Richelieu
380 mm/45 Mle 1935 in a turret2 х 4 pcs. |
Rate of Fire2 shots/min. |
Reload Time30 sec. |
Rotation Speed5 deg./sec. |
180 Degree Turn Time36 sec. |
Firing Range22.97 km. |
Maximum Dispersion313 m. |
HE Shell380 mm HE OEA Mle 1945 |
Maximum HE Shell Damage5,400 |
Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell36 % |
Initial HE Shell Velocity830 m./s. |
HE Shell Weight884 kg. |
AP Shell380 mm AP OPfK Mle 1943 |
Maximum AP Shell Damage11,900 |
Initial AP Shell Velocity830 m./s. |
AP Shell Weight885 kg. |
152 mm/55 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1936 mount3 х 3 pcs. |
Firing Range7.6 km. |
Rate of Fire5 shots/min. |
Reload Time12 sec. |
HE Shell152 mm HE OEA Mle 1937 |
Maximum HE Shell Damage2,200 |
Initial HE Shell Velocity870 m./s. |
Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell12 % |
100 mm/45 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1931 mount6 х 2 pcs. |
Firing Range7.6 km. |
Rate of Fire15 shots/min. |
Reload Time4 sec. |
HE Shell100 mm HE OEA Mle 1928 |
Maximum HE Shell Damage1,400 |
Initial HE Shell Velocity780 m./s. |
Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell6 % |
152 mm/55 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1936 mount3 х 3 pcs. |
. . . Average Damage per Second24.9 |
. . . Firing Range5.01 km. |
100 mm/45 Mle 1930 on an Mle 1931 mount6 х 2 pcs. |
. . . Average Damage per Second40.8 |
. . . Firing Range5.01 km. |
20 mm Oerlikon on a Mk.4 mount48 х 1 pcs. |
. . . Average Damage per Second172.8 |
. . . Firing Range2.01 km. |
40 mm Bofors on a Mk.1 mount14 х 2 pcs. |
. . . Average Damage per Second158.2 |
. . . Firing Range3.51 km. |
Maximum Speed30.4 knot |
Turning Circle Radius850 m. |
Rudder Shift Time21.5 sec. |
Surface Detectability Range16.24 km. |
Air Detectability Range11.02 km. |
Richelieu — French Tier VIII battleship.
One of the most successful and well-balanced "new generation" battleships in the world. The ship was equipped with 380 mm guns, had a high speed, strong armor and very good torpedo protection. The disadvantages of concentrating the ship's main guns on the bow were compensated by the favorable turret traverse angles.
Modules
Compatible Upgrades
Slot 1 |
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Slot 2 |
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Slot 3 |
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Slot 4 |
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Slot 5 |
Player Opinion
Performance
Refer to the in-game Port screens for more useful data.
Tier VIII's Richelieu possesses more than a passing similarity to Tier VI premium Dunkerque, but provides greater flexibility. Richelieu is one of the fastest battleships in the game, has good relative immunity to catastrophic damage due to her armor scheme and ability to angle well, and her anti-aircraft armament allows for greater independent operation than many of her same-tier counterparts.
Captains will find Richelieu to be an excellent flanking ship even when there exists little support. Even in Tier IX or X battles the basic fundamentals of the ship do not change, but simply require greater caution. With proper map awareness, Richelieu can remain a threat in nearly any battle. Players should actively seek opportunities to gain the flank of potential targets and use the superior speed of Richelieu to displace if subject to too much attention, taking advantage of the turret's wide rotation angle to kite away while still using 100% of the Richelieu’s firepower.
The main battery is a massive shift from Lyon’s 16-gun broadside: Richelieu’s guns are mounted in an an all-forward super-firing configuration that allows 100% of her firepower to be deployed in any direction other than directly aft, allowing full effectiveness when bow-tanking as well as flexibility when on the move. The shells are larger, heavier, and faster; this makes it easier to lead and penetrate targets at range, though against cruisers the penetration can be often be excessive, resulting in low-damage over-penetrations. The accuracy of her main battery is somewhat questionable, which is not helped by having only half the number of barrels as her predecessor.
Similar to her slightly smaller Tier VI cousin, Richelieu’s armor scheme encourages captains to keep her bow pointed at the enemy. Her citadel extends above the waterline and she has quite a bit of freeboard; ships that get a free shot at her broadside with armor-piercing rounds are all but guaranteed to do extreme damage. Fortunately, Richelieu’s anti-aircraft defenses are stronger than most of her French contemporaries: Hull (B) represents her summer 1943 refit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and packs on copious quantities of the 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon cannons favored by Allied navies of the era. The end result is that her long-range AA bubble remains far weaker than her American and British counterparts, but her mid- and short-range bubbles are essentially equivalent in power.
Though the play style demanded by her unique turret arrangement is different from the other ships in the French battleship branch, Richelieu combines speed, above-average AA, and hard-hitting guns into a comfortable-to-conn package that will remind players strongly of a better Dunkerque.Pros:
- All-forward main armament provides excellent angling potential.
- Superb medium and close range AA suite.
- High penetration and fast shell travel times.
- When Sierra Mike () is equipped and with Engine Boost active, becomes one of the fastest battleships in the game.
- Well protected citadel.
- Good maneuverability.
- Superb main battery range.
- Turret traverse is better than Lyon
Cons:
- Poor aft coverage for main armament.
- Poor forward coverage for secondary armament.
- Poor concealment compared to same-tier counterparts.
- Turrets tend to get incapacitated and/or destroyed often, with catastrophic consequences since losing one turret means losing 1/2 of the firepower.
- Most of the AAs are open mounted, easy to lose them under HE fire
- Questionable dispersion.
- Extensive coverage of Tier VIII common plate (32mm) means high vulnerability to 150mm and larger high explosive shells.
- Other Tier VIII battleships with 15-inch guns sport no more than 26 second reload; Richelieu is stuck with a 30 second reload as the price for her turret arrangement allowing her to keep all her firepower on target and still present a small profile to enemies.
Research
Availability of researchable upgrades for Richelieu is as follows:
- Hull: Upgrade to Hull (B) for significant increases in health, anti-aircraft firepower, and rudder traverse time. Research of this module unlocks progression to Alsace.
- Gun Fire Control System: Upgrade to PCA n° 8 Mle 2 for an extra 10% range on the main battery.
- Propulsion: Upgrading this module adds an additional 1.5 knots of top speed.
Optimal Configuration
Richelieu is best configured to augment her main battery and AA suite, with any remaining slots dedicated to concealment and damage control.
Upgrades
The recommended upgrades for Richelieu are as follows:
- Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
- Slot 2: Damage Control System Modification 1
- Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
- Slot 4: Damage Control System Modification 2
- Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1
Commander Skills
The following are recommended commander skills for Richelieu.
Recommended Commander Skills | ||||||
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Cost (points) |
Attack | Defense | ||||
1 |
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★★ |
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★★ |
2 |
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★★ |
3 |
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★★ |
★★ |
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★★ |
4 |
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★★ |
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★★ |
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful |
Consumables
Richelieu can equip the following consumables:
- Slot 1: Damage Control Party
- Slot 2: Repair Party
- Slot 3: Engine Boost
Signals
The following are recommended combat signals for Richelieu.
Recommended Signal Flags | |||||
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Combat | |||||
★ |
★★ |
★★★ |
★ |
★ |
★ |
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★ |
★★ |
★★ |
★★ |
★★★ |
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Note: Use of the Juliet Charlie signal makes detonation impossible.
Gallery
Historical Info
Historical Gallery
Video
References
Ship Change Log
See here for links to Update notes.
Testing Changes
- November 7, 2017:
- Preliminary characteristics.
- November 22, 2017:
- Torpedo damage reduction increased from 19% to 32%.
- December 12, 2017:
- Torpedo damage reduction increased from 31.82% to 34.24%.
- December 27, 2017:
- Secondary battery firing range was increased from 5 to 7 km.
- Available for testing by supertesters in the game starting from Update 0.6.14.
- Update 0.7.2:
- Introduced into the game as a researchable ship.
- Update 0.7.3:
- The "Engine Boost Modification 1" upgrade became available to slot.
- Update 0.7.7:
- Minor fixes to geometry and textures on the ship and camouflage.
- Update 0.8.5:
- Credit earnings decreased by 5%.
- Experience earnings decreased by 5%.
- Update 0.9.5:
- Small changes to geometry and textures.
- Update 0.9.7:
- Hull A: the positions of the "Engine Boost" and "Spotting Aircraft / Fighter" consumables were swapped.
- Update 0.9.10:
- The distribution of HP in the hull was slightly updated.
- Update 0.10.0:
- The firing range of the secondary battery was increased to 7.6 km.
- Update 0.11.6:
- Minor fixes to the model and textures of the ship.
- Update 0.11.9:
- Minor fixes to geometry and textures of the King of Primitives permanent camouflage.
- Update 12.2:
- Improved the geometry and textures of the ship.
- Update 12.4:
- The stock hull has been replaced with a new one, created on the basis of the researchable hull with a changed composition for the AA guns. Thus, when the new hull A is installed, the ship can't use the Fighter and Spotting Aircraft consumables.
- New characteristics of Richelieu's AA A hull:
- Composition: 48х1 20 mm, 14x2 40 mm, 6х2 100 mm.
- Short-range AA guns: Permanent damage per second— 357; hit probability—70%; range—2.0 km.
- Mid-range AA guns: Permanent damage per second— 273; hit probability—75%; range—3.5 km.
- Long-range AA guns: Permanent damage per second— 77; hit probability—75%; range—5.8 km.
- The radius of an area within which AA explosions can appear—3.5–5.8 km; the number of explosions in a salvo—4; damage within the explosion radius of shells—1,330.
- New characteristics of Richelieu's AA A hull:
- The stock hull has been replaced with a new one, created on the basis of the researchable hull with a changed composition for the AA guns. Thus, when the new hull A is installed, the ship can't use the Fighter and Spotting Aircraft consumables.