Jiuhua in the Supertest: Accurate 406 mm guns, strong secondaries and Heavy Repair Teams

Jiuhua is not entirely new. The Pan-Asian Tier X battleship was already among the ships presented for the Closed Test of Update 15.10. Much more detailed test data is now available, giving us a considerably better idea of what Wargaming intends the ship to do.

The current design looks like a battleship intended to work its way carefully from medium to close range. Good main battery accuracy, strong secondaries, turtleback armor, Heavy Repair Teams and fast-reloading Damage Control Teams provide some very suitable tools.

Even so, Jiuhua is unlikely to be a mindless “press W and let the secondaries do the work” brawler. Some of its weaknesses are too pronounced for that.

Important: Jiuhua is still in testing. All parameters and characteristics are Work in Progress and may change before release.

Eight 406 mm guns, but unusually high accuracy

The main battery consists of eight 406 mm guns in four twin turrets.

Eight barrels do not give a Tier X battleship a particularly heavy salvo. That makes the current 2.10 sigma stand out all the more.

Jiuhua apparently aims to work through relatively reliable hits rather than sheer shell count. That fits the rest of the concept: the ship should not suddenly become useless at medium range before the secondaries start contributing seriously.

The downside is obvious. Eight barrels are less forgiving of poor salvos than twelve or more. If your shots do not land, there is no great volume of shells to make up the difference.

Secondary artillery is clearly part of the concept

The secondaries make the intended direction particularly clear.

The 150 mm secondary guns currently have 38 mm of penetration. They are joined by fast-firing 105 mm guns. According to the description so far, the secondaries are meant to be more than a nice extra, combining a good rate of fire, usable accuracy and improved penetration.

Their range is also intended to be respectable for a secondary battleship. In direct comparison, some German and Pan-American brawlers in particular are expected to reach farther.

That makes Jiuhua interesting because its secondaries can compensate for a main battery weakness: eight 406 mm barrels do not deliver an enormous volume of sustained fire. If Jiuhua reaches its preferred distance in a controlled way, however, the secondary battery adds steady damage.

Turtleback and Heavy Repair Teams are intended to support a push

Jiuhua gets a matching defensive package for that distance.

The citadel is protected by a turtleback layout. This is intended to help prevent heavy AP citadel hits, especially at shorter ranges. It naturally does not make the hull invulnerable. Jiuhua remains a large target on which normal penetrations can also add up to considerable damage very quickly.

There are also Heavy Repair Teams, which under the current concept can restore a large share of lost hit points over a longer action time, similarly to Lüshun.

For a brawler in particular, that matters more than a heal that merely produces impressive figures on paper. Jiuhua is intended to absorb damage while working into position, then recover a substantial part of it.

That makes the Repair Party more a tool for deliberately planned advances than an invitation to take damage for free.

Fast DCP, but not unlimited

Jiuhua also has fast-reloading Damage Control Teams.

This allows fires and flooding to be dealt with more quickly during an ongoing close-range fight than with a conventional Damage Control Party. The catch is crucial, however: the number of charges is limited.

That creates a resource you should not use thoughtlessly for every single fire. Spend the charges too early and you could find yourself without DCP just as the real push begins.

This is likely to be an important part of the playstyle. Jiuhua receives strong tools for prolonged fighting at an uncomfortable distance, but in return demands sensible management of its heal and DCP.

Hydro helps against torpedoes, but does not solve the problem

Short-Range Hydroacoustic Search is also available for close combat.

The ship needs it, because the hull currently has only 25 percent torpedo protection. For a large Tier X battleship explicitly intended to close the distance, that is no minor weakness.

Hydro gives additional reaction time. It does not turn Jiuhua into a ship that can sail through torpedo spreads without concern.

Add its large silhouette and poor concealment, and a badly prepared push is likely to become expensive very quickly: the ship is spotted early, reliably attracts fire and handles torpedo hits much less comfortably than its strong side armor might initially suggest.

Not a conventional German brawler

The overall picture is therefore more interesting than a pure secondary battleship.

Its 2.10 sigma gives Jiuhua a main battery that must be taken seriously even outside secondary range. At the same time, eight barrels prevent it from relying simply on salvo weight.

At shorter distances, the secondary battery, turtleback, Heavy Repair Teams, fast DCP and Hydro all come together.

The crucial question is therefore likely to be not whether Jiuhua enters close combat, but when.

Going in too early is likely to be punished quickly because of the large silhouette, weak torpedo protection and limited DCP charges. By contrast, a player who first works with the accurate main battery, then exploits an opening later, has a fairly extensive toolkit for precisely that moment.

What does Jiuhua cost?

Treat the figures currently circulating with caution.

The community page currently displays a value of 31,000 Doubloons. It also explicitly states that actual acquisition details will be announced closer to release.

31,000 Doubloons is therefore not a confirmed sale price at present.

Until Wargaming officially announces how the ship will be obtained, I would assume neither a direct sale nor a final price.

Conclusion

Jiuhua looks like a brawler that should think first and push second.

The combination of 2.10 sigma, strong secondaries and turtleback makes it flexible enough not to rely exclusively on close range. Heavy Repair Teams, fast DCP and Hydro then provide the tools to follow through on a well-prepared push.

There are plenty of built-in limits too. Just eight main guns, a large silhouette, poor concealment, 25 percent torpedo protection and limited DCP charges ensure that a poor advance cannot simply be healed away.

If this basic concept survives through to release, that could be exactly what makes Jiuhua interesting: not a mindless secondary brawler, but a battleship that first works with accurate 406 mm guns, then brings its strongest tools to bear when the battle shifts to medium and close range.

Source: WoWs Gamer Blog, community coverage dated October 5, 2026, based on previously published developer data. All ship parameters are Work in Progress.