YGBSM! - A USA RTW Let's Play

[HolyDragoon]

All right, so it is time to get west and play at the country that happily sits there counting money.
As usual, 20% tech, medium fleets.

---

Yeah, I know I'm playing in pretty much 'easy mode' with these guys. Still, never underestimate my ability to fail in new and exciting ways!




Their budget isn't the highest out there, but IIRC, they weren't THAT interested in the navy at the turn of the century, or at least not as they became in the following years.
Map wise, territories are spread around 6 zones, including our base one. This isn't that bad, though ship dances will become inevitable when refits come.
As usual, permanent assignments will be destroyer duties, but this time i'll try and bet a bit more on lighter cruisers (around 4-5000t, perhaps) as well, geared towards being raiders to be used in the Pacific (or somewhere else, we shall see) as raiders/colonial defense.
So, first thing, our little fiends, the destroyers:




Yes, it's the bog-standard normal engine 27-knot destroyer. It works well enough, at least until newer classes come out of the yeards and allow for different layouts. 2-ship division will be spread across Alaska and the Pacific holdings. If need be, I could reinforce them later. The other regions will have normal 4-ship squads, at least for the beginning of the game.




This design... looks very weird to me. Sorry, but I think I've grown too used to the 8000t designs, smaller ones just make me raise an eyebrow in doubt. Then again, they're meant to work as raiders, not proper fleet cruisers. Three reserves to stay close to home, and two others to be stationed on the Pacific side.




Next up, battleships. Logic says armoured cruisers would be next, but I'd rather get the battleship issue out of my hands and then see what I can do regarding heavier cruisers. Since my docks are limited to 14k tons, the end result is far from my usual designs. Still, as long as it can act as a deterrent and score some lucky hits...
You hear that sound? That's the coffers blowing up after I order 4 of those, two on each ocean. I still have 41 million remaining, though.




Still, the remaining funds are enoug to commission one of these, that will be sent to Alaska because I cannot into foreign tonnage. To fix this, one of the supposedly reserve cruisers is sent west, and another two destroyers are commissioned, which should make the tonnage be just above the requirements.
Good news is, I have a monthly balance of 5 million, which gives me a few options regarding ships under construction. Two Chicago-class and another New Yord are ordered, and I design what I hope to be my first 'fleet' cruiser design.




It's basically a bigger, faster Chicago. Now, can I have one of those under construction? 8-ball said 'Yes', so that ship is waiting... and somehow, it takes less time to build than his smaller cousins. How strange.
Anyway, now we proceed to the game proper. I also set rearch priorities to ship design, turrets and gun mountinngs, guns and machinery. It's 20%, so not a lot of progress will be made, but I hope I can unlock the super imposed turrets sooner than later.
Preferably along with three centreline turrets, too... or at least triples.




Well then, it's a good start.
I'm also going to start building a few coastal batteries across the island territories, one at a time.
By June, I had two shipyard capacity events triggering on consecutive months. My scientists don't get 600t destroyer technology, though.
The end of September brings the completion of two of my light cruisers, and in October...




Well, that's the gun my DDs use, so...




My president said nothing wrong. *whistles* Meanwhile, 2 Minneapolis-class cruisers are ordered.
I get an event giving me the chance to invade Peru. I have nothing there, but I take the attempt anyway. Guess what happened.




I swear, I'll never understand how territory occupation events work.




*saber rattling intensifies*
I need to start controlling tension increases though, Britain is getting a bit pissed at me, though I don't really care for France and Russia.




Hmm... I don't have any new classes under construction, at least for the larger ships. Numbers wise, I'm on par with other countries, apart from perfidious Albion. Middle option, let's see what comes from that.
Nothing at all. Okay then.




... I forgot it only decreased tension with the host country. Shite.




Hmmm... I'm going to go with the first option, if only for the prestige.




Dammit Britain! Second option.
And to end this chapter, yet another event that forces me to further escalate. Here's how the chapter ends:




*sigh* You're going to force me to start pumping out a lot of crap now, won't you, arseholes?

 

[Ceslas]

Look, this is all simply the game's way of telling you to waste Canada. They've had it too good for too long.

 

[Ford Prefect]

So unless I'm counting incorrectly, this is the 3000th thread in our gaming subforums. Congrats, and good luck with your LP!

 

[HolyDragoon]

All right, back to business. I must apologize in advance though, as I wasn't even bothering with things this chapter. You'll see why soon.

---

All right. Last chapter, tensions were getting close to a fistfight. This is... not good, if we check the numbers, though I have to admit I've been a bit behind on ship development. I actually thought twice about a new battleship class, but always go 'meh, not yet'.




Nice! Middle option gave me a slight reduction in tensions. Most importantly, that reduction was wwith Britain. Whew.




And Russia seems to be giving its best to be the first in line for a beating. Okay then.

As months pass, hydraulic recoil and improved hydrostatic valve technologies are researched. Two more Minneapolis-class are ordered, along with another Chicago.

I now realize I played myself into a corner. My armoured cruiser design is so slow, that I can develop battleship classes that are not much larger than there antecessors but can outrun the armoured cruisers. Well then, this is weird.




... no matter how weird it is, I have to take the plunge. I can develop a new armoured cruiser class, anyway. Most importantly, 16000t is only slightly bigger than the largest enemy battleships, so I guess things will be more or less under control.




... blyat. Welp, there goes the neighbourhood!

Hardened penetrator is researched. Well, won't do a lot of different for my 12'' guns, as I adjusted the loadout for 100% HE.

The first few months didn't really have a lot worth talking about. The Russians shied from a confrontation in the Pacific, netting my some VPs, and an engagement off the coast of Peru spawned on the opposite side of South America, and a clash between two of my cruisers along with some destroyers against a russian battleship ended up with two sunk destroyers (one because the AI, as usual, was too stupid to slow down to control its flooding) and light damage on the cruisers, giving a major victory to Russia.

Of course, the tides would turn. A few months into the war, I got the ground offensive event, and then it was resolved...




Well then, I'm winning again.

Next battle is not worth talking about again, as my cruisers are pitted against battleships in my home waters. Turn to port and let the scenario resolve by itself, I'm not going to even bother with this kind of battle. In the end, the enemy accomplishes his mission by sinking two merchant ships.

Of course, they think that this kind of battle is unfair, and promptly refuse to fight in the next five battles.

when they decide to fight again... another stupid scenario. Back to port for me. My battleship captains are going to find a new career scrubbing toilets.

After a industrial production event and a finished cruiser, I find myself with a lot of cash. Time to design that armoured cruiser.




Yeah, it's pretty much the same, only bigger and faster. Just because I can, I order one of these along with another battleship.

A few months later, my first 'proper' victory. Again, not worth taking a screenie of, as it consisted in shooting a bunch of merchants while their destroyers cheerfully ignored me. Good to know artificial stupidity runs both way on this game.

A couple of months later, the same scenario, yet I only have a couple of destroyers, losing one in the process due to being outnumbered and with the enemy forces between me and the open seas. Still, the battle is won, and the enemy loses one of their destroyers as well.

Another battle, another single ship enemy fleet. That battleship must be the only thing they have that is capable of sailing and not a raider.

And finally, on September 1905, superimposed turrets are unlocked. No 3 centreline turrets yet, though, as I feared.

All these months, their raiders sunk quite a lot of my merchant ships, with no real raiding of my own. However, it seems that Russia is a master of shooting itself in the foot.




What. The. Hell. Just. Happened. Here?! I was winning by points, true, but- *incredulous gesturing*

I take a battleship of theirs, and promptly scrap it in disgust. It's out there with the AH legacy designs. Along with that, I do them a favour and claim Finland as my own, giving me a foothold in Europe.

By 'them', I meant the Finnish.




I just won you a war, you ungrateful assholes! I check the almanac... this event triggered because of 100 bloody tons.

I can't even.




Good enough. Also, Central Firing is researched on December 1906, which is where I'll end this chapter.




Yup, this is it for now. Overall, I have one word for this. Bo-ring.

 

[tankdrop24]

Of course, the tides would turn. A few months into the war, I got the ground offensive event, and then it was resolved...




Well then, I'm winning again.

Click to shrink...

Makes me wonder where a ground war between Russia and the US would even take place at this point.

The East asian coast? Alaska? An uprising in Finland maybe?

 

[HolyDragoon]

That's a... good question

Given my ingame choices, I guess the best explanation would be the Finnish uprising. I did send some AMCs to Northern Europe seazone, so that could easily be explained as them taking weaponry (and possibly some limited forces), in exchange for Finland becoming somewhat like a protectorate of the US for the next decades.

 

[HolyDragoon]

After the utter farce that was last chapter, we (hopefully) resume the normal service today.

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Where was I, again? Ah yes, Central firing researched. Also, establishing a presence in Finland.

Meanwhile, and event asking my to build more destroyers came and went successfully. With the newest batch built, I can also reinforce the garrisons across the Pacific, filling the gaps created by the lost destroyers.




Better than nothing, I know. Ugh.

I also begin construction of two more Ohio-class, just because I can, and to burn a bit of my stashed funds.




The game seems to agree with the construction part.

In October, Active mine warfare is researched.




The urge to bait them further is big, but I settle for the neutral option. Let's get our stuff in order first.




On completely unrelated news, a bunch of intelligence people are fired due to gross neglect of their positions.

Safe fuze armed devices are researched.




I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sounds of the design boards going nuts over new battleship designs.

On the other hand, I'd like to have TDS 1 researched first.




I really tried to avoid a treaty... I can picture the international press going nuts over how this suits my designs like a glove.




Ah, at last, something that actually interests me... of course, my 6'' cruisers already went to the yards for the FC update. grr.

Keeping on par with how boring this game is so far, I completely forget to take a screenie of the research of Q0 11'' guns. Yay me.




Well, another one bites the dust.

Since I have the government on my arse again over armored cruisers, I will give them what they want.




You happy now? Get off my arse.

It seems that the Italians won the dreadnought race...




Yeah, it's one of 'those' designs.




Round 2?




Yup, round 2.




And things start out... interesting.




Belay my last, it is yet another small cruiser action. The bombardment target is to the northeast, halfway between the starting point and the southernmost Finnish port, which means the plan is basically run to the target, pound it flat, and then run north.

As it turned out, Russian forces kept well away from me, allowing my to sink a couple of merchants and to expend most of my ammo to bring down the land target.




Nothing to see here folks.




Here's to hoping this won't be a repeat of the first match... well, mostly the battles part, the outcome can stay the same.

 

[HolyDragoon]

All right, so Russia is up to a fight. Again. I wonder if they'll crash and burn like they did last time, or things will be a bit more... 'interesting' to both sides.

---

Well then, looks like Russia forgot where their home waters were.




Interesting times indeed!




And my battleships finally deign themselves to come out and fight.

Well, they are all Illinois-class, so they can't really be blamed for their antecessor class' faults...

The Russian fleet flees Northeast. Well, they did seem to be fleeing, but they were just meeting up their backup. Remember that battleship I scrapped as a prize from the russians in our first kerfluffle?




Its brother would like to have a few words with me.

Though we trade a few gifts, weather conditions and nightfall means our fleets return home.




A defeat is a defeat, though fortunately no ships were lost. Damage reports show that while our ships had the better accuracy, their ships had all the lucky shots. It happens.

The next battle is a small cruiser engagement. Outnumbered, this is another defeat for me, though once again, the loss is minimal and no ships are sunk. Tired of pitiful displays of accuracy, I activate gunnery training. If the war lasts that long, I ought to see some results.

Main battery wing turrets are researched.

The streak of stupid battles continues, with a coastal bombardment where my cruisers cannot hit the broadside of a barn and the russians are surprisingly chilling in their sounds.

Next battle... one of my armoured cruisers is facing one of theirs.




Just who the hell are you, and why are you just standing there?

Well, he's dead now.




First blood goes to me, after Rochester, then the DD Bainbridge smacked the Bodri with two hits that led to loss by flooding. The other two destroyers were lost by uncontrolled fires and another flooding, compounded by bad weather.

Hmm... I'm starting to see a pattern here. Lots of battleship engagements, yet little sinkings. One of my dds is lost in a battle, followed by a CA on an automated raider engagement. Overall, battles are slugging along with just a few moments of actual contact and a whole lot of groping in the dark.


Still, my newest armoured cruisers are out of the forge:



Pretty sweet, especially since it was followed by another pleasant surprise:




900t destroyers, plus the fact that my 4'' guns are now +1, means a new class would be pretty nice to build right now.




Well, time to get those on the forge!

But the surprises wouldn't stop with this, as TDS I is finally researched. Back to the design boards, to give an answer to the Russian battlecruiser... which has showed up once, and promptly ran away once my battleships started to zero him.




Expensive? Yes. Will probably be the sole ship in the class. Just because I can, I also accelerate its construction.

Meanwhile, the game continues to spoil me by unlocking 4 centreline turrets. If only the battles were a bit more exciting...




That was the unicorn BC. He basically ran circles around my battleships, who were following at a very sedate pace of 16 knots, sedately filling it with holes. Scratch the most modern ship in the Russian arsenal, at least until their new BB and BC are ready.




And a salute to you, brave bastard. o7




Since things are still boring, with few engagements worthy of note, I'll halt the chapter here. I'll be honest, unlike previous playthroughs, this one... doesn't really have a lot of feeling to it.

 

[HolyDragoon]

All right, next one!

---

So, last chapter, I was a bit busy slapping Russia, yet failing to do any meaningful damage to their proper battleline.




*shrugs* Well, it's not like I can't pause construction until the first one is done.

Aaaand right after this event, another proposal for a land invasion event. Well, guess my monthly deficit will have to increase for a few months.




Very good!




Excellent! So far, my current cruisers can do the job quite well, but a shift to the new configuration will be on the cards when (and if) oil firing is developed.

One of my armoured cruisers manages to intercept an enemy raider in the Atlantic. It's the Pittsburgh, my latest class, so it should be just fine.




Yup, there he is, going northeast. I turn and crank up the speed to catch to him. My lookouts soon identify it as... a battleship? Er... better be careful. Weather is good, so we shouldn't need to get too close to get a good ID of the enemy ship.

... and then night falls. At least the enemy identification was updated, so instead of a possible battleship, we have one of their armoured cruisers. Good enough.




Its movements are... erratic. It didn't raise speed even being fired upon, and it is currently too busy zigzagging and running in a rough circle. Despite looking like easy pray, my cruiser completely fails in doing anything noteworthy to it, not managing to land a single shot before it vanishes in the dark.

Seriously, where did they pick my crew?

And right after this, alas, it is time for another failship engagement!




Pretty early on the day, weather conditions could be better but hey, beggars can't be choosers.




Two of their cruisers were scouting for what is probably the main fleet. Of course, I forgot a very important factor:

My fleet... is not very lucky. Pittsburgh eats a torpedo, detaching due to heavy damage, while half my battleships cannot hit the broadside of a barn. Once again, the Russians escape, worse for wear, but with a technical victory under their belts. If not for the fact that my older battleships are slower, I'd consider sending them here as well to see if they could turn the tides.




Yeah, it's a loss, though no ships were lost. However, I forgot another very important factor:




You gotta be shittin' me, these guys managed to do it again? Sure, this time I had them blockaded, but still...

Of course, I claim my pounds of flesh: one battleship and the Baltic states now belong to the land of freedom.




Hmm, razorblades... Bye 'Oregon'!




Oh yes please! Now the great question is: Give more guns so they can actually hit something with sheer volume of fire, or hold until improved triples come, because they're sure to screw up and jam the traverse mechanisms?

In short, the months after the war are the usual stuff. Budget balancing, technologies being researched, my battlecruiser coming out of the yards, and my battleship?



Yeah... 23 knots isn't horrible, but it's still annoying. The temptation to try for a repeat design is strong, but new cruisers are also important. Sadly, I don't have oil firing yet, and I'd really like to have oil fired cruisers in my next batch.

Well, there's always destroyers. My older ones are getting obsolete, and the 900t design also means needing less ships doing foreign duties. I also have double tube mounts, but the machinery technology progress I've made still isn't enough to make a repeat of the Flusser design with this new tech.




Well, that's good... I guess? I don't really use that many centreline mounts, unless it is a destroyer.




Dang it... fine, so be it.

First battle didn't have a lot worth talking about. Two destroyers against my cruisers, in my home waters, they ended up dead. The next large engagement, however...

A convoy escort where the British brought quite a lot of stuff to the field. My fleet comes out to escort the convoy, but Oklahoma takes a torpedo and eventually sinks.




My people found out their man pants at this, and things suddenly got serious. That Hood-class was caught alone and unsupported, and my two other battleships tore it apart with fifty heavy gun hits and 70 medium ones. Though I had three torpedo hit messages, only one was mentioned in the ship card at the end of the fight.




I lost two convoys, yet the result for the British was a loss.




I spotted that second battlecruiser, another Hood-class (and the reaosn why Jarvis on the screenshot was reported as laying smoke). Sadly, the first one didn't sink fast enough for me to go after that other one as well. All in all, this victory net me two prestige.

The next battle was in the Scandinavian sea. Things got... interesting.




It's amazing how a few fire control techs really change the performance of a ship's crew.




And with this victory comes two more prestige. Same thing with the next victory, as yet another battleship is sunk at the French side of the Channel.

I guess I'll close this chapter here. Here's how things go:




Yup, that's the British with no active battleships left. This was quite surprising, to be honest.

 

[HolyDragoon]

Where was I, again?

Oh right, Brit slapping. Also, this is the last chapter.

---

I do have the small issue that basiclly my whole fleet is obsolete, but sending them in to refit would probably be... problematic.




And 'ere we go again. Regarding battles, the british refused them all.




An event where they were looking for peace was met with my refusal, but it still went through.

Well, at least it is a victory to the USA. 4 points is not a lot, though. I'm taking Malta, if nothing else to have a base from where to slap Italy silly should it come to that. Germany takes Bermuda.

That monster dreadnought is stopped as it is eating a LOT of the budget. As it is, I'm still losing money monthly, but it is much more manageable. Oh right, I also need to stop the training.

I was about to say I forgot about Gibraltar, but as it turns out, it costs five points, one more than the ones I had. Everything is fine.

The refits begin with an overhauling of the aging Oklahomas. Their older guns are replaced by improved versions. It costs quite a bit, but I have some budget to work with and not worry too much about funds.

Reliable power training and elevation was researched in January 1918.




Good! One extra know for free on destroyers is always good to have.




And then this became a thing. Anyway, the battleships come out of refit, the cruisers go in.




Oh by the way, that BB I stopped once the budget came down? It's building again. Yeah, economy shot up like that.

A year passes with not much worth of note, apart from 1500t destroyers. Oh, and the battleship also got that extra knot event. While we've reached 1920, oil firing was not researched. Hmm.




We're at 1921 now. Not much happened, apart from Britain getting steadily asking for another spanking.
´



And it is the reslappening!

First battle was one of those not really worth talking about. Second one almost saw the Arizona going under in the West Coast. Looks like I'll have to assign another battleship there to deter further raids. This gives the British a slight advantage in VP... which they promptly lose after I set a flash fire on one of their light cruisers.

Oh, and we're blockading each other. This is followed by another visit of their battlecruisers to the West Coast.

The Pacific and the American shellfire did not fall well with one of them, and it blew up from a turret flash fire.




Bye-bye! Sadly, I cannot get his friend. Still, the sinking gave me two prestige points, and eased my worries of having an exposed flank.




I swear it, my troops didn't know it was British soil, but once they learned of it, well, there were already there, might as well do somehting while there. The barkeepers are making a killing from all the Devil Dogs looking for booze.


Next battle, a big engagement near the cliffs of Dover... well, more or less. British battlecruisers manage to sink my armoured cruiser, Pueblo.

Suffice to say, the rest of the fleet does not take that well. A lone British BB is cut off from their cruisers and...




Yup, flash fire. Again. By this time, the Battlecruisers turned to port, and as night fell, my battlelike made them hut the coast and run like maniacs. Caught in knife fight range, the battleship New Jersey takes a torpedo, but managed to control the flooding. While the battlecruisers escape, a light cruiser who lagged behind was not so lucky.




The price was the same as usual. Ship blows up! Still, it was already sinking, so I guess it only counts as half a detonation?

Something is really wrong with their bloody ships today. Maybe they were packing nitroglycerin as propellant?




Though I loss one of my latest armoured cruisers and three destroyers, the numbers add up against the british, and I get two more prestige.

My invasion of Trinidad ends after the British get lucky and are allowed to bring a BC into a convoy defense mission. Though I accomplished the given mission, it seemed that losing one single destroyer was enough to ruin the whole shebang.

And then the game gives me a single destroyer in British home waters. Nope, not fighting this one.




Britain, doing it wrong!

Meanwhile, Grand Bahama and Newfoundland are invaded. The war ends before Newfoundland could be taken, but Grand Bahama is American territory now. During the last battle for this territory, scout cruiser Chicago suffered a flash fire and was lost with all hands. Sadly, my predreadnoughts could not fit enough lead into the enemy battlecruiser to sink it before night fell. As usual, the British are very good at one thing: running for their lives.

Yup, the British folded. Again. Once again, I have 4 points, which I use to claim Newfoundland.


The rest of the game goes on a breeze. Budget increases, other countries get pissy at me, I cheerfully ignore them, and suddenly 1925 is over.




And in the middle of all this, I never got oil firing.




I'll be honest, I didn't like this game. While I could do all I wanted with the budget available, the end result was like using a cheat code giving infinite money in a videogame: things don't have the same feeling.

The feeling of achievement, that one had to make 'hard' choices between one option or another, knowing it would have at least short-medium term consequences just... wasn't there.


That being said there's one last playthough I'll make, and that one is going to be with the nation that I learned to love playing, no matter how painful it became at times. After that, I promise I will bother you no more... at least until RTW2 comes out.