Digest January #7

World of Warships: Playing Asymmetrics

Asymmetrics in a Tier VIII ship is completely different to that in a Tier X ship. Lot less stressful but just as much fun. When I say stressful, I am referring to how teammates die so much quicker in Tier X. It is less so in a Tier VIII game except this time round it's you that's dead. Lol. 

Below is a visual record of my session today in Asymmetrics when I entered in the potent Tier VIII German premium cruiser Mainz. But first a result in Co-Op mode. There's greater competition for "kills" in Co-Op. It's always first in, first kill. And so on. Hence why I jumped into Asymmetrics because there's always loads of enemies to take on. Plenty all around.

Fault line map. Spawned south centre with team mates. Don't remember much from this game other than I died fairly early and we lost (see record at bottom of post). 

Now from when I jumped into Asymmetrics. Sunset Isles map game (above). New map getting some rotation in-game. No real opinion regarding it. Just another map. Spawned south centre. Teammate in Nurnberg sailed to cap B. I chose to advance to the opposite side of the island (grid F5) and waited for the enemy Flint fast approaching. While my teammate capped B, and successfully defended it on their own-some, I concentrated on taking out the Flint and and also covering my teammate's left flank. With the cap action dying down (no more immediate threats) the action was elsewhere so it was a quiet remainder of this match. Relatively straightforward win. 

Lineup for next match on the Two Brothers map. Note that enemy BOTS generally spawn between 2 ad 3 tier lowers (depending on the composition of your own team).

Interesting game on the Two Brothers map. Lightning and I sailed south and took out the enemy opposing us on our left flank. Meanwhile a large fleet of enemy sailed through the gap and dealt to the Yorktown and Scheer defending our base. See where this is heading? The Surrey also died. That just left myself and the Lightning to take on the remaining enemy. 

Above shows the situation prior to the enemy's big push up the middle. The Lightning and I were about to deal to the Iron Duke.

It's here when I noticed on the map the enemy Leander capping our base. I left the Lightning and sped back to stop this from happening. Managed to deal to the Leander, Emerald, and Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great). Lightning valiantly took out the Andrea Doria and Kongo but died to secondary battery fire as he was on mid- to low-health. That left me to face just the Furataka which I managed by using my guns. I thought we had won it but then I forgot that the enemy still had a destroyer (not sure if it was the Maestrale or Podvoisky). I had sailed into the enemy base because that's where the Furutaka had posted itself prior to being sunk. So it would take time for me to turn around and sail back to our base which was already being capped. 

This defeat offset all the good work I thought we had done.  

LESSON REMINDER: Protect your base (again!). Do a head count by checking the listing. The enemy destroyer was invisible and remained so because it was outside spotting range. Also, it was obvious the game wasn't finished after sinking the Furutaka. But I was oblivious because I was simply relieved to still be the last man standing. Brain shut down as a result.

Skipped the next game for screenshot; must have forgot in my excitement. Anyway above is the lineup for the following game on the Neighbours map. Team spawned from the northwest. Notable for the inclusion of the North Carolina CLR: I have one and I love it for the unique green camo scheme on this battleship. Also have the Zao version also with the same green metallic camo.  

I thought we stood a chance because I had another Mainz with me. Sailed boldly to the enemy base using the islands to my left as flank protection and bow pointed in. 

Unfortunately my confidence was boldly and brutally defeated as I died while retiring after taking a battering from focus fire. Of little use was firing off my torps (only one hit). I think we lost. Kii was isolated. It had trouble dealing to the Nurnberg. I don't know what happened with the other two teammates to the north who were pursuing the Normandie. 

Immediately after this loss, joined a new game where I spawned on the same map. 

This time I spawned on the left flank. The Iwami (over on the far left) started sailing wide, avoiding the cap. I, however, sailed toward it figuring to at least cap it. The Yorktown was left alone to deal with the central threat. Meanwhile the Pommern and Mainz B (simply a clone of the Mainz draped in black camo) presented a strong force on our right flank. I expected them to cap A and win that flank without too much hassle. 

To my immediate front I got lucky because the Omono (the first ship spotted on my flank) opted to use the island (D7) to mask its movement from me. I had the same plan but I was waiting for the F. Caracciolo which was following behind. Its 18" guns can smack you real hard if you're not careful. The Zara (making up the third enemy on our flank) seemed to hang back so was not the immediate threat. Ignored the situation occurring the centre for now. And I did not notice that our right flank had totally collapsed. And the enemy had capped both A and B now and earning points.

Above shows the situation whereby I took out the Italian battleship with two sets of torpedoes. Meanwhile my teammate sunk the Omono and was about to finish the Zara. I noticed the Fiji (from the centre) rounding the north of the island in grid E6. It was on low health so I finished her off. The Iwami and I finished capping C before moving into the centre. 

In the ensuing combat, we three survived and took out the remaining ships except P. Heinrich which was still lingering at the A cap. Complimented my remaining teammates for their contribution to our victory. It was a good game. The obvious highlight of the session. 

Lineup for the game on the Northern Waters map. As per usual, spawned in the centre (as shown below).

At first glance, there appears to be two options. Both are defensive. The island straddling G5 is useful as cover but it means the enemy cap B. The larger island at grid F6 is the other option but LOS is blocked by the island (under the letter B) which the enemy can use to hide behind while targeting you from the flanks. 

I chose option 3 which was play aggressively and sail into the B cap and sit behind the island there and await the enemy to show up.

Unfortunately I forgot my own mantra - be patient - and raced in front of the island right into a fleet of ships. Dumbly loosed off all my torps and raced to cover. But died on the way. We still won though. Lol. 

Joined this next game but got going fairly late as the animals were needing attention. Notable for the great play by the Cherbourg. My contributed was significantly small because all the damage had been done earlier by the Cherbourg and the two Valparaiso.

Another game (above) featuring another double Valparaiso. Don't remember anything about this game except that it was a win, and I survived. By the end, I had achieved my goal of collecting the three daily coal crates and logged out. 

Above is the record of my Mainz games in Asymmetrics. Cheers.

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