In this short guide I'm going to go over some things I wish I knew when I first started playing NavyField back in the mid 2000's. 

1. Growth matters. A lot.

Always try to obtain a +12 sailor in whatever you're rolling for. If you can afford it, buy some elite Accuracy sailors for your gunners and Potential (If BB). elite support sailors are also quite valuable, as most people are running elites or better these days. You can also try to get them as drops during this event.

2. Engineers are your friend.

Engineers allow you to overheat your engine for much longer, allowing you to stay at flank speed for minutes at a time instead of a few seconds. I recommend at least 4 on your battleships, perhaps more.

3. Never forget to train at least one pilot.

Someday you might reach the coveted battleship you've always wanted, but then you realize you trained no pilots. They are your eyes, and without them you are nothing. They are the most important piece in any battleship crew. Aircraft Carriers should have as many pilots as possible.

4. Crews can influence other areas besides their specialty.

This goes back to growth matters, but if your Engineer has an ability of 500 Repair with some experienced crew, your Engineer will actually help your ship repair, even though they aren't classed as repairmen. The effect will be greatly reduced, but they help. So if you roll a +11 Repair and +12 Engineer, you rolled a perfect support sailor.

5. Soft Defense is... Basically a 'shield' for your ship.

Have you ever witnessed a great battle where a high tier BB gets smacked from across the map by every single shell, but it just shrugs it off and walks away with scratch damage? That's soft defense (Plus whatever actual armor is one the ship). Soft defense decreases with each hit until you start taking full damage. Restorers help increase your soft defense, and also reduce a ship's burn time after being hit. However, most people i know opt out of a restorer, as you will hit your maximum soft defense with time anyway. I personally trained one, so it's up to you. You can see your current soft defense in your home port by looking at the 2nd number in the 'defense power' line where your armor is.

6. Don't start more than one line at first.

Until you get on your feet, you're likely going to spend most of your cash and points on your first line. If you try to develop a second, you're likely going to run short on either of these, or both when you could have a shiny new tier 3 BB. Once you have started bringing in enough money, you can branch out a bit.

7. Even small ships are useful.

Small ships are much less powerful than the BB or CV, but they offer critical defenses for these ships such as ASW, and AA fire. Investing in a CL or CA with good AA or ASW capabilities will allow you to help your BBs by giving them less to worry about. The less they have to worry about, the more they can focus on their current duel.

8. All AA guns have a 'golden arc'.

A golden arc is a specific angle for a gun where it has the highest chance of shooting down an aircraft at maximum (default) altitude. This is what people are employing when you see someone shoot down a whole wave of aircraft in 2 salvos.

9. Do not cross ships, especially BBs

If you do, post 'xXCrossingXx' or something to that effect to signal to everyone on the team to check if they're being crossed. BB drivers have windows where they are not looking at their ship, and if you cross at the wrong time, not only do you block their shot, but they will likely TK you. 

10. Rotate your crew.

When you get to the upper levels, around 60 or 70, you will start to unlock more and more crew slots so you can bring up a new support sailor and have him help out, right? Well, not if you're below the tminimum level threshold. Below a certain level, the xp gained for sailors is reduced to almost nil. Instead, rotate your crew out and try to keep your support sailors up to speed as best you can. They will likely fall behind your gunners and BO, but that's fine. 

11. Learn what you need before you start a line.

I recently started an Italian BB line, and after doing some research I decided I would need the following. 1 BO, 2 Gunnars, 2 AA gunners, 3 Repairmen, 5 Engineers, 1 Restorer and a Scout pilot for a grand total of 14 sailors. I have my crew all selected and they are all within 15 levels of each other. Rotation gets easier as you unlock bigger ships, but knowing exactly what you need beforehand helps immensely, and reduces the strain further down the line of realizing you have empty slots available at level 80.

12. Ask questions.

There are many people on this game that have been playing much longer than I have. Some of the information I've given may be old or out of date, but everything here is true to the best of my knowledge. I encourage someone who knows more than I to let me know if I got something wrong. I will change it immediately. The point is, NavyField has a friendly community that is glad to see any new players, and will be ecstatic to help you.

I hope this helped, and if you have any questions, go ahead and post them here! Have fun!