the intended gun for Vanny is 15" Mark IV L (lvl 91),  and vanny gameplay is different than the L1, it played like Bismarck...



 

All BB4s use a lvl 91 gun as their prefered gunset, for the Vanguard it's the lvl 91 2x 15"/42 cal Mark IV L. The lvl 89 normal version of this gun works alright too, bit closer to BB3 range though.

There aren't really any suitable alternatives, most other guns that fit will punish you with unsuitable range and Vanguard is all about playing with range. Pointless using the Hoods duals over the Vanguards own duals. The Nelly triples and PoW quads lose you a fair amount of range for little gain other than a rain of shells. They're shorter range, heavier, 40 degrees instead of 30, there is a damage increase but it's not that worth it. That only leaves the lvl 81 16" triples which seem to only work on the hood, and have range so short it's not even worth considering using them.

Vanny is neither a ship designed for at-level crew, nor GB. It's got weak turning, weak armor, low speed (it can run 40knt only with high level engies without armor; with at-level crew, expect 37 knot or so), horrible spread with at-level gunners, pathetic firepower.

Vanny with 120-level crew in good player's hands can make miracles; someone can do 300k damage with Vanny in GB. And in BB4 1v1, Vanny is not bad, considering its range and short hang-time of shells. 

But why would anyone want to play Vanny with 120-level crew instead of QV?


Anyway, Vanny is a "fun" ship. But most of the time in GB, the "fun" belongs to your enemies, not you.

 

Vanny was a good ship early in the games life..but it was nerfed into a pretty weak one and the introduction of the new nations fleet have made it very difficult to survive and score exp  at lvl.The Hood is a joke ship and at the moment there is no UK EBBs in the space above......

Which leaves Lion1 as the ship to go with ..and its a beauty although the lack of range makes it vulnerable at times, the firepower and armour are great . 

If you have already chosen the Vanny.. be patient and use what range you have...or reset the BO!

 

fair enough..thats your experience talking ..I too had both ships early on and they now simply dont match up very well in game ...and I wouldnt encourage anyone to use them to lvl up for the first time.

Congrats on actually useing the Hood..because I almost never see one used and I watch out for them to ask the users how they find the ship....and I have one...

and I have a bismarck as well which is a great "fun" ship to use ..compared to the Hood ..in my opinion...

My only comment on the way you used the Vanny is that you made it fit the pattern of how many people use the L1 and QV which is smart but not actually how the  Hood Vanny line was" supposed "to go...