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It means that convoys will be visible on the main map ? :)

did you miss last weeks dev diary?

I just re-read DD#9, though you can clearly see the convoy "routes" in the logistics mapmode Johan never said you'll actually see the convoys. So taking yours and Johans comments about convoy escorts one can only assume that you will in fact be able to see the convoys moving, like any other "fleet", assuming you've detected them of coarse? ;)

If this is true its very cool and is going to make the battle of the Atlantic alot of fun, not to mention realistic. Considering the battle of the atlantic was the longest running campaign of WW2 it should be a hands on thing, not abstracted. Cant wait to flood the pond with my U-Boats... Los!:D

The rest of the DD indicates the naval aspect of the HOI series is finally going to shine.

Great DD, have Merry Christmas everyone at Paradox, you deserve a "little" break! :)
 
It might just be me, but were British destroyers really as big as German heavy cruisers? The models are great but their size might need some adjustments.

I hope we get a new Dev Diary about Carriers soon, very exited to how these will be handeled. I sure hope they will have powers to attack fleets in adjacent seazones (or further) now that we know we will have 4500 of them. Some Carriers aircraft had huge ranges, so letting later models detect fleets say ca: 3 seazones away and attacking fleets ca: 2seazones away wouldn't be wrong.

About the replacement system, wouldn't it be more accurate to replace ships on individual basis? If only the DDs get damaged in a major taskforce it makes no sence to have the battleships and carriers be replaced aswell. The both fleets might have to meet half way or at the port (since we don't like damaged loners) but otherwise I see no problems.

Finally those seazones on the screenshots doesn't look small enough to be 4500 of. Do they get areas and subzones only shown when zoomed in just like land provinces?
 
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they kinda point towards their enemy, as they are in a battle.

Since its a screenshot, you don't see all the nice little animations there.

I always play with counters, but realizing that the guns on ships actually move is stunning...
 
About the replacement system, wouldn't it be more accurate to replace ships on individual basis? If only the DDs get damaged in a major taskforce it makes no sence to have the battleships and carriers be replaced aswell. The both fleets might have to meet half way or at the port (since we don't like damaged loners) but otherwise I see no problems.

I thought the exact same thing, but if you read the dev diary carefully:

With an added twist, each naval base can also be set up with a pool of reserves. These sit in port, repair if they need it, upgrade if they can, but when ever a fleet that is on an infinite order needs to return to port these ships will be used to replace them (providing they are of the same type).

I'm guessing ships :)

On a side note, this system of reserves will make convoy raiding not so much of a nuisance as it was in HoI2. You just set it up, and it can keep running with minimal interaction. Well done!

A nice feature would be a warning popup when you run out of reserves (if they hadn't thought of that already!). You might be interested in knowing that there's a gap in your U-Boat screen :)
 
Wow, missed a few weeks, but it's really coming along very nicely.

Also, 4 weeks for a holiday in winter?
 
You must be from North America, Europe is way ahead of us in terms of time off/stat holidays. Whats the average paid vacation time/year there, 4+ weeks?

Its only 2 in North America....:(

I'm Belgian, I only get three weeks of paid vacation plus a bonus every june. Oh woe is me... :rolleyes:

That's without counting days you can get from overtime/recup.
 
Ah, the update I've been waiting for. : )

So cool that certain aspects of ships are upgradeable. So I can take the old HMS Hood, give her modern AA, radar, fire control, perhaps even new machinery and add'l deck armor, i.e. the proposed rebuild she never had. Naval geeks rejoice!

The "scouting" feature is perfect. How instead of having the whole UK Home Fleet sailing back and forth in the Faroes Gap for months, I can send a couple cruisers to patrol there, and if they spot commerce raiders, the big ships set sail from Scapa (and the scouts will try their best NOT to engage the 2 BBs + 3 CAs).

Thanks so much P'dox--can't wait to hear about the carriers!
 
I'm guessing ships :)
Fair enough, but Im still in doubt. What hes actually said is:

"but when ever a fleet that is on an infinite order needs to return to port these ships will be used to replace them "(probably the fleet earlier reffered to)

It can be interpreted both ways, But im hoping for individual ships too.
 
Cool, hopefully the little shiny icons for ships are not the only one to mod (18x18?)
Hopefully there're some bigger ones where you can identify clearly the "model" or country
 
Fair enough, but Im still in doubt. What hes actually said is:

"but when ever a fleet that is on an infinite order needs to return to port these ships will be used to replace them "(probably the fleet earlier reffered to)

It can be interpreted both ways, But im hoping for individual ships too.

Ahhh, sounds great. Will be good to see a finely modelled Battle of the Atlantic.

Starving out the UK, may even be possible now! :)

Ayeshteni
 
Wow! So ambitious, a part of me is wondering if a proper naval system is even possible. Ships, carriers, submarines, CAG, land-based sea recon/bombing... ughhh... I would give up. Paradox guys are pretty amazing.

*What could be the reason for the design decision that ships cant upgrade guns? If its expensive and time consuming, why not? Many Italian and Japanese capital ships changed their main guns in the games time frame.

*How about transforming cruisers/BB into carriers? This was fairly popular for the japanese and designed by the Germans and Italians. Sslightly cheaper than building one from scratch... with less planes and more armor.
 
This is the final development diary before the holidays, and we’ll be back in the middle of January.
...
Here's two screenshots, since its christmas..
...

Hey you cant do that to us! As you said its Christmas!!! ;)

Its not too much to invest 15 minutes once in the week, just to keep us happy.
(So I really hope this "final before January" is just like in rock gig - after the last song we will see some encore :)
 
Wow I really like this naval system and can't wait to give it a try. Thanks Johan for the information and the extra screen shot.
 
As always another great update. Finally naval goodies!!!!!!!!!
A question about carriers?
1. Will carriers now have a more historical air group.
2. Fighters(protection and escort)
3. Bombers(attack on ships/bases/ports/cities)
4. Torpedo planes(attack on ships)
5. scouts(search for the enemy)
6. The more modern the carrier the bigger the air group should be.
 
Knowing an enemy fleet is in a sea zone is not enough to be able to engage it, the ocean is a big place and all you know is that a fleet is somewhere. You need to pinpoint the fleet’s location better than that if you wish to actually fight it.

I dont get that. How would they discern that a fleet is in the sea zone without actually spotting it, and thus pinpointing its location?
 
I dont get that. How would they discern that a fleet is in the sea zone without actually spotting it, and thus pinpointing its location?

Naval Intelligence could discern the approximate zone of operation for a ship/fleet. Then the spotter planes/fleets are sent out to pinpoint it.


This re-affirms my earlier point about the importance of speed. Its needs to be implemented better in HOI3. It was a pretty useless factor in HOI2.
 
I dont get that. How would they discern that a fleet is in the sea zone without actually spotting it, and thus pinpointing its location?

Radar, commercial ships reporting enemy activity, etc.

I suppose that means that even if the enemy fleet is known to be in a zone, it won't be immediately engaged once you send your battlegroup there - they'll have to poke around for them first.

BTW, this whole patrol mechanic introduces an interesting tactic (provided the AI actually uses patrol/intercept orders) - using very fast Battlecruisers as commerce raiders is more viable, as they can presumably outrun the ships following them.