Unfortunately, a lot of ships that were among the best built in their type "suck" in RC combat, while some of the worst examples are awesome in RC combat, so that statement isn't really fair either. Marty- I'm just saying that broadside weight isn't the only factor that would play into the offensive punch a ship carries. If you're going to take some factors into account (such as broadside weight), you'd have to look at others as well. I firmly believe that the present rules for determining units are the best compromise on the entire issue. it's a simple system, and provides a very close approzimation of the relative fighting power between the various ships. Why change it?
I know. I've just spent a lot of time looking at units, firepower, armor standard displacement vs full load displacement, and I keep coming back to the absolute beauty of how you guys constructed the ship list all those years ago. No matter how you try to "fix" it, it nearly always comes back to what you started off with, unless you're trying to stack the deck for one ship or another.
A very interesting subject. When we laid out the units in Treaty, we examined all of the other formats and club's lists where units were allocated. What we were planning to accomplish was to have a unit allocation system that was based from a historical angle. The conclusion that we came to was that the standard fast-gun allocation system was originally based on historical accuracy, but with a dash of game-play thrown in to balance the teams. We considered using full-load tonnage instead of standard load tonnage, as some countries had a different system for determining the standard load tonnage, but to be honest, it wouldn't have fixed all of the abnormalities. Allocating units based on standard displacement is simple, and works fairly well. But most importantly. It is simple. Mikey
We looked into coming up with a system based on a number of things. Gun size, and number of barrels. Rate-of-fire. Weight of shells. Armor thickness. In the long run, we decided that the more complex the system for allocating units was, the more confusing it would be to new folks. So keeping it simple is a necessity. The one thing that always seemed to fit into the system without making matters worse was time. But we didn't introduce it into our system as we wanted to get our rules package finished. But the newer a ship was, the more experience all of the world's navies had to make improvements over the previous ships designs. So a battleship built in 1940 might displace the same tonnage as a battleship built in 1918, but it would certainly be a simple thing to allocate it another half-unit. Along the same lines as the current cruiser rules. Before 1922, and after 1922. Mikey
Almost everyone has an issue or two with the shiplist. But if you look at how complex the subject is (as pointed out by Mssr. Hawk) and how many ships are covered, it's a very impressive accomplishment that it has worked out so well. Occasionally, I get frustrated with certain partsof the rules that modify the list, most notably the MWC's 'special-screw-the-Deutschland-class-CA rule', but like I said, I'm shocked by overall how well it works.
The one thing that I have never liked about allocating units based on displacement, is that the heavier a ship is, the more units it gets. So in the case of a ship that was built outside of the treaty limitations, where the displacement was either accidently, or intentionally exceeded, they are given a bonus in extra units, over a ship that was built to a better design, but was built within the limits of the treaty. Mikey
I do agree that the current lists are pretty good. Perhaps even hard to beat. But as there will always be something not just right, it is nice to discuss the topic. Mikey
I think that there will always be something about the various ship lists that frustrate some folks. My solution to that is that if you feel that a particular ship that appeals to you is handicapped by the list, then build it anyway, and go out there and do your best with it. Most of the ships that have been mentioned already may not be world-beaters, but it sure makes me feel great when I dish out a little damage on an opponant. I also feel that talking about it helps as well. Because at least you can share your feelings with others, even if it doesn't change the rules. Mikey
