5punk

I'm on it like a car bonnet. Okay, so I don't think it should be classed as an MMONG, but there are threads for Tanks and Planes. The closed beta only lasts this weekend (presumably more to come) so knowing my luck I'll not get chance to play it.

Hopefully this'll be a bit more interesting and engaging than WoP on the tictacs front.

Just had three games and it's not bad. The starter ships are beefed up patrol boats, armed up with cruiser guns to get around the naval treaties of the 20s and 30s. It's very deliberate, setting the speed as full - 3/4 - 1/2 - 1/4 - Stop, and steering has a bit of a delay as it comes about, but the guns are easy enough to use - you aim where you want to hit and it raises the trajectory for you. You still have to lead your targets, but it doesn't feel too hard to get hits. It takes quite a while to bring another ship down, I usually seem to be finishing battles with 15-20 hits, but it's satisfying every time you see them arc away and hit. I can see positioning being more important as people settle in, since it's a very flat field of play punctuated by islands. Oh, and I saw some torpedoes (although don't have any yet), which scoot along and usually miss, but do a shitload of damage if they do hit (like, half a ship's hit points). So yeah, fairly enjoyable. Not as much as WoT was when I started playing it but a lot more than Planes.

8 games in now and I've won 7. I feel like it's definitely more about positioning and fire arcs than WoT. The low speed and manoeuvrability combined with varying amounts of firepower depending on which side you're presenting means that you really need to start an engagement in the right place. I prefer to slowly move around the side of the map and then speed up to broadside the enemy formations once I know where they are. Doing it from a distance (and the UI is beautifully user friendly for this) usually means someone else is the target, and I've got at least one kill in most of my games. I'm rather enjoying it, needless to say, and now I've unlocked my first proper cruiser, a Chester class.

WoT is all about the positioning once you hit the higher tiers imo. A fast medium vs a TD is toast unless they can get around the arse, lower and mid level is just tearing about shooting the crap out of everything and missing as many shots as hit as the reload is so low.

This sounds like I might want to play it, can you log in via WoT?

It's the same account but a different client. This was only for the weekend anyway, and I don't know if my access carries over to the next one. It's worth it though if you get a key - I got mine off PCGamesN, so if they do more I'll post here (I would have done last time but by the time I got home from work it had run out).