Tutorial: Battleship Fleet Tactics

[Thunderer]

I died in a battle and entrusted another guy with command. However, after the battle, he asked me to teach him how to command a fleet. This is what I sent him by Skype (sorry for the wall of text!):

"There's a few things I can tell you here about fleet command, but theory and practice are two different areas.

I might have mentioned that the charging opponent has the advantage
There's reasons why
Firstly, when you charge, you can dodge better, as you don't only strafe, but you can turn as well, with your mouse
While the enemy is firing mortars, or while your own are recharging
This is the advantage in duels
There's also one in fleet battles
All BSs travel at 90m/s
This means that, if an enemy ship which is being chased reverses, it will get too close
However, imagine 3 Dunkirks chasing 3 Murmillos
When the Murmis focus fire at 1 Kirk, and it loses shield and starts getting heavily damaged, it can simply reverse
The Murmis will switch fire to a different Kirk
Meanwhile, all the Kirks will keep firing at the same Murmi
And destroy it
The Kirks disperse damage this way, while the Murmis can't do that
In the end, we'll have 1 undamaged Murmillo, and 3 heavily damaged Kirks
The hitpoints the Murmi has and the Kirks have in total might be the same, however, the firepower of the 3 damaged Kirks is 3 times greater than that of the Murmi
And they'll simply destroy the last Murmi by ganking
This is why Valors are so good. They can do this to us. However, we are usually better and better organized than Valors
And this is why we have artillery
If a Valor reverses out of our range, it also reverses out of its own range, thus neutralizing itself from the battle, as if it's dead -- as there's nothing with a longer range than a mortar
Also, about fleet fighting Lolors
It's effective to make a vertical formation. This means that the ships at its top and bottom will see the Valors' tops and bottoms exposed. Those are easy to hit.
I might have not mentioned it, but it's also better to focus fire at one target than disperse it on multiple ones. But there+s exceptions
Let's imagine 2 Kirks are fighting 2 destroyers and they have enough CDers
Destroyers, as a fleet, are better than battleships. However, alone, in a duel, they will lose to battleships.
So, 1 Kirk chases 1 destroyer, and the other chases the other. DDs are too feebly armoured, so they'll have to move away from the Kirks. That way they'll be separated
And the fleet fight will turn into 2 duels
However, if you can't do this, there's another way to fight a group of cruisers/destroyers with a group of battleships
Your BSs spin in circles around each other
When one comes under fire, it goes towards the other
Meanwhile, the other goes towards the destroyers, and chases them off
Then the destroyers switch targets
And then you repeat this
This way you'll enable your battleships to last very long. Perhaps long enough for the enemy to make a mistake, for example come too close. Or, for you to get reinforcements. And then you win.
Fighting BCs is the same
Oh, and more about fighting Lolors
Separating your fleet and moving a portion of it above them, or below, or at the side, or behind, could stop them from doing the reverse thing
So if 1 Lolor gets damaged and reverses, the other group of your fleet, which is behind, shoots at it
But this is risky
You risk dividing your fleet. If 1 part is in range, and the other part can't support, then the 1st part will get ganked, and then the 2nd part will also get ganked
Now let's say a bit about supporting snubs.
Don't chase enemy snubs. Your engines are much slower. It's ineffective and it separates you from the formation. Instead, stand still. Arrange the other caps in a spherical formation, or if there's too few, just next to each other. Then tell your snub which is being ganked to fly between your caps. The area between your caps is called the "killzone" for a reason.

[22:10:43] Vovasishe: It's effective to make a vertical formation. This means that the ships at its top and bottom will see the Valors' tops and bottoms exposed. Those are easy to hit.Like this? https://i.imgur.com/N51Y1CP.jpg

Yes, but with more space between the Kirks. They'll need some space to maneuver and not bump into each other
And tell them all to turn to the same side, or your formation will disperse once they turn away
So, to continue about snubs
This was about covering your own. Don't chase the enemy, just ask your own to hide in your "fortress" formation
Within the killzone
You do the same if a destroyer or a GB come under fire by bombers. Make a fortress formation with your battleships, and then tell the DD/GB to TS inside the killzone
Now, what if a BS comes under fire by bombers?
You do a moving fortress formation. Why moving? Because if you move forward, most of the enemy bombers will approach from behind, instead of surrounding you and shooting you from multiple angles.
And this is how you do it:
Imagine you're the target. You have 2 more battleships to support you.
Go forward, strafe to avoid snacs, flak the torps off
Tell 1 of your Kirks to move behind you, and a little above
The other one also behind you, but a little below
Why?
Since you're going forward, the enemy bombers will be approaching from behind
In order to snac you, they'll have to come through the fire of the Kirks you've arranged behind
And they'll have to get close to them
Why put them a little below and above, instead of at the sides?
The Kirk, if you have flaks on the last 2 slots, which are the best for flaks, only fires 2 secondaries above and below
While firing 4 to the sides
Your sides aren't weak, but you'll need to cover the top and the bottom
The other Kirks are physically blocking them with their bodies, so snacs can't get through. The enemy will have to snac you from the side
And 3 Kirks can fire 12 secondaries in total sideways
+ 3 flaks
So, in essence:
When you can charge, charge.
Take care when surrounding the enemy. Your forces might get divided. But if you do it with success, you'll give your enemy no respite.
When fighting destroyers, cruisers or battlecruisers, spin in circles around each other. Cover each other. Have patience, wait for them to make a mistake -- and then fully capitalize on it.
When fighting snubs, discipline. Make an ordered formation and maintain it. Stand still of covering a snub, or a GB, or a destroyer of your own, tell them to hug the killzone.
Move straight forward, in formation, when fighting bombers.
And, most importantly: don't get too cocky about complex tactics. Many people don't understand things. Some are new, some don't fly that ship class, some are clumsy or poor sighted, some are just stupid. The simpler the tactics, the better. But if you know your team knows what they are doing, freely do imaginative stuff

The simpler the tactics, the betterAnother reason why charging is effective
This is all I could think of at this moment

[22:24:47] Vovasishe: Oh, I have a question
[22:24:55] Vovasishe: How choose target?
[22:25:54] Vovasishe: Situation:
We have 3 Lolors with Cau 10, 8 and 5
[22:26:27] Vovasishe: We need to destroy Lolor with Cau 5 first, right?
[22:27:11] Thunderer: Let's assume they all do the same damage to us
[22:27:12] Thunderer: Then yes
[22:27:34 | Edited 22:27:43] Thunderer: Generally, try to first destroy the target which is, at the same time, the highest threat and the easiest to kill
[22:27:42] Thunderer: Some that has a balance between that
[22:27:57] Vovasishe: Aha..
[22:28:33] Thunderer: If the CAU 5 Valor dodges well, and the CAU 10 Valor doesn't dodge at all, target the CAU 10 Valor
[22:29:03] Thunderer: If the CAU 10 Valor can damage you, and the CAU 5 Valor is out of his range, target the CU 10 Valor
[22:29:23] Thunderer: Also, normally we target the closest one, because the closer it is, the easier it is to hit"

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