Random Operations Reference Library and Cheat Sheets

[Asym]

We talk a lot about "learning how to get GuD..."   So, let's stop talking about it and start with RO's and actually list what we believe of the best ship choices per RO and by class.....

Aegis DD   -   Tier 6 -  IJN  - Fabuki / Tier 7 - [add a country]  -  [add a ship]  /  Tier 8  -  Asian  -  Hsienyang

And have at least three choices for new players to consider.  As seen in my Aegis example, I list two Tech Tree ships that consistently produce over 300K games....

What do you think?   I am awfully tired of playing RO's where new players have no idea what works and that causes losses....

 

[CFagan_1987]

For me personally the best ships in Operations are light cruisers with high rates of fire like the Mainz or the Bayard. I rarely play destroyers in Operations as I feel that between the long torpedo reload times, the ability of the bots to easily dodge torpedo's, and their lower HP levels they are a 50/50 chance of being a hindrance rather than a help. I've seen some really good DD players in Ops ... but I've also seen a ton that are useless and only end up hurting the team.

[Admiral_Karasu]

Myoko. Traditionally in Narai.

[HogHammer]

@Asympart of the problem, or possible factor, with new (newer) players to Ops may be (1) lack of battles, (2) lack of appropriate tech tree ships, or (3) a purchase of a Premium ship that they may really not be ready for.

A new player can jump into Ops just by reaching "Access Level 14 - Operations".  To reach that level, only 25 battles are required.  Ranked (level 16) takes at least 130 battles to access, and Clan Battles/training room (level 17) takes 200 battles.  Having to play 200 battles just to get in the training room makes no sense to me.

So, even with the recommended ships, most new players may not have the skills or the tactics needed for Operations.

[Asym]

11 minutes ago, CFagan_1987 said:

For me personally the best ships in Operations are light cruisers with high rates of fire like the Mainz or the Bayard. I rarely play destroyers in Operations as I feel that between the long torpedo reload times, the ability of the bots to easily dodge torpedo's, and their lower HP levels they are a 50/50 chance of being a hindrance rather than a help. I've seen some really good DD players in Ops ... but I've also seen a ton that are useless and only end up hurting the team.

Alas, I play DD's in Ops since I've been in the game and like the challenge to "be an equal part of the team....."  So, the goal is to Recommend ships you can and have made work and why.....  Op by Op.

thanks and yes, I use them too but..............there are a bunch of others that work just as well......

[Asym]

10 minutes ago, HogHammer said:

@Asympart of the problem, or possible factor, with new (newer) players to Ops may be (1) lack of battles, (2) lack of appropriate tech tree ships, or (3) a purchase of a Premium ship that they may really not be ready for.

A new player can jump into Ops just by reaching "Access Level 14 - Operations".  To reach that level, only 25 battles are required.  Ranked (level 16) takes at least 130 battles to access, and Clan Battles/training room (level 17) takes 200 battles.  Having to play 200 battles just to get in the training room makes no sense to me.

So, even with the recommended ships, most new players may not have the skills or the tactics needed for Operations.

true......but, the cook book is a "goal sheet" as well....  It's the ships to aspire to as well and they'll have a list of resources that gives them half of the solution...

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

Of course, the recommendation Op by Op is only relevant for Division players. Others will have to be content with random picks. For operations, that is.. and actually for some players ships as well.

[yss_turtleship]

17 minutes ago, HogHammer said:

  Having to play 200 battles just to get in the training room makes no sense to me.

Yeah,  this has always befuddled me. It's like asking a new bicycle rider to learn how to balance first before they can use training wheels. Except in the case of bikes you actually don't need the training wheels. In  WoWs, you need the training room.

[Volron]

Hmm...

For "green" players:

DD: None.  Learn the Primary Objective's for each Op well first before even trying your hand at using a DD in one.

CA: USN Heavy line is actually quite solid here and do well in all Ops.  They have guns and a bit of tankyness to em, and have solid AA.

BB: KM Line.  Tanky, solid albeit a touch inaccurate guns, secondaries, and okay-ish AA.  They hold up pretty well in all Ops, even Cherry.

CV: None.  Learn the Primary Objective's for each Op well first before even trying your hand at using a CV in one.

 

You are "green", and will very likely not know your ship very well.  Focus entirely on learning the Primary Task's first, and your ship, before trying to push for Secondary Task's.  It will be easier to adapt when you go from 6 to 7, and then to 8 once you've learned the Primary's well.  At that point it's just figuring out the new gal, and of course the Ops (if you move quickly to 7 and 8).

 

For veteran players new to Ops:

Basically the same as above.

CA: You can swap out USN Heavy with any CA Heavy.  Avoid Lights.

BB: Anything tanky.  Avoid BC's.

It doesn't matter if you've been playing lot since Alpha, if you do not know the Op well enough and you are using DD/CV, you are very likely to be a hindrance, though you will do better than any "green" player since you will know the ship well.  Basically, do not take a DD/CV until you have learned the Primary Objective's of each Op well.  After you have, then you can have a crack at it with DD/CV.  Fortunately the Primary's are straight forward so you should catch on quick to start using DD/CV in Ops.

 

That is my advice.

[richie_macrophage]

Destroyers: Akizuki, Kidd are decent gunboats. Le Fantasque may be useful in Narai because it is good at close-range torpedo attacks. I haven't seen Kiev that much but I assume it would be fine for Ops too. Torp-focused DD are only good in very specific scenarios, like killing the battleships in Aegis, and you really need to know what you are doing. The low health of destroyers can be played around by proper positioning and taking advantage of the bots' predictable target selection, but this also means you sometimes can't solo a secondary task (like killing the carrier in Narai and Raptor Rescue) because you don't have the durability to endure the escorts on your own without someone else taking fire for you.

Cruisers: Most cruisers are fairly suitable for ops. I had good success even in ships like Hipper which has low DPM for a cruiser on paper. The ones I'd recommend against the most are AP-only cruisers considering how many bow-on targets you face (but American CAs with their improved pen angles are very much recommended). I would also not recommend supercruisers because you give up the consistent DPM advantage of cruisers, by that point just play a battleship. The cruisers I see to do well are things like Mainz, Bayard, Cleveland/AL Monty, Baltimore/Wichita/Rochester, the Soviet CLs, etc. For most regular players, the higher gun DPM, the better.

Battleships: Secondary battleships are good for most operations, so things like Bismarck and Tirpitz. I've tried Zieten but its durability is too poor for me to like it. Massachussetts is also great, it trades secondary pen for better main guns. But considering how many tier 7 and below cruisers you face in Ops with 16mm ends, it isn't too much of a disadvantage. Regular battleships can still sometimes be useful on large open maps with broadside targets and for drawing fire, but it may be harder to do well in them for the regular player. Do not use Tier 6 battleships, they are too slow, inaccurate, and lacking durability to be useful.

Carriers: I don't have much variety in playing carriers in Ops, but I find American carriers to be good because they have better torpedo bomber handling (Shorter arming distance which can be really useful in Operations with dense islands). Think Hornet, Lexington, etc. Kaga does better on open maps like Ultimate Frontier, but I would assume it won't be as good for operations like Narai or Newport because of how many islands are present around the ships. I'd say carriers in general may be lacking because they don't have as reliable consistent DPM that surface ships do. You can definitely achieve high-damage games but you'll have to put a lot more work in. Their advantage is mainly spotting/striking faraway objective targets. Avoid Tier 6 carriers at all costs, they are too weak for Operations.

For more specific operations,

Newport: Regular battleships don't do as well considering how the majority of the enemy targets will be approaching bow on. It will be hard to hit them. Same thing with torpedo destroyers.

Aegis: Conversely, regular battleships and torp DDs are good in this Operation because there are many broadside-sailing targets that are easy to hit with a good amount of health. As long as you can survive the relentless HE spam in Aegis.

Raptor Rescue: Mostly follows the default recommendations.

Ultimate Frontier: Similar to Aegis, as long as you do not exclusively camp the repair base in UF (so you can get better angles against the waves). Carriers struggle on this map due to the insane amount of AA.

Killer Whale: Very beneficial to have torpedoes because there are some cases where you have to take out battleships at close range. It also allows you to solo the north side much better (for example, a weathered Cleveland may have difficulty taking out a Bayern on its own, while a Mainz can just rush and torpedo it). Carriers are fairly good on this map because they have the range to cover the entire map incase an objective target needs to be finished off. The lack of AA also helps.

Narai: Any close-quarters specialized ship will excel. To take on the carrier solo, you need at minimum a tier 8 cruiser with radar and high DPM, or one with a lot of torpedoes. Carriers are not useful IMO, this is because they aren't as good for tanking for the transports, the dense islands prohibit torpedo bomber attack angles, and the map is so small that the carrier's range advantage is not very significant.

Hermes: Since this is an escort mission where you have to move in a fairly straight line, torpedoes may not be as useful. Hydro (and radar if you have it) is extremely important by the end to take out the DD kill squad. Also really helps to have strong AA considering the amount of planes sent at you. Carriers are less useful because there is a considerable amount of AA in this Operation.

Cherry Blossom: Radar CL/CA are the best for this Operation due to the amount of destroyers. Cleveland/AL Monty may be the best single ship for this Operation. Because most of the enemies are destroyers, gunboat DDs will also work because they won't have issues with low pen. Torpedoes are not all that useful because the enemies don't sail in as predictable paths like in other operations, and with the enemies being destroyers they have a better chance of dodging. Battleships are not good in this Operation because they aren't as good at killing destroyers unless you got real nasty secondaries. Carriers can work if you have enough hands to hit the destroyers with torpedo bombers, but you must have some sort of HE attack squadron to do maximum damage against the aerodromes. Strong AA is again recommended because of the amount of planes sent at you (sometimes they can all decide to focus you if you stray too far from everyone else). But since the planes are much lower health and the friendly AI ships have strong AA, this is not as important of a factor.

Edited October 18, 2023 by richie_macrophage

[Admiral_Karasu]

@Volron I've recently been using Amagi in operations, though. Normally I would not pick ships that are unhistorical, however... Amagi having been laid out and even constructed to the hull kind of meets an extended threshold of mine. Especially considering how immensely historic that makes the in game Amagi in comparison with much of the content WG has added since then.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Once upon a time, Scenario Operations were not "randomly" chosen.  They were rotated on a weekly basis and were limited to certain tiers of play.

The Wiki pages for Scenario Operations contain descriptions and maps.  I encourage everyone to study them beforehand.
https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Scenarios

Defense of Naval Station Newport https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Defense_of_Naval_Station_Newport

Aegis https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Aegis

Killer Whale https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Killer_Whale

Raptor Rescue https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Raptor_Rescue

The Ultimate Frontier https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:The_Ultimate_Frontier

Narai https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Narai

Hermes https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Hermes

Cherry Blossom https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Cherry_Blossom

For Submarines only - Operation Wolfpack   https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Operation_Wolfpack


Savvy players will notice that I've omitted the "on hiatus" Operation Dynamo and the "special event" Halloween and Rogue Wave scenarios.

With the introduction of the "randomly chosen" Scenario Operations, planning which ship to take has become slightly more interesting.
Yet, some criteria hasn't changed.
1.  Need to have enough HP to take some punishment.  This alone discourages the use of DD's.
2.  Preferably, a ship equipped with the Repair Party consumable. 
      Only a few Operations provide opportunity to get one's hull fixed-up.  It helps to "bring yer own" so that you might survive a prolonged fight.
3.  The capability to hit targets, reliably, at distances of 14km or more.  (Again, this is where DD's literally *fall short*.)
4.  Speed.  The more, the better.
      This criteria discourages slow 20-knot Battleships, because being able to keep-up with the pace of the operation is desireable.
5.  Your firepower needs to "pack a punch".
      DD's main-guns often lack both the punch and the range to contribute effectively in certain conditions.
6.  Having torpedoes doesn't hurt.  While they're not strictly required, they're nice to have as an option.

The above criteria dovetails reasonably well with things others have mentioned in the posts above this one.
Which is, essentially, that DD's and CV's are something of an "expert" or "niche" ship type in Scenario Operations.
To be fair, I've seen some masterful DD play by people who know where to be and when to be there to deliver their torpedoes for maximum effect without getting sunk in the process, and I've played my own CV's in Scenario Operations and earned compliments.
So, players should expect to see these ship types (and slow battleships, too, because grinding XP in a scenario can be more fun).
I'm merely outlining some criteria for consideration by players who are new to Scenario Operations.

Ship Handling
It seems "obvious", but I'll mention it anyway.
Several of the Scenario Operations involve escorting cargo ships and sailing "in formation" with your team-mates and the friendly 'bots.
Thus, it is beneficial to maneuver without bumping into other ships.
Like, seriously, folks.  Don't be "that guy".  And if you are, apologize if you bump into an allied ship and learn to do better next time.

Use the in-game tools to "look around" and maintain situational awareness.  Also communicate with allies about your intentions.
A little goodwill can go a long way.  🙂 
 

[CFagan_1987]

On 10/17/2023 at 3:28 PM, HogHammer said:

@Asympart of the problem, or possible factor, with new (newer) players to Ops may be (1) lack of battles, (2) lack of appropriate tech tree ships, or (3) a purchase of a Premium ship that they may really not be ready for.

A new player can jump into Ops just by reaching "Access Level 14 - Operations".  To reach that level, only 25 battles are required.  Ranked (level 16) takes at least 130 battles to access, and Clan Battles/training room (level 17) takes 200 battles.  Having to play 200 battles just to get in the training room makes no sense to me.

So, even with the recommended ships, most new players may not have the skills or the tactics needed for Operations.

This is going to be controversial but I also think teams with large numbers of tier 6's have a higher chance of failing. They just have a hard(er) time competing against the Tier 7 and 8 bots found in many Ops.

[Volron]

11 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

@Volron I've recently been using Amagi in operations, though. Normally I would not pick ships that are unhistorical, however... Amagi having been laid out and even constructed to the hull kind of meets an extended threshold of mine. Especially considering how immensely historic that makes the in game Amagi in comparison with much of the content WG has added since then.

Amagi is a great gal to use in Ops.  I have mine spec'd for secondaries, and she be a hoot.

 

Also, I do not consider Amagi a BC, if she's considered one?  I just know she performs quite well.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Volron

[Asym]

On 10/18/2023 at 2:32 PM, CFagan_1987 said:

This is going to be controversial but I also think teams with large numbers of tier 6's have a higher chance of failing. They just have a hard(er) time competing against the Tier 7 and 8 bots found in many Ops.

True !   But, when we division with 6 or 7 players, we sometimes all take tier six ships....  Or, we have matches where all the ship names start with an "A" - Anchorage, Akizuiki.....   Or, all German night.

Ops really lend to experimentation and fun.....

[Volron]

On 10/18/2023 at 2:32 PM, CFagan_1987 said:

This is going to be controversial but I also think teams with large numbers of tier 6's have a higher chance of failing. They just have a hard(er) time competing against the Tier 7 and 8 bots found in many Ops.

It honestly depends.  I've seen more than a few T6's carry themselves well, that being said I can agree.  Most folk in 6's tend to struggle, especially when they do not know the Op.  Then it's downright a "carry harder" moment.  As @Asym has pointed out, I divi of 6's who know their stuff will have no problems in an Op.  2-3 folk can easily do things, and a bigger team increases the chance of a secured win.

That being said, I've no issue taking a 6 into an Op alone.  Get the warm and fuzzies when I place top.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Yes, Tier-6 ships may "struggle" when uptiered and/or are outnumbered significantly by higher tier green-team ships in Scenario Operations.
Because the game programming alters which red-team ships are used according to the tier of the green-team ships in play.

That said, a well-played Tier-6 ship, even when up-tiered and out-numbered, can still contribute to the success of an operation.
And, the rewards for being a bottom-tier ship playing on an 'increased level of difficulty' have a chance of being lucrative.
 

[Asym]

38 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Yes, Tier-6 ships may "struggle" when uptiered and/or are outnumbered significantly by higher tier green-team ships in Scenario Operations.
Because the game programming alters which red-team ships are used according to the tier of the green-team ships in play.

That said, a well-played Tier-6 ship, even when up-tiered and out-numbered, can still contribute to the success of an operation.
And, the rewards for being a bottom-tier ship playing on an 'increased level of difficulty' have a chance of being lucrative.
 

Sometimes, you just have to defy convention....  Scream BANZAI !!  Do something less than rational and take the plunge....

And, for me, I take my most favored old friend, the Fabuki, put my sound proof headsets on and play the "Fabuki Dance" on a loop.....  Paradise.   And, some Green River Bourbon (located in Owensboro, KY) with just a single cube of distilled water ice.........perfect. 

(as retrieved from wiki for entertainment purposes only...)

Simply perfect......

Edited November 1, 2023 by Asym

[Volron]

1 minute ago, Asym said:

Sometimes, you just have to defy convention....  Scream BANZAI !!  Do something less than rational and take the plunge....

And, for me, I take my most favor old friend, the Fabuki, pit my sound proof headsets on and play the "Fabuki Dance" on a loop.....  Paradise.   And, some Green River Bourbon (located in Owensboro, KY) with just a single cube of distilled water ice.........perfect. 

(as retrieved from wiki for entertainment purposes only...)

Simply perfect......

If you pull Aegis, Buki dominates, that is not to say she can't pull her weight in the others.

[Wolfswetpaws]

17 minutes ago, Volron said:

If you pull Aegis, Buki dominates, that is not to say she can't pull her weight in the others.

Every "Bucky" on Kantai Collection by Kongou

 

[tfcas119]

Wall of text incoming.

1: don't bring T6s or DDs unless you really know what you're doing. T6s just don't have the firepower and most DDs don't have the gunpower or sustain.

2: I'm rating from S Tier (any op, any situation, ship will be good) A tier (really good/god in most ops, sucks ass in one or two, or there is just a better choice) B (can have success in some ops, but is like playing on hard mode) and C (please for the love of God don't bring this.)

3: I'm starting with ships I have, and at the end I'll put some other ships where I think they'd go.

4: probably not going over every ship because there are so many.

S-tier: Mainz, Bayard, Any German BB except Anhalt, Tallinn, Atago, Baltimore, Cleveland, Charles Martel. All these ships can easily farm damage quickly and/or can sustain fire.

A tier: P-Bag, Hipper/Eugen, Gascogne, Champagne, Kii, Hawke, Amagi, Allende, Cataluna, Edinburgh, Atlantico.

P-Bag has great AP, but Tallinn's is better with more DPM, but the fact P-Bag has a heal and is hard to citadel makes her among the most forgiving T8 cruisers out there.
Hipper/Eugen are solid, but if you have Mainz, there hardly is a point to running them.
I find Champagne better than Gascan mostly due to the secondaries and much more consistent guns, but both flirt with weak A strong B, due to their squishness and not German secondaries.
Kii needs either range or accuracy on her 100mm secondaries and she'd be S tier. Amagi (and her Ragnorak clones) are decent alternatives.
Hawke and Allende require a lot of skill, but if you do know what you're doing, you can do well. Allende in particular if you can manage the funny button cause you can do some stupid shit that no other T8 cruisers can get away with. But both are hindered by Hawke having lackluster secondaries and large citadel and Allende having poor DPM and AP only.
Cataluna has almost everything you want from a heavy cruiser in ops: solid reload on the guns, punchy AP, heal, very fast, but lacking MBRB and DPM compared to Charles or Balti, with lackluster torps.
Edinburgh's pretty decent, but AP only can make Newport and Hermes challenging.
Atlantico honestly could be S, but her slow speed (plus not currently available) means mispositioning can be a problem. If she was 4knts faster easy S.

 

B-Tier: San Diego, Harbin, D7P.
Rented Sandy when they offered it a while back, and somehow it just felt meh. Despite the SAP, and the high DPM, it really felt like fighting the ship almost as much as fighting the AI. I really can't explain why though.
Harbin is a struggle that requires extreme aggression that can easily end up backfiring.
D7P has zero DPM, low health, and questionable utility of airstrikes. However, her heal, speed boost and trollish citadel allows her to kick and scream her way through an op. Also bonus for Cherry Blossom and Hermes because you're the only cruiser (along with your Peruvian sister) with AA capable of being a threat to planes. Just dear God if Narai shows up though.

C Tier: Shimanto, Veneto, Kansas, Monarch
Do I need to explain?

As for some other ships I don't have, Flandre would probably straddle A-S, because she's tankier than the other Frenchies and has better secondary power. Hampshire I'd put probably A-S again, as her AP and AP DPM are great, but not much health and lowish speed do not help. Schill (and probably every other current/future T8 German cruisers) just can't keep up with Mainz, even if super Spee guns with heal and MBRB puts her near S. Numancia looks like Sandy in that you're gonna be fighting the ship almost as much as the bots. and if Grau's funny button activated like Allende's (main battery hits) she'd be S tier. Unfortunately its based on concealment, in a game mode where you will almost never be unspotted. Without it, you're D7P with no heal, speed boost, and somehow worse DPM.

[Frostbow]

38 minutes ago, tfcas119 said:

1: don't bring T6s or DDs unless you really know what you're doing. T6s just don't have the firepower and most DDs don't have the gunpower or sustain.

I agree, some DDs lack enough gun firepower to be reliable damage dealers in most Operations. But it can be made to work if one knows the Operation well enough, that he can make his DD shine bright like a diamond.

42 minutes ago, tfcas119 said:

S-tier: Mainz, Bayard, Any German BB except Anhalt, Tallinn, Atago, Baltimore, Cleveland, Charles Martel. All these ships can easily farm damage quickly and/or can sustain fire.

I would rate the following ships to S-tier:

● Fiji, Edinburgh

● Atlanta

● Ochakov

● Akizuki

I've carried Operations with these ships many times.

I am not sure where to put Allende. On one hand it has amazing heal for Tier VIII, but it does not have HE which can help in damage farming (but then so does Fiji and Edinburgh). But it does not have smoke (something the Brits have) which can sometimes be useful for you and the team.

I've  played the IJN DD many times, I am placing Akizuki at S-Tier. The destroyer is easy enough for relatively inexperienced players to play and add value to the team, and it can effortlessly eat bot DDs alive in the hands of any decently performing player.

 

[Volron]

@tfcas119

 

If you are fighting the ship as much or more than the bots, that is you not adapting to her.  What I am getting at is that you need to adapt to the ship, not the other way around.  If you do not you are not going to have a good time.  I will agree that some gals are more capable of adapting to a potato team than others, none however, can be fully discredited.  For example: Emerald and Krasny Krym.  Back when Op's allowed for T5's, these two gals would almost always get scorned when they showed up in an Op.  "Damn, we have dead weight here", "Great, a useless one is here", etc.  Far from however.  When adapted to, they very easily pulled their weight.

 

Shimanto is an excellent gal in my book, having the volume of fire, good chance of starting fires and incapacitating modules (most notable torpedo launchers), dumpstering DD's, and torpedoes that not only can reach out and touch things, but do so with force.

Kansas may be slow, but she can easily keep up if you are paying attention.  She's surprising maneuverable, quick on the acceleration, has decent AA, can do a little tanking, and her guns can definitely do some damage.

Monarch and Veneto I haven't not used enough to give you a proper answer but from the few times I have used them, they did well for me.

 

Now from what I see, you appear to be talking about new players/new op players.  If this is so, you should limit to just TT ships and significantly reduce the clutter.

DD: None

CA:

• T6: Dallas
• T7: Yorck
• T8: Cleveland

The cruisers I have listed are easy to learn and use, can forgive some mistakes, and still can do some work even in the hands of a new player.  Existing players should be able to quickly adapt/learn from these gals, and though likely won't touch 6 or 7's, it is just in case they want to start off with a little challenge but still want to be of some use (though I would recommend T8 first).

BB:

• T6: Fuso
• T7: Gneisenau
• T8: Bismarck

Like the cruisers I have listed above, these gals are easy to learn, have solid tank-ability, and pack a punch with their guns.  Fuso has volume of fire on top of having okay accuracy and while there are tankier gals at 6, I find her to be a nice balance of tanky and power.  As you have noticed, both 7 and 8 are KM gals.  Both have solid punch, secondaries, and quite tanky meaning they tend to be more forgiving than the other gals of their tier.  Their AA is something you can't really thumb your nose at either (plus Niece has torpedoes, if they don't get blown up by a gentle fart).

CV: None

 

Once the Op is learned, folk can switch to other gals as they wish.  Obviously an existing player has more room to tinker with and can switch up according to play style.  Here are the following DD and CV I suggest once you have gotten your feet wet:
 

DD:

• T6: Fushun
• T7: Z-31
• T8: Z-23

All 3 gals are solid "all rounders", able to deal with DD's all the way up to BB's with little to minor difficulty.  They are easy to learn, have torpedo range and numbers, and guns are solid though Fushun's are a touch floaty.  The plus with 31 and 23 is Hydro, which is much more useful to the team as a whole while still retaining gun power and torpedo range and numbers.  The reason I listed Fushun over Gaede despite not being able to torpedo DD's because of her DWT's, is because Gaede only has a very narrow window from which to torp with, thus making her a more difficult DD to use vs Fushun.  Fushun can gun down DD's and still have a good window from which to torp with.

 

CV:

• T6: Furious
• T8: Lexington

Originally I had considered Ranger to be the "go to" for beginner CV, but that has changed to Furious.  She has better conceal, is tankier, and has better AA.  Her aircraft are tanky, are a bit more forgiving because of the tankyness, and pack reasonable punch.  While her "DB's" are not hard hitting (not to say they won't do damage), they can rake a target with multiple fires.  Lexington is a bit tankier than Implacable in my experience, and has better AA.  While her aircraft are not as tanky as Implacable's, they hit harder and are better all around.

 

No point really going into Prem gals as no matter what  Prem gal is used, if the player is new/new op, they are going to be a hindrance.  Now I do not mean this in a negative way, as we all had to start somewhere.

[BOBTHEBALL]

On 10/18/2023 at 3:32 PM, CFagan_1987 said:

This is going to be controversial but I also think teams with large numbers of tier 6's have a higher chance of failing. They just have a hard(er) time competing against the Tier 7 and 8 bots found in many Ops.

Oh yeah no doubt about it, especially with how bad some OPs players can be.

[Frostbow]

18 minutes ago, Volron said:

Kansas may be slow, but she can easily keep up if you are paying attention.  She's surprising maneuverable, quick on the acceleration, has decent AA, can do a little tanking, and her guns can definitely do some damage.

My only concern if I bring Kansas to Operations is the presence of good players in high DPM ships. It can feel like one is left behind literally and in the damage numbers.