Operation Hailstone 80th Anniversary

[Cirran]

I was hoping it there would be a different mission after finishing the Get 15 Bomb hits.

I took out my Ranger and managed to get 13 Bomb hits.

Took out my Serov and got 3 more hits in one Skip Bomb attack.

I figured I was good to go.

I was not. I learned that Skip Bombs do not count as Bomb Hits.

I finished the mission by taking out my Ranger again.

Personally I find playing CVs very stressful. (yes I know it is just a game.)

I can't see me doing this mission 9 more times to get some kind of crate. (unless of course the offered a guaranteed ship)

 

Cirran

[Snargfargle]

No farming ribbons in operations!

[Justin_Simpleton]

It's easier to just shoot down 10 planes.

[Nevermore135]

The new US CVs, particularly Yorktown, are very well suited to this mission. 15 bomb hits is easily doable in a single Coop battle if one uses their tactical bomber squadron on cooldown, and with 18 days remaining the mission can be easily accomplished 10 times in that period with minimal effort.

The big draw of this mission chain is that the Air Supply containers awarded have a very small chance of dropping Enterprise, a rare ship which has a lot of appeal to a large segment of the community even outside of those that play carriers regularly. These aren’t the old containers (which were reworked into the “Premium” version and had a very high chance of dropping one of the four ships), but for anyone with even a passing interest in acquiring CV-6 this represents a rare, no-risk opportunity to roll the dice and possibly nab her.

[Snargfargle]

10 minutes ago, Cirran said:

I took out my Ranger and managed to get 13 Bomb hits.

Good idea. I'd thought I would just farm the missions quickly in Coop. However, the bots at Tier X have too good of AA because everyone who plays Coop at Tier X plays an AA ship and kept killing off my dive bombers. I'm glad I saw your post. I'm taking out my Independence. This should save me a lot of time.

[Cirran]

1 minute ago, Nevermore135 said:

The new US CVs, particularly Yorktown, are very well suited to this mission. 15 bomb hits is easily doable in a single Coop battle if one uses their tactical bomber squadron on cooldown, and with 18 days remaining the mission can be easily accomplished 10 times in that period with minimal effort.

The big draw of this mission chain is that the Air Supply containers awarded have a very small chance of dropping Enterprise, a rare ship which has a lot of appeal to a large segment of the community even outside of those that play carriers regularly. These aren’t the old containers (which were reworked into the “Premium” version and had a very high chance of dropping one of the four ships), but for anyone with even a passing interest in acquiring CV-6 this represents a rare, no-risk opportunity to roll the dice and possibly nab her.

I have the Enterprise (was a gift from a friend).

Easy to some is WAY too much stress for me. (see my statement in my OP.)

To those who enjoy it more power to you and I hope everyone who completes the mission gets something they really want.

 

Cirran

[Snargfargle]

3 minutes ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

It's easier to just shoot down 10 planes.

That has to be done in Ranked or Randoms though. I found this out when I was chasing bot planes all over the place in my last match only to find it didn't count.

[Cirran]

1 minute ago, Snargfargle said:

Good idea. I'd thought I would just farm the missions quickly in Coop. However, the bots at Tier X have too good of AA because everyone who plays Coop at Tier X plays an AA ship and kept killing off my dive bombers. I'm glad I saw your post. I'm taking out my Independence. This should save me a lot of time.

Is it me or is the Independence built like a tank? 
From my observations unless you land torp hits, she takes a lot more hits to sink than the Ranger or Serov. 

 

Cirran

[Snargfargle]

10 minutes ago, Cirran said:

Is it me or is the Independence built like a tank? From my observations unless you land torp hits, she takes a lot more hits to sink than the Ranger or Serov.

I moved up into a cap just now in Coop and a bot Omaha there tried to torp me all match without sinking me. It only occasionally hit me though. I had about 180,000 potential damage and 22,000 actual damage.

The Independence, with its side-aimed dive bombs and large, fast-regenerating squadrons is great for farming bomb hits for this mission. I completed an iteration in one match.

I didn't even know I had the Independence in my Port until I was looking for a Ranger (which I didn't have as I only had a Lexington when the rework dropped and never bought a new one). I must have gotten the Independence in the same event I got the Yorktown in.

 

 

[Nevermore135]

30 minutes ago, Cirran said:

I have the Enterprise (was a gift from a friend).

Easy to some is WAY too much stress for me. (see my statement in my OP.)

Per my earlier post, the time/effort/stress involved in completing these missions can be greatly reduced if one approaches it in the right manner. Like most missions, choosing the appropriate ships in the appropriate game mode with the appropriate strategy can greatly ease the process. Some missions still won’t appeal to some players for various reasons, of course. To each their own.

As I alluded to above, this mission does seem to be tailored towards the new US CVs currently in early access, which have HE bomber tactical squadrons that are both easy to use and very forgiving as well as enhanced fighters. Yorktown in particular releases 12 bombs per drop and it’s very easy to score 8+ hits per drop on a dumb broadside bot BB. Even with Independence, which drops half as many bombs per squad, one can easily score enough hits to complete the chain with as little as a single Coop battle per day. Those that are interested in completing these missions would be well-served to use one of those ships to complete it (just don’t spend real money to unlock Essex, that’s what WG wants ).

30 minutes ago, Cirran said:

To those who enjoy it more power to you and I hope everyone who completes the mission gets something they really want.

One should never approach containers with the expectation that one will win the “big prize,” even in situations like this where there is no monetary risk involved. That being said, this is pretty low-hanging fruit, and the 1000 community tokens earned along the way is nothing to sneeze at either.

7 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

The Independence, with its side-aimed dive bombs and large, fast-regenerating squadrons is great for farming bomb hits for this mission. I completed an iteration in one match.

I didn't even know I had the Independence in my Port until I was looking for a Ranger (which I didn't have as I only had a Lexington when the rework dropped and never bought a new one). I must have gotten the Independence in the same event I got the Yorktown in.

Yup. This mission seems to be aimed at getting more players to experiment with the new US CVs. Independence was awarded in last patch’s free event pass, while Yorktown was part of the paid event pass.

Edited February 10 by Nevermore135

[Snargfargle]

7 minutes ago, Nevermore135 said:

 Independence was awarded in last patch’s free event pass, while Yorktown was part of the paid event pass

I unlocked both sides of the CV event with some doubloons that I had saved up from a previous event so I could get the Yorktown. I guess I never noticed I got the Independence too.

[Cirran]

23 minutes ago, Nevermore135 said:

Per my earlier post, the time/effort/stress involved in completing these missions can be greatly reduced if one approaches it in the right manner. Like most missions, choosing the appropriate ships in the appropriate game mode with the appropriate strategy can greatly ease the process. Some missions still won’t appeal to some players for various reasons, of course. To each their own.

As I alluded to above, this mission does seem to be tailored towards the new US CVs currently in early access, which have HE bomber tactical squadrons that are both easy to use and very forgiving as well as enhanced fighters. Yorktown in particular releases 12 bombs per drop and it’s very easy to score 8+ hits per drop on a dumb broadside bot BB. Even with Independence, which drops half as many bombs per squad, one can easily score enough hits to complete the chain with as little as a single Coop battle per day. Those that are interested in completing these missions would be well-served to use one of those ships to complete it (just don’t spend real money to unlock Essex, that’s what WG wants ).

One should never approach containers with the expectation that one will win the “big prize,” even in situations like this where there is no monetary risk involved. That being said, this is pretty low-hanging fruit, and the 1000 community tokens earned along the way is nothing to sneeze at either.

Yup. This mission seems to be aimed at getting more players to experiment with the new US CVs. Independence was awarded in last patch’s free event pass, while Yorktown was part of the paid event pass.

I disagree with you completely.

I do hope you have fun with the mission.

I give you the final word in our discussion.

 

Cirran

[BlueMax1916]

Hornet has 'Carpet Bombers' and you can score 8 to 9 hits on large targets in one go. Finished the mission chain in Coop before the news about it was even posted. And I am a CV noob. Got Hornet from a crate and remembered it has those B25s.

[Nevermore135]

5 hours ago, BlueMax1916 said:

Hornet has 'Carpet Bombers' and you can score 8 to 9 hits on large targets in one go. Finished the mission chain in Coop before the news about it was even posted. And I am a CV noob. Got Hornet from a crate and remembered it has those B25s.

UK CV carpet bombers are also pretty decent at racking up large numbers of hits. Of course, they're not applicable for this mission. *facepalm*

There are lots of easy ways to complete this mission for those actually looking for one (or happen to stumble upon it in your case ). It’s also not particularly difficult to compete through normal play, assuming one plays at least the occasional battle in any applicable CV.

Edited February 11 by Nevermore135

[Ensign Cthulhu]

17 minutes ago, Nevermore135 said:

UK CV carpet bombers are also pretty decent at racking up large numbers of hits.

If only they were eligible for this mission!

US CARRIERS ONLY. @Cirran, this is why your Serov game didn't count.

Edited February 10 by Ensign Cthulhu

[Wulf_Ace]

Just use FDR, 15 bomb hits in just one planes run.

[Snargfargle]

Well, Operation Hailstone was a bust. Just a couple of small packs of "meh" economic consumables. Now that I look more closely, I guess the odds of getting a Premium ship were only 0.4% per drop.

 

Edited February 11 by Snargfargle

[Daniel_Allan_Clark]

29 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

Well, Operation Hailstone was a bust. Just a couple of small packs of "meh" economic consumables. Now that I look more closely, I guess the odds of getting a Premium ship were only 0.4% per drop.

 

Honestly, what were you expecting?

The house to pay out?

This is WG...they are very rarely generous.

[Ensign Cthulhu]

2 hours ago, Wulf_Ace said:

Just use FDR, 15 bomb hits in just one planes run.

Well, you know, some of us don't have that much steel - or choose to spend it on other things when we do.*

 

* This is not a CV-bashing statement - I like them, but FDR has a few quirks which as a co-op player make me think she's not suited to my needs. 

[Kynami]

7 hours ago, Cirran said:

Is it me or is the Independence built like a tank? 
From my observations unless you land torp hits, she takes a lot more hits to sink than the Ranger or Serov. 

 

Cirran

It dies fairly quickly to HE. Just don't attempt using low caliber AP against it. It has a very troll citadel where the only portion that is level with the waterline is entirely hidden behind the torpedo protection. The third of it that isn't covered by the torpedo protection is fully below the waterline.

[Wulf_Ace]

7 hours ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Well, you know, some of us don't have that much steel - or choose to spend it on other things when we do.*

 

* This is not a CV-bashing statement - I like them, but FDR has a few quirks which as a co-op player make me think she's not suited to my needs. 

he is perfect for Co Op, unlimited planes for attacks instead of going back all the times.

[Wolfswetpaws]

12 hours ago, Wulf_Ace said:

Just use FDR, 15 bomb hits in just one planes run.

A nice thought.

But, I don't have an F.D.R. in my Port.
I'm not opposed to welcoming the F.D.R. into my Fleet.  But, I've not gotten around to doing so, yet.

[Wolfswetpaws]

11 hours ago, Snargfargle said:

Well, Operation Hailstone was a bust. Just a couple of small packs of "meh" economic consumables. Now that I look more closely, I guess the odds of getting a Premium ship were only 0.4% per drop.

 

True enough.
But, for those of use who would like that 0.4% chance, this is better than nothing.  🙂 

[Snargfargle]

8 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

 for those of use who would like that 0.4% chance, this is better than nothing.  🙂 

If the chance of winning the Powerball lottery was 0.4% I'd be buying a ticket every day. The odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 0.00000034%, yet people still play.

 

Edited February 11 by Snargfargle

[Wolfswetpaws]

Just now, Snargfargle said:

If the chance of winning the Powerball lottery was 0.4% I'd be buying a ticket every day. The odds of wining a Powerball jackpot are 0.00000034%, yet people still play.

 

I got a winning ticket as a Christmas stocking-stuffer.  
It paid-out two dollars.
Better than nothing, but not the result I was hoping for.  😄