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

So, my sub fleet is big, and superior to Nazi ASW (for the most part). Sure, it'll annoy the 'neutrals', but so be it: I unleash the subs. Shortly after the Nazis make a belligerent speech to the effect that they will fight us until total victory, we get this, lol. Useful technologies are being developed, too, just in time for the war.

The Nazis' allies enter the war over the next few months, along with their allies' allies. What of it? I took on three navies, I can take on four!

My Vietnamese protectorate is invaded, and while I attempt to resupply the defenders, a convoy gets savaged by the IJN ... though we bloody them badly in turn. Credit is due to the pilots out of Da Nang, who couldn't defend the convoy but could damn well avenge it. I do get a look at the opposition's older cruisers in the battle.

With Britain entering the war, I launch an invasion of New Brunswick, and begin coastal raids to support the invasion. The RN is surprisingly ill-equipped to stop this -- their fleet is big, but it's apparently old. They do still have claws, though, and get a win out of the second raid. A third one goes better, though still not perfect.

Back in Vietnamese waters, while I mostly decline battle, I accept a small-ship action. My destroyers do a better job on this convoy escort mission, distracting the IJN (and a Nazi cruiser far from home) enough that they fail to sink even one transport.

A massive carrier battle develops off the coast of Maine... one playing into my advantages in airpower. Sure, there's an unfortunate incident at the end, but Tico survives... and we trash the RN.

News of this has a bigger impact than I imagined (as does my intense submarine campaign -- frequently sinking 60-80 merchants a turn has an impact). The Nazi regime collapses, 34 years after its beginning in this game. In negotiations with the new government, I secure Norway and Iceland as independent states under my protection. The rest of the alliance also gives up, and I seize the last British Caribbean holdings.

With victory achieved, the postwar budget shrinks massively -- I'd built up a surplus of over $20 million, but that was entirely wiped out, leaving me something like $8 million in the hole with $12 million more coming due in a month. Once again, a massive scrapping campaign ensues (plus cancellation of the many subs I'd had on order). Here are the fleets of August 1959, once all is said and done.

Shortly after the end of the war, I defend one of my captains from spurious charges, despite him being kinda bad at his job. Point defense missiles are developed, giving more options to defend against anti-ship missiles. And soon, it's time for another five-year mission.

My newest carrier, USS Bon Homme Richard, leads a task force on a world-spanning voyage. It's the last completed one of this game.


I was inclined to play through the decade as a victory lap, and felt I'd fought enough wars. The big events of this half of the '60s for me were things like developing a new minesweeper, or a new helicopter cruiser, not fighting yet another war. Though I still turned this down -- Italy had recently had poor choice in friends.

And at the end of 1964, the world's fleets (and my aircraft in service) looked like this.

Selected events:
Probably reminded the Brits how badly they lost back in '59
Better missiles!
Getting rid of the old to make way for the new!
Even better missiles!

To start, I plan my final FYM, settling on the carrier USS Franklin and one Captain Sicard, for nominal reasons. Franklin will have an escort, of course: four cruisers, 10 destroyers, and three minesweepers. These are the voyages of the Franklin:

As hinted at, this one's cut short.

1965 is still me in victory lap mode, not worrying overly about my budget, nor about foreign policy developments. I develop a new destroyer class -- ASW helicopter, anti-ship missiles, and point defense, all in one! I also bring a new carrier class into service, lightly refined... and faster than planned.

1966 sees me starting to get a bit concerned. Not by Spain, necessarily, but Britain seems inclined to want to fight me. I'm not interested in a war myself, and make some decisions accordingly. Not all, though.

1967 starts out similarly. I dissuade some hotheaded Navy Intelligence jerks, and advise caution after a torpedo accident. But then Britain thinks they can issue an ultimatum to us. How dare they!!

And so we go to war.

The Brits have apparently learned something about ASW in the last decade, because I lose four subs in short order in the opening month of the war. The first battle sees one of my oldest carriers take down a British light carrier off the coast of Maine, and I think all's well -- especially with new technical developments... though I'm not the only one doing research.

I shift away from unrestricted submarine warfare, at first because it's not going well. The second actual battle of the war doesn't go well, either -- despite my point-defense missiles, I still lose a cruiser.

In early 1968, a large carrier battle develops off the Scottish coast -- look at this flurry of strike planes en route! Look at them getting shot down in droves! One of my light cruisers takes a bad missile hit, too... though she survives; instead, this battle was lost in the skies.

Given wartime exigencies, I decide to accept that this was a "hunting accident." I also switch back to unrestricted warfare for a bit, and do pretty well for a month.

Another battle, this time a convoy defense mission near Norwegian waters. I see the convoy... and then see a flurry of missiles inbound for it. I can't save the convoy, but once again, I can avenge it. I cripple a heavy cruiser, sink three destroyers... and also sink one of Britain's last two battlecruisers.

Britain is starting to rethink their ultimatum... though they're pretty intransigent in peace talks. Lotta hard talk for a country under blockade (which is why I finally settle on fleet support -- there's little point in unrestricted submarine warfare when we're already blockading them directly).

The last major battle comes off Iceland's western coast, and despite the occasional spot of friendly fire, and a cruiser shelled to death, I still come out the victor, battering the RN's other battlecruiser to death with missiles and carrier aviation. I do discover something new before ending the war: patrol planes can stop raiders!

This time, the scrapper's torch only comes for a few ships postwar. The stats nerds finish their analyses, and my last FYM captain has a cool idea... but December 1969 comes soon enough, and my time in this hell comes to an end.

The final fleets.

My newest and oldest carriers; my sole surviving battleship; my oldest and newest heavy cruisers, and light cruisers. And finally, my most decorated ships.

***

America by the late game is a powerhouse, even when I'm stuck with smaller ships, so this hell was not especially hellish. Like, I flat-out accomplished my goal of overthrowing the Nazis! It helped that I could use submarine warfare without limitations, so. Long range did hurt, though less and less as time went on -- and as I discovered I could use marine diesel engines for long-range ships to save on weight.

***

It seems I am bound for another hell, one that's not so ... modern. Which hell is it?

[ ][HELL] Mysterious Hell (Play as France, 1890 start, considerable tech variation, super large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Emergent Hell (Play as Japan, 1890 start, considerable tech variation, super large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Balkan Hell (Play as Italy, 1900 start, manual build, very 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)

And what has cursed me this time?

[ ][CURSE] Curse of the collector (I must have at least one ship built in every great power's yards in my fleet at game end (either by order, lend-lease, or by seizure), and I must have at least one of every ship type by game end)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of Gemini (Where possible, I will have all guns in twin turrets (and never greater), and all my ships will be built in pairs)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of inflation (I must always build the biggest ship possible in every category, and I must always bulge out ships in refits when possible)
[ ][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 speed (I must always have the fastest ship afloat in every category, and I must always prioritize athleticism and winning races in events)

This vote will be open until Aug 31, 2023 at 11:59 PM . Also, see the note below.

***

Note: I will be on vacation from Friday until Tuesday, so don't expect updates until I get back.

Welcome to 1890 Japan! Here's your starting fleet -- 3 'battleships' with just two single 9" guns (though six 8" guns, at least), two 'armored cruisers' with lighter armament than your best CL, nine assorted protected cruisers, and three corvettes, some better armed and armored than the worse cruisers. You start with a mere 6000-ton dock size, the smallest fleet among the great powers, and you've got a rival across the Sea of Japan, in the form of China -- here still very much a legitimate naval power, in this game a great power in its own right.

Well, let's get started. At least special training is cheaper for Japan. I feel like my keenest need is... well, everything, but my first move is to design a new protected cruiser. Getting to 0 unused tons is occasionally difficult -- right now, my biggest lever for getting the last few tons used up is to fiddle with ammo counts. I also quickly design a proper battleship [for 1890], and find my other big lever, submerged torpedo tubes. They're next to useless right now, given their lack of range... but they do take up a little chunk of displacement. Obviously, I have no ability to build this 11,500-ton behemoth in Japan, so instead I order her from British yards.

I do design a battleship that I can build locally, thanks to some private dockyard expansion. She may have short legs, she may not do well in rough seas... but right now, I might well fight all my wars in Northeast Asia anyway. I also design a counterpart 'armored' cruiser.

I find myself in the interesting position of having to play it safe with my event decisions from time to time, simply because I'm a little outmatched by China initially. Still, I do know my priorities (interservice rivalry). A year into the game, I feel in more of a position to get spicy... though apparently this event didn't affect Chinese relations.

I decide I need a cruiser that I can build fast and cheap, and while I could build a corvette, I also designed this. I also get a look at another power's newest capital ship, but they're not important. War awaits, and soon arrives.

Nobody will sing grand songs of the first battle of the war, of course... but they might, perhaps compose a poem or two about the second, where my ships escorted in an invasion of Tsingtao. One unusual facet of war with this few ships is that damaged ships are taken out of service for some months (depending on damage) to repair, meaning that occasionally, I or my foe winds up able to impose a blockade for a time. As such, while this convoy escort battle seems like a loss (despite the VPs), it temporarily cripples China's cruiser fleet.

As my docks expand, I develop a new battleship for local production... and discover that cramped ships cannot be assigned as raiders. Accordingly, I decide that it is acceptable for Armed Merchant Cruisers to not be cramped, at least up until the development of submarines. We'll see how the denizens of this Hell feel.

They apparently don't mind? Or at least, not enough to prevent me from securing a significant victory! And frankly, a bit of an astonishing one, given that I was outnumbered by China's weirdly-designed but still powerful battleships.

On a convoy raid, I lose a cruiser to a torpedo, despite the difficulties of actually using 1890s torpedoes, yet still come out the victor... but I decide this war won't be won on the waves, but on land. Yet it's not until after I finally land my own torpedo hit (against a ship practically in spitting distance) that China agrees to peace. Coincidence? I think not.

(That map is also a reminder that this thread is tagged 'villain protagonist'. Rule the Waves 3 is not a game about morally upright people.)

In August 1893, my investment in research at last pays off, and I develop my first tech of the game! I'm as underwhelmed as you. But at least some foreign powers are open to selling me tech. More significant developments emerge, and international diplomacy starts looking tenser; without friends, I try to cool things down.

Well, I succeeded. I lose two battleships to the treaty, which isn't terrible, in all honesty -- look at Russia's five lost battleships. But being confirmed as still the weakest great power is still harsh for Japan, and I have to scrap some of my older ships to get under the limit. Plus, a 23-year treaty is a hell of a thing in this period.

With the treaty in place, I reject this offer, due to cost and uselessness. And in March 1895, just three months into the treaty era, here's what the world's fleets look like.

Selected events:
I don't recall seeing a similar event to this for other powers, and wonder how to feel about it.
I'm not the only amoral bastard picking on weaker powers.
It's the fashion of the period, for those powers in a position to impose on others.
Spoilers: my destroyers will go to war

A month into the treaty, and more welcome news develops: an alliance with France! With a European ally, I'm much more confident in Japan's chances; America signing on soon after is even better. I also have access to French shipyards, and French 8" guns that aren't quite as terrible as my own, so I lay down a new CA in their yards. Alas, France messes up the engines a bit.

I prove myself the villain, and now Korea loses any remaining self-rule. With my budget doing solidly, I start purchasing foreign tech on offer; this one seems significant. While Japan has no ties to Albania, France may well feel this is important, so I call them in to hamper Italy a bit. As I struggle to keep within the tonnage limit, I slowly start to replace my smaller aging cruisers, while still expanding my destroyer fleet.

By 1898, three years into the treaty, I'm already itching to get out. Russia looks ready to provide me with an opportunity, and sure enough, the government obliges me. And we've had something special cooking...

A surprise attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet, at anchor in Sakhalin! My destroyers race in, torpedoes ready, and my battleline follows! We... achieve modest success. France isn't particularly impressed, but agrees to transfer a cruiser to my fleet. June 1898 sees the second battle of the war, a cruiser action... that gets my destroyers and armored cruisers shot up for little gain. Still, a month later, I begin the invasion of Russian-occupied Shanghai, and a hotly contested battle with Russia's fleet ensues. Despite the loss of one of my two best battleships, we do manage to shoot up the Russian fleet and get the troops ashore, so the press calls it a win.

I'm not entirely happy with my 10" guns, and decide to lay down a battleship in French yards with 13" guns; I hedge my bets, though (and have no better local option) with this class. (Naturally, better guns are developed soon after I lay down Asahi). The fourth battle of the war, though, does see my boys avenge poor Yashima, sinking an outnumbered Russian battleship and a destroyer. A few bombardment missions near Vladivostok ensue, one seeing a destroyer founder in heavy seas, another giving me a bloody nose.

I decide that the odds don't look spectacular for this battle, especially given its distance, so I decline to support the troops invading Shanghai. I do accept a coastal raid, and a few other battles that didn't feel particularly interesting to document, but ultimately, a peace is arranged in February 1899.

The fleets of 1899. To close out the 19th century, I start building a new 9"-gunned armored cruiser and prove myself an ineffectual villain.

Relations start to turn south with Spain, with me fanning the flames. My closest competition builds a new battleship, slower than my battleline, and in response, I start laying down a new class, with a mixed heavy battery. One last technical development, and I'm looking ready to close out a ten-year period for an update when...

Ah. I join my ally in the war, of course -- Germany's position in the Pacific is pretty weak.

And here are the fleets of December 1904.

Selected events:
Good news for Japan! (More for the Filipinos, tbh)
At least drink sake, not some foreign champagne!
Spain still holds the rest of Cuba, in a weird artifact of the game
A useful technical development
I still don't need -2-quality guns
An incredibly useful technical development
Hurrah for the native Taiwanese, I guess?
I buy tech that I didn't really need.

The war kicks off with a cruiser action, where a single German armored cruiser gets trashed in the Sea of Japan. A little later, after the troops embark to seize a treaty port Germany had already bullied China into ceding, I send the rest of Germany's Pacific squadron to the bottom, along with an entire convoy.

I decide to take advantage of the wartime budget and develop a new armored cruiser, with 8" guns superior to my 9" guns; naturally, even better models come along a month or two later. While war rages in European waters and beyond, there's little for me to do; when the war draws to a close, I decide to take reparations rather than seizing Germany's remaining Pacific colony.

A crucial technology becomes locally available, as does another; with the new tech, I order my first dreadnought, Mikasa. My nearest rival allies with the UK, and I avoid my battleship being scrapped by a treaty... just in time to see better 12" guns come available. I do race to try to build Mikasa fastest, but alas, Britain had a head start.

I like mine better than theirs. I lay down a new design, faster, better-protected, and with the good 12" guns... and immediately obsolescent. So's my new battlecruiser under construction.

France decides not to renew our alliance, but not to worry: another great power is willing to ally with us! I order another battlecruiser and a new destroyer class (quickly outdated), while Europe goes to war yet again.

I lay down a new 4-turret battlecruiser -- and a few more, to boot, as Europe's latest squabble draws to a close. I also lay down a new, fast scout cruiser. And in 1910, the world's fleets look like this.

A dastardly act occurs that's totally real and not just an excuse for war with Germany! America believes me (or wants to pick on Germany some), and so does Italy. The Germans do much better than expected against my allies, but when I send a small squadron off to the Central Pacific, we have no trouble running down two destroyers, and even put some shells into the coastal battery on Tarawa. Victory is ours... and I decide to take the Marshall Islands, while America takes over German-occupied colonies in southwestern Africa. They'll give them self-government, right? Any day now, right?

Maybe that annoyed the US. On my own, I lay down a new, larger dreadnought... but I'm soon no longer on my own, as Britain, having broken off their alliance with China, wants a new friend. Peace and harmony, right?

Nah. Russia's down for it.

The fleets of 1915.

Selected events:
Zeppelins!
The fall of an empire! (Don't get too excited.)
A really good destroyer!

The first battle of the war is a battlecruiser clash with elements of the Russian Pacific Squadron, pitting two of my BCs against a Russian Kinburn-class battlecruiser with 13" guns. It goes pretty eh, but Britain wants to join in on the fun. Another follows, and nearly results in me losing one of my best battlecruisers, but she gets away with only moderate damage. Having damaged the Pacific squadron's capital ships, my fleet pretty near effortlessly trashes their cruiser force.

France decides to make things interesting, and so now we've got a real global conflict cooking... with the Pacific, in all honesty, taking a bit of a backseat to the British blockade. We seize Sakhalin, I win a cruiser duel against a Russian raider, and I get too greedy against Russia's smaller ships... but the war most likely will be decided in Northern European waters, I presume.

The Russians do send two dreadnoughts against me; it... doesn't go well for them, in a battle that sees my zeppelins utterly fail at bombing a Russian ship. I conduct a convoy raid, accompanied by a British destroyer (with presumably a much more comfortable crew), and we thrash what escorts the Tsarist fleet can throw together, before I put together an invasion of Kamchatka. That being said, the rest of the Pacific Squadron goes down hard.

Speaking of things going down hard, so does the Tsarist regime, in 1917! I do get a trophy out of them, a short-ranged battlecruiser with a weird armament; France cedes Annam to Britain, which surely won't go badly.

The world's fleets, at the end of the war.

A bit over a year later, while I struggle along with building new capital ships and converting armored cruisers to light carriers, my new BBs and BCs are obsolete. Unfortunately, actually building a 15"-gunned battleship with meaningful protection is not cheap, so I decide I don't need Italy's friendship. Then Britain decides they don't need mine.

The early 1920s see me having to deal with meddlesome politicians mandating what ships I build (and giving my cruiser fleet an upgrade, while I lay down a new battlecruiser) ... but also with rising tensions with France, particularly after they seize Samoa.

We're not the only ones France is pissed at, though the first action of the war is rather... small-scale. France doesn't lose sight of their apparently serious enmity with Japan, and we refuse to back down... but it still takes a few more months before we join the war.

The world's fleets, shortly after the French ultimatum.

Barely six months later, the war ends. Germany takes control of Senegal, while I 'liberate' Samoa, among other French holdings. (Villain protagonist moment). Nobody seems particularly impressed with Japan's part in the glorious struggle (because there was none).

Selected events:
¡Viva la revolución!
Floatplanes can take off from moving ships now!

Less than a year after the end of the war, political leadership demands even more cruisers, and who am I to defy democratically elected leaders? I lay down more of my existing cruiser types, but also develop a new cruiser with a floatplane. My wartime alliance ends, and I get a peek at a German CL, which is honestly better; perhaps I should've accepted this?

I do want these guns... though when I realize I can't yet make them dual-purpose, I wonder if that was the right choice. In part as a result of this, I find my budget starting to tighten, and start scrapping my aging cruiser force early... and get an opportunity. I'm a would-be archivist, of course I'd preserve history.

I also get a rather different, and more villainous, opportunity, which the US doesn't seem to like. Seeing foreign navies looking at heavy cruisers, I plan a new heavy cruiser of my own... but I don't feel anywhere near able to compete with the USN. Once again, I ask, who am I to defy political leadership? Not like the Italians, gosh no!

Still, I do need to update my battleline... and the timely development of 18" guns gives me an idea. The shipbuilding industry seems to quite like this idea! I have three under construction in short order, when... I decide to defy political leadership! Meanwhile, I complete my first purpose-built aircraft carrier.

Italy has retained its alliance with Russia even after the fascist coup, and so I decide to develop closer ties with Britain to see if I can drag Italy into a war. I look like I might get my chance soon enough, at the end of 1929! (See also the PRC's naval ensign, which is not bad, imo). That being said, the Anglo-Russian war starts out kinda badly for Britain, and with Italy not joining Russia in the war, I decide to not take Russia's initial (possible) bait.

Target acquired, again. And this one is easier to actually fight a war with, thanks to our rival holdings! I expand naval bases across Southeast Asia and my South Pacific holdings, so that I can actually better support such a war; as my Yamatos come into service, I also start laying down new ships, including a larger purpose-built carrier, one that doesn't have to have 8" guns for dumb reasons, and a few light carriers (which turn out to be pretty sweet ships). I also ultimately do take Russia up on a war... but it still takes them two months to decide to actually go to war.

My active fleet in 1931, at the outbreak of war.

The first battle is a messy little cruiser action, for both sides... but it's one I win, in part because the Russian cruisers were more flak cruiser than gun cruiser. This also turns out to be the only battle of this war for me. Britain doesn't seem to have been particularly impressed.

Postwar, I encourage an anti-French line, which also is nice for my budget. And in June 1934, I try to be a villain again (and fail)... which leads France to go to war with me that month.

This is my first war fought alone since the one with China, back in 1892. The French battleline almost universally is armed with 15"-16" guns, and has twice as many battlecruisers as I do, they have a lot of light carriers, and a bigger destroyer force; I have the edge in cruiser numbers, more and bigger carriers, and am fighting closer to my own, better-developed bases. Place your bets.

Selected events:
Good news for anti-colonialists!
Good news for 2,000-odd people, I guess?
Bad news for sparrows, perhaps
Developed just after I send two of my 13"-armed battleships into expensive refits
Good news for southern Vietnamese!
Good news for battleship gun manufacturers!
Good news for rumormongers?

The war starts with a cruiser action off Hainan, with three of my capital ships sinking two French heavy cruisers, though not without incident. I seize northern Vietnam from the French soon after... but don't initially notice the heart of the French fleet heading towards Southeast Asia. I do play things cautiously on a convoy defense mission, especially at night, but my bombers do score their first bomb hit.

Then the main body of the French navy arrives in force in October. Luckily, Southeast Asia is far closer to my own waters, so I rush my own fleet south. The next month, I fight what looks at first like a modest, if messy battlecruiser action near Haiphong... but not too long after daybreak, my three older, 13"-gun armed battleships encounter three... no, six more French capital ships. Luckily, I'm not too far from the port, and am able to limp two of my three dreadnoughts all the way back to port (the third sinking not far out), in part thanks to the valiant actions of my destroyer captains.

Russia looks almost ready to enter the war in December, so I temporarily adjust my sub warfare policy to fleet support. I succeed in another convoy battle, but after a few aerial torpedo attacks don't accomplish much, we discover something alarming.

What should've been an easy cruiser action turns south thanks to a French torpedo, though my BC does limp home. May 1935 sees battles off Cambodia as I prepare for an invasion of the region, with French Zeppelins attempting two bombing runs (that achieve nothing). Mostly, though, the war is being fought further afield, and the French submarine force gets rather aggressive, sinking enough tankers to lead to sporadic fuel shortages. A battle in the South Pacific sees me sink a French battlecruiser, but in October 1937, France, having lost her Southeast Asian colonies and tired of the conflict, decides to make peace; with French ASW being rather good, I find myself with no way to drive the conflict to a more satisfying end.

I'd gotten used to the wartime budget, and with the development of 5" DP guns, had begun building a small class of flak cruiser of my own... but stabilizing my budget postwar would take a lot of effort.

During the war, I learn that the US Navy is building some rather... gargantuan battleships, so I start expanding my shipyards again. By February 1938, I recognize that my Zeppelins are getting outdated; six months after the war, having digested the lessons of the conflict, the new Naval Secretary asks me to build up the destroyer force. I settle on building a new, budget destroyer, in part because I'm trying to build my own large battleship... and large carrier.

The world's fleets in the summer of 1939, not long after the fascist powers ally.

In 1941, I develop a new torpedo-heavy destroyer, in a period where global diplomacy is rather calm, despite the unsavory regimes in France and Italy. December 7, 1941 comes and goes like any other day; in fact, in January, relations with the US are better than ever. Jets are starting to be experimented with, and we start working out how to build jet carriers, while my battleline sprouts increasingly heavy flak batteries. With 6" autoloaders, I experiment again with light gun cruisers... and with light jet fighters finally becoming capable enough for naval use (though with nobody even beginning to develop radar, interestingly), I redesign my Shinano-class carriers into jet carriers. I also develop a 6"-gun armed destroyer... though it loses a torpedo launcher to fit on autoloaders for the 3" guns.

Russia again goes to war with Britain, and again seems like they're doing better in battle... and I slowly notice that my available funds are starting to get rather high. Without noticing it from my position, the Japanese economy has surged into the second-largest in the world. And then the largest economy offers an alliance. How can I turn them down?

The world's fleets in January 1946.

My capital ships, cruisers, and carriers.

Selected events:
Good news for Nigeria!
I don't fear Italy
The budget is beyond stable now
This guy's just a little shy, don't pick on him
My spies discover Britain is rebuilding an old battlecruiser! Good for them?
Fuck off, Italian fash

I pick back up in January 1947, immediately getting hit with this event, which throws me into war; with that, I launch a surprise attack! My entire carrier fleet mobilizes, moves south, and attacks the British base at Singapore! We sink all but one ship, and hit the airbase and some of the naval artillery batteries as well! It's... honestly rather underwhelming.

One month into the war, and ... oopsies. Awkwardly, the US is allied with both us and Britain... but they like us more. Apparently a lot more. There's some skirmishes between the RN and USN, but the Brits mostly are throwing down with me -- in particular in and around Hong Kong, but also in the South Pacific, where I take over Fiji and start working towards invading the Solomons.

On October 2, 1947, a squadron of Japanese ships raids a British convoy near Hainan... and despite being outnumbered, manages to sink a battlecruiser, though the Brits keep my forces away from doing much to the convoy itself. An attempt at a nighttime ambush of British ships in the Solomon Islands doesn't amount to much... but a year into the war, the world is abuzz with news of a strange new technology: radar!

Barely two months later, the government signs a peace treaty; I settle on just taking reparations, but the US seizes the Solomon Islands for themselves. After the initial postwar budgetary squeeze, I start to put angled flight decks on some of my carriers, making them ready for bigger and better jets... but the government has other ideas for how to spend the public's money.

At the end of 1951, America offers to keep our alliance going, which I gladly accept. I realize that my battleship -> carrier conversions can't adapt well to the jet era, and scrap Hiei, right around when we start seriously thinking about rockets. I also scrap my last 13"-gunned dreadnought. I placate the US after they embarrass themselves and us, but at the end of 1954, America ends their alliance with us.

The fleets of 1954.

Over the first half of 1955, relations with France steadily sour; I do my part to sour them further, though I'm more cautious about Russia. But the war nonetheless comes in August. The first battle, in the South Pacific, is over incredibly quickly; the second is a more significant action. My new heavy cruiser takes some bomb hits, and French jet fighters prove better than my attack jets (in part through sheer numbers on their side), but we do more damage to the French than they do to us.

Spain joins the war on our side... but France sues for peace not long after -- though long enough for us to secure the New Hebrides. Still, this does painful things to my budget, as does a change to my special training program. At least we develop blind fire!

By 1957, my budget is stable and growing again, and I develop an all-out supercarrier and a helicopter carrier; soon after, I finally develop surface-to-surface missiles, and start a new generation of warships, while also refitting some of my older ships. A carrier captain presumes to question our priorities RE: gunnery training, Britain allies with the fash (and I reject them), and we close out the year.

The world's fleets at the end of 1957.

Selected events:
Yay for Brazzaville!
How dare you Cheney such a brilliant officer!
Took long enough
My constant nemesis
I'm honestly not interested in battleship guns that much
Not long after it gets out of development for me, you ask?
Fash spy!
What, you don't like our capsule-hotel ships any more? Shame on you!

1958 kicks off with a crisis sparked by China seizing Sumatra, and by revolution on Hainan; China doesn't intimidate me much, tbh, even so. Japan assists Djibouti in securing its independence. My first helicopter carrier commissions, and I develop gas turbines -- lightweight, but expensive to maintain; still, they'll power a number of refits in the coming years.

I try to secure my northern flank, though unsuccessfully, while learning that my old rival France has their own antiship missiles. With floatplanes no longer relevant, I reluctantly start to refit my remaining battleships... but I'm more interested in new helicopter destroyers, and in squeezing in another supercarrier into my budget.

In June 1961, France mobilizes, and my own fleet also mobilizes, deploying task forces to my bases in Tarawa and Southeast Asia... which leads to yet another war. Japanese troops yet again set off for French territory in the Pacific, and a major naval battle erupts in September. French missiles prove vulnerable to my ECM, unlike my own; the French concede not long after.

Tensions rise with Russia rapidly during and after the war... but I don't really want yet another war. Spain fits a supercarrier into their own budget... but maybe submarines are the future? After all, they carry missiles more effectively than before!

In 1965, I finally realize that I could build ships with surface-to-air missiles, while France occupies the Falklands, of all places. I also decide to host a fancy boat race; how much could it cost? Oh. I scrap a number of ships, and temporarily halt construction on others to pay for it.

In 1966, I repeat my success with Djibouti, this time in Malta, despite an Anglo-American alliance taking shape; the US allies with us, too, though. France has supercarriers, bigger than mine; so does China, to my surprise.

As the game nears its end, Italy and Russia go to war (see also my massive budget). I've got other priorities... which are clearly correct!

The world at the end of 1969. The world's fleets at the end of 1969. My oldest ship, and my newest ship. My carrier force (with the one ship I forgot to make cramped).

Japanese economic growth is massive (though, despite this graph, still dwarfed by the US)

Selected events:
Yay for Namibia!
Fuck off, fash
Yay for Morocco!
Ireland, why???
Sino-Soviet cooperation, for five years
Yay Borneo!
muffled Kenny Loggins
Boo lobbyists!

***

An interesting curse, which led to some interesting ships -- arguably more powerful, though constantly hampered by overcrowding and resultant disease outbreaks. An oddly easy game, though -- once I got past the early years, I never felt super-worried, in part because other great powers were happy to have a Pacific ally, and later because Japan's economic growth was truly massive. Hell, I fought the last war with France with only part of my carrier fleet, holding the rest back in case Russia joined the war. We really did get rather scary, both in terms of our fleet size and our constant wars.

It seems that my devils wish to torture me again, though, in a way that's more ... European. And they maybe want to curse you as well, with a more complicated voting system.

***

What hell have I found myself in this time?
[ ][HELL] Balkan Hell (Play as Italy, 1900 start, manual build, very large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Central Hell (Play as Austria-Hungary, 1900 start, manual build, very large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Junker Hell (Play as Germany, 1900 start, manual build, large fleets)
[ ][HELL] Global Hell (Play as France, 1900 start, manual build, large fleets)

And how is this run cursed?
[ ][CURSE] Curse of exercise (I must conduct a fleet exercise after every update (no less frequent than once a decade), with ships voted on by the readers, and I must support athleticism where possible)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of Gemini (Where possible, I will have all guns in twin turrets (and never greater), and all my ships will be built in pairs)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of speed (I must always have the fastest ship afloat in every category, and I must always prioritize athleticism and winning races in events)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of novelty (I may never refit a ship, and I must design a ship incorporating major technological developments as soon as I discover them)
[ ][CURSE] Curse of the dilettante (I may not build more than one unit of any ship class except destroyers and corvettes (though I may tweak designs), and I must agree with political leadership's every whim)

Important Note: This is a preference vote! Rank any or all options, from 1 (highest preference) to 4 or 5 (lowest preference). The highest-rated option in each category will be selected; the lowest-rated will be eliminated.