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In Progress Let's Play: Rule The Waves
- Thread starter Dayyālu
- Start date
Dayyālu
Arcane
Last Days of 1905
Germany is blockaded and we will gain victory points every turn, their economy will suffer. If we hold the line, we should win by exhaustion easily. If we don't fuck up or if the land army does not fail (land army events can give hundreds of VP points to a nation).
Well, the treaty died and we can now design a new Dreadnought Battleship. In-game, a Dread is defined as "Must have at least 3 main gun turrets, displacement over 8000 and belt armour of more than 6 inches. Main guns must be more than 10 inches."
The first Dreadnought (you would be surprised how long I needed to realize that the name means "Fear Nothing") was the creatively called HMS Dreadnought, and it was the brainchild of our old friend Jackie Fisher, the First Sea Lord of Britain in the beginning of the 20th century. Jackie Fisher is a cool guy, sometimes we should make a little excursus on him! The Japanese and the Americans were also toying with the concept and developing (and building) comparable ships, but Jackie was faster.
The essential points for a Dreadnaught in the real world are the so-called "all-big-gun" weapon scheme, focused on a more numerous and uniform amount of primary guns (the game simulates this by defining Dreads as ships with more than three primary turrets. Weirdly enough, the Italian name for "Dreadnought" is "Corazzata Monocalibro", "Single-caliber Battleship" to reinforce the idea of a more uniform array of guns). Furthermore, another point of advance was in the engines, with the British Dreadnoughts empoying Steam Turbines. German battleships were slower to adapt to new kinds of propulsion, for example, but they are still considered Dreads. Steam turbines are far more efficient than the engines of pre-dreads, for the same space and weight.
I have no idea of what this means. I feel so stupid. It looks cool, though
Regarding armour, the first Dreads where developed to engage and survive at relatively short ranges, of about 10 kilometers. This meant that most hits would be horizontal, and damage the waterline causing flooding. Thus, most of the armour was concentrated in a "thick belt" around the waterline and all the ship vitals were placed inside the hull. Like, well, this:
Stealin' from Wikipedia and Osprey, all time and all day
Regarding economy and politics, a Dread was expensive as hell, and it had a great burden on the economy of a nation. After 1906 most seafaring nations in the world got caught in a "naval arms race" in which Dreads were protagonists: not unlike the Cold War that the older between us experienced, the point was not to suffer a Dreadnaught gap that would, of course, prove lethal to the Nation in the minds of the military analysts or of the politicians of the time. Even South American nations got caught in the enthusiasm.
Brazilian sailors aboard the Minas Geraes. British-built, of course.
Of course, as I said already, this was mostly.... moot. No great naval battles , bar Jutland, happened, and even Jutland was a contested and mostly disappointing affair. On the other hand, Dreadnoughts proved vulnerable to new weapon systems like subs or frogmen, and so, well, mostly useless. Most of the Dreads were scrapped between 1920-50, few of them managing to reach the glorious moment of opening fire against a similar opponent.
Guess there is a lesson to be learned from this about military expenses, but I'm too lazy to get it.
In-game, Dreads will be the center of our fleet and our main damage dealers now. Pre-Dread Battleships are still useful, but they will be phased out sooner or later when they will prove too costly to mantain. Well, in some of my games I kept employing pre-Dreads well into the 10', but the risks are kinda great after new technological advances and when those pesky battlecruisers start getting around.
Our Nikolai I is as big as we can build, reasonably fast, heavily protected and well armed. I did not give it torpedoes and went all big guns, as much as our tech allowed us (we lack double turrets, for example). The building costs are insane and we will need three years to finish it, but we had the naval budget now and soon or other refits will finish, giving us more financial breathing space.
Next turn!
And our fleet gets into a Transport hunt. As I start the mission, I get thrown into the middle of the night (it's 2.30 AM FOR CHRISSAKES) with a enemy ship already sighted. It's night and we can't see shit. Captain Kalin is leading our Armoured Cruiser division towards GLOOORY and booty. Mostly booty. Stop watching porn, Kal, it will melt your eyes sooner or later.
It's night. There is a strong gale. The sight distance is 3000 yards (2,7 km in human). Meaning WE CAN'T SEE SHIT. Our men think we have blundered in the middle of a enemy CL squadron, but the shooting in the darkness of night is imprecise and even sailing is dangerous. A single mistake, and it's ramming time, and in those sea conditions it would be.... SOMETHING.
*SCREAMS LOUDLY EBONICS*
Kalin channels his inner Congoid, and rams into the unknown. Funnily enough, NOT EVEN RAMMING IS ENOUGH TO IDENTIFY WHAT WE HIT
IMMA GETTUH DAH MUTHAFUGGA
It's a glorious mess of darkness, random shooting and me getting away from what I suppose it's a screen of DD ready to torpedo me.
After HALF AN HOUR of random shooting, we finally manage to understand what kind of German broad Kalin rammed. It's one of their new and refitted CA, a Hansa class. It has been badly mauled by our Swedish captain. The rest of the battle is an ungodly mess, I assure you. Night fighting, not even once.
One of our DD gets rammed by an unkown ship. The damage is heavy, and it sinks after a while. The CA rammed by Kalin suffers however the same fate. Our Black Swede will be given full honours by the Tsar. And a white wife, we all hope.
Two hours of frenetical hunting in the darkness, and we get again the main group of enemy ships. Random firing in the night, under heavy rain. I mean, it must be like hell. A hell of rain, thunder and explosions. An enemy ship is hit by a torpedo, and I can't understand WHO fired it. Could even be friendly fire.
The morning clears the situation. We are heavily outnumbered, there are at least seven enemy cruisers out there. Time to get to a safe distance.
While we escape, we find the transports we were hunting for. Let's try to sink something while we are fleeing.
BY THE THEOTOKOS IT'S FULL OF GERMANS! FULL SPEED AHEAD! Thanks to the heavy rain, our escape is easy. But we manage to shoot a ton of transports, pity we can't stop the check the damage.
We were heavily outnumbered. Thankfully our superior Captain, Kalin, managed to adapt some ancestral tactic of his people (Also known as "drive-by shooting") and we got a majority of their transports in a lucky run for our life. Transports aren't build to endure the kind of firepower that a CA can deal, they were easy prey. Our Destroyer loss is regrettable, but that's the risk of war.
Germany starts to suffer food shortages. Good, the suffering of the our enemies is sweet honey for the Tsar and for our widows.
And their fleet declines battle. The damage we dealt is too great. I haven't screencapped another two battles, both declined in the same turn by the German fleet. They are hurting bad.
Wohoo. After only two turns of blockade? Weaklings! We endured far more without making a noise. The Russian spirit can't be broken. It's already broken to begin with.
Welcome, Germany. This is my rebuilt battleship. There are many like it, but this is mine.
And new research for bigger DD. 700 tons Destroyers will replace the few we have lost in battle.
The Germans try out of despair to raid our coasts with a bunch of Destroyers.
They take us somewhat by surprise, but the damage is limited nonetheless. Plus they failed to catch any of our merchantmen.
Germany is on the verge of collapse. The land war is a stalemate, the naval war an unmitigated disaster. Soon they will have to beg for peace or risk a revolution.
And so the year ends. I want to ask to my cabinet....
Bar catastrophic losses, the war with Germany should end soon. Our diplomats will ask our opinion, certainly....
1) We agree to peace even with mild terms. We are the heirs of a Great Tradition of piety and mercy, after all.
2) Total War, Shortest War. We should keep up until Germany is nothing but a broken shell.
If we agree to peace, the territories we should get as war reparations should be in:
A) Europe. Eastern Prussia SHOULD be ours!
B) Africa. Kalin keeps saying he needs "fruitful loins for his desires" whatever that means.
C) Pacific. It's near our West Coast, no?
First of all, African colonies means little to us. And in case of victory, some lands are so valuable that's difficult to get them if we don't obtain TOTAL TRIUMPH, like East Prussia. In any case, colonies aren't worth much, truth be told. The true economical gains are obtained by growth.
Catposting in the Navy. Togo, the ship cat of the HMS Dreadnought.
Germany is blockaded and we will gain victory points every turn, their economy will suffer. If we hold the line, we should win by exhaustion easily. If we don't fuck up or if the land army does not fail (land army events can give hundreds of VP points to a nation).
Well, the treaty died and we can now design a new Dreadnought Battleship. In-game, a Dread is defined as "Must have at least 3 main gun turrets, displacement over 8000 and belt armour of more than 6 inches. Main guns must be more than 10 inches."
The first Dreadnought (you would be surprised how long I needed to realize that the name means "Fear Nothing") was the creatively called HMS Dreadnought, and it was the brainchild of our old friend Jackie Fisher, the First Sea Lord of Britain in the beginning of the 20th century. Jackie Fisher is a cool guy, sometimes we should make a little excursus on him! The Japanese and the Americans were also toying with the concept and developing (and building) comparable ships, but Jackie was faster.
The essential points for a Dreadnaught in the real world are the so-called "all-big-gun" weapon scheme, focused on a more numerous and uniform amount of primary guns (the game simulates this by defining Dreads as ships with more than three primary turrets. Weirdly enough, the Italian name for "Dreadnought" is "Corazzata Monocalibro", "Single-caliber Battleship" to reinforce the idea of a more uniform array of guns). Furthermore, another point of advance was in the engines, with the British Dreadnoughts empoying Steam Turbines. German battleships were slower to adapt to new kinds of propulsion, for example, but they are still considered Dreads. Steam turbines are far more efficient than the engines of pre-dreads, for the same space and weight.
I have no idea of what this means. I feel so stupid. It looks cool, though
Regarding armour, the first Dreads where developed to engage and survive at relatively short ranges, of about 10 kilometers. This meant that most hits would be horizontal, and damage the waterline causing flooding. Thus, most of the armour was concentrated in a "thick belt" around the waterline and all the ship vitals were placed inside the hull. Like, well, this:
Stealin' from Wikipedia and Osprey, all time and all day
Regarding economy and politics, a Dread was expensive as hell, and it had a great burden on the economy of a nation. After 1906 most seafaring nations in the world got caught in a "naval arms race" in which Dreads were protagonists: not unlike the Cold War that the older between us experienced, the point was not to suffer a Dreadnaught gap that would, of course, prove lethal to the Nation in the minds of the military analysts or of the politicians of the time. Even South American nations got caught in the enthusiasm.
Brazilian sailors aboard the Minas Geraes. British-built, of course.
Of course, as I said already, this was mostly.... moot. No great naval battles , bar Jutland, happened, and even Jutland was a contested and mostly disappointing affair. On the other hand, Dreadnoughts proved vulnerable to new weapon systems like subs or frogmen, and so, well, mostly useless. Most of the Dreads were scrapped between 1920-50, few of them managing to reach the glorious moment of opening fire against a similar opponent.
Guess there is a lesson to be learned from this about military expenses, but I'm too lazy to get it.
In-game, Dreads will be the center of our fleet and our main damage dealers now. Pre-Dread Battleships are still useful, but they will be phased out sooner or later when they will prove too costly to mantain. Well, in some of my games I kept employing pre-Dreads well into the 10', but the risks are kinda great after new technological advances and when those pesky battlecruisers start getting around.
Our Nikolai I is as big as we can build, reasonably fast, heavily protected and well armed. I did not give it torpedoes and went all big guns, as much as our tech allowed us (we lack double turrets, for example). The building costs are insane and we will need three years to finish it, but we had the naval budget now and soon or other refits will finish, giving us more financial breathing space.
Next turn!
And our fleet gets into a Transport hunt. As I start the mission, I get thrown into the middle of the night (it's 2.30 AM FOR CHRISSAKES) with a enemy ship already sighted. It's night and we can't see shit. Captain Kalin is leading our Armoured Cruiser division towards GLOOORY and booty. Mostly booty. Stop watching porn, Kal, it will melt your eyes sooner or later.
It's night. There is a strong gale. The sight distance is 3000 yards (2,7 km in human). Meaning WE CAN'T SEE SHIT. Our men think we have blundered in the middle of a enemy CL squadron, but the shooting in the darkness of night is imprecise and even sailing is dangerous. A single mistake, and it's ramming time, and in those sea conditions it would be.... SOMETHING.
Kalin channels his inner Congoid, and rams into the unknown. Funnily enough, NOT EVEN RAMMING IS ENOUGH TO IDENTIFY WHAT WE HIT
It's a glorious mess of darkness, random shooting and me getting away from what I suppose it's a screen of DD ready to torpedo me.
After HALF AN HOUR of random shooting, we finally manage to understand what kind of German broad Kalin rammed. It's one of their new and refitted CA, a Hansa class. It has been badly mauled by our Swedish captain. The rest of the battle is an ungodly mess, I assure you. Night fighting, not even once.
One of our DD gets rammed by an unkown ship. The damage is heavy, and it sinks after a while. The CA rammed by Kalin suffers however the same fate. Our Black Swede will be given full honours by the Tsar. And a white wife, we all hope.
Two hours of frenetical hunting in the darkness, and we get again the main group of enemy ships. Random firing in the night, under heavy rain. I mean, it must be like hell. A hell of rain, thunder and explosions. An enemy ship is hit by a torpedo, and I can't understand WHO fired it. Could even be friendly fire.
The morning clears the situation. We are heavily outnumbered, there are at least seven enemy cruisers out there. Time to get to a safe distance.
While we escape, we find the transports we were hunting for. Let's try to sink something while we are fleeing.
BY THE THEOTOKOS IT'S FULL OF GERMANS! FULL SPEED AHEAD! Thanks to the heavy rain, our escape is easy. But we manage to shoot a ton of transports, pity we can't stop the check the damage.
We were heavily outnumbered. Thankfully our superior Captain, Kalin, managed to adapt some ancestral tactic of his people (Also known as "drive-by shooting") and we got a majority of their transports in a lucky run for our life. Transports aren't build to endure the kind of firepower that a CA can deal, they were easy prey. Our Destroyer loss is regrettable, but that's the risk of war.
Germany starts to suffer food shortages. Good, the suffering of the our enemies is sweet honey for the Tsar and for our widows.
And their fleet declines battle. The damage we dealt is too great. I haven't screencapped another two battles, both declined in the same turn by the German fleet. They are hurting bad.
Wohoo. After only two turns of blockade? Weaklings! We endured far more without making a noise. The Russian spirit can't be broken. It's already broken to begin with.
Welcome, Germany. This is my rebuilt battleship. There are many like it, but this is mine.
And new research for bigger DD. 700 tons Destroyers will replace the few we have lost in battle.
The Germans try out of despair to raid our coasts with a bunch of Destroyers.
They take us somewhat by surprise, but the damage is limited nonetheless. Plus they failed to catch any of our merchantmen.
Germany is on the verge of collapse. The land war is a stalemate, the naval war an unmitigated disaster. Soon they will have to beg for peace or risk a revolution.
And so the year ends. I want to ask to my cabinet....
Bar catastrophic losses, the war with Germany should end soon. Our diplomats will ask our opinion, certainly....
1) We agree to peace even with mild terms. We are the heirs of a Great Tradition of piety and mercy, after all.
2) Total War, Shortest War. We should keep up until Germany is nothing but a broken shell.
If we agree to peace, the territories we should get as war reparations should be in:
A) Europe. Eastern Prussia SHOULD be ours!
B) Africa. Kalin keeps saying he needs "fruitful loins for his desires" whatever that means.
C) Pacific. It's near our West Coast, no?
First of all, African colonies means little to us. And in case of victory, some lands are so valuable that's difficult to get them if we don't obtain TOTAL TRIUMPH, like East Prussia. In any case, colonies aren't worth much, truth be told. The true economical gains are obtained by growth.
Catposting in the Navy. Togo, the ship cat of the HMS Dreadnought.
Dayyālu
Arcane
JohnTheRevelator
Arcane
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2011
- Messages
- 1,160
What's wrong Endlösung? Why don't you give war ... a chance?
Dayyālu stretch that fucker as long as you can. Peace time budget cuts are no fun.
End quickly only if there is danger Brits or Japs will suddenly crash our party. Forget small colonies aim to add to areas we already have presence in so Northern Europe if you can, North East Asia otherwise.
Dayyālu stretch that fucker as long as you can. Peace time budget cuts are no fun.
End quickly only if there is danger Brits or Japs will suddenly crash our party. Forget small colonies aim to add to areas we already have presence in so Northern Europe if you can, North East Asia otherwise.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2014
- Messages
- 584
With tension levels as they are, I'd say go for a total victory and try to get East-prussia.
The outcome of that nighttime clusterfuck is truly amazing. You were outnumbered at least 4 to 1. Your sailors are probably used to fighting blind because of the methanol in their vodka.
The outcome of that nighttime clusterfuck is truly amazing. You were outnumbered at least 4 to 1. Your sailors are probably used to fighting blind because of the methanol in their vodka.
Total victory, East Prussia rightfully belongs to Russia. Just look at the name, there really cannot be any doubt.
Kalin
Unwanted
Dayyālu
Arcane
The AI, as far as I know, does not cheat. So it was blind as we were on the overall situation, and reacted accordingly.
I did not wrote up too much about the unit tactics that I employed (and I should, instead of memeposting) but the trio of our armoured cruisers where employed as a cutting knife to divide the unidentified enemy formations. The one cruiser we sunk by ramming was a stroke of luck, but I quickly realized that the swarms of destroyers could have easily crippled us with a lucky torpedo hit , despite the weather.
When morning came, i realized that we were lucky as hell and that the AI would quickly cripple or sink us if given the chance, so I escaped. Luck again, and we went into the middle of their transport formation, mostly without escort, and managed to sink most of them by slowing down just a bit.
If this battle had started in the morning or in the middle of the day, escape would have been our only option, their advantage was enormous. I like the skirmish engine though, it gives you battles as these, rather.... "dynamic".
2. Excercise traditional Russian Mercy. Total War till they're dead, that is.
C. No reason to start landgrabs around Yurop. That'll only become fashionable in like 40 years. Focus on the colonies right now.
C. No reason to start landgrabs around Yurop. That'll only become fashionable in like 40 years. Focus on the colonies right now.
Comte
Guest
2.
C.
C.
Dayyālu
Arcane
Votes registered, update in progress. However, due to things such as Real Life, Women and that newfangled X-Wing tabletop game (it's fun, pity that the fuckin things are expensive as heck) update will be out tomorrow, or in the worst case Tuesday.
In any case, sleep well, Cap'tins.
In any case, sleep well, Cap'tins.
Comte
Guest
MOAR!
Dayyālu
Arcane
The shot hit directly the command deck. Shrapnel cut down almost all of the crew, and you are wounded and dazed. It does not seems real, you know. Your ears keep ringing, and the entire world appears to move slowly. Focusing is difficult, and only the reassuring feeling of the main batteries of your flagship keeping continous fire on the enemy fleet manage to get through the mist covering your brain. It's night, the fire must not be that effective.
Yet, something is different. Something is peculiar. Who are the fighting? Why are you there? You can't remember. You try to reach the closest body, as you hear moaning. Maybe he can help you. Maybe you can help him.
Something is wrong though. Strange shapes in the dark.
You manage to reach the man, and suddenly realize that he's not.... he's not...
You wake up screaming. Your aide barges in, startled by the sudden sounds.
Whassup, Admiral? All right?
Nothing. Nothing. Just.... just the shape of things to come.
January 1906: A Metaphysical Battle for the Very Soul of Mankind
The results are clear. we should go for the big win, and require first of all the Chinese possessions of Germany, then the Pacific colonies. Good, that should be obtainable.
First of all, let's check the Almanac and see what the others are up to. Hmmm, it seems that we are in the forefront of the Dreadnought race, as only Austria is building two comparable to ours, and the American design is 5k tons smaller. Germany will soon break the blockade if it manages to finish those 13k pocket battleships. Our Cruiser Fleet is lagging a bit behind, and France decided to try the new concept of Battlecruiser. A big one, even, 22k tons. Britain is still Britain, ruling the waves.
Subs served us well in this war. We should focus on them in the future, methinks.
Germany keeps refusing the Decisive Battle. Yet, one of their raiders gets caught by our blockading fleet. Our light cruiser of the Vesta class should be enough to sink equivalent vessels. And I like Cruiser duels, they are relaxing, even if not that exciting to see. Let's see what we caught.
It looks like a civilian ship, right? Merely looks like one.
It's an Armed Merchant Cruiser. There is a huge amount of writing one could do on the subject, but I'll keep it for another day. To sum it up, it's a borderline pirate-like cruiser that tries to keep its identity masked until it's too late for the merchantmen it hunts, a excellent resource for commerce raiding. Against a proper ship it's dead meat though. Germany liked them quite a bit, for obvious strategical reasons.
Not even half an hour of engagement.
The people of all the Russias rise to help the fleet. From the humble farmer that has not even seen the Seas to the great noble, everyone loves and support our fleet. It's a matter of national pride, people. And we'll get a new BB out of this!
No pity! No remorse!
The Germans, their diplomatic attempts rebuked, try at last to engage our fleet directly. This could reverse again the destiny of the war, or sink Germany's fortunes once and for all. Their ships should have been repaired.
We have all of our main battleships, plus a sizeable amount of cruisers and destroyers. Every named captain is here, and the overall command is given to Captain Dreaad . I don't know if I should be happy or not, Dreaad has a ... penchant to sink my plans. It's early in the morning, if we get them we will see them clearly.
After some indecisive shooting from our scouting cruisers, we spot the main enemy battleline. The Madagaskar manages to hit several times the opposing Hertha class CAs, worthy of commendation.
We manage to outflank with our cruiser divisions the enemy battleline. Their cruiser complement is too weak to stop us, and I see very few Destroyers around. We are seven Battleships against Seven battleships, but their models are smaller, even if newer. The ships starts to fire, and some shots hit their mark. Nothing exceptional , though.
We manage, thanks to their bad cruiser coverage, to get their battleline inside the firing range of both our Battleship and Cruiser divisions. Two enemy destroyers start what I can only think of as a suicide run to torpedo us.
Nothing happens, though, and the Destroyers disengage quietly. Fire keeps pouring out of both formations. The Quintus, one of our CA, is hit by a lucky shot and a fire starts, but it's quickly put out by the well-trained crew. The amount of smoke from the fires, the fighting and the engines is starting to make direct fire difficult. This means mechanically that our already poor precision gets another -10% malus.
The German Fleet decides to disengage, and starts retreating. They are faster than us, as some of our ships are quite old. I'd like to take home at least some prizes, it's time to focus on the German CA division that has done nothing in all the engagement. Lazy fucks!
We weaken the two CA with some heavy 12 inch fire. When one of them starts circling (sign of a damaged rudder) first we let the battleship line to run a number on them, then we send a Destroyer squadron to Torpedo them into oblivion. The other CA is too fast, it manages to escape near the German shore. I won't risk my ships on minefields, danke.
Boom. Time to get back home and enjoy some high-class prostitutes.
Classy ladies, at least. The history of whores in Russia must be fascinating, maybe we'll get a grognard Brothel Simulator one day
The Madagaskar is outta ammo, the CA Squadrons are low on both ammo and coal and the battleships are slowing down. Let's finish the torpedoed CA and get back home.
It's over. We spot another wounded German CL, a Light Cruiser. Must have taken some hits in the earlier engagement, and it's now limping. Our hunter's duty to finish it off.
The CL explodes in a surge of fire and light. A good end for a rather substandard battle. We pick up the few survivors and get back home as darkness falls.
Still a victory. I failed to find the eight German B, and their Destroyer screen was subpar. They would not have taken so many shots if their Cruiser division did not drunkenly stumble around instead of engaging mine. Wonder where their Destroyers where, though!
The victory is good enough for us to gain a Prestige Point, even if we sank merely two cruisers.
We have NOT forgotten our Duty, though, and order immediately the building of a new BB of the Imperator Nikolai class. I wonder what I will have to do to keep up the building when the war is over and the budget is cut, though! Anyone up with a good name?
Incredibly enough, the Germans are back for more!
Pardon the duplicate screenshot, the program fucked up a bit
Another fleet battle. They must be hurting bad. To discover what will happen, and the exciting ending of this battle, stay tuned for the next update, "Rule the Waves: Rage Against the Furries edition". Coming later this very day.
Probably.
On another matter, the blue/red thingies are useful to understand a bit more what's happening?
Yet, something is different. Something is peculiar. Who are the fighting? Why are you there? You can't remember. You try to reach the closest body, as you hear moaning. Maybe he can help you. Maybe you can help him.
Something is wrong though. Strange shapes in the dark.
You manage to reach the man, and suddenly realize that he's not.... he's not...
You wake up screaming. Your aide barges in, startled by the sudden sounds.
January 1906: A Metaphysical Battle for the Very Soul of Mankind
The results are clear. we should go for the big win, and require first of all the Chinese possessions of Germany, then the Pacific colonies. Good, that should be obtainable.
First of all, let's check the Almanac and see what the others are up to. Hmmm, it seems that we are in the forefront of the Dreadnought race, as only Austria is building two comparable to ours, and the American design is 5k tons smaller. Germany will soon break the blockade if it manages to finish those 13k pocket battleships. Our Cruiser Fleet is lagging a bit behind, and France decided to try the new concept of Battlecruiser. A big one, even, 22k tons. Britain is still Britain, ruling the waves.
Subs served us well in this war. We should focus on them in the future, methinks.
Germany keeps refusing the Decisive Battle. Yet, one of their raiders gets caught by our blockading fleet. Our light cruiser of the Vesta class should be enough to sink equivalent vessels. And I like Cruiser duels, they are relaxing, even if not that exciting to see. Let's see what we caught.
It looks like a civilian ship, right? Merely looks like one.
It's an Armed Merchant Cruiser. There is a huge amount of writing one could do on the subject, but I'll keep it for another day. To sum it up, it's a borderline pirate-like cruiser that tries to keep its identity masked until it's too late for the merchantmen it hunts, a excellent resource for commerce raiding. Against a proper ship it's dead meat though. Germany liked them quite a bit, for obvious strategical reasons.
Not even half an hour of engagement.
The people of all the Russias rise to help the fleet. From the humble farmer that has not even seen the Seas to the great noble, everyone loves and support our fleet. It's a matter of national pride, people. And we'll get a new BB out of this!
No pity! No remorse!
The Germans, their diplomatic attempts rebuked, try at last to engage our fleet directly. This could reverse again the destiny of the war, or sink Germany's fortunes once and for all. Their ships should have been repaired.
We have all of our main battleships, plus a sizeable amount of cruisers and destroyers. Every named captain is here, and the overall command is given to Captain Dreaad . I don't know if I should be happy or not, Dreaad has a ... penchant to sink my plans. It's early in the morning, if we get them we will see them clearly.
After some indecisive shooting from our scouting cruisers, we spot the main enemy battleline. The Madagaskar manages to hit several times the opposing Hertha class CAs, worthy of commendation.
We manage to outflank with our cruiser divisions the enemy battleline. Their cruiser complement is too weak to stop us, and I see very few Destroyers around. We are seven Battleships against Seven battleships, but their models are smaller, even if newer. The ships starts to fire, and some shots hit their mark. Nothing exceptional , though.
We manage, thanks to their bad cruiser coverage, to get their battleline inside the firing range of both our Battleship and Cruiser divisions. Two enemy destroyers start what I can only think of as a suicide run to torpedo us.
Nothing happens, though, and the Destroyers disengage quietly. Fire keeps pouring out of both formations. The Quintus, one of our CA, is hit by a lucky shot and a fire starts, but it's quickly put out by the well-trained crew. The amount of smoke from the fires, the fighting and the engines is starting to make direct fire difficult. This means mechanically that our already poor precision gets another -10% malus.
The German Fleet decides to disengage, and starts retreating. They are faster than us, as some of our ships are quite old. I'd like to take home at least some prizes, it's time to focus on the German CA division that has done nothing in all the engagement. Lazy fucks!
We weaken the two CA with some heavy 12 inch fire. When one of them starts circling (sign of a damaged rudder) first we let the battleship line to run a number on them, then we send a Destroyer squadron to Torpedo them into oblivion. The other CA is too fast, it manages to escape near the German shore. I won't risk my ships on minefields, danke.
Boom. Time to get back home and enjoy some high-class prostitutes.
Classy ladies, at least. The history of whores in Russia must be fascinating, maybe we'll get a grognard Brothel Simulator one day
The Madagaskar is outta ammo, the CA Squadrons are low on both ammo and coal and the battleships are slowing down. Let's finish the torpedoed CA and get back home.
It's over. We spot another wounded German CL, a Light Cruiser. Must have taken some hits in the earlier engagement, and it's now limping. Our hunter's duty to finish it off.
The CL explodes in a surge of fire and light. A good end for a rather substandard battle. We pick up the few survivors and get back home as darkness falls.
Still a victory. I failed to find the eight German B, and their Destroyer screen was subpar. They would not have taken so many shots if their Cruiser division did not drunkenly stumble around instead of engaging mine. Wonder where their Destroyers where, though!
The victory is good enough for us to gain a Prestige Point, even if we sank merely two cruisers.
We have NOT forgotten our Duty, though, and order immediately the building of a new BB of the Imperator Nikolai class. I wonder what I will have to do to keep up the building when the war is over and the budget is cut, though! Anyone up with a good name?
Incredibly enough, the Germans are back for more!
Pardon the duplicate screenshot, the program fucked up a bit
Another fleet battle. They must be hurting bad. To discover what will happen, and the exciting ending of this battle, stay tuned for the next update, "Rule the Waves: Rage Against the Furries edition". Coming later this very day.
Probably.
On another matter, the blue/red thingies are useful to understand a bit more what's happening?
Another major victory. GLORY BE! :russia:
You'd better keep that promise.
They are.
You'd better keep that promise.
They are.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2013
- Messages
- 3,469
They're helpful.
Corporate_Jew_Master
Arcane
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
update
update
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2014
- Messages
- 584
That feeling when the sheer horror of it all slowly dawns on you.
Well, I don't know if fatty cruiser Baardhaas is ready for retirement yet, but a BB Baardhaas sure sounds nice.
Yep, major improvement for large battles.
Dayyālu
Arcane
Let's Play Rule The Waves: Nowhere to Run Edition
Here we have our fleet. The usual battleline of Bs and CAs, and the scouting ships in search of the marauding German force. Let's go full speed in the hunt, then.
We soon find each other, and the battlelines start exchanging fire in the earnest. The German fleet lacks everything bar Battleships, their Destroyer screen is almost non-existant.
One of the Mecklemburg class Battleships start slowing and circling. Our heavy fire has taken a heavy toll on the pocket battleships the Germans employ. Sure, they are fast, but they can't eat and dish fire as we do. Let's try to sink it! We throw our Destroyers into the fray, risking them to torpedo the German ship.
A wave of Destroyers jump on the battleship.
The results are obvious. Well, the ship managed to escape two torpedo runs, TRUTH BE TOLD
The problem of having too few support ships now becomes clear for the Germans: we manage to break their line in three pieces, weakening their salvoes and focusing ours. Some of their battleships will not return home this time.
The AI reacts well, for once. It scatters. I can't follow all ships efficiently: if I give indipendent command to my admirals, who the heck knows what they will do. And I can't directly control ships too far from the flagship (this time, the Eustafi). Each of the blue circles is a B, escaping from my line.
The wounded Meckenburg is reached and eats an entire battleline of fire. Poor thing.
Enough. The Mecklenburg class pocket battleship is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen. Yes, they are cheap, yes, they can be built in numbers. But the performance against battleships double their size is subpar. The sacrifice of this vessel, though, has let the others escape to safety, and the ammunition reserves of the Russian ships are now low. Let's salute those heroic Germans, who have endured fire and death to let others live.
I seriously hope we don't hit their ammo dump now. I want to rescue the survivors.
After six torped hits, the Meck sinks. We detach a DD to take the survivors. The night is coming, our ammo and coal low, and it's time again to get back to the home docks.
A solid victory, even if we are damaged. I discover that the crew quality for the German ship, the Elsass, was -1, so low. Probably we shot a bunch of trainees and new sailors, and the ship was a newly built one. A fitting sacrifice, I guess. Young blood. Of the roughly 350 men manning the ship, we rescued 71.
Funny. The game gives us such details.
Predictable. For how long the German people will endure?
We get a raiding attempt where nothing happens. No contact between the fleets. Good for the Germans.
Again, we refuse. Sadly, the Germans managed to finish TWO more Mecklenburg class battleships this month. The blockade is broken. For all the good it does to them....
MY PEOPLE; I CAN GUARANTEE VICTORY! TSAR, TELL THEM WE CAN DO IT! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. We are winning, but the land war is a bloody stalemate and without the blockade this could drag on for long.
I guess they have a point, if we keep making sorties and failing to find even a single enemy ship.
Interestingly enough, the year of ferocious naval warfare has been excellent school for our sailors. While the Germans lost a good number of ships and have sent into battle hastily trained replacements, our men have become very good at their jobs. Some even are categorized as Elite!
The smoke of the coal-powered factories is the blood of our Nation.
If they release Daiteikoku should I LP it? Maybe I get insane like RK47, just faster. Plus, SPEESHSHIPS
An essential tech, as we saw, Torpedoes are great ship killers. The Flotation damage rarely let a ship escape from an engagement, as as we saw mobility is essential in naval warfare.
We get a smaller battle this time, a Destroyer skirmish. Never got many of these in my past playthroughs.
Ok, I'm shit at employing Destroyers. Sue me. The little things are too fast for my reflexes.
The game throws us a bone, and gives us a small Cruiser action. Our objective here will be to sink Transports and avoid patrols. Fun.
But I'm tired and will end the update here. We managed to strike a good blow with the loss of another battleship, but I can guarantee that the Germans are not stopping building them. They have already two more in the docks and are now building Dreadnaughts.
New designs, of course, but it shows the amount of resources that the Germans have. If we failed to contain them now, we could have ended up with another Britain in Northern Europe, even if equipped with mere pocket battleships.
G'night, Kamaraden.
Here we have our fleet. The usual battleline of Bs and CAs, and the scouting ships in search of the marauding German force. Let's go full speed in the hunt, then.
We soon find each other, and the battlelines start exchanging fire in the earnest. The German fleet lacks everything bar Battleships, their Destroyer screen is almost non-existant.
One of the Mecklemburg class Battleships start slowing and circling. Our heavy fire has taken a heavy toll on the pocket battleships the Germans employ. Sure, they are fast, but they can't eat and dish fire as we do. Let's try to sink it! We throw our Destroyers into the fray, risking them to torpedo the German ship.
A wave of Destroyers jump on the battleship.
The results are obvious. Well, the ship managed to escape two torpedo runs, TRUTH BE TOLD
The problem of having too few support ships now becomes clear for the Germans: we manage to break their line in three pieces, weakening their salvoes and focusing ours. Some of their battleships will not return home this time.
The AI reacts well, for once. It scatters. I can't follow all ships efficiently: if I give indipendent command to my admirals, who the heck knows what they will do. And I can't directly control ships too far from the flagship (this time, the Eustafi). Each of the blue circles is a B, escaping from my line.
The wounded Meckenburg is reached and eats an entire battleline of fire. Poor thing.
Enough. The Mecklenburg class pocket battleship is probably one of the worst things I've ever seen. Yes, they are cheap, yes, they can be built in numbers. But the performance against battleships double their size is subpar. The sacrifice of this vessel, though, has let the others escape to safety, and the ammunition reserves of the Russian ships are now low. Let's salute those heroic Germans, who have endured fire and death to let others live.
I seriously hope we don't hit their ammo dump now. I want to rescue the survivors.
After six torped hits, the Meck sinks. We detach a DD to take the survivors. The night is coming, our ammo and coal low, and it's time again to get back to the home docks.
A solid victory, even if we are damaged. I discover that the crew quality for the German ship, the Elsass, was -1, so low. Probably we shot a bunch of trainees and new sailors, and the ship was a newly built one. A fitting sacrifice, I guess. Young blood. Of the roughly 350 men manning the ship, we rescued 71.
Funny. The game gives us such details.
Predictable. For how long the German people will endure?
We get a raiding attempt where nothing happens. No contact between the fleets. Good for the Germans.
Again, we refuse. Sadly, the Germans managed to finish TWO more Mecklenburg class battleships this month. The blockade is broken. For all the good it does to them....
MY PEOPLE; I CAN GUARANTEE VICTORY! TSAR, TELL THEM WE CAN DO IT! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. We are winning, but the land war is a bloody stalemate and without the blockade this could drag on for long.
I guess they have a point, if we keep making sorties and failing to find even a single enemy ship.
Interestingly enough, the year of ferocious naval warfare has been excellent school for our sailors. While the Germans lost a good number of ships and have sent into battle hastily trained replacements, our men have become very good at their jobs. Some even are categorized as Elite!
The smoke of the coal-powered factories is the blood of our Nation.
If they release Daiteikoku should I LP it? Maybe I get insane like RK47, just faster. Plus, SPEESHSHIPS
An essential tech, as we saw, Torpedoes are great ship killers. The Flotation damage rarely let a ship escape from an engagement, as as we saw mobility is essential in naval warfare.
We get a smaller battle this time, a Destroyer skirmish. Never got many of these in my past playthroughs.
Ok, I'm shit at employing Destroyers. Sue me. The little things are too fast for my reflexes.
The game throws us a bone, and gives us a small Cruiser action. Our objective here will be to sink Transports and avoid patrols. Fun.
But I'm tired and will end the update here. We managed to strike a good blow with the loss of another battleship, but I can guarantee that the Germans are not stopping building them. They have already two more in the docks and are now building Dreadnaughts.
New designs, of course, but it shows the amount of resources that the Germans have. If we failed to contain them now, we could have ended up with another Britain in Northern Europe, even if equipped with mere pocket battleships.
G'night, Kamaraden.
Dreaad
Arcane
See there is nothing to worry about with me in charge. Now send me back to raiding Japanese merchant ships, how else am I supposed to get the latest manga?
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