German carriers have arrived in World of Warships,
and the first question any player might ask is
“What's different about them apart from how they look,
and how do you play them?”
You've asked—we'll answer!
The new carriers are quite unusual.
They stand out among other carriers by their decent concealment
and accurate long-range secondary guns,
which can come in handy in case a destroyer breaks through,
and all of their aircraft have high cruising speeds
and good maneuverability.
They have to pay for these advantages with their small HP pools,
but to further balance things— in addition to their torpedo bombers—
the bombers of Tier VIII carriers and above
have the Repair consumable as well.
Moreover, each type of German aircraft
is most effective against a specific ship type.
Let's begin with attack aircraft.
These are armed with a totally new type of armament—
armor-piercing rockets.
They have all the advantages and disadvantages of armor-piercing shells.
The AP rockets of German attack aircraft
can pierce through a ship's side
and inflict their full damage to the citadel.
To hit an enemy ship’s citadel,
you need to attack them from their side.
During an attack run,
consider the angle at which the rockets will hit their target.
Hits at 90 degrees or close to 90 degrees will give the best results.
However, it won't be easy to penetrate a battleship's citadel armor.
That's why you should aim at the casemates—
the compartments above the main armor belt.
However, cruisers have noticeably thinner armor.
They will be the primary targets for German attack aircraft.
Go for their sides, closer to the waterline.
If you attack from the bow or stern, you'll inflict less damage.
Moreover, like any armor-piercing shells,
the new rockets can either bounce off a target
or fail to penetrate their armor.
They will often overpenetrate the thin armor of destroyers,
especially when the rockets strike at 90 degrees.
An overpenetrating hit, just as for armor-piercing shells,
will inflict just 10% of the rocket's maximum damage.
If the attack angle is close to 45 degrees,
the chances of standard penetration are higher,
but so are the chances of a ricochet.
The bombers also carry armor-piercing bombs.
This is not a new armament type—
it's one that’s probably familiar to everyone,
but the German aircraft do have their specific features.
An attacking flight flies pretty high,
which is why, unlike the bombers of other nations,
they can dive immediately without the need to first climb to a higher altitude.
Due to that factor,
it can be quite difficult to adjust your aim during an attack.
As such, it's better to drop bombs on less maneuverable targets—
battleships being the prime example.
Keep in mind that the flight altitude of your bombers
won’t reduce the damage they receive from enemy AA defenses.
The armament of German torpedo bombers also has unusual characteristics.
Torpedoes dropped from German aircraft have high speeds and arm quickly.
In other words, you should release them in close proximity to the target,
particularly given their short ranges.
The torpedoes also inflict low damage,
so if you decide to attack a battleship with good anti-torpedo protection,
you'll only reduce their HP pool a little.
If you still decide to do so, then you need to aim at the ship’s ends—
the chances to cause flooding upon a successful strike are higher here.
The high speed of the torpedoes
will allow you to attack more maneuverable targets,
in other words—destroyers.
Due to their lack of anti-torpedo protection,
destroyers will receive significantly more damage when hit.
Thus, attack aircraft are designed to attack cruisers;
bombers—battleships; and torpedo bombers—destroyers.
Sure, there’s nothing preventing you from attacking, for example,
a battleship with attack aviation or torpedo bombers,
but your bombers would be much more effective in this scenario.
The high speed of your aircraft is a blessing
that will help save your squadrons,
and reduces the risk of you becoming redundant with a vacant deck.
Playing the new ships requires good concentration.
You need to know what ship type you're going to attack
before launching a squadron.
If you choose your targets and the respective aircraft right,
you'll inflict optimal amounts of damage.
The German carriers worked out to be original and interesting.
We hope that they bring you many victories,
tactical discoveries, and positive emotions.
Action stations!