What do you think my next coal ship should be?

[Sannan75]

As per the title, I have 500k coal and a coupon burning a hole in my pocket and I keep looking at Kearsage but also have to say Groningen looks enticing (and I love the ship model).

I'm a totally casual player and my go to for battles is Gearing.

In terms of what I already have at tier X it's Republique, Conqueror, Minotaur, G. Kurfurst, Hindenburg, Petrapavlosk, Worcester, Salem, Gearing, F. Sherman, Yamato and Zao. Tier IX is Pommern, Georgia, Black with Buffalo being a tree ship aiming for Des Moines. I also have Edgar.

If you had those ships which one of the two would you pick? Or would you go with another one completely different?

[christof]

Well, Groningen is a pure gun DD, no torps at all. If that is something you like, then Forrest Sherman is pretty much a must. There's few DDs that can match it on pure dakka.

Napoli and Yoshino are quickly sunk if you are caught in a bad spot. But played right, they are absolute beasts, the both of them. If you want something in the very heavy cruiser division, those two are something you should look at. As well as Ägir, which is as tough as they come. And Azuma, which basically is a baby Yoshino without the torps and not as good at bouncing shells.

Carnot works well if you need a ship to tank potential damage quickly. Though the French tech tree super heavy cruisers do that very well too. As does the aforementioned Ägir.

Malta is still at least somewhat OP, if you ask me. Quite a bit of coal as well, though, so that would be a coupon candidate. But only if you actually want to play CV, else you can just ignore it for now.

Considering what you said, what you have and with half an eye on Naval Battles and Personal Challenges, I would recommend...
Actually because of the upcoming Personal Challenges, I would recommend Napoli and Moskva. That is two more ship/nation sectors you'll have covered with a good ship. And that from your ship list up there I feel you'll be able to be successful with.
If you don't care about that, I would suggest Napoli or Yoshino for one choice, Sherman for the other.

[Sannan75]

Originally posted by christof:

Well, Groningen is a pure gun DD, no torps at all. If that is something you like, then Forrest Sherman is pretty much a must. There's few DDs that can match it on pure dakka.

Napoli and Yoshino are quickly sunk if you are caught in a bad spot. But played right, they are absolute beasts, the both of them. If you want something in the very heavy cruiser division, those two are something you should look at. As well as Ägir, which is as tough as they come. And Azuma, which basically is a baby Yoshino without the torps and not as good at bouncing shells.

Carnot works well if you need a ship to tank potential damage quickly. Though the French tech tree super heavy cruisers do that very well too. As does the aforementioned Ägir.

Malta is still at least somewhat OP, if you ask me. Quite a bit of coal as well, though, so that would be a coupon candidate. But only if you actually want to play CV, else you can just ignore it for now.

Considering what you said, what you have and with half an eye on Naval Battles and Personal Challenges, I would recommend...
Actually because of the upcoming Personal Challenges, I would recommend Napoli and Moskva. That is two more ship/nation sectors you'll have covered with a good ship. And that from your ship list up there I feel you'll be able to be successful with.
If you don't care about that, I would suggest Napoli or Yoshino for one choice, Sherman for the other.

Ah thanks, I forgot to add that I have F. Sherman too, will edit OP.

I've ignored stuff like Yoshino and Moskva as I thought having Zao and Petrapavlosk means they're quite close, is that mistaken?

Napoli I'll avoid as i just don't get on with with the Italian line but Carnot is a potential choice, got chased down by one in a dd once, they have some pace!

[R[e]venge®-uk*]

To Start, Groningen plays little like a Gearing, it has no torps and plays in smoke farming ships while using Hydro to protect from torps and charging DD's - She is also a large ship for a DD! Can do great damage with fires and HE Spam!

Kearsage is well a Hybrid and you need to be able to use the planes as well as her as a BB which is quite high skill level to master! (Tech tree options try them first)

Tier X's
Moskva is a great heavy CA for ranked and CB's when tier 10's are around! (similar to petro - legendary mod makes her accuracy worth it at range!)

Napoli is a really fun boat due to how tanky it can be if you like to Kite a flank! (Unique experience as it can also brawl)

Tromp is good fun if you like the Bomb Drops! (Can be underwhelming but hilarious to set 25+ fires with the bombs on stuff)

Marceau is hilarious but you need to be good with french DD's and use her speed and Saturation to make the most out of her!

F Sherman is a slow Groningen on steroids with the SAP guns v light targets and HE v BB's also gets a solo torp but again, big and slow for a DD so can be caught out!

Finally Yoshino, amazing HE Kiter but needs protection - get some crazy damage scores but it is not as high impact like others.

The others at TX. Hayate, Alvaro, Khaba, are OK but really stocking fillers as tech tree stuff does most of what these can do!

T IX's
Agir is fun, but you can get a Research version Sigfried later!

Tulsa is kinda a Tier IX Des Moines

Iwami can be OK if the maps correct!

The rest are OK but the Pommern will be your money Maker!

I would avoid Z-44 & Marco Polo

In conclusion I would look at the Napoli, Moskva and Sherman or Groningen up first!!
Good Luck!

[christof]

Originally posted by Sannan75:

Originally posted by christof:

Well, Groningen is a pure gun DD, no torps at all. If that is something you like, then Forrest Sherman is pretty much a must. There's few DDs that can match it on pure dakka.

Napoli and Yoshino are quickly sunk if you are caught in a bad spot. But played right, they are absolute beasts, the both of them. If you want something in the very heavy cruiser division, those two are something you should look at. As well as Ägir, which is as tough as they come. And Azuma, which basically is a baby Yoshino without the torps and not as good at bouncing shells.

Carnot works well if you need a ship to tank potential damage quickly. Though the French tech tree super heavy cruisers do that very well too. As does the aforementioned Ägir.

Malta is still at least somewhat OP, if you ask me. Quite a bit of coal as well, though, so that would be a coupon candidate. But only if you actually want to play CV, else you can just ignore it for now.

Considering what you said, what you have and with half an eye on Naval Battles and Personal Challenges, I would recommend...
Actually because of the upcoming Personal Challenges, I would recommend Napoli and Moskva. That is two more ship/nation sectors you'll have covered with a good ship. And that from your ship list up there I feel you'll be able to be successful with.
If you don't care about that, I would suggest Napoli or Yoshino for one choice, Sherman for the other.

Ah thanks, I forgot to add that I have F. Sherman too, will edit OP.

I've ignored stuff like Yoshino and Moskva as I thought having Zao and Petrapavlosk means they're quite close, is that mistaken?

Napoli I'll avoid as i just don't get on with with the Italian line but Carnot is a potential choice, got chased down by one in a dd once, they have some pace!

Sorry, I somehow missed the Petro in your initial post. In that case you don't need Moskva, particularily for Naval Battles. It's still a very good ship though. But not necessarily a pressing need.

Napoli still has no hydro. But otherwise is a bit tougher than the other Italians I guess. And those secondaries are able to melt down anything that comes in range.

You could look into Khabarovsk or Neustrashimy, so you'll have a Russian DD for Challenges and Naval Battles. If you like to play Gearing, Neustra may be the one better suited for you, though also more expensive.

And how did I forget Tromp and Marceau. XD
The first one is a special experience. But can be great fun and very frustrating for an enemy because you just have so many things you can hurt them with.
Marceau is a speed-demon open water gunboat, pretty much. It is very good at that though. And would give you a French DD for Challenges and Naval Battles.

I would still say pick Napoli as one. And I guess one from the list of Carnot, Neustra/Khaba, Marceau, maybe Hayate for the second with an eye towards Naval Battles and the upcoming Personal Challenges. If you don't care about the latter, Groningen certainly is a good choice if you like Sherman, but I would actually get Tromp first.

[Frisky]

Originally posted by Sannan75:

If you had those ships which one of the two would you pick? Or would you go with another one completely different?

FWIW I'd be another vote for Neustra, if you're good with sneaky DDs; as a former steel ship, she's a bit over-priced, but still very good. Marceau is also excellent, if you're good with highly visible gunboats (I struggle a bit with her against real people).

[Dee-Jay]

I assume the OP has made their decision now so won't comment further!

However I'm in this position now (again).

Should be sensible and take GK or Marceau, but I'm not sensible...

Also considering Tromp.
Not sure what to make of Tulsa - yes it's a mini DM but how influential can I be in that thing. Know what to expect from Iwami so it's a maybe. No idea about Marco Polo, I see people using her often (that's usually a good thing) but the reviews seem mixed, a bit like Tulsa.

[christof]

Tulsa is good. But it's not exceptional. It's exactly what you say, basically.

GK is still a very strong ship. Tanky as hell, with the second strongest secondary set in the game (slightly after Schlieffen), hydro and actually pretty good guns. Accuracy could be better, but the numbers usually make up for it. It is a very sensible choice.

Marceau is tricky to get the best out of since it's a gunboat DD without a smoke. But you have great guns, great speed, surprisingly decent AA (as much as that is worth anything). And as long as it takes to load your torps and them not having the best range, they are at least pretty good otherwise, numerous and have good angles.

Tromp is a weird one. Highly capable actually, but it is a complete gimmick-bote. Not a traditional DD for sure (of course in RL it was a cruiser anyway). I personally like it, but it is very special indeed.

I have heard good things about Marco Polo and from people I trust. But I haven't played it myself and for the most part am not too happy with Italian dispersion.

Iwami in my opinion we're basically back with Tulsa. Good, not exceptional.


From the list given, I would go for the GK personally. But then I utterly love that ship, so I admit to being biased. You can't really go wrong with it though, unless you just hate BB play.
If you've played some higher tier French DDs and did like the experience, the Marceau is a very good choice as well. I would put these two as first choices, generally speaking.
If you're very much into playing around with gimmicks and having many different ways to ruin someone's day on the other hand, take Tromp.
If you just want a solid cruiser, Tulsa is your first choice. Or Ägir or Azuma if you do not have them yet.
If you just want a solid BB... Yeah, it's GK again to be honest. Definitely that one before Iwami or Marco in my opinion. Unless you need one of the latter for Naval Battles or Personal Challenges.

Hope that's at least a little bit helpful. It's a bit of a mess, sorry.

[Merc_R_Us]

I've had bad experiences with casual players using kearsarge, so I'd say take the DD.

[christof]

Originally posted by Merc_R_Us:

I've had bad experiences with casual players using kearsarge, so I'd say take the DD.

Just to clarify: GK is Grosser Kurfürst, not Kearsarge.

[Dee-Jay]

Kearsarge is a great ship, as long as people remember that she's a battleship with some air capabilities - not a CV with big guns. You'll know what I mean when I say that if you've seen some players using her..

Originally posted by christof:

If you just want a solid BB... Yeah, it's GK again to be honest. Definitely that one before Iwami or Marco in my opinion. Unless you need one of the latter for Naval Battles or Personal Challenges.

Hope that's at least a little bit helpful. It's a bit of a mess, sorry.

No your post was good.

I reasoned that the GK is very close to the Preussen and although clearly better IMO, as I have a ton of German premiums (esp BB's) I'd be better going elsewhere for now.
Tulsa was a favoured choice for me, but again similarities between DM, Baltimore and Rochester (albeit at different tiers) and again with me having lots of US premiums, led me to not pick it.

In the end grabbed the Marco Polo. I have the fewest Italian premiums, no Italian premium BB's and pf course this one has the appeal of guns which are way more accurate than it's peers. Obv hard hitting too. It's a blast!

[christof]

Reasonable choice, particularily if you have a bit of a lack of premiums on the Italian side.

[HunterKiller]

I have 3 million coal, what should I do with it? lol

[christof]

Originally posted by HunterKiller:

I have 3 million coal, what should I do with it? lol :cozywowsship:

You could use it in the current event to sell coal ships (Sherman works for the more expensive ones) and exchange for free premiums, then just buy the ship back with some of the coal. Until you have bought the complete list. It's an expensive way coal-wise, but you could grab a number of premium ships for free.
Other than that, what ships are you missing.