More info from the Graf Zeppelin Facebook group (gathered by Horin728, EU):
„We are pleased to announce that the first phase of Graf Zeppelin testing starts on September 14.
All test participants will receive two aircraft carriers. Each of them will have AP bombs, differing by their settings of drop ellipse, bomb fall time and other settings. Please, find further information below.
As you might have known, originally AP bombs used to have the following characteristics:
Dispersion ellipse of the bombs was 54 х 270 meters;
The ellipse narrowed when ALT-attack was used – -50% to dispersion;
Under defensive fire dispersion increased on 40%;
The speed of bomb falling was 345 m/s;
The bomb fall time was 6.0 sec.
Now we present you two updated versions of bombers with AP bombs:
The first version:
Dispersion ellipse of the bombs has been narrowed to 54 х 210 meters;
When ALT-attack is used or under defensive fire ellipse changes stay the same;
The speed of bomb falling has been increased to 375 m/s;
The bomb fall time has been reduced to 3.8 sec.
Aircraft take-off time has been cut twice;
The tier of fighters has been reduced to 7 without changes in their battle performance.
In general, the first version is designed for players with a high skill in playing on aircraft carriers. Such performance
characteristics of bombers will provide good accuracy, however, one must be alert – it is necessary to choose target lead accurately and to anticipate maneuver of the enemy ship.
Reducing squadron take-off time will provide a pleasant bonus of a few seconds for the air group in a mass takeoff. This will give a slight advantage at the beginning of the battle and will allow your fighters to be one of the first over the strategic points of the battlefield;
We have reduced bomb fall time and narrowed dispersion ellipse of the bombs. A delay of 3.8 seconds still gives the target ship a chance to lay an evasive maneuver down, but it will allow bombers hit maneuvering targets more efficiently and hit camping targets or targets that do not change their course;
Increasing the speed of bomb falling will increase the value of armor penetration and give more opportunities for consistent damage to armored ships;
Reducing the tier of fighters without changes in their battle performance will give a pleasant bonus when using the “Dogfighting Expert” skill.
The second version:
Drop ellipse has been changed, now it is a circle of 120 х 120 meters;
The circle narrows when ALT-attack is used – -20% to dispersion;
Under defensive fire dispersion increases on 100% when using auto-attack, and on 50% when using ALT-attack;
The speed of bomb falling has been increased to 375 m/s;
The bomb fall time has been reduced to 1.0 sec.
In this version, the fighters have no changes comparing to the original version.
The second version is designed for all players and does not require special skills in playing on aircraft carriers, although the performance of this version may be lower, it will allow the beginners to achieve more stable results. Bombs fall with a delay close to the standard, but the drop area will prevent from consistently hitting the target with all bombs, while the probability of hitting cruisers and other narrow targets has been significantly reduced.
The task for testers will be given a bit later. Please keep in mind that we will test other options as well, but for now, we would like you to concentrate on the two suggested loadouts.
Thanks for reading, and see you soon!”
In the comments, we have learned that more testing will follow, these are just first two changes to be tried out and that the GZ will probably end up with 2-3 loadout option to choose from.
