MKAU Gaming recently attended an online press event for “World of Warships”, presented by Wargaming and Franchise Community Manager Joey Snyder-Kloos. With great ANZAC pride, we can now share the details of the long-awaited bolstering of Commonwealth cruisers. Alongside the brand-new line of ships, we also heard about a new event pass and the all-new Commonwealth tech tree coming in update 13.2.

World of Warships’ ongoing commitment to supporting the preservation of naval history has fostered an amazing partnership with the Australian National Maritime Museum, and to celebrate, as well as recognise the significance of the latest additions to the game, Wargaming will be contributing a generous $10,000 (AUD) to the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney.

March’s update sees the addition of the first-ever Commonwealth Tech Tree, complete with a brand new lineup of ten ships. Seven of these come from Australia and New Zealand, including the Dunedin and the HMAS Hobart, both of which saw active duty during the 1900s. The Dunedin is a Tier IV Danae-class light cruiser, serving the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy from 1924-1937, before its eventual sinking in November 1941 by a German Submarine.

The HMAS Hobart is a Tier VI improved Leander-class cruiser. Commissioned in 1939 to the Royal Australian Navy, it took part in operations in the Indian and Pacific Oceans across the Second World War, before being present at the signing ceremony of Japan’s surrender in Tokyo Bay. Both of these cruisers have fantastic damage per minute and are very manoeuvrable, which is balanced in-game by a slower turret rotation.

In addition to these absolute beauties, you’ll also find additional firepower with the inclusion of torpedoes from Tier III onwards, have the ability to conceal your ship with a smoke generator, and detect those pesky submarines with hydroacoustic search consumables.

A new Commonwealth Team Event Pass joins the Commonwealth-themed release, with two 20-level progression paths for players to explore, unlocking a plethora of in-game rewards. Included in this event pass are historical Commanders Harold Farcomb and Leonard Murry, as well as new camouflages, containers, and tokens to be redeemed in the armoury. This event pass streamlines progression compared to previous passes, replacing daily missions with weekly missions, and during this season, players will also be able to take part in the ANZAC day celebrations by completing a chain of themed missions.

No game would be fun without a little element of silly fun, and in the spirit of that, World of Warships is also bringing a Pinata Hunt event for April Fool’s Day. Competing in two teams of seven, Tier VIII-IX ships will go head-to-head on a modified and uniquely decorated version of the Hotspot map in a race to sink a special piñata ship. As part of the fun, each competing ship will be dressed in a random selection of event-themed camouflages, exploding with a brand-new animation as they’re sent to Davy Jones Locker.

As a reward for their smashing efforts, players will receive special piñata tokens, which can be exchanged for permanent themed camouflages, a patch, and a commemorative flag in the Armoury. This event also introduces a new mechanic to the game in the form of Support Consumables. There are eight unique consumables on offer, with players able to unlock up to five consumables, either by purchasing them or by completing combat missions.

This new World of Warships content is set to be quite the naval delight, so what are you waiting for sailor? Batten down the hatches, swab the decks, and get mission-ready! It’s about to go down. I’ll see you in the update.

Written by: Gary Nielsen