2 December 2024

World of Warships

New month. New Update. Same-old, same-old. This year's Christmas event, one I've been looking forward to all year, is different somehow. There's not the same enthusiasm nor thrill as in previous years. I attribute some of that indifference to the changes made to this year's event.  

Star Trek final operation of taking on the Borg Queen is interesting. As long as you focus on the priorities: (1) defending the three key areas, (2) destroying the East and West gate guards (three in each), and (3) knock off the three Queen's Minions (they appear throughout the game so be alert for their spawn) as quickly as possible, and you manage to survive with strong shields and health pool you should be able to take her on provided you survive the final orbital bombardment that weeds out any weakened friendlies and remaining Borg. 

1,000 points can be a tall ask especially if there are only three or four of you AND you're widely dispersed (hence congregating in the centre is ideal). Two is virtually impossible because of her high health pool and formidable arsenal of weapons. 

Friendlies do show up (three Intrepid-class cruisers from each of the gates once the guards are eliminated) and they can be helpful but don't rely on them. As long as the rest of your team is on the same page tactically, you stand a good chance. And the rewards are worth it, especially the surplus stars that yield a collection token - handy for those unfilled slots in your Star Trek collection. Completing a subset also rewards you with a patch. Preferring to complete the collection while the event is still active, nine days left.

Currently grinding my Unique and Seasoned commanders to get them to their stipulated level: Cunningham on the Tier VI premium cruiser Dido, Dunkirk on Tier VIII battleship Monarch, and Honore on the Tier VIII premium battleship Flandre. Playing the Dido is proving to be a lot of fun and I'm quite comfortable playing her in whatever setting (apart from YOLO-ing into a nest of enemy). But only in Co-Op mode of course. 

Monarch is more potent compared to Flandre. Monarch's spotter plane enables comfortable long range sniping. And her super heal is paricularly useful. These two modules alone elevate her above her French counterpart and several others in that tier. In one game today, I took on a Scharnhorst '43. After whittling down some of her health pool instead of ramming her, I rubbed up against her. The resulting collision saw my health drop almost to dead but I quickly hit the superheal and got her back up to at least one third. By the end of the game, I was almost back to full health. 

On the Two Brother's map, did a similar stunt running down the middle channel with a friendly cruiser in the van. Cruiser died leaving me to tackle the enemy cruiser and battleship. Came back from certain death from rubbing up against the battleship after destroying the cruiser. Even managed to run down another enemy battleship. Health was three-quarters by game's end. Monarch's guns however are meh although still functional. 

Bow in is certain death if choosing to collide; rubbing up offers more a chance for survival. So I've found while playing the Monarch with its superheal.

Flandre, on the other hand, has no gimmicks. And her armour isn't all that great so angling and hanging back seems the order of the day. I recall getting annihilated by a Richelieu upon presenting broadside by mistake. But she suffices for my commander upskilling tasks. 

Regarding the Festive certificates I am currently going through my lower tiered ships first (first steel, then coal) before playing for the Festive Rewards certificates (Tier X). Five Festive certificates equates to one Mega container while it's a one-for-one-swap with Gift containers. Consensus, and the odds, favour going for the Mega crates. Already bought 20 Megas and got three ships and a few Golden containers (Red economic bonuses only so far). The various Gift crates collected along the way (Battle Pass events) have yielded no ships. With my Festive certificates, though I am going to exchange for 13 Megas. Will consider whether to spend for another 20. If I do, that's it for this year.

Other expectant ships for my port fleet that I will continue grind for free: the two Battle Pass rewards - Teng She and Lugdunum; Dockyard ships - Kalmar and Niord. That makes another four. 

Today I spent credits to acquire the Pan-Asian supership DD Kunming and the French supership BB Patrie, two vessels on my bucket list for some time. Their 200 steel reward will also useful (aiming for the Austin). 

Yesterday I received the British CV Audacious as the final reward for the Exploration North event having attained the required 10,000 tokens needed to receive the Tier X ship prize. The Tier VIII ship prize I believe only relates to the last mission still active (7,500 tokens on offer). All up then that's seven confirmed ships over the duration of the Update. Expect another three or four more ships with the Megas. So not exactly the haul I was anticipating. Fall back plan is to keep playing till my Premium days run out in two months time. 

English Civil War

Not touched the minis for a while. Lost my mobile phone a few weeks back which had some really nice snaps. Dithered getting a replacement phone because I couldn't stand my lost phone anyway so wondering if it's worth the money when I could just buy a digital camera instead. 

In the end, the New Model Army is almost ready to start campaigning as-is. Read and reviewed the civil war campaign rules I purchased earlier in the year. Interesting document. The campaign is set in the county of Worcestershire. Looking for something different and this might fit the bill. Introducing economic factor into a campaign makes sense, I guess, if looking beyond just lining up across from one another and having a go for a couple of hours. And logistic - not just political - factors did and still do indeed play a huge role whenever conducting a war. The campaign rules also tie in with the historical timeline nicely. Combat, when agreed upon by both sides, is usually small affairs. Large battles such as Naseby can be catered but as the focus is on the county itself, everything is connected and/or tied in with one another. 

At least that's the hope. Will likely start making serious inroads in the new year towards organising something. That heavily depends on how quickly I can get the Royalist army painted up and assembled.  

2025

Can't see that far ahead so not going to try. 

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