Can you show up at an event with multiple small ships and fight them all? Rather than have one class 6 7 or 8 ship, Say you have 6 class 1 or 2 ships... can you fight one then run it in when it’s out of ammo and grab the next one to run out to join the battle?
Short Answer: No Long Answser: Maybe? A ship has to be on the water at the start of the sortie (exceptions are given for last second problems/fixes/etc but not so you can bring in a fresh boat once everyone else is low on ammo/damaged). So I guess you could start say 5 boats on the water at the start of a sortie, fight with #1, let the other 4 float around, call 5 then recover #1 and fight with #2, etc. But #2-5 would probably get beat up while you're fighting with #1 and overall it wouldnt be worth it. Of course if you were doing it with subs and submersed them all at the start they probably wouldnt get beat up but I have a feeling that might give enough people the "feel bads" (one sided tactics tends to do that in games and should generally be avoided if you want people to keep playing with you, remember the other guy has to have fun too) that you wouldnt be allowed to.
For the record, I have no combat experience. I’ve made dozens of ships that you will likely see in combat soon, but none I’ve finished yet. For me is no problem to build one of my Iowa’s or Tirpitz, but there are a lot of people out there that would join the hobby if it was not such a huge drain on the family budget. My thoughts are geared around getting costs down to really open the sport up to more players. Even if you would simply allow reloads, then some less economically advantaged people could build a smaller less expensive ship and participate with less limits on the fun. I’ve been told several times that building a 1 unit ship is boring because you get 50 shots or 25 shots and a pump. So someone that scratched together a couple hundred bucks gets to a pond and can play only a few minutes before the day is done? Seems like there could be a better way for more people to afford to play.
Also I have 2 molds for class one ships that will be available soon and would love to promote them as an economic model that allows people to buy a ready to fight ship kit for under $300. Problem I see with that is the disappointment factor once people realize they get 5 minutes of action in an hour long sortie.
I don’t know what folks do east of the Rockies but most SCRAP sorties last 10-15 minutes at the most. The 2.5 or 3 unit dual stern cruiser will blow its load just as fast as a 1.5 unit destroyer.
Vac-U-boat is the cheapest/easiest way into the hobby. Plastic hull and easy to build. Get a couple and you have 10-20 sorties in a day, more sniper shooting and tactics required.
I was told a sortie can sometimes go a couple hours. How about at NATS? Been told it’s not even worth it to show up at NATS with a 1 units ship unless you have voyeuristic tendencies.
A heavy cruiser is often recommended for new battlers to keep systems to a minimum. I always recommend a good unit 4 battle cruiser as good starter boat. 26 seconds so that you are not just a sitting duck. Side mounts so that you can work into frey as your skills improve. It is still a relatively small boat. initial expenses: Radio, batteries, battery charger, CO2 regulator, bilge pump. will have to be incurred anyway, and may be cheaper if you don't have to account for ultra light for unit 1 or 2. Easier to build for new battlers being a little more forgiving of weight.
We make our own Fiberglass hulls. Obviously anyone can buy two boats and go out and play with each other in unsanctioned action. Trying to understand how to get more people to spend less money and join up/form local clubs. Plan is to rig my line of models with very inexpensive, lightweight, plug and shoot mechanical guns. Will fit in tiny ships and open a whole new segment of simple easy to afford and maintain ships.
Most Nats sorties are 15-25 min. Faster if one fleet is a lot weaker than the other. Early week is slower as more people are careful. Late week is faster as several ships have dropped out with problems, the score is too lopsided to change hands, people are more aggressive and fight early. Most sorties have 5 min of very little happening. Then 10min of interesting battling. Then the last few ships with bbs chasing around for 5-10 min. A lot like real combat lots of nothing with minutes of something. Keeping one ship running is hard enough. Stick to one for 4-6 battles at least, a good year of experience. Then get more. I’ve brought a BB, CL my son’s BC and his CL plus 1-6 convoy ships to nats. Not to mention helping 2-3 other locals with their ship issues. It’s a ton of work.
I am still having trouble wrapping my mind around this. Can't wait to see it. Or in my case see a video of it working
Been to a battle? Did you drive a boat? One is generally enough, most have a problem with the pond more than the enemy. After you build one working combat model that "completely works", then build multiples.
No and no Carl. I’m a bit of an anomaly here. I’ve made hundreds of boats in my life. You have one. I take what I do seriously and try very hard to make the best products possible. I know I’ve been asking a lot of annoying questions about some controversial issues. This is to better understand before I act. I’m so glad you like the fiberglass work I’ve done for you. I want the finished boats I build to have the same kind of impressive quality. I’m willing to take the time in R&D to make that happen. Looking at the NATS scores, very few people show up with small boats. Imagine a world where NATS becomes several hundred people fighting small boats because they can’t afford $2 k to build an Iowa. If we make small boat fighting more fun, I think would be good for the hobby.
Yes Generally speaking a battle is two sorties. After the first sortie you can reload, fill CO2 & change batteries. (no patching) 2nd sortie will see more sinks as you do not get to patch. New rule may allow secondary boat of lesser units if your primary sank or could not make it to the 2nd sortie. (this is mostly a NATS thing) local battles are much more lax. We even allow sunk boat to patch "belows" and go back out for the 2nd sortie. (All about having fun). After the 2nd sortie you count damage. All boats get to patch re-arm, and change batteries for the next 2 sortie battle.
The true cost of the hobby is not the boat. Motel, fuel, time off work, time to build the toy, support equipment and spares. Those items are way more money intensive. Only a very small number of Yam and Iowa drivers out there.
Yep, what he said ^^^^ Then look at the number of times a new boat needs to be reworked after a captain has attended a battle.
I see that... but I also think back to my younger days when my broke buddies and I would pile into a van, split the gas (@ 59 cents a gallon lol) for a road trip with our windsurfers and find a beach somewhere, sleep in the van (or under the stars) and eat from a cooler... but you had to have a board. I think a lot more young broke people would love to do this if made more simple and cheaper without the need for Co2 and it’s associated finicky component parts... but you gotta have a boat. Also, small clubs would pop up if some more people buy multiple small matching boats... or existing clubs can have a fleet of rental boats and advertise “open to the public - no gear required “ events.... Can someone say “New Members”? But I’m just a old glass guy who spends his free time sniffing resin vapors.
Plenty of times when a "loaner" is used the retention rate is pitiful. I get what you are saying. But unfortunately when made too easy it isn't valued.
