Noob Needing advice

[invictus]

Im a new player and I always seem to be outclassed by 1910.

I usually play the USA or Japan on non historical budgets. 12% research and max intel on everyone.  I also build my own starter fleet.

My B class starts at 16K tons and is usually built in France. Speed abt 18knts

My CA class is usually 10K tons. Speed abt 20knts

My CL Class is 5500 to 6500 tons. Speed abt 22knts

My DD class in 500 tons and speed abt 27knts

My Legacy Fleet (based on very large for example) I try to build 4to5 B class, 6to8 CAs & CLs - 6-10 DDs and 10 KEs for trade protection only.

After my fleet is built I look at the size of the other nations and it is pretty close but I usually have more B class ships.  I look at my intel reports on other nations ships and they are kinda close in guns and armor.....

BUT by 1905-1910 my fleet is usually abt 1/2 to 1/3 of other nations and I just cannot win any fights.  I always have ships in production to the point of having about an even balance with abt 5-10K balance in the bank.  I build dock space every year and rarely build forts or bases.

I try to armor my ships to defend against the guns I have on them. 11-12" guns on B, 1 or 11" guns on CA, around 5-6" guns on CL, and 4-5" guns on DD.  Main worry for armor is belt and conning tower and turrets.

Anything I listed way off base? Ideas and tips are welcome

thx

[dorn]

Provide us with save, we can look, not just guess.

[noshurviverse]

I have to ask, are you placing ships of yours in Reserve or Mothballs in peacetime? If not, you're losing a huge amount of money and thus ships. If you place roughly half your fleet in Reserve, that's a 25% budget savings. Also, remember that research benefits less as the money rises. So the boost you get from going from 10% to 12% is less than 8% to 10%.

[dizzy]

Couple things. High intel on everyone. Why? Save money. Use intel on those nations you have higher tension with that you may go to war with or want to. Sometimes agents get caught raising tensions. Otherwise, do you really need that intel as it costs budget.

Also costing you budget is the Status of your ships. In peacetime put your fleet in Reserve. When tension levels get suitably high, Mobilize your fleet and deploy them where they need to be. Some older ships you could mothball if the threat of going to war with a nation that is superior to you makes you rather not want to scrap them.

Having too many BB's will prevent you from building ships. If you've built too large a navy, you're not going to have the budget to make any purchases. This is what kills you in the later game because you didnt budget in purchasing new ships to replace old ones. This mistake will always doom you. Boasting in 1910 that you have the most POWERFUL navy (that was all built in 1899) will only garner derisive laughs.

Make note of your strengths and weaknesses. For example, Japan has a puny budget to start. So don't pick a war with a stronger opponent until you build up. But your strength is your Home Area is no one else's Home Area, meaning you have more Base Value to keep your fleet. The USA may be able to send over 3x the navy you have but they can't support it, nor will they. So you have more even odds, and you can always decline battles you can't win to fight something you can.

This is all about making savvy choices and finding an equilibrium. Granted, none of this is spelled out, but a practice game to give you the feel of the flow would go a long way toward helping you not make all the newb mistakes that make you feel this game is too hard. Truth is, it's only as hard as you make it to be.

GL

[stevethecat]

General tips from another noob:

Wobble the intel around so you aren't causing tension with people you don't want to.

Put ships you aren't using during peace time (The vast majority) into reserve to save money. Mothballing out of date BBs is an option too.

Be harsh on your ships, it might have been your pride and joy 8 years ago but is it still carrying it's weight/budget? Is it worth the refit cost? If not it's a hindrance to new ships coming in.

Cramped and short range ships might be a pain in the backside while on foreign service but can have a role if kept at home station to mitigate those issues and maximise the weight saving benefits.

Halting ships in construction can save quite a bit of money if you're in a pinch.

In combat running away and avoiding a fight is a perfectly valid tactic, game spawns you a pair of naff cruisers to deal with the enemies latest super-dreadnought and mega cruisers? Yeah... Bugger that. Turn and run out the timer.

Constantly check the penetration ranges of your ships compared to enemy armour, try to keep at a distance that works for your guns but not theirs.


**Check out Tortugapowers youtube series of his German campaign, he's pretty good with the combat side of things, although the endless redesigning of ships he has spent an hour designing already is something to skip through!**

[JagdFlanker]

another way to save a lot of cash is to reduce your research to 5-6%

10%+ is for nations with lots of cash to throw around

i stick with 5%-6% and i get a lot more offers to buy tech and tech sharing agreements, which is a lot cheaper way to progress in tech in the long run

you can't get way behind in tech in this game because once somebody develops tech everybody gets it sooner or later

[griffin01]

Jun 5, 2019 1:57:34 GMT -6 JagdFlanker said:

another way to save a lot of cash is to reduce your research to 5-6%

10%+ is for nations with lots of cash to throw around

i stick with 5%-6% and i get a lot more offers to buy tech and tech sharing agreements, which is a lot cheaper way to progress in tech in the long run

you can't get way behind in tech in this game because once somebody develops tech everybody gets it sooner or later

Frankly, reducing your research below 8% is rather risky, and I wouldn't really get lower than 10%. You might get offers of tech sale, but you might also NOT get them, and some technologies you need ASAP. If you really want to save money that way, I would reduce research budget after 30's, as by then most of the techs are researched.

[deeznuts]

Don’t be afraid to scrap old ships btw

[JagdFlanker]

Jun 5, 2019 2:48:34 GMT -6 griffin01 said:

Jun 5, 2019 1:57:34 GMT -6 JagdFlanker said:

another way to save a lot of cash is to reduce your research to 5-6%

10%+ is for nations with lots of cash to throw around

i stick with 5%-6% and i get a lot more offers to buy tech and tech sharing agreements, which is a lot cheaper way to progress in tech in the long run

you can't get way behind in tech in this game because once somebody develops tech everybody gets it sooner or later

Frankly, reducing your research below 8% is rather risky, and I wouldn't really get lower than 10%. You might get offers of tech sale, but you might also NOT get them, and some technologies you need ASAP. If you really want to save money that way, I would reduce research budget after 30's, as by then most of the techs are researched.

having played a few games (of RtW1) at 0% research for fun i can safely say it's not a big deal to reduce your research unless you want to think it's a big deal

it's definitely not a game breaker, and if you don't have much of a budget then sacrifices have to be made

[jorgencab]

As others have said...

* Make use of Reserve and Mothballing.
* Don't spy on those you want as friends.
* Don't go around claiming and taking colonies from wars, war reparations give you resources and don't force you to spread your fleet thin during war.
* Build large quality ships in foreign countries, this will also often give you bonus in research.
* Try to do wars against those that you have a relatively good chance of beating, such as France, Germany and maybe Russia in the early game and claim as much war reparation as possible.
* Don't spend 12% research of the budget, rather about 6-8% and put everything but the most important techs onlow and then the one you care about at high. This can get you good in those areas and buy the rest. You will be behind anyway.

I try to stay as friendly to the US and British for as long as possible during my Japan games. Most of my cruisers and battleships are built by the British, even if I can build them in my own yards. I only build CL and below at home to gain the experience from building ships.

No matter what your economy will be small compared to the big countries, but remember they have lots of places to be so you need to use that to your advantage.

[aeson]

16,000t battleships and 6,000t light cruisers for the legacy fleet suggests to me that you're pursuing a best-in-class approach to new construction. Especially as an economically-weaker power like Japan, it's very difficult to maintain something like numerical parity while simultaneously building the best-in-class each design generation - all the more so if the best that you can build has outstripped 'good enough' by a sizeable margin. Bear in mind that today's best in class is often still just another obsolete ship tomorrow and that a ship that was good enough to fight its contemporaries when it was built remains good enough to fight its contemporaries more or less forever. If you're building 45,000t 27kn battleships and 8000t 32kn cruisers when everyone else is building 35,000t 24kn battleships and 6000t 30kn cruisers, you're not going to be building as many ships as anyone else, except possibly if you're running away with the bank.

[invictus]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I have never reserved or mothballed ships so Ill try that. I was afraid of losing crew quality.

The reason I have got everyone at high intel was to try and steal tech and I didn't really care who I warred which may be an error in thinking.

Ill also go down in my research %. I had it maxed out cause in other games I play getting outclassed is easy and deadly.


Is there a good thread that shows some good builds for various nations? I did a quick look with the forum browser but didn't see anything

[mycophobia]

Jun 5, 2019 18:10:01 GMT -6 invictus said:

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I have never reserved or mothballed ships so Ill try that. I was afraid of losing crew quality.

The reason I have got everyone at high intel was to try and steal tech and I didn't really care who I warred which may be an error in thinking.

Ill also go down in my research %. I had it maxed out cause in other games I play getting outclassed is easy and deadly.


Is there a good thread that shows some good builds for various nations? I did a quick look with the forum browser but didn't see anything

You loose crew quality anyway in extended peace. Mobilize when tension is in the orange is usually enough to ensure good quality on your ships when war starts. Don’t mothball stuff you will need for the first months of the war.

I don’t think rtw have specific “builds” since a lot of it dependant on the cards you are dealt with. General ship building ideas also vary a lot between players.

But as a general rule, it’s probably build your fleet slightly faster than your opponent so disengaging is always an option. Don’t rely too much on early cruisers, they are outdated quickly when B.C. enter the picture. Though they are good for scouting.

Build knowing that things will get outdated, the same goes for your enemies, so don’t worry too much about waiting for Just the right tech. Tech advantage helps, however as said, even if certain enemy ship is outclassing yours hard, in a year or two it will become obsolete, so don’t worry another temporary disadvantage.

Numbers helps a lot for country who can afford them, don’t feel obligated to go the “elite” route.

[gimlet]

In addition to pretty aggressive mothball/reserve, I generally drop training at the end of a war and only restart when tensions are solidly yellow with someone I want to fight.   You get better at timing when to start bringing your ships out of mothballs/reserve/start training.   And if you mistime it (once in a while the RNG seems determined to rush me into a war), just remember to take it easy the first few months - pick your  battles and be a little cautious.

ED to add:  You also lose crew quality doing a refit, something I'm very likely to do when tensions indicate war is near - I want to upgrade fire controls, or preemptively refit to avoid getting obsolete flags while a war is on.  So I feel I might as well reserve fleet/mothball until then if I'm going to get a penalty anyway, why not get some benefit from it...

[invictus]

Sorry another Noob question regarding OBs

When you get an order of battle at a start of a combat is there a way to transfer ships from one group to another? IE a solo BB to a group BB or a DD out of a CL group?


thx