Post by alsadius on Jul 11, 2019 20:54:08 GMT -6
1931:
The construction of 1930 continues, though a couple budget-improving events let me lay down a third Corvo CV. I'm getting some improved guns, though - I bought 11"/+1 off the Brits, I've researched 15"/+1, and I even got the rather ludicrous 20"/-1. I also unlock dive bombers in April.
The Vettor Pisani CAs are getting old, so I refit them as well. A secondary battery of 8x 5" becomes 16x 4" DP with a director, and a battery of 18x LAA, 18x MAA, and 4x AAD gets installed. To make it all fit, secondary gun armour gets cut down to 2", and they lose their floatplane.
By December, the completion of my KEs and CA refits, plus a budget-boosting event, leaves me 5M/month in the black. And my docks are newly increased in size. I play around with a couple designs, and while I don't actually make use of the expanded docks, I come up with this design:
An all-forward BC design makes a fair bit of sense to my mind, and the cost is relatively low for a capital ship. The 17" guns are beefy, and the ship is actually faster than most of my escorts too. And the worst part is, the armour isn't that much worse than a lot of enemy BBs - I get an intel report on a French BB with 11" belt and 3" deck in December. I also put ten SSCs into construction the same month.
1932:
It's still pretty quiet in 1932. I put the first Pisa into construction in April, and another in July. Tensions start creeping up later in the year, though, with Austrian tensions sitting at 11 by December. I'm looking for new designs to build for when my three CVs finish next year, but nothing seems reasonable. So instead, I put another dozen ASW corvettes into construction, and wait for a new tech (probably 5" DP) before designing a new ship.
1933:
Sure enough, I get my 5" DP mounts in January. Also, a war with Austria. (Hey, important things should be mentioned first.) The first battle results in no contact.
The trade war matters more here than usual. I get 46 ships on TP out of a necessary 28, almost all light ASW vessels. He starts with 94 subs, and in February they kill 14 merchants, for the loss of 6 subs. Not a terrible loss ratio for me, IMO. My 23 subs kill 3 merchants for no losses. There's also a cruiser action, where I kill two of his new CAs (15200 tons, 12x 9", 29 knots, 4" belt), in exchange for one of my new Ravenna CLs, in a night action. Interestingly, the CL blew up from a magazine hit, inflicted by a tiny little 4" gun. Amazing the odd little things that happen in war.
I will say though, I'm getting a lot of between-turn event losses in this war. In the first two months, I lose a CL, 2 DD, and a KE. March trade war has me losing 8 merchants to kill 7 subs, and killing no merchants at the cost of 2 subs. My trade-protection CLs also see off three enemy raiders. The AI declines a fleet battle, but I get a coastal raid defence. I kill his last CA (without any escort) for the post-battle loss of a DD. This is also the first battle where I get to use dive bombers, and they're moderately effective - 10 DB targeted him, two hit, and one of the bombs burned out half his main battery. My torpedo DDs got the killing blow, but that helped lower my losses, and I can see them having value in a fleet fight. His surface fleet is now 7 BB, 2 BC, 1 CL, 17 DD and 22 KE - similar to mine on the top line, but vastly inferior in smaller vessels. He also has only 126 planes to my 442, so he can't equalize things that way. Since this war isn't looking like a major threat, and my new CVs and SSs are finishing up, I decide to build the ultimate battleship (for now):
The push to quad turrets was my way to use up 58k tons without feeling like I was wasting mass, but I actually really like what it does for the ship. 12x 17" is a massive battery, since nothing else afloat is better than 10x 16", and I can't find a foreign ship with a belt over 14" either. (I should look into mods for more ship designs, since the AI ships are starting to look stale). The 5" DP guns also see good use in giving it a nice beefy AA battery that's also useful against DDs and CLs, which matters more as the AI starts to build more CLs again.
April sees me kill 4 subs and lose 9 transports, and kill 1 transport for no losses. An enemy bombardment mission results in no contact, so I win by default. I also get a peace offer (which fails when I push for hard terms), and unlock 2500 ton DDs. In May, I lose 5 merchants to kill 3 subs, and kill 1 merchant for 1 sub lost. I also lose a CL and a DD. The Austrians decline two fleet battles in a row, and an inconclusive destroyer battle follows instead.
June I lose 7 merchants for 6 subs, and kill 5 merchants for 2 subs, while losing a couple KEs. July, I lose 10 for 3 sub kills, and kill 5 for 1 sub loss. I also get a battle where I kill 2x DD for 1x DD(though annoyingly, the "sink 2 ships" mission didn't fire, so I got less VP than I should have).
August I manage to kill a DD in between-turns events and he loses a CL to internment. I also lose 9 merchants killing one sub. That said, I finally get a meaningful battle - three BB and 2 DD sunk, for the loss of a CL and 3 DD, plus an SS and an SSC in post-battle retreats. It was actually kind of interesting, because it's the first battle I've fought where air power felt like it was being used by both sides. My two carriers put in 12 torpedoes and 3 bombs (mostly against cripples, to be fair), but his planes engaged in a serious torpedo attack against my CVs. Nothing hit, thankfully, and my heavy CAP shot down almost half the attacking force, but I was worried for a while there. I know plane kills don't really matter, but I dropped 8 of his in combat for 3 losses, not counting operational losses. The effect of TPS on ships is starting to get more obvious, as well - all of his BBs took 4-6 torpedoes, plus some gunfire, before they started sinking. Compare that to some single-torp kills from a couple decades ago. My destroyers can still get kills, but they're getting less scary over time I think. August also features me starting construction on the Giulio Caesare, which all unbiased observers can agree is the best ship in the history of ever.
In September, they send out feelers about a white peace, with no concessions. I laugh it off, of course. I lose 8 merchants and 5 subs to kill 2 merchants and 3 subs. In battle, I kill 2 DDs for the loss of one. In October, I lose a CL and a DD in between-turn events and kill a KE, and lose 6 merchants and 2 subs to kill 2 merchants and 3 subs. He declines two large battles and I decline a small one, so no fighting happens.
November I lose a DD, and lose 7 merchants and 2 subs to kill 1 merchant and 3 subs. I've now cut his sub fleet almost in half - he's down to 54. But I'm down to 18. In combat, I kill two DDs, but lose a CL to a torpedo (because I was dumb and got too close), which gives him a win. I even lose a prestige from it. And rounding out the year, in December, I lose two KE and a DD between turns, killing a KE. I also lose 9 merchants to kill 2 subs. He declines a fleet battle, and I decline two small engagements. And that wraps up another year, and another post.
The construction of 1930 continues, though a couple budget-improving events let me lay down a third Corvo CV. I'm getting some improved guns, though - I bought 11"/+1 off the Brits, I've researched 15"/+1, and I even got the rather ludicrous 20"/-1. I also unlock dive bombers in April.
The Vettor Pisani CAs are getting old, so I refit them as well. A secondary battery of 8x 5" becomes 16x 4" DP with a director, and a battery of 18x LAA, 18x MAA, and 4x AAD gets installed. To make it all fit, secondary gun armour gets cut down to 2", and they lose their floatplane.
By December, the completion of my KEs and CA refits, plus a budget-boosting event, leaves me 5M/month in the black. And my docks are newly increased in size. I play around with a couple designs, and while I don't actually make use of the expanded docks, I come up with this design:
An all-forward BC design makes a fair bit of sense to my mind, and the cost is relatively low for a capital ship. The 17" guns are beefy, and the ship is actually faster than most of my escorts too. And the worst part is, the armour isn't that much worse than a lot of enemy BBs - I get an intel report on a French BB with 11" belt and 3" deck in December. I also put ten SSCs into construction the same month.
1932:
It's still pretty quiet in 1932. I put the first Pisa into construction in April, and another in July. Tensions start creeping up later in the year, though, with Austrian tensions sitting at 11 by December. I'm looking for new designs to build for when my three CVs finish next year, but nothing seems reasonable. So instead, I put another dozen ASW corvettes into construction, and wait for a new tech (probably 5" DP) before designing a new ship.
1933:
Sure enough, I get my 5" DP mounts in January. Also, a war with Austria. (Hey, important things should be mentioned first.) The first battle results in no contact.
The trade war matters more here than usual. I get 46 ships on TP out of a necessary 28, almost all light ASW vessels. He starts with 94 subs, and in February they kill 14 merchants, for the loss of 6 subs. Not a terrible loss ratio for me, IMO. My 23 subs kill 3 merchants for no losses. There's also a cruiser action, where I kill two of his new CAs (15200 tons, 12x 9", 29 knots, 4" belt), in exchange for one of my new Ravenna CLs, in a night action. Interestingly, the CL blew up from a magazine hit, inflicted by a tiny little 4" gun. Amazing the odd little things that happen in war.
I will say though, I'm getting a lot of between-turn event losses in this war. In the first two months, I lose a CL, 2 DD, and a KE. March trade war has me losing 8 merchants to kill 7 subs, and killing no merchants at the cost of 2 subs. My trade-protection CLs also see off three enemy raiders. The AI declines a fleet battle, but I get a coastal raid defence. I kill his last CA (without any escort) for the post-battle loss of a DD. This is also the first battle where I get to use dive bombers, and they're moderately effective - 10 DB targeted him, two hit, and one of the bombs burned out half his main battery. My torpedo DDs got the killing blow, but that helped lower my losses, and I can see them having value in a fleet fight. His surface fleet is now 7 BB, 2 BC, 1 CL, 17 DD and 22 KE - similar to mine on the top line, but vastly inferior in smaller vessels. He also has only 126 planes to my 442, so he can't equalize things that way. Since this war isn't looking like a major threat, and my new CVs and SSs are finishing up, I decide to build the ultimate battleship (for now):
The push to quad turrets was my way to use up 58k tons without feeling like I was wasting mass, but I actually really like what it does for the ship. 12x 17" is a massive battery, since nothing else afloat is better than 10x 16", and I can't find a foreign ship with a belt over 14" either. (I should look into mods for more ship designs, since the AI ships are starting to look stale). The 5" DP guns also see good use in giving it a nice beefy AA battery that's also useful against DDs and CLs, which matters more as the AI starts to build more CLs again.
April sees me kill 4 subs and lose 9 transports, and kill 1 transport for no losses. An enemy bombardment mission results in no contact, so I win by default. I also get a peace offer (which fails when I push for hard terms), and unlock 2500 ton DDs. In May, I lose 5 merchants to kill 3 subs, and kill 1 merchant for 1 sub lost. I also lose a CL and a DD. The Austrians decline two fleet battles in a row, and an inconclusive destroyer battle follows instead.
June I lose 7 merchants for 6 subs, and kill 5 merchants for 2 subs, while losing a couple KEs. July, I lose 10 for 3 sub kills, and kill 5 for 1 sub loss. I also get a battle where I kill 2x DD for 1x DD(though annoyingly, the "sink 2 ships" mission didn't fire, so I got less VP than I should have).
August I manage to kill a DD in between-turns events and he loses a CL to internment. I also lose 9 merchants killing one sub. That said, I finally get a meaningful battle - three BB and 2 DD sunk, for the loss of a CL and 3 DD, plus an SS and an SSC in post-battle retreats. It was actually kind of interesting, because it's the first battle I've fought where air power felt like it was being used by both sides. My two carriers put in 12 torpedoes and 3 bombs (mostly against cripples, to be fair), but his planes engaged in a serious torpedo attack against my CVs. Nothing hit, thankfully, and my heavy CAP shot down almost half the attacking force, but I was worried for a while there. I know plane kills don't really matter, but I dropped 8 of his in combat for 3 losses, not counting operational losses. The effect of TPS on ships is starting to get more obvious, as well - all of his BBs took 4-6 torpedoes, plus some gunfire, before they started sinking. Compare that to some single-torp kills from a couple decades ago. My destroyers can still get kills, but they're getting less scary over time I think. August also features me starting construction on the Giulio Caesare, which all unbiased observers can agree is the best ship in the history of ever.
In September, they send out feelers about a white peace, with no concessions. I laugh it off, of course. I lose 8 merchants and 5 subs to kill 2 merchants and 3 subs. In battle, I kill 2 DDs for the loss of one. In October, I lose a CL and a DD in between-turn events and kill a KE, and lose 6 merchants and 2 subs to kill 2 merchants and 3 subs. He declines two large battles and I decline a small one, so no fighting happens.
November I lose a DD, and lose 7 merchants and 2 subs to kill 1 merchant and 3 subs. I've now cut his sub fleet almost in half - he's down to 54. But I'm down to 18. In combat, I kill two DDs, but lose a CL to a torpedo (because I was dumb and got too close), which gives him a win. I even lose a prestige from it. And rounding out the year, in December, I lose two KE and a DD between turns, killing a KE. I also lose 9 merchants to kill 2 subs. He declines a fleet battle, and I decline two small engagements. And that wraps up another year, and another post.