Large guns, bomber aircraft, and reliable armor...
All of this in one ship!
Today, we're going to tell you about hybrid battleships.
Louisiana, Delaware, and Nebraska.
Everyone will be able to research this trio of newcomers in Update 12.2.
First encounters with new ships always start with taking in their appearance.
Attentive Captains will notice that the newcomers resemble
other U.S. battleships right away.
And they really do! The newcomers have borrowed heavily armored hulls
and solid guns from their more distinguished sister ships—
Nebraska from North Carolina, Delaware from Iowa, and Louisiana from Montana.
While they do have the same guns as well, their numbers differ.
Nebraska has only six main battery guns,
Delaware has eight, and Louisiana has ten 406 mm guns.
You don't have to be an outstanding mathematician to notice
that the new battleships have a smaller salvo weight
compared to that of their Tech Tree counterparts.
It might seem that the presence of their bomber aircraft
is designed to offset the smaller number of guns, but...
We'll get to that later. In the meantime,
let's continue with the design of the new ships.
Apart from all the mentioned similarities with battleships from
the neighboring branch,
the newcomers have a distinguishing feature—
a huge superstructure consisting of a flight deck and aircraft hangar.
And its armor is not the best, frankly speaking.
So, we recommend avoiding close-quarter skirmishes with your opponents unless
it's absolutely necessary. Keep your distance and position yourself in such
a way as not to expose the superstructure to enemy fire.
Let's now talk about aircraft.
Captains of the hybrid battleships
have a squadron of not-the-fastest bombers at their disposal.
It's also an attack flight. Nebraska and Delaware can launch five bombers,
Louisiana—six. Each bomber is armed with two HE bombs
that can inflict decent damage.
As for the specific features of these aircraft,
it's worth noting several things
that distinguish the air groups of the hybrid battleships
from those of most aircraft carriers.
Aircraft are not available to you in the first moments of battle.
To launch a squadron, you first need to wait for it to be prepared.
After an air attack, the bombers don't return to the battleship.
You have to wait for the air group to be prepared again.
This has its advantages, though.
Each new air group will be in full force again,
even if the previous one was completely shot down by enemy AA defenses.
The preparation of a new group begins as soon as you have launched a squadron.
Simply put, you'll be able to launch an air group
and deal additional damage to your opponents once every two minutes.
But stay vigilant— while you are in control of a squadron,
your battleship remains unsupervised and is vulnerable to attacks.
On-screen alerts and sounds will notify you if your
battleship is spotted, fired upon, or damaged.
Having covered the hybrids' features, it's time to prepare them for battle.
Let's take a look at a set of upgrades and Commander skills
that are designed to improve the performance of the new battleships.
If you have any experience playing high-tier U.S. battleships,
it'll be easier for you to master the new hybrid ships.
Your main role is to support your team in medium- and long-range skirmishes.
Take a good lead when firing over long distances
due to the mediocre velocity of U.S. shells.
And try to stay together with your allies.
If you decide to approach an opponent,
keep the vulnerability of your superstructure in mind.
By the way, we published a video dedicated to the secrets of playing
battleships with a detailed analysis of their features.
Before entering your first battle
at the helm of the hybrid ships,
we recommend watching the "How to Play: Battleships" video!
When should you use aircraft?
Launch a squadron when your battleship is relatively safe
and any shells from your opponents won't be able to deal significant damage.
Try to attack lone targets whenever possible.
Remember that you'll have only one attempt to raid your opponent.
If your bombers are shot down,
you'll have to wait for another group to be prepared.
In addition to common air raids,
you can use your aircraft to conduct recon missions
or spot stealthy opponents.
For greater efficiency, adhere to the following strategy.
Imagine this situation: A destroyer with good concealment
is somewhere near you. Launch a squadron, spot, and attack the ship.
Don't wait for the bombs to hit,
quickly click the left mouse button to skip the final stage of the attack
and press the F key to go back to your battleship.
While your bombers are performing their diving attack,
try to fire a salvo from your battleship at the spotted opponent.
Thus, you can simultaneously deal damage with both bombs and main battery guns.
Let's consider another way
you can boost the efficiency of dealing damage with aircraft.
Before launching bombers, switch to HE shells.
Carry out an air raid. If your bombs set the opponent's ship on fire,
pay attention to the damage counter. Did it stop increasing?
This means that your target used the Damage Control Party consumable
to extinguish the fire. It's high time to fix this!
Your HE shells are ready to do just that.
Note that the sequence of actions is interchangeable in this approach.
You can always fire a salvo of HE shells and follow it up with an air raid.
Finally, everyone has been in the situation
where there are no longer any opponents on their flank,
and the most interesting action
is unfolding on the other side of the map,
and it's all out of the reach of your main battery guns.
The best thing that ordinary battleships can do in this situation
is to launch a spotter and hope the extended
firing range might be sufficient. The Captain of a hybrid battleship,
on the other hand, can launch a squadron of bombers
and actively engage in the brawl on the opposite flank.
By the way, an unsupervised hybrid battleship
isn't the easiest target for air attacks,
given the good AA defense of the newcomers.
The main thing to remember
is that Nebraska, Delaware,
and Louisiana are primarily battleships in our game.
You'll have to stick to the specific playstyle of this ship type
for most of the battle. If you decide to play like an aircraft carrier,
this will confuse your allies,
and the long preparation time of your air groups
makes them a poor choice as a primary source of damage.
As we mentioned earlier, use aircraft to inflict additional damage
or gain tactical superiority over your opponents.
At the end of our story, a question arises—
"Can Nebraska, Delaware, and Louisiana
outperform a battleship or an aircraft carrier?"
The cold numbers suggest that battleships perform better
than hybrids in gun fights,
and aircraft carriers find more success than them
when it comes to dealing damage from the skies.
But the combination of guns and aircraft
creates possibilities for quite versatile forms of gameplay,
and skillful use of this specific combination
can make the newcomers extremely efficient.
Don't believe me?
Maybe it's time to test it yourself!