Warship Wednesday - Re-Climbing the Tech Tree

So Open Beta landed just before I took off to Toronto for a week vacation and I've been working my way back up the tech trees since the wipe of Closed Beta progress occurred.

Based on what I learned in the Closed Beta, I decided my first focus will be Imperial Japanese Navy (aka IJN) Battleships and Carriers, and a secondary focus on IJN Destroyers and USN Cruisers.

The march up the Battleship line has re-affirmed my impression that the Kawachi is a horrible first battleship at tier III. It has terrible ~8 km range and slow at ~20 knots if I get out and push; cruisers at the same tier have longer range and just love to rain fire down on a Kawachi and then dance away. The only way to have success was to sneak up on ships that got to confident or distracted and then the big guns of the ship made difference. Fortunately, being only tier III meant I was soon past it and on the much more satisfying Myogi which is fast, incredibly long ranged once you get the first hull upgrade with the scout plane (which adds range), and decently hard hitting. I had to grind up for the carrier and am now working on the next battleship, but I don't mind as the Myogi is a decent ship.

Also at tier IV is the IJN carrier Hosho which I just got a couple days ago. Damn, I missed carriers. The Hosho is a decent little aircraft carrier with one fighter squadron and two torpedo bomber squadrons, enough firepower to cripple enemy battleships if I line up right. Since in the lower tiers AA on ships, even battleships and cruisers, is so pathetic the only thing stopping me from slaughtering innocent ships is the presence of enemy carriers with fighters or really aware enemy captains. I'll be soon at the tier V Zuiho.

For the Destroyer, I'm puttering along in the tier III Wakatake which is decent once fully upgraded, but the class overall has changed radically from CBT with fewer shorter smoke screens making them require more careful piloting.

IJN cruisers I have never really enjoyed, so I've been working up the US line and currently on the miserable tier IV Phoenix. Its quite a shock to go from the impressive tier III St Louis which bristles with guns to the stock Phoenix which has only three per broadside. I struggled through two hull upgrades and it now has a more impressive artillery rating so I hope it goes better until I get to the Omaha, a ship I remember fondly.