I have played it once in a long range engagement, where I got killed soon. It also has a long reload and only 2 turrets, not to mention its slow speed and bad agility. But it has 60mm of armour and can survive multiple torpedo hits. I like close range fighting so I’m wondering if I should use it for my 4.3 lineup.
You’ve pretty much identified the pro’s and cons - except for having decent AA.
It only survives multiple torp hits by luck, or if htey are particularly weak torpedoes… but it can absorb more than it’s share of DD-size gun hits.
It’s a pretty mediocre ship IMO.
It has armor at a BR where people mostly use HE.
Easily the funnest vessel for me at its BR.
Technically it’s a Sloop & is still the first captured ship in game the K class Sloop K-2 ntm thanks to the mythical bullocks of Germany in WT it’s bias in it being in the bluewater TT while other similar “frigate” type vessels get shafted by the coastal TT iirc these were meant for coastal defence sooo…, But anyway due to these reasons it’s economically one of the better “frigates” in that it’s repair isn’t painful nor has a horrible ammunition cost YAY.
Still it’s quite slow has mild amounts of armour with a good DM which will be noticed if you come under fire from sub 4" weaponry plus a nice amount of AA for it’s BR although it only has HE shells for the main cannons.
Odd note if you face one pay attention to your lookout as they’ll yell DESTROYER!! even though this sloop is labelled a frigate in game.
In the wiki it says the fastest reload is 6.3 secs, I’m wondering if I can put crew skill points into reload so it’s faster?
Back in the olden days, this was the most fun you could have. It had a coastal spawn, and absolutely dominated the games it was in. It probably wasn’t fair, but it was a blast.
The K-2 Gunboat (German designation Kanonenboot 1937-class, 3 built) was the best brown water boat of WT - as it still had its boat spawn. Crazy op in old times.
It was inevitable that it finally lost its boat spawn and had to go with DDs. Means it lost its edge. On a DD level neither the firepower nor the speed are of any use. Its toxic :=) Its just a unit to skill over to reach the next ship of the TT.
If you look for a good and fast grinder (the bigger the ship class, the slower the gameplay, the less economical e.g. for the current event, so avoid cruisers or BB), I’d recommend a 3.7 lineup around the German Minesweepers M17 + M-802 (prem), Albatros missile boat (ingame without missiles ofc^^), AFD3 gun barge + this He-111 with that big bang bomb. Mind the PG02’s^^
Another option is a 4.3 lineup around the Frigate Koln / Lubeck (almost identical to Koln prem,expensive), MTB Jaguar, Karl Marx + yeehh that He-111 …cause booom^^
Is it still worth it to play it now?
Like any coastal, it can’t do much if it gets within range of a destroyer, but it is still fun to play against other coastals.
With 4 x 4" guns it can do quite a lot to a destroyer!
It can do damage, it just can’t take it very well. I try to avoid destroyers and concentrate on the the coastal ships. However, I come from playing when it had a coastal spawn, so that’s just how I learned to play it. I’m sure in the right hands, it can do better against destroyers.
Those 120mm cannons will rip destroyers to shreds.