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Post by srndacful on Jun 7, 2016 22:00:09 GMT -6
Something I've wondered, is there a transition point in game technology wise where you go from the obsolete armored cruiser type CA to the HMS Hawkins style CA's that led to what we think of today as heavy cruisers? For comparison, the light cruiser armor tech lets you transition from old-style protected cruiser type CL designs to modern light cruisers. Is there a similar break from ACR's to heavy cruisers or is the CA design in game always obsolete once you have battlecruisers?
IMHO, early and late game CA's are two totally different branches of the cruiser evolutionary tree:
Early CA's are essentially proto-battlecruisers: they are of similar size to Battleships, and are supposed to be fast & strong enough to catch & kick the $#!t out of any other cruiser afloat - and run away from any Battleship encountered, since they are weaker (but faster - theoretically) then they.
Late CA's are essentially upgraded Light Cruisers: they represent the next step of CL evolution (after Light Cruiser) which (for me) happens once you get superfiring B & X turrets, Improved Double (or Triple) Turrets & Torpedo protection of 2 and above. Putting all that stuff (even with Torpedo protection halved) on a Light Cruiser along with a 32+kt engines, 3"B & 4"T & 2"D armor & 4x2 6" guns usually puts it's displacement over 8000 tonnes - which is game's top ceiling for CL. And so, a Heavy Cruiser is born.
That's my 0.02$ anyway. Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Jun 3, 2016 6:15:32 GMT -6
I caused one as CSA Established alliance with GB and attacked USA as soon as possible. But my stupid submarine captain attacked a neutral liner, so France declared war to us... That's why I got not only Maine but also Antilles, when we won
The same thing happened to me in the first example. It was the one and only time I put Submarines on unrestricted warfare: France & England's tension levels were initially low (2 or 3) - a couple of months (read: neutral liners) later, they joined Russia and Italy in what was (up to that point) just another 2 vs. 2 bash.
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Post by srndacful on Jun 1, 2016 20:34:55 GMT -6
So far, I have only seen two (and both when I played weaker states, btw)
First one was Austria & her Germanbro vs. Italy & Russia + France & Britain a bit later. USA was about to join, too - but I f***ed them over and collapsed before they managed to (Serves them right, too - Take that USA!).
The second one was Turkey + France & Russia (god, I love the diversity this game offers) vs. Britain, Italy, Austria & Germany.
Those two-on-two affairs you speak of occur every other game for me ... so, I had several dozens of 'em so far ... who can remember them all?
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on May 10, 2016 9:21:33 GMT -6
For me, it's all a part of the draw of playing in the Admiral's (aka frustration ahoy) mode. All of the generals and admirals in history had to deal with the big C3I - Chaos, Confusion, Cowardice and Incompetence, and IMHO, there's no one better than the AI to simulate all the $#/t going on in battle. Your job as Admiral is to take the $#/t handed to you and turn it into victory (or at least not defeat) by any means possible.
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Apr 6, 2016 7:51:03 GMT -6
Okay, guys, c'mon ... Just because I posted my endresult doesn't mean you saw the future and have to quit on me all of a sudden ...
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Post by srndacful on Apr 4, 2016 8:50:05 GMT -6
i don't have a picture atm but what do you people think of light cruisers with fore and aft single 8 inch guns?(+ a number of 6inch or smaller) i found them very effective at sinking out ships that attempt to intercept them during raiding as well giving them ability to harm large ships better in fleet engagements i call them the zwitter class due to mixing elements of light and heavy cruisers
I usually cram only Primary Armament on my Cruisers (Light & Heavy) - since secondary guns have no gunnery director (at least until secondary director becomes available) and are (IMHO) almost useless at the beginning.
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Apr 3, 2016 3:25:05 GMT -6
Well, folks - that's that from your original GrossAdmiral!
I continued the game all the way to 1925 and here are the results:
Final Prestige is 51 - which is an absolute disgrace! Note especially the slump in Prestige during 1923/24 - when Your original GrossAdmiral got criticized by his Kaiser-ische highness for falling behind in Armored Cruiser buildup ... even though we were the only ones that had them at the time! That's 2 Prestige I'll never be seeing again ... I also seemed to have failed to make BB's with speed up to the max available, so they can participate in Cruiser Battles instead of BC's ... which explains the dozens of times the computer saw fit to pit 2 of my CL's against 2 enemy's CL - supported by 3 BC's ...
Oh, and, (in case you were wondering,) as for the Battle of Gotland (the only fleet battle in the war, btw) it went something like this: 1. GrossAdmiral sees the foggy battlefield and 00:40 until Dusk notification. 2. torpedoesinmybattleshipspanic.jpg 3. GrossAdmiral orders orderly Retreat (with a side-option of a disorderly one in case of **** hitting the fan) 4. a pair of Scouting CL's encounter enemy scouting CL's in the fog. 5. enemy CL's have BC's in support. (gee, I wonder where I heard this before ...) 6. one CL manages to get away as Dusk sets in - but not before taking a few 14" farewell gifts, rendering it heavily damaged. 7. second CL, rushing to the first one's rescue, spots some unknown ships and proceeds to investigate. 8. Night falls, and it has to come even closer to pass the eyeball check - closer as in: BC's at 1000 paces. 9. turnaround - haul ass outta there - nab a couple of 14" farewell gifts from next-door neighbors. 10. heavy damage - some flooding - not bad speed - her captain: "Oh, hell, she's good for another run!" - turnaround & head back in. 11. fleet battle = BC's supported by BB's ... lots of BB's ... in cruising column(s) ... 12. 5 minutes later: swisscheesecruiser.jpg (it actually makes it almost all the way through between two columns) 13. the first CL is patched up some by now - and at full steam (all 12kts of it) toward the it's stricken comrade. (whyamisurprised.gif) 14. fortunately, it fails to find anything. Final score: Russian Major Victory Germany: 10 Medium hits for 0 damage Russia: ~100 Heavy & Medium hits for 11000-ish damage.
I love the Admiral's mode exactly for this sheer jerkassery that it's capable of delivering sometimes ... although the love usually takes a couple of minutes to arrive - but I never seem to notice that: I'm usually too busy ranting and raving at my screen ...
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Mar 31, 2016 9:00:37 GMT -6
In a game where you get a ship named after you according to how well you suceeded:
Oh? My successor named a ship after me??? (ohboyohboyigotashipohboyohboy.jpg)
Minesweeper 200 tonnes no armor single 2" popgun
... wow ... that good huh?
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Post by srndacful on Mar 29, 2016 18:51:39 GMT -6
Right!
Well, it's January 1905, folks, and I'm bored as f$%k! No, no, War's not over yet - it's just my fleet, doing what it's supposed to do: Blockade the enemy, and wait for the inevitable revolution. Here's some of the Battle reports: (only the important ones - I won't bore you with raids, convoys, actions and interceptions - you're Admirals yourselves: you know the drill by now)
1st I managed to corner and sink one of their Cruisers in a Cruiser Action (no, I have no idea what the Battleship was doing there, either) after which I was feeling so smug that I failed to notice something that became glaringly apparent in next 2 battles (once I no longer had numerical superiority) - the French have already equipped their ships with Central Firing. Points of damage inflicted were a dead giveaway - so to speak ... Naturally, once my own ships became fully re-equipped (and the full superiority of the German design broke through) it all became a different tune - as seen in battle no.4. Unfortunately, 1 Prestige gained there didn't cover the 2 lost in the previous battle (1 for losing the battle, and another for Kaiser being pissed) but it sure brought a warm and fuzzy feeling of savage glee to my GrossGerman heart. Unfortunately, the very next battle proved to be one of those 'rage-at-the-random-numbers-god' kind of things - as a stray (i.e. totally not well-aimed at all) French shell found it's way to my leading AC's heart (i.e. powder magazine) in the very first few minutes of the battle. And, if anyone doubted the result of the war at all, it was put to rest in the brief (just before sunset) Fleet Battle - that brings my (more exciting) AAR's to the end. The last of the major Battles was fought at the end of the 1903. France has been blockaded since mid-1903, and it's fleet adamantly refuses to fight any more battleship engagements - sometimes 3 times per turn. 2 hugely successful Army offensives also helped here, and in the Colonies I managed to grab Tonkin.
So, it's January 1905, and here are some reports:
First off: state of the War in the beginning of 1904 - note the absolute advantage in blockading points in the Northern Europe theatre, as well as my AC's in Indian Ocean, on their way to Southeast Asia. Next is the end-report itself - note the Russian kibitzing, nice lead in VP's for yours truly, and (last but not the least) 7.5 Mil income & 110 Mil piggy-bank - both of them waiting for young and eager Dreadnoughts to drain them. But first I have to discover them - and here is where the deficiencies in the German educational system are finally revealed: as the tech-weenies discovered the way to make superfiring turret, but can't imagine why a battleship might have more than 2 turrets at all ... I mean, seriously ...
Anyway - best of luck to my successor! Cheers!
Attachments:Game3.rar (474.4 KB)
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Post by srndacful on Mar 29, 2016 11:25:00 GMT -6
Right!
So, after some rather comfy early turnspamming - along with a few simple decisions to make - usually picking the result with Prestige advancement (or at least no reduction) in it - have got me to 1903 and WAR!
But, let's take it slow, shall we?
First off: State of the Main Screen in January of 1901 & 1902:
As you can see, Tensions quickly went up due to my Prestige-pumping jerkassery - but then quickly went down again as my potential opponents became Grossed out by my GrossFlotte. Especially by my absolute superiority in Minesweepers! None can stand before them! ... well, no boat, anyway ... Also, my scientists managed to figure out how to build 600-tonne ships (Apparently, that number was a mystery to them so far ... f$%&n geeks) so I began building new (and Improved) Destroyers.
But then events took a sharp turn for the worse!
France decided to go on a shopping spree for Christmas & New Year '02/'03 and acquire Mozambique and Angola. Naturally, I objected to those developments in the most jerkasstic tone possible - and they suddenly got all snippy on me! Seriously - some people. Anyway - we're at War now - and I'm off to fight some battles. Hopefully I won't lose too much ships before I manage to refit them all with our brand-new Central Firing systems. (Seriously? They couldn't have figured it out earlier??? F$%&n geeks ...)
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Mar 28, 2016 14:21:32 GMT -6
Right!
So ... let's get the ball rolling, shall we? kaiserwilhelm is unavailable at the moment, and has asked me to begin - hopefully, he'll be playing the next 5 years.
I have just done the preliminary preparations - just as specified by the Starting Post - and this is the beginning screen for me:
Here are garrison force requirements, research settings and general navy sizes:
And, finally, our ships:
Yes, Gefions are gamey as f#$& and should probably be illegal - but since any nosy Inquisitors will be directed towards the (real) Hela-class Gefion, I foresee about 5 peaceful years before all confusion is cleared, paperwork sorted out, and the entire mess cleanly swept under the rug. They (Gefion class) are, basically, intended as raiders / colony guardships, and should be kept out of combat with anything other than AMC.
Anyway: As you can see, most of the Imperial Navy is in Mothballs/Reserve where it will stay until war is imminent. So far, the greatest threat seems to be Russia, but I expect that to change quickly. I concentrated the Research on creating more powerful battleships - since sinking the enemy ones is where the money's ... ahem ... Prestige's ... at. Herthas should be able to sink CL's and run away - or cripple and then run away - from enemy CA's and Helas are there merely to support them. Destroyers and Minesweepers have tons of guns because my primary tactics in small unit actions is Volume of Fire - i.e. more bullets = more chances of hitting them. I started upgrading the Docks - so my successor should have 22000 tons of Docking space available - for any Dreadnought he chooses to make. I'm also currently building 2 batteries - and will continue doing so until all German territories have one. this will, hopefully, make it harder for the enemy to invade, and also provide lots of minefields into which their ships might (hopefully) be lured.
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Mar 28, 2016 9:39:45 GMT -6
1st for GrossGermanium (and no, it's not my favourite just because I got the highest Prestige score in it )
P.S. herr 1st player: extra Panzer bitte!
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Post by srndacful on Aug 21, 2015 3:42:26 GMT -6
No way to skip tactical battles as yet (since they're the game's 'raison d'etre' - so to speak) but we hope that ships will eventually be deployed into (semi permanent?) squadrons, flotillas and fleets with their rear-, fore-, port- and starboard- admirals to command them.
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Aug 21, 2015 0:17:36 GMT -6
While I understand why the game must start in 1900 (it's when USA and Japan - the last of the big powers to join the club - really get into the Battleship building craze) - I really don't understand why the Ships themselves all start at 1898 at the earliest, (according to the Obsolete tag's timetable, anyway) when the actual (Pre-Dreadnought) battleship building actually started in late 1880's / early 1890's. Some of those ships should be within a couple of years from being Obsolete themselves - especially in the 'smaller' and 'backwards' navies. (You know who I'm talking about)
As it stands right now, at the beginning of the game (1900) the player has a homogenous fleet of ships with (mostly) similar capabilities - but by the 1910, the player has Obsolete (both literally and figuratively) Pre-Dreadnoughts AND modern, new and powerful Dreadnoughts in the same fleet, and at the same time. And the situation only gets worse in late 1910's - when you add Obsolete Dreadnoughts to the list.
Why doesn't the same situation exist in the beginning of the game? (If only to make the players say: 'Man, those ships are absolute s**t!')
Where are Caio Duilio's 450mm muzzle-loading guns? (18in guns with -4 quality would simulate them quite nicely in-game, IMHO) Or difference between Composite, Harvey and Krupp Armor? (No need to add new types of Armor - just add 50 or 100% more weight to the current Armor to simulate the effect of the additional armor thickness necessary to equal the stopping ability of given in-game amount of inches - which are all in Krupp's Armor type, anyway, if I'm not mistaken) Or difference between Compound, Double and Triple Expansion engines? (Same as Armor - just add more weight to engines to simulate the effect) There are many more, of course - I was just skimming the top.
To reduce the complexity of the whole 'visit the past' arrangement (so as not to add unnecessary stuff for Players to think about - and developers to program) - why not have it available only in AI's legacy fleet building (i.e.not manual legacy fleet building) - and make it (say) 5% cheaper for each 'technological' handicap involved? (or for 2% for each year of Ship's current age in 1900?)
IMHO, This would create some bigger starting fleets - as well as an additional drive for 'replacement' construction. (and let's not forget the added bonus of encountering situations like fighting a Dreadnought with a Pre-Dreadnought - only 10 years sooner.)
Cheers!
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Post by srndacful on Aug 8, 2015 5:13:45 GMT -6
There is a minimum force threshold in an area for a battle to be generated, just to avoid the situations you describe. It might be that this includes raiders, which it shouldn't. I'll check on that.
However, there is also an intended effect that if you cannot challenge enemy actions in an area, or accept a battle where you have no forces, you will lose some VP.
Thanks!
I think often the VP loss still isn't near enough. Perhaps you could define a 'factor' for it in one of the files, so it would be easy to increase / decrease via text editing? Re: Fredrik (& julianbarker): I see your point there - I didn't bother to oppose the enemy, so I pay the price ... a good way to provide some motivation to go cruisin'!
OTOH - sage2 has a really good point, too: I currently get 140 VP for blockading the enemy, and stand to lose 60 VP for declining a fleet action - which is less VP than I gain for sinking a single enemy Light Cruiser - let alone a Battleship! (And let's leave out the fact that I have accumulated over 44,000 VP's in the war so far ...)
Cheers!
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