always plan for the future, you gonna have BB6 someday and you will need to fill those 14 sailor slots.
1 BB BO, 2 main gunners and 1 scout is a must, about support and T slots here's some options:

5 engies + 3 reps + 2 AA gunners on T slots (i went this setup, to reach repair cap i'll need way more than 200 vets on engies and reps);
5 engies + 5 reps;
6 engies + 4 reps if you want to have slightly longer OH time (but i think 6 engies is too much).

but really option 2 is best for BBing, option 1 is good for making them blind or protecting your self against bombers or farming free experts.

what you gonna choose?

Even after the IM "nerf" it still has longer range that Kronstadt, IM is smaller also. But if i remember right Kronstadt is a bit faster, has higher max angle = slightly more armor penetration per shell and the most important, proper gun controls (2 forward 1 rear tripple turrets, while on IM it's 1st and 3rd as frontal, and 2nd and 4th rear tripple turret controls,

what you gonna choose?

thanks man it really helped. I guess i will go IM line. I wll lvl one more repairer and maybe another eng.

My advice, stick with Sevas if you have one till you reach Stalingrad (BB4).

Reasons: more support slot to level your supports and better speed and overall performance as a BB.

Agree: 5Es, 3Rs, 2Gunners, 2AA, 1 Scout

(I am raising 6E and 4Rs to sell one of each and pay for BB6 IF I ever get there).

Kronshtadt.

No questions.

Rehor could you please expain the reason behind the choise of Korn? in other words elaborate abit dude.

Yeah I'd like a bit of elaboration as well Rehor.

You generally don't say stuff like that without a reason and some experience to back it up so please enlighten us. I am nearly to the point of making a choice of which BB line to focus on and would love to hear the opinion of a player I respect.

Since Rehor is not responding is there any other player that can enlight me in my quest for a bb2-3.
this time please provide some facts.

Thanks again sanitarium

Kinda sad that nobody will give any input here for people grinding SN BBs.

In the end it doesn't really matter much to me since I have 3 BO's for the SN grind and I am sending one down each BB path and leaving one in the seva.
Before anyone asks why 3 BOs; I needed three to keep all the support evenly lvl'd and at or above BO lvl since I made a rather large crew. Nobody seems to give answers with any real reasoning behind them so........
6 eng
5 rep
2 RLD gunners(AA)
2 ACC gunners(main)
1 rest
1 seaman
Not having had any concrete advice I will experiment to find what combination of crew works best for me at BB4/5 lvl. The restorer will be sold when the other support gives 900SD and it is sufficient lvl to be useful for someones SS or CV. The seaman will in all likelihood be sold in the same fashion.

Have you read Angus' soviet ship guide?

He goes into nice detail about the BB2-3 paths. It's the only sticky here on the SN board.