#papapauta

Aries gorls are demons deep down

Enter - one of my best games in the Spee so far! It's Epicenter mode on the Trident map. Say what you will about epicenter mode but i thoroughly enjoy it.  I spawned around C-3 and made a line to anchor and ambush alongside the island at E-5. It's a pretty nice chunky island and a lot of DDs like to anchor by it. It helps defend from flankers coming from F-4 into E-4 and further while the rest of the team situates itself from the center (C-5&6)toward E-7 or whatever. As soon as the game begins - PaganistSniper in the Shchors relays this epithat of "poor little spee" in general chat(in reference to poor little white guy?) Whether the comment was toward me or DameScootaloo (has played 3000+ battles) - it's entirely unknown because Dame didn't respond. I replied to Pagan - "try not to get citadeled in that thing" (insert winky face) and off we went as the battle commenced and i was in position.

From what I recall - friggn Rip in his Pensi open fired on me from behind some islands and we exchanged some hits just before i could anchor on the island. at that point Mrrowboat appeared but was broadside and noped right off before i could get severe penetrations through his side. As he turned out to the far side of the map.

Wurstone in the benson appears right alongside the island. I fire and the damage isn't catastrophic enough and i begin to accelerate away from him in case of torpedoes while launching my own in a widespread and my secondaries concentrating on him. For some reason he persisted and all it took was one torp to finish him before he could get any closer.  By this time - bluez32 in the Gneis was pushing up the same route the benson came - and as i reversed back into position waiting for the torps to reload - the leander turns back to join him in their push to outflank us. I should point out that FCCM in the cleveland was over in C-2 area - preventing the flankers from using the border to flank us even further. He died bravely. With two ships and more following - i launched torps again and fired on the leander while beginning again to kite away alongside the island - hugging the cliffside. Taking fire from 3 sides and the Leander overextending surprisingly w/o smoke - he sank leaving the Gneis to take a torpedo and the new focus of our fire. The Gneis was quite close behind but now perpendicular since i had slowly turned the corner in E-5. With so much fire and flooding damage and no support - his HP withered away and i was able to finish him firing directly under his forward guns.

At this point - Pagan types out "this far into the game and i've yet to be citadeled" I chuckled because i noticed we were winning by a great deal and the enemy retreated basically into a corner of the map still trying to push through the lane in which i had just ambushed the others. Pensi was sailing back and forth in the 1 -2 lanes but I was able to snipe him - securing the 3rd kill and thus leaving the Amagi isoalated from the rest of his team. As the team halted the enemy push from where i had just ambushed and the rest of us kept pushing - effectively surrounding them and mopping up any stragglers. The Amagi was taking a beating and i figured i close in and finish him with torps before the match ended but he was so banged up - he sank from fire damage before i could get the spread off and the match was over.

I've finally managed to unlock the Graf Spee! - just a few hours after people started unlocking their own.

It's amazing because you could see the influx of Spees in the match making and sailing around! WOOT

I was still sailing in my Fiji and alternating with the Leander should the former get destroyed early in the game. Personally - i prefer the Leander and Fiji as i can hold my own with those ships in their respective tiers. A lot of folks have been complaining about the British Cruiser line. Many would find them underwhelming and arguably bugged. I was disappointed when WG made the last minute decision to deny the line the ability to use HE rounds whereas the premium versions use them just fine. Fortunately - i don't see too many Belfasts or Perths running around and when i do, i've been sailing the Leander and Fiji enough to counter them where possible as it seems many of the captains tend to use HE and fallback on old habits rather than master the AP the British line has to offer. With the introduction of smoke generator - i'm beginning to rely on it too much. Cruisers are naturally a support class however there's a divide where particular cruisers offer greater support to either ends of the spectrum - between battleships and destroyers. For example - the Russian line of cruisers have excellent range and fire starting capabilities but are too squishy and have poor manouverability for close range brawls. British cruisers however are becoming the perfect brawlers.

I used to prefer US cruisers for brawling but there role in the overall team composition is becoming obsolete as other lines fill the support role better. I still love and enjoy the US line however it's becoming harder for me to stick with them. With the Leander and Fiji - i can accompany Destroyers in the early stages of the match and set smoke and hide while potentially being able to add considerable firepower and defense for the destroyer and the oncoming support group. I would obviously still need eyes from nearby exposed ships/planes to spot for me outside the smoke as enemies can re-position and charge me if i do not put out enough DPM to deter from advancing.

This support generally works however, it's not foolproof or absolutely guaranteed as much can go wrong. It's been known to happen where if any British cruiser does not slow down enough i.e. 14kts and decreasing - the smoke cloud will generate behind you and thus leaving you exposed and under fire. Heck - even if you manage to get concealed - the enemy can still guestimate your position in the smoke as there has not been enough time to re-position inside it and if the enemy fire happens to be from a battleship and the heavy shells happen to land - well then you're toast. Most BB players tend to avoid guestimating as the reload time could jeopardize them from a more promising hit.

Enemies with radar and hydro are a whole other story however if they are known to be in the vicinity - i tend to rally the team to focus fire them as i maneuver inside the smoke cloud to either launch torps or sail/kite away - meaning i have my ass toward them and ready to sail at top speed away from them. i've noticed this to be a problem for many cruiser players and players in general. At times - it's better to hook into positions as a cruiser rather than sail in lines or obliques the way most battleships do. This and BB captains tend to figure out at the higher tiers - where it's better for them to just sail forward enough and fire mostly bow-on and reversing when necessary. Cruisers would be faster at reversing however due to the squishiness - they require speed to make good on their survivability.  I did this ‘hooking in’ strategy with the konigsberg because of it's turret layout.  To increase the damage output - i had to sail into position with natural cover and turn sharply back into the direction i came - leaving the rear turrets facing the enemy. This seems to confuse a lot of players as they can't tell if i'm sailing forward or backward and their shots will either fall short or land ahead of me. At times - this little strategy works long enough where there are no more enemies left and the only way for me to advance toward other caps would be ‘ass first’. I've even told teammates in game that i have no problems fighting battles ‘ass first’. It's interesting because the reverse speed tends to be about the same speed a cautious BB player would used when advancing and i end up along side them - so imagine - one ship going forward and me in the other going backward just as easily. I don't have to do this in the British cruiser line too much thanks to the smoke but this strategy also comes in handy for certain Japanese cruisers as they can launch torps while kiting/sailing away.

After sailing the British Cruisers for about a month - i've reached as far as the Edinburgh - with enough credits to get the Neptune.

With the Graff Spee unlocked - the differences in maneuverability with say the equivalent - in terms of tier - the Leander - are staggering. At this time - no other cruiser line has the same engine acceleration as the British and every other cruiser now feels sluggish in comparison but the Spee is even moreso.

It may not be obvious - but i have experience sailing battleships and i've seen the online testimonies from generous contributors so the Spee is not entirely out of my depth but it will require a degree of skill and patience as it is on a league on to its own. For many reasons it's not a recommendable premium ship hence why i didn't mind unlocking it via the grind - which almost didn't happen. The final task for the final mission was glitched! and would not let me accept it to add on to my campaigns panel. Worried i'd have to submit a ticket - i typed one up and opened a tab until i logged off and on again a few times where the mission could finally be accepted and completed in the next match.

I'm glad i finally got it and that it came with it's own slot and captain. I swapped him out for my Nuremburg captain as i wasn't interested in grinding another set of captain skills when the whole thing is about to be revamped. This gave me a slight edge over anyone who didn't have a captain with decent skills for their Spee.

And like all new ships - i test them out on the co-op matches and I was pleased with the results of the torpedo arcs and sustainability with the damage repair consumable. The AP shells can be a bit trolly but with work they can do wonders.