Corvettes and Frigates?

[CraniumMuppet]

Let me lay down the current classification. It's not exactly the types as they were named back in WWII times but they are remarkably close to "standard" types/classes you'd see in HoI4. Why they are not in "official" WWII type classification - it's just good Armies/Navies may be somewhat conservative in formalities yet they do have "time-to-market" cycle that business world should envy. However that praise may be limited to war-time Which means that by the end of WWII there were real role distinction though officially ships can fall in the same WWII official ship classes (hello to people that insist HoI4 should follow pre-WWII ToE instead of RL OoB So the current situation:

• There's no formal DW criteria in the cruiser/destroyer/corvette types. By pure DW they pretty much overlap - CG Ticonderoga is actually a DD Spruance hull and PLAN Types- officially a DDs - are even 25% bigger than Ticonderogas.

The real distinctions are:

• First and foremost how much money you are ready to put into it - invested NICs in HoI4 terms.
• Role you intend the class to fulfill - module composition in HoI4.
• Range - hull generation / endurance in HOI4.

Current RL situation is that the main limitation are money - hulls are cheap, systems are bloody expensive. Just like in HOI4 everyone would love to have best-in-class all-around multipurpose DDs - current DWs permit. It's just the real life allows only China and US to have them. Russians come as an aspiring third with handy-capped all-around designs yet they have a different situation. Europeans do really have no more one ToW even if divided into mere couple of AoOs so they can quickly reposition if need arises. You may argue that China also has just one "immediate" ToW yet they so build so all-around capable DDs but I leave it you to decide why they do this

So IRL what you have:

• "Military-wealthy" Israelis buying Sa'ar class that is officially classified as corvettes yet it's on par if not exceeding the newest and most capable destroyers produced by leading European Navies. Why they still "officially" classify the type as corvette? It has low endurance/range but Israelis - withing the current doctrine - believe they don't need more range.
• "Wealthy" European nation opting for having a common platform for different role-based ships - inter-nation or inter-class. Same official type-classification yet different roles - "expensive" multi-purpose ships or separate roles - AA, ASuW or ASW or combination of thereof.

So when people complain that HoI4 designer somehow ahistorical and does not give people enough to produce some unique designs this preposition is questionable IMHO. Because that's it's how it ended up in IRL. IRL you have majors building super-expensive all-around ships. You have minors specializing their ship designs but not platforms - broadly hulls + engine rooms. You have some diversity within the roles but that's due to political considerations and budget issues - they are not different types really.

@CraniumMuppet you comment if I may?

I'm not sure what I should comment? I'm much more of a game developer than what I am a historian so I when I think about the game I think from the POV of what makes sense mechanically so I'll answer from that.

For where I am looking at for new ships to make sense to implement it would need to have a role that it not currently being served, otherwise it kinda just does double work for another similar ship.

Most of the things that was listed at the top can be done by a cheap DD already.

I don't really agree that DDs with only the basic stuff and a minesweeping/minelaying rail are that expensive. You churn out quite a lot of them if you want, and making them even cheaper with a new ship would just lead to odd situations where players would spam them out like crazy or no one would use them. Both are equally bad


That's pretty much my view