Capital ship building

[WILD BILL]

Several games like HBG Global War 1936 has a build chart that you place ships on and progress them through. It is off map, and the enemy can’t attack ships being built.  Some powers like Italy Germany or UK could have a really hard time building a capital ship if you were able to destroy it in port. Maybe it would be better off map?

I wouldn’t mind being able to do damage to ships being built. Maybe equal to half of the original first payment or something, but not take them out while being built.

[CWO Marc]

In the construction process that was used for for a WWII-era capital ship, as far as I know the weapon systems were among the last elements to be installed.  The hull and the engines were built first, then the superstructure, and only then was the armament (guns and turrets) added.  So a partially finished ship might be able to move under its own power, but it wouldn’t be able to fight.  The French battleship Jean Bart was just barely able to escape southern France and steam to North Africa, but if I remember correctly it spent the whole war without any main guns installed.

[baron Münchhausen]

@WILD:

Several games like HBG Global War 1936 has a build chart that you place ships on and progress them through. It is off map, and the enemy can’t attack ships being built.  Some powers like Italy Germany or UK could have a really hard time building a capital ship if you were able to destroy it in port. Maybe it would be better off map?
I wouldn’t mind being able to do damage to ships being built. Maybe equal to half of the original first payment or something, but not take them out while being built.

@WILD:

I don’t like that you could possibly lose your entire investment with one attack especially if you go to a 3 turn build for capital ships (which is closer to actual builds, but still about half if you consider a game round as about six months).

Plus there could still be confusion of which ships are damaged (auto repair), and which are being built laying on their side.

I agree these points create issues.
IMO, off-map is OK but must be clearly announce to other players, to not be taken as unspent IPCs.

[Argothair]

I like this idea! I would give the partially constructed ships 1 hit, no movement, no offensive or defensive value, and extend the 2 IPC discount to both phases of the build.

So, if you want a cruiser, you can pay 12 IPCs now, or pay 4 IPCs to get a nearly worthless husk, and 4 more IPCs next turn to upgrade it to a cruiser.

If you want a BB, you can pay 20 now, or 8 for a husk and 8 next turn to upgrade the husk to a BB.

3 turn construction with variable schedule costs sounds awful to me – too much bookkeeping, too hard to physically represent, not related to the rest of the game. I’d rather play Panamax!

[KaLeu]

@CWO:

The French battleship Jean Bart was just barely able to escape southern France and steam to North Africa, but if I remember correctly it spent the whole war without any main guns installed.

Work on the ship continued at slow pace, and one of its main turrets was operational during the 1942 Naval Battle of Casablanca. But it turned out to be difficult to complete the ship even after the war, so it is indeed an excellent illustration of the point made in this thread.

[WILD BILL]

@Baron:

@WILD:

Several games like HBG Global War 1936 has a build chart that you place ships on and progress them through. It is off map, and the enemy can’t attack ships being built. Some powers like Italy Germany or UK could have a really hard time building a capital ship if you were able to destroy it in port. Maybe it would be better off map?
I wouldn’t mind being able to do damage to ships being built. Maybe equal to half of the original first payment or something, but not take them out while being built.

@WILD:

I don’t like that you could possibly lose your entire investment with one attack especially if you go to a 3 turn build for capital ships (which is closer to actual builds, but still about half if you consider a game round as about six months).

Plus there could still be confusion of which ships are damaged (auto repair), and which are being built laying on their side.

I agree these points create issues.
IMO, off-map is OK but must be clearly announce to other players, to not be taken as unspent IPCs.

Yea I think for simplicity off map would probably be best (can’t kill or damage it) and I would have a set place for these ships so everyone knows what is going on. The mobilization zones on the bottom corners of the map might work (or just place them on Saudi Arabia  :wink:)

Probably keep it to just capital ships (BB and carrier), and a min of 2 turns to build. Must pay half down, then pay other half next turn. Can allow multiple payments for second half if you want extending build time if your needs change (would need to track it). I don’t think I would offer a discount, or allow to pay extra for same turn deployment either (if you want a two turn rule it should be two turns lol).

I thought about adding cruisers to the two turn build, but figured that because most see cruisers as a poor investment keeping it one turn might add to its value.

Here is kind of a twist, maybe you drop 10 IPCs and say you are building a capital ship, but you don’t have to say what it is until the next turn when you finish paying for it.

[GeneralHandGrenade]

This is all getting really complicated when it doesn’t need to be. Just lower the price of capital ships and be done with it.
Battleship- 17 IPC
Aircraft Carrier- 13 IPC

I won’t bother listing what I think that all ships should cost because there is already a thread that debates ship costs and I don’t want to hijack this one. I only wanted to make the point that it would be much simpler and cleaner just to lower the cost instead.

[Young Grasshopper]

Although I like many of the ideas here for battleships and cruisers, do we really need cheaper AC carriers? They are already very potent and over purchased.

[baron Münchhausen]

Here is kind of a twist, maybe you drop 10 IPCs and say you are building a capital ship, but you don’t have to say what it is until the next turn when you finish paying for it.

I find this idea much simpler.
10 IPCs to the bank on first turn.
No additional, you get a 10 IPCs Cruiser on second turn.
For 4 IPCs, you get a Carrier on second turn.
And for 8, you get a Battleship.

Only Cruiser can be built in a single turn for 12 IPCs.
So builder get a choice for Cruiser.
Carrier and Battleship needs a two turns built, mandatory.

I still advocate for the 2 IPCs discount as a way to rebalanced somehow the warship cost structure.

[sirjonkey]

why not be able to just upgrade a cruiser you allready own?
for 7 IPC’s for a battle ship

or just bring them damage into play