NA Stream, Which ships will be cloned next?

[MBT808]

As the title says, in two days there will be a stream with a "new" ships devblog. So what ship do you think will be cloned next?

I'm guessing something british for the commonwealth ships, I'm thinking a county class that could've been ordered by one of the commonwealth countries(London with crawling smoke a tier higher). Or perhaps a queen elizabeth class that could've been ordered by canada(warspite clone, but with some gimmick).

Edited March 4 by MBT808

[Aragathor]

Could be HMS Malaya, as British Malaya paid for the ship. And WG could do a weird version of her with no secondaries and lots of AA (1944 pre-retirement refit).

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

If we can't get the Northampton-class Houston as a premium, I'd settle for a clone of Pensacola as her sister Salt Lake City to finally fill in that USN cruiser premium gap at T6 (the Pensacola model we have in-game is already Salt Lake City anyway, based on her AA mounts).

A clone of Yueyang as another Allen M. Sumner, but under the US flag. Laffey would surely be an easy sell (gimmicked to the nines for AA, naturally).

Clemson could be cloned to represent any number of her famous class members, such as Edsall or Reuben James. If WG still wants to be stupid about low-tier premiums, they could gimmick it up to T5 without much trouble, and make it a freemium event ship for the 4th.

A clone of Akizuki as an IJN T8 premium, minus the questionable alterations that made Fenyang a total flop.

An as-built Furutaka as a T5 premium, cloned from the removed A hull.

Really, there are loads of possibilities.

 

 

[Ensign Cthulhu]

18 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

If we can't get the Northampton-class Houston as a premium, I'd settle for a clone of Pensacola as her sister Salt Lake City

Me too.

19 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

A clone of Yueyang as another Allen M. Sumner, but under the US flag.

You're far more likely to end up with another Gearing IMHO. Or if you get a Sumner it might be Kidd-ified; dropped a tier and given a heal for the loss of one tube set.

23 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Clemson ... they could gimmick it up to T5

You're basically looking for a premium Nicholas here, and you're not likely to get it because the Hill occupies that ecological niche already (and for free, albeit with one fewer torp rack).

25 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

A clone of Akizuki as an IJN T8 premium, minus the questionable alterations that made Fenyang a total flop.

Star Kitakaze does almost the same thing a tier higher, albeit with the torpedoes restricted to 8km F3's. For this reason, a premium IJN Aki feels unlikely to me. It would be nice, I agree, but unlikely. We'd be far more likely to see a premium Akatsuki (T7 torpedo line). 

29 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

An as-built Furutaka as a T5 premium, cloned from the removed A hull.

Provided they give it the 203's and not the anaemic 200mm A-hull originals, I could go for this one. Maybe even as a coal premium, since the IJN badly needs one of those at the mid tiers (and it would be eligible for events and missions, which Yubari is not). 

[Nevermore135]

1 hour ago, Aragathor said:

Could be HMS Malaya, as British Malaya paid for the ship. And WG could do a weird version of her with no secondaries and lots of AA (1944 pre-retirement refit).

Perhaps, although it might be a bit awkward with Rahmat flying the Malaysian naval ensign under Pan-Asia. It could be argued that a hypothetical post-war refit and sold version of the ship would be a better fit in that tech tree. One of the Canadian QE battleships that never was might be a better fit for the Commonwealth in-game. Or perhaps we could finally get a Revenge-class ship, with the idea being that in this timeline the Canadian legislature was willing to fund at least one of the cheaper Revenge-class ships (which are still notably absent from the game).

41 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

If we can't get the Northampton-class Houston as a premium,

It’s incredibly disappointing that WG ran a Battle of the Java Sea event this year without Houston, which has been a common request for years. But I suppose that would require a new model, which is a big ask nowadays.

Regarding easy clones that WG could pump out:

It’s probably a bit too late to reveal Blutcher at tier VII for an early April release (Battle of Droback Sound). Both tier VII German premium cruisers are CLs, and a down-tiered Hipper given the Maya treatment might be interesting and still stand out from Yorck. She’s also the only Hipper-class ship that isn’t in the game in some form.

There would be few complaints if WG recycled the Fletcher model again and finally gave us Johnston, but I have a feeling that Wisconsin being scheduled for release this year makes it unlikely.

While not a 100% clone of an existing ship, we don’t have a representative of the Ayanami-class/subclass, which would make a good tier VI/VII premium IJN DD.

Considering how many players love Fuso (for some reason ), Yamashiro would probably sell decently well.

We also still haven’t seen this year’s expected tier VI-VIII US July 4 premium release, which is typically a historical ship that was actually built and served (Constellation being the notable exception).

 

 

 

Edited March 5 by Nevermore135

[HamptonRoads]

Another Iowa, since there seems to be quite a bit of noise for the New Jersey.  Personally, I'd like to see Wickes-class USS Ward but low tier ships aren't likely to happen.

[Nevermore135]

12 minutes ago, HamptonRoads said:

Another Iowa, since there seems to be quite a bit of noise for the New Jersey.  Personally, I'd like to see Wickes-class USS Ward but low tier ships aren't likely to happen.

Wisconsin is already on the way.

https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/506

It doesn’t make much sense for WG to push out both remaining Iowa-class ships so close to each other unless WoWs is in much  more dire financial straits than anyone has predicted.

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

2 hours ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

You're basically looking for a premium Nicholas here, and you're not likely to get it because the Hill occupies that ecological niche already (and for free, albeit with one fewer torp rack).

Well... no. I'm looking for a premium Clemson, and I don't particularly care what gameplay niche it gets stuffed into. I want a historical ship for the collector's value- not a paper ship that plays like Clemson, but an actual, honest-to-goodness, built-and-served Clemson. Preferably, one of the more famous members of the class. Maybe that's silly, but the collection of digital model ships aspect of the game is one of the things that drew me to it in the first place.

I just rate the chances of getting one as a gimmicked-up T5 as being higher than the chances of ever getting anything at T4, because the only low-tier premium WG has released for years now is Ning Hai, and it looks unlikely that there will be any more.

[Project45_Opytny]

32 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Well... no. I'm looking for a premium Clemson, and I don't particularly care what gameplay niche it gets stuffed into. I want a historical ship for the collector's value- not a paper ship that plays like Clemson, but an actual, honest-to-goodness, built-and-served Clemson. Preferably, one of the more famous members of the class. Maybe that's silly, but the collection of digital model ships aspect of the game is one of the things that drew me to it in the first place.

I just rate the chances of getting one as a gimmicked-up T5 as being higher than the chances of ever getting anything at T4, because the only low-tier premium WG has released for years now is Ning Hai, and it looks unlikely that there will be any more.

A premium Wickes/Clemson designed game-wise strictly along historical configuration seems to be designated as a Benham-lite, considering historically despite structural stiffening, only about 7 ships among all Clemson-class built was acutally built as up-gunned variants (and the in game configuration is the Hovey-Long version with two ships), and their "stock" broadside will be very underwhelming for even a T5 destroyer. Going the "Jaeger path" and crave her niche with the help of torpedoes seems natural.

[MBT808]

26 minutes ago, Project45_Opytny said:

A premium Wickes/Clemson designed game-wise strictly along historical configuration seems to be designated as a Benham-lite, considering historically despite structural stiffening, only about 7 ships among all Clemson-class built was acutally built as up-gunned variants (and the in game configuration is the Hovey-Long version with two ships), and their "stock" broadside will be very underwhelming for even a T5 destroyer. Going the "Jaeger path" and crave her niche with the help of torpedoes seems natural.

Ultimately this thread isn’t about the viability of any said ship, it’s about guessing what WG will decide to clone as a “new” premium.

[Project45_Opytny]

8 minutes ago, MBT808 said:

Ultimately this thread isn’t about the viability of any said ship, it’s about guessing what WG will decide to clone as a “new” premium.

I also think that we are due to have a new tech tree banch announced. Commonwealth cruisers will begin Early Access event right in March, and even with longer lulls during patches, WG developers should have been working for what will come after Commonwealth cruisers.

[_KlRlTO_]

6 hours ago, Nevermore135 said:

We also still haven’t seen this year’s expected tier VI-VIII US July 4 premium release, which is typically a historical ship that was actually built and served (Constellation being the notable exception).

 

How about VI Bogue? The model already exists and is used for the Raptor Rescue operation. They could easily make it a one off premium based on the new support CV line.

Another possibility is them kitbashing two different models together. They could take West Virginia 41 and replace the main guns with New Mexico main guns and boom, USS Tennessee. Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Indiana could all be on the table as clones, but most of us would rather see Nevada and Pennsylvania in their final refit configurations and not in their Pearly Harbor configurations. South Dakota would not work, because she was significantly different from her sisters and would not work as a clone. Hawaii could work at tier 8, but I would hate to imagine how much an Alaska would have to be nerfed to get a tier lower. If Wg went with a cruiser, then any Pensacola, Brooklyn, New Orleans, Atlanta, Portland, Cleveland, or Baltimore class cruiser could be an option.

[Ensign Cthulhu]

5 hours ago, _KlRlTO_ said:

I would hate to imagine how much an Alaska would have to be nerfed to get a tier lower.

That's been done, and it's in-game as Congress.

[Asym]

If I were in charge, Guam and Hawaii.  The entire Heavy Cruiser above the Baltimore class should be it's own line....  There were 6 planned and two in the game.

Back build them and leave room for their missile capabilities in the X and Y turret removal.....

[Aethervox]

Easy Clones = Anything Commonwealth.

[MBT808]

On 3/4/2024 at 5:58 PM, Nevermore135 said:

There would be few complaints if WG recycled the Fletcher model again and finally gave us Johnston, but I have a feeling that Wisconsin being scheduled for release this year makes it unlikely.

Congratulations! You guessed it!

https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/516

Edited March 7 by MBT808

[Nevermore135]

3 hours ago, MBT808 said:

Congratulations! You guessed it!

https://blog.worldofwarships.com/blog/516

Kind of wishing I didn’t, as I’m not sold on the concept that WG has chosen to go with. We’ll have to see what makes it out of testing, but I am a little disappointed we are getting another tier IX DD (and another tier IX Fletcher at that). I would have liked to see Johnston at tier X, both for gameplay reasons and the fact that tier Xs are less likely to be locked behind doubloon/cash paywalls.

Anyways, I have a feeling this year’s July 4 event will be… interesting.

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

Dangit, here's me all pleased with myself for finally completing the set of in-game Fletchers, and they go and add another one!

...and one they're going to have to do some model work on, if they want her to be accurate (and I have a feeling there'd be riots if she wasn't). Johnston had the same bridge superstructure as Kidd, but the standard armament, so they can't just re-skin any existing Fletcher model (mix and match parts of the existing models, possibly).

Still, Johnston has been one of the most-requested ships for years now, and it's good she's finally making an appearance. Hopefully not behind a gamble-wall, but this is WG we're talking about...

BTW- Per the official stream, Wisconsin will be the next dockyard ship, and WV '44 is getting a re-release as the midpoint freemium.

[Nevermore135]

3 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Still, Johnston has been one of the most-requested ships for years now, and it's good she's finally making an appearance. Hopefully not behind a gamble-wall, but this is WG we're talking about...

With WI in the dockyard and no other US releases announced, Johnston is probably going to be this year’s July 4 release. I’d expect at least a partial paywall in the same manner as WV’44 was available last year.

Edited March 7 by Nevermore135

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

Honestly, I'm fine with a new ship being behind a straight-up paywall; I paid for WV '44 up front and don't regret it. It's the RNG-dependent releases like Rhode Island that make me want to light my hair on fire.

[MBT808]

8 hours ago, Nevermore135 said:

Kind of wishing I didn’t, as I’m not sold on the concept that WG has chosen to go with. We’ll have to see what makes it out of testing, but I am a little disappointed we are getting another tier IX DD (and another tier IX Fletcher at that). I would have liked to see Johnston at tier X, both for gameplay reasons and the fact that tier Xs are less likely to be locked behind doubloon/cash paywalls.

Anyways, I have a feeling this year’s July 4 event will be… interesting.

I’m not either, she’s not getting enhanced ballistics so that burst fire is on a be pretty worthless against other DDs outside of knife fight range. Not only that but her DPM gets shafted compared to fletcher(4.5 vs 3.3).

Honestly my take on her: Alvaro is better with the same sort of play style. 8 guns with a similar reload, burst fire and punchier HE(as well as a mountain of HP and the same consumables).

[Ensign Cthulhu]

On 3/5/2024 at 10:06 AM, Asym said:

Back build them and leave room for their missile capabilities in the X and Y turret removal...

Nothing is more terrifying to the no-missiles crowd than a burnt-out cynic like you and an ongoing enthusiast like me agreeing that we need first-generation SAM cruiser conversions in-game. 😈 BW-0 Terrier is suitably inefficient and unreliable for it to be manageable at Tier 10 or Super, I think. 

[Asym]

1 hour ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Nothing is more terrifying to the no-missiles crowd than a burnt-out cynic like you and an ongoing enthusiast like me agreeing that we need first-generation SAM cruiser conversions in-game. 😈 BW-0 Terrier is suitably inefficient and unreliable for it to be manageable at Tier 10 or Super, I think. 

I think the Cold War is the only place they can go....  This clones of clones will burn everyone out.  And yes, the early ASM's were "a handful" in actual use.

Personally, I want the IJN 400 series subs.  They were one of my most favorite ships to spent a rainy day at the Library reading about...

[MBT808]

7 hours ago, Nevermore135 said:

With WI in the dockyard and no other US releases announced, Johnston is probably going to be this year’s July 4 release. I’d expect at least a partial paywall in the same manner as WV’44 was available last year.

I'm honestly surprised about that. I expected Wisconsin to be behind a bundle pay wall  with a 30000 doub price tag(not including the bundles, just for the ship at the end of the bundles) for July 4th. Johnston, honestly is the history enough to make people shell out $80 for a the sixteenth fletcher in the game? Cause from the gameplay standpoint, I wouldn't touch her personally.