World of Boreships
Been busy past few days playing the last few phases of the Dockyard Event now that the next phase missions have been released. Just grinding for Base XP to complete the required six missions to unlock the final reward, the US Tier X battleship Wisconsin. About 9,400+ Base XP left to earn from the original 25,000 needed. Once obtained, I am going to run her in Asymmetric to see how she handles the competition.
Should have run battleships as it would have been faster earning the required base XP running the Ohio in Asymmetric but opted for destroyers instead because they offered better options with tasks whereas battleships would have only two possible choices against the four or five options that destroyers are able to access. And they proved it the first day of the release when completed the first two tasks using just the destroyers Goningen and Okhotnik.
Anyway, going to run all my Tier V, VI, and VII DDs - all fifty-two of them - for this final task. Play them once. Both Tech Tree line and Premiums. Gives me the opportunity to familiarise myself (again) with the different play styles of many as I have not played many in months or over a year. The number of ships is a reasonable estimate of how much base XP I expect to earn playing just Co-Op. It would be lesser ships required for sure if I played either Random or Ranked. I am hoping I can close it out with just thirty-odd but that's expecting a lot. Why place unnecessary pressure when it's not needed.
I do have my favourites among the group. I tend to run my Upskill-21 skipper program on certain Premiums because you can do this without retraining. For instance, I like to take out the Tier V Russian destroyer Okhotnik (often referred to jokingly by some as a war canoe because of its gun line arrangment) and plonk my legendary commander Kuznetsov on her to improve his skill level which currently sits at 17. With four launchers, the Russian DD is quite effective up close against enemy battleships, and her guns means she can take on even light cruisers as well as other enemy destroyers.
Did the same with the Tier VII US cruiser Atlanta. Swapped the existing captain with my 20-pt captain (presently assigned to the Tier X tech tree line battleship Vermont) so that she could complete her specific task assigned to her specific ship type which was completed today. She too carries torps as well as having decent AA which pertained to the specific mission task which was down 90 aircraft.
As I type this, the next naval battle involving the clan is now active. Again it's Base XP being sought after. Usually it's against clans from a different region's server when this is the case. Last one was against a clan on the European server. But sometimes there are no opponents and it was just a solo race to see how much we could earn to improve the clan's ranking regionally as well as globally.
It's Clan battles season that really matters however, and the main event for all clans - apart from hosted events and competitive tournaments. I actually took part in a clan battle awhile back. It was against a clan from the North American server. I didn't perform well. Nerves.
I will help the clan though in Naval Battles when and where I can. Even if it means jumping into Random battles (and Ranked) because base XP earned there is much higher providing you perform well. As I did in the last Naval Battle. Played seven games. On the winning side in two of them.
More importantly, I earned sufficient base XP to earn stars for the clan, and earned an extra two games bonus for everyone in the clan. This option is only allocated to specific ship classes and nations (it is different every round of Naval Battles engagements). Not all the nation's ships line are represented however.
But it's not just base XP that seems the mainstay of missions in Naval Battles; occasionally it will be simply a race to earn the most number of ribbons. I have yet to see any other types of engagements.
I also learned something about playing DDs during the latest Naval Battles set - in particular, their role and their limitations. Funny how things suddenly click after a while. Remember the same when I was in the Army; over time it all starts to make sense. Before that though, you rely on your training to keep you moving along until that sudden moment of illuminated clarity and understanding hits you.
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11 April 2024: Dockyard event - Big Whiskey
Played my DDs to finish off the last mission task. And got the Wisconsin.
Ran it in one game as soon as she appeared in my port. Scored several citadels on that old stalwart of the game, the USS Montana. Poor dispersion at longer ranges though dampened my excitement a little. At mid- to close-in ranges, she's potent for sure. Got one of those funny buttons (F key) that does something but not sure what exactly as I was more concentrated shooting at long-range targets but was a bit too slow as my more swifter and accurate teammates. It figures...
But am reasonably hopeful that it will earn its spurs in what remains of the highly popular Asymmetric battle mode which, incidentally, is being removed again at the next update in a few days. Seems the battle mode was only permanent for the entire current update despite clamours and player requests to make it permanent permanent.
By the way, I didn't need the full fifty-two: managed it with just twenty-five destroyers (in Co-Op mode mind you; if it had been Randoms or Ranked, it would have even been less).
Tomorrow it's helping the clan out time. Noticed it's not doing well against an NA server clan who presently has the upper hand when I checked on our clan's progress. At least I have fourteen attempts to contribute. Not liking the options however as the bonuses (which are different every engagement) reside mainly with specific submarine and carrier classes of different nations. These are two classes I avoid preferring the more conventional surface ship classes.
If they were to nerf subs and carriers closer to their actual historical stats instead of being the highly fantastical classes they currently are, then maybe I might be interested. But then the Soviet classes of surface ships that are just figments of the designers imaginations are in the game and on par and, in many cases, excel over that of their more famous and historical counterparts in this game.
You take the bad and awfully ridiculous on board because there are still good elements to playing this game, a game that I've been playing since 2019 and will do so because it's those good elements that still keep me interested. That, and the amount of money (gambling) I've invested into this game. Like the tv ad against gambling by the gambling organisations themselves keeps proclaiming: I don't have a problem. You do! Lol.
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Postscript: In Naval Battles today, I was faced with running French cruisers if I wanted to earn the +2 attempt bonus for the clan. It was the only available option that was not submarines or carriers. Had 14 attempts. Did not succeed in my endeavour however. Started off well enough with first three attempts in the Emile Bertin seeing three victories for our side but I was not able to reach the bar set at 1700+ Base XP goal. Tried next with the Toulon. That started the run of defeats began. Finished the attempts running De Grasse. Even ran my French Legendary commander, Philippe Auboyneau on both Toulon and then De Grasse. No luck despite being on the winning side a couple more times.
On reflection it might have been smarter to ignore the bonus attempt and simply reach the bars using the other ships. At least, I could run DDs and BBs, two classes I have good enough chances of success. I am not good in cruisers consistently enough. This round of Naval Battles only presented four options with the +2 bonus attached - two in subs, one in carrier, and one cruiser.
Winrate took a dive although I've been swimming in the 41% range for several months now. Not really concerned though. Today's Random games was also not so toxic although there were the occasional moments when players trolled their own teammates or generally exhibited negativity throughout the play.
Highlight from these fourteen attempts was playing the Two Brothers map as I was nearing the end of my attempts in the De Grasse. Our trio consisted of one battleship, me in my cruiser, and a destroyer. We spawned on northern side of the map on the western flank; we were therefore heading south. It was an excellent game, I thought, as we successfully battled two enemy destroyers (Jervis and Cossack), two cruisers (Emerald and Nurnberg), and two battleships (Fuso and one other whose name I forget). We cleaned up our flank slowly driving forward and pushing the enemy back as we advanced. And managing to win the flank. Unfortunately, we were so engrossed in our mini-battle that we forgot about the rest of the match and the fact the enemy had managed to cap our base. Lost our destroyer but gained another friendly cruiser in our push.
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12 April 2024: English Civic Disagreements
WIP photos of my latest painting endeavours....basecoating stage done on nearly all bar one unit from the selected collective. Not rushing the painting however. No need with this list.
Lord Fairfax (Head honcho). Not much to do regarding this Army commander which is probably a good thing by my reckoning. Not nearly as famous as his rival, the Lord Protector, but a battlefield commander of talent nonetheless. And I am liking the colour scheme for this figure - elegant, simple. Reminiscent of the plain understated yet classy uniforms of the Austrian Empire of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Parliament general whom I am naming Sir Norris Chuck (incidentally a future descendant will become famous for something). A fictitious name to go with a fictitious hero. His fictitious heroic deeds may one day be made known to a wider audience maybe in film form. I hear Peter Jackson is available. No, wait...he's currently engaged in producing another two LOTR movies for Warner Bros. Really? Going one better than the LOTR trilogy? Hoping it bombs.
"The Three Amigos" - Couriers Meenie, Mynee, Moe. Good things come in threes, so they say. And this trio are no exception to the rule. Bearers of important and often good news, they will spread far and wide over the battlefield preaching the gospel to the good Parliamentary folks everywhere. About to commence the detailing part.
Sidenote: Drafted up the other factions Order Cards. But I have opted not to print them out just yet as I need to check page alignments first before commencing a final print run.
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12 April 2024: Bellicose and Bothered
Working on a producing a laminated warband sheet as well as spell cards. It would be handy to have a set of cards readily available without having to constantly refer to the rulebook. Also looking at a suitable QRS (Quick Reference Sheet). There are plenty available online to download and print out for both warband sheet and QRS so may not devote as much time creating our own version.
Magic User Spell cards
My wish was to go with a larger card. Done enough small cards but thinking this game, skirmish though it might be, deserves something befitting its status as our new primary skirmish game. I keep seeing an image of those larger magic card types for some reason. Which will provide the necessary inspiration to make a start on these new cards.
Did a simple draft design using the MTG (Magic The Gathering) size template of 2.5" by 3.5". Not completely convinced however as I still think a larger card size would be ideal as you get cramping as the test page shows below.
Browser keeps referring back to MTG whenever I type in "magic card sizes". Anyway, wanted to test the colours chosen for each magic class. Card back is undecided at the moment although this test run has the title of the magic class - Natural Magic - with the conditions necessary to use the magic. It will be repeated for the other classes - Light, Dark, Wild, Unbound, and Noble.
WIP photos of my Owl-Bear Fidgad. He is a pretty big thing deserving of a name. Fidgad, however, is not a common name which suits this uncommon creature. His identical twin, Fidgaf, is camera-shy but is just as fearsome. You would never tell who you are going to face when they're together prowling the landscape in hunt of food. To make it confusing, their sire is Foidgaf. Lucky their mother's name is easier to remember, Didgah.
Still in basecoating stage. Adding bits of colour here and there as the fancy takes it. No hurry. Slow and steady. PS: don't call Fidgad Fido; he doesn't like that. Cheers.
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Fidgad - Frankly I Don't Give A Damn
Fidgaf - Frankly I Don't Give A F**k
Foidgaf - F**k Off I Don't Give Any F**ks!
Didgah - Darling, I Don't Give A Hoot
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