Hi all!
In the previous episode of Developer’s Diaries,
we discussed the peculiarities and tactics for destroyers, cruisers and battleships.
This episode will be dedicated to the most unique ship class in World of Warships — aircraft carriers.
Aircraft carriers in World of Warships are the fourth type of ship in the game.
They may be the last class we are covering,
but they are definitely not the least in terms of importance!
These ships are quite large and are also another kind of capital ship along with battleships.
Carriers are also fairly speedy; they usually have a higher top speed
than battleships and are comparable with cruisers.
Some are even faster than certain cruisers.
This speed lets an aircraft carrier reposition easily;
it can come close to an enemy to attack or it can move towards the edge of a map in order to defend.
On top of this, it’s not easy to guess where an aircraft carrier is — after all, it’s a high-speed ship.
Aircraft carriers are excellent at spotting enemy ships.
Finally, aircraft carriers have tremendous firepower — even greater than that of battleships.
One of their advantages is the operating range of their aircraft.
Planes can cross the whole map with ease.
A carrier can attack from unexpected angles.
For example, if enemy ships use a mountainous island as cover,
then the carrier’s aircraft squadron can bank around the island
and attack from the side — something a battleship’s shells can’t do.
The drawback is that a carrier’s squadron can be shot down.
It’s not a shell, after all.
Every squadron consists of several aircraft.
It works like this: the more aircraft that reach the target with their payload,
the higher the damage inflicted.
As you can see, mobility and tactical flexibility make the aircraft carrier
one of the most interesting ship types in World of Warships.
Let’s discuss how you might effectively use scouts, fighters,
dive bombers, and torpedo bombers.
Let’s start with scouts.
It’s simple: send aircraft up into the air to scout the map.
You just have to move them from one side of the map to the other
and they will continue spotting the enemy.
There are more options when it comes to fighter aircraft.
First: you can send your fighters to destroy enemy scouts.
Second: you can send your fighters to destroy enemy fighters.
The easiest way is to throw your fighter squadrons against enemy attack aircraft,
thus reducing the damage they can inflict.
Unlike fighters, torpedo bombers aren’t very quick or manoeuvrable.
Their goal is to deliver a heavy torpedo, which can weigh more than a ton,
then try to attack the enemy from the side, dropping their torpedoes.
Ideally, you’d like to drop torpedoes from both sides.
Then, no matter which way the enemy turns, it will meet torpedoes.
Bombers, on the other hand, don’t have to worry as much about angles.
They can attack from the side or from the front.
Attacking head-on is better
so that the aircraft spend the minimum time under the fire of the anti-aircraft batteries of a ship,
or group of ships in a formation.
There is an American aircraft carrier named Langley;
this is the first aircraft carrier you can play.
It has fighter aircraft and torpedo bombers.
So the task is pretty easy; position your air strike force, while you intercept the enemy’s one.
A player has a few elements to control.
First, you have to control your ship.
You can’t afford to run aground or stay in one position;
a ship that isn’t moving or can’t move is a doomed ship.
You have two new elements to learn to control, fighters and bombers
and this is enough to begin getting acquainted with this class of ships.
All aircraft carriers have similar weapons.
Thus the tactics we use for playing them are basically the same.
However, they do have different constructions, sizes and armour, so there are variations.
First, you should know the difference between armoured and armoured aircraft carriers.
Take a Japanese Shinano carrier, for example—it was rebuilt from a Yamato type battleship.
It has a well-armoured deck and a nice armour belt.
So it will be almost impossible to sink with artillery, even up to cruiser-size guns.
Players used to play it in the front line, having no problem dealing with fire from cruisers.
Its aviation group was also pretty effective at destroying the enemy.
When you play an aircraft carrier, your game play will be more like that of a real-time strategy game.
Tactical placement of aviation groups, finding targets and even the carrier’s position are very important.
If you are operating at a very long range,
your squadron will have to cover this distance to attack and then come back as well.
So, if an aircraft carrier moves closer to its target when launching and receiving squadrons,
and stands back while they are in operation, the aircraft need less time to reach their target.
Thus you can use them more often and this means inflicting more damage on your enemy!
However, getting closer to your enemy is a risk.
So you have to keep a balance: consider the risks that come with getting closer to the enemy
and reducing attack time and thus doing more damage.
Carriers can easily decide the fate of a battle.
Yes, you have to control a lot of things: your carrier, your aircraft group, as well as the tide of battle,
but at the same time this helps you to assess the situation.
It’s quite possible that clan leaders will choose aircraft carriers to go into battle with.
Find out more about World of Warships on the official game portal.
Get the most accurate information about the project first-hand!