Angry Imperialist Spreadsheet Hell: Let's Play Rule The Waves 3

As the 1930s wear on, I get a peek at potential opposition -- significantly faster than dear old Rheinland, with only one less barrel, but with much lighter armor. I perhaps should've considered a true BC, but don't feel I can afford to develop it; instead, I tweak the Rheinland-class, shrinking it a bit to get the marginally faster Hannover class. The Soviets have been making occasional stabs at annexing Finland and the Baltics, to varying degrees of success, and between that and internal German politics, there's a definite war-hawk party making its interests known in 1937.

We're not the only country with a fascist problem. Nor the only country with tense relations with the USSR! That war doesn't last long, though. Perhaps not long enough for the Chancellor? In the fall, China goes Communist, and a few months later, I get another look at Soviet tech. I don't pay it much mind, though, because I've got other things I'm interested in -- like air racing!

Oops, my priorities were off.

The first battle of the war, off Gotland, doesn't go so hot -- I lose two heavy cruisers (both of the same class), a light cruiser, and two destroyers, though I do manage to take down a Soviet light carrier, light cruiser, and destroyer. A destroyer action off the Baltic coast goes better, though I do lose Z-19 herself. Two cruiser duels occur -- in one, I lose a brand-new flak cruiser, but in the other, my oldest cruiser sinks a Soviet raider. And in the biggest battle of the war, my battleline faces off against the Soviets. Despite a scary moment, and despite taking on three times as many battleships and battlecruisers in weather not conducive to flight operations, we still pull off a win. TBH, I feel like the Rheinland and Hannover proved their worth in that battle, given how much abuse they took and still survived.

Still, I'd rather make peace. My budget doesn't appreciate that, especially not with missile tech emerging, but I felt I couldn't risk it. Besides, I've got new ships to build, including my first truly large carrier, commissioning in 1942!

A few years later, the world decides subs bad. And then decides naval arms races bad. Oh. At least I've got Ausonia. My tonnage limit is painful, so I make a difficult decision and scrap the Hannover class, not long after I'd finished refitting the lead ship of the class. At least I've got something to work to refit my fleet with? (Awkwardly, jet carriers develop just after I refit three of my carriers and commission a fourth). Multiple somethings, even.

My budget hates this decision, especially when it doesn't pan out, and I'm forced to send the heart of my fleet into reserve status for a while. Even a year later, I don't feel I can afford a war. Especially not when I learn I'm not the only one with fancy tech.

My budget also hates this decision, but it gives me more security -- a good thing given my aging fleet. And here's where the fleet stands in 1959. (See also my budget).

A year later, having successfully annexed Finland, the Baltics, and even Iceland in the intervening years, the Soviets now set their sights on me again...

Selected events:
Getting pissy at France
Victim-blaming the US
Being an arrogant bitch
A development of little initial use!
Useful tech!

My ally decides not to contribute much initially, lending me a bit of money -- which means I have to do the hard work of fighting the war alone (for now). My cruiser force runs into the battlecruiser Kerch, and takes a pounding, but so does the Kerch, brought down by missiles and gunfire. I'd trade a cruiser and a destroyer for a full-on capital ship any day. Sensing an opportunity, America joins the war... but also sensing an opportunity, the Soviets back down and withdraw, making peace with us.

Yes, it was that short.

With the war had come the end of the second arms limitation treaty, and to my dismay, I discover a few years later that the Soviets have laid down a class of ships bigger than dear old Rheinland! I had been resting on my laurels and hadn't expanded my docks in decades, so I had to resort to other measures to regain the title of biggest ship in the world -- namely, ordering a new supercarrier from America's shipyards. She's not much bigger, but she's enough bigger, and I accelerated her construction, letting me finish her before the lead ship of the Komintern-class.

While I build my own docks up, there's no way I could seriously afford to match the Soviets, carrier-for-carrier, so I tweak the Ausonia into the Graf Spee-class, a medium carrier with a big enough airgroup for Germany's needs. (I probably could've gotten away with giving her short range, but didn't think to do that). Norway leaves the German sphere of influence, the US drops out of their alliance with us, and there's some interesting technical developments that I'd love to implement en masse... but perhaps that'll have to wait for the next admiral?

For now, here is the German Republic's navy on January 1, 1970. Note the airship bases in all three territories of the Republic, and my supercarrier, the biggest ship in the world. My oldest ship still in service is old Freya, my training carrier, still operating a prop-driven airgroup (though I'd hope they're at least turboprops at this point); my newest is the missile cruiser München.

***

An interesting game! Easier than I thought it'd be, but still tense, especially in the Anglo-German war. My pride probably ruined the German Navy -- rather than letting go of my older ships, I had to keep them on just to keep numbers up (and because I poured money into the drains of Derfflinger and Rheinland). Still, my prestige is sitting at 45, so there's that -- I honestly don't remember if I've gotten to the end of a game with a higher final score. Shall I continue to report on it through to 1990, or call it a win and start a new run now?

[ ][OLD] Play on, and report it in this thread
[ ][OLD] Start the next run after this vote is closed

***

Speaking of the next run...

What fresh hell is this?
[ ][HELL] Insulted Hell (Play as USA, 1890 start, part of the second-most voted curse is applied as well, super large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Historic Hell (Play as USA, 1900 start, no manual build (I'm stuck with the fleet I get), part of the second-most voted curse is applied as well, very large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Negotiated Hell (Play as USA, 1920 start -- no Versailles (Germany is a player in the naval arms race), randomized naval arms limitation treaty, the two curses with the most votes are applied, larger fleets)
[ ][HELL] Cursed Hell (Play as USA, 1935 start -- the two curses with the most votes are applied, large fleets)

And what has cursed this run?
[ ][CURSE] Curse of legacy (I must choose officers who are 'well-connected' for my ships and divisions, regardless of talent, and I may not willingly scrap a ship that has seen battle)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of optimization (I may only use Cramped crew quarters, and I must use every ton of displacement when designing ships)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of the skies (When aviation becomes a research option, I must prioritize it as High and everything else as Low until I get to purpose-built carriers, and I must have 1/3rd of my fleet's tonnage as carriers of some type from then on)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of wanderlust (During times of peace, I must have a capital ship perform a 'five-year mission' (sailing around the world, not returning home until five years pass), and any new ships I build must have Long or Extreme range)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of Washington (I will always abide by the Washington Naval Treaty ship design limits (new cruisers limited to 10000 tons and 8" guns max; new capital ships to 35000 tons/14" guns max, increased to 45000 tons/16" guns only if I lose a war), and I will never tell a lie in events)

I highly recommend you vote for at least two curses.

Captain's Log, USS Augusta, January 1, 1920 -- Captain Bogan
(Louisville-class BC, USN)

These are the voyages of the battlecruiser Augusta. Her five year mission: to explore strange new seas, to seek out new friends and new alliances, to boldly go where few have gone before.

Or something like that! Our orders come straight from the top: we are to set sail for an expedition circling the globe repeatedly, and not return to our home port until 1925...

***

First off, the treaty. 30,000 tons, 16" guns max... meaning I'm arguably more limited by my own curse. Hell, I bargained the displacement limit down! Only the Soviets have to scrap more than one ship under construction, and I can even keep a battleship of my own that was under construction! (I eventually choose not to -- the 25-knot speed is nice, but the armament is weak -- 12" guns in the 1920s!). To get under the tonnage limits, I scrap around 10 ships, nearly half of them pre-dreadnoughts.

With regards to my other curse... I can't refit ships to long range once they're built, which means I have to pick a ship to go out on the five year mission with only Medium range until I commission a new capital ship. I go with this one -- above-average captain, fast, modern(ish).


Here's her journey, minus the return from Hawaii to the East Coast.

Getting back to the curse of DCA, I look over my fleet and discover two big, but slow(ish) armored cruisers ripe for conversion to light carriers. They'll never be especially fast, but 24 knots is fast enough, and 22 planes is not too bad for this early period. I also discover a lot of old, slow, obsolete cruisers that aren't readily converted, and put them in reserve. To replace them, I start building this class.

As for the rest of my fleet... well, I'll need longer-ranged versions of all ship classes, but of destroyers above all -- my current destroyer fleet is riddled with cramped ships unfit for extended operations. I start a conversion program for some of the small destroyers into minesweepers. A Long-ranged destroyer is possible in 1920, unlike in 1900, but it's not near as good -- I'm losing multiple knots of speed, and cutting my armament by around a third.

Tensions start out quite low... but the Soviets are slightly less happy with us than everyone else. So I build a new airbase. Still, they're not that bad, and budgets will get a touch lean, I'm sure.

I develop the tech for purpose-built light carriers, which will lead to this 10,000-ton class, but doesn't kick in the Curse of DCA's tonnage requirement. Yet. I also develop tech for converting battleships into full-sized carriers, and rebuild two old dreadnoughts into this ugly conversion. Hey, it still has a 50-plane airgroup!

It's not until 1924 that I finally develop a replacement heavy cruiser. She's thin-skinned, but she carries eight 8" guns, resists torpedo hits well, gets good speed, and has a floatplane scout. That's also around when I remember I can build seaplane carriers.

Here's where things stand in early 1925.

Selected events:
I don't have to be honest, but it was an illicit intelligence-gathering operation, which isn't... great
What can Spain really offer me?
Six months into an incredibly generous treaty, and countries are already getting antsy
I keep the peace
Not always successfully, though
Japan could offer me some oceanic security, but I'm not interested yet
I hate two options here, just on principle
Merely average, and a disciplinarian? Bye!

With my new battlecruiser still under construction, I again resort to a Medium-ranged capital ship with an Above Average CO: USS Minnesota, a full-up battleship. Her journey from 1925 to 1929 is plotted below:


While Minnesota crosses the globe, her sister, USS Kentucky, gets converted into a 70-plane carrier! Also ugly as sin, but hey. I develop a new destroyer class, with more than marginal gun armament, deal with a 'hunting accident', and reject France as an ally -- I still remember France conquering Cuba in this game, dammit! The Soviets don't care, though.

Germany gives me something new to worry about... but my most important worry remains my curses, and the Curse of DCA has just gone into full effect.

This, hopefully, will help me save weight, though I'm not sure how many dreadnoughts I'll be building, tbh. A useful development for me, as I will have to maintain a cruiser force of large, long-ranged ships.

By the late 1920s, tensions with France have skyrocketed -- guess they felt jilted? I find an ally of my own in turn, this time agreeing to Japan's offer.

Hopeful that my bet on aviation will pay off, I end the 1920s with a fleet that doesn't quite meet the Curse, but only just; it doesn't help that my budget is painfully low at times. My carrier force includes the converted BC Rochester, the converted battleships of the Nevada class, and a second purpose-built CVL class; they fly these planes.

By 1930, USS Constitution has been in service for some time, and is ready for her own round-the-world sojourn.

You might notice it's shorter than the last one.

Fascism spreads to Spain, and Communism to China, but in clearly more important news for the USN, a speed demon captain kinda ran his ship a bit too fast! I find myself making tension-raising choices to keep my budget halfway afloat in the early 1930s. You might notice that, too.

I notice a new choice pop up in an event, when Japan apparently doesn't want to just ask me to sell them some tech. I also start a new light cruiser class, finally taking advantage of the 10,000-ton displacement limit, as my budget starts to stabilize some.

Still annoyed about Cuba, though.

My destroyers can grow some more... but then one of my ships sees a suspicious periscope, a torpedo in the water, and reasons that they're under attack by a submarine. With my budget again being... bad, and with my fleet running up against tonnage limits, I decide to jump on this as an excuse.

And so, in August 1933, the US goes to war against a European power whose presence in Cuba they object to, and on a flimsy pretext. This time, though, it's France, and thanks to my bet on aviation, they have as large a traditional battleline as I do -- and less of theirs is comprised of aging pre-Treaty designs...

Unlike the Soviets, who quickly join the fight against me, my ally decides to not initially go to war, which, fair -- I did start it. They do agree to give me some destroyers, though, which is nice.

The first battle, on October 6, 1933, off southern Cuba, has its ups and downs (and more downs), and in these early days of carrier aviation, target identification is an issue sometimes. But we start off the war with a win, successfully escorting the troops ashore!

I feel blue about losing a destroyer to a sub, but then my ally figures it's worth joining the war, and my fleet sinks a French sub, so, not so blue now. The first carrier-on-carrier battle I fight is a win, and two days before Christmas 1933, a battle north of Cuba erupts. My new battlecruiser has a scary moment and I lose a light carrier, but I fight the French to a draw, more or less.

We sink a liner, but so does a Soviet sub. Oopsies. I flat-out lose a battle, but in the fall of 1934, we win on the negotiating table, securing reparations for our losses.

With peace, I can once again send a ship on a five-year mission, and send out the USS Constitution, my newest, long-ranged, battlecruiser. Her voyages are plotted here:


The Soviets sign an agreement with the Nazis, to the world's shock. Equally shocking, in the US press's mind, is the discovery of a French spy in America! Japan doesn't think it's that shocking.

The Chinese are building a carrier of their own, if a light one. Meanwhile, I'm planning new destroyers and carriers, at last free of the limits of the treaty (but not of my curse). Naturally, technology marches on after Essex is already under construction. Japan doesn't ask for their ships back, to my surprise. They're not... great, but I'll keep them.

At the end of 1935, the world's fleets look like this, and in 1939, they look like this. Mission accomplished.

In 1937, meanwhile, with tensions relatively low, the President misreads the diplomatic situation and gets all worried for no good reason. In August, I start to scrap older battleships with the arrival of a new battleship class, and by 1938, the Soviet-German alliance collapses.

1938 also sees a new five-year mission start, this time with the New Jersey.

Notice that this journey's cut short, too.

In September 1939, the Soviets and Germans go to war... but only for a bit. If the Soviets aren't gonna fight the Nazis, and if the Brits and French won't (they won't, they're pretty close with them in this game), then someone's gotta. And in 1941, I reason that that someone's me.

Then I take another look at the German fleet, and notice they've got some large carriers of their own.

Selected events:
A peek at an Italian light carrier.
Germany's approval fills me with shame.
Fuck HUAC.
An interesting development.

I initially come up with two possible strategies:
1) Take the fight straight to the German coast, trying to organize a 'close blockade' in the face of German land-based and carrier-based airpower.
2) Wage a cautious trade war, a 'distant blockade' as it were, trying to avoid getting France and Britain into the war while also trying to choke out the German economy.

But I mull it over some, and instead adopt a third, different strategy:
3) Wage an aggressive submarine-centric commerce war, and preparing for the French & British to side with the Nazis... and then waging a war in range of my own airpower.
Kinda cruel? Sure -- I'm trying to win by starving people out, not to mention risking starving my own people out. Risky as heck? Sure -- even if I'm fighting on my own turf, I'm potentially facing down three powerful navies. But it's a fight I'm choosing.

The sub war kicks off to mixed success -- we sink a U-Boat, they sink a sub. And the broader commerce war sees some embarrassing losses for my tin-can cruisers -- turns out that 10,000 tons and 8" guns doesn't get you much room for good protection, particularly when you haven't prioritized your heavy cruisers in a while.

Still, encouraging signs, even early on in the war. A year in, though, and the US public is... dissatisfied. So's the German public, at least. And so's the British and French press.

The future beckons, though jets themselves aren't yet available. In the meantime, the American public continues to be angered by the war. Occasional successes (in the air, perhaps? Not sure where we're fighting on the ground yet...) are tempered by shipping losses, and by embarrassing defeats for the surface fleet, trying to raid German shipping further afield. In my first game, we had reverse-Force Z; this time, reverse-Battle of the River Plate, I guess? More than once, even -- USS New Jersey slinks away from a gunnery duel with two German cruisers, though she survives that battle.

As public anger grows, I agree to press for reforms, though not to seek peace against the Nazis. There's still encouraging news, as the sub fleet grows and sinkings of enemy merchant shipping rise. We even sink an aging German dreadnought!

The future once again beckons! But around three years into the war, France joins. And Britain will follow soon after. Will I even make it to the future? I do what I can to keep the fight going while keeping the people somewhat less unhappy, even as the RN joins the fray. My first surface battle against the Nazis' new allies, not far from the Bahamas, goes rather well, thanks in part to the new anti-ship missiles. Poor New Jersey has to scuttle, though.

My second surface battle goes... less well. Off the coast of Maine, as Britain tries to impose a blockade against me, my oldest battleships blunder into range of the RN's bigger dreadnoughts (with 17" guns!), and get predictably sunk, while British planes carrying their own missiles damage my carrier force. Land-based air gets a measure of revenge, but ultimately, this war is one waged beneath the waves.

And is won from beneath the waves, to my surprise. I decide to cut down the British and French colonial empires in the Caribbean. My intentions are benign, honest!

After the war, the US Navy budget is considerably reduced -- we just won, after all. This has consequences. Serious consequences. I resort to scrapping a lot of aging ships, and cancelling orders for a lot of submarines, to stay afloat.

The fleets of 1944.

Some statistical analysis of aircraft losses.

After the war, I send USS Rhode Island, my newest battleship, under the Lucky captain Beuret, on a Five Year Mission; will she impress anyone?

With my navy able to build jet fighters, I also start converting carriers to operate jets, and develop a purpose-built jet carrier. I feel like this is a joke on the RN's part. Germany has their own reaction to us, meanwhile, as does France. The future continues to beckon, and I begin refitting ships with weird boxy protrusions as a result. My top agents are keeping an eye on the Nazis... though they don't manage to warn me in time of Germany's plans for Norway; we do make them back down over Finland, however.

With my budget recovering, I agree to a fancy boat race. That doesn't discourage France from rearming, though -- nor does it stop me from reinforcing my sub fleet in response. Britain again mocks my battleships' guns, for their part.

And at the end of 1949, seizing the opportunity to strike at Nazis and their collaborators, I go to war with France; Germany should join them soon enough.

The fleets of 1949.

The war opens with a small-ship action in the Caribbean that I win easily. The Germans predictably join the war, and equally predictably just engage in commerce warfare against me.

I decide to invade French-occupied Vietnam; a messy battle erupts off the Vietnamese coast, with one of my ships torpedoing another. I refit one of my dreadnoughts to carry anti-ship missiles (and bulge her out for better torpedo protection, though slower speed), then run into an issue in this period of wartime budgets: my shipyards don't have enough capacity! I wreck a French convoy heading for Vietnam, though they batter me in the process. Still, they've got enough forces in place to defeat the invasion force.

In March 1950, one of my 'heavy' cruisers gets trashed by French light cruisers. I wage another commerce war, to varying results, and discover that something's wrong with our missiles. Oopsies. I win two battles in a row in Vietnamese waters, though the second didn't feel like a win. A messy coastal raid makes it 3-for-3. Another ugly win, despite crippling a French battleship... but in September 1952, with my subs choking out France, the French public goes revolutionary and deposes the government. I take advantage, forcing the French to hand over their largest carrier, the 32,600-ton Painleve, and give up control of Vietnam (which becomes an American protectorate, I guess?).

Two wars, and the Nazis are still in power, and most of what I've done with those wars is to fuck over British and French colonialism while starving Western Europe. Am I the villain?

Nope, it's Italy!

I convert the New Hampshire to carry new surface-to-air missiles, but still slowly give up on battlecruisers and battleships as a concept. And this time, I send not one ship on a five-year mission, but an entire little battlegroup: the new 35000-ton 'super'carrier USS Ticonderoga and consorts. Here's their voyage:


Cut short again, you'll notice.

This is part of what makes the Curse of DCA still painful, even though carrier aviation is getting decidedly superior to heavy guns. I start development of a counter that will better fit my budget, and spread SAR knowledge to improve safety everywhere (and help fund things). With angled flight decks and steam catapults allowing my largest carriers to operate heavy jet fighters and attack jets, I steadily convert some of my older carriers -- including one of my oldest! -- to accommodate these heavier jets. The ship images I generate are kinda ugly, tbh (I wish there was a tool to easily add angled flight decks automatically, rather than having to make them myself), and the airgroups shrink -- heavier jets take up more space, giving me actual carrier groups of around 45-50 planes for a capacity around 60. I develop a new class of cruiser, with heavy SAM and a helipad. I also develop a new helicopter destroyer.

The government seems not quite as keen on another war, but I still am. The Nazis are still in power in Germany and Norway, and I want them gone. And I'll piss off their allies to get there. Britain finally lets go of Ireland, and later of Namibia. New alliances form -- Britain with Japan, Japan with Germany. And as I near war with Germany, I notice they have a true (or at least truer) supercarrier, with an airgroup a third bigger than anything I've got. Still, I'm feeling committed. Am I the villain, bullying Europe and risking my sailors for a vendetta?

Nope, it's the Nazis! And so, for the third time, I go to war with Germany.

The fleets of 1957.