Autumn paints the leaves red. You know what the reddest thing in the world is? It’s the Red Navy! In this Update, the Soviet fleet gets enhanced with a quintuple of new ships, so let’s find out what they bring to the table.

Early Access Destroyers and More

First in the ranks and, fittingly, in Early Access, come three feisty Soviet destroyers: Soobrazitelny (Russian for “Sharp”) at Tier IV, Boevoi (Russian for “Warlike”) at Tier V, and Kiev at Tier VI, forming an alternate branch of Russian DDs.

You can receive these warships, along with personal missions that are available once per ship, in dedicated Soviet Destroyer Crates and Soviet Destroyer Big Crates (with better chances of getting one of the Early Access vessels). If luck is not on your side, don’t fret—the little ones will become researchable as soon as the next Update lands. One more warship that will arrive at that point is Tier VII Udaloi (“Bold”), capping off the alternative branch. Tier IV Premium ship Gremyashchy (“Thunderous”) makes a comeback as well and can be obtained in the aforementioned Crates. Both Gremyashchy and Soobrazitelny were named as Guards ships for their successful actions. That award was considered an extraordinary feat, since only 18 ships of the Red Navy were honored with such a rank during World War II.

The new line offers a twist on the existing ships, mostly tweaking the armament ranges. While the original Soviets are more of a "keep maximum distance and fire guns" venture, the newcomers give up some of that gun range to get a better operating distance for torpedoes, making their playstyle closer to the rare Ognevoi. You will be facing your enemies at a riskier engagement distance, but your torpedoes will also improve your buffer zone and give you a bit more leeway in performing your offensive or defensive maneuvers.

Pyotr Bagration, Tier VII Cruiser

This warship was intended to be a modern take on cruisers, with an enhanced AA suite (based on WWII naval battle experience) and carrying 7-inch (180 mm) guns. Bagration was meant to be a do-it-all ship that would be able to carry out missions typically allocated to both light and heavy cruisers.

The ship is named after a heroic Russian general of Napoleonic Wars who fought valiantly and died in the Battle of Borodino just outside Moscow in 1812. She offers the reliability of the very flat ballistics that you know and love if you have played other Soviet cruisers. The 180 mm AP shells will likely steal the show here, with HE shells playing the second fiddle, since Equilibrium of Power negates their fire-starting potential quite handily, although there's a possibility that HE-focused builds will pop up anyway. She has quite a potent anti-air suite, even comparable to some of the American units. Her biggest weakness, however, is her size and therefore visibility, so you would need to show twice the caution before revealing yourself to the enemy, and being the lone target would be sub-optimal if you're going against multiple ships that can reach you.

Stalingrad, Legendary Tier Cruiser

A very ambitious project, Stalingrad was planned to be bigger and faster than USN Alaska-class “large battlecruisers.” With the ship’s construction supervised by Joseph Stalin himself, this warship was bound to receive the most powerful power plant in the world. However, the project was canceled soon after Stalin’s death in 1953 due to expense limitations.

Stalingrad is the first ship (and she’s a very big one) of the Legendary Tier that is not Bureau-specific and can be obtained with 2 million Global XP. We realize that this is a very unusual way of delivery for a Legendary-Tier ship, but we also felt it's time to try something new. It’s true that only a handful of players will be able to get her right away, but we know a lot among you have multiple Global XP ships, so while this is certainly a long-term goal, it is not beyond the horizon. Also, considering that Stalingrad is our first non-Bureau Legendary ship, we're making her available with a Permanent Camouflage from the get-go. Importantly, we do not plan to remove Stalingrad at any time, so there's no rush for you to get her. At the same time, keep in mind that she's not a Premium ship, so she may, and probably will, receive changes over time.

A heavily armed ship, she is going to impress you and everyone around with the amount of her firepower. Twelve-inch (305 mm) guns are scary, and when there are nine of them, there’s nowhere to hide! Stalingrad plays very much like a compact battleship, owing much of that impression to those guns and the lack of HE shells. Speaking about guns, they are devilishly accurate and are able to easily punish pretty much any broadside cruisers. Additionally, Stalingrad's AP shells start ricocheting at 55 degrees, as opposed to the usual 45. Her 32 mm extremity armor helps this warship withstand battleship volleys at correct angles. Keep in mind that her maneuverability is quite limited, even though her speed is quite good, and finally, she has a choice between Radar and Defensive AA Fire consumables.

Pick one of these mighty ships to impose your will on the opponents, and Turn the Tide!