse, ironically with a lot of the same players on the board.  Even then I'd say the IJN defeat there was not as overwhelming as the USN defeat at Savo Island.

Indeed. Such competence followed by such incompetence. All because they left an idiot in charge of their most experienced heavy cruiser force.

Cape Esperance is more of suicidal incompetence on the part of Aoba's captain, and the self destruction of the entire squadron that occurred shortly afterwards.

 

The 6x single 20cm turrets were so terrible, that the IJN DID change them to 3x dual 20.3cm turrets before the outbreak of war, if I remember correctly.

So what you want to play, is actually an Aoba.

Well, it wasn't so terrible. It was great when you consider her rivals were Omaha and Hawkins, which she outclassed both completely (historically, not in-game for obvious reasons).

However, they weren't as good as Aoba when it came to firing angles, and when you're an old ship fighting a war filled with new ships, every bit counts.

The difference between Furutaka and Aoba is really minimal, which is why this extremely nerfed/handicapped Furutaka at Tier V bothers me so much.

What's the point in taking a ship fit for a higher tier, bringing her down a tier and nerfing her soft stats so hard that she ends up being underpowered instead?

IMO Agano would have been much better at Tier V.

[IronWolfV]

And then, there's the Furutaka.

 

Which whenever 4.1 drops, big buffs are coming her way. And about time.

[Eisennagel]

 

They all do same amount of damage in game, Aoba's gun fire at 5.5 round per min(also with slightly smaller dispersion), Myoko at 5 round per min, Atago ... 3.8 round per min. I thought they were the same model of gun in history, but WG has their own minds about this.

 

 

Realistically, the Japanese 8" cruisers have a 3 to 4 rds a minute RoF.  You can liberalize it to four.  So the Aoba's and the Myoko's RoF is pretty unrealistic.  In fact, everything from the Furutaka to the Tone should only have up to 4 rds a minute, and not just that, but 4 rounds a minute seems to be the most common RoF for any heavy cruiser in the war with a few exceptions.

[Seraphil]

Yes, but Aoba lacks Atago's range, which is the biggest defense IJN cruisers have against USN cruisers.

As for why Atago has crappier guns, WG has made a new policy where their premiums will not outperform normal ships so that people don't complain about "pay to win".

 

Indeed. Such competence followed by such incompetence. All because they left an idiot in charge of their most experienced heavy cruiser force.

Cape Esperance is more of suicidal incompetence on the part of Aoba's captain, and the self destruction of the entire squadron that occurred shortly afterwards.

 

Aoba's captain wasn't at fault, it was Admiral Goto who was in charge of the taskforce who gave the order to approach the "friendlies"(whom almost everyone else in the taskforce were certain were enemies.)

 

Ironically, Admiral Scott at first thought Goto's force were friendlies too... and his officers ALSO were certain they were enemies.

[Eisennagel]

Despite how I feel about Kuma and Clemson historically, I love these two ships in game and these two are my go-to tier IV ships.

 

Aye, which is sad because I love Furutaka historically.

Such a bold ship that started the whole IJN "qualitative superiority" complex.

And performed quite finely at Guadalcanal, namely Savo Island (where a group of Furutakas and Aobas sank multiple cruisers and destroyers including three New Orleans...Imagine that happening in game ).

 

Umm why do you call it a group?  There are only two ships per class, and those in the Savo Island involved all four of them --- Furutaka, Kako, Aoba and Kinagusa.  Plus the Chokai (Takao class), the Yubari and the Tenryu.  

 

They also mauled a County class cruiser (not yet in the game) so badly that ship was also a total loss.

 

[Ray_P]

Just been grinding IJN cruisers in co op waiting for fixes in Random if they are to come.   Playing Fuma now and it is a great ship. 

 

I've heard so much bad about Furutaka and I hope it's a little overstated.

 

Fuma though does seem to break in steering and propulsion fairly easily.

[JRos83]

Kuma is a lovely little paper dragon. As long as your still alive, you're a major threat.

[Fog_Destroyer_Akizuki]

My Zao 3x in a single volley citadell'd a Montanta for nearly 20k damage lol  AP for the win.

 

Des Moines seems nice but i've faced off against several DM and honestly the Zao can beat them easily if you know how to use AP.

[Suzunami]

 

 

Realistically, the Japanese 8" cruisers have a 3 to 4 rds a minute RoF.  You can liberalize it to four.  So the Aoba's and the Myoko's RoF is pretty unrealistic.  In fact, everything from the Furutaka to the Tone should only have up to 4 rds a minute, and not just that, but 4 rounds a minute seems to be the most common RoF for any heavy cruiser in the war with a few exceptions.

 

This I agree, they should all be 4 round per min.

[SourKraut13]

Kuma is HE spam fun, but FurryTaco teaches you how to Japanese Cruiser... it's a keeper in my book. I like ships that are different, look good and take some skill to use.

[EmperorMaxwell]

Why keep Taco when Aoba does it so much better?

[Suzunami]

Yes, but Aoba lacks Atago's range, which is the biggest defense IJN cruisers have against USN cruisers.

As for why Atago has crappier guns, WG has made a new policy where their premiums will not outperform normal ships so that people don't complain about "pay to win".

Aoba's got 15.4 km range wile Atago's range is 15.8 km (Myoko 16.1 km and Mogami 15.1 km), their ranges are very similar.

Atago's real advantage is its concealment. It's the largest ship among these four IJN cruisers but has a detection range of 11.1 km (others are close to 14-15km if I remember correctly). It looks like WG gave Atago 20% concealment bonus. If you can utilize the other concealment bonus in the game(such as captain skill), it can be a rather unique ship in the game, you can dump 10km torpedoes without being detected as a heavy cruiser.