One of the most successful and well-balanced "new generation" battleships in the world. The ship was equipped with 380 mm guns, had a high speed, strong armor and very good torpedo protection. The disadvantages of concentrating the ship's main guns on the bow were compensated by the favorable turret traverse angles.

Tier VIII's Richelieu possesses more than a passing similarity to Tier VI premium Dunkerque, but provides greater flexibility. Richelieu is one of the fastest battleships in the game, has good relative immunity to catastrophic damage due to her armor scheme and ability to angle well, and her anti-aircraft armament allows for greater independent operation than many of her same-tier counterparts.

Captains will find Richelieu to be an excellent flanking ship even when there exists little support. Even in Tier IX or X battles the basic fundamentals of the ship do not change, but simply require greater caution. With proper map awareness, Richelieu can remain a threat in nearly any battle. Players should actively seek opportunities to gain the flank of potential targets and use the superior speed of Richelieu to displace if subject to too much attention.

The main battery is a massive shift from Lyon’s 16-gun broadside: Richelieu’s guns are mounted in an an all-forward super-firing configuration that allows 100% of her firepower to be deployed in any direction other than directly aft, allowing full effectiveness when bow-tanking as well as flexibility when on the move. The shells are larger, heavier, and faster; this makes it easier to lead and penetrate targets at range, though against cruisers the penetration can be often be excessive, resulting in low-damage over-penetrations. The accuracy of her main battery is somewhat questionable, which is not helped by having only half the number of barrels as her predecessor.

Similar to her slightly smaller Tier VI cousin, Richelieu’s armor scheme encourages captains to keep her bow pointed at the enemy. Her citadel extends above the waterline and she has quite a bit of freeboard; ships that get a free shot at her broadside with armor-piercing rounds are all but guaranteed to do extreme damage. Fortunately, Richelieu’s anti-aircraft defenses are stronger than most of her French contemporaries: Hull (B) represents her summer 1943 refit at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and packs on copious quantities of the 40mm Bofors and 20mm Oerlikon cannons favored by Allied navies of the era. The end result is that her long-range AA bubble remains far weaker than her American and British counterparts, but her mid- and short-range bubbles are essentially equivalent in power.

Though the play style demanded by her unique turret arrangement is different from the other ships in the French battleship branch,combines speed, above-average AA, and hard-hitting guns into a comfortable-to-conn package that will remind players strongly of a better