Stalingrad

The Russian Tier 10 Reward ship Stalingrad is a ship that behaves very similar to the Tier 10 Tech Tree Cruiser Moskva. Both are very strong at locking down a position, and are equipped with accurate and hard hitting AP shells that travel across the map quickly. However, Stalingrad is more polarized and less flexible than her Tech Tree counterpart. Worse maneuverability and Concealment make mistakes in positioning and relocating attempts risky, and can result in very painful salvos coming in. Stalingrad makes up for it however by being more durable, and having more powerful armament.

Stalingrad boasts a very healthy amount of hitpoints for a Cruiser. With 72.450hp she beats the Kronshtadt which has 1.400 points less, and is thus the Cruiser with the highest hitpool in the game as of now. With a Torpedo Defense of 25%, she can tank Torpedoes better than other Cruisers, especially given her high hitpool. Unlike all Cruisers but the Kronshtadt and Admiral Graf Spee, a fire on the Stalingrad will burn for 45 seconds unless modifications, upgrades or skills are being applied. This makes her more vulnerable to fires than a Cruiser, but less vulnerable than a Battleship.

Her armor is an almost identical scheme compared to her Tech Tree counterpart. Her citadel, just like Moskva's, has been widened from the historical plans which creates a weak spot in her armor scheme. Slightly above the waterline the citadel touches the outer hull, and is protected by a 180mm strong belt. With a 15° incline this results in a slightly stronger 186mm effective thickness. Below this weak spot however the citadel protection becomes a lot stronger. The outer belt of 180mm inclined armor continues, but behind that there is a 55mm (or 45mm at the machinery) bulkhead with the same incline protecting the magazine. This can result in shells getting armed but exploding before penetrating the citadel.

Just like the Moskva, Stalingrad also features the infamous 50mm hull plating. This will mostly benefit the ship when it's being angled properly, as it can make all AP shells bounce off and most HE shells will just shatter against it. However, not every part is covered in this plating. Half of the bow and a lot of the stern area is not protected by this and only has a 25mm plating, which will get overmatched by every Battleship the Stalingrad will face. That is why angling itself is essential for this ship. Going bow/stern in results in a high chance of getting hit into the 25mm section, and perhaps taking severe damage. At an angle of 25-30° however, and when actively sailing back and forth, and perhaps even baiting shots at the broadside by slightly opening up only to turn back in again, the ship's tankiness becomes apparent and will prove to be a frustrating obstacle for any Battleship. Note that this kind of angling can be done both ways, showing either the bow or the stern.

All of this will result in Stalingrad being very tanky when angled, but once the opponent gets access to her side she will fall apart just as quickly as other Cruisers.

The main guns are one of Stalingrad's strongest features. Carrying three triple turrets with 305mm/61 rifles in an AB-X layout she will be able to deliver devastating salvos against many targets. Her accuracy is a rather weird case. With a dispersion similar to the German Heavy Cruiser Graf Spee, but the highest sigma value in the game at 2.65, there are two extremes meeting when shells are being fired. The chance for shells to land closer to the center is higher than on other Cruisers, but if RNG decides against it the shells will land further off the target than on any other Cruiser.

The reload time of these guns is very long, 20 seconds before you apply any modifications or skills. Thus, Main Battery Modification 3 is highly recommended to bring the reload down to 17.6 seconds, with Adrenaline Rush reducing the reload further as Stalingrad takes damage. With a comfortable range of 20.4km Stalingrad can inflict damage to her opponents from far away.

The AP shells are the more powerful shell type on Stalingrad. They feature good ballistics, a strong penetration and also a high Alpha damage of 9.200. On top of that, just like all American Heavy Cruisers, these shells have improved autobounce angles. What this means is that at an impact angle until 55° no bounce will occur, and that until an impact angle of 65° a bounce can occur. Anything above that will result in an automatic bounce. This is better than on most other Cruisers, see this page for reference. Also, the caliber of these guns allows for another feature. 305mm armor piercing shells have the ability to overmatch 21mm of armor. That means that Stalingrad can citadel British Light Cruisers from all angles, and that against Destroyers she can also just stick to AP when they angle and get normal penetrations in a similar manner to what Battleships can do.

The HE shells on an individual basis are strong, with an Alpha damage of 4.500 and a high fire chance of 33%. On top of that due to their caliber they can penetrate up to 50mm of armor. Unfortunately the good news end there. The relatively low rate of fire makes HE a rather unattractive choice of ammo as it's not enough to rack up high damage numbers, and the amount of shells she can throw out is not enough to make her a reliable fire starter like the Zao or Henri IV. The HE shells should be seen as the secondary shells, with the main focus being on the AP to deal damage.

Stalingrad's auxiliary armament consists of six twin mounted 130mm/60 dual purpose guns, the same ones as on the Moskva. Like on all other Cruisers these guns can not be relied on to consistently support in a close quarters engagement, although their reach is far with a 6.5km stock range. The anti-air-defense is focused around her dual purpose guns. She boasts the same guns as on the Moskva, but has two additional turrets which give Stalingrad a strong long-range aura. With a stock reach of 5.7km she can cover ships that are further away, allowing her to support her team. Unfortunately her Defensive AA Fire  is rather unconventional. Unlike the Moskva, which gets a 200% damage boost for 40 seconds, Stalingrad only gets a 100% boost for 60 seconds. This means that while she can scatter enemy drops for a longer time, she will not be able to shoot down more planes than the Moskva, despite having more AA guns. There are no Torpedoes on the Stalingrad, so in a close engagement she can not boast a trump card like the Hindenburg or Minotaur.

In terms of maneuverability the Stalingrad is very similar to the Moskva. When sailing in a straight line she can be very fast, up to 36.8kn when using the Sierra Mike signal flag. However once she has to maneuver problems will arise. With a turning circle of more than 1.1km she has a larger turning circle than the German Battleship Großer Kurfürst, which is already known for needing a lot of room to maneuver. On top of that Stalingrad's rudder shift is slow at 12.5 seconds, which is the worst value of any Tier 10 Cruiser. These factors combined make Torpedo dodging a difficult task.

Stalingrad's Concealment is the worst among all Cruisers. With a stock Detection of 18.1km, and when stacking all the Concealment improvements barely going below 14km, this ship can not hide. Even a large number of Battleships in the Tier 8-10 bracket have the ability to outspot Stalingrad, so caution is advised when attempting to relocate.

Stalingrad's Consumables are mostly standard for a T10 Cruiser. She has a regular Damage Control Party , regular Repair Party  and the regular Tier 10 Russian Surveillance Radar . However, as mentioned earlier her Defensive AA Fire  is different in performance. Not only that, the cooldown on this Consumable is very long with up to four minutes.

In terms of playstyle Stalingrad will feel a lot like the Moskva. She gets into a position in one of the two following manners:

1. In her position she shows her stern to the opponent. From there on she kites if needed, and will lay down her devastating fire against enemy ships. If the enemy forces prove to be too strong, her fast speed will allow her to create distance quickly and to continue kiting. If the red team however starts retreating Stalingrad will have to turn to keep herself in the battle.

2. Stalingrad will angle with her bow towards the enemy, keeping an angle of 20-30° when possible. The usage of islands to cover the large broadside is encouraged, and will also allow to get out of line of fire if a short breathing pause is needed to restore some health. When the enemy positions start to collapse, she can push up and finishing off the enemy. The Radar and Defensive Fire will prove to be valuable when supporting the Destroyers ahead. However, if the opposing team starts overwhelming her position there will be little room to run, and Stalingrad will be stuck in a position where she can only reverse.

The capabilities of Stalingrad in a brawl are very limited, owning to her large citadel which is easy to penetrate at close ranges and her lacking maneuverability to dodge potential Torpedoes. The absence of Hydroacoustic Search only strengthens this weakness, as does the lack of Torpedoes. Thus, close quarters engagements should be avoided unless it's to finish off a low health target.