HMS Hood

Discussion in 'Ship Comparison' started by coyote, Nov 27, 2020.

  1. coyote

    coyote Member

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    Anyone have experience with HMS Hood, either as battler or witness, or have thoughts on her as capital ship? I'm interested in both fast or big gun perspectives. While I gather smaller British BCs are generally more popular, I'm particularly drawn to Hood (though a CAE like HMS Warrior is somewhat temping). From what I've read on ship comparison Hood must have rather poor maneuverability given length but on the other hand, is allowed a generous armament.
     
  2. Nibbles1

    Nibbles1 Well-Known Member

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    I think one of our members has a Hood. It's a beautiful ship, pride of the Royal Navy, best quality tea onboard etc....
    Don't know about fast gun, but I could see it being decent in big gun, able to arm the WWCC max three torps per side, as well as it's decent speed, and 1/4" bb armament. Also the crew is very efficient, as they have plenty of tea.
    If you are a Royal Navy fanatic, I think Hood is a great choice. If you really like a ship, I would say go ahead and make it.
    Just don't forget to make sure that your magazine doesn't detonate..... (sorry had to say that)
     
  3. Kotori87

    Kotori87 Well-Known Member

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    From a Big Gun perspective, the Hood is not a bad battleship. Its four twin turrets aren't the best concentration of firepower (triple and quadruple turrets are preferred), and its propulsion arrangement isn't the greatest. But if the boat moves when you want it to, fires when you want it to, and pumps when it takes damage, it'll be a solid combatant. One doesn't build HMS Hood for its specs, but for its distinctive british-ness. It has a unique appearance that only the british could love, and a turning circle to match. WWCC had one for years, and it was a solid performer until her captain built a Rodney and started battling that instead.

    From a Fast Gun perspective, I expect that most folks will advise against it. The long hull and poor prop/rudder arrangement mean its maximum theoretical turn performance is significantly less than other similar ships. In a game with fixed cannons, lack of turning is deadly.
     
  4. Bob

    Bob Well-Known Member

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    The Hood is the worst ship in the hobby. No one should ever build one. Please save yourself and build something useful so you’ll stick around and battle more than one year.
     
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  5. coyote

    coyote Member

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    Thank you all for these thoughts. I'm kinda leaning towards eventually building/buying one ship for Fast Gun since that's what the nearest club to me is but otherwise focusing more on Big Gun, as for various reasons it has a great deal more appeal to me. Given the various factors you've outlined here sounds like it'd be wisest I get something smaller and more user-friendly for my Fast Gun ship and save Hood as an idea for Big Gun.
     
  6. Nibbles1

    Nibbles1 Well-Known Member

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    Talk with the Fast gun guys, they're really helpful, and are your local club. Unless you want to start your own big gun club (which would be awesome), the nearest one I know of is the WWCC in Watsonville. Big gun is fun, but I would recommend starting by investigating your local club.
     
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  7. Bob Pottle

    Bob Pottle Well-Known Member

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    I built Hood from my first hull mold (later sold to Strike Models), not expecting it to be a good battler but to oppose Curt Stokes' Bismarck for fun. It had bow and stern side mounts, Y turret rotating 180 degrees port to starboard, and dual stern guns in X turret.

    Like HMS Courageous, which I'd built years earlier, I couldn't get the stern guns on target because of the large turning circle. It turned better than Courageous but that's not saying much. Y turret was fine, being able to fire to either side and being close to the water - like the real ship the quarterdeck was almost awash from the wake.

    Hood was only used in a few 1:1 battles and lost them all by a big margin. It was sold to Larry Dingle in SC, who also bought my Courageous, Canarias and armoured cruiser Minotaur. Canarias and Minotaur were both good combat models.

    I'm building HMS Australia (an Indefatigable Class BC) atm.
     
  8. coyote

    coyote Member

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    Is there presently a source for an Indefatigable-class hull? From reading elsewhere on this forum I gather one was available in past.
     
  9. Anvil_x

    Anvil_x Well-Known Member

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    If you want an awesome British Battlecruiser, the Tiger is basically as good as they get. three sidemounts, two rudders, looks fantastic....
     
  10. buttsakauf

    buttsakauf Well-Known Member

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    There is, talk to Bob Pottle.
     
  11. Bob Pottle

    Bob Pottle Well-Known Member

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    Ralph Coles has a hull mold for the Indefatigable Class. You'll find several builds on this site that used his hulls.

    I did the lines and cross-sections for him, extrapolating from a complete set of Invincible Class lines (we couldn't find a complete set for Indefatigable, which was a tad longer and wider).

    The hull features the extra armor plating outboard of the wing turrets, which has been discussed before and is 'legal' under IRCWCC rules; adds a short stringer and 2 thicker upper ribs on each side.

    Ralph might have a hull in stock. He generally keeps one hull from each mold on hand. ralphster30@hotmail.com