It can do a bit, but without bve crew its e tremely limited. USN AA is also easily avoidable by a t4 scout.

You can however play it ninja style but it requires more patience for the right opportunity than creating it with the poor ranged AA. Guam is the real BB1, as it handle the Ls much better.

I'll have to take a look to see if I still ahve the screen shots, but playing the alaska on my second Nebby line was near at level (all supports raised evenly through two lines but none more than 5+ levels above the bo, gunners were in their 80s. In total the account has $30 on it including 2 months of premium and do not remember the other 10. The crew is not BVE.) I spent a bit of time in Alaska. If you really can be patient and not only pick the right times but using AA to help create them, it can sink an L2 solo. It has enough range to stay out of a BO's site line, and quick enough (even with near level engineers) to move around making it difficult to blind fire on. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, playing BB1/2's may be frustrating and grueling but it teaches quite a bit used in later lines.

The Baltimore is a good ship, and the line it is on is very conducive to AA, something that will help save you money on vets/experts and help level in the frustrating times.

This../ though sadly nevada is not alot of fun to play in super lame GB2s. AA is crappy and with an at level crew you cant do much.

Its not the balti that is a BB 0,5, its the at level Alaska being a CA 1,5

@blazer (since quoting that much text with an IPhone sux)

Granted. An idiot L2 totally blind and a veteran player using the ship. But you won't manage that hard of a blinding opportunity without a good CV backing you. And the lvl 80 gunner do make a world of difference, as unless you pump for 150 vets + on your gunners, 12" spread manage decent salvos at lvl 65+ and gets truly reliable around 75. Till then the L2 is likely to outrep you.

And BB1 being opportunist is the norm in GB2. thats why I prefer a fast BB1 to a slow more powerful one nowadays. Lots of fun to be had with high level crews tough.

Indeed. Nevada is quite an awesome ship now. It's small and it hits like a truck for its tier. All BB1 are fairly lousy at-level simply because your crew isn't high enough to maximize their capabilities.

As for the CAs, Portland is the same as Baltimore except without the AA. They have pretty much the same capabilities and play pretty much the same way.

New Orleans, on the other hand, gives you options. You can armorwhore it with deck and bounce shells from almost any other CA (Premies and the Panzerschiffe are the only exceptions), or you can run with no armor and zip around at 50 knots. The latter option lets you outrun DD and their torpedoes, which is worth tons of lulz. Alternatively, if you're a good shot you drop the Baltimore's guns on your NO and run it like a faster Port/Balti, but you don't get much ammo.

The Baltimore route is overall solid (Alaska pales next to the Guam, however) and has its highlights, but to miss out on the New Orleans is to miss out on half of the fun that is US. Since you're going to need more supports for your battleships anyway, I *highly* recommend bringing them up on the New Orleans line.

--Helms