Hey im new and looking for a starter ship. I noticed that the Des moines was light long and pretty cheap. What are the oppinions on this ship Thanks for the info Tyler
Its not a bad ship, but not the greatest either. Personally, if you are buying from Battler's Connection, I'd recommend the Cleveland hull (or a Von Der Tann) as a beginner ship instead. The primary reason for that is the length of the ship. It's considerably shorter and thus turns better then does the Des Moines. The extra half unit really isn't much of a big deal IMHO. The VDT is probably superior to both. Mike D
Alot of the what determines how good a ship is depends on what format your looking at. For MWC Des Monies is a good ship. For IRCWCC maybe not so good. For other depends on what the current flavor is... Not sure about "treaty combat" Speed makes a big differce for them. (or it should) Other diffences between cruisers may not be too important. Which format are you looking at?
No single cruiser will sink a North Carolina by itself. They just can't poke enough holes in them, and they don't have sidemounts (to do belows). You can annoy the heck out of them and win on points, though. The triple sterns are a force to be reckoned with regardless of what class they're on, so the battleships will _have_ to at least watch where your guns are I like the Des Moines for a beginnaer who wants a fast ship, because it's got good firepower, a big flat stern to bounce BB's, and lots of room in the stern where you'll be putting in rudders. There are several veteran battlers in the MWCI who use the Des Moines class as the main ship, so don't think it's "just for beginners", either
The speed of the Des Moines is limited regardless of which format you choose. I seem to recall reading somewhere that you were from Ohio, which is in reality a pretty good place to be from for picking your format. There you have easy access to the BBS (smiliar to the IRCWCC and MWC, but slightly different), treaty (kind of a hybrid big gun/small gun) and IRCWCC (some of the BBS guys play IRCWCC, as do a few treaty individuals) In the BBS, I am not sure what the rules are exactly. I think for Des Moines they are the same as in the IRCWCC, but you'd have to check with a BBS member. In the IRCWCC, she's an OK ship. Not great, not horrible. She doesn't have any speed advantage, so if you make a mistake, you are going to get pounded. She's got triple stern guns which can lay out some pretty awesome carnage for a cruiser, and she's got nice rudder area. She's also very long which hurts her turning when compared to other cruisers. I'm pretty sure a North Carolina will out turn a Des Moines, but that doesn't really matter since they are both Allied ships. It's the Yamatos that are going to hurt Des Moines most. In the MWC the Des Moines is faster then any of the capital ships (ships with sidemounts for my purpose), so she can escape. Like the IRCWCC she can have triple stern guns and lay down some serious carnage. She's probably a good choice for an MWC captain who is sick of carrying around a 40 pound battleship, but wants to have the firepower of triples at his command. In the MWC unlike the IRCWCC and Treaty, the Des Moines is allowed more rudder area then the shorter but still 3.5 units and same speed Baltimore class heavy cruiser. MWC is the only club which Des Moines is better in any way then a Baltimore class ship. In Treaty she should be a good ship as well. Her 33 knots makes her faster then the Axis capital ships, and she still has triple sterns. The triple sterns are not nearly as impressive of a weapon in Treaty as they are in the MWC or IRCWCC since the barrels can't be "toed-in" (guns barrels must be parallel, not converging) and because the rate of fire is limited to 2 shots per second. This applies equally to all ships though, so fair is fair. She's a bit slower then the Axis cruisers, but that's not a huge deal really...what's important is she can get away from the side mount packing battleships and battlecruisers. All in all, she's a decent ship. In the treaty group it seems that everyone who doesn't already have a cruiser is building one. On the Allied side, the ship of choice is the Des Moines (I'm the rebel with my 32 knot Salt Lake City). For the Axis, its the Mogami. Of the small gun formats, she's probably best suited for the MWC then either the IRCWCC, BBS or Treaty. The only thing that may be an issue for you is that I don't think the MWC has a large presence in Ohio so they may not be a good option for you, but the ship preforms very well in Treaty and acceptable in the BBS and IRCWCC. As for big gun, I just don't know. I'd think they were not good but of course, your milage may vary. Mike D
There are several Des Monies that will be at MWC Nats this year. They usaly do pretty well. A big cruiser, but rather manuverable, for a cruiser. Sence they are faster than any battleship or battlecruiser, they usaly avoid taking lots of dammage... unless the captain is not paying attention. Looks like about 46 captains at this years MWC nats... with maybe 6 or so with cruisers as primary ships. Probibly an additional 15 or so as secondary ships. Driving a cruiser is fun in MWC.
Sidemounts = side mounted cannon. Only capitol ships (battlecruisers and battleships) may have side mounted cannon. Any cannon angled more than 15 degrees from the bow or stern is considered a side mounted cannon. Side mounted cannon typicaly have more down angle than bow or stern mounted cannnon. This allows them to shoot below the waterline better. Sidemounted canon are often harder to hit with, but offer the means to do more critical dammage. Most capitol ships can only carry 2 side mounted cannon, one on each side. However larger ships, can carry more- up to 4 in the really big ships (2 on each side).
In a side by side fight, Des Moines would get plastered because it has no side-firing guns. Cruisers usually pack as many cannons into the stern as they are allowed, then turn away from the enemy ship and start unloading. Turning away also keeps the enemy from shooting back, as there is only impenetrable stern area for them to shoot at. A cruiser captain has to be pretty adept at where he goes; if you get trapped some place where you can't run or maneuver, you're going to get hurt. If you keep plenty of sea room however a cruiser has the ability to jump on battleship captains who aren't paying attention, or are otherwise engaged with someone else. The cruiser hits hard, fast and gets out of dodge. They definitely aren't adept at "slugging it out" with anyone. They are hit-and-run ships, mostly known in the hobby as "run and gun". Mike D
I had a Lion as my first ship in MWCI. They're good ships, you do get one sidemount per side with them, but really, you don't want to get up next to a battleship with it, because they'll pound you at least as hard as you do them. Also, the stern area is very tight inside, making it hard for a new builder to get all the rudder gear in there. I would get a Des Moines before I'd get a Lion, and I'd aim all the guns dead astern. 3 cannons shot close together will blow a much bigger hole (and let in much more water) than 3 single cannons.
Von Der Tann is an excellent beginner ship in my humble opinion. She's got middle of the pack speed, but great maneuverability and good firepower. Its a tight fit getting everything in, but once its in, you will be happy with the performance. Mike D
