Gneisenau, the first ship I absolutely hate.

[Sirus_Patton]

Now I know what a lot of you are immediately going to do is point out her stats off of some site saying she's better than the other T7 BBs.  Frankly she isn't.  Her playstyle allows her more potential damage in a match because she needs to be closer to the enemy rather than sniping it out.

 

The good?  She has fantastic speed, okay maneuverability, and good long-range AAA.

 

The bad?  Her guns are mind-numbingly useless.  I'm genuinely not certain who thought giving that bad of accuracy to a battleship with only 6 guns was a good idea.  It's a regular occurrence to get 1 (over-penetrating of course) hit at inside 10km while the rest of her shells fly off into the wild.  In fact it's more common than just getting a couple overpens or a couple regular pens.  The only reliable damage the ship carries is it's torpedoes, which require you to manage to get close enough (without killing anything that might pose a threat in CQC because you can't rely on killing torp fit cruisers even) to use them without getting butchered in the process.  

 

I have never in my entire time of playing the game come across a ship that feels this absolutely useless.  The Colorado from CBT that everyone complained was a useless sack felt better to play than this thing does.  Sure Scharnhorst might have slightly worse accuracy, but at least she has the volume of fire to make up for it.  Gneisenau is literally throwing all her eggs into one basket and asking you to sacrifice a child to RNGesus not once a day, or once a game, but for every single salvo you fire.

[SergeantHop]

Yeah, you say that the guns are innacurate, but I got a quad citadel on an Iowa in one salvo in the last game I played in it. I think it's a blast. Not as good as the Scharnhorst to be sure, but still a wonderfully fun ship. Manual secondaries are a must though. 

[Kanzak]

Yes I agree her guns are bad and such. But there are people that does well in her. Maybe luck doesn't favor you or your play-style doesn't fit well with her.

 

So maybe try to use the speed and armor of hers to get close with the reds and start from there.

 

Backup link: http://worldofwarships.com/en/community/accounts/1015065555-Jimmy200101/!/pvp/ships/?bestShip=tirpitz

[BladedPheonix]

meh, Bayern was far worse! Least the Gnesinau's gun will hit the target occasionally!

 

[MnemonScarlet]

Gneisenau is literally throwing all her eggs into one basket and asking you to sacrifice a child to RNGesus not once a day, or once a game, but for every single salvo you fire.

 

My sacrifice was my Bayern battles, which became the first ship I ever ragesold and used some free exp to get the remainder of the way out of. I was afraid Gneis'd have horrible Myogi derp but so far she's been pretty good about landing shots with only occasional facepalm-inducing derping. Get cits on stuff at decent range too, which Bayern's guns almost never did (totally uninspiring unless you got close). We are like, having opposite luck with the ship. O.o

[RogueFlameHaze]

It may have a bad spread, but its lucky for me. Had a cruiser turn out way earlier than I had led it for, and one random shell from my salvo was spread far enough to the side that it hit... and citadeled the cruiser.

[SergeantHop]

It may have a bad spread, but its lucky for me. Had a cruiser turn out way earlier than I had led it for, and one random shell from my salvo was spread far enough to the side that it hit... and citadeled the cruiser.

 

Those are the best shots. Complete miss except the one crit.

[MrDeaf]

Yep, the guns are derp.

At least most of them point forward and you get secondaries, AA, torps, speed and armor to compensate.

 

Nagato and Colorado are also somewhat derpy in ways that gets them killed, which is why I find Gneisenau to be the best T7 BB.

[gurudennis]

If it's any consolation, Bismarck is worth every minute of the grind if you spec for secondaries. Mmmmm...

 

I can't say I enjoyed Gneisenau but it's possible to do well with her if you use her mobility to avoid incoming fire while closing the distance to send torpedoes or land more accurate shots. Your biggest weakness is HE (and that really doesn't change throughout the line) so avoid the long-range flamethrowers that you can't hit, e.g. Kutuzov. On the other hand, anything that fires HE and wishes to close the distance with you is making a mistake and will usually promptly pay the ultimate price.

 

Overall, I think Scharnhorst is a more versatile version of Gneisenau. Since I have the former I chose to sell the latter once the grind was over.

[Hunter_Steel]

My grind stops at Gneisenau. I'll be keeping both her and Bayern because I want my baby Bismarck and Scharnhorst is getting lonely without her sister in port so I'm getting Gneisenau too.

Not every ship is for everyone. People live Kaiser,  but I hate her. Less than Myogi and Wyoming, but more than Arkansas lol

 

~Hunter

[Battlecruiser_Amagi]

I enjoy the Gneisenau. Sure, it has bad dispersion, but as you said, it's got terrific speed, great AA, great armor. Also, it's rather thin, so makes it easier to sail in-between torpedo spread gaps. And the guns, when they do land, oh boy. They're the same guns as the Bismarck/Terptiz, which are able to citadel all T10 BB's (even the Großer Kurfürst).

 

I enjoy mine a whole lot. I've currently got a 14 point captain on her, with all the skills I want just for her. Awesome ship, a blat to sail with

[Battlecruiser_Amagi]

My grind stops at Gneisenau. I'll be keeping both her and Bayern because I want my baby Bismarck and Scharnhorst is getting lonely without her sister in port so I'm getting Gneisenau too.

Not every ship is for everyone. People live Kaiser,  but I hate her. Less than Myogi and Wyoming, but more than Arkansas lol

 

~Hunter

 

So far, I've liked ALL my KM BB's. Not sure on the Nassau, as that's the only BB I free XP'd on the line, but I hear it's great. I even got the Konig Albert. So far, my favorite KM ships though: Bismarck > Gneisenau > Terpitz, in that order.

[gurudennis]

So far, I've liked ALL my KM BB's.

 

Save for Gneisenau and Nassau, same here. Kaiser is all right, if a little too derpy against cruisers. Konig is phenomenally OP. Bayern is quite strong for the tier. So is Gneisenau, she's just not my cup of tea. But then Bismarck is awesome and I have to wonder if the next two are going to be as good.

 

I suppose we all have our unique experiences with these ships because of how we prefer to play, but the line is undeniably good. You can tell by the number of whine threads about KM BBs being bad, which is practically zero. I recall when the two most recent cruiser lines came out, the atmosphere wasn't quite as positive.

[Aloeus]

 

I have never in my entire time of playing the game come across a ship that feels this absolutely useless.  The Colorado from CBT that everyone complained was a useless sack felt better to play than this thing does.  Sure Scharnhorst might have slightly worse accuracy, but at least she has the volume of fire to make up for it.  Gneisenau is literally throwing all her eggs into one basket and asking you to sacrifice a child to RNGesus not once a day, or once a game, but for every single salvo you fire.

Bold: The tier 4 german cruiser right after release was worse. was literally a worse St Louis a tier higher. 

 

Gneisenau is extremely rng dependent, and I don't really care for the german 15'' guns to begin with. So many times I'll start a game and watch as my team loses because I literally cannot hit stationary targets at moderate ranges. And then just as the team is certain to lose the guns suddenly turn on and I get 4 citadel hits with a 6 gun salvo. 

[Qweef_Facial]

If you don't like to brawl a BB, you won't like the KM BB line.

[TheOssifrage]

I'm looking forward to the Gneisenau because a) it's a sexy ship, b) I want something that I can chase down other ships with and pummel with secondary batteries and torpedoes, and c) because I probably won't be able to fund any higher tiers, and the tier 9 and 10 don't interest me at all anyway. I hope I have a better time in it than you did, but I wish you luck nonetheless. I've been having a reasonably good time in the Bayern though.

[aAkula]

Yeah i have no intention of even touching the German line, perhaps the Bismarck.

Hell i just down right hate playing battleships with the god awful RNG.

[LuckyStarFan]

Agree completely OP.  Gneisenau is excellent at everything but guns.  Sitting between two ships with 8 15 inch guns she really sticks out like a sore thumb and desperately needs to get her torpedoes and secondaries in range to contribute.  That or get lucky with your 6 shotguns. 

 

 

Main reason I really wish she had gotten her historical 11 inch guns as an option.

[Qweef_Facial]

I don't know why you guys are calling the guns derpy.  I have 35% hit rate with her main battery and I'm not the best player by any account.

[Taichunger]

Sometimes I want to get in here and scream and rage at whoever set Gneisenau's dispersion at such crappy levels. I swear she's worse than NY. But if that crap dispersion were tightened, she'd be fearsomely OP.  

 

One thing I've noticed is that I can't cit Colorados anymore. Is it just me, or did the armor changes a couple of patches ago make it more difficult for Tirpitz 15" guns to cit Colorados? I used to do it pretty regularly in Derpitz, and expected to in Gneis....

 

 

[BBsquid]

Now I know what a lot of you are immediately going to do is point out her stats off of some site saying she's better than the other T7 BBs.  Frankly she isn't.  Her playstyle allows her more potential damage in a match because she needs to be closer to the enemy rather than sniping it out.

 

The good?  She has fantastic speed, okay maneuverability, and good long-range AAA.

 

The bad?  Her guns are mind-numbingly useless.  I'm genuinely not certain who thought giving that bad of accuracy to a battleship with only 6 guns was a good idea.  It's a regular occurrence to get 1 (over-penetrating of course) hit at inside 10km while the rest of her shells fly off into the wild.  In fact it's more common than just getting a couple overpens or a couple regular pens.  The only reliable damage the ship carries is it's torpedoes, which require you to manage to get close enough (without killing anything that might pose a threat in CQC because you can't rely on killing torp fit cruisers even) to use them without getting butchered in the process.  

 

I have never in my entire time of playing the game come across a ship that feels this absolutely useless.  The Colorado from CBT that everyone complained was a useless sack felt better to play than this thing does.  Sure Scharnhorst might have slightly worse accuracy, but at least she has the volume of fire to make up for it.  Gneisenau is literally throwing all her eggs into one basket and asking you to sacrifice a child to RNGesus not once a day, or once a game, but for every single salvo you fire.

There's ...ummm...plenty of children?? j/k

Thanks Sirus...your input, along with several other players much better than myself, have convinced me that maybe I will stick to Scharn of the twins. I have seen some do well in Lady G, but a lot more seem to do meh.

[crzyhawk]

meh, Bayern was far worse! Least the Gnesinau's gun will hit the target occasionally!

 

I thought I was the only one struggling with Bayern.  I cannot hit the broadside of a barn with it, and my 12.5% winrate is...embarrassing.

[TANSTAAFL]

You gotta play the Bayern like its range is, um, 5km, Or so. It's a hell of a knife fighter; my best games were when I rammed it into a cap circle and facetanked two or three BBs while my teammates destroyed my tormenters. That thing can take a punch, and at short range, it can actually once in a while maybe hit something. 

[Herr_Reitz]

RU Serious? :-P 

 

The "old" Colorado was far worse than Gneisenau! The Gneisenau has six km torps - she works nicely in the 15km and closer range. I've actually managed to half kill dds from 17km but those are the "lucky" shots you get in every ship. After reading a post by Sub_Octavian as to how every dispersion "envelope" or ellipse was calculated I started firing her guns differently. I rotate through single shots, double shots and full salvos. Firing single, spotting shots helps immensely because so many players take evasive action the moment rounds come their way. Force them into taking evasive action with a single shot then dump the rest on them as they turn hard or slow. 

 

"Theoretically" (I think) the dispersion most affecting the ship is the vertical dispersion, not the horizontal dispersion (although you can see some). Knowing this, it sort of makes more sense to line her up so she's firing more directly on the red ship positioned in an I and not as a / or --- position. It also helps to know your enemy. If you aren't going against another ship with torps, you can almost always win a one on one confrontation bow-on because you have torps. 

 

Ideally, even going as a single player, if you get support from team mates she can devastate the reds. It doesn't happen as often as I want (I'm working on it), but I've pulled more than one 100K damage game out of her almost as easily as I can with my Amagi. 

 

From what I've been able to discern on this forum, she's a very good prep ship for the Bismarck. I can tell you she can take some serious torpedo hits too and keep on trucking. 

[Morpheus29]

I loved the Gneisenau. Decent secondary range, good armour, had torps for close engagements.