[2022] 6/21/22 - New Player Captain’s Log: We Got a Great Big Convoy

Greetings Captains,

Welcome to this week’s edition of the New Player Captain's Log! For those of you who aren't sure what this is or what it might do, feel free to check out the introductory post here.

Eagle-eyed readers of this blog might also notice that this week, I introduced something brand new to the fold: Questions! With each topic I discuss, I also added a question at the end to see how y’all feel about things in comparison to how I feel. I just thought it would be an interesting way to get some discussion going!

Without further ado, let’s proceed with Week 21!

Accomplishments
Here’s a list of personal milestones that I hit during the week:

1. Played Convoy mode for the first time
2. Continued to make strides when it comes to Italian Cruisers
3. Explored submarines in Co-op

Focus Points of the Week
Here’s a list of the focus points for this week:

1. Continue to work on proper cruiser strategy through mid-tier Italian Cruisers
2. Explore some other ship classes

Improving with Italian Cruisers Ships: Montecuccoli, Trento

I continued to primarily play the Italian Cruisers this week. When I was working with Ahskance in a previous week, he had suggested that I play some Co-op matches and work on doing my best to make sure that every shell hits the enemy ship at various angles. This was a result of me struggling to land some shells when enemy ships were angled in certain ways. In addition to my time in Randoms (which had some mixed success), I played some Co-op matches to work on my aim. I think I am understanding/improving somewhat in that regard! There is still a lot to work on before I can consider Cruisers as a comfortable class, but I am still very much enjoying the ones I am playing currently.

Question: What are some cruiser lines that you all would recommend for newer players?

“Deep” Dive with Submarines Ships: Cachalot, U-69

I spent my first real chunk of time with submarines this week. As we all know, there have been regular adjustments made to subs for balance purposes, and I think it is very important for me as a Community Manager to get hands on with these changes so that I can communicate them effectively with the community that I serve. As I had little to no experience with them prior to this week, I stuck to Co-op matches so I could get an understanding of the controls and mechanics. Personally, I got the most enjoyment from playing subs at a bit of a distance and utilizing the combo of ping/homing torps over the “shotgunning” strategy (not that it is super possible with Tier VI subs anyway). I haven’t really played enough just yet to have a full-fledged opinion on submarines but I am excited to investigate them further to see how they fit in (or don’t) with my play style.

Question: How do you feel about the most recent Submarine changes? Please keep responses respectful and constructive (i.e. saying "just remove subs" or "put them in the tech tree" isn't super helpful, but explaining what you like or don't like is helpful).

Great Big Convoy Ship: Montana

With the time I had left this week, I tried out my first few matches of Convoy mode! Geez, that is just a really fun game type. There’s all kinds of strategy and prediction that can go into it. I also particularly enjoyed that the convoy takes three separate paths, as I feel it creates dynamic, evergreen gameplay experience. I couldn’t resist the temptation of my beloved BBs, so I took the Montana out for the couple of matches that I played. It certainly seemed to work ok! I don’t believe that I was destroyed in any of the matches I played, but as I was still grasping the functions of this game mode I probably was not as effective as I could have been. I also noticed a lot of Grosser Kurfursts out there, so I may try out my own GK in Convoy to see how I get along?

Question: Are y’all enjoying Convoy as much as I am? What are your favorite ships to take into Convoy matches?

I think that about covers it this week! I want to remind everyone that the New Player Captain’s Log is also designed to be a place for new players to reply with their experiences or seek advice as well, so feel free to join in on the conversation below!

See you next week for some more New Player musings. Fair winds and following seas!

Ooh good tips! I think when it's time to move on to another cruiser line I might look at French, because I have heard some people echo the same sentiments as you.

I spent a lot of time working on operations in some previous iterations of this blog, but it has been some time. Maybe I should play them a bit more now for the very reasons you outlined.

Do you have a preference for attacking or defending? If so, which one?

I definitely plan on it! Co-op has been good for me to just get a general sense of how subs while mitigating my impact on my team, but I will def take them into Randoms soon.