January Digest #4

Building a Display

On the hunt for some 1:24 minis to add to my proposed display. Jumped onto ETSY tonight and scoured the site for likely options. Found something close to what I had in mind - a photographer. 3D printing of course. Still looking for other "everyday folks". 

Went back to the original retailer of the figurines I am using to go with the Peterbilt 359 truck. Noticed the group has been split up and are now sold individually which makes perfect business sense. The Australian distributors for this overseas brand however aren't selling much of the stock. 

Annoying as to why they still list stock that's already SOLD OUT. Make no bloody sense to be honest. 

While I was viewing the manufacturer's site I checked out their other figure scales - 1:32 and 1:35. Liking their range, limited as they are. Spotted the same Indian pairing (1: 32) that I acquired some years back and assembled for something to do. 

Their vehicle range is also limited to 1:72 and 1:35.

To be honest, been considering moving up in scale and moving to smaller numbers of figures to assemble and paint. I am so over armies and tabletop wargaming - apart from admiring the painting skill. Not a fan of game politics and attitudes. Upscaling has been on my mind for several months now. Probably since I completed the Borodino Project. Completing this Peterbilt 359 and accompanying figures might just be the kickstart that's needed. Fingers and toes crossed.

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Not Good News

My grandson who was gifted a gridiron football scholarship to the US late last year is now back in Oz. He squandered this golden opportunity to get a head start in life. Disappointed is not how I'd describe the gift he was given and unbelievably threw away. He's now back home, back to square one. Too late he realised what he had tossed away. But it's his life. And he has to live with the consequences of his actions. Hard lesson to learn if indeed he understands (doubt it though). 

He will never get another chance like the one presented past few months. Not unless he knuckles down salvage something from the past six months. It's a new year. And as such always a new start. So I wish him well. Hope springs eternal as they say.

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World of Rortships

WG being sneaky as per usual. Noticed the ship drop rates for the Gift and Mega crates had reset today. I had been keeping tabs because I suspected this was happening during the Christmas event. Confirmed it today. I was only 4 Mega crates shy of a "guaranteed ship drop". With Gift crates, it was 66. Logging out, I popped into the crate page to check as per usual to see if WG was up to its usual tricks. 

Sure enough, they had reset back to 15 and 100 respectively. WTF!

Sneaky, WG. Bloody sneaky. 

Nothing in the event information explains why or how this has come about. Not that I was expecting honesty from them, but at least an explanation for the reset would have been appreciated. All that goodwill earned during the 10th year celebration last year down the gurgler as far as I'm concerned. Not that there was much anyway to begin with.

Been grinding my Japanese Seasoned commander, Mr Suzuki, on the supership Satsuma. Currently, he's at 19 skill points. Expect he will be 20 points and halfway to 21 points by the end of this month. All thanks to the Red and Blue bonuses earned during Christmas.

Satsuma was one of two superships I played when they first made their appearance a couple of years ago (I believe) when WG released them as test ships. The other was Hannover. Slow familiarising myself with the Japanese supership. Slow as heck. But maneouvrable if you don't go full speed. I tend to operate at Half or Three Quarter full speed which makes it surprisingly easier to handle. But if reversing or starting from Stop, good luck. 

Not nearly as potent as Patrie or Ushakov. Certainly better than Devastation. 

I like how the forward and stern batteries operate independently of another which means you can take on two separate targets at the same time. Which is useful in CQB situations, especially against opposing super battleships as I found myself in a few games. This is where independent main bty fire becomes very handy.

Good at dealing damage with its AP at an enemy supership superstructure. If not presenting broadside, then aim for the superstructure if they approach you angled. Of course, keep yourself angled in against them because they can still hurt you if attentive. If they're positioned between angled and broadside (like 40 or 45 degrees), aim for the bow tip and you will score good damage on the superstructure.

Cruisers and Destroyers can be easily one-shotted whenever they expose broadside. If able, get them to launch their torps early because, believe it or not, you can dodge them. One of the pleasures playing a supership is one-sotting an enemy carrier. Petty I know but quite enjoyable. 

Have a cursory glance at the Dev Blog article covering Update 15.0 (activating tomorrow). Only interested in the addition of the new Commonwealth Unique commander John Augustine Collins. That he's Australian is a bonus. As a domiciled Kiwi, he's ANZAC so this addition is totally acceptable. According to a YT streamer I follow, he's strong. Anyway, he's available through a new event but the real plus is that the collection - standard and premium crates - will be made available permanently through the Armoury in Update 15.8 (September?). No rush then to play through the 60 steps to obtain this dude, unlike the misery I suffered when missing out on the Dutch Unique commander Conrad Helfrich. 

Lol. The game continue to razzle dazzle. Now it is rewarding you with more fake awards. Sort of like FIFA awarding the orange taco a participation peace medal for hosting the 2026 World Cup. Speaking of empty awards, Distinguish Service Awards - wow, what a mouthful - will now be a thing. For playing Randoms only. Elongated explanation that only matters for those happy to participate. Good luck. 

Blog mentions something about new ships, a new European battleship line. Expecting at least one to be the new Libertad or Valparaiso which would be a WG thing nowadays.

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World of Pixelships

Goods news, I guess. Asymmetrics, the one mode I do enjoy (and extremely popular with the community), will be staying until June (Update 15.5). Seems it's staying for some reason. Haven't figured out why. Certainly not because the community have clamoured for its stay: WG have never listened to us unless there was some finanical benefit for the company. Stay is not permanent however, but a six month stay is better than no battle mode. 

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World of Bemusedships

Update 15.0 kicked in today. The new European battleship line is now available through Early Access. It's only a partial release of the tech tree line however. And what's available is a selection from Tier IV all the way up to Tier X BUT behind a paywall. Tiers I to III won't be available until the entire line is released for free grinding in a few months time.

That Early Access paywall is conveniently located within the Armoury, and in the current latest Battle Pass event. This year, however unlike previous years, I will actually wait for the tech tree line release. Then I will grind FOR FREE.

As such, avoiding paying for these ships in Early Access. Was lucky when I clicked on the FREE bundle activated today and got this...

Played its specified missions (three in total). Nearly all the games played was with other Yavus. Funny gun layout. The usual fore and aft battery layout. However the two midship batteries are offset from one another and facing fore and aft respectively. Which is odd to me. Had trouble adjusting to this setup in-game. Dispersion was all over the place at times at varying ranges which proved frustrating. It has singular torps (both sides) which took some time to utilise properly.

This ship is sailing under the European banner but is Turkish in origin. Weird enough ship that probably suits being Tier IV. 

The Australian Unique commander is now available through the latest Collection. 60 tiles to complete the Collection and earn him. I will wait for the collection release into the Armoury in Update 15.8 because, as per usual, Early Access to him means spending money when if you're just patient and wait, you will earn him for coal.

Was planning to quit this year. Changed mind. 

Was then planning to wean myself off daily play and settle for weekly at least. Changed mind again. 

Now settling for (1) just collecting any and all FREE rewards, (2) pick and choose what events to involve myself in, (3) generally take it easy while building up stockpiles resources, and (4) go for as many Research Bureau ships as I can get using the accumulated resources.  

There were loads of battleship players waiting in Asymmetric but hardly any cruiser or destroyer players. Usual situation these days. Took me a while before I could get a final game in Mecklenburg. 

Did well enough too. Had help initially from a very supportive Hawaii. After lurking behind an island while a friendly teammate Izumo died I decided to emulate a Pommern and emerged to charge boldly into the fray and took on a Monarch, Allende, Vladivostok, and Hawke at the same time. 

Very useful manoeuvrability, selective use of torps, and convenient citadel strikes meant I was able to survive the melee while contributing to the demise of the above ships. Sadly the Hawaii was sunk on the eve of our victory. 

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