Russian Navy (VMF) - Tier 7: Shchors

After escaping the nightmare that i considered to be the Budyonny, i finally reached the Shchors. I was just happy to be playing anything other than the Budyonny. The Shchors is a welcomed experience compared to the Budyonny.

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Reading up about the Shchors, i expected a Budyonny like experience. Honestly i had such a bad time in the Budyonny that i really couldn't care if it was similar or not, i just wanted out of the Budyonny experience.

Initial Thoughts

I only unlocked the Shchors yesterday and only played a handful of games in it. It possesses the same guns as the Budyonny - the 152mm's, but instead features 1 extra turret in the rear which brings the grand total of guns to 12.

Having the same guns as its predecessor means that it keeps the same play-style in terms on how to shoot. It has laser fast and accurate shells. It is best to fire off HE shells due to the AP ones not being effective at range.

While reading on how to sail the ship in terms of positioning and movement i was warned that the Shchors is worse than the Budyonny in terms of armor and that if anything looks at it funny, it will sink.

I 'Shchors' am nervous

The statement that if anything looked at me while sailing this ship i would sink seemed like a bold statement. Well, they weren't lying when they said that. This ship is quite literally a floating citadel that blows up if anything shoots at it.

Sitting behind islands is your best bet, incredibly good guns allow you to pepper enemies without being seen. Excellent AA means that you can weaken incoming air attacks, however, even the weakest of air attacks will take chunks from your weak armored ship. You definitely need another ship to help shoot down all planes coming to attack you.

My first experience in the Budyonny was actually quite good. i peppered enemy ships from behind an island until we became overrun. i decided to do charge towards the enemies in attempting to get my torpedoes away and hopefully sink one. i absorbed a surprising amount of damage and sunk one of their battleships! i stood my ground for quite some time, lighting multiple ships on fire with my extremely good HE rounds before i was sent to the bottom

It was went i entered my second and third battles that the Shchors does not like being hit by anything. In the second battle i was spotted while behind an island, facing incoming planes and multiple volleys from enemy battleships, i accelerated forward in the hopes of using my speed to go undetected and relocate. My plan was cut short, a rogue volley from a battleship landed all around, i thought i was safe when 1 shell hit my ship and i lost 3/4 of my health

The third battle was more of a shock to me. As i had made my way around some islands and done masses of damage to enemy ships, i had the idea to cut off any reinforcements from attacking our ships capturing the objective. An enemy Bayern (German Battleship) presented himself broadside to me, so i unleashed barrages or AP on him in the hopes of hitting his citadel. Well, it was looking good until he sent 1 round of HE into the nose of my ship, which i thought was angled well, and my whole ship detonated (ammo storage blew up) i went from 80% health all the way down to 0 in less than 10 seconds of engaging the enemy.

Expectations

I think i will enjoy the Shchors more than the Budyonny, so far i definitely am. So far i think i will be sticking to the play style of island hugging. After my experiences with being hit by battleships, i think i'd rather be targeted by aircraft carriers. It's a long grind towards the next tier (Tier 8) with the Chapayev as the next ship but im not expecting to hate the Shchors as much as i did the Budyonny.