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Post by theexecuter on Nov 10, 2017 22:08:45 GMT -6
January 1902
New Technology: Power Rammers - ROF improvement We agree to fund an army offensive. The Germans mount a night destroyer raid on the Gulf of Finland! In a confused melee, the Russian destroyers are outnumbered, outgunned, and forced to port. The Germans hunt the gulf and manage to destroy two transports. February 1902
New technology: Hull Construction - 1% weight savings Our admirals resolve on a convoy raid of their own as revenge. The Germans import much iron ore from Sweden. The convoy from Copenhagen will be our target. I advise the admirals to use our purpose built armored cruisers for the task (large battle size), but only four destroyers manage to slip out and proceed to the Swedish coast... The enemy convoy is heavily escorted by nine cruisers and over a dozen destroyers. Our boys push bravely through the escorts and manage to get close to the transports, losing the lead destroyer in the process. A few desultory hits are achieved, and then our destroyers run for it. One more is sunk on the way out. March 1902
The Germans send feelers for peace. The navy ministry points to the fact that the fleet is still unbeaten, and that we should force the Germans to actually beat us. The Russian spring offensive is a success, and the German army is thrown back. In the far east, the Germans make an attack on a supply convoy to Vladivostok. In the waters north of Japan, the cruisers Bayan and Pamyat Azova sally forth after the lone German cruiser. The German Gazelle class CL leads us back to two Prinz Heinrich class armored cruisers, accompanied by a Niobe class light cruiser. The Prinz Heinrich class has more and heavier guns, but is slightly less well armored and is slower. Our cruisers chase the Gazelle until the Prinz Heinrich's make for the convoy. Reluctantly our cruisers turn back and engage the dangerous German ships. A long running fight at range ensues. The Germans flee towards the China Sea, and our ships follow...occasionally scoring hits. The Pamyat Azova's machinery overheats, and the Bayan pulls back as well to avoid being double teamed by the German fleet. The convoy survived, but the German ships are still contesting our control of Northeast Asia. The Russian press, however, trumpet this as a great victory...with some prodding from the Ministry of the Navy. Three more destroyers have been laid down to cover losses.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 11, 2017 23:41:09 GMT -6
April 1902
Our fleet conducts a coastal raid off the coast of Lithuania. Our battleships Dvenadstat Apostolov, Imperator Pavel I, Evastafi, Retvizan, and Tsarevich (accompanied by the armored cruisers Varyag, Rossiya, and Gromoboi) find and sink a patrol craft, before the German blockade fleet appears from the north... The Germans, despite being the superior fleet, flee into port. Russian admirals surmise that they may have been low on coal? The German armored cruisers try to distract the Russian ships from interfering with the retreating fleets and transports...and are largely successful. Three of their cruisers are damaged to one degree or another. May 1902
New technology: 6 ft rangefinder Our light cruiser Flora, raiding in the Bay of Biscay, was found and sunk by the armored cruiser Vineta. June 1902
New technology: Medium Wing Turrets The Germans make a raid on the coastal shipping south of Finland. The usual reaction force was in the roadsted... BatDiv1 - Flagship Dvenadstat Apostolov and Imperator Nikolai I BatDiv2 - Imperator Pavel I, Retvizan, Evstafi CruDiv1 - Varyag, Rossia, Gromoboi The first ships to appear are several Prinz Heinrich class armored cruisers. Shortly thereafter, the main German fleet appears. Night is falling, and the Russian fleet puts about and heads towards Hanko...hoping to draw the enemy ships over the mine fields. The Germans are not drawn. Our ships resume patroling, and in the morning, are summoned to the west by one of our patrol boats. We spot the German fleet sailing south. Chase is given! The German fleet is able to run faster than we can keep together, but three of her battleships are slowed by battle damage...a Schwaben, a Zahringen, and a Hesse. A running fight ensues between the battleships and the supporting torpedo boats to either sink the German stragglers...or keep the Russian fleet away. This action continues throughout the entire day, and is only broken off by nightfall as the Russian fleet approaches Lithuania and the German minefields. We only manage to sink one torpedo boat...however our ships manage to do much more damage to the German battleships than we receive in return. We remain blockaded, and our raiding ships, though seemingly effective at sinking German freighters...are not surviving encounters with enemy cruisers. However, the fleet is still intact...and the minesweepers are coming into service which will free up our torpedo boats some more.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 12, 2017 22:22:53 GMT -6
July 1902
Our full fleet puts to sea. The German battle fleet also puts to sea, and the first fleet battle of the war commences to the east of Gotland. The German fleet approaches piecemeal, as it tries to take advantage of this chance to end the war at sea. The German ships are not eager to close the range, however. The Russian ships continued to alter course to close the range throughout the engagement. Throughout the day, the range gradually decreases, until both sides are within secondary gun range. The lead Russian battleship, the Tsesarevich is hit by a German torpedo and detaches and limps away to the north. The carnage goes on, but neither side seems to be gaining the upper hand. At last, darkness falls, and the Russian fleet (which had pursued the fight into visual range of the Prussian coast) turns for home. A concerning result. Our ships were unable to substantially damage the German fleet. August 1902
We continue to aggressively probe the blockade. Our fleet mounts a shipping raid on the Prussian coast. Our battleships and cruisers run riot within the bay. Despite heavy opposition, the Russian fleet only loses one destroyer, while sinking two cruisers, two destoyers, and three torpedo boats. A good victory and fleet morale rises. September 1902
Our armored cruiser division launches a raid on the Sweden ore convoy. In a confused night action, our fleet manages to sink two enemy destroyers and all six transports from the convoy. Another victory for the fleet! We remain blockaded, but the fleet is holding its own and bringing the VP count back towards our favor. We give more funding to the army. Hopefully they can deliver another great offensive.
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Post by archelaos on Nov 13, 2017 3:44:14 GMT -6
I find losses of your raiders quite surprising. Your PCs seem quite fast at 23kts, so should be capable running away from any intercept attempt. They are also quite strong (I'd consider them fleet cruisers rather than raiders). Are you playing those encounters or autocalc them?
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 13, 2017 10:50:34 GMT -6
I find losses of your raiders quite surprising. Your PCs seem quite fast at 23kts, so should be capable running away from any intercept attempt. They are also quite strong (I'd consider them fleet cruisers rather than raiders). Are you playing those encounters or autocalc them? Auto resolving them. I don't think it's realistic to have the admiral be able to dictate essentially detached cruisers. I play with the most abstracted settings and apply this rule to the raider war. (I also think its boring to have a raider intercept mission where my first action is always to turn and run) It does mean that my captains sometimes make poor decisions. The loss to the armored cruiser I was not surprised. The loss to a light cruiser was very irritating. Just as irritating as being given only four destroyers for a 'Large' convoy raid...and then facing half a dozen enemy cruisers. I had three cruisers just waiting for convoy raids...but no, the game engine screws me over... Still, makes you come up with a story to rationalize the stupidity of the naval choice.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Nov 13, 2017 11:07:10 GMT -6
I find losses of your raiders quite surprising. Your PCs seem quite fast at 23kts, so should be capable running away from any intercept attempt. They are also quite strong (I'd consider them fleet cruisers rather than raiders). Are you playing those encounters or autocalc them? Auto resolving them. I don't think it's realistic to have the admiral be able to dictate essentially detached cruisers. I play with the most abstracted settings and apply this rule to the raider war. (I also think its boring to have a raider intercept mission where my first action is always to turn and run) It does mean that my captains sometimes make poor decisions. I sympathize with this thought greatly, and respect your choice; I think I will do this in the future too.
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Post by archelaos on Nov 14, 2017 9:49:28 GMT -6
I find losses of your raiders quite surprising. Your PCs seem quite fast at 23kts, so should be capable running away from any intercept attempt. They are also quite strong (I'd consider them fleet cruisers rather than raiders). Are you playing those encounters or autocalc them? Auto resolving them. I don't think it's realistic to have the admiral be able to dictate essentially detached cruisers. I play with the most abstracted settings and apply this rule to the raider war. (I also think its boring to have a raider intercept mission where my first action is always to turn and run) It does mean that my captains sometimes make poor decisions. The loss to the armored cruiser I was not surprised. The loss to a light cruiser was very irritating. Just as irritating as being given only four destroyers for a 'Large' convoy raid...and then facing half a dozen enemy cruisers. I had three cruisers just waiting for convoy raids...but no, the game engine screws me over... Still, makes you come up with a story to rationalize the stupidity of the naval choice. Ok, I understand. And I agree they are boring (though I usually try to check what ship I'm facing and only then turn and flee ) Though, on the other hand, I hate lose ships to autocalc, so I usually play them out. If auto resolving, be aware who is intercepting whom - It is possible for your raiders to intercept enemy ships and then they will often get killed, as they will not run away, even if they are much weaker to opponent
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 14, 2017 22:44:39 GMT -6
October 1902
New technology: Periscope Our armored cruiser squadron makes another attempt at the Sweden convoy. This time we engage in the daytime, and the superiority of our cruisers is telling. We savage the convoy, killing all seven transports in a single pass. The German escorting cruisers take turns trying to damage our ships, but they take the worst of it...all day, as our ships dictate range and dispense death. Eventually, the enemy hits slow the Varyag sufficiently that the squadron turns for home in the twilight. November 1902
New technology: Face Hardening - 1% weight savings Nearly a year of blockade is having effects on the public. Food shortages are occurring, and riots and protests are regularly occurring demanding peace. Our light cruiser Pallada escapes a German fleet off of Ireland. December 1902
New technology: Reliable bursting charges - more damage on penetrating hits Our major offensive bogs down into a bloody stalemate. The German Pacific fleet sends a light cruiser to raid our replenishment convoy from the US. Our admirals have been lulled to sleep by the lack of activity for months. Only two destroyers are guarding the convoy. They sell their lives dearly to delay the light cruiser...but we still lose three transports. Yet more questionable decisions by my admirals...grr. The blockade is really crimping our style now. Germany has managed to commission a few new battleships as well. It is looking increasingly likely that this war will not be winnable.
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Nov 14, 2017 23:03:02 GMT -6
Is unrest a concern yet?
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 14, 2017 23:43:00 GMT -6
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Post by boomboomf22 on Nov 15, 2017 2:05:27 GMT -6
Are those B's paused? Cause you have had them under construction from game start.
Incidentally halted ships do take up some of your budget.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 15, 2017 6:48:34 GMT -6
Are those B's paused? Cause you have had them under construction from game start. Incidentally halted ships do take up some of your budget. Russia has undeveloped ship building, and battleships take 3 years to build. It is still 1902. As I recall, one is due to be commissioned in the next three months.
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Post by aeson on Nov 15, 2017 13:36:36 GMT -6
Are those B's paused? Cause you have had them under construction from game start. Incidentally halted ships do take up some of your budget. Russia has undeveloped ship building, and battleships take 3 years to build. If the only construction time modifier Russia had was Undeveloped Shipbuilding Industry, Russian battleships would take about 2.7 years (32-33 months) to build domestically, same as the Confederate battleships. However, as can be seen from Italy, whose domestic battleships take about 2.7 years (32-33 months) to build despite not having the Undeveloped Shipbuilding Industry modifier, Poor Education is also a construction time modifier, and Russia is 'graced' with both Poor Education and an Undeveloped Shipbuilding Industry. On the plus side, neither of these modifiers appears to affect the total cost of the ship, so domestically-built Russian battleships have lower monthly construction costs than equivalent ships built elsewhere, which in theory means that Russia can build more ships in parallel if it keeps to its domestic shipyards than if it builds ships overseas. At Russia's +20% construction time modifier, that's one extra ship for every 5 that you could have in the program at the baseline construction rate, which isn't great but also isn't terrible.
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Post by hogzkrieg on Nov 17, 2017 3:25:52 GMT -6
Apologies if I'm de-railing your thread but, as a new player, I was interested in the design of your Retvizan battleship design. I've been building all my pre-dread battleships with as much belt armour as I can afford to put on, usually around 10 to 11 inches, this goes the same for the turrets too. You've gone for 7.5 inches for the belt which seems quite light for a battleship, is this due to limitations with Russian ship building in game (I haven't played Russia yet) or am I going way over the top with the amount of armour I'm putting on my ships? I generally like to get up close and personnel with the enemy battle line so I've always assumed the more armour the better?
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Post by cv10 on Nov 17, 2017 4:08:26 GMT -6
I've been building all my pre-dread battleships with as much belt armour as I can afford to put on, usually around 10 to 11 inches, this goes the same for the turrets too. You've gone for 7.5 inches for the belt which seems quite light for a battleship, is this due to limitations with Russian ship building in game (I haven't played Russia yet) or am I going way over the top with the amount of armour I'm putting on my ships? I generally like to get up close and personnel with the enemy battle line so I've always assumed the more armour the better? I can't speak for theexecuter but in the early game, AP shells are very weak and armor penetration is very low. As such, you don't need much armor to protect your ships. Less armor=less displacement=smaller cost=more ships Now that much armor does "future-proof" those pre-dreadnoughts to a small extent, but depending on your country, you'll want to retire those anyway. However this is all more of a style choice. I personally tend to over-armor my ships, but I try to stay a bit further away early on becauseone torpedo can sink a ship.
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