Would have PM'd this to Steve & Tuggy, but service seems to be down... Rules state guns must be mounted "In primary or secondary turrets for a given quadrant, if available". Most ships of the era had their primaries in turrets, but secondaries were almost always in casements. For example: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_F%C3%BCrs...%281897%29 BTW, name is literally "Large Cruiser Prince Bismarck" So, for this ship, would I be allowed to arm a casement-mounted secondary, since the primary (turrets) also are available for that arc?
Greetings: Gascan and Tuggy were talking about constructing some of the early USN Predregs (BB-01-USS Illinois, BB-03-USS Kersarge, and BB-04 USS Iowa) and arming the secondaries that were above or on top of the main turret. You were doing some wood cutting at the time. The main conclusion was you could use the secondary to hold cannon. For BB-000, I had the option of putting a third cannon where the forward or stern 6 inch gun was placed but I choose not to. I do not even have a casemate to work with. The 6" gun crews only had a shield for protection. MMJR
i dont know if you guys are aware but midwesttreaty allows any ship that was still afloat by 1895 so we already have steampunk ships but they run at slower speeds slower firing rate. so if any of the steampunk flotilla wants to come to a midwest treaty function you will be welcome with open arms
I would say that it would be preferable to mount cannons in main turrets if they are available. That said, in a format where you can literally draw your own topside layout... But arming secondary guns and leaving main turrets empty seems like intentional poor form.
Yews, thats my main argument against secondary cannons... when we can build as we desire, we need to limit guns to actual main turrets.
Hello, For the Predred BB, one can have 4 cannon, 2 per main turret--easy enough. Protected Cruisers get 2 cannon, fore and aft--easy enough. Steampunk designs, keep guns in turret or casemate or whatever is the weapons section. In the case of the something like the Iowa BB-04, one can do fore and aft mounting. However, in the case of BB-000 Texas, I had 2 single gun turrets. I elected to arm the turrets and leave one gun out even though I can have 3 cannon. Many of the other Steampunk ships had cannon in all sorts of odd places from out in the open with gun shield to the German Brandenburgs with that middle turret. Had I built a Brandenberg (easy enough, just swap superstructures, I have a turret for each cannon. While secondaries turret arming may not look elegant, if you have a spare cannon, I would use it. One could also put the spare cannon in the space between superstructure deck and standard hull where the curve is. That is my 2 cents. MMJR
That is quite different from one person who posted "only ships built after 1906 can be used." Two of the ideas for this Steampunk Flotilla is a standard, easily reproduced hull form and cost containment for newbie captains that would otherwise not try the hobby. Some of the ships in the photo gallery are quite impressive to both the eye and wallet.inch: MMJR
Ships have all sorts of weapon layouts. There are plenty of armored and protected cruisers that have their entire complement of guns in open gun mounts along the sides. There are also plenty that have fully enclosed turrets, and others that have armored casemates in the hull for cannons. Take Rurik, armed with four 8" guns in single mounts, 16 6" guns in single mounts, and a further 6 4.7" guns in single mounts, as well as 6 torpedo tubes. The 8" guns are the main armament, but the 6" guns are also a significant portion of her broadside. While they would have trouble penetrating heavy armor protecting machinery spaces, they are perfectly capable of destroying an enemy warship's ability to fight by wrecking less protected areas, killing crews of open gun mounts, and starting major fires. Torpedoes could then finish off the defenseless enemy. HMS Minotaur had another interesting layout for an armored cruiser. She carried four 9.2" guns in two twin turrets, and ten 7.5" guns in single turrets. Lord Nelson and other semi-dreadnoughts also show a main battery followed by a major secondary battery. Matsushima had a single 12" gun with a bunch of 6" guns mounted on a protected cruiser hull. One of the big advantages of the steampunk ships is you can design your own superstructure and cannon layout. However, I'd like mine to be at least inspired by history before I thrown in my own touches. Cannons should be limited to the major weapons locations. I don't think a dinky little 47mm gun thrown on as an afterthought should be able to be armed. However, I think the examples I've given demonstrate that there's more to the main armament than just the biggest guns mounted on a ship.
Ok, got it. Arm "Primary armament", then if any guns left over, they can be placed in "Secondary Armament" locations. Tertiary guns may not be armed. Insert E-Vil Laugh: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Odin#medi...ration.jpg Three primary guns, two forward in side-by-side single turrets, one single aft turret. Und it iz Cherman!
