This will be a brief review of what I've learned about the California, in case you're thinking of getting it at some point down the road.
The California uses L115 BH-427 modified 18" dual guns that resemble the L110 Mark 1 18" duals found on the regular Montana. While this is not the only gun choice you have, it is what I recommend. Your other gun choice is the L101 Mark 7 W23 16" triples, found on the EBB Missouri. Both sets of guns will allow up to five binds of ammo.
Here are some of the distinctions between both of the gun sets:
- Both gun sets will allow the ship to cap at 24/40 knots.
- The BH-427 duals have a tighter spread than their Mark 1 counterparts, which remains in tact even while rushing or withdrawing. In fact, the spread is noticeably good.
- The W23 triples have a worse spread than their Mark 7 Mod 1 counterparts (regular Montana guns). It is somewhat more difficult to land a full salvo with the W23 triples, though far from impossible.
- The BH-427 duals have a full salvo average that falls between 50k-52k damage, while the Mark 1 duals is somewhere between 46k-48k. The BH-427 duals have an AP salvo that I tested between 34k-41k, though the number of trials was fairly limited. The BH-427 duals were able to penetrate an AW L2 with HE shells at their max angle of 40 degrees, for salvos that ranged from 40k-50k.
- The BH-427 duals have range that is just shy of L2 range. You can probably hit any L2 that can hit you just by the nature of ship width alone.
Some other considerations:
- The California can hold up to five T5 scouts, six T4 scouts, six T3 scouts, seven T2 scouts, or nine T1 scouts.
- It can hold a considerably higher amount of bulge while maintaining 40 knots compared to the Montana.
- With a light/reduced crew and/or reduced ammo, it is possible to play with three W23 triple turrets and achieve 44 knots max speed with a salvo output of ~50k. Under similar conditions the Montana can only achieve 42 knots. I found this setup to be fairly effective in regular GB.
- There are six T-slots, which is utterly disappointing but already discussed in the release notes.
OVERALL REVIEW:
While not as spectacular as the dramatic release would have suggested, I can say that the California is fun. But there is a certain disappointment in retaining mediocre range with a ~12k-20k loss in salvo capability. The key benefits of this ship are the greatly improved spread, extra support slot, and the ability to hold the amount of bulge the Montana should've always been able to carry. Given the trade-offs and add-ons, I would personally like to see this level 113 ship have another very small increase in damage (2k-3k) or another few hairs of range so that it's truly a step up from the Montana.
Compared to my expectations for the tier and in terms of how much I enjoyed the ship: 8/10.
