|
Post by cv10 on Mar 3, 2017 18:41:04 GMT -6
Having never before done an aar, I am a bit unsure as to how this will go. I think I'll lean towards a narrative style aar, but I'm not completely sure yet. I would like to start out by thanking Director for posting his excellent China mod in the custom nations thread, and for all of his work on it. In this mod, China was able to westernize successfully, and has a lot of potential. My overall goal is to expand Chinese influence across southeast Asia and keep rough naval parity with Japan. My likely unobtainable goal will be to kick the British out of Hong Kong.
Name edited due to name similarity with the PLC AAR (make sure to read it too!)
Just finished the backstory and have designed the legacy fleet. I hope the backstory isn't too long and is entertaining.
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Mar 1, 2017 13:15:27 GMT -6
I'm not an expect but installing a gun seems vastly easier then building a battleship. Didn't even south american powers occasionally buy ships from one nation and buy guns from another? I think t problem is that the buyer country would still need a yard to install the gun turrets. With smaller ships, like cruisers and destroyers, you'd be right. Since it was not as difficult to switch the lighter guns around on ships (the british cruisers that used the side mounts that where shields and not turrets could do this). However a lot of the ships that were ordered during the game time frame abroad were battleships (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, with Spain looking at Littorios in the late 1930s) as a lot of the nations with navies could build cruisers and destroyers domestically (with exceptions). The big problem is that the turret the guns are mounted in would need to be lowered onto the barbettes (since the turrets aren't "technically" attached to the ship but sit on the barbettes). This would require a dockyard with facilities (cranes and such) capable of doing so. Also, putting the guns in after the ship is delivered would necessitate the buyer country building the gun turrets themselves, as it seems to me that it would be rather hard for the builder country to design turrets for guns if it did not have a few lying around to examine. I'm not aware of any south american nation having done so. Most of the cases I know of where they boight ships, they just picked a gun caliber that the builder nation had (Mikasa used british 12's and british 6's). That being said, South American naval policy tended to be a bit bizarre at times, so I think its possible.
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Mar 1, 2017 10:08:25 GMT -6
with the attendant risk that the building nation might be able to get a good look at your guns while the guns are being installed! Wouldn't the ship said to the buying country before installing the guns? Makes little sense to ship the guns across the ocean. The problem with this, at least in my mind, is that you'd likely be building a ship in a foreign yard because your own facilities are too small or you lack access to a critical technology (such as super firing turrets). In terms of gameplay, if you lack the proper dock size, you can't refit ships once they arrive. Shipping gun barrels across the ocean might make more sense if you couldn't install the guns yourself.
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Mar 1, 2017 8:15:51 GMT -6
I think it would be a nice feature to allow use of home built guns on a ship ordered abroad, if they are better quality than what they have available. with the attendant risk that the building nation might be able to get a good look at your guns while the guns are being installed!
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 28, 2017 17:06:57 GMT -6
If a ship is old enough (and obsolete) steaming at high speeds can cause engine problems. I'll rebuild a few of my big 15k ton cruisers with oil engines, and that's usually not too expensive. I find that its generally the speed increases (really tempting to try to get that 24 knot ship up to 30) that drive up the cost of a ship rebuild. I'll rebuild old destroyers to keep them around for Coastal Patrol, and since there aren't any major restrictions to rebuilding their armaments, I'll generally replace the main battery with duel or superimposed turrets (weight permitting) and strip off the bulk of the torpedos. That last bit is more a stylistic choice (makes me think that they'll stand up to enemy submarines in a surface fight better).
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 24, 2017 11:41:21 GMT -6
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 24, 2017 11:34:10 GMT -6
Oaktree: nice balance between displacement, armor , speed, and armament
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 23, 2017 22:49:22 GMT -6
Once I get 1,100 ton destroyers and superimposed on DD, I go for a Fletcher-like gun armament layout: A,B, W,Y,X although the W is open to debate as the 3rd gun turret on the Fetchers was not arranged exactly like the W would be in-game. I find that you get a good gun armament, but still maintain a fair torpedo attack (mine only had 4 torpedos, but I threw on mines as well and IRL the Fletcher were built 20 years later)
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 23, 2017 22:40:12 GMT -6
Perhaps its a representation of the ships spotters and lookouts losing sight of the torpedo as they get farther from the ship. I image that during this time period (WW I) tracking them after launch was quite difficult, particularly if the ship comes under fire and the shell splashes obscure the wake. In my current game I had a case where a torpedo fired at a stationary and battered foe must have under-run the target, for it passed through the target square, and proceeded dead on another 4000 yards to strike another of my circling ships- your guess? Yes, Magazine, explosion, boom. - But, these things happen. There have been times that I've wanted to hang my pixel destroyer skippers from the nearest yardarm. Nothing ruins a victory like having one of your battleships sunk by your own destroyers. I want to say to them: Yes, I get that the battered hulk of the enemy ship is dead in the water, but my darned battle-line is going by so kindly try to avoid torpedoing them while they pass. Then you can waste all the torpedo you want on a target that is sinking and taken three torpedo already!
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 23, 2017 10:21:40 GMT -6
Perhaps its a representation of the ships spotters and lookouts losing sight of the torpedo as they get farther from the ship. I image that during this time period (WW I) tracking them after launch was quite difficult, particularly if the ship comes under fire and the shell splashes obscure the wake.
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 22, 2017 7:27:51 GMT -6
Bcoopactual has it right about the deck armour. By the late game you want about 5" decks and 6" turret tops. Your C.T. should be about the same as your turret side armour. Of course, this is just my opinion, but I find that the ships I build, which seem to be badly outgunned by the A.I. (I tend to build designs with 8-10 main guns, rarely 12), never have much of a problem beating the ever-loving tar outta the A.I. ships which tend to have thin horizontal armour. Thanks for the advice about late game deck armor, usually I just stay at two, but I'll try that in my next game. As far as the Conning Tower, I know that it has a purpose in-game (protects from bridge hits) but IIRC they were almost never unitized by bridge crews in real life, so I hate putting weight into them.
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 22, 2017 7:23:23 GMT -6
This is my Wyoming-Class Battleship. A bit too large to be built in large numbers, but I was never too far behind the AI in terms of fleet size. Looks like an offensive beast. I'd be curious to see how the 2" deck holds up in that time period. Certainly wouldn't want to see that thing show up at short range in the dark or bad weather. I've never really known what the general barometer for deck armor is late-game. Thicker armor would probably have been a smart investment, but I really wanted that 5th gun turret. On the other hand, I could have dropped the speed down to 20 Knots and put the weight savings in armor. I also would have been curious to know how they would have stood up in battle, my last war ended only a month after the first one finished working up.
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 21, 2017 21:56:03 GMT -6
This is my Wyoming-Class Battleship. A bit too large to be built in large numbers, but I was never too far behind the AI in terms of fleet size. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 20, 2017 19:29:30 GMT -6
Also, if you're wondering why I have 1k free displacement, short answer: technology This guy is currently under construction: imgur.com/a/L9sUNThat could have given the Yamato a run for her money
|
|
|
Post by cv10 on Feb 20, 2017 19:28:04 GMT -6
Gentlemen and Ladies of the forum, new fellow on the block has designed the largest sea-going drone!
|
|