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Post by director on May 13, 2020 10:39:12 GMT -6
Or by a simple 'how many' rule - you get the ASW bonus if the number of DDs and KEs >= 4x number of CVEs, where the number of CVEs is >0.
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Post by aeson on May 13, 2020 11:43:18 GMT -6
Just to be sure you guys are aware of this, you do know that you can already build CVE-style carriers within the game and use them for ASW by assigning them to Trade Protection or, in a pinch, fleet support by placing them in the Active Fleet, yes? They'll probably be smaller than the historical escort carriers if you go with purpose-built vessels rather than converting old, slow cruisers or perhaps predreadnought battleships and AMCs, but since size affects construction and maintenance costs as well as construction time I'd tend to regard that as more of a feature than a bug - after all, cost and construction time are the main historical reasons to build a CVE instead of a CVL.
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seawolf
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Post by seawolf on May 13, 2020 12:20:01 GMT -6
Just to be sure you guys are aware of this, you do know that you can already build CVE-style carriers within the game and use them for ASW by assigning them to Trade Protection or, in a pinch, fleet support by placing them in the Active Fleet, yes?
They'll probably be smaller than the historical escort carriers if you go with purpose-built vessels rather than converting old, slow cruisers or perhaps predreadnought battleships and AMCs, but since size affects construction and maintenance costs as well as construction time I'd tend to regard that as more of a feature than a bug - after all, cost and construction time are the main historical reasons to build a CVE instead of a CVL.
I mean, I consider using that sort of design cheating, given that its manipulating in-game mechanics and would not be possible in real life. Hell, even in battle that CVL can only launch fighters with light loads- CVLs under 10,000 tons shouldn't have an ASW rating, because they can't launch aircraft loaded with ASW equipment
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Post by aeson on May 13, 2020 13:09:55 GMT -6
Hell, even in battle that CVL can only launch fighters with light loads- CVLs under 10,000 tons shouldn't have an ASW rating, because they can't launch aircraft loaded with ASW equipment From the manual: That sounds to me like bombers can take off from carriers smaller than 10,000 tons on medium or heavy load as long as either: - The bomber's top speed is less than 120 knots. Torpedo bombers are often no faster than 120 knots into the mid- to late-'20s and an early dive bomber might also make that cut. - The carrier has at least one catapult.
Also, everything that's not a fighter ends up with a bomb at light load at some point in the game, and fighters are probably an exception to that rule only because you don't necessarily want fighters on CAP or Escort missions to be loaded down with bombs. In a 1962 USA save state that I have on hand, almost every torpedo bomber I've put into service since 1932 has been able to carry a 600lb or heavier bomb at light load and my current torpedo bomber can carry a 1,000lb bomb at light load; in a 1957 USA save state that I have, almost every torpedo bomber that I put into service from 1933 onwards could carry a 600lb or heavier bomb, I put a torpedo bomber capable of carrying a 1400lb bomb at light load into service in 1948, and my current torpedo bomber could carry a 1,000lb bomb at light load. 600 pounds, interestingly, is enough for one of the historical US Navy's Mark 6 (420lbs), Mark 8 (525lbs), or Mark 11 (480lbs) depth charges, and almost enough for a pair of Mark 14 Depth Charges (340lbs each) or for a Mark 24 'Mine' (FIDO, 19" acoustic homing anti-submarine torpedo; 680lbs).
As to it being unrealistic, on the one hand, yes, I agree that very small carriers are questionable from the perspective of realism, but on the other hand such a carrier effectively models a CVE - it's slow, unarmored, minimally armed, relatively cheap compared to a proper light fleet carrier, and can be put into service within a year or so of being laid down, as was typical for CVEs - and that particular example was designed very late in the game and so may be smaller for the number of aircraft carried than would be reasonably attainable earlier in the game.
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