Alaska

For all you Alaska fans out there, I just noticed in the General section, Tugboat will soon be offering Alaska hulls. Alaska should be awesome in treaty with her 33 knot speed, she can outrun any Axis capital ship short of some hypotheticals.

 

Cruisers will still out run it, and out turn it.

With 3-4 seconds of speed advantage to the cruisers, the Alaska may as well not be moving at all.

 

True, but the Alaska won't be eating sidemounts from the cruisers either. Fast cruisers however, are the Allies' biggest weakness in Treaty. We've only got the Kirov, Chapayev and Omaha at 35+ knots, where as the Axis has all the Italian and IJN ships that are barn burners.

Alaska will still have a nice advantage over 27 knot Yamatos and Nagatos and the 30 knot Bismarcks and Kongos. Only the 31 knot Scahrnhorsts are a significant threat, and are still 2 seconds slower. A lot of people have expressed interest in the Alaska over the years, and while they are simply point cows in the IRCWCC or MWC, someone who really wanted one could get away with running it and not be supremely disadvantaged. A good captain with one could potentially be deadly.

That being said, a solid team effort using fast Axis crusiers to "herd" and Alaska under the guns of a slower, but harder hitting battleship could be quite effective. But then again, any solid team work is going to be effective, regardless of the ships involved.

 

Alaska will make a pretty nice stern gun target for cruisers. That pretty bow just can't be missed.
The cruisers could make the Alaska run in circles, easy picking. Unless Alaska just felt like ingnoring the plinking.


A fast cuiser or super-destroyer would seam to be the best bet. Speed rules.

I thought that Scharnhorst was listed at 32 knots?

 

Pretty sure Scharny is 31 knots, but I could be wrong. I'm operating from memory.

 

I would like to see an Alaska out there. It could run with my Renoun.
Mikey

 

Before you order an Alaska, Tugboat is going to be getting the Hood mold from Bob Pottle with the next few months as well I believe

 

Can't really blame them, the Hood is one good looking ship. I'm looking forward to seeing some ships often considered to be less then optimal such as the Hood and Alaska on the water.

 

I thought that Scharnhorst made ~31.7 knots on trials. Are all fractions droped rather than rounded?

I suspect that Hood and Alaska will still be less than optimal with Treaty rules.
They won't be the worst things on the water however, the US dreadnaughts will be the true dogs.
(slow and bad turning, the worst of both worlds)

 

Yes, we decided to just drop the decimal and round to the lowest full knot that it achieved. We had talked about several different methods, and determined that this was the best way to go.

You're probably right about ships like Hood and Alaska being less then optimal. I was probably a little optimistic when I said "awesome". They'll be far more viable under these rules however, then they would be under standard IRCWCC/MWC rulesets. If battled properly, they should be fairly effective ships.

As for the single ruddered US dreadnoughts, yeah they are pretty slow. As to whether or not they'll be dogs or not, I'm not certain. Part of me wants to agree with you; conventional wisdom does support the fact that they won't turn well. However, I watched Mikey Deskin's single rudder Strasbourg turn pretty circles this year, and watched Mike P's inline rudder Conte di Cavour (only two shafts too) turn really pretty circles as well. I'm starting to wonder just how much of an impact rudder design, prop pitch/rpm and shaft placement have on turning as opposed to just having two rudders. Obviously two rudders makes it easy to make a boat turn well, but with some work and some TLC guys seem to be successful with single rudder designs.

The US dreadnoughts have plenty of units, have nice length to beam ratios, and good hull volume. With the ability to split a unit and add to the sidemounts, a 5.5 unit US dreadnought can run with two 75 round sidemounts, and a stern gun (75 rounds or 50 depending on the pump the captain wants). If the captain goes with a 50 round sidemount, he's got a 1.5 unit battleship pump and his hull volume to help him survive....he's going to be able to take damage and give same. Those slow dreadnoughts are tempting targets, especially if a ship knows he can escape. If a captain can get his US dreadnought to turn as well as the Cavour was turning, when people make the mistake of tangling with him, they're going to pay.

We also allow ships to have multiple rotates, so if a captain wanted to he could set up a 75 round rotate in "X" turret aft and a 75 round rotate in either "A" or "B" turret and link them so when one rotates into the port sector the other rotates into the starboard sector (keeps from violating 2 sides in one quadrant rule) and be able to deliver gunfire off either bow or off either quarter. Setting the guns up that way leaves no tasty places to line up and blast away that can't be covered. Of course, that means the captain has to spend some time setting things up and making them reliable, but most good captains are going to spend that time anyways.

So in conclusion, while it will take some work to make the ships good, I am not convinced they are terribly bad off. At least I'd like to see some on the water before I think they'll be awful. They'd be ships for people who like defensive tactics though; not quite the ship to charge after people with.

Rodney is the ship I worry about being a dog. While a US dreadnought may look like a tasty target (which means people will try to attack it), Rodney with dual sidemounts isn't any kind of a sleeper. People know what they are going to get if they tangle with it, and they know it isn't going to be good. My worry is that people will simply avoid the Rodneys when they see them on the water. It's kinda hard to make every ship viable though; I think that Treaty provides people a little wider selection of ships that are considered "viable" as opposed to other brands of action. For the guys who enjoy the competition, that may not be a big deal. For the guys who REALLY like a certain ship (yet don't want to be an enormous drag on their team because of it), that may count for something. Simply different strokes for different folks.

 

Is Alaska actualy a 33 knot ship?

Friedman lists the trial speed of the Alaska at 32.72 knots.

Which brings up an interesting question:
I know that "Treaty" combat is using Conways for speeds- mostly.
But which speeds in Conways- the boxed "design" speed or speeds listed in the text?
And which speed listed in text if used, as sometimes there are several. Such as trial speeds,and sea speeds.
And when is Conways not used?

 

The primary reference list will be.

Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships.
By Robert Gardiner, and Roger Ghesneau.

There are several copies available.
18something thru 1905
This will cover everything before the Dreadnaught.

Then there is the 1906-1921 version.
Covers everything in every nation from small craft to
the largest battleships.

Then there is the 1922-1946 version.
Again, this covers everything in every nation from
small craft to the largest battleships.

These books generally list most ship's trial speeds.
In the case that they don't list a trial speed for your
ship, then they ask for a reputable source, like the
Anatomy of the ship series, or in the case of a modern
capitalship, one of the Garzke, and Dulin books.

If you are really into the modern battleships, then I
would suggest that you look into obtaining the series by
Garzke, and Dulin.
Just do a search for..
William H. Garzke Jr., and Robert O. Dulin Jr.
Battleships in World War II.
There are three versions.
U.S. Battleships in WWII
Allied Battleships in WWII
Axis, and Neutral Battleships in WWII
In my oppinion, this series is the most in-depth, and
accurate source for the modern battleships, and battlecruisers.
Just posting some thoughts.

If anyone has any questions about your ship's trial speeds,
just ask, and I will post what I can find, and let you know
where I found the info.
Mikey

 

To add to the last post..
Treaty allows trial speeds to be used.
If Conways does not list a ships trial speed, then we try to find the info in another reputable source.
I have loaned out my Conways, but Garzke lists the Alaska as 33 knots.
In some cases the ship's designed speed exceeded the trial speed. So in that case, one can used the designed speed.
Mikey

 

So the Alaska at 33 knots can outrun pretty much all axis capitalships.
I will look up the info on the Scharnhorst and post it.
Mikey

 

Conways lists Scharnhorst as 32 knots designed speed. So although she only attained 31.7 knots on sea trials, she still gets 32 knots.
Sorry for the delay.
Mikey

 

Did anyone ever come up with an Alaska?
Would be nice in Treaty.
Bobo
Uberpooperscooper

 

Tugboat has a mold and is going to begin to produce hulls for it.

 

I plan to get a hull from Tugboat for Alaska.
That may be my next ship.
Mikey