I once AW'ed an Iowa just for kicks and had a blast seeing people's responses. I had
to remove all of my sailors excepting my bo and gunners, I had to equip the NC "D"
guns, and it only went 17 knots.

That said, it was a lot of fun bouncing the shells off several ships and seeing "Wtf, an
AW'ed Iowa?" in chat. I nicknamed it my Ninja BB. As a rule, I shoot AP ammo at pretty
much anything with an english accent, just in case. But how many people expect an
Iowa to bounce 18" shells?

It's only useful short term, maybe to break up the BB grind or just do something silly.

.8? Seriously? Thats terrible advice. If you can't pack over 6 inches, you are wasting
your time. I have tested this several times.

"what NF player would not equip armor to their ship anyway?"



more like "what NF US player would equip armor on their ship?"

answer = a noob

"where am i going with this?..... US ships are better run with no armor as UK has the
only real effective armor in this game and US ships need speed over anything else
as they are some of the most fragile in the game. feel free to try different combos
that work best for you, but in this case trust some of the vet players on the recs for
a US ships layout and learn to dodge shells over trying to absorb them "

Um... NO...

US ships are far from being the most fragile in the game. Perhaps if your used to the
craziness of UK ships then perhaps but US has decent durability.

For blitz setups, .2 belt and some bulge then add a couple bulkhead (2-4). GB screw the
bulkhead and go .2 belt and lots of bulge.

Aside from the .2 to belt, I put .1 to deck, and bulkhead and the rest to bulge before my
speed drops. Depending on the ship and playstyle, I do not mind losing 1-2 knots
especially at the DD/CL/CA stage.

The reason I put .1 to deck and bulkhead because experience has showed me that I
lose almost no sailors. I remember one game where I ran out with no deck after a long
while and gotten expert deaths.

I know it is not proven that they do prevent crew deaths but experience proves to me
that it does.

ill have to agree with what the others have said in regards to armor.. its all or
nothing, meaning if when you put armor on your ship especially the deck, if when
you put deck armor on you cannot bounce shells (see "0" damage) armor is only
hurting you. Speed, especially for US ships is the best defense you can have against
anything if you. If you caint run from your enemy that is raining damage on you your
dead!

as for what type of armor to run on a US ship, likewise i suggest belt and bulge (0.2-
0.5 max belt) and (min of 150 bulge) if you caint run a min of 150 bulge before losing
2-3 kts of OH then dont run any. In most cases you will be able to out run a enemy
sub before he can take a kill shot. Yes you will get sunk eventually by torps, but your
best defense against a sub you caint see is to RUN and wait for him to pop up for air
then try and sink him

personally on all my ships UK and US i prefer to run ZERO armor ( i prefer speed)
because my play style is a run and gun even in my queen vic, speed is more
important to me than armor

US ships that benefit from speed and dodging shells are Sodak, Iowa
Sodak because its easily 1 shotted and you need speed to dodge shells
Iowa because of its smaller hit box than Sodak and monty allows you to get in range
and put out damage and still OH away to rep before getting sunk

Montana is a different subect alltogether, its slower than iowa at max, has a hit box
like Sodak... but can take damage... alot of damage and still give you time to fall
back and rep. it is also one the most feared BB5's to go against because its a very
durable ship and puts out the most damage compared to all the other BB5's and is
not un common to see several ships target a monty at once over any other BB5
(except a Lion 2)

where am i going with this?..... US ships are better run with no armor as UK has the
only real effective armor in this game and US ships need speed over anything else
as they are some of the most fragile in the game. feel free to try different combos
that work best for you, but in this case trust some of the vet players on the recs for
a US ships layout and learn to dodge shells over trying to absorb them

At the the CL/CA levels, some ships (Omaha, Texas, Pensacola, New Orleans) can semi-viably
be armored. Ditto BB1s if (and only if) you're in blitz.

As for higher level BB play, just keep in mind that shells that a 25/42 Iowa dodges do
less damage at high angles than ones that solidly hit a 22/37 deck-heavy one. (At low
angles, they'll be similar.) Ditto a 28/47 SoDak vs a 25/42 one.

0.8" armor will not help at all.

Armor follows an all-or-nothing principle. Either it bounces shells (which requires high
amounts of either deck or belt armor) or the shell does full damage. 0.8" of everything
will only slow your ship down.

The exception is 0.2" belt which has been demonstrated to reduce torpedo damage by 1/3 to
1/2 (unsure of specifics).

Only a few US ships should be armored and they have been mentioned in this thread.
Otherwise, the armor setup is 0.2" belt and bulge until you lose a knot of speed (also
previously mentioned). The best armor is speed: it can get you into combat, out of combat,
and make you weave quicker.

Please no more Liowas. This is USN, not the Royal Navy.

"what NF player would not equip armor to their ship anyway?"

A player that understood how NF armor works, and that if you aren't carrying enough to
bounce a shell it's worthless.

Speed > armor in NF.

i put as much armor on as i can

bulk .8
belt .8
deck.8
all of them i equip them to .8,that way i can withstand big hits,and what NF player
would not equip armor to their ship anyway?the us have like the 2nd best armor in
the game.you want me to prove it?!go to gameinfo,and i bet some people who seen
this post are looking it up now.