And a +3 :




Exactly. A BB that gets 100% focused on AA is easily rushed and killed anyway. Or it delays its fate.



Also, the farther the range is, the harder for the ship it is to hit them close range. Manage your scout till its atop the ship at an high enough altitude.




I believe we have a prime exemple of it in this thread. I also once heard a massively lol story of a player who had a monty and a SY. Then that other player with his L2 comes and ask him for a duel.

He says using monty is unfair due to firepower, and ask the guy to run his SY with no AA cuz "otherwise its unfair".

I'm quite sorry to say we have a way to go before statements like that stop being posted on the forums.



And I,ll finish this by : People need to learn to stop blaming their shortcomings on a part of the game they don't like. Nothing in this game is unbeatable. But if you have tunnel vision and try again and again a tactic that fails, its not the AA fault, its your scout managing that isnt up to it.

I've never tried it, but I assume if you leveled nothing but engineers for supports on a crew, then sold/traded for the reps you wanted, you'd end out on top at the end. Would be painful along the way but profitable in the end.

I've played against people who used pilots as supports on their BB6's, can actually think of 2 names that come to mind and forgetting the third. Horrid rep rates (in comparison to a good crew) outside of that not much of a difference. That said 90% of my BB6 gameplay is in HAs, where I am truely thankful for having the ability to repair fast enough to keep ships usuable in other tiles... or just to back off and rep to stay in the room.




I could take a bit of time to respond to this but lets see if I can keep it short.

1) A BB AA'ing can easily be rushed, however at the same time they can be setting you up. I'm still trying to get good at it, however uncontrolled/deafult height planes are predictable to a degree. At start I'm at GA to begin with. Watch the plane come in, take a second to figure its path, aim your AA and spam. Now click back to the ship your fighting. If they take the bait you may put them 1 off guard and 2 blind. Similar to how people used to swivel their guns to appear as if they were aimed at you.

2) Putting a scout right over my head does not bother me in USN (and to a lesser degree KM). Both have high enough angles to counter this tactic. USN being 80 or 90 degrees, simply max the angle and fire. Keeping far enough out of range of USN, KM can work with high enough tier scouts. Placing your scout at sea level at its max sight range is also useful as many do not know the arcs on AA guns for sea level at longer ranges (myself included)

3) I saw this in the forum and kept my mouth shut. Everything needed to be said had been said. Have heard this from applicants on vent as well.

4) your finishing remarks. There are instances that are blatently "exploits" or just wrong. Border humping ships back in the day and BH planes are the two that really come to mind to me. Border humped ships in HA is a nusance and BH planes are particularly a problem. I have AA'd friendly "shadows of planes" simply because you can't tell whose they are. Ironically enough most of the BH'ing cvs I see are also well known or common sub drivers.. must be something about the can't see me philosophy. As for AA whores, many if not most tend to be greedy... they'll give you several opportunities to hit them as they go for planes.

As for tunnel vision, I'm yet to find someone in this game not guilty of it to some degree. I'm thankful in HAs to have people in vent to give me an idea of when I'm doing something stupid. In GBs I can get focused on sinking a BB6 and ignore the ships in the middle that I'm in range of, when I'm in CV i can get focused on keeping my planes changing angles and moving around the other teams line that I mistake where I'm driving or forget to load in a proper order, in a sub... well only really play those to screw around and generally spend half the game just watching the rest of whats going on.

I believe in doing what suits your needs best, even if it may not be the 'correct' choice.
While some may prioritize having slightly better rep rates, or slightly longer overheat, I find the benefits of a 5th eng or 4th rep so negligable, that I would rather be levelling something else, which saves me the hassle of doing it later.

It's not the optimal setup, but it helps me achieve my goals - completing my crew and unlocking all ships on the ship tree - as quickly as possible. It strikes a balance between my ship still being functional, whilst also getting me to my destination faster.

For any BB5s I play, I just run 2 reps and 4 engys - the rest are neuts, pilots, another nation's sailors, or whatever else I need to level. This may be a horror to most, but I do mix and match sailors from different nations. As most of my crew are already maxxed out at Lv120, I see no reason to 'waste' using them when they get 0 exp. Might as well bring over a UK eng, or a MN rep, and let it gain some exp while I'm at it.

It is the bare minimum. Yet, I can stand my ground, and sink opponents who go with the orthodox, maxxed out setup, be it AAs or extra support crew.

Some may say it indirectly puts my team at a disadvantage, but I'm selfish and prioritize my needs first.

I don't play to win, but I play to level my crew. Even though it's shared exp, I don't feel as if I owe anybody anything, nor am I obliged to sacrifice my needs to cater for theirs.

Before you tell me to go play a single player game, I'll just point out that if there was one with similar customizability and comprehensive ship range like NF does, I'll be there in an instant. Till then, I'll make do with what I have here.




And you fail to see my point.

My gripe isn't with SYs in particular, but all players who are totally reliant on AA in general, regardless of what nation they're playing. I picked the SY encounter as it's an example that best illustrates my loathing.

While certain nations' traits mean AA is an asset, I still find overly cautious players who would never attempt an attack until the enemy is blind, to be an unnecessary waste of time. For AA, as Blazer4show said, should complement a person's game. Not his one and only recourse / tactic.

While I have no problems sinking ships with AA, I find such cat and mouse gameplay to be ridiculously boring. Thus, the deliberate line battles and increasing dependency on AA have made BB only games total borefests that I end up avoiding. Not because I can't succeed, but because I can't derive any fun.

Some people have become so dependent on blinding the enemy, that they're no longer able to sink another ship without first doing so. And this is irrespective of what ship or nation he's using.

I never said all ships should be played like L2s. I merely hoped, that people would be bolder and more adventurous in their gameplay, instead of always being defensive. Take a chance, give it a go even against the odds. You may not win, but at least you tried.

Make an effort to sink the enemy, instead of merely trying to avoid getting sunk.

Unlike most, I do not subscribe to rigid beliefs that one should play a 'certain' way just because it's a certain nation. All those "you're IJN, you should AA", or "you're KM, you should hit and run", are merely guidelines, it's not the be-all-end-all.

As in my nature and playing style, I played both my IJN and KM very aggressively, even with a 'gimped' crew and without ever touching AA once, and yet was still able to thrive with it.

My point is, one doesn't always need to be defensive or fall back on AA every single time just because you happen to be playing the 'weaker' nations.




Not sure if this is directed at me, but anyhow, I'll humor it.

Never did I say that AA is unfair. Far from it. In fact, NOTHING in this game is unfair to me. Border humping bombers and scouts are fine, subs are fine, smokes are fine, PHHs sinking surface ships are fine, and exploits don't bother me. Anything goes, and everything is fair game.

My entire issue is centred upon one simple premise, that AA-heavy games are very very, very boring and unappealing to me.

Add to that the fact that massive AA spams lag up and causes my primitive computer to screen freeze with regularity, and you see why I loathe it so much.

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** TL:DR version :

I have no problems sinking an opponent who employs AA, but I simply find such fights devoid of any fun whatsoever. It's not a case of being unable to win against a certain element. Rather, it's about me gaining absolutely no enjoyment from it.

I'm NOT saying AA is unfair, I'm NOT asking for it to be nerfed / removed, and I'm NOT saying people should completely ditch it. Nothing of the sort. I do not want anything changed, I am merely hoping players would be less dependent on AA for their success.

Because some people are more interested in not getting sunk, instead of going out to try to sink something. While some nations' traits means you can't be as bold as others, players often take the defensive caution, too far overboard.

I like quick intense brawls, and despise cautious deliberate dances around the bush, which is why the AA-heavy gamestyle is something that drains every last ounce of enjoyment out of the game, for me.