Yes, I recently got 5+ centerline turrets and wing turrets before that, but so far I have prioritized heavily armored battlecruisers with 6 main guns over a proper dreadnought, as I've found it difficult to make a ship that can adequately meet my armor requirements while having 8 or more main guns.
Edit: no update today, because I was dragged off by family for my grandmother's birthday, and I didn't have a chance to use my computer long enough to make an update.
I'm going to head west, as I think that area seems to be least covered by Russians, and thus is my best bet for escape.
Looks like my guess was correct, and that the Russians don't seem able to keep up with me.
RUNNING AWAY FROM THE RUSSIANS. Remembering when to cut losses is important.
It looks like light cruiser division 8 is still fighting the russians, so I'm going to divert from fleeing to help them.
There's one enemy, why not try to take them down. It at least isn't one of the 3"-spamming ships from earlier. Also, they only have 5" main guns, so that's also nice.
Looks like a bigger fight than I thought, apparently an unsighted enemy is firing on one of the destroyers, but I don't know what that enemy is.
Bugger. As the fight moved south, I seem to have lost the enemy and can't reacquire them. I'm just going to sail near the other CL, the Amazone, and wait until the battle ends or something is sighted.
NEVERMIND THEN. I guess I'll fight these guys.
Actually, it's the 3" spamboats. LEAVING NOW.
Nope. Nopenopenopenope. AAAA(AAA*7)
Crud.
Running for port now, I think I lost the russian pursuit.
I chose that because it further secures northern Europe for me, which is going to be nice.
Also, the bloody government nicks my money! I needed that! At least Yeoman will be done in a few months, which will definitely free up budget.
I also get back a cruiser that got a bit *too* enthusiastic about raiding.
Normally I would get a chance to take a prize ship after crushing an enemy like that, but I'll take a DD of my own design too.
Even after the war Britain's populace is rowdy. Nice.
Sadly, nothing more, so moving on.
Finally, the last of the V28 class currently building is completed… and literally nothing else happens. Nothing much to do at the moment except plot, so I'll do that.
Currently, I've got 1 battlecruiser due a half a year from now (the Yeoman) and the Xenon about a year off. I also have two more Kiel class cruisers in progress, one a bit less than a year off and the other a while after that.
Firstly, battleships. I really need a proper dreadnought battleship or at least some sort of 4-centerline ship for my heavy forces, as 6 main gun tanky battlecruisers are fast and strong, but they don't have the rounds downrange per minute capability of something with more guns. Maybe some sort of tiny Bismark clone? Maybe. I'm thinking 4 duals rather than 3 triples, as triples are unreliable at the moment and having 3 of them would have lower redundancy than 4 duals. Maybe focusing on heavy armor and guns at the cost of speed? Maybe. Also, there's the option of just going for something along the lines of my current battlecruisers, namely the W class, but with slightly smaller guns (standard 13" instead of 14") but in more turrets, so as to use more guns rather than heavier guns in my ships. Ideas for when the current dock expansion project is done (8 months from now).
For lighter ships, my cruiser situation is OK, as my CA count is slowly recovering, with 4 CAs currently in service and another 2 in progress, I'm good on CLs, and the V28 class should do me for DDs for a while.
Anyway, next turn.
WE JUST FINISHED A WAR AND EVERYONE IS AT LOW TENSION. Oooooookay then. Well, I'm going to ally with japan. I don't want to anger the French, as I'm already allied with them, so Britain is out. I also don't want to team up with Russia, as I just fought a war against them. Further, Italy and USA are out, as they've got a pretty minimal presence in Europe or Asia, and thus don't matter in future wars too much. On the other hand, despite being fairly small and weak, having japan as an ally could be used to draw enemy forces from Europe in the event of a war, which would definitely help me in my wars, considering my massive numerical disadvantage to everyone but the British, and only due to my and their navies basically obliterating each other in the war. Bit of an odd choice, all things considered, but I have my reasons, which I just mentioned.
Have you considered copying Britain and Russia's ship designs just to see how well they work? You know, try making your own Barfleur or Boyarin? Spam three or five inch guns on a destroyer or light cruiser class.
Have you considered copying Britain and Russia's ship designs just to see how well they work? You know, try making your own Barfleur or Boyarin? Spam three or five inch guns on a destroyer or light cruiser class.
The V28 class is kind of like that with it's 5 4" guns, and barfleur-style enormous secondary battleships are gradually becoming obsolete to all big-gun ships with lighter secondary armament. Might mess with a CL with ludicrous amounts of secondaries later though, they do seem fun, if nothing else.
Turn happens, nothing else occurs in this turn, except frace commissioning their first dreadnought battleship, so I might as well move on.
Nice. When dock expansions don't cost anything it's always nice.
No. my answer is the same as it was before, and I don't think that'll change for a while.
Nice, that's nice, though there aren't many subs yet built so I'm not clear on the advantage.
France continues to commission stuff.
Two months. *excited*
Next turn.
I'm going to go with the middle option, as the added income will be nice, and I feel that it would also make the moderately rowdy people less so.
Apparently nothing else happens, so I'll just think about my navy.
My current naval doctrine for my heavy ships is the following: fast, heavily armored ships that can shrug off most that can be thrown at it. To do this, I usually sacrifice armament for the other options, which will likely come back to bite me later in fighting hostile battleships. On the other hand, my current battlecruisers will likely be used more against hostile cruisers than against full battleships, so said under-armament is still a good amount for cruiser harm. On that line of thought though, I don't really need my current extremely heavy armor for cruisers either, so I should probably split up my future heavy ships into two varieties: my battlecruisers, which would be like my current ones but with lighter armor in exchange for more guns and higher speed, and battleships, where I lose speed but keep my armor and increase armament.
I'm thinking something like this:
It's got heavier armor and guns than most of my ships, and better deck armor than them all. Further, while it is markedly slower, it packs much more guns than anything else I've built. Its 32000 tons despite me only having 30000 tons in available shipyard size, because in a few months I'll get a 2000 ton expansion available, so I'll be able to make this ship then.
Also, one more turn until Yeoman is commissioned. Cool.
Next turn.
Better torpedoes is nice. Very good.
Sadly, no Yeoman yet, thanks to a delay in construction. She will be finished early next month though.
Uh, I was kind of already doing that? Well OK then.
Screw off America, can't have my technology.
Also, I have the second largest docks in the world at the moment, after Britain, but that'll be fixed in two months.
Next turn.
More tech? Sure!
My scientists really earn their pay this time, as they quickly improve on the principles shown to us by our French allies.
The French also get a second battlecruiser.
Soon, enough funding will be feed up and my docks will be big enough that I can start on some good battleships. I kind of need them.
Nice.
I may be able to make an even bigger battleship than I planned.
Dude, I gave the Japanese more than that for HULL BRACING. Did you really think I'd give you TORPEDO PROTECTION for that little?
Also, this is what I'm going to build. A lot slower than my battlecruisers, but on par with other nation's battleships, and with an even heavier deck armor and more secondaries. The belt is also somewhat thinner than the X or W classes, but it is only 1 inch, and I feel was a necessary sacrifice for the much greater capabilities in other areas. One has been ordered, with a sister ship planned. Sadly, I may have to occasionally halt construction to keep with any money.
And now Yeoman is now ready for service. Nice.
Anyway, next turn.
Bottom option, as it will make the US really like Germany, and that'll be nice in the future.
Anyway, not much to do, until next turn when Hertha finishes.
There we go.
Answer is, and always will be, no.
On the other hand, that's just annoying.
Huh, the French want to use my shipyards for whatever reason. To be fair, they are now the largest any one has at the moment. Kind of weirdly, I don't get to know what the ship the baguettes are ordering is going to be like, even though they're using MY shipyards. Odd and annoying.
Hey, two more turns until MOAR BATTLECRUISER. Industry is the best.
Niiice. More money for me means more ships, including battleships and cruisers.
I'll refuse, as I am currently working towards moving away from 13" guns as my main firepower, and accepting this would put me in debt.
1 turn left.
This one I'll consider. On one hand, I prefer using my 10" guns over 8" guns. On the other, I might use them at some point in the future to save weight, and I can actually afford them. Still, I refuse.
It looks like I'll get Xenon early next month not this month, but meh. Not too bad or annoying. Next turn.
Hey, 3 of the 4 Kiel class are now in active service. Nice.
3 battlecruisers! Woop! Progress is being made!
Using the funds freed up from the completion of the Xenon, I'll order a new type of super heavy cruiser, as a sort of successor to the Kiel class, but as I don't have superfiring turrets for cruisers yet, so I have to use triple fore and aft turrets to get the increased fore/aft attack capabilities I want for these ships, instead of a superimposed turret as I'd prefer. I'm ordering one. Maybe more as more ships are completed.
Anyway, next turn.
Top option. Because it IS.
5 more turns until I get tons of open money for building more ships.
Next turn.
Darn, I liked that.
Hey, better guns! I might just skip making a sister ship to Chancellor so I can use these new guns. Maybe. On the other hand, they're probably heavy, so I'll probably make the sister ship anyway, as with my current dock size I'd have to sacrifice a lot to put 15" guns on my ships. So yeah, Chancellor will probably have a sister ship.
4 more months.
Let's reduce that by one.
Hey, Xenon is ready for active service!
And my future boats can be lighter!
3!
Next.
Top, prestige is good, and everyone's fairly friendly at the moment (though Britain is getting rowdy).
So many cool things I can do now! Still going to build a sister ship to Chancellor though.
1 turn left!
And next.
Another battlecruiser? Yup.
And now all four of the Kiel class are in service.
God darn it.
A fire control improvement has been completed, which I didn't catch sadly.
Also, the bloody scientists are hung up on something in working out better pumps.
I order the Centurion now that I have the freed up money, but I want something to spend the rest on. I'm thinking a mix of new DDs and subs, as I can't really afford anything better.
I've designed a new ship that is a somewhat minor evolution of the V28 class, with the same turret arrangement and speed but with slightly heavier torpedo armament. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the change. I'm ordering 4.
I'm also ordering one medium range submarine as an experimental addition.
Anyway, next turn.
Bigger ships in the future for me.
Mine.
I'm going to put in a good portion of the Gefion class in for rebuild, as most of them are now considered obsolete. I'm not changing anything, I'm simply updating parts of the ship and generally repairing what couldn't be repaired while still in service. They'll be done in 3 months, and don't cost much at all.
Anyway, next turn.
No. 2" guns are just… no. besides, I don't have 3.2 million to spend on this.
Cool, looks like all four of the Kiel class can now be placed in active service.
And now my battlecruiser fleet is at full planned capacity for now.
You know what, sure. I don't plan on going to war with the US, and torpedo aiming is a fairly minor tech in the first place.
I'm not sure how useful this'll be, but I guess it's OK?
Anyway, next turn, as I don't really have much to do.
Heck yeah, bigger ships for me! I am now considering some sort of 15" gun battleship or battlecruiser… ideas…
Also, 3 of the old Gefion class CLs I was rebuilding are done. The last two will be in 1 turn.
Tensions are slowly rising with Britain and others, I'll probably want to try curbing that if possible.
Next turn.
And there's the other two.
Huh. Scientists are being surprisingly selective in what developments occur at the moment.
Don't have anything to do, so next turn.
Cool, tankier ships for me.
Also, ordering two more subs so as to hopefully maintain my submarine capabilities for the next war, which looks to be another war with Britain, with only 2 years since the last one.
Anyway, onto the next turn.
Literally no science, no multiple choice events, nothing much even in the Intel messages.
Moving on, this turn is pretty much pointless besides the miscellaneous construction getting closer to conclusion.
Once again, I don't plan on fighting the US, so I'll take the cash.
[Hiss] my tech, get your own.
Anyway, next turn, these ones have been a bit boring. I can't say I dislike it, it's just that there's not much to say on the matter.
Yeah, no. high capacity pump are important and you exist in Europe so you're going to be fairly hostile to me relatively.
STOP NICKING MY BLOODY STUFF BRITAIN. Go, like, build more ships with wing turrets.
Soon… more torpedoes for me to throw at brit battlewagons!
Heck yeah! Aft single for cruisers and the like, amidships dual for battleships and maybe heavy cruisers if they're being particularly effective, or are larger than expected.
On one hand, more cash. On the other, that says something about my relations with Britain.
This is a bit annoying. On one hand, I want my oil fired ships. On the other, I DON"T HAVE NO BLOODY OIL TO BURN. So no, as I can't actually use it.
Thanks to MORE DELAYS, the rest of the V30 class will come out in a big clump.
2 destroyers for me, one of them was delayed, annoyingly.
NICE. My ships will be able to take more damaging hits before sinking now.
It's clearly Christmas because that is one hell of a present.
Let's be honest here. My scientists=awesome.
And you know what? Time for more BBs. Specifically, a new AoN equipped BB, which will be SO USEFUL.
This design is what I came up with after surprisingly little time tinkering. It's got 8 15" guns, comparable in size only to a British battlecruiser's guns, which are of similar gauge, but in less efficient positions. It also has a secondary armament of 8 6" secondaries, slightly larger than is ideal for torpedo boat and destroyer combat, but simultaneously far higher quality guns than my 5" guns. To handle the light craft threat, 8 3" guns in casemates on the superstructure, which will effectively keep lighter craft like DDs from getting too close. A 4" armament was considered, but decided impractical.
In armor terms, the D-class has moderately better armor than the C class in all areas, and has markedly thicker deck and turret armor than all preceding ships, including the W and C classes. The use of AoN armoring allowed far more weight to be put into other areas than the belt and deck extensions, like the turret face and engines, allowing a more heavily armored ship that can go much faster than the preceding battleship classes, if still slower than all battlecruisers made yet.
It's pretty obvious, I'm excited massively about this. The D-class has so much improvement about it compared to older classes, it's kind of impressive. I would like some feedback though on the design, especially as it'll be a bit before I can afford to build it (8 months until Chancellor is complete, 10 more for Centurion). Anyway, moving on to the next turn.
There's the last of the V30 class DDs done.
Check out the US's newest dreadnought… and its massive use of wing turrets for whatever reason. That is, admittedly, a rather impressive broadside capability, with 10 guns, but they're only 12", all the secondaries are still in casemates, and I'm dubious about the effectiveness of the armor belt against modern artillery.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING MODERATLEY DIFFERENT: SIDE VIEW MAKING.
Firstly, zeppelin. Known for the unique platform around the smoke stacks, used frequently by sailors who claim to not have anything to do to warm themselves when the weather is poor, Zeppelin has a far bigger superstructure than the pre-dreadnoughts she succeeded, as well as far taller masts, so as to allow sighting for longer range combat, despite said long range combat, while clearly designed for in the ship, being very rarely fully used in battle, much to the frustration of the damage control teams.
Next, Yeoman, completed just after the war, has a similar superstructure to Zeppelin, but even bulkier. She has somewhat smaller masts, as long range gunnery was shown to be rare in war, meaning extremely tall masts for lookouts were needed less. The movement of the #2 position to the X positon also allowed the superstructure to expand forward, making it even larger to a degree. The ship was also fitted with concealed boat cranes and storage in the superstructure to hopefully protect them from enemy light weapons fire in close range combat. The design proved to take too long to deploy boats carried in the compartments, and was not used in later designs.
Next, Warner and Xenon, which look very similar, though Xenon's conning tower is slightly smaller. They both have a far smaller superstructure than Zeppelin and Yeoman, and a slightly taller mast than Zeppelin. Unlike Yeoman, the newer ships of this design have visible lifeboats and other boats of similar size, trading protection measures for just more of the things.
Now, for the C-class. It has a larger superstructure that the Warner and Xenon to accommodate the recent return of long range firepower as a value, along with a larger mast, but smaller than Yeoman, after a design study found that size of superstructure to be unnecessary for day-to-day operations. Questions were raised about the positioning of the fore mast and smokestack, as they could easily interfere with each other, but the claims were dismissed by the ship designers.
The D-class I cannot make a side image of yet, as none are even under construction, making doing such a thing impossible while still looking accurate to the final product.
Next, the armored cruisers.
First, the Kiel class. Pretty much a scaled down battleship's superstructure, as befitting the first "Super heavy cruiser" built by the German navy. Despite developments in turret technology, Kiel still used casemated secondaries. As the only all-big-gun capital ship in the navy with casemate secondaries, it was a bit technologically behind the rest of the navy, but still worked fine in almost all roles it was used in.
Interestingly, the Emden class had a somewhat smaller superstructure than Kiel class, as was used for a lower profile for short and limited medium range combat. Pretty unremarkable, besides the increased size of the #1 and #3 turrets to allow for more guns to be fired forward and aft without using superfiring turrets, which were being used frequently on battleships but were still unused on armored cruisers thanks to questions about their practicality and unnecessary weight being popular among the design team for heavy cruisers. They were frequently called "funky boats", "iiiinteresting…" and "odd" by other navies and some members of the German navy, much to the frustration of the admiralty.
Finally, DDs:
These ships, the V28 class, were fairly simple in terms of superstructure, not much to say here. Only one mast, the extra weight of two was found rather prohibitive.
Effectively the same sort of ship as the V28, the V30 class is fairly similar, though one smokestack was moved forward and the mast was removed, deemed "unnecessary for escort and large scale combat duties".
Isn't there a chance for flash fires with 6'' secondaries, or is that only 7'' and up?
Also, do you need a special tech to unlock double turrets for secondaries? If not, I think you'd save weight by doubling up your secondaries and reducing the total turret count.
Isn't there a chance for flash fires with 6'' secondaries, or is that only 7'' and up?
Also, do you need a special tech to unlock double turrets for secondaries? If not, I think you'd save weight by doubling up your secondaries and reducing the total turret count.
double turrets receive a severe ROF hit compared to casemates and single turrets, making them somewhat impractical to use in my experience, until you get certain technologies. 6" guns are in fact, also safe, if slightly less so than 5" guns.
double turrets receive a severe ROF hit compared to casemates and single turrets, making them somewhat impractical to use in my experience, until you get certain technologies. 6" guns are in fact, also safe, if slightly less so than 5" guns.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING MODERATLEY DIFFERENT: SIDE VIEW MAKING.
Firstly, zeppelin. Known for the unique platform around the smoke stacks, used frequently by sailors who claim to not have anything to do to warm themselves when the weather is poor, Zeppelin has a far bigger superstructure than the pre-dreadnoughts she succeeded, as well as far taller masts, so as to allow sighting for longer range combat, despite said long range combat, while clearly designed for in the ship, being very rarely fully used in battle, much to the frustration of the damage control teams.
Next, Yeoman, completed just after the war, has a similar superstructure to Zeppelin, but even bulkier. She has somewhat smaller masts, as long range gunnery was shown to be rare in war, meaning extremely tall masts for lookouts were needed less. The movement of the #2 position to the X positon also allowed the superstructure to expand forward, making it even larger to a degree. The ship was also fitted with concealed boat cranes and storage in the superstructure to hopefully protect them from enemy light weapons fire in close range combat. The design proved to take too long to deploy boats carried in the compartments, and was not used in later designs.
Next, Warner and Xenon, which look very similar, though Xenon's conning tower is slightly smaller. They both have a far smaller superstructure than Zeppelin and Yeoman, and a slightly taller mast than Zeppelin. Unlike Yeoman, the newer ships of this design have visible lifeboats and other boats of similar size, trading protection measures for just more of the things.
Now, for the C-class. It has a larger superstructure that the Warner and Xenon to accommodate the recent return of long range firepower as a value, along with a larger mast, but smaller than Yeoman, after a design study found that size of superstructure to be unnecessary for day-to-day operations. Questions were raised about the positioning of the fore mast and smokestack, as they could easily interfere with each other, but the claims were dismissed by the ship designers.
The D-class I cannot make a side image of yet, as none are even under construction, making doing such a thing impossible while still looking accurate to the final product.
Next, the armored cruisers.
First, the Kiel class. Pretty much a scaled down battleship's superstructure, as befitting the first "Super heavy cruiser" built by the German navy. Despite developments in turret technology, Kiel still used casemated secondaries. As the only all-big-gun capital ship in the navy with casemate secondaries, it was a bit technologically behind the rest of the navy, but still worked fine in almost all roles it was used in.
Interestingly, the Emden class had a somewhat smaller superstructure than Kiel class, as was used for a lower profile for short and limited medium range combat. Pretty unremarkable, besides the increased size of the #1 and #3 turrets to allow for more guns to be fired forward and aft without using superfiring turrets, which were being used frequently on battleships but were still unused on armored cruisers thanks to questions about their practicality and unnecessary weight being popular among the design team for heavy cruisers. They were frequently called "funky boats", "iiiinteresting…" and "odd" by other navies and some members of the German navy, much to the frustration of the admiralty.
Finally, DDs:
These ships, the V28 class, were fairly simple in terms of superstructure, not much to say here. Only one mast, the extra weight of two was found rather prohibitive.
Effectively the same sort of ship as the V28, the V30 class is fairly similar, though one smokestack was moved forward and the mast was removed, deemed "unnecessary for escort and large scale combat duties".
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