Interesting article about game systems for gunnery

[DougToss]

I thought the article Gunnery in Great War at Sea: A Designer's Perspective did an excellent job breaking down some of the challenges in portraying the gunnery of the dreadnought period. Obviously Ultimate Admiral is much more granular than GWAS. Having said that, the campaign and battle system of GWAS is often considered the one of the best of all time. This article touches on many of the topics of discussion concerning the accuracy of guns during the period, the effectiveness of secondary armaments and so on that have arisen on this forum recently. 

Especially of interest to players of Ultimate Admiral are the many well-researched articles on a variety of topics concerning naval warfare and ship design. For example, the two articles on British Pre-Dreadnoughts are an engrossing read. 

All in all, I think that while computer games allow for more granular simulation than boardgames, the fundamental questions of game design remain largely the same. The ability to use more detailed models in computer gaming can sometimes obscure the fact that there are always choices to be made between 1-to-1 simulation and simplification for playability or accuracy versus authenticity. 

Edited January 29, 2020 by DougToss

[DougToss]

On the other end of the spectrum from boardgames is the incredibly detailed simulator being developed by The Dreadnought Project. More about that here.

Their article on modelling ballistics is incredible, and I think matches the arguments being made about gunnery in Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts.  

[akd]

Good articles, but I disagree with the author's conclusion that the secondary battery on pre-dreadnoughts was there to deal with cruisers, while the primary battery dealt with battleships and the tertiary battery dealt with torpedo boats.  Right up until the Dreadnought revolution, the secondary battery was considered just as important as the main in tackling anything during a day engagement up to and including battleships.  There was not really a perceived range or damage potential between the "primary" and "secondary" battery (both had max ranges that far exceeded what was considered effective range, and QF guns were likely to rival big mains in terms of damage due to huge difference in rate of fire).

I also think that using dye markers came about after the era of the mixed primary battery semi-dreadnought, so not sure why author commented on that in the mixed primary battery discussion.

Edited January 30, 2020 by akd