When I started this account I created 4 BOs for UK ships...... 1 CV .... 1 SS and 2 BB so
as to do both BB lines. All 4 BOs are now over 61 level and are in there ship trees.
Revenge is a good ship and lies dorment while I grind the CV and other BB line . Doing 4
Bos at same time allows for leveling enough sailors for all 4 ships ( 8 pilots 4 gunners ,
2 AA gunners 2 torpers ,2 scouts and lots of supports ) I find my 2nd BB crew constantly
driving the PCA untill the gunners have a good spread with the 15" guns. I have not
desided to go with nelson vs hood yet but will stay with PCA till that time. ( PCA allows
me to get a few hits on enemy BBs and to shoot down planes and sink DDs and subs ) It also
allows me to get into GB2s where 20 BBs are in waiting for CVs. I also drive my CV (F A B
) for purposes of getting credits. I find this combination gets me the needed credits for
each of my next ships.

oke thanks mate this really helped me

I think I may expand on some sections as desired when I have the extra time.

Also, thank you to whoever stickied this - I'm glad this is considered helpful enough to
do so.

~ Ferrard

A very good guide, and it hits on the salient points of each BB line. While I do prefer the
York over the County, I -greatly- prefer the Revenge line BB's over the Renown line.
They have more firepower, more durability, and are easier to use for a new player.

@ Alex
The simple truth is that the County/Revenge line is a much, much easier grind for new
players than the York/Renown line is, man. The ships are easier to play (except maybe the
County) and there are lots of options as to play style, not to mention that the York line
grinds are very long.

And you said yourself, York only comes into its own early on if you pour a substantial
amount of real money into your crew, and how many new players are willing (or able, in
many cases) to do that on a game that they've only been playing for a few days/weeks?

What Ferrard has done is to basically clarify why Revenge line is better for newbies,
which was the whole point of this guide, and after reading this, the choice should be
rather obvious.

--Helms

@ Alex: The title is appropriate - "Revenge vs. Renown" is supposed to be one item, as in
"the debate between Revenge vs. Renown Lines", not an appraisal of those two ships. I'll
try to make the title clearer.

I do need to go into more detail Re: York's BS, how to achieve it, and whether it's worth
it or not.

@ Pitt: I wasn't intending to do a detail on each individual battleship on the different
lines - that's more information than newbies need to make this decision, and all of it is
found in the already-stickied ship lists (by Fixer and ZXZXZX).

You have a good point about the Edinburgh's newfound trip-6"N amazing-ness in Hobbit Wars
where its lack of range doesn't matter anymore. When I was writing this, I honestly
hadn't played Hobbit Wars blitz (it was 10 days old and I was grinding pilots on an AA
Emerald) 8"D duals are out of place in the new blitz where range doesn't matter, and by
the time you reach them, you're already driving a County. And yeah, bouncing 6" is great
until a CA shows up.

@ Both: Thanks for the feedback.

~ Ferrard

Nice guide, however there is no word on the bbs. (yet?)

Furthermore edin is a good ship, the 6" guns are not perfect but with the current
gamemodes they work, in a CL/CA only room they suck however. To compare to other CL2
rangewise you do need the 6"Ls, however you dont have enough ammo then, what you pointed
out correctly. The 6"Ns are not all bad, they are very good to kill ships that come into
range (no problem in blitz, nobody is using range there anyway). Also they do block, with
higher level gunners (60-70 i would say), damage is OK they are rather good for spanking
subs they chose to surface near you, or cv if you managed to get through.

However the better edin guns are the 8"Ds, its only Ds but the range is very very good,
furthermore shelldamage is also very good as you will high angle alot. Most readers will
at that point however already leech in County i belive.

PS: Edin can be AWed to bounce 6" shells, but this is not effective any more as there are
too many big gun ships in the game ;)

great "guide"

but, this is a guide to the revenge AND the renown not a "dont go renwon take the
revenge line" thread. so change the title or change the guide.

i havent seen one good thing about the renown line except the yorks blockshotting,
WHICH a new player will naver have unless hes willing to spend the $ required for
early blockshotting gunners, and as NF is advertised as a FREE game i doubt they
will have the $.

so make it a guide and speak well of the renwon too and give the new guys a
choice, or change your title.

======
Purpose:
======

There was a necro-thread recently that smelled really funky, but highlighted a rather
large issue for Newbies: There is no actual centralized place to understand which
ship-line to choose. One has to search through the forums and read several threads before
reaching even partial understanding of the issues involved, and while that may seem
trivial to a forum-whore such as ourselves, newbies have a lot of difficulty picking that
needle of information out of a haystack of "Search first, n00b!" So here's my attempt to
consolidate that info and vainly attempt to lessen the amount of spam here.

As usual, respond with any critiques or requests for more information. There will be
rolling updates, and I will check back periodically (possibly keep this bumped to at least
the first page so Newbies can see it)

===========
Version Changes:
===========

v1.0 - Started Guide
v1.1 - Expanded section regarding Edinburgh

========
Introduction:
========

So you've finished your Dido/Sirius grind (or AA Emerald if you took the advice of many a
UK player) and now your BO is wondering which fork of the road he wants you to take him.

Ask the forums, and most everyone (who isn't saying "Search first, n00b!") will suggest
going the Revenge line first, and I'd agree with them. There are two main reasons someone
picks one line over the other: The Battleships, and the York / County question.

==========
The Battleships:
==========

If you just take a peek at Trainworld, you'll see that the County line is absolutely
saturated with them. You'll barely go 9 levels without getting access to another ship,
which means that you can always get 100% exp from your BO for using a properly leveled
ship. On the York line, you'll see that while the hurdle to your first battleship isn't
bad at all (I'll touch on this later), the first grind you're saddled with is 12 levels in
the Renown, not exactly the easiest BB1 out there. Your reward for that grind is the
Repulse, which isn't exactly the easiest BB2 out there. Oh, and a 13-level grind in said
not-exactly-easiest-BB2 until you get your Scout-less Nelson, or /15-levels/ if you want
your Hood, which, while pretty, has a hit-box the size of Connecticut. This is the main
reason I'd recommend going the County line first, as you are much less likely to get
frustrated and leave the game.

The other factor to consider is that the County line lends you Battleships from both the
Line and Rush playstyles. The Queen Lizzy performs beautifully when used to support the
Line of Battle, and the PoW is (in)famous for its ability to rush. On the York line,
you'll see that every ship except the Nelson is a weaver that can't play the line, and
atop that, doesn't have the durability to rush well. And the Nelson doesn't have scouts (duh).

=============
The Heavy Cruisers:
=============

So here's something that Newbies often have the most questions about: Which CA to chose?
Between the BB lines, there are very different CA playstyles. Both the York and County are
well known for different reasons: Yorks are seen to be block-shotting Gods, while Counties
can put serious hurt on BB1-2's through High-Angle Warfare. Between the two, I again have
to advise going the County line first. The reason is that a County's spread in HAW is
going to suck no matter what level your gunners are, but you'll still be able to dish out
damage like crazy with the few shells that do hit. The York, on the other hand, is very
unfriendly to at-level gunners - in order to have the famed BS that chews up and spits out
smaller ships like so much cud, you'll have to bring along boosted gunners in their 50's,
and without that blockshot, each individual 8" shell doesn't do nearly as much damage as a
County's High-Angling.

There is a caveat though: If you've been diligent about selling neutrals and are sitting
on a pretty penny, you can remod your York into a Surrey, which plays like a slower
County. Same gun-space, a little more displacement to play with, but less engine room and
less FCS room mean that the Surrey won't be quite as good as the County, but it'll do you
fine if you want HA goodness on the York line. The greatest disadvantage is that the 600k+
you spend on remodeling your York will be lost into the mists of time forever, just like
the 1.2 million you'll spend to remod into a Repulse. This can add up rather quickly. The
other disadvantage is that you won't have your York to play with by the time your gunners
get high enough level to actually use it well.

=================
What about the Edinburgh?
=================

The Edinburgh is an odd duckling in the choice between ship trees. In all honesty,
anything she can do, a County can do better. The Edin can mount Trip-6"N's (emphasis on
the N), but not much ammo. She can also mount Dual 8"D's (emphasis on the D), also without
much ammo. She can't armor, isn't good at dodging shells, and has a larger hitbox than the
County or Sirius. She comes but one level later than the Sirius, so there's no argument of
needing an at-level ship for best XP gain, and she has one less gun-mount (and a more
awkward mount placement) for AA. Don't try to ASW with her. I have. You're too fat and
can't turn fast enough to avoid being torped by the SS.

What she can do is give players access to the Trip-6"N guns in an earlier ship. Your
spread will suck compared with the Dual-6"s of the Sirius, and unlike the Sirius, closing
to range is suicidal, given the Edinburgh's large hitbox and inability to take a beating.
Oh, as an added bonus, you can fit a scout, which you couldn't do with a Sirius - not that
the BBs will give you any credit for helping the team by scouting, but there's that. All
in all, if you have the spare cash and are already planning on going the County line, the
Edinburgh can act as a set of training wheels for your County. Otherwise, if you're
heading for the York, you won't miss much (or really anything at all) by passing up the
Edinburgh. I do have to say though, she's very pretty to look at. I like her just for
that. I just wish she were useful.

Bottom Line: Don't factor this ship into making your decision.

===================
Regarding Flattops (Carriers):
===================

If you're a newbie, don't take the Carriers into consideration until you've reached and
played your first battleship. CVs receive a lot of abuse in this game, some deserved, some
not, but all in all playing a CV is a thankless endeavor. Once you've got your first BB
under your belt, then you can consider leveling a BO to play CVs, as CVs do give you
access to a good flow of credits.

=========
In Conclusion:
=========

So there you have it, Newbie - take this knowledge, take the Revenge line first, go forth,
and multiply. My Queen Lizzy needs some food!

~ Ferrard