Ah, but alas, the thing is, I can't sligshot to save my life. I am at a total loss how to even do it, even after people show me. Simple fact is that I can't comprehend how to do it. Can't wrap my mind around it. If I can't slingshot, will that make H44 or BB play in general difficult/useless to play?

I could try to help you. I think it will help since we speak the same language.
You won't be able to get the max out of the H44. Besides I believe everyone can learn it :)

 

I played my H44 today a few battles with relatively low attack (but won the south most of the time) 

I kind of disagree with it being an "aggressive" ship. For me the H39 was the aggressive of the two and I remember hunting BB5s quite easily with it (high lvl crew). It cannot do that against thew newer, smaller, stronger hitting ships.

The H44 is weird. The range advantage is miniscule to the other BB5s and having played other BB5s the pros don't outweigh the cons.

First off, the hitbox is MASSIVE.  Most other players will kite you to negate your advantage MOST of the time. Thus, if you take a nasty hit playing aggressive on a runner, he just has to turn/rush finish you.

Second, the guns are still relatively weak when compared to other nations. Sure I LOVE that they were fixed (I killed a few L2s today with 33ish k fraction salvos as they came nose on) but I also took huge hits. It doesn't retaliate enough to deter a very good rusher who knows his timing/angles.

Third, the NF server lag. This is the most difficult part of the KM playstyle now, at least for me. You NEED to control your speed  at all times. Peronally, I run into too many problems when it comes to speed management. When i try to come off OH (to avoid a rusher) and use range, I either come to a complete stop. The time it takes to get back UP to full speed (if they decide to rush) usually results in getting sunk. THere's a huge delay when it comes to slow down and speed up, which is why it's like a lighswitch. I never found this as much of a problem with say L2, Monty, SY the VV or wahtever.  You couple this with the 1st and 2nd points i've made above, and things get difficult, especially when trying to play it aggressive depending on your setup. I ran both 3 rep (scout and engies) and 2 rep. The Extra engie does give you extra OH time so you might be able to chase after a cv at the end, but watch out if you get hit.

For me the pros are the spread (vs the H39 especially) and the AA battery. AP seems to kill AWs now too vs the old days.
Cons are the hitbox, damage output, and lack of OH speed or rep ability. I wish it turned slightly better to match the H39s manueverability, but that's asking way too much.

There have been very very few H44s that haven't been food for me while playing other nations. 

 

Never said I wanted more range. Always remembered everyone raving about the H44 having a "massive" range advantage... It's no where near as massive as bragged about.