New US Cruiser line incoming!

[Keyan_TTK]

The long awaited USN Cruiser split is coming!



Pensacola, New Orleans and Baltimore will be set a Tier lower, and a new Cruiser line will be created with Cleveland at its rightful T8 spot and Worcester at the top of the line. Worcester and Buffalo (the new Heavy T9) will be at least out of development hell!

Some pictures:

T7 Helena


T8 Cleveland


T9 (Heavy) Buffalo (a USN cruiser with torpedoes!)


T10 (light) Worcester


Make USN Cruisers Great Again!

[DLRevan]

No more Cleveland sealclubbing at T6 feelsbadman.

[WtBlaze]

As a shoukaku main I'm not sure how I feel about a tier 8 Cleveland.

[Mobius]

Not sure why Cleveland seems to be getting a new model, old one seems mostly fine. Unless they're just updating it with new small calibre AA?

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Also, Worcester looks like a US Minotaur.

[Keyan_TTK]

Also, Worcester looks like a US Minotaur.

Worcester has one twin 6 inch more, but you've got a point. It's probably convergent evolution, both ships designs having the same objective: a light cruiser dedicated to anti-air duty.

[M.A.Mitscher]

No more Cleveland sealclubbing at T6 feelsbadman.

I'm happy for Cleveland going to Tier VIII and her potential being realized.

That said, she is a big player in Tier VI and that MM range.

AA. Of all the Tech Tree ships, Tier VI Cleveland is the only ship that puts fear into CVs. AA Hull Nunrberg? No, garbage AA. There's AA Gneisenau but nobody but a few loonies like me spec her for AA. There's Atlanta, but she's a Premium and sees nothing at all the sheer amount of action Cleveland sees.

DPM side Nurnburg can be just as good, etc. But the other Tier VI Cruisers are not sturdy like Cleveland.

She was also a key ship in Ranked and Scenarios.

Honestly, the CV crowd hasn't said it yet, but they're drooling with the idea that Cleveland will be mostly gone from the MM range that sees the most CV action: Tier V-VII. Tier VI Cleveland sat right in the middle of that.

@EmeraldAcid - Your waifu is about to have a better time at Tier VI

[Keyan_TTK]

@M.A.Mitscher Hush, you!

I won't be able to swat AI planes in Operations either. Nurnberg is a good alternative in the anti-shipping department, but there's no more AA monster.

[M.A.Mitscher]

@Keyan_TTK Yeah, N-Berg is nothing at all like Cleveland in that department. The loss of Cleveland's AA is going to be sharply felt in both PVE and PVP. Nobody is close to that in Tier V-VII range, only Atlanta, and she's a premium with less action seen. Not sure how it is in other servers, but Cleveland is **THE** most played Cruiser in NA, period, nothing at all comes close. She just does so many things.

I've mentioned the potential issues of Cleveland going to Tier VIII (which I have no problem with). Some say the upcoming Dallas will fill that hole. We'll see. The key thing are those 127mm/38 DP turrets Cleveland has. Tech Tree USN ships don't feature those guns at all until Tier VIII, which is where Cleveland is returning to. It's like WG doesn't want those 127mm/38 DP secondaries, AA mounts below Tier VIII anymore. Which is why I don't see Dallas having "Cleveland AA." At best, Dallas, as well as downtiering of Pensacola, will have the same kind of AA:

Great for personal defense, worthless for defending teammates.

NOLA, Indianapolis, Pensacola feature the inferior 127mm mounts that lack the range and DPS of the 127mm/38 DP mounts. Unless Pensacola, Dallas somehow are made AA monsters for Tier VI, CVs are going to have a field day. Cleveland was the first real slap to the face a CV experiences. Atlanta is there but again, she's not played as much and is a Tier VII.

It's going to be a very interesting set of causes and effects in the Tier V-VII CV crowd. They can still see Tier VIII Cleveland, but Cleve is going to be dealing with Tier IX-X problems.

[Mobius]

Sub_Octavian on Reddit:

Guys, just to clarify: the current WIP plan is regular cruiser loadout but HAS and Def AA in different slots, and for T9-10, we plan DCP, Heal, HAS, AA and Radar - in different slots.
By the way, thanks for coming and reposting. It was a great pleasure to meet US players in person:)

What. The. Fuck.

[Keyan_TTK]

I'm fine with this. Make USN cruisers great again!

That said, Balti (and DM) has DCP - Hydro or DefAA - Radar - Heal, so I don't get the ruckus...

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More pictures!

T6 USS Dallas


T9 USS Seattle


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MrFingersEU of Reddit fame found out more about these two cruisers, namely the styles plans.

Here is what could have inspired USS Dallas

an alternative for USS Cleveland, with plane facilities amidships, torpedoes aft of said plane facilities, and six twin 5inch/38. There's also four quad 1.1 inch MGs (the famed Chicago Pianos), which may be replaced with quad Bofors.

And here is what probably inspired USS Seattle

a preliminary design for USS Worcester, with triple rapid firing DP 6inch/47, four quad Bofors and again aircraft facilities amidships.