No matter how hard I tried, though, I really couldn't find much fault in returning to this thing after a few months of separation. The meta of the game has changed a bit since the closed beta test, but the Cleveland really hasn't changed much at all. For those who have never heard of it, and are perhaps following this blog to get an introduction to the game, the Cleveland class American cruiser, unlocked at tier 6, is a ship that stands out from the crowd because of its outstanding armament, its superb anti-aircraft capabilities, and the fact that it is the first of the truly high-tech feeling ships in the American cruiser line. Something about the way that the Cleveland looks, or perhaps its all turreted armament (the t5 Omaha still had some of its guns in casemate barbettes, which is so WW1), make the Cleveland just feel more modern than its predecessors. Its Japanese counterpart, the Aoba, is an excellent ship, but somehow just doesn't earn the same appreciation that the Cleveland does. Topping it all off is the fact that the tier 7 cruiser, the Pensacola class cruiser, feels less competitive for its tier, and sometimes gets beaten up by the Cleveland, makes the Cleveland leave a better impression on the player. Hell, I actually felt like the Pensacola was a downgrade when I first captained it (more on that later).
Why? Well, the Cleveland seems to gain much of its love from one fact, which is that its guns are smaller than it contemporaries. Oh, I'm not kidding, in fact its guns are smaller than the Furutaka, the tier 5 Japanese cruiser. So what the hell is going on, how can smaller guns be better? It gets a lot of them, and they fire bloody fast. As a cruiser, the Cleveland typically takes up a supporting role rather than a primary one, and they also specialize in mauling destroyers by saturating the seas with fire rather than taking precision shots. For cruisers, having fewer guns of a bigger calibre is a double-edged sword, as it means less shots per minute. Cruiser guns, even the big ones, are typically used to splam out high-explosive rounds, cause fires, and immobilize destroyers. The only real use for a cruiser's armour piercing rounds is in fighting other cruisers, where they can reliably penetrate armour (which they can't do to battleships), and not overpenetrate the paper armour of destroyers. Hence, many cruiser captains will favour volume of fire over slower, harder-hitting guns. Like the St Louis at tier 3, the Cleveland is an artillery machinegun, capable of hosing the ocean with fire.
So it's a HE spamming hussy then? Well, I'd love to call it a noob ship, a one trick pony, or the bandwagon boat, but that would be a little uncharitable. The Cleveland actually rocks at a lot of other stuff, too. The Cleveland is a mobile ship, with acceptable armour for a cruiser. It has the option of either the acoustic search ability, or the anti-aircraft defensive fire ability, and can also launch a float-plane fighter to beef its considerable anti-aircraft armament. This makes the Cleveland pretty damn flexible, since it can double-down on AA abilities and become the premier AA escort of its tier, or it can use the float-plane and the acoustic search ability to become a flexible destroyer-hunter and still be the terror of the skies.
In the beta test I burned as much free experience as I could to rush it to the Cleveland, and so I've been trying to rediscover what I'd missed in the Omaha in my recent playthrough. As my previous blog suggested, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it and the Phoenix before it. In trying to find a fault in the Cleveland that I could harp on, and deflate its hype, I really couldn't find much. The ship is the first of what we'll call the "true" American cruisers, in that it totally shirks the use of torpedoes in favour of an all-gun armament. And while its guns are no pea-shooters, they certainly don't pack the headshot punch of the Aoba's, or the Pensacola's for that matter. In a cruiser gunfight, the Cleveland can feel a little like it's a cruiser squaring off against a battleship, since its AP shells have limited effect, and the enemy cruiser can score a much more potent citadel penetration. Even with that put aside, the Cleveland will often trounce its contemporaries through sheer volume of fire, and its lack of torpedoes becomes moot when it performs its proper role as a fleet escort and AA platform.
Tactics? I know this is the point where I am supposed to espouse a miracle tactic that makes you a god in the Cleveland, but honestly, it is one of the purest examples of a gunline/fleet escort cruiser. Most of the decisions you'll need to make in this ship are strategic as opposed to tactical. Always be wherever AA and anti-destroyer capabilities are needed the most. The tactics I've covered in previous cruiser blogs still stand, and I would say that they are more important than ever. In the Omaha and Phoenix you could peel away from the supporting role a lot more, and act as a roided up destroyer. Here, without torpedoes, an with a full cruiser hull, your job is simple: be ubiquitous. You stop the aircraft and destroyers from coming anywhere near your battleships and carriers. You offer your gunfire to your big brothers in the battleships. Never be the first ship targeted, always redeploy to save the lives of your fellows, and never be complacent. Don't lone wolf, unless there is a destroyer that needs to be nailed before it reaches your fleet.
The Cleveland is no hussy. It's a society girl, for sure, but it is a classy girl none the less. Sinatra would sing about how she is never late for the theatre, and how she earned being the object of desire, but never let it change her inside. I'm glad to have my baby back, and won't let her go to no server wipe. Who loves you, baby?
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