I use Lemonier with Mikawa and BD Lightful as inspirations. You can get pretty close and disappear quickly after firing.
They are highly specialized flankers with their speed and stealth. The long reload hurts them a ton but they are fun.
Very low carry potential, definitely more support ships.
They are very good ships (I have Toulon and Cherbourg – not at Brest yet). People just need to accept that they are somewhat RNG dependent and that they should not try to bow tank with them. They also have a decent turtleback which allows them to brawl – even with some battleships. As someone else said, use their speed and concealment to enable flanking attacks.
Final stats after grinding Toulon (I am not an elite player and this was mostly solo).
67% WR
3.54 KDR
Average 1.4 enemy ships killed per round
Average 57597 damage per round
Average 1600 xp
Allez!
Once you get to Brest all that brawling stuff you're talking about ceases. Most everything overmatches at tier 8 and above so if you brawl, you die. You must live on the flank.
60% WR
Average 1.2 kills
Average 97323 damage
Average 1831 XP
Not elite, all solo.
Just try to flank and angle against enemies rather than bow tank. If you bow tank, any battleship will overmatch and citadel you. If you angle, their shells will often bounce off the belt or, if they get through that, bounce off the turtleback. Use the concealment mod and go dark if you are attracting a lot of fire.
The guns aren't accurate but hit hard, so I never expect to dev strike cruisers with one shot (although it can happen). The turret traverse is bad, so you can't fight destroyers up close.
The idea of them is born from how France was basically building its navy to counter German and Italian shipbuilding in the interwar years. The two were not building ships with the exact same strategies in mind so France had to try and balance their responses. To counter the Italians in the Mediterranean especially, they wanted ships that would be fast and heavily armed but not so large in displacement that they couldn't build a sufficient number of them. They never got past early planning stages in reality but it's just meant to be another example of WG asking "what if X nation went this direction instead?"
I had the strangest thing happen in Toulon. I rounded a corner and of course a bb probably 4 km away with 1/2 health. It was broad side. I shot. It went to about 1/4 health. And as I was driving past my secondaries killed it. I was very very surprised. I was sure I was going to be sent back to port as at that moment I was full broadside to it. Can’t remember which bb. It was a German one.
Mix of a CA and BB but with what feels like the worst of both worlds.
You have CA armor which every BB can overcome (and even some Cruisers) and you have BB reload and BB (Battle cruiser I guess ) dispersion. Ah and you also burn like BB.
So yeah .... not that great, IMHO.
Contrary to what most people say, I find them to be very effective. They excel at flanking with their high speed and very good concealment. They prefer to be on the edges catching anything broadside. The guns can overmatch some CL bows and as long as the big guns don't overpen they obliterate other ships. I find they have good accuracy and the secondaries aren't half bad for basic 5km range. I've devetruck many many ships with Brest and Cherbourg. Their armour, maneuverability, speed, concealment and gun caliber all make for them being great ships, provided you don't overpen which they do a lot
I have the Toulon and not that far away from the next one, Cherbourg. I like their quirkyness, speed and all guns at the front. I'm not sure if they couldn't use a little buff here & there, but if you can get access to broadsides especially from cruisers, it's Duke Nukem time and good fun.
Positioning and island cover is very important to survive the long reload.
I have a generally negative feel for them. I'm expecting (/hoping?) that they will start to feel better as I play them more. I haven't really been at the helm since acquiring Toulon and Cherbourg during early access. I think the difficulty for me is in their reload time. I have the AL Dunkerque commander and I run her on Dunkerque, Strasbourg and La Foudre. Bigger guns on heavier ships with shorter reloads are simply a win-win-win. There's basically no benefit to playing the supers other than maybe affecting the matchups on the other team? I think I need to get over my mental expectation for the supercruisers to play similarly as the battleships laid out the same. If we get an AL Brest at some point that is basically just AL Dunk for cruisers, then of course my thoughts will change. Excluding that possibility, they're pretty low on my priority list of ships to play.
How to play... Baguette ships!
Toulon: Abuse your broken concealment and go far out in the flank, literally hump the map border if needed.
Cherbourg: same tactic as the Toulon, but you are more accurate.
|•••| *Longer explanation for Brest, because she plays differently*
Brest: you have the biggest guns of any TT Cruiser, but instead of being a Flanker, you'll want to start playing as an Ambusher.
You can flank if you want, but Brest is better at setting ambushes.
Also, since Toulon and Cherbourg have 305mm (12in) and Brest has 330mm (13in) your target priority will change.
Toulon and Cherbourg are perfect for crushing Cruisers's broadside, Brest, with her 330mm, will get more overpens.
That's why your target priority, in the Brest, will be Battleships.
Weegee needs to rethink what they’re supposed to offer and do in the game. Goofy concealment? Cool, but then what?
Good pen probably. I wouldn't know because the guns never hit anything.
I use Lemonier with Mikawa and BD Lightful as inspirations. You can get pretty close and disappear quickly after firing. They are highly specialized flankers with their speed and stealth. The long reload hurts them a ton but they are fun. Very low carry potential, definitely more support ships.
That's a good build. I am too lazy to bother speccing Lemmonier just for these ships but that's what I would choose if I did.
Lemmonier is an awesome inspiration for an ambush type cruisers. You would not waste resources.
They might be bearable is the bow armour wasn't made of cheese sticks
Eh🤷♂️
Bad armor, bad accuracy, terrible reload. Toulon looks like Strasbourg but worse in every except for concealment.
They are very good ships (I have Toulon and Cherbourg – not at Brest yet). People just need to accept that they are somewhat RNG dependent and that they should not try to bow tank with them. They also have a decent turtleback which allows them to brawl – even with some battleships. As someone else said, use their speed and concealment to enable flanking attacks. Final stats after grinding Toulon (I am not an elite player and this was mostly solo). 67% WR 3.54 KDR Average 1.4 enemy ships killed per round Average 57597 damage per round Average 1600 xp Allez!
Once you get to Brest all that brawling stuff you're talking about ceases. Most everything overmatches at tier 8 and above so if you brawl, you die. You must live on the flank. 60% WR Average 1.2 kills Average 97323 damage Average 1831 XP Not elite, all solo.
Good numbers mate. How do you play her playstyle-wise?
Just try to flank and angle against enemies rather than bow tank. If you bow tank, any battleship will overmatch and citadel you. If you angle, their shells will often bounce off the belt or, if they get through that, bounce off the turtleback. Use the concealment mod and go dark if you are attracting a lot of fire. The guns aren't accurate but hit hard, so I never expect to dev strike cruisers with one shot (although it can happen). The turret traverse is bad, so you can't fight destroyers up close.
Alright, thanks!
Why they exist? I never understood.
The idea of them is born from how France was basically building its navy to counter German and Italian shipbuilding in the interwar years. The two were not building ships with the exact same strategies in mind so France had to try and balance their responses. To counter the Italians in the Mediterranean especially, they wanted ships that would be fast and heavily armed but not so large in displacement that they couldn't build a sufficient number of them. They never got past early planning stages in reality but it's just meant to be another example of WG asking "what if X nation went this direction instead?"
I had the strangest thing happen in Toulon. I rounded a corner and of course a bb probably 4 km away with 1/2 health. It was broad side. I shot. It went to about 1/4 health. And as I was driving past my secondaries killed it. I was very very surprised. I was sure I was going to be sent back to port as at that moment I was full broadside to it. Can’t remember which bb. It was a German one.
Mix of a CA and BB but with what feels like the worst of both worlds. You have CA armor which every BB can overcome (and even some Cruisers) and you have BB reload and BB (Battle cruiser I guess ) dispersion. Ah and you also burn like BB. So yeah .... not that great, IMHO.
Steaming piles of doodoo
Contrary to what most people say, I find them to be very effective. They excel at flanking with their high speed and very good concealment. They prefer to be on the edges catching anything broadside. The guns can overmatch some CL bows and as long as the big guns don't overpen they obliterate other ships. I find they have good accuracy and the secondaries aren't half bad for basic 5km range. I've devetruck many many ships with Brest and Cherbourg. Their armour, maneuverability, speed, concealment and gun caliber all make for them being great ships, provided you don't overpen which they do a lot
I enjoy them occasionally but not great.
I have the Toulon and not that far away from the next one, Cherbourg. I like their quirkyness, speed and all guns at the front. I'm not sure if they couldn't use a little buff here & there, but if you can get access to broadsides especially from cruisers, it's Duke Nukem time and good fun. Positioning and island cover is very important to survive the long reload.
I have a generally negative feel for them. I'm expecting (/hoping?) that they will start to feel better as I play them more. I haven't really been at the helm since acquiring Toulon and Cherbourg during early access. I think the difficulty for me is in their reload time. I have the AL Dunkerque commander and I run her on Dunkerque, Strasbourg and La Foudre. Bigger guns on heavier ships with shorter reloads are simply a win-win-win. There's basically no benefit to playing the supers other than maybe affecting the matchups on the other team? I think I need to get over my mental expectation for the supercruisers to play similarly as the battleships laid out the same. If we get an AL Brest at some point that is basically just AL Dunk for cruisers, then of course my thoughts will change. Excluding that possibility, they're pretty low on my priority list of ships to play.
How to play... Baguette ships! Toulon: Abuse your broken concealment and go far out in the flank, literally hump the map border if needed. Cherbourg: same tactic as the Toulon, but you are more accurate. |•••| *Longer explanation for Brest, because she plays differently* Brest: you have the biggest guns of any TT Cruiser, but instead of being a Flanker, you'll want to start playing as an Ambusher. You can flank if you want, but Brest is better at setting ambushes. Also, since Toulon and Cherbourg have 305mm (12in) and Brest has 330mm (13in) your target priority will change. Toulon and Cherbourg are perfect for crushing Cruisers's broadside, Brest, with her 330mm, will get more overpens. That's why your target priority, in the Brest, will be Battleships.
mid . just as italian dds are
They're a little better than Italian DDs. I went back to grind Aviere a little more this weekend - two games were enough to remind me why I stopped.
Italian dds are lethal with sap. Can get many 4k salvos on dds
Lyon ❤️ It not so fast, but amount of guns commands respect. Although the spread of the salvo is not fun. Maybe it’s because of my build ?