Ship type design rules?

[goodwin315]

Does anyone know where I can find the rules the designer uses to determine the ship type?

I'd like to play around with some early light cruiser designs but trying to keep them as light cruisers without knowing thr limits is annoying.

I know some special rules exist, e.g matsushima type protected cruisers, but I don't know how many exceptions there are either.

[golingarf]

You can't. You have to use trial and error, and the rules change with every new update.

[kriegsmeister]

Light and Protected Cruisers don't have many special rules, quick and dirty is

- 2600-8000 tons (jumps to 10k, 12k, and 14k with certain technologies)
- 1-4inches of armor (belt and deck must be atleast 1in, everything else can be 0, and turret armor can be heavier I believe but don't quote me)
- Maximum 6in guns for all armor types. With the Protected cruiser scheme you can also have 1x main gun up to 13in, 2x 8-9in guns, or 4x7in guns
- no min or maximum speed
- can't use quad turrets

[golingarf]

Aug 8, 2024 13:53:15 GMT -6 kriegsmeister said:

Light and Protected Cruisers don't have many special rules, quick and dirty is

- 2600-8000 tons (jumps to 10k, 12k, and 14k with certain technologies)
- 1-4inches of armor (belt and deck must be atleast 1in, everything else can be 0, and turret armor can be heavier I believe but don't quote me)
- Maximum 6in guns for all armor types. With the Protected cruiser scheme you can also have 1x main gun up to 13in, 2x 8-9in guns, or 4x7in guns
- no min or maximum speed
- can't use quad turrets

I think the minimum speed is 17 knots, but I haven't checked the latest update.

This isn't really exhaustive of all the rules. For example protected cruisers can only have double turrets on the centerline, and no triple turrets I believe. I think they cannot mount 3 centerline turrets even if you have that technology for other armor schemes. Earlier versions allowed 4x8" guns but only 3" belt armor. There might be different rules if you have missiles.

Another thing is that you have to avoid other classifications such as CA and AV.

[Echo]

CLs can have no armor after a certain tech is researched.