In celebration of my having received a Molotov in my Anniversary reward crate, of course I have to take her out for a spin in a commentated game. The Molotov at this point is a bit of a veteran to the game, and quite the known quantity. For those who may be newer however, she essentially plays out as an upgraded and uptiered Kirov, with three triple turrets instead of twins. She shares the Kirov's high speed, poor armour, and poor maneuverability; that is to say outside of being fast and skinny, shes' made of paper.
In exchange, the Molotov gets access to the excellent Soviet 180mm rifle, a powerful light cruiser gun which boasts excellent retention of shell velocity over range, powerful AP shells, and decent HE shells. The guns are also mounted such that the Molotov has good forward gun arcs, and decent over the shoulder firing, allowing an experienced player to kite fairly effectively. These excellent characteristics are hampered somewhat by her middling range, and short uptime spotter plane, but nevertheless the Molotov does offer a good gunnery platform.
All in all, a good take on the "unique but not blatantly better than the tech tree" concept of premium ships which existed at the game's inception. Probably not a ship I'd go out of my way to buy, or even one I'd play particularly often, but not uncomfortable at all if you're familiar with the Russian Light Cruisers.
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