CommodoreWesley

So, here's at least my "meta" for Alpha 1.05, though it is essentially the same as previous builds. What I mean by "meta" is that the easiest way to play the game. Therefore, I am only really proposing the fewest number of designs needed. There are quite a few things that I think should be debated about here, but there are some major balance issues that I bring up that are being addressed (torpedoes) but also some others. 1890: Battleships and Torpedo boats - Cruisers are pointless due to awful engine efficency. Fire will be the easiest way to knock out enemy vessels with guns, though it is best to use fire with concentrated main caliber battleship guns on one target than trying to add secondaries. In general, aiming is heavily based off of pitch and roll, therefore having fewer guns is typically far better than quantity. Torpedo boats should also only be armed with 51 mm guns, due to their rate of fire for torpedo boat vs torpedo boat actions. AI torpedo boats however are hardly a threat to player battleships, as they are too shy to get close, allowing for the BB to usually take them out extremely easily. 1900: Battleships and Torpedo boats - Relatively the same as 1890, though torpedoes are more effective due to increased range and damage, putting more favor to them than in 1890. Cruisers finally sort of catch up, but the battleships are typically faster, therefore are still largely a waste of valuable starting money. 1910: Battlecruisers only (Destroyers optional) - Probably the most fun era currently in my opinion, though once you play it with only Battlecruisers, that's really the only way to play it. Destroyers are really only there to help protect your own transports from other destroyers in raiding actions. Battlecruisers however should be essentially built as fast battleships from here on out. Keep the number of guns limited, typically three sets of twin turrets. Don't bother with casemates as all they do is increase roll, and honestly don't really have weight savings over turrets and make the hull more likely to be penetrated due to armor thickness limitations. Make a few turreted secondaries. Typically, I do one twin turret on each side, with one superfiring over the rear main turret. Destroyers however should be kept out of fleet actions, as they tend to get targeted, and their torpedo range isn't far enough. Cruisers are absolutely pointless in this era due to heavily restricted hulls and funnels and high costs. Fire can still be an extremely effective way to knock out enemy ships, therefore stock up on HE still. 1920: Battlecruisers and Destroyers - Similar to 1910, though this is where the game starts becoming less fun for me due to how dangerous torpedoes can become. While cruiser design has greatly improved by this era, light cruisers are so extremely weak against torpedoes that they are really not worth it at all due to their lack of torpedo defense (seriously, destroyers can take a torpedo better than a light cruiser for some reason...). There are also so few cost savings of them compared to heavy cruisers, it's far better just to build heavy cruisers. However, I still don't recommend building heavy cruisers either, as big gun battlecruisers (think fast battleships) are just far more effective at taking out the enemy. The Battlecruiser might be twice as expensive than the cruiser, but they are like 4 times more effective, and are cheaper per ton of displacement than cruisers, making it somewhat ironically more difficult for the enemy to blockade you despite having fewer ships in your fleet. Secondaries from here on out really become optional. Your main enemy will be torpedoes and enemy light cruisers (they are essentially expensive destroyers but can last a bit more under shellfire though their cost is not worth it for the player). Also keep the destroyers out of fleet actions, maybe let them fire torps once then let them retreat, otherwise all the do is feed the enemy victory points). 1930: Battlecruisers and Destroyers - by this time, torpedoes are king, or well, at least the most important thing you need to pay attention to from the enemy. Extreme range plunging shellfire is also very good, and with Radar it is pretty easy to do. Still, I even arm my battlecruisers (fast battleships) with torpedoes by the stage due to the range torpedoes have. The AI overloads their designs with so many unnecessary secondaries that they typically have abysmal long-range accuracy. Most of your battle is largely just trying to avoid your ships from hitting enemy (or your own) torpedoes. Therefore, long range gunfire should be the main focus to try and take out the enemy. 1940: 1930, but even more dangerous torpedoes. Basically, after 1910 just build "Fast battleships" from battlecruiser hulls and have destroyers to kill other destroyers. Torpedoes become so powerful and abundant in the later years that they will be the main threat to the player, while enemy shellfire will be largely ineffective due too many secondaries. Cruisers in general are pointless in battle effectiveness and economically (light cruisers EXPECIALLY so). I would recommend a major decrease in their cost. They may become more useful once more theaters open up in the campaign, as they were historically more so a strategic weapon, rather than a tactical one, but with the exception of build times, it seems like it is better to build battlecruisers due to their overall greater displacement as that has the blockade effectiveness. Player destroyers are really only there for potentially torpedo opportunities and for destroyer duels to protect convoys. Later era destroyers are also a bit too expensive to throw away in the screen orders (which are too aggressive and risky for my taste, particularly with the limited funds available to build our starting fleets). I think with longer term campaigns in the next version, ship designs will be more diverse, as I likely won't ever have more than 4 capital ships of the same design reducing "fast battleship" battlecruisers, though I guess we will have to find out.

So much Swedish love... And not enough Dutch... But never fear, there are twenty-seven other patriots still voting for the best ship! Vrijheid! Can we petition the devs/modelers to make all of these ships? Like all of these ships will be put into the game and we just vote on the order? That would be nice.

And people thought my USS Demologos was ridiculous... It existed and was in the time period!

Rattlesnake HYPE!!!! And I get my Essex back!!! (and hopefully she is not the wooden wall of indestructibility this time, but behaves more like a Frigate) And crew changes! More reasons to press the 6, 7, 8, and 9 keys again! And... okay, to save you gents some time... pretty much everything. It's just so nice to be able to test new features again!

I have the Vrijheid (freedom) to choose what I want! But in a more serious note, a problem we have is that we don't have full plans of the Vrijheid... We can find diagrams of her decks, but not the full side view to find all of the ribbing, gunport placement and such. Now, there might be more diagrams of her, as we could possibly try and contact the Dutch museum that has the model of her and ask where they got the lines from, so it is not a lost cause yet. In my opinion, I want get both ships, the Vrijheid and the Admiraal. If the devs decide to limit the first rates to nationality, then the Admiraal should be given to us as well, as there are no examples of Dutch first rates during this time period. However, I like playing as the underdog. I'll keep shouting for the Vrijheid for my own entertainment despite that she is still one of the lowest ranked ships in the voting selection. If it goes down to the wire where my vote is needed to get any of the Dutch ships, then I might change it. But to be honest, if any of the ships are in the top five, they will be accepted, therefore there should not be any sweat for the Admiraal supporters right now. Now, if there are enough Admiraal supporters right now to make it into the top 5, well, maybe they need to change a few of their vote to the Vrijheid so then we get two ships!

How about we encourage everyone spread out their votes so that all of these ships will be put into in the game? I mean, that would make everyone happy, right? Like instead of voting for which ship, we vote on the order these ships to be developed! And we'll get all of 'em in the long run! Or you can vote for the Vrijheid and that will make at least one person happy...

We should vote for the ship that we want, so then the developers have to find ships to fill the gaps and then they have to make even more ships! Because at the end of the day, all we want are more ships!

Oh ye of so little faith! Vrijheid!!! The only reason why people are voting for the Addmiral de Ruyter is just because of her name and because she has votes. The ship herself is unremarkable, as she did not fight in combat, and was built for the French in the Napoleonic Wars (due to the Netherlands being annexed by Napoleon) (and the paint scheme on the picture is French inspired). It's almost like treason to like that ship... The Vrijheid on the other hand fought hard in the lopsided battle of Camperdown, with it's heroic last stand by Admiral de Winter. Demasted, and with most of her crew lost, she would be one of the few Dutch ships did not sink due to the amount of damaged received in that tragic battle. She is a ship deserving a place in Naval Action as she actually participated in some real life naval combat. Therefore, the true Dutch patriot would vote for the Vrijheid. Some people think that I love this ship because of her name, but that's not true. It's her history. Virjheid!!!

Stop denouncing my ship! Vrijheid!!! (it's a really fun word to say!) Besides, didn't the Dordercht like explode in combat or something? I kinda don't want one that went boom... A Dutch fourth rate that I would like would be the 56-gun Delft. Also, the Admins stated in the past to vote for ships that you want, not for filling out the roster. The devs will fill them out eventually. These selections are just for the special ships we want added for glorious patriotic reasons! Vrijheid!!!

Vrijheid!!! (Freedom!!!) (I think the Dutch are divided over which ship...)

True, but I am trying to compare her to other merchant ships, not warships. I mean, I like the ship, but I am just trying to figure out what her role would be in comparison to a standard East Indianman. The Indianman would be smaller and slower, possibly with a bit heavier guns and better armor thickness, but because the Indianman is slower she is going to be chased down and attacked more often, which is obviously not something a merchant captain would really want. The Farquharson on the other hand is larger, faster and still reasonably heavily armed. She exceeds in all classes of what a merchant wants, speed and cargo space. Therefore, the Farquharson would become more preferred by merchant captains than an Indianman. Now, the one big thing that would balance her out in my opinion is the more loaded a ship is, the worse that ship preforms in all sailing conditions, speed, turn rate, etc. regardless in the open sea or in the battle instance (and if this feature is already in the game, then it needs to be buffed as I have not been able to notice it). Therefore, a loaded Farguharson sail significantly slower, making her more likely to fall prey by other warships. Because she does not have the armor or the heavier weight firepower of an Indianman, she will not be nearly as effective.

She's a pretty ship, sleek and modern despite her size. Great work in constructing her Ragnar! My only fear is that this ship will be the one and only preferred merchant ship in the game. With such a large hold, speed and cannons, why bother having a navy or escorts? I mean, yes she was built in 1820, but just like my example about the USS Demologos, just because she's in the time period does not mean that she fits into the game.

I think it should be updated weekly, most port battle invasions take two to three days to happen. Particularity right now, the battles for the frontiers of the national empires are starting to begin, there is going to be a bit of port fighting coming soon...

Daw... It was moved from the shipyard... That didn't last long... Really, this should belong in the history topic.