Captain's Log - Episode 6

Conducting a freemium grind to tier eleven takes its time. Having racked up over 1500 matches so far it seems a bit far to go for the end result. But then again I'm not playing the game several hours per day like I could in times past.

Still it's a fun challenge and playing match after match against similar opponents while a little boring is actually good because I can learn what ships they have and how they prefer to fight. I am still able to mix things up myself by switching between my two primary battleships, the Bismarck (9) and Bayern (8).

The Bismarck is pretty accurate, but can get swamped easily if not paying attention, so I tend to keep it lightly armoured and favour speed over a heavily armoured setup. I find it better operating at the back of your team formation, able to advance and retreat with more freedom. 

The Bayern on the other hand can be played somewhat more aggressively. Loading up 3 or 4 stacks of belt armour you can approach targets at medium/close range and hurl shells on them. With the high dps afforded it by the generous bank of secondary guns, this can be a lot of fun. But beware of torpedoes and high angle shots from supporting ships. If you are being ranged, it's best to retreat.

Alternating between the two ships offers a bit of freedom from one-ship-only stress, coupled with a high level officer crew 90+ makes both ships that much more potent and interesting to play. If I'm not enjoying it in the one ship, however, I can simply switch to the other when needed.

I will be interested to try and unlock the heavy cruiser line for KM at some point, as the tier nine and eleven for most nations ca's seem very agile and dangerous, even able to take on battleships given the right situation. 

Once I obtain the H39 and it's upgrades I have the option to work on another km ship line expanding the officers I have to run them correctly. Initially I could switch to heavy cruisers, the class is similar to BB's in their officer requirements.

Then I always have the option of getting stuck into an entirely new nation. As I already have a USN Bogue, and IJN torp setup for light cruisers and submarines.

Carrier gameplay is very much about managing your squadrons of planes. It feels more like a real time strategy in the sky. Which is somewhat appealing having played many such games in the past.

There is still plenty of life in the game for me.

Captain's Log - Episode 3

Week three sees me having to begin a medium grind, and I'm ready for it. Experience and credits seems to be coming in at a steady pace and the game is becoming easier to grasp.

Occasionally a fun match or two comes my way. Maybe the opposing team have poor map control, or a clever opponent plays smart by not engaging fully but remains within the confines of his own team.

Patience is one of the first things to learn on navyfield 2, waiting for the enemy to come to you, let their guard down, not pay attention to you or not able to see you because of the fog of war.

Using auto aim versus these lower teir ships is more of a spam-click affair and while far less satisfying than manual aim, it is as this point far less taxing to use Auto aim when ships move so quickly and when scouts are non-existent.

Just a little while longer and I will have my first scout plane. Opening the way to scout and attack where I choose.

And by the looks of it the next battleship seems to be bristling with stronger guns and more of them. It looks fun, I may have to try manual aiming for a few battles to see how good the shell spread is. It will be ideal to learn manual aiming once I can actually scout.

I also noticed the next ship has anti-air guns as well. So I will get AAing as well. It seems like this will be a more rounded BB that can scout and deter planes by itself.

After getting used to handling all these things at once, later will be the time to refine my technique.

Captian's Log - Episode 2

After a second week of gaming, I have predominantly been using the KM Moltke with auto aim.

The auto aim is ideal when in games with no light, when you need to react fast to DD rushes and nearby targets.

The Moltke is fun to drive beacuse it is fast and is still a fairly reasonable (medium) size. When all the shells land on a target they cause good damage, able to sink another battleships in a few salvos.

The auto aim function is ideal as it allows rapid fire of all primary and secondary guns with ease. Which is helpful to deter Destroyers from straying too close.

The most frustrating thing at Teir V is the fact that you still dont have a scout. In navyfield 1 you have a scout at around level 40 in your Light/Heavy cruiser long before you have your first battleship.

This lack of a scout causes a few problems when everyone on your team is Teir 5 or below without scouts. Making for a relatively poor game experience compared to navyfield 1.

You could end up getting rushed by multiple DD's, unknowingly run right into the enemy team. Finally you could be in a BB battle and have to drive close to fire at the enemy beacuse there is simply no other choice.

All of the above are extremely poor options for BB players. Who invariably get attacked by every ship in range due to their size.

I live in hope that the next tier (VII) battleship, the Mackensen, which has a scout, will be a better experience.

Now the main grind begins. I am currently earning around 1200 exp and 800-1000 credits per match. Which is ok. This means I need to play around 100 matches before I can afford the next ship. Why mention this? To give you an idea of how long it will take you to get your ships.

Credits are becoming less of an issue due to the credit rewards obtained from sinking different classes of ships. In one match I got 6 rewards from sinking 8 ships. And yes I had a smile on my face after destroying 8 ships on my own, winning the round and receiving some 5000+ credits.

Things I need to bear in mind:

• The game is still new and in its infancy, things will always be changing.


• I don't have a scout yet, but that issue will be remedied with my next ship.


• Credits are becoming easier to obtain by sinking more ships.


• I am always conscious of conserving credits by not taking lots of damage and getting sunk.

• Buying upgrades for a ship is costly and a waste of time if you want to level up fast/first. The alternative here is to 'master' the ship upgrades later once you are ready

.

I usually check the teams at the beginning of the round. Some 'match-ups' can be obvious to determine a loss from checking the teams. Where ship classes above tier 5 usually can scout. Sometimes the number of crucial types of ships aren't balanced and one team is the clear favorite. Changes to the matchmaking system are coming soon.

The experience and upgrade system is akin to world of tanks. Upgrades cost experience to unlock. But you also have free experience, which is a little bit of exp earned that can be used on any ship not just the one ship you earned it with.

Captain's Log - Episode 1

Week 1, upon starting the game the changes are immediately clear. You choose a nation and captain. The captain can unlock or access all ships within that nation's ship tree without having to stick to a specific line.

I decided upon having a German KM captain primarily because of the range advantage their battleships had in navyfield.

I immediately plunged into battle with the first destroyer. I had to adjust to the ship speeds, weapons and torpedoes. The torpedoes can now be set to proximity, a helpful thing for new players.

It is clear that torpedoes make destroyers very lethal against all low level ships, particularly the larger cruisers and early battleships.

The gameplay is frenetic in the traditional early-game hobbit-war style. Players are still learning to control ships, fire weapons and capture islands. But things did improve, and it wasn't long before I was driving my first light cruiser.

Sinking ships is great, but destroyers have to pick the right time to strike. Charging first into battle attempting to offload a salvo of torpedoes wont work against a whole team of players who know what you're up to. Also destroyers have weak armour and health.

Capping islands is also a new thing to deal with. And they provide you with sight, which is quickly becomes crucial, as does the ability to work with your team. Destroyers can get to these islands fast to cap them.

My first week has proved to be challenging and fun.