Is there a huge guide somewhere?

[fleet5]

The manual covers so little. There's so many design choices I would love to know what all this stuff means. So far I have checked some Tortugapower let's plays but there's a lot of stuff those don't go too deep into.

Armor schemes? Tertiary guns, field artillery on ships? There's a bunch of stuff like what different armor thicknesses do or range?

I started as Austria-Hungary since they only have to worry about the Mediterranean and won my first cruiser battle, even sunk an Italian heavy cruiser. I noticed it took 90 hits to explode its magazine but one of my heavy cruisers almost got disabled(damage, fire and even flooding) after 17. An obvious design flaw as the 9 inchers I equipped the class with did little damage. Italians had 8 inchers and hurt me with a few good hits so maybe calibre isn't a big thing early game.

How do I refit new rangefinders? I keep inventing new ones but I don't see any new ones on the list. Weren't these a huge deal back in the day? What is XX?

Sorry for the ramblings, it's an excellent game!

[JagdFlanker]

Here you go - Fredrick's Tidbits

nws-online.proboards.com/thread/1221/fredricks-tidbits-clarifications-extra-info

[fleet5]

Thanks!
How do blockades work? Last turn Italy blockaded me but their tonnage remained the same for this turn and is over the 10%, magically, I am not blockaded anymore?

[aeson]

Aug 23, 2018 4:10:54 GMT -6 fleet5 said:

Thanks!
How do blockades work? Last turn Italy blockaded me but their tonnage remained the same for this turn and is over the 10%, magically, I am not blockaded anymore?

Each ship is worth a certain amount of points depending on its hull type - BB 12, BC 10, B 8, CA 5, CL 3, DD 1, and AMC/MS 0 - regardless of its displacement or actual capabilities. Ships undergoing repair or refit, ships on ASW/CP duty, ships in sea zones other than the build area of the nation to be blockaded (the home sea zone, if the power has only one; North American East Coast for the US, Northern Europe for Russia and France), and I think ships on raiding duty are not worth any blockade points. These are summed up and multiplied by the nation's blockade modifier, and if the result is 10% or more higher than that of a wartime opponent in that opponent's build area then that opponent is blockaded.

As to why you were 'magically' not blockaded anymore, my assumption would be that some of Italy's ships were damaged enough to need repair time or were taken in for refits, or possibly moved somewhere else, or that some of your ships returned from the yards or were given assignments which made them count for blockade score when they had not previously.

[fredsanford]

Aug 23, 2018 1:34:28 GMT -6 fleet5 said:

How do I refit new rangefinders? I keep inventing new ones but I don't see any new ones on the list. Weren't these a huge deal back in the day? What is XX?

Most fire control upgrades are implemented automatically, but there are several very important exceptions:
1.  Central Firing (usually around 1903-04)- applies to all CL and larger
2.  Director (usually around 1911-14)- applies to CA and larger
3.  Secondary Director (1917-18)- allows director for CL and secondary armament for CA and larger
4.  Improved Director (1918-20)- CL and larger
5.  Advanced Director (1925+)- CL and larger

For DD's, their allowed fire control lags 2 levels behind until secondary director, and from there lags one level behind IIR.

All dates approximate, and based upon max research budget (10%), and max research rate.

When these hit, make a concerted effort to get your ships into refit, it's worth it.  Sometimes secondary director, improved director, and increased elevation hit at close to the same time, allowing you to do one refit that incorporates all three improvements.  Sometimes.

I don't know what you mean by "XX". Context?

[aeson]

The only XX I can think of within the game is the placeholder symbol for illegal shiptype. Shows up in some error messages and at the bottom of the drop-down list of ship types in the ship designer.

When these hit, make a concerted effort to get your ships into refit, it's worth it.

A caveat - it is often not worth upgrading the fire control systems of small destroyers and minesweepers, even if you intend to keep them around forever.

It might also not be worth upgrading the fire control systems of certain highly-specialized heavier surface combatants, most notably some types of light surface raiders - Advanced Directors probably won't usefully improve the combat performance of a 4x4" 2100t CL-raider over local fire control, for example.

[fleet5]

I have to ask, what is the Director in secondary armament? Also what is FC positions? I've kept it at 2 for big ships.
Good tips!

[fredsanford]

Gives the director bonus to secondary armament

FC positions = fire control positions. The number of locations where directors are mounted. 2 is fine, I've never gone more than that. On small ships like small CLs or DDs I'll often just have one for weight reasons.

[aeson]

I'll add that when retrofitting fire control systems onto destroyers that didn't have any when first built - especially smallish destroyers - it is often significantly easier to find the tonnage for one system rather than two.

[cuirasspolisher]

In addition, destroyer engagements are fought at close range with large numbers of ships, so losing fire control on a single destroyer won't reduce your fleet's effectiveness too much. Destroyers are the one ship type I never give a backup fire control system.

[aeson]

Aug 25, 2018 9:53:44 GMT -6 cuirasspolisher said:

In addition, destroyer engagements are fought at close range with large numbers of ships

It's variable. I've occasionally had just two destroyers for an engagement, though five to ten seems to be typical and a few times I've had more than a dozen.

Destroyers are the one ship type I never give a backup fire control system.

Personally, I think that large late-game destroyers can be worth giving a second fire control director, especially if they fall much closer to the gunboat end of the destroyer spectrum than the torpedo boat end and so carry gun armaments fairly comparable to those of mid-size or even some large CLs.

[hardlec]

I don't find DD's useful until they can be made to 1100 tons in size and can carry 5 inch guns. Torpedoes are little but dead weight for the human player.

I use CLs as DDs. I build some CLs at 1100 to 1200 tons, limit their armor to 1 inch, give them speed equal to a DD and 6 5-inch guns. Fore, Aft and 2 wings on each side. No TTs until after 1910 or so. Until then, you can't actually hit a target smaller than Puerto Rico with a torpedo, so why carry the weight?

Once DDs can be built to 1100 tons, they are very useful.

Two FC positions is really a minimum. One FC position is too vulnerable to a golden BB.

[rimbecano]

I generally start using 5" guns on destroyers long before I reach 1100 tons. Torpedoes from destroyers rarely make kills in the early game, but the threat of torpedo attack is still useful for herding the enemy fleet.

Actually, a fair portion of my torpedo kills, particularly in the early game, are actually made by capital ships or CAs. I make frequent use of torpedoes as a finishing weapon, and while night action with large vessels is generally to be avoided, torpedoes do come in handy when your capital ships stumble across the enemy fleet in the dark.

[bcoopactual]

Aug 23, 2018 1:34:28 GMT -6 fleet5 said:

Armor schemes? Tertiary guns, field artillery on ships? There's a bunch of stuff like what different armor thicknesses do or range?

There are three armor schemes in the game.
Protected cruiser:


Protected cruiser is used for smaller (<8,000 ton) early game cruisers.  It has no side (belt) armor.  The in-game Belt (B) and Belt-Extended (BE) fields represent the sloping portion of the armored deck while the Deck (D) and Deck-Extended (DE) represent the value of the flat, middle portion of the deck.  If the ship is coal fueled, the coal bunkers will absorb some shots you take during battle and this can be seen in the ship's log.  The protected cruiser has some funny game-rules to allow legacy designs like USS Olympia.  They can have a max of two centerline turrets but can carry up to eight inch guns in those turrets where later, more modern "Light armored cruiser" type CL's can have more than two centerline turrets, limited by your research level, but are limited to 6 inch guns maximum.  Personally I consider the 8 inch gunned protected cruiser a player exploit since the AI isn't programmed to build them and those legacy cruiser 8 inch guns should really be -2 quality for the most part since they were black/brown powder designs but there is no -2 quality for 8 inch guns in-game.  In fact, most nations start with 0 quality 8 inch guns which are overpowered on CLs.


Sloping deck:
 
This scheme will be used for early game armored cruisers and pre-dreadnoughts and early dreadnoughts.  Some players like to use them beyond that for reasons that will be apparent below.  There is also a tech level in Ship Design that allows "Light armored cruisers" where you can now use sloped deck or flat deck schemes for your CLs as well.  There is a vertical belt providing horizontal protection that is represented by the B and BE fields in the ship design.  It retains the sloping deck* of the Protected cruiser scheme but now the entire deck is represented by the D and DE fields in the ship designer.  As you can see to reach the engine room or the magazines most shells that penetrate the belt would also need to penetrate the armored deck behind it which is tough to do.  That's why some like to continue using the scheme even after All-or-Nothing (AoN) is researched.  The disadvantage is the scheme is heavy and you can't get the benefits of AoN even after you research it if you use this scheme. 

*(Note - As far as I know the game doesn't simulate multiple armored decks so the above image is a little misleading for game purposes. In-game, only the lower armored deck is represented. Multiple armored decks will probably make an appearance in RTW2.)


Flat deck on top of belt:

Here you have a vertical belt with the armored deck laying flat above it. (Keep in mind I believe this picture is from an American fast battleship design so it has some features like the sloping belt that are late game techs, most armor belts in the game's time frame were straight vertical.)  This scheme has the advantage that is is lighter than the sloped deck for the same amount of deck protection.  You can also get the benefits of AoN, once it is researched, by using this scheme.  Note - After researching, you only get the benefits of AoN if you use the Flat deck scheme and you set the BE and DE values to zero.  You will then see the AoN next to the scheme graphic in the ship designer which tells you AoN is in effect.  The disadvantage is if a shell penetrates the belt, the deck isn't positioned to stop it.  You can, in general make the main belt (B) significantly thicker in an AoN design though than a sloped deck design because you don't need to, and indeed can't put any armor in the BE or DE positions.  


The armor tech levels in-game basically work by comparing to a reference material like Krupp cemented that would provide one inch of protection while weighing 'X' lbs for every square foot of the belt or deck.  So as armor technology increases the weight to provide that same 1 inch of protection per square foot will go down.  For example, a 1901 tech level 20,000 ton pre-dreadnought with 10 inches of belt armor and a 1924 tech level 20,000 ton dreadnought with 10 inches of belt armor are equally protected from enemy shells.  However, because of the technological advancements made from 1901 to 1924, the armor for the dreadnought is going to weigh less than the armor for the pre-dreadnought meaning more tonnage is available for weapons and engines for the same protection on the same displacement.  Because of this, don't be surprised if you can't match a historical design's armor thickness if you are trying to recreate it in-game.  This mechanic is actually being re-worked for RTW2.     

As a note, your ship's uptakes and steering gear and the tops of your casemates for secondary guns are protected by the BE value.  So as soon as I can afford the weight, for my non AoN designs I like to make the BE value 2.5 inches to help protect the uptakes against splinters which will reduce your top speed.  I don't usually make it more than 2.5 inches though because an intermediate value like 5 or 6 inches isn't going to stop a heavy shell anyway so it's just wasted weight.  Which was the principle behind moving to the AoN scheme historically anyway.  Other players like to make it 1/4 of the value of the main B.  


Tertiary guns: 
Tertiary guns are like secondary guns except they can't be armored and they are always assumed to be aimed locally.  They never get the benefits of Directors when that technology is researched for secondary guns.  I personally only use them if I'm building a pre-dreadnought or semi-dreadnought with a large secondary battery (> 6 inch guns).  Then I will use a tertiary battery of 3 or 4 inch guns to protect against destroyers since 7 inch guns and up have an accuracy penalty against small destroyers.     


I'm not sure what you mean by field artillery.  Historically, there were usually a couple of lighter (tertiary for game purposes) guns that could be unshipped and taken ashore on field carriages for the support of marines or ship's force but that isn't simulated in-game.  


I'm also not sure what you are asking for by range?


While none of the more experienced players have a problem answering questions (so don't be afraid to ask) there is a good chance that some of your questions have been asked and answered previously.  There are several "New player and I have questions" threads in the forum that you could probably track down using the search function.  Sorry we have never put together a FAQ thread.    

[aeson]

As an addendum to what bcoopactual said, using Flat Deck instead of Sloped Deck reduces the weight of the deck (D) and deck extended (DE) armor by about 10% at the same thickness of armor (relative to weight using Sloped Deck; if you prefer to use Flat Deck as a reference, then D and DE armor is about 11% heavier when using Sloped Deck instead of Flat Deck).

Using Narrow belt configuration reduces belt (B) weight by about 21% and belt extended (BE) weight by about 25% relative to the weight of same-thickness B and BE armor in Normal configuration (if you prefer to use Narrow configuration as the reference, then Normal configuration increases B weight by about 27% and BE weight by about 33% relative to the same thickness of armor in Narrow configuration).

Neither flat nor sloped deck affects the weight of the belt (B or BE) armor, and neither normal nor narrow belt configuration affects the weight of the deck (D or DE) armor. Note that Narrow belt configuration disables, or at least reduces, the protection against sinking through flooding of less-armored parts of the ship offered by AoN armor - the citadel of a ship in AoN configuration is theoretically already about as small as it can be to maintain the ship's buoyancy even when the unprotected parts of the ship are riddled with holes and flooded; reducing the protected area further gives you a lighter armored box that won't remain afloat after the rest of the ship floods even if it is never penetrated.

Note that the periods which bcoopactual mentioned for armor schemes are only typical periods of use. There's nothing in particular stopping you from using the flat deck scheme for the legacy fleet's battleships or the protected cruiser scheme for end-game cruisers if you decide that you want to do so.

Protected cruiser is used for smaller (<8,000 ton) early game cruisers.

It's possible to use the protected cruiser armor configuration for larger cruisers, and even battlecruisers and battleships, within the game, and there are some historical examples of large protected cruisers which could serve as a basis for plausible legacy protected CA designs. Probably more of a legal-but-silly or legal-but-foolish thing than something that would actually be all that useful within the game, though, especially later on since the armor scheme still limits you to two centerline turrets even on a dreadnought battleship.

Tertiary guns:
Tertiary guns are like secondary guns except they can't be armored and they are always assumed to be aimed locally. They never get the benefits of Directors when that technology is researched for secondary guns. I personally only use them if I'm building a pre-dreadnought or semi-dreadnought with a large secondary battery (> 6 inch guns). Then I will use a tertiary battery of 3 or 4 inch guns to protect against destroyers since 7 inch guns and up have an accuracy penalty against small destroyers.

6" guns also have an accuracy penalty against small destroyers. I don't know what displacements count as small for which guns, but for 6" 'small' goes up to at least 600 tons.

Another thing which might be worth bearing in mind is that 3" tertiary guns seemingly will not engage CL or heavier targets while 4" or heavier tertiary guns (and 3" secondary guns) will. If you want a dedicated anti-DD battery, 3" tertiary guns will give you one, though its value may be limited later in the game as heavier DDs and longer-ranged torpedoes enter service.

They can have a max of two centerline turrets but can carry up to eight inch guns in those turrets where later, more modern "Light armored cruiser" type CL's can have more than two centerline turrets, limited by your research level, but are limited to 6 inch guns maximum.

Protected CLs can actually carry one gun of up to (I think) 13", though four 8" guns or a larger number of 6" guns are generally more practical for engaging other ships. 8" light armored cruiser CLs are possible through the reconstruction mechanic as 6" twin or triple turrets can be replaced by 8" single or twin turrets.