i love retreating with 45 degree guns makes me be able to hit them ^^

So far out of UK and USN.. USSR has my favorite BB2, the Gangut.

It packs a punch, has pretty decent range and a very small hitbox.. haven't tried the Izmail though.

I'm very happy to see VMF ships in the game regardless of everything else, given that I've been in a Soviet clan for a long time - well, technically I'm the squadron leader (/irrelevant) - but I do appreciate the functional "ugliness" of 70% of their ships. The DDs look pretty sexy, as do a few of the CLs...can't speak for the mid-level cruisers and up until, say, the Sovetskiy Soyuz.

So far I played Japan to BB2 and Soviets to lvl 36 (I'm in a Chapayev). From my experience, and from things I've heard/read/seen:

I have to say, compared to IJN at least, the gunnery is spectacular. I am very impressed with range, spread, reload and power. You also get bigger guns sooner than other nations. All the ships have a lot of armament slots.

I can't say about their other cruisers but Chapayev is fast and turns well. Some of their DDs can outrun Simakaze if set up right.

Probably their BBs are slow but everyone uses Gangut and Imperatritsa (which are slow). The Izmail and Kronstadt line is supposed to be BattleCruisers so I expect you will find your speed there!

If you want at mid-level, you can turn Bogatyr and Pallada into mini-Kitakamis. Other wise you can fill their T-slots with guns which gives you ridiculous firepower but can be hard to handle if u want to alternate between R and T slots to shoot everything!

The Rurik is a DD-sized ship that can fit BB guns (10" twins at lvl 44!!!) (it's kind of like a Panzerschiffe but better) and is a very strong CA if played well.

The only real downside is the BB1... which I'm told you may as well skip.

Also, Kirov (CA) and Kronstadt (BC) are 2 of the best looking ships in game!

t0ryu you are mostly correct.

I don't deny that I have played Soviet only on Blitz/Hobbit (although I played 10 lvls IJN in GB also).

But that doesn't make what I said about Boagtyr wrong. It is good in that situation, and that's the situation most people will be in most of the time. True it's nowhere near as good as a real Kita, but in a small place crowded with noobs it is very dangerous.

As for range... I set my guns to 30 degrees at start of battle and move to fire at that range unless I get DD rushed. I go to 45 degrees against bigger CLs and CAs. Please don't make assumptions about how I play.

I cannot comment on spread but I will take your words as advice in this case =) You cannot deny though that the Rurik is a very impressive and dangerous ship for its level.

The only good use for the Rurik line is AA or being a total ars and rushing BBs with Phh. but all of that fun ends when you get the rurik if you choose to use it until Kirov.

Don't forget about the evil destroyer Leningrad with 6 (!!) torpedo slots!

I do have a bone to pick, now that I've noticed it: a Lv26 gun is 8", 950 muzzle, reload around 5 seconds, 71 space, etc. Then there's a level 38 gun that gets 30 angle instead of 20, has 50 less muzzle, and a 10 reload with 81 space. What incentive would I EVER have to use the Lv38? Why do Soviet guns suck more than their lower level counterparts?

I wonder how the CVs fair compared to other nations...