Groningen - Bland and Situational (Commander/Build Info + Highlights)

Groningen is essentially a Dutch Friesland. Pretty much the same ship in every respect. And while it can be effective, it lacks any sort of alpha-strike at all. I found the ship to be, in a word, boring. I dislike playing it for the same reason I dislike playing the U.S. DD Sherman. Your best chance for damage is to find a spot where your teammates can spot for you, smoke up, and try to land shells on slow or stationary targets. Snooze-fest, as far as I am concerned. I was able to contest caps with it due to the hydro and rapid-firing guns. But with all the aircraft, subs, hydro and radar in most games the chances to get in close and chew up a red DD were pretty few and far between. Take all my comments with a grain of salt, of course. I understand that many players may enjoy the smoke/dakka/dakka playstyle. But I am not one of them. I give the Groningen a 6.5/10 rating for that reason. It can be smoking hot, as it is when able to catch a red DD at short range (one example of that in this video) but it is not common. Thanks for watching and as always, your comments and questions are welcome and appreciated!

[@RightOnTarget1]

Good review. I haven’t played this ship, but fought them a lot. It just doesn’t appeal to me enough to buy it. I find the European fore/aft two turret configuration hard to use, even on Ragnar. The guns on Daring or especially Elbing are much more comfortable.

[@icopgaming]

Thanks, brother! Robert points out in his comment that the ship can be configured differently, which may help considerably. I tend to revisit ships I find to be not fun at some point. When I do, I might try his commander skills recommendations and see how much difference that makes for me. Like you, I prefer more guns on a DD if that is the focus.

[@robertshaver4432]

Groningen set up: preventive maintenance a big NO because your damage con is so short and you take last stand so: 1 pt incoming fire alert, 2 point last stand, fire starting 3 pt. HP, superintendent, gunnery and adrenalin rush 4 point: gunnery NO because the shells are so slow the extra range is usually worthless so just conceal (I think that's 21). so that's 1 one 2 twos 4 threes and one 4. Yes 21 points but for 17 choose for the eventual 21 resolve. Fearless brawler is a no because you sit in smoke a-lot in this ship. I agree with your ship slots but I use the coal bought hydro action extension time. You're right it's a situational ship and is best with teammates spotting which being a lone wolf I struggled with BUT with the hydro you can early cap if there's islands and you can press deep enough 5k hydro? Subs kind of screwed up Gron for early capping but so does radar so again island caps. Set it up for starting fires!
Yes I've had a-lot of boring games BUT I've had some great games in her too. She plays with and for the team (smoke support) it's not lone wolf DD
When I'm in Oland I hate running into a Gron, I consider it to be a DD hunter killer and a team support DD. I enjoy playing it quite a-lot.
Oland, Groningen, Ragnar: my favorites for randoms: in that order.

[@icopgaming]

Thank you very much, brother! I really appreciate your comments and, if I revisit this ship down the road, I will make use of your commander build recommendations in the hope of having more fun with the ship. Fire starting does make perfect sense. If you find yourself having a good game with the ship in the next couple months, maybe send me a replay? Would love to highlight it and demonstrate for others here how this ship can be played more effectively than what I was able to.

[@neillynch7243]

Hmm, not a ship that appeals to me. Nasty to deal with if its in a div tho. But yeah, boring game play for me, so will not be buying it.

[@icopgaming]

In a division with a spotting buddy this ship could be a little more interesting. But still, I prefer ships with more and varied weapon systems. Thanks for watching and commenting, brother!