So far I am on my second crew with the Chapayev... First had 4 ftr trainies, now I am
rasing 2 ftr's and 2 db's. My third crew will be my BB support team (I'll rotate 4
Engies and 4 Rep's). The grind was a little annoying at first but now I am really
enjoying it. The trip 6" guns are nice even with the awful spead but I am having
more fun (and probably more helpful) by keeping 4 socuts in the air. Practicing my CV
skills :)

yes svetlana line has a big displacement problem..

One thing I noticed about the svetlana is that it seems to have really really bad
displacement. I needed to backtrack to a lower level ship to bring up a 4th engi and
rep, but noticed that even at level 60 I am bordering on being overweight with a full
crew and sd-2s. Was a little disappointing as it seems like it could be comparable to an
omaha or emden (which can fit really high level crews np), but I ended up having to use
a chapayev.

Also worth noting that the chapayev gets an extra support slot which is nice.

You cant fit dual 8"s on the Chapayev. (well, not with ammo)

Svetlana with level 36 dual 6"

Chapayev with level 38 dual 8"

sorry u got it wrong u get the ecl at lvl 29 and the svetlana at 34

SORRY BUT U GOT IT WRONG

Running any armor on these low end ships is nearly pointless, maybe enough bulge
to absord damage from a couple torpedos but these ships loose speed fast when
your crew is leveling.

I usually run 0.5 belt on my smaller ships and some bulge until I lose speed.

I think I will go Chapayev. I am raising 3 BOs... 2 BBs and 1 CV. I plan on sticking w/
the Chapy w/ each BO untill lvl 42 - 44 depending on the ship tree they go b/c I
want to use that extra support slot to lvl my crew.

I am going to run 6 ftr/2 db pilots on my CV and 2 sets of gunners and 4 Rep/4 Eng
on my BBs.

My Chapy will run trip 6" ... but any suggestions on armor? Is it needed if I usually
play GBII.

Thanks for the help.

Neither My personal view just grind to 32 when you get the ECL its the only CL that seems
to be a dedicated CL vs CL and lower ship the rest just have tons of T slots.

-Fox