A few observations about the D-Day event Op.

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

Okay, so this is significantly more brutal than the regular ops, even the harder ones. Not only is unfamiliarity working against players right now, but there are a few other things to keep in mind which the game is very poor at communicating.

Item the First: Depth charges clear mines. DDs and cruisers with hull-dropped DCs will be the most effective (assuming they're careful when threading through a minefield) because of the large number of charges they drop per activation, but air-dropped charges are helpful, too. The minefields are marked on the map; every time your depth charges are off cooldown, you should drop some into a minefield, especially ahead of any allied ships in that field. If you're a BB or cruiser, you can airstrike ahead of yourself to clear the mines from your path. If you're a DD, you can clear whole mindfields in one or two drops.

Item the Second: Kill DDs before shore batteries. Shore batteries only have one gun. DDs have four or five guns, plus torps, plus smoke, and they move. Do the math; prioritize the DDs over the sad little bunkers. The DDs will kill you and your squishy landing craft faster.

Item the Third: Hit the Aerodromes if you have a shot on them, every time they're spotted. Unlike the on the real D-Day, the Luftwaffe is an actual threat here. If you're in range, hit those targets; they don't stay lit, and they will cause you loads of misery if ignored. The planes drop torps and mines. Also unlike on the real D-Day, you have zero friendly air cover from the RAF or USAAF, so naval dakka is your best answer to these threats.

Item the Fourth: Secondary BBs rule. If you want to play a BB, and you have a T7 secondary BB, bring it(WV '44 and Renown '44 owners, I'm looking at you). These are the most effective weapon against the Schnellboots and DDs, and allow you to engage other targets as you move forward.

Item the Fifth: Light Cruisers rule. Unless you're god-tier accurate with your CAs, leave them home. Bring something that fires fast and has a good volley weight. Atlantas are great; Boise, Helena... anything with a lot of guns and a high rate of fire. All the ships you will face are DDs or lighter, so you don't need huge shells as much as you need to put lots of them downrange quickly. Hydro, radar, and DFAA are major pluses.

Item the Sixth: ...don't bring a DD if you can avoid it. Seriously. Aside from clearing mines, they're weaker at everything else required in this Op. Weaker AA to kill torp and minelayer planes, less gunpower to kill Schnellboots and DDs, no range to hit inland Aerodromes... and almost nothing in the Op to use torps on. Just bring a cruiser.

Item the Seventh: Don't save your intel files. Use them. Sure, if you hoard the things you might be able to pull a perfect run at some later time... but every time you don't use them you're saddling your team with a player who's running no buffs at all. Use the files. Help your team. (Correction: intel files do not get expended on use.)

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Feel free to add, if you have other advice to offer (or if you disagree with anything I've said so far).

 

 

*edit- I should add that, unlike most Ops, you can actually lose your entire team and still win the Op (see screenshot above- this was a win). You won't get a good run, but it can happen, so if you're down to the wire, take the risk and make that last bold play, even if it kills you. It might just push your team over the line to actually winning.

Edited June 4 by Wrath_of_Deadguy

[Volron]

13 minutes ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Okay, so this is significantly more brutal than the regular ops, even the harder ones. Not only is unfamiliarity working against players right now, but there are a few other things to keep in mind which the game is very poor at communicating.

Item the First: Depth charges clear mines. DDs and cruisers with hull-dropped DCs will be the most effective (assuming they're careful when threading through a minefield) because of the large number of charges they drop per activation, but air-dropped charges are helpful, too. The minefields are marked on the map; every time your depth charges are off cooldown, you should drop some into a minefield, especially ahead of any allied ships in that field. If you're a BB or cruiser, you can airstrike ahead of yourself to clear the mines from your path. If you're a DD, you can clear whole mindfields in one or two drops.

No:  I'm too stupid to see the big red circles that are on the map, or I do but thing they are a perty decoration.

Item the Second: Kill DDs before shore batteries. Shore batteries only have one gun. DDs have four or five guns, plus torps, plus smoke, and they move. Do the math; prioritize the DDs over the sad little bunkers. The DDs will kill you and your squishy landing craft faster.

No:  DD's can move and therefore to hard to hit, so I will shoot guns.

Item the Third: Hit the Aerodromes if you have a shot on them, every time they're spotted. Unlike the on the real D-Day, the Luftwaffe is an actual threat here. If you're in range, hit those targets; they don't stay lit, and they will cause you loads of misery if ignored. The planes drop torps and mines. Also unlike on the real D-Day, you have zero friendly air cover from the RAF or USAAF, so naval dakka is your best answer to these threats.

No:  I won't shoot aerodromes because I like the fireworks. No stopping planes.

Item the Fourth: Secondary BBs rule. If you want to play a BB, and you have a T7 secondary BB, bring it(WV '44 and Renown '44 owners, I'm looking at you). These are the most effective weapon against the Schnellboots and DDs, and allow you to engage other targets as you move forward.

No: Battleships should be the ones to attack PT Boats and DD's.  I want to shoot rocks. 

Item the Fifth: Light Cruisers rule. Unless you're god-tier accurate with your CAs, leave them home. Bring something that fires fast and has a good volley weight. Atlantas are great; Boise, Helena... anything with a lot of guns and a high rate of fire. All the shipsyou will face are DDs or lighter, so you don't need huge shells as much as you need to put lots of them downrange quickly. Hydro, radar, and DFAA are major pluses.

No: Light cruisers suck cause no armor and they don't hit hard.  Also, heavy cruiser king, so go away.

Item the Sixth: ...don't bring a DD if you can avoid it. Seriously. Aside from clearing mines, they're weaker at everything else required in this Op. Weaker AA to kill torp and minelayer planes, less gunpower to kill Schnellboots and DDs, no range to hit inland Aerodromes... and almost nothing in the Op to use torps on. Just bring a cruiser.

No: I like DD so I bring DD.  You are not my dad!

Item the Seventh: Don't save your intel files. Use them. Sure, if you hoard the things you might be able to pull a perfect run at some later time... but every time you don't use them you're saddling your team with a player who's running no buffs at all. Use the files. Help your team.

MY PRECIOUS!!!

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Feel free to add, if you have other advice to offer (or if you disagree with anything I've said so far).

 

 

 

 

 

Silliness aside (and I bet I get a "confused" from Wolf FYI), there are some things I am curious about.  See, are you being "generalized", or are you targeting specific types?  From how I take it is, it's more towards players who are losing their Sierra trying to win this one.  In that regards, I will give you buko creds as you did a good job.  For a new player you should really break it down, especially when it comes to the 3 tiers they would be using in it.  TT ships only, don't do prems.

All in all I do agree with what you've posted, but ultimately it comes down to how you use your gal (there is some "parrot-ing":

• Battleships:  These are your bread n butter for power.  They excel at taking out the guns and the airfields, however, in my opinion you could have a match without one and you'd be perfectly fine.  While a secondary BB is recommended, it is better to bring something that will take out the guns and fields fast and accurately (can't kill what you can't hit).  If a BB has to be the one to deal with mines for any reason what-so-ever, the op is very likely borked.
   
• Cruisers (Heavy):  These are you "back up" power.  For lack of BB or if one is trying his hardest to avoid meeting Davey, they need to pick up the slack.  They can punch pretty damn hard and are no slouch (for most of them) in the AA department.  It is most ideal to have at least one heavy with you to make guns and fields easier.  They also tend to come with Hydro and now all have hull DC's.  You are the worst of the deck DC holders to do mines.  If a CA is having to clear fields, the op is likely borked.
   
• Cruisers (Light): Your goal is to kill PT boats first, DD's second.  You should not be messing around with mine fields but if you don't have any DD's, you are voluntold to do it.  You are "Jack" here, and need to be on top of everything.  You want hectic, you bring a CL.  Again, tackling mines should be a secondary, do not go out of your way to get them if PT's and DD's are out and about.  You hunt those first.
   
• Destroyers: You are purely support.  You do not seek and destroy ships, you seek and destroy mines.  You draw aircraft and, if you are brave, PT boat torpedoes.  Again, you are not there to engage the enemy directly, but are to destroy mines and cover the team and eventually the LST's.  Once the LST's arrive, that is when you go hog wild.  Do anything and every thing to protect them (since the Op will have been won by then).  If that means you "become one with the torpedo", so be it, just protect those ships.

 

Now, I know what ya'll gonna say: "CL's can do it all".  Well, yes and most certainly no.  Those AP attack aircraft will eat you if you are caught flat-footed, which is what will happen if you are dicking around in a minefield.  PT torps are faster and hit harder than you'd expect (seen so many CL's get eaten by the first 3 PT boats that show up), so you even more-so should avoid clearing minefields unless needed, and focus on maneuvering and take them out.  All in all, each ship class has it role it will excel in:  BB vs Guns and fields, CA same, CL vs boats and dds, DD vs fields.  Basically I know some CL's can knock down guns and fields quick, but a good majority of the time they are doing it with PT's and DD's on the field.  Then you get the farmers who don't care about 5s-ing the Op since the reward is hella good just winning it only (that should be fixed).

Also, in case you didn't figure it out by this time @Wrath_of_Deadguy, I was yanking your chain earlier. 

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

(Fair points... CLs and SecSpec BBs are probably the easiest ships to play here, but others still have roles, if played well. I may also be a little frustrated by the team quality I've been getting tonight, which is... *sigh*)

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Addendum: DO NOT PLAY TIER 5 SHIPS IN THIS OP.

The game technically allows you to do it.

Don't do it.

DO.

NOT.

DO.

IT.

You will be a burden on your team. Someone else will have to carry you. I'm sure some god-tier deadeye player will assure you it is entirely possible... but you are not that player. You will not be able to carry this Op in a T5. Everyone else will have to bust aft that much harder to cover for you. Just don't do it. Don't. Stop. Go back to port. Buy a better ship. Yes, I see that the T5 CL here got third place... with less than half the score of the T7 CLs. Don't do it. You aren't as good as this player, and even this player got carried. Let's not even talk about the DDs.

I'm only half joking. This is not one of those Ops that's a breeze with bottom-tier ships if you just know the mechanics well; beyond their offensive and armor deficits, T5s also lack the AA coverage and the depth charge throw weight to contribute meaningfully here. Simply being a good shot isn't going to make up for all the other contributions you just don't have the hardware to make in a T5. There's plenty of time left on the clock; grind out a T6 or T7 and play that instead. Nobody wants to spawn in and see a pair (these two T5s were a Div) of 5-pound barbells to add to their backpack.

It actually doesn't seem that hard to get a win in this Op... as I said above, you can actually get a full party wipe and still win. It's just much, much easier to win if your teammates don't sail out in double-downtiered garbage scows, and if they don't neglect to shoot the DDs and Schnellboots.

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...I'm also not sure if this Op adjusts for tiering like the other Ops do. In other Ops, the bot opposition is (or seems to be) scaled off the highest-tier player; I'm not sure if that's the case here, seeing as how it's a special event. Can anyone verify if the OpFor remains the same regardless, or changes based on the player team comp?

The bot team also seems to really love Z-31s. So, y'know, beware those enhanced AP pen angles. Three of those suckers can gobble up a cruiser like it's a kiddie-size bag of popcorn.

[Volron]

Oh I'll use 5's till the Op goes away, if only to piss people off.

 

You are only a burden if you do not know your ship and/or Op (most of the time it's both with most of these fools).

 

Also, I reported you for making me want popcorn....you savage.

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

LOL...

No, but seriously, don't use T5s. Even the rental T6s are doing better.

[Volron]

2 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

LOL...

No, but seriously, don't use T5s. Even the rental T6s are doing better.

 

Nap.  I will still use 5's every time I decide to play the Op.  Oddly enough, this is the first time I got 5s.  To date I've been usin 6's and 7's with a dab into 5 once in a while.  Now that I've started to use 5's strictly?  I'm seeing more and more success which culminated to this 5s.  So very much like the OG ops when they first came out, 5s'd em all with a T5 first.  haha

 

As you can see, we had someone who knew the op and were playin to win, not farm.  He had to pick up the slack of the other two, but he wasn't farmin.  This is rare, since I can count on one had the amount of times I've seen someone like this so far.  Most farm then die, rinse and repeat.  WeeGee shot themselves on that one, but that is par for the course.

[BlueMax1916]

No, really, do not use T5 ships. You might be finding yourself carrying the whole team and making 14 of 15 kills.

 

 

 

 

 

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

14 kills is impressive... but since you played Agincourt in particular, you made no contribution at all to your team's AA coverage, because that ship has no AA guns- not even a particularly enthusiastic ensign on the bridge wing with a Webley.

I stand by what I said. Some players may be able to perform well in T5s, but the vast majority will not be able to, and will be a burden on everyone else around them... and even the best T5s sailed by the best players have deficiencies (like Agincourt's complete lack of AA) which will prevent them from being as useful as a ship with the same general characteristics two tiers higher sailed out by the very same player. Unless you know you can hard carry, leave the T5s at their moorings.

[Kruzenstern]

12 hours ago, Volron said:

All in all, each ship class has it role it will excel in:  BB vs Guns and fields, CA same, CL vs boats and dds, DD vs fields.

Thats not really true. CLs far exceed the capabilities of all other ships except secondary BBs. If they fail, the problem is the player, not the ship. I used Boise and Flint a lot and only once was AP-rocketed.

CAs (at least at tiers 5-7) are practically worthless, as they have nothing useful to bring at all. They don't wreck the land installations any faster than a CL or BB does (I would say actually slower), and due to their atrocious reload times they are much less efficent against the prevalent small naval targets that change course all the time. CAs get better at higher tiers, but up to tier7 they kinda suck across the board, even outside this mission.

BBs without good secondaries at least bring a decent meat shield, but otherwise are very very inefficient. And they are usually too slow and/or too timid to get that meat shield where it is needed.

DDs are almost as bad as CAs, but at least they can clear minefields, and some of them have reasonable artillery too (like Blyska). Gun DDs with serious dakka dakka like Akizuki would work very well, but those don't really exist in the offered selection.

A shame we can't use tier4s, I would actually like to try out Arkansas B and Clemson.

12 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Addendum: DO NOT PLAY TIER 5 SHIPS IN THIS OP.

The Omaha and its clones are certainly more useful in this op than say an Indianapples or New Orleans (or really any CA). Just like Agincourt and I guess Oklahoma would help much more than say a Lolorado or Lollingwood.

[Volron]

35 minutes ago, Kruzenstern said:

Thats not really true. CLs far exceed the capabilities of all other ships except secondary BBs. If they fail, the problem is the player, not the ship. I used Boise and Flint a lot and only once was AP-rocketed.

CAs (at least at tiers 5-7) are practically worthless, as they have nothing useful to bring at all. They don't wreck the land installations any faster than a CL or BB does (I would say actually slower), and due to their atrocious reload times they are much less efficent against the prevalent small naval targets that change course all the time. CAs get better at higher tiers, but up to tier7 they kinda suck across the board, even outside this mission.

BBs without good secondaries at least bring a decent meat shield, but otherwise are very very inefficient. And they are usually too slow and/or too timid to get that meat shield where it is needed.

DDs are almost as bad as CAs, but at least they can clear minefields, and some of them have reasonable artillery too (like Blyska). Gun DDs with serious dakka dakka like Akizuki would work very well, but those don't really exist in the offered selection.

A shame we can't use tier4s, I would actually like to try out Arkansas B and Clemson.

The Omaha and its clones are certainly more useful in this op than say an Indianapolis or New Orleans (or really any CA). Just like Agincourt and I guess Oklahoma would help much more than say a Lolorado or Lollingwood.

 

My point is when you end up in a rando team, you should expect what I pointed out as a "guess" of the player quality.  If you see a BB trying to chase down PT boats and clear fields, well....pretty sure you get the picture.

If I were to build a team, then I would have all 6 cruisers CL's with the remaining gal a DD with a heal.  The DD has a much easier time dealin with fields as well as dodging things. The primary role of the DD regardless of which type is taken is that of field clearing first and foremost.

And yes, I am quite sad I can't use my Beta in the Op.  Was quietly hoping they would allow her in.

[Andrewbassg]

20 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Don't save your intel files

Ummm....... what? Those get...... USED UP??   Then what is the point of them being "classified documents"?? 

One can buy them, or what is this......

 

And why they don't disappear if used up???

Edited June 3 by Andrewbassg

[Volron]

50 minutes ago, Andrewbassg said:

Ummm....... what? Those get...... USED UP??   Then what is the point of them being "classified documents"?? 

One can buy them, or what is this......

 

And why they don't disappear if used up???

Yeah, I've noticed I don't use mine up either.  Not that I am complaining since it would be a MAJOR PITA having to keep putting them into a slot every single time.

[Wrath_of_Deadguy]

7 hours ago, Andrewbassg said:

Ummm....... what? Those get...... USED UP?? 

Huh. I was under the impression that they were a limited resource, but I guess I had it wrong. I suppose I just assumed they'd be expendable buffs because of how many expendable buffs WG already has in the game. Editing post.

[Frostbow]

13 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

I stand by what I said. Some players may be able to perform well in T5s, but the vast majority will not be able to, and will be a burden on everyone else around them... and even the best T5s sailed by the best players have deficiencies (like Agincourt's complete lack of AA) which will prevent them from being as useful as a ship with the same general characteristics two tiers higher sailed out by the very same player. Unless you know you can hard carry, leave the T5s at their moorings.

I saw your post earlier and out of curiosity, I played the Marblehead. It was a nice experience until the Aerodrome planes with rockets arrived and took a lot of HP and destroyed my poor cruiser. LOL

[Andrewbassg]

6 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Huh. I was under the impression that they were a limited resource, but I guess I had it wrong. I suppose I just assumed they'd be expendable buffs because of how many expendable buffs WG already has in the game. Editing post.

Ok now I'm .... confused. I kept  thinking about this and the start of the battle do say something about saving, but I think it is about the configuration of the chosen buffs. Coz I keep entering in the battle with them and then the game says, buffs applied....

I could be wrong tho and I'm not sure....

Edited June 4 by Andrewbassg

[Volron]

17 hours ago, Wrath_of_Deadguy said:

Huh. I was under the impression that they were a limited resource, but I guess I had it wrong. I suppose I just assumed they'd be expendable buffs because of how many expendable buffs WG already has in the game. Editing post.

So was I, but they are not in practice.  Hope it stays the way it is cause as I mentioned earlier, be a right PITA to slot them every single time.

[Navpaktos]

You can slot them in when you're in the harbor, and it will remember them on a per-ship basis. You still get the option to change them at the beginning of the op if you like.

[I_cant_Swim_]

Thanks @Navpaktos, and Welcome to the forum!