Is it
Gneisenau? No its G'nice all the time!
The other half of the Twins, the
Gneisenau flips the bird to historical load outs and comes with six 38 cm SK C/34 naval guns standard. As has been mentioned if you want the 11 inch guns prepare to pony up for the
Scharnhorst. This main battery configuration was a planned refit that never came to fruition. In addition to the 38 cm guns
Gneisenau's secondary batteries are better geared for AAA than
Scharnhorst and she boasts an extra speed, topping out at a brisk 32.0 knots.
In essence
Gneisenau trades sheer volume of fire for pen and higher alpha per shell. Where
Scharners' 28 cm SK C/34 naval guns will often bounce
Gneisenau's 38s can punch through BBs and angled CAs. However, she can only fire six rounds per broadside and coupled with meh German dispersion she can be dealt some frustrating straddles by RNG. Unlike
Nagato where I can comfortably stagger fore and aft batteries or split them between targets I find myself going for full broadsides whenever possible to maximize my chance of having shells connect. Still its nice that
Gneisenau can AP her way through situations where
Scharnhorst would need to switch to HE and while the guns can be derpy they still cycle in a respectable 26 seconds.
Like her sister
Gneisenau can use her speed and armor to dictate range and setup situations where her dispersion no longer matters. In addition she can make
Torpitz runs, just note the Twins don't have the troll bow armor of
Tirpitz, you want to show a steeply angled side when closing in. The Twins both seem to excel at these drive by situations on other battleships; their combination of speed, fast turret traverse and fish offers some high risk reward in CQB.
The later she lasts into the match the more dangerous
Gneisenau becomes, the map opens up for her use her speed to flex around and targets are often weakened enough for her to assassinate with her smaller broadside. I think she will have a lot of synergy when divisioned up with
Scharnhorst, each complementing the other's weapon load outs.
Overall while her guns can sometimes be troll, i]Gneisenau[/i]'s combination of strengths really make for a fun experience when played correctly.
