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Post by theexecuter on Dec 5, 2017 23:44:52 GMT -6
July 1903In the summer of 1903, revolutionary fever gripped Eastern Europe. A bloody stalemate had marked the conflict between the Empires of Germany and Russia. Poland was awash in shell holes, ruins, and blood. The Russian fleet was blockaded into the Gulf of Finland, and despite some spectacular cruiser victories, was unable to prevent Germany from starving her population. Strikes, demonstrations, and violent mutinies were occurring with depressing frequency. The future of the Tsar looked increasingly bleak. However, in July, the German government changed tack. The generals no longer believed that they would be able to make much headway in what was becoming an unpopular war at home. In addition, there was growing concern that the increasingly likely socialist revolution might spread beyond just Russia in the coming years. A peace party grew in strength. The German foreign ministry sent a delegation to Stockholm to meet with representatives of the Russian government. The hope was to conclude a war that began over matters of pride and control of the Baltic, and had escalated into something far more frightening to the protectors of autocracy in Europe. The Tsar asked us what our position on the upcoming talks would be. Knowing the perilous situation of the navy, yet knowing that if Mother Russia showed any weakness she would be despoiled, we told the Tsar that the Navy could fight on, IF NEEDED. The ramifications of this decision would haunt my dreams for weeks. Would the war continue? Would the masses rise against us? Would I be murdered in my bed, or worse...placed on public trial for 'crimes against the people'? At last, the news came back...and I immediately hurried to the Морской Никольский собор in order to thank and praise the Lord of Heaven for such a miracle! The Germans accepted a compromise peace, with no territory changes on either side! The immediate crisis was over, the Tsar was safe. Mother Russia, though battered and bruised, would continue to stand as a world power. ...and her navy would continue to be her sword and shield. There was, of course, a massive reduction in the upcoming budget. Construction on the new cruiser Ismail and the light cruiser Nadezdha were halted immediately. Construction on one of the new battleships was also delayed for a while. In the budget requests for 1904, we did not seek an increase, knowing that social unrest was still high. December 1903
New Technology: Improved Subdivision At the beginning of 1904, the Russian fleet stands underfunded, but strong. We have a dozen battleships, behind only the UK and Germany. Our cruisers, though few in number, are the best in the world. Who knows what challenges the next few years will bring?
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Post by theexecuter on Dec 5, 2017 22:17:03 GMT -6
Also of note: The minefields surrounding the 12 inch guns at Port Arthur are far larger in scope than the 4 inch gun minefields in the Baltic.
I suspect that the size of the minefield may be related to the size of the coastal guns...?
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Post by theexecuter on Dec 5, 2017 22:15:30 GMT -6
April 1903
Revolutionary ideas infect the fleet. There are widespread demonstrations demanding peace and bread. The government approves a measure to move funding from the military to blockade relief. A mutiny occurs at Port Arthur, and only a single destroyer sorties to defend the incoming convoy. She spots the German light cruiser and runs back to port. Fortunately, night falls before the enemy raider could find the convoy. May 1903
New Technology: High Tensile Steel - 1% weight saving Demonstrations demanding peace and bread continue in Saint Petersburg. Our Pacific cruisers trawl for ships off Kiachow Bay, but the German ships stay in port. June 1903
New Technology: 11 inch (quality 0) gun The fleet at Krohnstadt mutines...again. The admiral has taken to sleeping with a gun under his pillow. The Baltic fleet is essentially crippled by crew morale problems. Is the end near? Our two armored cruisers at Port Arthur encounter an enemy Freya class armored cruiser in the Yellow Sea. An inconclusive long range gunnery duel takes up the entire day. As night falls, the little Russian fleet heads back to port. Two hours later the German cruiser (having closed with the port in order to find targets of opportunity) is spotted in the gloom. Our ships give chase, and 15 minutes into the gunnery duel...the Freya dissolves in a massive explosion, as one of her magazines detonates. Even with that victory, things look bleak. Germany holds a solid (but not insurmountable) VP lead, however the nearly two year blockade has strangled the nation to the breaking point. Unrest stands at 9 (it was at 10 until the recent victory in the Pacific), and the German fleet is so confident that she has sent a third of the fleet for fire control upgrades. Will the Tsar prevail? Or will the Russian people overthrow the aristocracy and install a new government?
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Post by theexecuter on Dec 5, 2017 14:05:50 GMT -6
Good choices on the ships.
Glad I was finally able to offer a worthwhile design.
I'm open for designs until the 17th, then I'll be back between Christmas and the New Year.
You can always get to the new design phase and give us the holiday period to work on them?
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Post by theexecuter on Dec 1, 2017 8:52:45 GMT -6
At least you sank another German armored cruiser, though they would seem to have plenty more where it came from. I'd be a bit concerned about laying down a relatively heavy CL at the same time as I'm laying down a CA both faster and heavier than it is, but I suppose 24 knots is still reasonably fast in 1904. Still, it might be a problem in the not-so-distant future. Indeed. The Germans have more ships than we, but those ships are less effective. I was surprised to see only one German cruiser. Usually the AI in this situation makes sure they outnumber me...not the other way 'round! The naval ministry did not consider the speed implications of the Izmail with respect to the Nadezhda class. Oops. Guess we will have to see how this works out. I'm not all that sanguine about either class in the long run. Neither can run from the BCs that will be coming. But, you build what you can and fight them according to their characteristics. I will be glad to get a useful alternative commerce war option so I can return light cruisers to be fast destroyer killers and convoy escorts.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 30, 2017 22:59:02 GMT -6
January 1903
New technology: Side Drums - 1% weight saving Safe fuze arming devices - better shells Our single raider in the North Atlantic (Pallada) manages to evade the German attempts to track her down north or Ireland. February 1903
New technology: Reliable Pendulum - our torpedoes have the following characteristics: 28 knots to 900 m / 15 knots to 2500 m The Avrora escapes one of the German cruisers off Sakhalin and continues her raiding. We send a noted German revolutionary to Germany. March 1903
Disturbances and protests noted in Germany! Unfortunately, similar revolutionary ideas seem to have taken hold in our nation. Several ships in Krohnstadt mutiny and refuse to sail. Our CA Varyag meets one of the enemy CA Prinz Frederick's off Gotland, and in an all day engagement...manages to close the range and slowly batter the other heavily armored cruiser. Eventually, the CA Rossiya joins the Varyag and dispatches the enemy armored cruiser. The Varyag's superstructure was transferred into a wreck, but her fighting capability was hardly impacted. The Baltic remains blockaded, however. The naval staff reviewed the last 18 months of war and determined the following. 1) Our battleships are unable to deal enough damage. In future designs, priority should be given to providing sufficient firepower, before considering armor strength. 2) Our raiders have been a success, though we have too few of them to offset the impact of the blockade. 3) Our heavy cruisers have been quite successful, and represent the best idea for improving firepower in the fleet. 4) Our torpedo boats do not have sufficient guns and are usually outgunned by the Germans. Future designs should incorporate a heavier gun armament. Two new ship designs are laid down: The new raider Nadezhda. She improves on her sisters with an extra knot of speed (up to 24). She returns to the original 10 gun armament of the Pallada's (though the Naval ministry swears the specification said 12 guns!). She also sports slightly heavier turret armor. The new armored cruiser Izmail. Designed around the new directive to maximize firepower, she has 12 x 9 inch guns, in a hexagonal turret arrangement. Her armor is slightly less robust than the Varyag's and the resulting weight savings is devoted to machinery that is capable of driving her at 26 knots. The Naval Ministry at first insisted that the ship be no bigger than the Varyags, however, the new main gun turret arrangement could not be made to work on a displacement less than 16,000 tons. Her secondary armament has been downgraded to 16 x 4 inch guns (as opposed to the Varyags 6 inch guns) due to the fact that the 9 inch guns are expected to be the anti-cruiser weapons. The Germans still hold a substantial advantage in Battleships over us. Our armored cruisers remain superior to the Germans, and only superior numbers will allow the enemy to make proper use of her ships.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 30, 2017 19:29:18 GMT -6
As one of the German yards I am finding it massively irritating that we are still stuck on friggin 13" guns The Americans are still functionally stuck at 13" guns too. We have 14", but they are quality -1. I'm grateful the boffins finally decided destroyers might be bigger than 700 tons...
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 29, 2017 12:34:34 GMT -6
This round makes me want to see what a more American BC might look like...
I.e. less belt armor.
Maybe a 12x12 in gun arrangement with 10 inch belt armor (or less). The ship shouldn't be capable of engaging 'in-line', which hinders it's usefulness to Chin China...but as a thought experiment for my future games...
Hmm.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 29, 2017 6:06:13 GMT -6
Our destroyer design features a balanced gun and torpedo armament, with a fast speed and good range. 1100 tons - medium range Speed: 33 knots Guns: 5x4 inch (quality 1) - four gun broadside Torpedoes: 6x18 inch in two triple launchers Cost: $355k for 11 months Our battle-cruiser design features a strong main battery, good range, with decent armor and speed. 32,100 tons - medium range Speed: 27 knots Belt armor: 12.5 inches tapering to 3.5 inches Deck armor: 3 inches tapering to 1.5 inches Conning tower armor: 12.5 inches Turret armor: face - 12.5 inches, top - 3 inches Casement armor: 3.5 inches Torpedo protection - 1 Guns: 9x13 inch in triple turrets (ABV) with Director FC Secondaries: 16x4 inch (quality 1) in casemates Cost: $3.825M for 30 months We also submit a battleship design for your consideration. She sacrifices speed for increased main battery armament and better armor protection. 38,000 tons - medium range Speed: 22 knots Belt armor: 12.5 inches tapering to 4.5 inches Deck armor: 3.5 inches tapering to 2 inches Conning tower armor: 12.5 inches Turret armor: face - 12.5 inches, top - 3.5 inches Casement armor: 4.5 inches Torpedo Protection - 1 Guns: 12x13 inch in triple turrets (ABVY) with Director FC Secondaries: 16x4 inch (quality 1) in casemates Cost: $4.336M for 30 months DD1915.40d (5.05 KB) BB1915.40d (4.99 KB) BC1915.40d (4.96 KB)
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 22, 2017 12:08:22 GMT -6
Looks like the fleet is fighting well!
I will be able to submit designs once we return from the Thanksgiving holiday...around 30th of November.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 17, 2017 21:04:24 GMT -6
I will be away from the game for the next week or so. Updates will resume once I return.
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Post by theexecuter on Nov 17, 2017 7:28:55 GMT -6
Usually, I design predreadnoughts with more belt and less deck armor. I do this because in the early game most engagements take place at such short range that deck armor is very rarely hit by shells.
However, in this game, I'm going to rebuild some of these ships and hope to have them until at least 1915 as blockade defense.
Thus I went with a more balanced armor layout between belt and deck.
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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 theexecuter on Nov 14, 2017 23:43:00 GMT -6
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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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