I was not expecting to post here again however it seems i may have to do so.  Despite how much i love my german ships and them being my favorite ship line as well as my first ship line.  I also know it's limitations as well, all the germans ships are good in skilled hands AND with some luck.

The H44 while being a solid ship is just as it is fat, that is also a major weakness to it.  While it can dodge it's hitbox limits it severely when fighting ships with a mass of shells or low angles.  It can be a great agressive ship however with the way GB's are these days your better off in a smaller ship and rushing, the smaller hitbox always is helpful.

No matter how good of a player you are with how NF is these days chances are you will have bad luck in a H44 especially since support can be very sporradic or nonexistant on the southern flank.  Plus with subs around and few who counter them the H44 makes a magnificent snack. 

How often these days do you see a BB room? not often in the least, even when you do it is BB6 spam, same with HA's bb5's have little to no place in a HA unless your in a distraction tile or just waiting for a bb6 to make a mistake, even then the h44 does not hit with enough punch to be super effective.

The guy who asked for advice just was getting his H44, whether it's his first bb5 or not you still should first start off easy on the ship and get to know it before going nuts in it.

As i said previously the H44 shines when you can get a good blind spot over your ship and can go to town, it can be good at counter rushing ONLY if you are good at your angles and dodging.  Even then your hitbox is a drawback which many can and do take advantage of.

It has the lowest damage of all the bb5's per salvo so it take a bit more to cripple another bb5 if you don't land a perfect salvo.  Even then some ships have such a hitbox as soon as they turn in your done for most of the time.  The L2, VV, and Alsace are perfect counters to a H44 due to the fact they have more shells to fire at you, low angles, and in all cases better damage than you in a H44.

You saying it's "easy" to push back a L2 is just laughable, while you can do it rather "easy" when they are blind pushing too much leads to a quick end and you must always be cautious.  Also ANY bb5 can be good at counter rushing another ship or bb5, fact is the h44 is limited in it's role and is not very good solo. Even if you do hold off an entire flank solo it still comes down to your team also beng able to take advantage and flank if they are all not dead already.

NEVER get cocky in an H44, that is a quick way to get sunk.  Nibor you saying the L2 is balanced is just a facepalm, as others have said in here it has long range and very very consistant heavy hitting power coupled with bb6 supports, slim hitbox which makes landing a full salvo when it rushes you nearly impossible. 

Now lets review the fine points of the H44 and the NO-NO's

Pro's: Has a large pool of scouts to use

Extremely effective defensive AA or longer ranged anti scout AA

Lowish angle although a bit odd at 37 degrees

good OH time

now has consistant damage *finally*

has alright turning

good in a line fight or BB room

Con's:  MASSIVE hitbox

Kinda squishy

bad against slim hitbox ships due to only 4 duals

vulnerable to DB's and TB's *can be dodged but takes some doing*

large sub target

somewhat ineffective AP *not a big con*

easily overwhelmed

outdamaged by every BB5 and some BB4's

Very small range advantage

Again the H44 while a alright and solid ship requires quite a bit of focus and being on the ball as a player.  However even then some things you just can't control such as if your team falls out from under you.  It is far from being super super bad but it does require some getting used to as a BB5.  It is frustrating at first but in higher levels it can do better. 

Always be warey of another bb5 and especially a bb6, if you can blind em and get a good push on them you can sink them but be careful of 120 scout spam.  If they rush fall back a bit and lead them into friendlies.  IF you have no friendlies around and has a scout up and don't want to fall back then counter rush and surprise them.  However make sure you can get that pesky scout to make your initial movements.

Your biggest threats vers other BB5's will be L2's, VV's, Alsaces, and other H44's.  the other BB5's can seriously screw you up but only if your not paying attention or if your team vanishes.  If you get into a deadlocked battle whoever makes the first mistake will generally be the one to lose.  Try to time your attacks carefully and not be the one to make the first mistake.

Myself i enjoy playing my H44, it has been a while since i last played it but i generally enjoy it as a whole. Compared to other BB5's it's the second hardest to get used to the SY being the hardest since it has such a gap from 45-39 then 39 and below.  Still good luck to you OP in your H44 you will need it.