Captains!

So, you liked the WOWSHOW and want something even more bombastically epic? Well we promised, and we’re delivering with "Best of 3", a new video series from the creators of "Sea Smackdown"! But you won’t find any jokes here! Each episode will highlight select moments of terrifically intense combat, as well as the best achievements and records of players in World of Warships. The pilot episode will feature the best results according to damage per battle. Let’s find out who the best brawler was!
https://youtu.be/BFjf-dIj_BQ

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To appear in our new series, it takes more than just showing phenomenal results. You have to share them with us!

If you have a great battle replay where you carried the game, simply log in to https://www.replayswows.com using your Wargaming account credentials, press the "Upload replay" button—and share your combat experiences!

Any player can send us an unlimited number of replays. Players will receive a reward for each replay that we pick for an episode!

In Updates 0.8.3 and 0.8.4 all players will be able to participate in the friendly "Victory" competition by joining either Team Honor or Team Glory.

For your successes in battle, you'll get Allowance Tokens that can be exchanged for special containers in the Armory, which in turn provide you with a chance to gain early access to Soviet battleships. These even offer an opportunity to get your hands on Tier VII Soviet cruiser Lazo! In this article, we'll tell you about all of the features and peculiarities of the new event.

https://youtu.be/0QBj9I28jMk

Each day you’ll choose one of the following teams:

• Team Honor values the great traditions of the Soviet Navy. Join the team and fight fearlessly for justice!
  
• Team Glory triumphantly copes with all missions. Join the team and write your own legend into history alongside the heroic deeds of Soviet sailors!

Having chosen your team, you’ll be taken to a version of Black Sea Port that will be painted in the colors of your team.

The competition starts: Fri. 26 Apr. 04:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Prepare your ships, mount signals and camouflages, and head into battle to fight alongside your brothers-in-arms, then earn the points that will deliver your victory! Each day, the team with most points, wins.

The crediting of points is put on hold one hour prior to the beginning of the next competition day. Battles fought after this time will not be taken into account.

Earning points is what will cause your team to prevail in the daily competition. Each day the results are summed up and players from the winning team who earned at least 1 point receive 4 Allowance Tokens. These can be spent in the Armory.

So, how can you earn them? It's very simple—just fight on your favorite Tier V-X ships in Operations, Co-op, Random, Ranked, and Clan Battles.
Please note, the rules of the competition available in the game client display an incorrect number for points awarded per star for each victorious battle in Operations.

In addition to the team rating, the competition will also have a personal rating: the "My Contribution" section has all of the information about team results, your personal achievements, and daily rewards. The more points you earn, the more tokens you get!

You might receive a personal order during Random and Co-op Battles. If you complete this, you'll earn additional points. The exact requirements of the order will depend on your ship.



Please note: an order can only be completed during the battle in which you received it in. Progress is not saved.

The order itself and progress towards it are displayed directly in battle or can be found under the Tasks tab accessed by pressing Tab.

Each day of the competition represents a separate Stage. The team with the most points per day wins the Stage. The following day, tasks for their personal rating will become harder for the winning team, and the rewards more valuable.



The losing team, however, always gets the normal difficulty level for their personal rating the following day.

At the same time, the losing team will receive a modifier that gets applied to the points they earn the next day, helping them to close the gap quicker. Bear in mind that this modifier is applied only to team points and doesn't have any effect on personal rating or the Wall of Valor.

Example: Team Honor wins the first day of the competition. The next day, players who choose to join this team will see the difficulty level for their personal rating rise to "Hard." Accordingly, in order to receive the maximum reward for their personal rating, they need to score 1,500 points instead of 500.

The difficulty level doesn't change for Team Glory, they still need to earn 500 points in order to get the maximum reward for their personal rating. At the same time, the number of points they earn for their team grows by 25%. So, if you enter a Random Battle in a Tier X ship and destroy 3 ships (60 points), receive a heroic achievement (160 points), and win (80 points), you will be awarded 300 points for your personal rating and 375 points (300+25%) for the team rating.

If Team Glory wins this day, the difficulty level for them rises to "Hard", while Team Honor's difficulty level returns to "Normal".

The Wall of Valor shows your achievements and enables you to compare your progress against the results of the Top-100 players.

The more points you've obtained and the higher your position on the Wall of Valor; the more tokens you get for the Armory at the end of the day.

The Wall of Valor is updated daily, and the final results become available as soon as a competition day ends. In the upper part of the table, you can select a particular day and see its results.

• The victory of your team in the current competition day—4 tokens.
  
• The number of points you earn for your personal rating—from 8 to 121 tokens per day, depending on the difficulty level.
  
• Wall of Honor's final results for a competition day—from 4 to 20 tokens.

By playing for one of the teams for 15 days in total, you'll receive a reward for loyalty to that team—a commemorative patch and flag. It's not necessary to stay with one team all days in a row. You are free to select a team depending on your preferences and difficulty level. Thus, you can earn rewards for playing on both teams if you wish.

By playing for either of the teams for a total of 20 days, you'll receive a commemorative patch and the "Victory" competition flag.

You can always consult the latest edition of the competition rules on a special tab in the event screen. There you’ll find a general description of the event, information regarding team balance, your personal progress, details on the Wall of Valor, an explanation of the loyalty and Will to Victory mechanics, and the rules for summing up the results of a day.


You can exchange any Allowance Tokens that you earn during the competition in the corresponding section of the Armory.

• Soviet Premium cruiser VII Lazo—1,500 tokens.
  
  • This Soviet Project 68 light cruiser has large dimensions and carries a formidable main battery that comprises twelve 152 mm guns. Lazo is well suited to long-range engagements. She excels at exchanging fire over long distances due to the trademark features of her Soviet artillery, and through utilizing the specific parameters of her Spotting Aircraft consumable. There are just a couple of Tier VII ships that can hold this cruiser accountable for her boldness.
• The special "Victory Banner" permanent camouflage for Soviet ships VIII Vladivostok, VIII Chapayev, VIII Ognevoi, and VIII Kiev—500 tokens.
  
• The expendable "Victory" camouflage—12 tokens.
  
• "Soviet Era" containers with a chance to get a combat mission granting early access to Soviet battleships—30 tokens.
  
• 3 days of Warships Premium Account—200 tokens.
  
• Various signals—the number of tokens required depends on the signal type.

Additionally, you can spend doubloons in the Armory to get hold of Soviet Era Premium containers. These come with a lavish amount of in-game loot and carry a high chance of unlocking early access to Soviet battleships.

You can view the full contents of the new Armory section in the game client.

One of the most pleasant features of the "Victory" competition is the chance it offers to players to be among the first to try out the Soviet battleships, an entire month before their release and introduction to the Tech Tree. "Soviet Era" containers can drop a combat mission that will reward you with one of these ships: V Pyotr Velikiy, VI Izmail, VII Sinop, and VIII Vladivostok.

These missions are very simple. To get a Tier V ship, you'll need to earn 10,000 Base XP in Operations, Random, Co-op, Ranked, or Clan Battles. For Tier VI—12,000 XP; Tier VII—14,000 XP; and to obtain Vladivostok you'll need to earn 16,000 XP.

As soon as you complete the mission, the corresponding battleship will arrive in your Port together with a 3-point Commander, a Port slot, and all modules researched and purchased.

You can complete these missions until June 24.

Please note: in Update 0.8.3 you can't research the next ship in the branch and a single account can get each combat mission only once.

The concept of Soviet battleships presupposes an aggressive playstyle and engagements at close and medium distances.

• Their main battery guns have good accuracy at close and medium distances, but as a trade-off they suffer from having the worst shell dispersion at long distances among all same-type ships. The accuracy of these battleships changes more dramatically with distance than it does for their counterparts.
  
• Powerful guns with decent armor penetration only reinforce the role of Soviet battleships as capable close-quarters brawlers. At Tiers IX and X they have turrets with high rotation speeds and convenient traverse angles, allowing you to quickly get your bearings in battle and react to any emerging threat in a timely fashion.
  
• Good armor that’s especially effective against high-explosive shells is another advantage, tipping the balance in favor of offensive tactics. Sailing at an acute angle will allow you to confidently advance while deflecting enemy shells.
  
• Another asset helping these ships survive in close-quarters engagements is the "Damage Control Party" consumable with some special settings, namely a quick reload time that will come in useful for high-intensity situations. However, pay close attention to one unusual feature: this consumable has only a limited number of charges.
  
• Despite having a rather large turning circle, Soviet battleships can easily carry out accurate maneuvers in the heat of battle and profit from their specific armor layout thanks to their quick rudder-shift times.

The new Soviet ships are quite unusual and differ from battleships of other nations. Keeping their peculiarities in mind, you'll need to review your conventional approach to the game. In return, the ships that form this new branch will reward you for skillfully working with the advantages they offer.

This is only the first part of the event that’s coming in Update 0.8.3. So hold tight, we have even more exciting things in store for you!

Select a team, fight, and earn rewards! The Soviet battleships await you!

Please note that the servers will be temporarily unavailable due to the release of an update. The schedule is available below.
Maintenance times are tentative and subject to change. Please accept our apologies for any inconveniences.

The new update will go live some time after it's been downloaded because the client and server sides are updated separately. While the client begins to update immediately, it takes time for the servers to be updated across all regions.

If there are problems with downloading or launching the update—please perform files integrity check.

Subtitles can be enabled in the video player separately.
https://youtu.be/v-3XFk6PUxE
Version 0.8.3 kicks off a cycle of updates focusing on Soviet battleships. Take part in a friendly competition entitled "Victory", moor your ships at the renovated Black Sea Port, and try out our new camouflages!

Comrades, it's time to stand tall and take part in the new friendly "Victory" competition! The game event is quite similar to the "Go Navy!" competition held last summer, but we’ve taken a combination of our experience and your feedback into account to create something even more interesting and exciting.

Each day, Update 0.8.3 sees you side with one of two teams—Glory or Honor. After making your selection you’ll arrive at a version of the Black Sea Port that’s stylized especially for your team.

• Enter battle in any mode on Tier V–X ships and complete personal orders.
  
• Earn points for your team and receive special tokens.
  
• Exchange tokens for valuable rewards in the Armory.
  
• Get even more rewards if your team wins.

Team points are summed up every day. The team with most points is the winner of the day, and all of its members receive additional awards.


In a Random or Co-op battle, you can receive a personal order. After completing it, you’ll earn even more points. The exact orders given are dependent on your ship and her individual characteristics.

Please bear in mind that an order can only be completed during the battle in which you received it.

Each day of the competition represents a separate Stage. The team with the most points on a given day wins the Stage. The following day, any orders given to the winning team become harder, and respectively—the rewards more valuable. The losing team will receive a bonus to team points earned on the day following its defeat. Thus, the losing team will be given a chance to reduce the points gap quicker.

The difficulty level for the winning team is reset in the case when the enemy team wins. The same applies to the bonus applied to the team points of the losing team if they win a Stage.

While participating in the event, you’ll receive special tokens that can be used in the Armory. You can exchange these for the new "Victory" expendable camouflage and special permanent camouflages for researchable Tier VIII Soviet ships: Chapayev, Kiev, and Ognevoi.

The major reward of the event comes in the form of containers that carry high probability of granting early access to Tier V–VIII Soviet battleships.

The Wall of Valor will display your achievements and compare your progress against the results of the Top-100 players.

The more points you obtain and the higher your position on the Wall of Valor; the more tokens for the Armory you will be rewarded with at the end of the day.

The Clan Base will also have its share of updates: the Treasury is a new structure for the Base. Once built, it provides the Clan access to the Treasury, where all of the Steel, Coal, and doubloons gained by the Clan is stored. The Treasury gets replenished as the Clan reaches the top rankings in the Global Rating of Clan Battles. In future there will be other ways to refill the Treasury with various resources. The resources stored there can be allocated by the Clan Commander and Clan Deputy Commanders.

World of Warships is undergoing continuous development, both technically and in terms of new content. Currently, graphics cards that support only DirectX 9 are considered to be outdated, and their characteristics don't meet our minimum system requirements. Unfortunately, all of the capabilities of DirectX version 9 have been depleted. Thus, with Update 0.8.3 our support for it ceases.

You can find more details regarding the reasons behind these changes in our article.

In 0.8.3, an x64 client version will be added. When you launch the game, it automatically determines which version of the client to use. On computers with 6 GB of RAM or more, an x64 client will be used; if your PC's RAM is less than 6 GB, it will use an x86 client. You don't need to download or configure anything additional. This version of the client makes good use of the advantages of the x64 architecture that’s so important for the game—it makes full use of the PC's RAM.


In the coming Update, we've optimized the Port even further. The Exterior section now enjoys improved performance: the mounting of signals, camos, and flags is much faster. This will be especially noticeable if you have a multitude of signals, camouflages, and flags.

It might be barely noticeable at first glance, but some very important changes have also been made to the Port's interface. Now, by pressing the ESC key, you can close all tabs at once and get to the Port. Additionally, for a more compact view, you can minimize the ship's technical specifications in the Port tab.

Our work on the game’s performance in battle continues. As part of this, in version 0.8.3 we’ve improved the performance of playing on aircraft carriers by optimizing the interface for some computer configurations.

Some additional news regarding aircraft carriers is that now the India Delta signal increases the efficiency of the Repair consumable used by squadrons.


We've updated one of the oldest ship models in the game—Yamato. After conducting research, we've managed to make the model even more detailed and historically accurate in terms of her appearance. She now looks as she did at the moment she set off for her final battle.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/552990/announcements/detail/1629649952195217087

Learn more about these new features and balance changes on our official website or in the in-game browser!
https://worldofwarships.eu/news/game-updates/update-083-the-victory/

Japanese battleship Yamato stands as one of the most famous ships in history. Even those unfamiliar with naval history have heard of her. A combination of her monumental look and having the largest guns ever put on a ship has drawn strong attention to her.

In World of Warships, the ship’s game model was one of the first to be added. The quality of our artists’ work improves every year, and the accuracy of our models also improves in conjunction with this. Therefore, it was decided to renew the game model of X Yamato, and you can hear about the difficulties we faced and how we resolved these in our new video.
https://youtu.be/Yy98fOPhM4E
In the beginning, we planned to base the model upon that of Yamato's sister, IX Musashi, which appeared in the game last year as a Premium battleship. This battleship was made in accordance with the current game requirements, and its creation also helped in recreating Yamato. Replacing all the objects on Yamato's deck was an easy task, placing them in a similar way to those on Musashi: guns, elements of her fire control system, and so on. But the contrast between the old hull and the new details was too stark. In the end, we made a decision to bring Yamato completely up to the new standard, also using our work on Musashi as a base.

The in-game version of Yamato represented her in her final form, with the maximum possible arsenal of AA guns. The main trouble was that there are no existing factory design drafts or detailed technical descriptions of the ship. There are even disagreements about her precise armament loadout. Also, there are no existing pictures aside from the aerial photographs taken by American planes flying over the burning ship, and several pictures of the deck where sailors had their photographs taken before setting out on her last cruise. In the former case, the quality of pictures is low, and in the latter, most of the shots are occupied by people, so you can barely see the ship behind them.



We had to resort to other sources: results from different research projects and reproductions with varying degrees of accuracy were found, such as the model in the museum in Kure. Of course, all of the credible sources are in Japanese, and the reproductions are full of discrepancies.

The surviving theoretical hull design is inconsistent with reality: it doesn't look like the hull in the picture, especially in terms of its fore- and aft-ends. There are drawings of particular details, but they are too distorted and don't align with each other due to their age and poor condition. For example, the superstructure drawings were useful, but they didn't show exactly where these superstructures were positioned on the hull.


As a result, the World of Warships ship engineers had to find a solution independently. For example, the frames were recreated by overlapping several drawings and aligning them over the least corrupted sections. As a result, everything came together quite well, and we are quite sure that Yamato’s silhouette replicates the original pretty accurately.

The pictures from her wreck on the sea floor also helped in determining general forms and structures. But unfortunately, deep-sea photography doesn’t produce detailed images, and the ship is also severely damaged.

The pictures taken by American bombers were another useful source. They helped us discover that, unlike Musashi, the anchor chains were loosened on Yamato. Also, some information from written memoirs was confirmed: prior to the last cruise, the pyramidal mast of Yamato's aft plane crane, to which the antenna span was attached, was indeed removed.


Finally, knowledge of Japanese philosophical principles, according to which symmetry means death and asymmetry means life, helped us look for mistakes on the model. If there was a detail located right in the center of the ship, thus being symmetrical, it required a closer look as to whether its location matched reality.


The team managed to maintain authenticity not only in general, but also in the smaller details, such as in the arrangement of doors, air vents, and portholes. New detailed armament models were created for the new Yamato, taking into consideration their different modifications.

After the battleship model was finished, we discovered that the polygon count significantly exceeded the limit. In favor of performance, the artists had to optimize the model and armament within a period of several days, while keeping the visual component intact.



Now we can proudly say that the Yamato model in World of Warships is the most authentic, and of the highest quality among those ever built in any virtual shipyard.

Have you already researched this incredibly beautiful ship?

Captains!

Last summer, the Sea Smackdown replay competition took a lengthy leave of absence, but the project team promised to come back with something equally interesting and spectacular. Now, they are delivering on their promise with the announcement of WOWSHOW. This series will collect and show interesting, curious, and just plain funny moments from our game. We invite you to dive into the first episode!
https://youtu.be/pS30UJjrpBo

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You need to log in to the website https://www.replayswows.com using your Wargaming account credentials. Then click the "Upload Replay" button and share your in-game stories! Don't forget to write the names of the show and your ship in the "Title" section, to ensure that we don't miss your replay. Example: #WOWSHOW (Tirpitz).


To be approved for our show, a replay should correspond to the following criteria:

• Duration of an episode or a pack of mini episodes shouldn't exceed one minute.
  
• Episodes should be funny, interesting, or just plain epic. The more entertaining; the better!

Any player can send us an unlimited number of replays. Players will receive a reward for every replay chosen for the show!

But wait, that's not all! Perhaps you made a video of a great battle which you simply won? Save it for future, as we're going to announce another new show that it might be relevant to. Follow the news to find out more!

Comrades!

The sailors and officers of the navy were always a shining example of unwavering and self-sacrificing commitment to the Motherland, demonstrating the traits of bravery, valor, and harsh discipline. The navy is truly a symbol of the dignity, power, and pride of a country.

Soviet battleships will arrive in our game soon. To honor the arrival of these esteemed seafarers, we've prepared a special video for this event which takes its inspiration from Soviet war movies. Please welcome the sea heroes of the USSR, finally heading into battle after decades of peace!
https://youtu.be/QESD2BizPO4

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As the battles for the Binary Star have ceased, the Rings of Saturn lay conquered, and the Space Assault rages on; the time has come to prepare yourself to catch the groove of the Torpedo Beat.

https://youtu.be/v7cGYx2gm4c


The general rules remain the same as the remaining stages of the Intergalactic Games. All players with access to combat missions and tasks in their Service Record are eligible for the new mode.

Please note that you need to switch to Space Battles in the "Select a battle type" tab, and you can participate in them only using special ships.

Starts: Mon. 15 Apr. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)

With the release of Update 0.8.3, the Intergalactic Games will come to an end and Space Battles will be no longer available. Spaceships will be removed from player accounts, and the XP earned with these ships will be transferred to Tier I cruiser Orlan.


Ordinary spaceships aren't fit to battle at the terminal speeds of the Torpedo Beat, which means it's time to get acquainted with your new rides. Your skills of torpedo evading and launching have never undergone such a hard test before!

VII Comet Trace

A ship of the third generation of the Calmbook class, she outperforms her predecessors with her top-notch maneuverability, as well as with her enhanced rocket and blaster armament. The ship stands out for having the fastest-reloading torpedo tubes, most powerful engine, and most ferocious guns. Comet Trace is ideal for close encounters, with the Engine Boost consumable helping her to get into the enemy's proximity even faster. This destroyer's prototype is X Gearing.

VII Celestial

A defending defender designed to defend defenders. Commander LilFish OG's favorite, yet not only ship. The main feature of the destroyer is her Hydroacoustic Search consumable, enabling you and your allies to spot enemy torpedoes from a great distance. At the same time, Celestial's torpedoes have the smallest detection range. This combination will give you confidence when fighting at medium ranges and also provides a chance to choose the best moment to launch your attack. The original version is destroyer X Z-52.

VII Rover

The very first destroyer starship, developed jointly by the Green and Red Alliances. Designed exclusively to keep up with the relentless rhythm of the Torpedo Beat, this ship is capable of unleashing pure molten-metal mayhem in the galaxy all by itself. Rover packs the fastest torpedoes, with immense damage and range. These torpedoes are the most conspicuous, but one salvo includes as many as 15 torpedoes. Due to the low traverse speed of her torpedo tubes, this destroyer should stay out of close-range combat. Skillful use of the Smoke Generator consumable can make the spaceship quite stealthy. Japanese destroyer X Shimakaze served as the prototype for this beauty.

Please note that when the last Stage of the Intergalactic Games begins, only VII Comet Trace and VII Celestial will be available to you. To obtain VII Rover, you will have to complete a special combat mission.

• Two teams of five destroyers each take part in the battle.
  
• Commanders will need to master new methods of evading torpedoes that are not applicable on Earth. The maximum speed of the ships has been increased to 90–110 knots, and their maneuverability has been improved, while their acceleration and slowdown time have been reduced.
  
• The main weapons are torpedoes with significantly boosted speed and a reduced reloading time of 15–25 seconds.
  
• The main battery guns are controlled by artificial intelligence and function as secondary armament. They've become much more accurate.
  
• Ships spawn with 1 charge of the Repair Party consumable. For the destruction of each enemy ship or for the loss of each allied ship, you will receive 1 additional charge of the Repair Party consumable.

The rules of the Rings of Saturn mode, albeit with slight changes, are applicable here. The time required to capture the center and each of the rings is 20 seconds, while the reward for holding each control point is 10 points per every 10 seconds. Points for the mere fact of capturing a ring are not awarded, unlike in the Rings of Saturn mode.

Both teams start with 500 points. You can win by destroying all enemy ships, gaining 1,000 points, or bringing the number of the enemy team's points to zero.

Battles are held on the Appulse map, which is inspired by the Hotspot map.

OST World of Warships - Torpedobeat (Svetlana Zubova)


The new mode comes with new combat missions.

List of missions and rewards

New achievements of the Torpedo Beat mode have been added to the already familiar ones:
All achievements can be obtained numerous times, but the reward for them is only given once per day.

To those of you who have won at least one battle on each map of the previous modes, a victory in the Torpedo Beat mode will bring the Star-Enshrined Olympian achievement. It can be obtained only once, with the award being 3 Sci-Fi Space camos, 3 Mars camos, and 3 Full Moon camos.

Turn the dial to the max and usher in the wild Torpedo Beat!

At 06:00 CEST (UTC+2) this Wednesday, two important changes will be made to the game. We'll update the limit on the number of aircraft carriers in Random Battles, and fix an issue with the incorrect dropping of bombs.

The update will be rolled out on the server side which means you won't need to download any extra content for the client.

• We've introduced a soft limit on the number of carriers in Tier X battles. Now, in the majority of instances, no more than one carrier will be allowed per team. But if the matchmaker fails to assemble a battle during the three minutes that the first player in the queue spends waiting to enter a battle, a maximum of two carriers may be matched per team. In Tier X battles (Tier VIII-X ships), situations with three CVs per team will no longer be possible, while the number of battles with two CVs per team will be reduced drastically.
  
  Bear in mind, however, that the above rules will only apply to battles involving Tier VIII-X ships. At lower tiers, the previous rules will apply, allowing up to three carriers per team to be matched to a battle. This is due to an increased popularity of carriers at those tiers, and their overall weaker influence on the outcome of a battle. More details are available here. We'll continue to keep an eye on the situation, and are ready to make any required fixes.
  
• Fixed an issue with the drop trajectory of a bomb being calculated incorrectly. The issue resulted in a targeted ship receiving more bomb hits than possible in cases when bombs were dropped at the last moment during approaches when the aiming circle only slightly "touched" the target with its edge.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Radio Location skill continuing to operate, even after a ship has been destroyed.

Here's a new video from the World of Warships team.

Subtitles can be enabled in the video player separately.
https://youtu.be/_56UOafRz_Y
Enjoy watching!

Join us on a tour of the new Japanese cruiser Azuma, or, perhaps we should call her a “super-cruiser”, since this predator of the waves walked a fine line between what’s considered to be a heavy cruiser and a battleship.

The historical equivalent of American large cruiser Alaska, fans of the Japanese fleet now have a new refreshing brand of long-range punishment in the form of Tier IX Azuma. Discover all of the ins and outs of the new ship in our article below!



Imperial Japanese Navy ship Azuma: a powerful piece built to fill a very specific portion of the jigsaw puzzle that was the Japanese naval doctrine. In this case, the project B-65 cruiser (which Azuma is based on) would play a key role in the dogma of the “Decisive Battle”, a philosophy which was central to Japanese plans for victory in a potential war with the United States. This idea was inspired by the singular naval victory at the 1905 Battle of Tsushima, which virtually settled the Russo-Japanese war in favor of the latter. Their goal in future wars was to whittle down the numerically superior enemy with mobile carrier strikes and night-time torpedo attacks, before dispatching the protective escort of lighter ships and then closing in and destroying the enemy capital ships with their own battleships. It’s in this capacity that Azuma would have come in.

In order to eliminate the protective cushion of destroyers and cruisers in this hypothetical event, the plan was for the Night Battle Force (Yasen Butai)—composed of destroyers, cruisers, and battlecruisers—to engage and neutralize them as night fell. The battleships would then duke it out with whatever forces were left the next morning. The initial requirements placed on these new cruisers called for a 40-knot top speed, three triple 310 mm gun turrets, and a heavy layer of armor.

Anticipating the new American ships that might be deployed as part of the enemy’s outer escort screen in their vision of the Decisive Battle, the Japanese design entered its second iteration—B-65. The new design, modified to deal with the new threat, strongly resembled a downscaled Yamato-class battleship and could reach 34 knots with her 32,000-ton standard displacement. Two B-65 ‘Azuma-class’ ships were ordered as part of the 1942 shipbuilding program, but their construction contracts were never awarded. The Battle of Midway had shown that a lot had changed since 1905, and that surface engagements were no longer the key to victory. Accordingly, the Japanese super-cruiser project was postponed indefinitely in favor of aircraft carrier and auxiliary ship production.

The Azuma that can be seen in World of Warships is the B-65 type as it would have appeared if it had been completed in the originally planned timeline of 1945-1946. As such, Azuma strongly resembles Yamato in her physical features, from her tower mast and swept-back funnel, to her gun configuration and stern aircraft catapult facilities.


Main armament: Nine 310 mm/50 Type 0 guns mounted in the standard 1940s battleship configuration of three triple turrets—two forward in a superfiring position and one on the stern. These guns were to be specially designed and built for the ‘Azuma class’, but they never even reached the prototype phase after the whole ship project was put in doubt. If she’d been completed, Azuma would have possessed the largest guns in the history of Japanese cruisers.


Secondary armament: Sixteen 100 mm/65 Type 98 dual-purpose guns in twin mounts on either side of the superstructure. These enclosed mounts were one of the most effective naval anti-aircraft weapons to come out of Japan in World War II. In addition to being used as the main armament for Akizuki-class destroyers, their success led to them being so popular that they were also adapted for use as anti-aircraft defense on land.


AA: 25 mm/60 Type 96 anti-aircraft cannons. Based on the Hotchkiss machine gun design, this weapon was perhaps the most widespread in the Japanese Navy during World War II, with over 30,000 constructed. By the end of the war, these guns would have become mostly obsolete due to the superior range and muzzle velocity of the 40 mm Bofors guns that were in heavy use on American ships.



When it comes to prepping your Commander to take control of Azuma, here’s a 10-point configuration to work off as a base, favoring survivability and gun handling:

Priority Target
The detection indicator will show the number of opponents currently aiming at your ship with their main battery guns. For an aircraft carrier's squadrons, the detection indicator will show the number of ships whose AA defenses are currently firing at your planes.

Expert Marksman
Increases the traverse speed of main battery guns.

Superintendent
Increases the capacity of your ship's consumables. Does not apply to the consumables of an aircraft carrier's squadrons.

Concealment Expert
Reduces the detectability range of the ship and the aircraft carrier's squadrons.

Azuma has access to three consumable slots besides the standard Damage Control Party. For the first slot, you have a choice between Defensive AA Fire to add extra spice to your anti-aircraft defenses, or Hydroacoustic Search for spotting torpedoes and nearby destroyers. Since Azuma excels at long-range engagements and lacks the maneuverability required to go weaving between islands hunting for destroyers, you may get more out of the first option. The last two slots are occupied by a spotter plane, which will allow you to bring your deadly accurate guns to bear on the most distant of targets, and a unique version of Repair Party with a shorter cooldown and one extra charge.

With regards to Upgrades, if you want to play to your strengths while minimizing your weaknesses, you can try this setup:

• Main Armaments Modification 1 or Spotting Aircraft Modification 1
  
• Damage Control System Modification 1 or Defensive AA Fire Modification 1
  
• Aiming Systems Modification 1 or AA guns Modification 1
  
• Steering Gears Modification 2 or Damage Control System Modification 2
  
• Concealment System Modification 1 or Steering Gears Modifications 3
  
• Main Battery Modification 3

• Azuma’s greatest strength lies in her 310 mm guns. The combination of an excellent base range of 19.1 km, pinpoint accuracy at a distance, Japanese HE shells with increased damage, and especially hard-hitting AP shells can suddenly and unexpectedly ruin an enemy cruiser’s day.
  
• Your survivability is good with a considerable pool of 58,350 HP and an augmented Repair Party consumable. However, your armor won’t hold up well against battleship AP salvos or torpedo spreads. Always keep your distance and single out vulnerable targets while staying aware of how many enemy ships have a bead on you.

Cruiser IX Alaska's nemesis—the powerful and fast Japanese cruiser IX Azuma—is already in the game! To bring her to life, some design solutions were borrowed from Yamato-class battleships. Nine 310 mm guns and good anti-torpedo protection allow her to confront any enemy ship. Azuma will join the list of Premium Tier IX ships.

You can also obtain this cruiser without signals, consumables, or a commemorative flag in the game for 1,000,000 Free XP.

Azuma is a special ship that requires a reverential attitude!
https://youtu.be/RknNa5eBErU

Bundles are available for purchase until Fri. 19 Apr. 07:00 CEST (UTC+2)

Please note: through July 31, owners of this bundle will have access to a special combat mission for quicker upgrading. The first 25 battles played with this ship in any battle type will bring you three times more XP than usual. You can receive this combat mission only once per account.

For a detailed look at the ship's technical specifications, follow this link.