Interesting Naval observation for DD.

[petester]

I am in the middle of a game as Japan - now early '42.

As mine is mostly a naval compaign at the moment, I was interested to see how my CV fleets were doing - after all, in WWII, they were the dominant ship in existance - expecially as they doomed the Battleship to obscurity.

Well, had a look at the Sunk Ships tab and saw something interesting.

The combined CV's worldwide have sunk 30 ships. The combined Battleships worldwide have sunk 143...

In my game Naval bombers are only doing slightly better than the battleships! Isn't this supposed to be reversed?

In thinking about it, most of my CV fleet conflicts have an end result of one fleet breaking off - losing very few ships in the bargan. A fleet stumbling onto a Battleship heavy TF gets wiped out to the last ship...

So, will play a little more and see if the tide turns as the years go by and the Naval doctrine gets expanded...

 

[Whisper]

Huh, my good old german manufactured Battleships always get a bloody nose against the RN Carriers...
More than just a bloody nose....

 

[unmerged(45706)]

I am in the middle of a game as Japan - now early '42.

As mine is mostly a naval compaign at the moment, I was interested to see how my CV fleets were doing - after all, in WWII, they were the dominant ship in existance - expecially as they doomed the Battleship to obscurity.

Well, had a look at the Sunk Ships tab and saw something interesting.

The combined CV's worldwide have sunk 30 ships. The combined Battleships worldwide have sunk 143...

In my game Naval bombers are only doing slightly better than the battleships! Isn't this supposed to be reversed?

In thinking about it, most of my CV fleet conflicts have an end result of one fleet breaking off - losing very few ships in the bargan. A fleet stumbling onto a Battleship heavy TF gets wiped out to the last ship...

So, will play a little more and see if the tide turns as the years go by and the Naval doctrine gets expanded...

Had a similar experience in a game i played as Germany. It's 1942 and my fleet starts to expand after i finished my business on the European mainland.
Two fleets with two CV's each are fighting it out with the RN. In most of the engagements when the RN doesn't have CV's in the fleets i engage their ships cannot come close and my carriers score a couple of kills. My BB's aren't of much use at first sight. But a good year later (and with most of the BB doctrines researched) i notice that my BB's kill at least as much as my CV's...

 

[unmerged(5961)]

Had a similar experience in a game i played as Germany. It's 1942 and my fleet starts to expand after i finished my business on the European mainland.
Two fleets with two CV's each are fighting it out with the RN. In most of the engagements when the RN doesn't have CV's in the fleets i engage their ships cannot come close and my carriers score a couple of kills. My BB's aren't of much use at first sight. But a good year later (and with most of the BB doctrines researched) i notice that my BB's kill at least as much as my CV's...

There are several reasons for that. Very often your leader will be two levels better than the AI's leader. Your doctrines are actually pretty good. They are not as good as the carrier doctrines, but the AI never uses carriers effectively. Your navy is a concetration of modern ships, something the AI almost never does. I also suspect that you only use CL's for your escort ships. 17 type 4 CLs have decent air defence.

The AI tends to use a mix of CV, BB, CA, CL, DD, and 1 sub. When you close, even for an hour, every ship in your stack can wreck havoc on his escort.

My German fleet that can be produced by middle of 42 is centered around getting a single powerful BB taskforce out. (I know that this is not efficient). The main fleet includes 5 Super heavy BBs, 3 BCs, 5 CVLs (type 2 and 3), 17 CLs. The secondary fleet includes my extra type 2 CVLs, a bunch of heavy crusers, a bunch of light crusers - for a total size of around 20. The tertiary fleet is made up of a few CAs, and a lot of DDs - for a total size of around 30.

I found that I also need around 24 INTs over the channel and to the north of England to keep the english bombers away. This is more than you would need if you play a defensive air war, because now the AI can send his own interceptors to fight you. Plus 8 fighters to control the sea zone to the west of england, and around 8 TAC/NAV bombers with escorts to keep the exit to the Atlantic free.

There are two approaches to using this fleet. Use your main fleet as bait in the Channel with your secondary and tertiary fleets one zone away. The AI will show up with the stack of doom and you will need to move your other fleets into the combat zone. This makes for a very bloody fight, but you will gravely damage the English navy while losing your own. With your production of modern CA and air dominance of the Channel you can now invade at will.

The other way is to attrition the English fleet. It involves more risk, but may destroy the English fleet - and some of the US fleet - without costing you the BBs. Move your main fleet into the Atlantic, next to a sea zone where you have a raiding stack of more than 10 subs under Donitz. Wait for the AI to show up. Make a judgment call on whether you can beat the AI stack. Move your main fleet in, while moving the sub stack out, then keep chasing the AI fleet untill you finish it. (Be careful not to wander into the AI naval bomber patrols. I know the AI has unlimited range, but it only patrols in set areas.) This can be repeated as long as needed. Usually you will lose CLs and have to spend 3 months in port fixing the BBs.

I really dislike loosing the escort fighters as a dedicated unit. I am now stuck using bomber groups for air superiority.

Has anyone ever gotten a BB with 40 experience points? My best BB seems to max out at 28 experience points.

 

[unmerged(45706)]

There are several reasons for that. Very often your leader will be two levels better than the AI's leader. Your doctrines are actually pretty good. They are not as good as the carrier doctrines, but the AI never uses carriers effectively. Your navy is a concetration of modern ships, something the AI almost never does. I also suspect that you only use CL's for your escort ships. 17 type 4 CLs have decent air defence.

The AI tends to use a mix of CV, BB, CA, CL, DD, and 1 sub. When you close, even for an hour, every ship in your stack can wreck havoc on his escort.

My German fleet that can be produced by middle of 42 is centered around getting a single powerful BB taskforce out. (I know that this is not efficient). The main fleet includes 5 Super heavy BBs, 3 BCs, 5 CVLs (type 2 and 3), 17 CLs. The secondary fleet includes my extra type 2 CVLs, a bunch of heavy crusers, a bunch of light crusers - for a total size of around 20. The tertiary fleet is made up of a few CAs, and a lot of DDs - for a total size of around 30.

I found that I also need around 24 INTs over the channel and to the north of England to keep the english bombers away. This is more than you would need if you play a defensive air war, because now the AI can send his own interceptors to fight you. Plus 8 fighters to control the sea zone to the west of england, and around 8 TAC/NAV bombers with escorts to keep the exit to the Atlantic free.

There are two approaches to using this fleet. Use your main fleet as bait in the Channel with your secondary and tertiary fleets one zone away. The AI will show up with the stack of doom and you will need to move your other fleets into the combat zone. This makes for a very bloody fight, but you will gravely damage the English navy while losing your own. With your production of modern CA and air dominance of the Channel you can now invade at will.

The other way is to attrition the English fleet. It involves more risk, but may destroy the English fleet - and some of the US fleet - without costing you the BBs. Move your main fleet into the Atlantic, next to a sea zone where you have a raiding stack of more than 10 subs under Donitz. Wait for the AI to show up. Make a judgment call on whether you can beat the AI stack. Move your main fleet in, while moving the sub stack out, then keep chasing the AI fleet untill you finish it. (Be careful not to wander into the AI naval bomber patrols. I know the AI has unlimited range, but it only patrols in set areas.) This can be repeated as long as needed. Usually you will lose CLs and have to spend 3 months in port fixing the BBs.

I really dislike loosing the escort fighters as a dedicated unit. I am now stuck using bomber groups for air superiority.

Has anyone ever gotten a BB with 40 experience points? My best BB seems to max out at 28 experience points.

that pretty much sums it up, i guess...
For fleet composition then, my strategy is more random.
A BB with 40 experience points ? The thing would probably sink due to the extra weight aboard from all the medals...