Von der Tann was Germany's first battlecruiser, and out of the gate was better than anyone else's. Her combination of speed, decent firepower, and good protection put her a class ahead of the competition (ahem).

At four units, the Von der Tann doesn't have the firepower of the German dreadnoughts, and her turret arrangement pretty much limits you two a stern gun and two sidemounts with relatively little down angle.

No high down angle haymaker or death Y here.

At 26 seconds, Von der Tann is able to hang with the mid speed crowd, and get away (and pursue) the 28 second crowd when necessary. With four shafts, she also has good acceleration.

Von der Tann has four shafts and twin rudders. While this isn't quite as sit and spinny as the three shaft twin rudder arrangement, it's the best of any of the battlecruisers.

The Von der Tann has the smallest target area of all of the battlecruisers in the hobby, with a short forecastle deck and plenty of casemates. This makes her comparatively hard to hit.

Von der Tann is probably my favorite Axis beginner boat, as the combination of good speed, hull volume and simple construction is very hard to beat. She's also fun on the water, and has a great combination of speed, firepower, maneuverability and decent target area. She can also do well in the hands of an experienced battler, but while she offers better speed than Nassau, etc. she's more limited by the issue of being a battlecruiser than anything else. That is, she is a bit more fragile and easier to sink than a Nassau, for example.

I've also owned and battled a Von der Tann, and I enjoyed her a great deal, she was a fun little boat, and a great combination of light weight, ease of construction/maintenance, and fun on the water. BC's kit is very nice, and makes for a great little ship.

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