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Post by cwemyss on Sept 16, 2022 9:42:15 GMT -6
I'd planned to leave this until RTW3 came out, but what the heck. I'm in need of a creative writing outlet, I really enjoy RTW 1 & 2, and I figured I'd give everyone something to read other than "Is RTW3 done yet? / Can you include xyz new feature / Is the Alaska a Battlecruiser???" So, with probably quite a bit of further ado....
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 16, 2022 10:05:55 GMT -6
My general plan: 1900 Game Start, United States Navy Super Large Fleet Size, 70% Research Rate, Manual Build of Legacy Fleet Mods as follows: A generally-speaking historical US Navy fleet for a 1900 start. I didn't use Seawolf's Historical Start ships because... I really enjoy nerding out on ship designs and side profiles, so I've designed my own equivalents.
- Battleships: 4 coastal (Indiana, Kearsarge classes), 4 open ocean (Iowa, Illinois classes), and Maine class started building. Kearsarge will be called "Vermont" because I hate that one weird outlier in US Battleship naming.
- Cruisers: An absolute s***show of different designs and capability. I... just... wow. Armored: True armored cruisers, maybe two (Saratoga, Brooklyn), with the Pittsburgh class in planning Protected: 15 in various classes, ranging in armor protection from tissue paper to 3+ inches (which the game classes as CAs) - Destroyers: 12 Bainbridge class (plus one building) and 3 Truxtun class. - Gunboats: 20+ KEs of various sizes to replicate the innumerable gunboats the USN had scattered around the world in 1900 I will NOT using historical fleets for the opponents, as I don't want to saddle the AI with 1880s technology. House rules to enforce FS requirements (16000 tons) in the Caribbean and North American West Coast, equivalent to the combined FS requirements for the US in Southeast Asia (6000 tons), Central Pacific (6000) and North Pacific (4000). As the game progresses, I will add FS requirements for any additional Sea Zones where I take territories.
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 16, 2022 10:08:20 GMT -6
One other note: I have an 8 year old and all the activities that come with that, a job that eats a ton of time, a couple vacations coming up (helloooooo, Mickey Mouse), and...well, don't expect posts every day. Or potentially even every week.
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 16, 2022 10:11:51 GMT -6
I very much welcome discussion, conversation, suggestions, etc, so go nuts. I'll use the banner above when I have a new "chapter" to post so they're easy to find.
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 16, 2022 10:34:11 GMT -6
October 27, 1899 – Naval War College, Newport, Rhode IslandLieutenant Douglas Snyder took note of the stony silence and the uncomfortable rustling from the audience in the semi-dark room. The temperature, this morning unseasonably pleasant for Newport in late autumn, was starting to feel a bit oppressive. Snyder gathered himself and continued with his conclusion. “In summary, the current Navy cruiser force can best be described as a hodgepodge. In twelve rounds of wargames against a variety of opponents, few of our ships excelled at scouting, few of them were particularly effective at countering torpedo boats, and few of them possessed the power to deter enemy scouts. The Olympia, though admittedly as close to an ideal as we possess, is saddled with slow-firing 8-inch main guns and would be expensive to duplicate.” More rustling from the audience and several distinct frowns in the front row. Daring to speak ill of Dewey’s flagship risked losing the audience, Snyder knew. He caught Lieutenant Commander William Little’s eye and received a subtle nod of encouragement. “In those same tabletop battles, the proposed Global Cruiser was more than adequate. With eight each six-inch-forty and four-inch-forty guns, enough armor to defeat all four and five inch fire, and twenty-two knot speed, it is fast enough, powerful enough, and well-enough protected to serve in all these scenarios and more. It’s company of Marines give it the flexibility for duty anywhere in our expanded republic, and on a 5700-ton hull it is inexpensive enough to afford in numbers.” He looked around the room again and thanked the audience for their time. There was a smattering of polite applause before the assembled officers began collecting their possessions. This was not the rousing reception Snyder had wished for in his Naval War College capstone presentation. Snyder had been selected for a War College appointment before the war with Spain, one of the first Engineers selected for the advanced coursework only recently opened to officers in the technical bureaus. He had hoped to move from these studies to a sea appointment as a line officer but it had been a rocky eighteen months, frequently locking horns with his more traditional seagoing classmates and, more unfortunately, his instructors. Snyder stifled a sigh and began returning his notes to his briefcase, pausing occasionally to shake a polite hand. He looked up to see Lt Commander Little descending from the back of the room with a Captain in tow. “Douglas,” Little began, “I’d like you to meet Captain Robert Marler, of the Bureau of Construction.” “Pleased to meet you sir,” Snyder responded, taking the older officer’s hand. “I trust the presentation was of interest.” “Tremendous interest, in fact. Commander Little wrote me several weeks ago to tell me what you were working on. We’ve reached many of the same conclusions at Bureau. But as you can see, no one in the fleet is clamoring to be a part of it.” “Yes, sir,” Snyder agreed, hesitant to say more to an officer he didn’t know. “Frankly,” Marler continued, “Our fleet still doesn’t trust the tabletop exercises, and most of them want more of the armored cruisers and battleships that look so impressive in a neat line. But we’ve been given a whole world to cover, and Congress hasn’t given us enough budget to blanket that world with those. The fleet will have to accept something different.” Snyder silently breathed a sigh of relief. He had grown tired of having the same arguments and was very glad this wouldn’t be another round. “My rough calculations show that the Global Cruiser would cost about half of the Maine class, sir. They can’t stand against the heavy ships but can hold their own in most situations. And 12-inch guns aren’t necessary for patrolling off Santiago or shelling rebels in the Philippines.” Marler looked thoughtful for a moment. “Lieutenant, what is your next assignment?” “I don’t have one right now.” Snyder responded, his guard back up. This had been a major point of frustration, and his term at the NWC ended in a month. “I expect I’ll be returning to the Bureau of Engineering. Why do you ask, sir?” “Well,” Marler answered. “I have a proposal for you. Come to the Bureau of Construction and oversee the new St Louis class. You’ll find it roughly matches what you’ve proposed, and your knowledge of steam plants will pay dividends. There have been a number of delays and I need someone to keep things moving forward.” Snyder was taken aback but intrigued. “Sir, I appreciate it, and I’m very interested. But if I’m totally honest I was hoping for a line assignment.” Lt Commander Little smiled slightly, and Marler chuckled before continuing. “Commander Little told me you might say that. I think I have a solution. The St Louis will need an engineering officer when she commissions next year. She’s destined for the Caribbean Squadron and I can promise you a spot onboard.” Snyder extended his hand again. “Sir, I’ll be happy to join you.”
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Post by garrisonchisholm on Sept 16, 2022 11:59:22 GMT -6
(how kind of you to select 10/27 -my birthday- as the beginning of your tale, I'm sure that was your foremost thought from the start.)
Looking for the welcome distraction/interaction.
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Post by zederfflinger on Sept 16, 2022 12:27:51 GMT -6
Wow, real brave of you to play the US!
But honestly, I'm always happy to see another AAR for my favorite game!
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 16, 2022 12:49:49 GMT -6
Wow, real brave of you to play the US! But honestly, I'm always happy to see another AAR for my favorite game! Part of the fun is the "story", and that's more relatable for me (and infinitely easier to write as a story aar) when I already know a lot of the IRL history. That said, I've already learned a good bit.... how in the HELL did the USN and its confusion of bureau's ever manage to build the fleet we ended up with in 1945?!?!?!?! Besides.... you'll get to see my inept ship handling and battle management overcome a massive budget advantage. :-)
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Post by prophetinreverse on Sept 17, 2022 12:42:06 GMT -6
Wow, real brave of you to play the US! But honestly, I'm always happy to see another AAR for my favorite game! Part of the fun is the "story", and that's more relatable for me (and infinitely easier to write as a story aar) when I already know a lot of the IRL history. That said, I've already learned a good bit.... how in the HELL did the USN and its confusion of bureau's ever manage to build the fleet we ended up with in 1945?!?!?!?! Besides.... you'll get to see my inept ship handling and battle management overcome a massive budget advantage. :-) The US armed forces have always existed in a state of defiance against such things as “common sense” or “long-term planning” or “simplicity” or “expected reality.” That it works ought to be regarded as proof of the existence of God and his special providence for the American people more than anything else.
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 18, 2022 22:01:25 GMT -6
So, a little more hacking at the game start. With a Super Large fleet size... the US Navy leaves a ton of money on the table if you go truly historic. An absolutely insane amount, in fact. For starters, with a 1/1/1900 start the USN only had 4 modern battleships in service, and 3 of those were the low-freeboard Indiana class. US starts the manual build with a budget of $975.3M and must spend all but $27M. I decided to pull in two classes of Battleship (Vermont, Kearsarge in real life and Illinois, 5 ships total) and *STILL* had $120M+ remaining to either spend or give up. I spent an additional ~69M on ships (one Maine class B, one additional Philadelphia class CL, and 3 "Truxtun" class DD), ~17M on infrastructure (Dock expansion plus base expansions at Guam, Hawaii, Midway, Eastern Aleutians, and Panama) and the remaining $36M on coastal artillery (a 10" battery in Eastern US, an 8" each in Southeastern Seaboard and Western USA, and a scattering of 4-, 5, and 6-inch guns). I always build coastal artillery for RP purposes, at least through the start of the aviation era, so throughout the game I'll be adding more batteries and upgrading the starters as they age. I'm using a version of TBR's coastal battery mods, so they'll be a bit more impactful overall
Bottom line, I went with a semi-historical US start.
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 18, 2022 22:11:21 GMT -6
First off, the Battleships. Cruisers and Destroyers will be a future post.
It's a mixed bag... mostly very slow and 5 of the 10 ships in commission are low freeboard and short range... purely coastal defense ships. Fine for what they are, blockade prevention and so on, but not great for an aspiring global power. Every other nation has an 18-19 knot battle line, and the Italians supposedly have two 20-knot ships. Armament is as good or better than everyone else's and the armor's generally fine, as we are all well aware early B's can hammer on each other for hours with almost no effect.
I'll be scrapping the 16-knot ships as soon as I can replace them... in 12 months I'll have larger docks, which will mean I can spend a bunch of money building larger, faster ships, and hopefully I'll have 13" guns by then.
(Edit: And no, these aren't game-standard data cards, I'm throwing some powerpoint magic at them as well)
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Post by kiankier on Sept 19, 2022 12:12:28 GMT -6
first, of those drawing/side profiles are really nice
are you also going to maybe be building some blueprint and alternate design ship in this AAR?
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 19, 2022 13:11:52 GMT -6
first, of those drawing/side profiles are really nice are you also going to maybe be building some blueprint and alternate design ship in this AAR? Thanks! Full credit to CCIP for the ship parts set. If I understand the question correctly, yes... Maine and CA Pittsburgh will be the last "historical" designs, everything from there will be fresh designs as needed. Chapter 1 posted above was essentially a justification for building the CLs I prefer in the game.... basically, how many 6" guns can I cram into one hull?
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 20, 2022 16:52:36 GMT -6
Armored Cruisers... I have almost none. There's two Protected Cruisers that the game calls a "CA" due to armor thickness, but both are sub-5000 tons. Beyond that, it's ACR-2 Saratoga and ACR-3 Brooklyn. ACR-1 Maine, resides at the bottom of Havana harbor.
The Pittsburgh is next up... in real life they started building in 1901 as the Pennsylvania class, 6 ships. I plan to get a few in the water ASAP.
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Post by cwemyss on Sept 20, 2022 17:04:15 GMT -6
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