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.

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.