P Project II - Level 60
Setup:
Best Engine: PS Engine II (Heavy)
Best FCS: BC FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 59 X3 11"/54.5 SK C/34 with lvl 59 X1 11"/54.5 SK C/34-s*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
One important thing to note with the P Project II (Ppro2) is that it has 4, yes FOUR, R
slots. The Ppro2 can mount a triple 11" turret AND a single 11" turret at the front and
the rear of the ship. I have seen some Ppro2 users only using triples which is kind of
pointless.
Anyway, welcome to you뭨e first BB of the O Project line. And boy, is she a beauty. The
Ppro2 can use the second set 11"N which have very very good range for a BB1 but are a bit
low on hitting power.
The major issues with the Ppro2 are survivability and AA. The Ppro2 has a reduced AA
battery from the Ppro with only 3 T slots a side but these slots are still large enough to
comfortably mount the KM40 AA guns. This means that all is not lost for the Ppro2.
With the Ppro2, you are a BB. This means that you are actually worth something to the
other team in terms of XP and so you will be targeted over all the piddly little DDs, CLs
and CAs that surround you, and the Ppro2 cannot take a hit very well. This means that any
half decent salvo from a BB3+ is going to knock you for 6 so it is very important to be
aware of what is going on at all times. As with all ships, don뭪 advance when you cannot
see the enemy unless you know it is safe.
The Ppro2 also gets less scouts that the Ppro and so scout control starts to play a major
part in your gameplay as you will be in Great Battles now and fighters and AA will be
everywhere, both of them lethal to you뭨e scout and you뭨e chances of winning.
Overall, the Ppro2 is a good BB1 with good range and decent AA. It cannot compete with
higher tier BBs but it is a good start to the Opro Line.
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Scharnhorst - Level 60
Setup:
Best Engine: BC Engine I (Heavy)
Best FCS: BC FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 59 X3 11"/54.5 SK C/34 N*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
Scharnhorst (or the Scharn) is the first BB on the Bismarck Line for KM. It uses 3 triple
11" guns with the best choice being the second set N. This gives the ship good range and
a good amount of shells fired. The Scharn also gets 3 scouts which is less than the PE
and Hipper but is still usable.
However, the Scharn suffers from being rather fat and at low level, very slow. All is not
lost however, because the Scharn does have a good AA battery with 4 T slots per side and
all can have a healthy amount of ammo for the KM40s.
As with the Ppro2, you are now a target and quite a large one at that. The Scharn
doesn뭪 have the slimmer profile of the Ppro2 to help it survive and you find yourself
relying more on skill to survive (which is no bad thing).
Not much to say about the Scharn :/
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O Project - Level 69
Setup:
Best Engine: BC Engine II (Heavy)
Best FCS: BC FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 63 X3 11"/54.5 SK C/34 L
-lvl 71 X2 14.96"/52 SK C/34 L*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
The O Project (or O1) is the BB2 for the O Project Route. It is a fine ship but it also
sparks one of KMs larger debates, that of the 11" verses the 14.96" which I will deal with
at the end of the details about the O1.
The O1 is a ship which is very versatile. The ship can be Speed Whored as well as Armor
Whored in 2 gun or 3 gunned setup and can do very well in both roles. The ship doesn뭪
have many issues; one of the
major ones is its ridiculous AA. Some of the slots are big enough for the KM40s and some
aren뭪 so the only real way to solve this problem is to use the 3.46" C/32 AA.
Good points about the O1 are plentiful, it is fast, can do good damage, has good range,
good amount of scouts, very good DP for a BB2 and is slim. The ship at-level is a bit of
a grind but a very enjoyable one as you level up and get better in the ship.
The question many people end up asking themselves about the O1 and indeed the Gneisenau is
what main guns to use. The 11" have more range but have poor hitting power and the spread
can vary wildly. The 14.96" have less range and weigh more but do very nice damage and
have a good spread.
The 11" are a viable option for the O1 due to large range, but to really change the course
of a battle you should use the 14.96" and sneak into range by using you뭨e AA. The spread
of the 14.96" is very helpful in racking up quick attack before you can make a speedy
getaway thanks to the great overheat on the O1. The slim profile of the O1 also makes it
a very good rushing ship but can also help when line fighting if you use the 11".
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Gneisenau - Level 68
Setup:
Best Engine: BC Engine I (Heavy)
Best FCS: BC FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 63 X3 11"/54.5 SK C/34 L
-lvl 71 X2 14.96"/52 SK C/34 L*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
The Gneisenau (or Gnei) is a remodel of the Scharnhorst BB1. It is a very good ship and
runs along the same lines as the O1. It is similar in it뭩 good speed and choice of
weaponry and also playstyle.
One thing to beware of with the Gnei is its size (as with the Scharn). The Gnei is very
fat, but also quite short, which can cause problems if an enemy has your line but is
closing in on you뭨e length.
Again, the Gnei is a good ship with the 14.96" which would be my personal choice.
Choosing when to rush is an important part of BB2 gameplay for KM, especially with the
Gnei. With the O1, you can get away with a bad rush because it is thin, but if you
miss-time a rush in the Gnei, you are in trouble, Arizona.
Overall, a good ship, capable of speed whoring or armor whoring and a valuable KM ship.
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Andrea Doria (PBB) - Level 65
Setup:
Best Engine: BB Engine IV (Heavy)
Best FCS: BB FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 65 X3 12.6"/44 Model 1936 with lvl 65 X2 12.6"/44 Model 1936*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 12 X1 5.3"/50 Model 1939
-None*
The Andrea Doria (or AD) is the KM Premium Battlecruiser and is a fantastic ship. The
ship will set you back $6.99 but is well worth the cash. The AD combines speed with good
range and damage as well as good submergence.
One thing to note about the AD is that it has a higher ability to take damage than a
normal battleship due to shells doing less damage to it. This is a great advantage and
makes the ship much more survivable when combining it with the small profile of the ship.
The guns for the AD are the 12.6" triples and duals. These guns do very nice damage and
have a good spread at level, changing to a truly brilliant spread at high levels. The
guns allow you to finally do some damage if you get in range for the first time (due to it
being before the O1 and Gnei) rather than hitting away with the 11" on the Ppro2 and the
Scharn.
AA is an interesting issue on this ship. I tend to run no AA to save weight and gain
speed but the AA that can be put on the ship is also a reason not to run it. The ship can
only mount singles which have a less reliable spread than duals and also leads to a
smaller AA battery. This means that in my opinion, the AA on the AD is usable and
probably advisable at lower levels but at high levels, ditch it and use you뭨e speed.
NOTE: The use of the KM40s on the front two slots combined with the single 5.3" on the
smaller T slots is supposedly a good AA system (testing needed).
The AD also has the same amount of support slots as the H39, which is a huge help when
leveling sailors and also to add to you뭨e soft defense.
Overall, the AD is a fantastic ship and should be in every KM player뭩 harbour.
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Bismarck - Level 80
Setup:
Best Engine: BB Engine I (Heavy)
Best FCS: BB FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 63 X3 11"/54.5 SK C/34 L
-lvl 71 X2 14.96"/52 SK C/34b L*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
With the recent changes in BB3s due to the ONF patch the BSM has now become the Vanguard
of the BB3s (which is ironic as VanGod is now a BB4). The 14.96" have now been fixed
allowing a very effective 30 degree assault as opposed to the 40 degrees of the 11".
The difference between the 15" and the 11" is still a quite close battle, but it presents
the BSM with a unique opportunity in the form of increased versatility. The 15" are a
fantastic GB gun, delivering a good spread and good firepower while keeping the speed of
BSM high at 42 knots. The 15" are also very handy in BB123 confrontations but you must be
careful of a few ships. The range of the NoCal and the Nagato are such that hitting a BSM
with 15" is not too hard if the player is inexperienced.
The 11" are still the loyal dependable guns of the BSM, providing security of range with
the promise of pathetic damage due to wayward spreads. At high levels the spread tightens
but not sufficiently enough to cause any severe problems, with the 11" the BSM stays as a
defensive ship, able to ward off enemies with a well placed salvo but lacks the punch to
finish them off with any real conviction so most ships will retreat to repair.
The BSM still sports decent AA, nothing brilliant and a good amount of DP making it a
decent ship to take a knock.
Overall, the BSM has not changed too much after the patch. There is now a fantastic GB
setup with the 15" which also prove helpful in BB Rooms, while maintaining the "Safe"
option of the 11".
My advice is to use the 15" as it teaches the importance of rushing correctly, as opposed
to the 11" which teach a player to be careless and rely on superior range (something which
you will suffer with if you play other nations). The BSM is a decent stand-alone ship but
I see it's most useful role as a support ship for BB4/5s providing decent AA cover and a
helpful anti-rush incentive for lower and equal ships.
Overall, in a knock up between the BSM and the OII I would probably chose the OII due to
its beauty, but I would advise most players to go with the BSM with its great versatility
and slightly higher survivability.
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O Project II - Level 80
Setup:
Best Engine: BB Engine II (Heavy)
Best FCS: BB FCS (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 63 X3 11"/54.5 SK C/34 L
-lvl 71 X2 14.96"/52 SK C/34 L
-lvl 82 X3 14.96"/52 SK C/34o L*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
The O Project II (or O2 or OII) is the remodel of the O Project I. It is the BB3 for the O
Project Line and I have long had a soft spot for it.
The changes to the 14.96" on the OII have given it slightly less range than the BSM but
with a few advantages. The first is more DP, the second is an extra support slot and the
third is a marginally better AA battery.
The only real setup for the OII is 3 gun speed whored with the tripple 14.96". I would
advise most players to use AA as the ship needs it to blind enemies due to its slightly
lower range than the BSM. The tripple 14.96" are a truly fantastic weapon with a
fantastic flight time, excellent reload and truly biblical damage output at high level.
At level, the spread of the OII suffers slightly but a few well aimed shells here and
there is enough to ward off any potential attackers. At high level the spread tightens up
significantly to provide excellent damage provided your aim is good.
The OII differs from the BSM in that it is a more aggressive ship. If you sit back and
wait for the enemy to rush you in the OII you will find yourself sorely lacking, with its
superior AA you aim to knock down scouts and rush in firing off a salvo or two and then
getting back out or if the enemy is blind continuing to be "pesky".
The OII is a good support ship, but lacks the range to be able to ward off any serious
problems for the larger ship. The skill with the OII is learning to rush which is an
important skill for the H39 and H44. With the OI and Gneisenau you should have learnt to
exploit your enemies weaknesses (when he is blind) and get a rush in, with the BSM this
has to be tempered but with the OII you can afford to be a bit more creative with your
playstyle. That said, a bad rush is still a bad rush, learning how to rush is an
important skill which can be learnt easily by watching other players and learning to AA
and dodge shells effectively.
Overall, in a knock up between the BSM and the OII I would probably chose the OII due to
its beauty, but I would advise most players to go with the BSM with its great versatility
and slightly higher survivability.
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H39 - Level 89
Setup:
Best Engine: BB Engine III (Heavy) or PS Power Plant II - Heavy or BC Engine I (Heavy)*
Best FCS: BB FCS II (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 91 X2 16"/52 SK C/34 L*
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
First issue with the H39 is that of which Engine to use. My advice here is to try the
ones which you want. I use the BB Engine III to get the highest SHP but others swear by
the PS Power Plant II 뺿eavy because it is 750 tones lighter. I will leave it to you to
decide.
Now, the H39, where to start with our brilliant BB4?
The H39 uses the 16" L which are the longest ranged BB4 guns. This already gives a good
advantage to the H39 over the other BB4s but it has to be used correctly. The important
thing with the H39 is to keep you뭨e max range. Don뭪 think that you have dropped down to
32 degrees and that is OK because it isn뭪 and one good salvo from the enemy BB4 and you
are in serious trouble.
The H39 also has good damage with the 16?but the spread never truly comes good (even with
level 120 gunners). This is just one small problem in a ship which is fantastic if played
right, and so bad if played wrong.
The H39 also has very good AA (although short on binds on 4 T slots with the KM40) which
comes in handy in both BB room and GB situations. The H39 also has 6 scouts which is very
helpful indeed and makes the ship even more competitive against the likes of IJN BB4/5s.
The H39 is also rather quick with good engineers. The ship is also easier to cap than the
BSM and O2 but don뭪 be too disappointed if you are slow when you get it, with 4 engineers
(which you should have) you will quickly speed up and get to the cap.
Playstyle in the H39 is the perfect mixture of passive/aggressive. When the enemy rushes,
you run and hit them hard but the most important part of the H39 is learning to rush.
When you think you can rush, ask yourself 밅an I really get in and out and keep
fighting?? If the answer is yes, you should do it. The H39 is a good rushing ship and
can push ships back very well because no-one wants to get hit by a 16" salvo if they can
avoid it. Learning to rush well and having the confidence to do so is critical to this
ship and always will be.
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H44 - Level 103
Setup:
Best Engine: BB Engine II (Heavy)
Best FCS: BB FCS II (Aiming)
Best R slot weapons:
-lvl 100 X2 16.5"/48 SK C/40*
-lvl 110 X2 18"/45 SK C/34
Best T slot Weapon:
-lvl 30 X2 3.46"/76 SK C/32
-lvl 42 X2 5"/61 KM 40 A
Congratulations, you have reached the H44, the BB5 of the KM at level 103. Now you start
the TRUE KM grind, from 103 to 120 with the H44. It will test you in ways you haven뭪
been tested and will reveal to everyone whether you can play KM or not. If you can, you
will flourish, if you cannot, you will die easily.
Firstly, the guns for the H44 ARE the level 100 16.5" I posted a survey to find out who
used what and the results were not surprising. The players who I expected to use the
16.5" did and the ones I didn뭪 expect to didn뭪. The reload of the 16.5" far outstrips
any notion of great shell damage that the 18" supposedly offer. The 16.5" don뭪 suffer as
much from the poor armor penetration that the 18" do and that is another critical reason
for using the 16.5" .
The H44 is in many ways KM뭩 problem child who surprises you every once in a while. The
two main issues are that it doesn뭪 have consistent damage and that it is unbelievably
hard to cap speed wise.
The 16.5" and 18" are the available guns for the H44 but they are both flawed at
delivering consistent damage and the 18" are extremely poor at getting hits on lightly
armored targets. This issue can be overcome though by skillful play.
The H44 is also the hardest ship to reach the speed cap for (much harder than the Kaiser).
This means that it is both slow and large at level and cannot pack enough of a punch to
offset this.
The saving grace of the H44 is it뭩 AA. It is truly awesome, delivering layer after layer
of AA to any incoming planes at an astonishing rate. As with the Ppro, any H44 not using
AA should take a long, hard look at himself.
I mentioned at the start that the H44 sometimes surprises you, and this is true. The ship
may be fat and slow but it is also yours, the culmination of you뭨e KM grind and you will
hate it and love it at the same time. That is what it is to play KM..............
ADDITIONAL BB INFORMATION
The H44 requires 3 engineers to speed cap it.
The H39 requires 2 engineers to speed cap it.
The Kaiser requires 3 engineers to speed cap it.
This is at lvl 120 engineers +11 with 100 vets and highlights the need for 4 engineers.