I have to admit that my Ten41 will beat my AW NM45 in good rate. US AW ships have
just 2 choice, toy or be toyed.

Ah, yah, over 0.2 does become a bit excessive.

As an aside, AWed BB1-3 can be toyed by ships 1 tier lower.

About belt, 0.2" is well enough, and you can get 50% damage off. +0.3" makes little sense.
If you want 75% off, you have to get 20" belt.

And good BB4-5 players will toy any BB1-3, AW or not won`t matter.

Any good player on any server will toy with you if you armored your US BB1-3. Please do
not do it.

It is much more rewarding both in the short term and in the long run to play your BB
carefully. Do not rush right off the bat because you will only see the shells from
opposing BB4+. Pick on ships you think are distracted or weak or easy to sink while you
wait for the teams to thin out a little. Then use as much speed as you can OH and chase
down BBs that won't blast you to kingdom come in 2 salvos or less.

However, I would suggest putting 0.5 belt on your BB, and as much buldge as you can fit
without dropping your ship's speed after you put the 0.5 belt. The reason for the 0.5
belt is because it reduces torp damage by roughly 75%. That can come in handy quite often
in GBs.

darn near any armor config has a good shot of bouncing ANY shell that comes in
around 20 degrees. its the immunity zone, where shots sometimes hit NEITHER belt
nor deck. It's not the armor setup you have that does it, it's the physics.

But that said, a LITTLE armor is always a good idea. belt reduces torpedo damage,
bulge soaks it like extra health, bulkhead maintains your speed when you're low on
health and (it is argued) helps protect crew from crits (lots of disagreement on that
one), and deck armor will reduce dive bomber attacks. For US BB, this usually
translates into 0.2 deck and belt, 3 bulkhead, and as much bulge as you can fit
without slowing down.

Not all of our play styles are the same guys. And yes, the US AW setup is inferior in most
cases. But believe me, 6 inches or more of armor WILL bounce ALL shells at certain angles.
It's just getting to that angle and staying there is the hard part.

Situation where AW is a good idea:

It's near end battle and it's your New Mexico versus a H44. You manage to creep up on him
and get close enough to the point where it's impractical for him to run. He decides to
stay and broadside.

The SW setup gets killed within about 2 shots after only hurting the h44's SD. The AW
setup is constantly closing and confusing the aim of the H44 while concentrating the aim
of only 2 turrets on a large target.

I have seen a New Mexico be extremely successful in a AW setup. It's all about the situation.

You guys wouldn't believe me if I showed you my Super Yamato bouncing L2 shells even if I
showed a screen shot. I blame lack of creativity and desire to have fun with the game.

But there are so many Neanderthal men these days -shrug-

Only because a setup works vs retards doesnt means its a good setup -.-

No USN BB1-3 can mount enough armor to bounce L1 shells without it being obvious by a slow
half gunned setup.

And even then, I'm not sure it would bounce.

If you want to try it for the lolz, be my guess. NF is about trying things around.

But in no mean it is a viable setup for the USN BBs as far as I'm concerned.

AW's ships are very good as end game defenders or distractions.

Basically what I'm saying is:

Fast ships can get in the action right away and manage to survive most of the time.
Rush/attack/repair.

AW's can perplex the enemy who is either distracted or rushing. IE a rushing L1 that gets
counter rushed is bound to have a hard time aiming. Then he hits your armor and realizes
he's in big trouble. Rush/attack/death.

Sure, you might not be able to pack on as much armor as UK but as the enemies angles get
lower your armor becomes more effective. It's especially useful if you manage to sneak up
on a KM ship. However AW's are often on a 1 way trip. You either kill your target or die.
No second chances.