Recently I have been checking this hobby out, youtube etc and I find this pretty interesting, but I have no idea where to begin with all of this?
1st off welcome! 2nd do you know what format ou wish to play in? The three main formats: Biggun, Fastgun (2 styles with small variants) and Treaty Where you located? It will help you decide what format is easiest for you to get into.
Well, first if you can find a 'local' group, then that is the best first place to start. In your case, there are both BigGun and FastGun groups in Texas. I would suggest contacting @HTMills and @jadfer - @HTMills is involved in the BigGun group NTXBG and @jadfer with the Texas Naval Brigade, a FastGun outfit. Best if you can make it to a build session or similarly laid back event where folk have lots of time for questions, but if you can make it to a battle, thats a great way to see a variety of ships in action. Once you decide on a ruleset/club you'll want to start considering your first ship. Often local clubs will have loaners available to get you on the water while you build your own. Then the real fun begins, building!
I really should make a comparison chart for that All are 1/144th Big Gun: Ships speed is based on the original ships speed. (slower than Fast Gun) BigGun ships sport balsa sheeting of differing thicknesses to represent different levels of armor on the original ship. Most BigGun clubs allow you to arm any gun over a certain size that was on the original ship (5inch i think?) The size of projectile that a BigGun cannon fires depends on the size of the original ships guns. BigGun main turrets are often set up to be rotating. Your rate of fire is restricted Some never-built ships are allowed (depending on local club rules), eg: Montana, H-39 FastGun, - the IRCWCC being the only major organization currently - Ships are assigned units based on factors including their class, year of construction, tonnage and length. Units are used to provide the ship with offensive and defensive components - guns & pumps. Pumping capacity is restricted by an outlet restrictor on the pump line Most guns are fixed in locations, the rules divide the sides of the ships into quadrants and restrict gun density in side quadrants. Ships are faster than in Treaty or BigGun No rate of fire restrictions, but cannon systems are still largely required to be semiautomatic. No Hypothethical or unfinished ships are allowed in sanctioned battles. Treaty is an offshoot of FastGun, with the original goals I think to be to increase sinks while reducing damage Pumping capacity is limited by GPM and not an outlet restrictor like IRCWCC FastGun Speeds are slower than FastGun Like BigGun, some never-built ships are allowed I'm sure I've missed some points above, hopefully someone will correct any I erred on or left out.
Your location should probably be the largest factor in the type of battling you do. Let us know what part of Texas you are in so we can give you the best advice possible. At this time that I am aware of there are only two formats in Texas. In the Dallas area is Big Gun (NTXBG) and in Dallas Metro, Houston, Corpus, Abiline is IRC fastgun (Texas Naval Brigade). I am not sure on the numbers in Dallas but IRC battles all over the US. We have local battles in Houston and Rosenberg then Nationals wherever it takes place. You can also drive to Georgia or North Carolina, and/or fly to Maryland and New York. Send me your info in a private message and we can get you fixed up. Thanks
Looks like you nailed the major difference. I believe there may be some minor differences in construction ex. Rib thickness and spacing but they are minor enough that they don't have a true baring on combat. When it comes to pumps in big gun it depends on the club Texas I believe uses the gpm restrictions and WWCC uses number of outlets. A chart would awesomely useful haha
I would add the fast guns are more easily obtained . But if you decide to go big guns the club can help on arming your vessel.
Well If you happen to find time we will be out at the pond tomorrow arround 1:00 PM you can come watch the battles
