August Digest #2

World of Warships

A new Tier X Japanese destroyer became available through bundles. Fuyutsuki. The total sequential bundles (they increment by one crate per sequence) in order to claim the ship for 1 credit is ten sequential bundles. The eleventh bundle will cost just one credit if you haven't already scored the ship. Or fifty-five crates. Or close to fifty thousand doubloons if you want to grab the entire lot. 

Chances are the same per sequential bundle with the ship dropping on the fifty-second drop. The sales pitch is that each crate contains three items but one is your usual "either/or" kind: "either" you score the ship "or" you receive resources instead. Of course the chance of the ship dropping is 2% which means you're more than likely to score resources unless you get "lucky". It's all stated in black and white so there's no hidden agenda apart from it being an obvious gamble. You just have to decide whether you want to spend money to improve your gambling chances.

I purchased just three sequential bundles because I still have doubloons from my compensation for a premium ship I scored last month. I paid for six crates (three sequential bundles). Did not score the ship but got some nice resources. 

And that's it for me with regards to committing further to this event. 

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Was wondering what happened to any accumulated Battle Pass points earned after claiming all the map sectors. Well, in the last area, there is a part where you spend your surplus BP points (as shown in image below). It's a set amount of economic bonuses and sigs and the occasional credits or coal.

And that's pretty much it. Mystery solved. Worth it? Not really. More grinding than the previous Event Pass. Up to you if you feel that way inclined. After seven years though I'm kind of jaded and a wee bit over this change for change sake. 

Anyway, checked out the devblog regarding Update 15.8 (September). It reports the return of the popular Festive Rewards (snowflake) event which will also run in conjunction with WG's 11th Anniversary festivities. 

A new ship is available as a reward - the Tier X Japanese super cruiser Kurama. It will cost 11,000 Festive tokens to purchase. It sits alongside several other rewards - mainly new crates - that look interesting enough. Will check them out more closely later. 

New Operations missions changes, especially with the introduction of lower-tiered mission. Primarily Tier II to IV will get a chance to play Operations. I believe WG is introducing this as a way for new players to learn the game rather than get overwhelmed or being seal clubbed by more unscrupulous players early in their WOWS "career". Also some changes to certain existing Operations mission, particularly Operation Killer Whale. 

New Dockyard event that I will likely pass on. Marlborough B is the reward. I have the original and played it a fair bit back in the day. A bit excruciating to be honest. Lots of guns but piss-poor penetration and weak armour. Poor gun angles too. No smoke. Unless they've buffed her, I don't see the point. I've not played Marlborough since its release.

TIP: With the Festive Rewards event, it's set up in two main parts. Part One requires you to play a ship. Let's say I choose the Tier V Kamikaze which I am currently assigned to upskill my Tier IX Kitakaze captain. I am required to earn 200 base XP in the Kamikaze. Let's say I achieve it in one game. I chose a Tier V ship because it's the lowest Tier that requires the least base XP earning. If I played a Supership, for example, I would need to earn 600 base XP! Go cheap therefore. 

Once I completed the first part, the next part kicks in. I now need to earn 1,000 base XP to unlock the snowflake reward. The size of a port fleet dictates how many snowflakes drop. The more ships in a port fleet, the more snowflakes drop. Pretty straightforward. For argument's sake, let's say I have over seven hundred ships. But first I have to earn the 1,000 base XP which I manage to complete in five games (because I choose to play Co-Op it will mean more games). This unlock seven snowflakes which I can now exchange on any port ship. Say I want to spend all seven tokens on my Tier X ships. At 125 tokens per Tier X ship, that's a total of 875 tokens earned. Or I could choose to spend it all on my superships which will net me a nice total of 1,400 steel (200 steel per supership).

Choose the battle mode to get your snowflakes faster. For me, it's sometimes Asymmetric. But I don't mind Co-Op because I'm not in any real rush or feeling competitive. Sometimes I will jump into Operations (depending on the specific mission though and your involvement) for a change of pace and variety. 

Like I've said many times before, I don't play Randoms (toxic), Ranked (boringly repetitive), or Brawls (not interested unless it's special exotic events like the Big Hunt or Transylvania). 

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SurrounDead

Tonight (Thursday) I happened to pass by the Tropical Resort and confirmed that there is no direct access to the roof from the riverside facade. In fact, once you reach to the top hotel floor, that's it. 

I posed the question online and one of the solutions offered by reddit was to be "creative" and use modular stairs to reach the roof. There was also information that some have already tried it and discovered there was nothing up there anyway. Furthermore it was also reported that the developer(s) are not planning to do anything to change that situation any time in either the near or distant future. So, those responses pretty much closed that adventure down apart from wanting to try the "creative" approach just for a lark.

But now that I have a Barrett rifle I can now make use of the military laptops looted to hunt down Coyote forces and take them out. Which also means exploring Redacted areas more closely as well as the Underground Rail networks for other desired items like a rocket launcher. Answers on reddit claim it's locatable but is very rare. After all, why have rockets as loot if not the launcher? Just have to be persistent as well as patient, I guess. 

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So I went back to the Tropical resort today (Sunday) with the express purpose of reaching the roof. I had prefabricated a quantity of modular stairs and half stairs. After a short delay, I was able to reach the roof from the top hotel floor.

Found an abandoned high tier crate still attached to its chute. But it was inactive meaning I could not open it. Like the good camper I am, I removed the stairs on my way back down so not to leave any trace of my being there. 

Now for that elusive rocket launcher....!

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Frederick II of Prussia

Currently slow-reading The Army of Frederick the Great by Christopher Duffy (2nd edition, The Emperor's Press, Chicago, IL, 1996).

Several times I've noted certain traits by this well-regarded "Great Captain" of history leave me underwhelmed or turned off. Such as his inability to admit he was wrong at times even when facts state otherwise. But then the fog of war does that often when evaluating great leaders.

The author and historian Duffy covers Frederick's entire war career from the First Silesian War 1740-42 through to the War of Bavarian Succession 1778-9. Which is a good thing because it reveals Frederick's development as a commander. 

I know of his fame as the developer of the Oblique Order of Attack which he displayed most gloriously at the Battle of Leuthen (1757) when it all seemed to come together perfectly. Yet there is more to why he is considered one of the "Great Captains" of military history, and why it is justified. 

His bias towards other non-Prussians was both a revelation but also unsurprising. A unified Germany as we know it nowadays back in the eighteenth century was not a concept. And it would never grow into the movement it became in the nineteenth century. 

Frederick's antipathy towards Saxony (and vice versa) seems surprising given that both countries shared a common language and yet be so opposed to one anther. But the Austrians also spoke German and yet were also long-time enemies of Prussia.  

To me it seems the groundwork for Frederick's system of war was laid by his predecessor, his father, Frederick William I, who built and presented his son with a well-disciplined and well-officered army that was the fourth largest on the European continent behind Austria, Russian, and France. Frederick William I also initiated the cantonment system whereby every Prussian region could field a trained reserve when needed. And quite often Frederick II was grateful for this ready reserve and his father's foresight.

Alongside the generous subsidy and reinforcement supplied by Great Britain when it eventually allied itself with Prussia, Frederick was able to instigate his various wars for so long despite the large losses. Certainly the armies of 1741 differed considerably to those from 1763 in terms of quality. 

I'm just over halfway through the book. Enjoying the read so far. 

It has certainly continued to pique my interest in the period that has endured for a very long time. 

I like the period for many reasons of which the colourful uniforms, the linear combat, the developing cavalry and artillery teeth arms, and growing improvements in musketry are just some of the positives. You could also say the "gentleman" style of warfare has an appeal too enticing to ignore. Something deliciously ironic watching "civilised" men in their perfumed wigs and walking sticks advancing on one another with murder in their eyes. Yet still behaving civilly once it's over. :) 

It certainly doesn't have that grandeur or the epic feels of the great battles of the Napoleonic era like Austerlitz, Borodino, or Leipzig though. Same colour and same expansive involvements but there is a distinct and different vibe between the two periods as far as I am concerned. 

I guess that's partly explains why I finally ended up buying Master of Command although I enjoyed playing the demo game and wanted to explore it further in greater depth aside from playing the Prussians. Maybe it will also somehow inspire me to complete my tabletop paper armies in this period, and help diminish my growing bucket list

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