I've been wanting to get into the hobby for a long time now and the ship I am most interested in is the Andrea Doria. Is it a good beginner side mount ship? I will build to ir/cwcc rules. Thanks for the help!
It isn't a great ship, it isnt a terrible ship. It is a mid-speed ship in IRCWCC, and only 4.5 units. It isn't fast enough to hit and run constantly, and it isn't a good ship for rail-to-rail slugging (which tends to be a poor plan for a newbie anyways). If you really want to build one (its your favorite ship, or whatever), it won't be the worst decision you could make, but if thats not the case, I would advocate finding something with more speed to get you out of trouble, or if you really want to play sidemount games, step up to atleast a class 5, maybe look at some ww1 stuff with more hard area to protect you in a slugfest.
Thank you both for your opinions. Another ship I was looking at was the BC HMS Iron Duke. It's 5 units and doesn't seem too overwhelmingly difficult for me to handle. What do you guys think?
To my understanding, The Iron Duck is pretty well regarded in combat. I'm not sure about difficulty of building, but I think there is a construction thread on one around here. Seems roomy enough from what I recall, 4 props, 2 rudders, so should turn decent and have decent acceleration (you'll set the outer two up as drag props and power the inner two). I think you would fair better in it than in the AD.
An Andrea Doria is probably a slightly easier build than an Iron Duke since I dont think you'd have a stringer or casements to deal with and you'd have one less gun to mess with. Iron Duke is regarded as a "better" ship (due to the extra gun, more hard area, better maneuverability) but for a rookie boat I don't think either is a bad choice. Build something you'll like and want to build, your first ship is really more about learning the hobby and how to build/battle than kicking tons of butt with anyway. Plus you get to be Axis with the Andrea Doria and the axis have more fun. (we also generally have cookies....) Of course I'll also throw in a plug for the Von Der Tann, bit harder build due to the smaller size and less weight but a wonderfully fun ship to drive especially if you're wanting a good sidemount ship. (I've built two they're that fun, I'm actually doing a major overhaul on the one I still drive to bring it back into action as a loaner or travel boat.)
Given a choice between a VDT or Andrea Doria I'd pick the VDT. Either can be a lot of fun While I am going Allied for next year (cue gasps of disbelief from audience), the Axis did (for the record) have excellent cookies at the MWC Nats this year. My diet was not amused, but I put a few rounds into it and had another cookie But VDT is a very solid ship that will offer years of service. My friend Steve had one at Nats and he's been battling a long time, so it's not just a beginner boat!
If you're into ww1 german ships, you might want to look into the Moltke. Very similar performance to VDT, but a little more forgiving to build since it has more hull volume and higher weight. Just any of the ww1 german battlecruisers are pretty solid good first boats. Iron Duke is probably alright as well, but will have a bit more complexity due to the 4th gun. Doria is nice because you can play Axis or Allied depending on your mood. Just pick something you really like and learn the hobby and play, first boats sink a lot no matter what they are.
Thanks for all of your wonderful suggestions. After reading some build threads on the Iron Duke I think I will choose her as my first ship. I will take my time with it and I think it'll be a two year project. The molkte and vdt both sound very interesting so maybe I'll build one of them in the future. I'll put up a build thread and hopefully you guys could help me a bit through the build. Thanks again.
I think it's a solid choice. If you have any doubt before doing something permanent, ask us first Especially before cutting the fiberglass Do you have anyone near you that battles?
I will definitely do that thanks. Especially for casements those things scare me the most. Btw the iron duke I believe is 51" long. How many ribs would I have if the were a 1/4" thick at the center?
(((51 * 0.15) - 2) - 1) / 0.25 and round down Total length * 15% (total allowed solid area) Subtract 2 inches for the bow hard area (maximum, you can make it less) Subtract 1 inch for the stern hard area (maximum, you can make it less) Divide by 0.25 for the number of 1/4" ribs you can have.
yeah, 18 1/4s + a single 1/8ish or 12 3/8" ribs + a single 1/8ish rib or some other combination of things. I like 3/8" ribs because I hate cutting fiberglass.
Thanks guys I had no idea how to find that. Btw Tugboat, I am in south jersey and I am in contact with battlers in pa who have been helping me a lot. There is a labor day battle in New York that I will try to attend
Yes. but you don't get to say 'well I'm only putting 16 on port, so I'll put 20 on starboard'. It is 15% solid per side, no more. (Not counting the influence of casemates)
Yes it's 18 (or whatever the math works out to be) on each side. I know of one guy who thought it was 18 for both sides, opps. This is why we want the new guys to layout the ship with tape and have a vet look it over before cutting.
Well my dad said I'll have to wait till my birthday all the way in November to get the hull which I'm not too happy about. But I would still like to discuss things so I can have things planned out for when I do get it. Let's start with gun layout. How about dual sterns, a stern side mount , and a bow side mount. Does that seem good?