Feedback and some questions

[SquidB]

Firstly, Thanks for Jutland!

Its rare these days to see an uncomprimising simulation. You've given me a fix ive been searching for since GNB's!

At the moment Im playing the germans in the campaign. Things are going well, Ive managed to maul the Grand fleet with little loses, and I have light crusiers fighting it out with the Auxilaries in the GIUK gap.

A couple of questions though.

Im struggling to find a way to preserve and effectively use my DD's. What tips can you give for using them effectively and how/when is the best way to employ them?

How are in base repairs calculated? What sort of time scales can i expect to repair a main turret on a BB/BC?

Are there any plans to continue with the engine into WWII?

Thanks again for a great sim! :up:

[Bullethead]

Im struggling to find a way to preserve and effectively use my DD's. What tips can you give for using them effectively and how/when is the best way to employ them?

Destroyers are like Napoleanic light cavalry--fast and potentially decisive, but fragile and essentially a 1-shot weapon. So give them cavalry-type orders. Picture your battle line as your "infantry". The cavalry should spend most of its time at the ends of the line (fore and aft of the BBs) to defend against enemy "cavalry". You should only commit them offensively to mop up enemy stragglers, pursue a defeated foe, or as a last-ditch suicide force to save your defeated BBs who are trying to escape.

If you want to attack an enemy battle line, the best way is to launch from ahead. Not only does this give you the best geometry to get hits, but it limits your exposure to defensive fire. This is why you need to station your DDs ahead of your BBs, so they can keep enemy DDs from getting into that launch position. And you need more DDs astern in case you reverse the direction of your battle line.

However, British DDs usually win DD vs. DD battles because they are larger ships with bigger guns. The German DDs thus need to be backed up by CLs to have much hope of stopping a British DD attack or getting through the British DDs to launch at the GF. Problem is, the Germans have only a few modern CLs and even those aren't fast enough to keep up with the DDs, plus the British have many more CLs and also lots of ACs. This makes effective use of German DDs rather difficult. The British, OTOH, have a much easier time on the light forces side.

How are in base repairs calculated? What sort of time scales can i expect to repair a main turret on a BB/BC?

All repairs of all ships are simultaneous. I don't know if there's a limit to a given base's repair capacity, as in whether working on too many ships at once slows them all down, but if so, I've never noticed.

Damaged weapons are repaired very quickly. Destroyed weapons take time. The bigger the weapon, the longer it takes. A BB main turret can easily take weeks to repair. Directors and searchlights are counted as weapons in this regard, so main directors can take as long to repair as the turrets they control, but searchlights repair quickly.

For hull, steering, and propulsion damage, a certain amount of each is repaired each day, so the more damage you have, the longer it takes. In addition, I believe that propulsion and steering repair at a slower rate than hull.

Are there any plans to continue with the engine into WWII?

We'd like to, and further expand WW1 coverage, and perhaps do something in between like War Plan Orange. But it all depends on the money situation.

[SquidB]

How does the gameplay differ from Jutland? I know its the same interfaces etc, but how does it play out, whats the campaign like, are there any other differences?

Well, let's see.....

The RJW campaign is different from Jutland's in that it revolves totally around keeping the Japanese Army away from Port Arthur. The Russians can do this by stopping the supply ships heading for Korea, and less directly by blockading Japan and cutting off her imports. IOW, it's all about commerce raiding by the Russians and commerce protection by the Japanese. Naval actions take place in an effort to make it easier for 1 side to accomplish its mission in this regard, but the outcomes of these battles have no direct effect on victory. That's decided by cargo ships safe or lost.

The game therefore boils down to the Russian cruisers hunting merchants and being hunted by stronger Japanese forces. The Russian fleet also tries to attrit the Japanese blockades without getting crushed by the more-modern IJN fleet. If the Russians can hold on, the 2nd Pacific Squadron will show up. Although most of this is crap, it has enough good stuff in it to really tip the overall naval balance in their favor, provided their original fleet is still largely intact.

[Bullethead]

Damn, I'm sorry, SquidB. I accidentally put my reply on top of your questoin under your name. Guess I hit the "edit" button instead of the "reply" button. Sorry.....

[Bullethead]

I want to discuss some more question for this thread and posts.

Well, speak up :). What do you want to talk about?