D-Day operations

[Asym]

10 hours ago, Viridem said:

I'm really not enjoying this game mode.

I'll pass.

Well, the division I play ops with every night decided to play D-Day.  Oh my, what a Pocked up, hot mess.

Think about this:  this is a game of a movement to contact. And yet, this mode of D-Day is clearing mine fields (at 1 knot)?  Getting shot from every direction and it actually becomes almost asymmetrical:  enemies to the left of me, enemies to the right, here I am......Stuck in the middle with you.....(from a song....)

All of the "perks" that no one has any idea of....  Targets that in range of your guns and you can't shoot them till you get "danger close" - which, defeats the entire concept of Range !  Your torpedoes simply can't hit enemy ships....  OK, I get it.........PASS !!!!!

And, no matter what you do, you actually can earn more in COOP !!!  With, 1/10 the stress !   Pass, Pass and more Pass....

[majmac]

I have found that the Atlanta is a good ship for this D-Day operation.

It has sixteen fast-firing guns, RADAR, and, launches its ASW charges to the side, not behind.

It quickly picks up the E-boats with its RADAR (though you need to get used to its floaty shells); it travels through minefields at 1/4 speed dropping off its ASW from each side, which very quickly clears the minefield; and its HE is great for quickly reducing the airfields, while its AP destroys gun emplacements without too much trouble. Oh! Its AA makes short work of aircraft as well.

Its rate of fire means you can take out about four to five DDs in the end-game. I do not miss having torps, as the games are only ten minutes long.

I have been averaging over 250000 credits per game without using boosters.

However, I only play about three games a day, as this mode is quite boring.

Edited May 31 by majmac

[a252]

I like the d-day ops.

A good place to fire up blue ribbon to farm resources with Atlanta. Overall I did ~16 for Wednesday and Thursday.

However the happy time soon ends as I would expect stiffer competition as people are picking up how to play this scenario. An involution just like pre-rework narai...

[Yedwy]

Tried one in Belfast, not qute sure I want to try another one TBH

[Admiral_Karasu]

20 minutes ago, Yedwy said:

Tried one in Belfast, not qute sure I want to try another one TBH

How so, if I may be so curious as to ask?

[Project45_Opytny]

14 hours ago, Arcus_Aesopi said:

Unfortunately, it (and the B version) reverts to stock when the scenario actually starts.... (just learned that)

It seems that a similar effect like the previous Pinata Hunt is applied: upon entering a battle, all player warships other than rental [La Galissoniere] will be coated in a random "historical" paint scheme.

Currently I have identified at least Hunter, MS-21 and European paint schemes.

[Yedwy]

20 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

How so, if I may be so curious as to ask?

Ok lets see...

1) Bunch of super fast little s*ts (torpedo boats) that are nearly impossble to hit properly

2) Every "coastal gun" shoots you when you are in range and you are shooting the  "AA guns" but you cant see them, target them or shoot them back untill they appear by magic at some point (not sure if its just time triggered or achievent triggered after one goes the AA guns task but they only got wisible after I destroeyed the 4 AA guns)

3) Minefields upon more minefields that you need to devote 100% of your attention while traversing couse the mines are all over the place aand in the mewanwhile planes are strafing you and topr sh*s are dropping fish on you from the sides

4) You get strafed by hard hitting rocket planes later on and while you can shoot the airfield they are coming from its not even credited

 

Ship specific

1) You dont relly have any use of any consumable other then a superheal and perhaps radar

2) You need the best possible reload on the guns

3) Since you are focused hard later in the op you kinda really need that heal

All that is making Belfast a rather daunting prospect, TBH i woulnt even ho in there in anythng else then Boise or somesuch at least cruier wise

 

Overall the experience at least with Belfast was annoying AF

Edited May 31 by Yedwy

[Admiral_Karasu]

21 minutes ago, Yedwy said:

Ok lets see...

1) Bunch of super fast little s*ts (torpedo boats) that are nearly impossble to hit properly

2) Every "coastal gun" shoots you when you are in range and you are shooting the  "AA guns" but you cant see them, target them or shoot them back untill they appear by magic at some point (not sure if its just time triggered or achievent triggered after one goes the AA guns task but they only got wisible after I destroeyed the 4 AA guns)

3) Minefields upon more minefields that you need to devote 100% of your attention while traversing couse the mines are all over the place aand in the mewanwhile planes are strafing you and topr sh*s are dropping fish on you from the sides

4) You get strafed by hard hitting rocket planes later on and while you can shoot the airfield they are coming from its not even credited

 

Ship specific

1) You dont relly have any use of any consumable other then a superheal and perhaps radar

2) You need the best possible reload on the guns

3) Since you are focused hard later in the op you kinda really need that heal

All that is making Belfast a rather daunting prospect, TBH i woulnt even ho in there in anythng else then Boise or somesuch at least cruier wise

 

Overall the experience at least with Belfast was annoying AF

So far only given Utah Beach one go, and that was with a DD but I recognize some of the problems you mention though not all of them, maybe.

The little bothers are clearly faster than any DDs, they require about 33% more lead, and your ship guns better have flat arcs or you have little chance of hitting anything apart from the coastal installations.

As for cruisers, I wonder are the ASW plane drops an easier and safer way than using depth charges for the job. I got hit by one mine which took about half my health because they were suddenly very very close to each other.

[Asym]

54 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

How so, if I may be so curious as to ask?

As I said above:  it isn't "value added" to play a mode this terribly designed.  It's simply not any fun....!!!  As I said, we went in a full division of experienced players.  We've all been in WoWs for years.  We have one players whom loves it.....  Why, because for him, it is slower paced and sitting in a mine field appeals to him for some reason.

Yes, I tried the Atlanta.  And no, with it's lofty, low velocity shells, it's about as ineffective as any other slow velocity armed ships.  Good grief.   Settled on the Bayard. 

As an IJN main I have a great many more axis ships and playing this mode with allied ships simply sucks....

I tied it over many games last night and to honest:  it is much better to play operations at a higher reward.  I won't return to D-Day and my Dockyard is done anyway......  Why abuse myself......on a poorly designed mode.

Edited May 31 by Asym

[thornzero]

It is sorta a little fun. [when you have a good team and actually win.] I am not a cruiser person but I took Helena in for sh!ts and giggles. It was difficult hitting the small boats but not impossible. As soon as the airfield is lit up I hit it with everything and destroy it in short order. This should minimize the minefields a little. With some random teams we did get some stars. I imagine when people practice a bit it will get easier. Its only been a couple days barely. Some people were using the rental ship. I just happened to have the american cl line up to dallas and fxp'd to helena. But cruisers are not my cup of tea but I figured in an ops with bots it wouldn't be a horrible experience.

[Wolfswetpaws]

8 hours ago, Asym said:

Well, the division I play ops with every night decided to play D-Day.  Oh my, what a Pocked up, hot mess.

Think about this:  this is a game of a movement to contact. And yet, this mode of D-Day is clearing mine fields (at 1 knot)?  Getting shot from every direction and it actually becomes almost asymmetrical:  enemies to the left of me, enemies to the right, here I am......Stuck in the middle with you.....(from a song....)

All of the "perks" that no one has any idea of....  Targets that in range of your guns and you can't shoot them till you get "danger close" - which, defeats the entire concept of Range !  Your torpedoes simply can't hit enemy ships....  OK, I get it.........PASS !!!!!

And, no matter what you do, you actually can earn more in COOP !!!  With, 1/10 the stress !   Pass, Pass and more Pass....

Heh.  🙂 
Yeah.  The phrase, "Well, you're not wrong", comes to my mind.

I played a few D-Day games, last night, without being in a division.  Just a random assortment of players arranged by the match-maker.  
One of them (in the first game) asked in battle-chat if anyone had any idea how to play this scenario.
I took the opportunity to mention there are a couple of topics about it on the www.DevStrike.net forum.  🙂 

The minefields are a tedious obstacle, which could be cleared properly if the scenario lasted 60 minutes instead of 20.
Instead players are forced to find/discover the gaps in the minefields or sail very close to the shoreline.
And sailing close to the shoreline exposes one's ship to the land-based gun emplacements, some of which are hidden in the wooded areas.

I continue to have the impression that the player team should be allowed to have more ships.
And the player team could benefit from air-cover in the form of fighter patrols (sortied from England and assigned to the air-space over our own ships, but not expected to venture into the shore-based AA/Flak bubbles).
Some fighter/bomber groups would be nice to have, also, to attack and damage (if not outright sink) the schnellboats and destroyers which sortie for the red-team.

Of course, actual military operations of this scale would have a plan that the participants would be briefed upon.
Everyone would be told their assigned roles to play and tasks to accomplish.
But, there's no briefing for this game scenario.  No plan provided.  The players are expected to "figure it out".
Which, might be normal for playing a game.  But, I think it would be unacceptable in real-life.

The ships I sailed last night were the Oklahoma and the West Virginia '44.
After less than 5 games my desire to continue playing the D-Day scenario (for curiosity and playtesting purposes) was exhausted.  (Even if the teams I was on actually "won" a couple of times.)
So, I moved-on to playing some Co-op games.

Might be interesting to play with a division that thoroughly researched and rehearsed the D-Day scenario, though.

[thornzero]

40 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

The players are expected to "figure it out".
Which, might be normal for playing a game.

I don't think its horrible to have a learning curve. 

[Nevermore135]

2 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

As for cruisers, I wonder are the ASW plane drops an easier and safer way than using depth charges for the job. I got hit by one mine which took about half my health because they were suddenly very very close to each other.

ASW airstrikes are nearly useless for clearing minefields. They drop too few charges with too little area of effect. In my experience you are destroying only 1-2 mines per drop (depending on where you are in the minefield, which determines density). It’s simply not practical to clear a path.

Edited May 31 by Nevermore135

[Wolfswetpaws]

9 minutes ago, thornzero said:

51 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

The players are expected to "figure it out".
Which, might be normal for playing a game.

I don't think its horrible to have a learning curve. 

From a playing-a-game perspective, it's understandable.
But, it remains as a "quibble", for me.

[Admiral_Karasu]

1 minute ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

From a playing-a-game perspective, it's understandable.
But, it remains as a "quibble", for me.

I see... so it's like a 'learn fast or sink fast' type of scenario then?

[Wolfswetpaws]

Just now, Admiral_Karasu said:

I see... so it's like a 'learn fast or sink fast' type of scenario then?

Try it for yourself.  Might be a walk in the park for a player like you.  🙂 
 
 

[Yedwy]

2 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

So far only given Utah Beach one go, and that was with a DD but I recognize some of the problems you mention though not all of them, maybe.

The little bothers are clearly faster than any DDs, they require about 33% more lead, and your ship guns better have flat arcs or you have little chance of hitting anything apart from the coastal installations.

As for cruisers, I wonder are the ASW plane drops an easier and safer way than using depth charges for the job. I got hit by one mine which took about half my health because they were suddenly very very close to each other.

I might give it one more try ina Rodney just to see if its a better experience in a BB but if not it ll be good by and bye...

[Verblonde]

After a few battles last night, my personal jury is still out. The minefields are a pain (and - as mentioned above - air drops aren't terribly effective against them), and the S-Boots are a bugger to hit (although that may be a skill gap on my part).

I spent much of yesterday wishing I could do the thing in Scharn or whatever the T7 battlecruiser is called (or, better yet, the weeb version for extra credits)...

[Gaelic_knight]

got 5 stars twice last night 

most was either 3 or 4 stars

 

 

Edited May 31 by Gaelic_knight

[Admiral_Karasu]

3 minutes ago, Yedwy said:

I might give it one more try ina Rodney just to see if its a better experience in a BB but if not it ll be good by and bye...

Perhaps it will be a better experience.

[Daniel_Allan_Clark]

9 hours ago, majmac said:

I have found that the Atlanta is a good ship for this D-Day operation.

It has sixteen fast-firing guns, RADAR, and, launches its ASW charges to the side, not behind.

It quickly picks up the E-boats with its RADAR (though you need to get used to its floaty shells); it travels through minefields at 1/4 speed dropping off its ASW from each side, which very quickly clears the minefield; and its HE is great for quickly reducing the airfields, while its AP destroys gun emplacements without too much trouble. Oh! Its AA makes short work of aircraft as well.

Its rate of fire means you can take out about four to five DDs in the end-game. I do not miss having torps, as the games are only ten minutes long.

I have been averaging over 250000 credits per game without using boosters.

However, I only play about three games a day, as this mode is quite boring.

What about folks who don't have Atlanta?

[Yedwy]

9 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Perhaps it will be a better experience.

Perhaps, I ll also restore my Boise in a day or two when the lockout is over and try her...

[Justin_Simpleton]

15 minutes ago, Yedwy said:

I might give it one more try ina Rodney just to see if its a better experience in a BB but if not it ll be good by and bye...

I've played the Nelson and WV 44 and once with Colorado.  WV 44with a secondary build is perfect for taking out the e-boats; I killed 5 while navigating a mine field.  Nelson can take out some e-boats with main guns and the secondaries will occasionally kill some.  I use the ASW planes to drop in front of my direction while going 1/4-1/2 speed or in front of my teammates if I'm not in the minefield. 

It's very difficult to assess the capabilities of the allied ships on the fly to know how to coordinate tactics.

Edited May 31 by Justin_Simpleton

[Admiral_Karasu]

4 minutes ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

I've played the Nelson and WV 44 and once with Colorado.  WV 44with a secondary build is perfect for taking out the e-boats; I killed 5 while navigating a mine field.  Nelson can take out some e-boats with main guns and the secondaries will occasionally kill some.  I use the ASW planes to drop in front of my direction while going 1/4-1/2 speed or in front of my teammates if I'm not in the minefield. 

It's very difficult to assess the capabilities of the allied ships on the fly to know how to coordinate tactics.

Secondaries, hmm.. is there any kind of a mini Massachusetts in the game?

[UnderTheRadarAgain]

Atlanta is a fantastic pick. But Eendrach is better. The airstrike kills the airfield in a single drop.

The guns are accurate and have flat arcs which make killing s-boots quite easy (especially compared to Atlanta). The HE is effective against the airfield and the AA as well. And the AP is as good as Atlanta against the gun emplacements.

I played 15 games so far, all wins. Asia server. It's obvious most players are inept and clueless, so you got to take charge and focus the PRIMARY objectives first.

Spot the AA, and kill the 4 emplacements. This triggers the spotter planes that sweep in from behind - revealing the gun casements and the airfields. Kill all of those. Killing the airfields stops the air attacks on our ships. Killing the gun casemates stops them from killing the LST's that get past the final red not spawns and the minefield drops that come in from off map.

The minefields need to be cleared and at least 3 LST's from both flanks need to reach the beach if you hope to get 5 stars.

But you do not need any to survive at all to win the operation. All you must do is the PRIMARY objective which is supress/kill the gun emplacements and the AA. 

The entire op is easy when you focus on the objectives and take a ship suitable for everything. Ship based depth charges is a MUST. It's too bad the community demanded plane based asw on all the cruisers. At least we have 3 viable cruiser picks. Eendracht, Flint and Atlanta.

I don't rate BB's at all. But you can make do with a BB if you focus on the primary objectives.