HMS Rodney is coming soon!

After the ink of the Washington Naval Treaty had dried, a strange, coerced quiet descended upon the world’s great dockyards. The signatory powers, noble in rhetoric, bound themselves to austere ceilings: total tonnage for capital ships and aircraft carriers, maximum displacement for each hull, and a firm limit upon the caliber of main batteries—as if the thunder of naval guns could be measured and contained on paper.

On the surface, the high seas glittered with the promise of a long naval holiday. But actually, the tight restrictions became a forge: out of strict tonnage limits and gun-caliber ceilings emerged a new breed of capital ship, vessels that burned brighter and hit harder precisely because they were constrained. These were the supreme treaty battleships—diamonds pressed from the carbon of compromise—and they quietly redefined naval power in an age of illusory peace.

Today, right here, we bear witness to the resurrection of one of the "Big Seven".

"Bismarck, my vanquished adversary of old, listen—I've risen again from the very dust of history!"—thus spoke HMS Rodney.

HMS Rodney — A Royal Navy battleship that symbolized British naval dominance in the mid-20th century. Equipped with multiple high-caliber naval cannons, it played a key role in many naval battles, including the Battle of Normandy and the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. It was originally launched in 1925, yet had multiple internal changes and weapon upgrades, allowing it to retain its formidable firepower up to modern conditions.

Armament:

1. Missile battery (ASM) — CHAMP [x2]
2. Cannon — BL-16 Mk I (406 mm) [x3]🔒
3. Cannon — BL-6 Mk XXII (152 mm) [x4]🔒
4. Grenade launcher — RUR-5B ASROC [x2]
5. Helicopter — Wildcat HMA 2R [x1]🔒
6. Autocannon — Oerlikon Millennium (35 mm) [x2]
7. Air defense — Sea RAM [x3]
8. Air defense — Sea RAM [x2]
9. Air defense — Aster 30R [x1]🔒

Among all battleships, HMS Rodney’s most outstanding feature is its highly customizable weapon slots. Apart from its historically authentic fixed main and secondary canons, most armaments are modular—including missiles and grenade launchers. This weapon configuration flexibility opens up a wide spectrum of tactical choices on the battlefield.

The ship’s defensive weapon slots also provide free choices. Both the 3+2 AA and the two autocannon slots can be freely changed. You can adjust your anti-aircraft setup entirely to your own air-defense preferences. And no matter what, Aster 30R will add to the AA firepower. Notably, Rodney has free autocannon slots—very rare among its class.

Besides its already formidable shipboard weaponry, Rodney also has a unique helicopter—Wildcat HMA 2R, which is both distinctive and powerful. Its Browning M3-M2R (12.7 mm) can be used to attack both air and surface targets; for anti submarine combat, Sting Ray Mk II (330 mm) has ignore decoy feature and high burst damage in salvo; and as its first version, this helicopter is also equipped with STARstreak R2 as self defense AA weapon.

So how will this "Big Seven" perform in battle?

Like the traditional battleships players know so well, this British warship exerts overwhelming dominance. While its speed and agility are unremarkable, the burst damage is high enough to compensate, that will transform Rodney into an invincible floating fortress upon the seas.

In the game, it's a good idea to envision your tactics beforehand and ensure your weapon build works in harmony with your tactics. For example, if you have squadron mates providing anti-aircraft cover, you can confidently equip laser-guided missiles and an anti-ship grenade launcher, then boldly charge forward and obliterate everything in your path. If you are a "lone wolf" who prefers to play solo, a more cautious, methodical playstyle makes better sense—the battleship is typically the core element of the team, so staying alive is the prerequisite for dealing damage. When facing submarines, never forget that you have a powerful anti-submarine helicopter. By combining your autocannons, grenade launcher, and the helicopter’s anti-submarine firepower, you can effortlessly suppress any underwater threat.

Summing it up:

HMS Rodney will be a reliable and powerful ship choice. Newbies will discover in its the raw romance of the big-gun leviathan; while skilled commanders, armed with masterful gunnery and shrewd tactical instinct, will be able to crush any enemy that dares cross their path.