31.01.2024 NEW SHIPS - CLOSED TEST 13.2

[Malum0ne]

https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/510

 

Captains, we're now ready to share details about new ships being added for testing in Update 13.2. Read on to take a first look at their gameplay features and history.

[Project45_Opytny]

Finally INS Delhi has been unveiled and she seems an at least relatively accurate representation of HMNZS Achilles/INS Delhi in late 1940s, after the removal of turret X while before the refit that extended her forecastle at the cost of torpedoes when in Indian service.

Rodney currently is... curious, that how WG is going to make her a viable brawler.

[New_Jersey_prpr]

The devblog says that Rodney's citadel is still vulnerable.

Making a ship like this a brawler, they probably had drunk too much vodka during party.....

Edited February 1 by New_Jersey_prpr

[Project45_Opytny]

8 minutes ago, New_Jersey_prpr said:

The devblog says that Rodney's citadel is still vulnerable.

Making a ship like this a brawler, they probably had drank too much vodka during party.....

Sinop also has vulnerable citadel if caught broadside, yet she has been at least among the best brawlers for her tier (though currently Scharnhorst '43 and Renown '44 are also contending for the strict best).

My personal speculation is that maybe some tweaking can be made. I am aware that protection schemes are historically-connected, rigid "hard" parameters, though there is already an example: Duca degli Abruzzi, that has an ahistorical 30-mm icebreaker added as a part of the struggles to make her viable for her intended position thanks to an accurate representation of her protection scheme. In an extreme case, like Pyotr Velikiy, the entire bow other than the "beck" deck may be covered by the artificial 30-mm plating.

[Daniel_Allan_Clark]

2 hours ago, Project45_Opytny said:

historically-connected, rigid "hard" parameters

Ahhaha.

No.

We've abandoned that kind of thing for quite a while now.

I do like that WG is making premiums for tiers below 8 again. That's good news.

Edited February 1 by Daniel_Allan_Clark

[Nevermore135]

3 hours ago, Project45_Opytny said:

Sinop also has vulnerable citadel if caught broadside, yet she has been at least among the best brawlers for her tier (though currently Scharnhorst '43 and Renown '44 are also contending for the strict best).

Sinop has enough armor on her bow to be reasonably tanky if her captain isn’t careless, though. It doesn’t seem like Rodney will have that, instead having the same huge 26mm nose that is Nelson’s biggest weakness.

IMO WG is squandering an opportunity by giving us a sixth tier VII premium UK BB, especially since Renown’44 already arguably fills this niche (while also having more general flexibility with her speed and reliable long-range dispersion) and Nelson and Collingwood have the same or extremely similar hulls. In contrast, Vanguard is all alone at tier VIII (which is supposedly WG’s bread-and-butter tier for premium ship sales). Nelson is such at tier VII that a tier VIII version with appropriate plating (removing the aforementioned easily overmatch-able nose) would probably work just fine with very minimal tweaks (perhaps a slight speed buff to make it more  comfortable to play) and torps could be added/the heal adjusted as needed for balancing and flavor.

As someone who has accumulated all the existing tier VII UK BB premiums over the years (only one of which I paid for) there really isn’t much impetus at all for me to look to acquire the version of Rodney WG is selling. Given the timing, there is a chance she will end up as some type of event ship in a few months, alongside the return of the Unsinkable Sam content as part of a Bismarck-centric event in May, which is the only way I can see her ending up in my port (outside of eventually dropping in a tier VII container).

The pair of tier VI cruisers are almost certainly going to be part of a D-Day event in June. The biggest question is if the community will vote on which one will be available like we did this last year or if it will mirror 2022’s Dido/Canarias event where players were free to choose individually (and were given the same choice again in the 2022 Christmas event).

Edited February 1 by Nevermore135

[tfcas119]

WG has really lost the Art Department, because since 12.10, every ship announced except Wisebaden, Encounter, and Cerberus have been either complete or 90% copy pastas of existing ships.

La Gal has been copied and made better... again.

Orion is Leander with Mino healing and Pan-Am AP. 

And Rodney loses superheal and nuclear HE for Ohio's heal and St Vincent's Hulk Smash. At least she can heal more citadel damage back because a Nelson hull will blow up when shot by high caliber AP.

[UnrepentantSinner]

A Tier VI Premium French Cruiser, wow, finally, i was so waiting for this. 

[invicta2012]

I'm rather pleased about Montcalm. The La Gal sisters ended up as quite different ships over the years. I haven't checked yet to see which hull this one is (La Gal is her third iteration) but I hope she's an early war version without all the re-rigging for radar that La Gal has.

[Project45_Opytny]

10 hours ago, invicta2012 said:

I'm rather pleased about Montcalm. The La Gal sisters ended up as quite different ships over the years. I haven't checked yet to see which hull this one is (La Gal is her third iteration) but I hope she's an early war version without all the re-rigging for radar that La Gal has.

After a quick skim, I think researchable La Gal is actually Montcalm during 1943~45: late WWII configuration, attached lattice topmast (Gloire used a pole mast) and quad Bofors tubs being on the same height with her piloting bridge (Montcalm only).

[invicta2012]

16 hours ago, Project45_Opytny said:

After a quick skim, I think researchable La Gal is actually Montcalm during 1943~45: late WWII configuration, attached lattice topmast (Gloire used a pole mast) and quad Bofors tubs being on the same height with her piloting bridge (Montcalm only).

You know what... you're completely right. I had forgotten that La Gal was *successfully* scuttled at Toulon in 1942 and was never rebuilt in the same way as her sisters (Montcalm, Gloire, Georges Leygues) - although the Italians had her refloated and were looking to put her back into service. The in-game model is very definitely of a ship of that class fitted for US radars, which only happened in 1943, so clearly not La Gal. Swiz! 

[torino2dc]

On 2/1/2024 at 5:51 PM, tfcas119 said:

WG has really lost the Art Department, because since 12.10, every ship announced except Wisebaden, Encounter, and Cerberus have been either complete or 90% copy pastas of existing ships.

Controversial opinion here: I think it is good thing that WG is forced to go through a copy/paste phase when it comes to ship models. 

For so many years the dictum seemed to be "if the ship isn't 100% new then players won't buy it." That left us without a lot of famous ships whose only misfortune was having a sister already in game. Now is the time to fix this oversight and buy a lot of goodwill in the process.