In fast gun WCC rules. Can I add 1/2 a unit to a spurt cannon? I can add 1/2 unit to a normal cannon but the rules don't specify if this can be done with a spurter. Thanks, Stu
In order to have a spurt gun, your ship must be class 3 or lower....so, a heavy cruiser or less. Battleship mounted spurt guns are illegal. Furthermore, to have a 1.5 unit cannon, a ship must have X.5 units...meaning a 2.5 or a 3.5 unit ship could have a 1.5 unit cannon, but a 3.0 unit ship could not. As for the ruling, I think the rule is ambiguous enough that it would depend on the CD. One CD might read the rule as specifying 75 round singleshot magazines (called out in rule 4), while another might read that as adding the 1 unit capacity to the .5 unit capacity. As adding 10 to 15 would actually be a 1.75 capacity ratio, I think that it would be circumventing the spirit of the rules, and the language of the rules would probably be amended the next time the rules were addressed. just my interpretation, Mike D
On the other hand, spurt guns hit hardly anything, and no one may care to raise a stink about it. The wording has been vague for 16 years, and nobody has built one.... which may give you an idea just how effective they are.
I was thinking about a predreadnough class ship that would have 3.5 units and would be a class 3 ship. That would allow me the room to have a 1.5 spurt gun. Is this theoretically correct? Thanks, Stu
That configuation is possible and legal in a predreadnaught. (with some debate about the size of a 1.5 unit sprut) May not be the most effective. Not all predreadnaughts are the same. Consider carefully. And all of them are at disadvantage to dreadnaughts. (espicaly westfallen)
I agree with Specialist on that. While you CAN build a pre-dread, they have less firepower then a dreadnought due to being restricted to bow and stern guns (no sidemounts). Many of them also only have 2 shafts and a single rudder (some of the German pre-dreads had three shafts I think though which might make them more maneuverable) which will reduce their maneuverability. They'll be slow, and easy game (much like the real pre-dreads vs a dreadnought or BC). Now I'm not trying to talk anyone out of building a pre-dread, I'd just rather they were armed with the best information available before they built one and it didn't live up to their expectations. And as Specialist said, not all pre-dreads are created equal. That being said, if you can accept the limitations (slowest ship on the water at 28 secs, possibly poor maneuverability, no sidemounts to get below the waterline hits on enemies) by all means build one. It would be cool to see one on the water, I am just not convinced it would be the most FUN ship to play the game with. As to accuracy and effectiveness or spurt guns, I'd have to see one before I commented on it. I'd think that only having a few rounds to shoot would make spurt gun armed ships so boring that most people wouldn't want to run them regardless of how much damage they may or may not do. The old timers I have talked to have told me that spurt guns are capable of doing impressive damage if used well, so I'd say to each their own. Mike D
German and may be French Predreads have triple shafts. Not sure about Italian. Drive the center shaft and let the sides be for looks. You won't be quite as maneuverable as twin rudders but much better than the 2 shaft, 1 rudder arrangements. Most Predreads have short tubby hulls which also aid in manueverablity. The other comments are very applicable
The Austrian semi-dreadnought (counts as pre-dread) Radetzky has twin rudders and two shafts. Probably the best of the bunch for our purposes. Mike D
