Balancing Cruiser (CL) and Battleship (BB) units with other A&A units

  • '17 '16

    For those who want to discuss further about the price of Cruiser units (even customized ones) and Battleship.

    Now, with a lower cost I can also explain why I use CL as an abreviation for cruiser.
    And with the stats maths evaluation bringing up by KionAAA, I can put other cruiser in a better place of scaled cost.
    There is more room for other historical units for those who use more miniatures like HBG.

    Light Cruiser, CL A3D3M2C10, 1 hit, shore bombardment 1@3 Definitely balance.
    Battle Cruiser, CB A4D4M2C12, 1 hit, shore bombardment 1@4
    It is the price to have a competitive unit but weaker vs CL or BB.
    Armored/Heavy Cruiser, CA A3D3M2C16, 2 hits, shore bombardment 1@3
    It need to be at 16 IPCs to be balance, lower too OP vs BB or CL.

    Battleship, BB A4D4M2**C18**, 2 hits, shore bombardment 1@4
    After more cost eval and battle calc, I must say that BB have to be at 19 IPCs to be statistically balance with cruiser at 10 IPCs and Carrier at 16 IPCs.
    It will also give more room (3 IPCs) vs heavy cruiser A3D3 with 2 hits.

    To get more differences between cruiser vs BB:
    A) Give all types of cruiser M3
    B1) Give them 1 preemptive AA@1 on defense when paired with 1BB or 1CV
    B2) Give them 2 preemptives AA@1 on defense when paired with 1BB and 1CV
    B3) Give to 1 cruiser 1 preemptive AA@1 on defense.
    C) Give 1 cruiser both offence and defense on a roll of “1” on first round only, to hit 1 plane (owner choose the type of casualty Fgt, TB, StB).
    D1) Give to CA a coastal bombardment @4 instead of only @3.

    D2) Give to the BB 2 rounds of coastal bombardment @4 when there is at least 1 ground unit remaining from TT making the amphibious assault after first round.
    E) Give to the BB 1D3 damage to either IC, Naval Base or Air Base as a coastal rocket attack.
    F) Give to BB Plundging Fire on first rnd: 1@1 preemptive strike against surface vessels
    G) Forbid BB to attack subs: A0 vs Subs. But play them on defense vs subs D4 as OOB rules.
    H) Having a BB Flagship, with 3 hits (21-22 IPCs vs 18 / 23-24 vs OOB 20).

    With all this options, Cruisers and BBs will be bought and use for very different function.
    Of course, putting all of it can unbalance toward other naval units: but nevertheless DD and Subs have their own proper function.

    But all this optional addition can add some historical flavor, and a real gameplay difference amongst the bigger warships.
    And you can even gives different options to Light, Battle and Heavy cruiser unit to create a more representative difference amongst them.

    For example:
    give M3 and AA to Light Cruiser,
    just M3 to Battlecruiser,
    M2 and Coastal @4 to heavycruiser but forbid Subs attack like BB option.
    Someone can rise the BB cost to 19 IPCs or even 20 but giving them plundging fire and 2 rounds of coastal @4, because of the longer range of their heavier guns.

  • Customizer

    @Baron:

    For those who want to discuss further about the price of Cruiser units (even customized ones) and Battleship.

    Now, with a lower cost I can also explain why I use CL as an abreviation for cruiser.
    And with the stats maths evaluation bringing up by KionAAA, I can put other cruiser in a better place of scaled cost.
    There is more room for other historical units for those who use more miniatures like HBG.

    Light Cruiser, CL A3D3M2C10, 1 hit, shore bombardment 1@3 Definitely balance.
    Battle Cruiser, CB A4D4M2C12, 1 hit, shore bombardment 1@4
    It is the price to have a competitive unit but weaker vs CL or BB.
    Armored/Heavy Cruiser, CA A3D3M2C16, 2 hits, shore bombardment 1@3
    It need to be at 16 IPCs to be balance, lower too OP vs BB or CL.

    Battleship, BB A4D4M2C18, 2 hits, shore bombardment 1@4

    To get more differences between cruiser vs BB:
    A) Give all types of cruiser M3
    B1) Give them 1 preemptive AA@1 on defense when paired with 1BB or 1CV
    B2) Give them 2 preemptives AA@1 on defense when paired with 1BB and 1CV
    B3) Give to 1 cruiser 1 preemptive AA@1 on defense.
    C) Give 1 cruiser both offence and defense on a roll of “1” on first round only, to hit 1 plane (owner choose the type of casualty Fgt, TB, StB).
    D1) Give to CA a coastal bombardment @4 instead of only @3.

    D2) Give to the BB 2 rounds of coastal bombardment @4 when there is at least 1 ground unit remaining from TT making the amphibious assault after first round.
    E) Give to the BB 1D3 damage to either IC, Naval Base or Air Base as a coastal rocket attack.
    F) Give to BB Plundging Fire on first rnd: 1@1 preemptive strike against surface vessels
    G) Forbid BB to attack subs: A0 vs Subs. But play them on defense vs subs D4 as OOB rules.
    H) Having a BB Flagship, with 3 hits (21-22 IPCs vs 18 / 23-24 vs OOB 20).

    With all this options, Cruisers and BBs will be bought and use for very different function.
    Of course, putting all of it can unbalance toward other naval units: but nevertheless DD and Subs have their own proper function.

    But all this optional addition can add some historical flavor, and a real gameplay difference amongst the bigger warships.
    And you can even gives different options to Light, Battle and Heavy cruiser unit to create a more representative difference amongst them.

    For example:
    give M3 and AA to Light Cruiser,
    just M3 to Battlecruiser,
    M2 and Coastal @4 to heavycruiser but forbid Subs attack like BB option.
    Someone can rise the BB cost to 19 IPCs or even 20 but giving them plundging fire and 2 rounds of coastal @4, because of the longer range of their heavier guns.

    Baron I enjoyed this particular post on this thread.

  • Customizer

    @Imperious:

    It is not only about numbers. It it were the carrier with fighters is always the best option and players buy other units even if they get less return for it per IPC

    Thank you IL!

    I mean this as no offense to anyone but cost and battle calculator results do not give the ultimate worth of units in the overall strategy of the game.

    You make a lot of good points IL but this is a favorite for me. I think a lot of times this goes out the window when figuring what a unit’s “value” is. Not every battle will be giant stack vs. giant stack.


  • All numbers aside, and all arguments aside…cruisers are almost never purchased, period.
    And while you cannot use math as a be-all end-all, you cannot turn a blind eye to it either.
    It is a little ignorant to totally ignore mathematical data.

    You can use math to see why submarines and destroyers are nearly spammed to death in every competitive game, whith very few battleships (maybe 1 per game) and maybe a cruiser every 3 games
    you can then use math (*gasp) to try to find a better cost of the units

    It it were the carrier with fighters is always the best option and players buy other units even if they get less return for it per IPC

    this is a false statement, carriers are good because of their range and flexibility. they are subpar to submarines and destroyers however when it comes to pure combat.

    please i would love to see a valid argument against 10 IPC cruisers.
    Do you think they would suddenly become some super unit? (we already have those, there called submarines :P…)
    They suck now, a 2 IPC reduction actually makes them ‘ok’ rather than ‘terrible’
    At 10 IPCs they are on par with destroyers in combat, cruisers have bombard, destroyers are ASW and remain the better fodder unit

    Not to mention zero change to overall game balance, fleet damage/hp would remain the same. It is the composition that would alter.

  • Customizer

    I’m not arguing against a 10 IPC CA. In a pure combat situation the battle calculator does show that. My quoting IL is that there are other factors to consider when pricing units (Any unit) besides how they fare in a single battle. Overall strategic movement is one thing the battle calculator does not simulate.

    There may be a reason why someone would buy a unit with weaker stats but longer range as well as many other variables.

  • '17 '16

    Baron I enjoyed this particular post on this thread.

    I’m very happy that you like this post on customizing Cruiser units.
    It really means something coming from one like you which had many HBG, (FMG?) units.
    Tell me if you ever introduce more than 1 cruiser type in your future game and which stats and cost you give them.

    This post summarize numerous ideas from many posts on various threads.
    Many of this optional additions to cruiser were in large part created to promote a higher interest in the OOB cruiser at 12 IPCs.
    In a sense, this noncompetitive unit was kind of spark to create house rules and different capacities for the cruiser.

    @toblerone77:

    I’m not arguing against a 10 IPC CA. In a pure combat situation the battle calculator does show that. My quoting IL is that there are other factors to consider when pricing units (Any unit) besides how they fare in a single battle. Overall strategic movement is one thing the battle calculator does not simulate.

    There may be a reason why someone would buy a unit with weaker stats but longer range as well as many other variables.

    This post provides comparative stats between type of cruiser based on some kind of historical representation.
    The cost is balance according to a direct 50% vs 50% odds of survival one type vs another type of unit.

    I agree with you, the combat calc from 1 large stack vs another type, is not enough.

    But the maths gives a balance cost basis, then you decide to add some capacity (A to H, above).

    Additional capacity can rise the cost from 1 or 2 IPCs.
    Since every unit as a cost relative to another, it had also an impact toward other pricing.

    For example, giving to 1 cruiser unit 1AA@1 and 3M and keeping a 10 IPCs, will give such an advantage that vs an OOB DD, the ASW won’t be that interesting vs the 3M range mobility, AA first strike, etc.
    It can imply that such a unit could be at 11 IPCs and even 12.
    So a battlecruiser vs this special light cruiser CL A3D3M3C11 cannot stay at 12 to be a balance buying,
    you will have to had special capacity and also add +1 / +2 IPCs to cost probably.
    CB A4D4M3C13-14 bombard, etc…

    All this special addition come with personal evaluation of their impact…

    Maths is clearly not an end but give some means to eval and keep balance.

  • '17 '16

    @toblerone77:

    I’m not arguing against a 10 IPC CA. In a pure combat situation the battle calculator does show that. My quoting IL is that there are other factors to consider when pricing units (Any unit) besides how they fare in a single battle. Overall strategic movement is one thing the battle calculator does not simulate.

    There may be a reason why someone would buy a unit with weaker stats but longer range as well as many other variables.

    That’s about this very reason:
    Clearly 12 IPCs cruiser has a weaker unit stats.

    What was the decisive argument in which, for example, Larry decides to stay at 12 IPCs and not lowering it at 11 (as he said, that it could be a possibility)?

    Play-testers and the author got many occasions to do this but never done it even on revised Global (G40 2nd ed.).
    12 IPCs cruiser is clearly not a competitive units as OOB, so maybe is it the cost structure which get approval and be the main conservative reason, 1 point cost 2 IPCs for all warships?

  • Customizer

    Baron, as of yet the HBG line-up is not complete for many ships. I liked the breakdown on your cruiser stats. They may come in handy in the future.

  • Customizer

    There will soon be more Japanese and British carriers, destroyers, CVs, and BBs to the HBG line-up. There are also some existing vessels. So you can check them out on the HBG site.


  • The only other variable a cruiser brings is bombard.

    It has been discussed to just give cruisers another ability. Such as AA dice or +1 movement.
    But to do so would have greater balance implications in the game, with the potential to require setup changes and or other changes to even it out.

    Changes the cost to 10 has almost no (if any at all) balance implications.
    Cruisers changes from a ‘terrible’ unit to an ‘ok’ unit.
    They would be no more powerful than a pure destroyer spam is currently OOB.

    You say don’t just look at one unit type vs another…
    10 IPC cruisers also creates a very interesting dynamic where it is beneficial to have a mixture of cruisers and destroyers than pure destroyer in pure combat.
    It actually promotes a more combined arms approach.

  • '17 '16

    @toblerone77:

    Baron, as of yet the HBG line-up is not complete for many ships. I liked the breakdown on your cruiser stats. They may come in handy in the future.

    I’ve just noted this:
    1 hit cruiser    vs 2 hits “cruiser”
    CL A3D3C10        CA A3D3C16
    BC A4D4C12        BB A4D4C18 C19

    There is a +2 IPCs for 1A/1D pts.
    The second hit cost + 6 IPCs.
    But it doesn’t work anymore  from a statistical point of view.
    Here is the basis of my calculation:

    @Baron:

    Sorry for this long post everybody.

    You can only read the first part to know my conclusion and past over the calculation.
    Second part is to give proof of my assumptions.

    I made it because I was pretty amazed by all the results.
    I thought everyone interested in G40e cost calculation/structure should know.

    @Baron:

    @Uncrustable:

    It was also a pretty uniform agreement that 7,8,10,16,18 is best for gameplay purposes.

    To prove that the maths balance cost of Battleship unit should be 18 IPCs vs Cruiser at 10 IPCs:

    22 Battleships A4 (D4) vs 41 Cruisers D3 (A3) = 50% vs 50% on the battlecalc.

    22/41 = 0.537 BB/CA    41/22 = 1.864 CA/BB

    **0.537 * 18 IPCs/BB = 9.67 IPCs/CA, rounding up: 10 IPCs

    1.864 * 10 IPCs/CA = 18.6 IPCs/BB rounding down: 18 IPCs…**

    but surprise!!!, it could be rounding up to 19 IPCS!!!

    So if someone want a less efficient but more historically accurate over expensive BB unit:
    Battleship should be at 19 IPCs.  :-o  :-P  :roll:

    And it doesn’t change the balance cost of Cruiser:
    0.537 * 19 IPCs/BB = 10.2 IPCs/CA, rounding down: 10 IPCs

    Nor it changes the balance cost of Destroyers:
    0.435 * 19 IPCs/BB = 8.265 IPCs/DD, rounding down: 8 IPCs

    I have done other calculation of Battleships vs Carrier with 2 Fgs and 1 Fg+ 1 TcB.
    At my own surprise, the results give something different than KionAAA maths.
    And it shows that my intuition was right when I said, to keep overall balance between warships:
    lowering by 2 IPCs cruiser & BB cost imply a -1 IPC to carrier also.

    In summary, to get a statistical balance sea combat (assuming TcB is at 10 IPCs):
    if BB cost 18, then Carrier must cost 35-20 (2 Fgs) = 15 IPCs,
    if BB cost 19, then Carrier must cost 37-20 (2 Fgs) = 17 IPCs.

    The maths follow below:

    13 Cvs+26 Fgs vs 28 BBs = 50% vs 50%
    13/28= 0.464 Cv/BB  28/13= 2.154 BB/Cv

    2.154x18= 38.77 IPCs/Cv on offence
    0.464x36= 16.7 IPCs/BB on defense

    19 BBs vs 11 Cvs+22 Fgs = 50% vs 50%
    19/11= 1.727 BB/Cv  11/19= 0.579 Cv/BB

    0.579x36=20.84 IPC/BB on offence
    1.727x18=31.09 IPC/Cv on defense

    Average cost of Cv+2Fgs= (38.77+31.09)/2= 34.93 IPCs

    Average cost of BB= (16.7+20.84)/2 = 18.77 IPCs


    Same units different costs:

    13 Cvs+26 Fgs vs 28 BBs = 50% vs 50%
    13/28= 0.464 Cv/BB  28/13= 2.154 BB/Cv

    2.154x19= 40.93 IPCs/Cv on offence
    0.464x37= 17.17 IPCs/BB on defense

    19 BBs vs 11 Cvs+22 Fgs = 50% vs 50%
    19/11= 1.727 BB/Cv  11/19= 0.579 Cv/BB

    0.579x37=21.42 IPC/BB on offence
    1.727x19=32.81 IPC/Cv on defense

    Average cost of Cv+2Fgs= (40.93+32.81)/2= 36.87 IPCs

    Average cost of BB= (17.17+21.42)/2 = 19.3 IPCs


    Vs Cv+ 1 Fg & 1 TcB

    14 Cvs+14 Fg&TcBs vs 26 BBs = 50% vs 50%
    14/26= 0.538 Cv/BB  26/14= 1.857 BB/Cv

    1.857x18= 33.43 IPCs/Cv on offence
    0.538x36= 19.37 IPCs/BB on defense

    39 BBs vs 19 Cvs+19 Fg&TcBs = 50% vs 50%
    39/19= 2.053 BB/Cv  19/39= 0.487 Cv/BB

    0.487x36=17.54 IPC/BB on offence
    2.053x18=36.95 IPC/Cv on defense

    Average cost of Cv+1Fg&TcB= (33.43+36.95)/2= 35.2 IPCs

    Average cost of BB= (19.37+17.54)/2 = 18.46 IPCs


    Same units different costs:

    14 Cvs+14 Fg&TcBs vs 26 BBs = 50% vs 50%
    14/26= 0.538 Cv/BB  26/14= 1.857 BB/Cv

    1.857x19= 35.28 IPCs/Cv on offence
    0.538x37= 19.91 IPCs/BB on defense

    39 BBs vs 19 Cvs+19 Fg&TcBs = 50% vs 50%
    39/19= 2.053 BB/Cv  19/39= 0.487 Cv/BB

    0.487x37=18.02 IPC/BB on offence
    2.053x19=39.01 IPC/Cv on defense

    Average cost of Cv+1Fg&TcB= (35.28+39.01)/2= 37.14 IPCs

    Average cost of BB= (19.91+18.02)/2 = 18.97 IPCs

  • '17 '16

    I found something as a base to discuss also a higher cost for cruiser than 10 IPCs.

    I made a little space inside statements.
    @Red:

    Third, real combat power is difficult to quantify and is most likely not represented by simple head-to-head equivalent IPC bases.  Afterall, the attacker seeks advantage and net survivability of high value units…NOT equivalence. The potential error in just considering head-to-head, equivalent IPC match ups became apparent when I was looking at cruiser cost.  As others have noted it is hard to beat an inexpensive “meat shield” or “fodder” type unit to protect the heavy hitting pieces.

    Therefore, with OOB unit cost there is little reason for a cruiser purchase because they have the same hitting power per IPC as a DD, but the cruiser still can only take one hit so it has 2/3’s the hit point equivalence.

    On a head-to-head equivalent basis 10 IPC cruisers might seem the answer…but this could be an artifact of putting high end units up against meat shield, with no shield of their own.

    A less aggressive 11 cost for the cruiser might be a better match for consideration of mixed forces.

    I’ve done some calcs based on 1CA+ 1DD, vs. 2DD; and incrementing up each side with DD’s each time at ranges of CA cost from 10-12.

    What I find is that the return on investment for the extra cost of a single cruiser in these DD fleets is favorable even at 12 IPC and of course increasingly so as the cost declines.

    Red Harvest,
    do you mind to explain further this specific aspect by giving an example of your calculation and increments with 10 IPCs, 11 IPCs and 12 IPCs cruiser.

    I need example to figure it out.
    Please,
    and thanks for your reply.


  • Baron,

    Thank you for the invitation, but I don’t follow the House Rules forum.  I sent you some examples of what I’ve been looking at in response to your earlier PM about mixed battles.  I believe you will be able to reconstruct the values and create new cases as needed to explore the topic.

    Not to derail this thread, I’ll note you’ve already seen my comments and figures about historical build ratios, historical cost, and the potential first turn cruiser buy for Italy and Anzac that gave me pause with respect to the idea of C10.

    Good luck on the project.

  • Customizer

    Hey Baron,
    Just checking out your ideas for different types of cruisers. Since HBG has plans to come out with the Deutschland class Pocket Battleships in a second Axis Minor set at some point in the future, where would you place them in your lineup?
    I’m thinking they would fit in with Battle Cruisers A4D4M2C12 1 hit, shore bombardment 1@4.

  • '17 '16

    @knp7765:

    Hey Baron,
    Just checking out your ideas for different types of cruisers. Since HBG has plans to come out with the Deutschland class Pocket Battleships in a second Axis Minor set at some point in the future, where would you place them in your lineup?
    I’m thinking they would fit in with Battle Cruisers A4D4M2C12 1 hit, shore bombardment 1@4.

    I think it is the simplest way to manage Pocket BB.
    Base on the nick-name “Pocket Battleship”, we intuitively put them at A4D4 and 1 hit.
    As far as I could read about them, their 11 inch guns give them almost the firepower of BB-class ship.
    However, the German Navy class them as Heavy cruiser. They were around 10 000 tons.

    Certainly, CWO Marc, has an idea where to put them according to speed, tonnage and armor.
    You should check first his post to get a general understanding of the various class.
    http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=32165.msg1202782#msg1202782
    He said this:

    The Deutschlands were essentially ships which were the size of a heavy cruiser, which had the armour of a light cruiser, and which had the 11-inch guns of a low-end battleship.

    Here is what I got from Wikipedia:

    The British began referring to the vessels as pocket battleships, in reference to the heavy firepower contained in the relatively small vessels; they were considerably smaller than battleships, though at 28 knots slower than battlecruisers, and although their displacement was that of a heavy cruiser, they were armed with guns larger than the heavy cruisers of other nations.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruiser#The_German_pocket_battleships

    So according to this specifications (if someone have enough sculpts to split hairs),
    Battlecruiser should be put A4D4M3 and
    Pocket Battleship A4D4M2 and both at 1 hit.
    Since Battlecruiser A4D4M3 is a better unit, the cost should be 1 IPC higher than Pocket Battleship.

    Coming to this conclusion:
    Pocket Battleship A4D4M2C12, 1 hit
    Battlecruiser      A4D4M3C13, 1 hit

    Do you also agree?


    After further investigation, I discover that HMS Hood and Courageous were just at 31 knots vs the 28 knots for Pocket BB.
    But, the range of Battlecruiser is around 5K-6K nautical miles vs 10 000 nautical miles for Pocket BB.

    So it must be the reverse:
    Battlecruiser      A4D4M2C12, 1 hit
    Pocket Battleship A4D4M3C13, 1 hit

  • Customizer

    Actually, I could make the cost 2 IPCs higher.
    Pocket Battleship A4D4M2 cost 12, 1 hit
    Battle Cruiser      A4D4M3 cost 14, 1 hit

    That extra movement point should cost more than 1 IPC. Otherwise no one would ever buy Pocket Battleships when they could spend 1 more IPC to get the same ship with faster speed.

    That being said, I’ve never liked the idea of giving any ship a 3 movement. Some have suggested giving cruisers a 3 movement to balance the cost of 12 IPCs. It just seems like that would be an unfair advantage. Then again, I guess you could make the case that class of ship is what navies would buy to chase down enemy ships yet allow them to escape battleships. Then from a naval base, they could move 4 which just seems like too much to me. Some have suggested that this ship simply does NOT get the naval base bonus, but that doesn’t make sense to me either. All other ships get a bonus movement except for the fastest ship class?

  • '17 '16

    @knp7765:

    Actually, I could make the cost 2 IPCs higher.
    Pocket Battleship A4D4M2 cost 12, 1 hit
    Battle Cruiser A4D4M3 cost 14, 1 hit

    That extra movement point should cost more than 1 IPC. Otherwise no one would ever buy Pocket Battleships when they could spend 1 more IPC to get the same ship with faster speed.

    That being said, I’ve never liked the idea of giving any ship a 3 movement. Some have suggested giving cruisers a 3 movement to balance the cost of 12 IPCs. It just seems like that would be an unfair advantage. Then again, I guess you could make the case that class of ship is what navies would buy to chase down enemy ships yet allow them to escape battleships. Then from a naval base, they could move 4 which just seems like too much to me. Some have suggested that this ship simply does NOT get the naval base bonus, but that doesn’t make sense to me either. All other ships get a bonus movement except for the fastest ship class?

    The 3 spaces move, is more a matter of autonomy range than real “pure” speed.
    So Naval Base bonus is a kind of re-supplying to go further in the ocean.
    Cruiser can go further in open sea without refueling.
    I agree, even with NB cruiser shouldn’t get the M4.

    2 IPCs more for a single move point is too much.

    Also, I revised my post, see the end of it.
    Pocket BB get the M3 and Battlecruiser the M2.

    Here is some posts discussing about Pocket BB:
    @Krieghund:

    @Gallo:

    Transform German Cruisers into “Pocket Battleships” (Graff Spee class): attack and defend on a 3, but take 2 hits to sunk (they still cost the same than a Cruiser)

    Pocket battleships were actually more heavily armed than cruisers, but less heavily armored than battleships.  Based upon that, it seems that a pocket battleship should actually attack and defend on a 4 (like a battleship) and take only one hit to sink (like a cruiser), not the other way around.

    @Imperious:

    Let’s do the numbers:

    Bismarck class battleship armor: belt 145-320 mm, deck 110-120 mm
    Deutschland class pocket battleship armor: belt 80 mm, deck 40 mm
    Admiral Hipper class heavy cruiser armor: belt 70-80 mm, deck 20-50 mm

    From this, it sure looks to me like the Pocket Battleship’s armor is a lot closer to the cruiser’s than the battleship’s.

    LMFAO!!

    …and although their displacement was that of a heavy cruiser, they were armed with guns larger than the heavy cruisers of other nations.

    Yea lets do the numbers, except not compare a super dreadnought in the same navy with its own pocket battleship. Instead we compare the pocket battleship to normal warships that could be opposing it ( from England)

    HMS Exeter ( Heavy cruiser)
    Main belt: * 3 in
                  * 2-1 in enclosing bulkheads
    Lower deck: * 1 in over machinery
                    * 1 in over stearing gear

    County-class Cruiser
    Main belt: * 4.5 in with 1 in closing bulkheads
    (Berwick, Cumberland, Suffolk, Kent & Cornwall only, from 1935-)
    Lower deck: * 1.25 in over machinery
                    * 1.5 in over steering gear

    Admiral Graf Spee:
    Main belt:  about 3.937 inches–- compared to 3 inches for UK
    Deck:  1.5 inches-3.5 inches— compared to equal to double UK Cruisers

    King George V class BB…basically the top of the line Battleship for UK
    Main belt: 14.7 in
    Lower belt: 5.4 in
    Deck: up to 5.38 in

    Kongo Class battleship ( just for example)
    Main belt: 8 3 in
    Deck: 2.3-1.5 in

    OK based on this the German ships should be one hit, but at 4-4 and not 3-3


  • Have fuel tankers available. Any ship or ships that move with a fuel tanker ( 1 per seazone ) gets to move 3 spaces.

  • '17 '16

    @SS:

    Have fuel tankers available. Any ship or ships that move with a fuel tanker ( 1 per seazone ) gets to move 3 spaces.

    The A&A ship types unit will grow out of proportion. :wink:
    FMG and HBG would have to create the sculpt too.

    Actually, even the idea of having three types of cruiser (light, battle and heavy) on the board is already a bit tedious.

    To keep it simple, the German Pocket-BB could be the German Battlecruiser units, as the HMS Hoods sculpt is the English Battlecruiser sculpt, all at A4D4M2C12, 1 hit, bombard @4.

    All this said, the fans can create a fuel tanker unit which can give 1 additionnal move to all sea-units. But I would limit its usefullness to 1 use/tanker. And tanker should go to a NB to be reusable another time.

  • '17 '16

    I finally found one of the post I once read about AA Flak efficiency. It is also talking about Pocket Battleship and a longer time of production for BB, as an HR:

    @Nexus:

    I think multiple AA shots might work if the maximum kills were limited in some way.  A few triple-roll AA cruisers might be too much – say max the kill-rate at one plane/cruiser regardless of the number of AA dice rolled?  But I think there are more issues that need some thought…

    Cruisers were only more effective than destroyers for AA kills.  Cruisers certainly had less AA than carriers (CVEs excluded) or battleships but far more than destroyers.  Late-war US Navy stats (non-suicide) show a fairly consistent 17% - 24% of plane attacks were shot down by AA regardless of ship type.  Although one fast-carrier group shot down as many as 33% (but that is a high).  Generally, battleships, carriers and cruisers shot down the same percentage of aircraft while destroyers averaged a little better than half that rate.  These are late-war stats with increased AA mounts, improved directors, radar, mechanical computers and VT fuses against a desperate, poorly trained enemy.  AA rules allowing more than 33% AA kill rate might be pushing the envelope.  Three dice is a lot.

    I’d believe it if AA shots were given to carriers and battleships but that doesn’t do much for cruisers.  Cruisers were far easier and faster to build than capital ships.  Battleships were exponentially more powerful (attack and defense) and also exponentially more expensive and difficult to build than cruisers and there-in lies the problem.  Thus the 6 cruisers to 1 battleship production rate mentioned earlier.

    2 cruisers will statistically beat 1 battleship in both Global 1940 combat rules and IPC cost BUT tonnage-wise 3 heavy cruisers = one battleship (15,000 CA vs 45000 BB).  And Light cruisers were half the tonnage of heavy cruisers (7000 CL vs 15000 CA) so that makes things even worse when averaging things (I’m using general numbers here, there are extreme examples on either side).

    In the real world 3 cruisers would only blind a battleship on a good day, possibly sinking it if they had torpedoes and got lucky.  The Battle of the River Plate shows just how dangerous even one small Battle Cruiser can be versus cruisers at 1 to 3 odds.  I think Battleships need more power but with limited production rules.  Give them double dice rolls to hit with both dice counting but force production over two turns while increasing their cost. That might be more realistic (can I say that in Axis and Allies?   :wink:) AND perhaps give cruisers a proper place.

    No ship, no pair of ships could dare equal the mighty Battleship – it took an airplane to beat it.  Well…, excepting a pair of submarines but that’s another story.   :-D

    I think there needs to be an adjustment to make the cruiser useful in this game or simply drop it.  Just my thoughts.

    Here is some additional historical reasons provide by IL to give AA capacity for cruiser and even some kind of ASW:

    Why are you prepared to give a Cruiser squadron (of, what, 6-9 vessels) the chance of knocking out approx 250 planes in addition to its usual Att of 3? Certainly ‘before the plane fires back’ is really very odd indeed…

    Cruisers were AA gun platforms and better suited for escort duty due to their faster speeds. They could keep up with carriers and provide AA defense for the fleet. Some nations went far enough to generate an entire class of AA cruisers for this very duty.

    Remember its ONE ROLL PER CRUISER @ 1… If you got 1 CA and 10 planes, just one roll…not a big deal.

    A worse realism issue is SB’s their is no way a battleship or cruiser will destroy an army 3-5 corps worth of men ( preemptively).

    It seems at least one level overpowered: why not either have it fire before the planes or have it fire simultaneously?

    Well because planes can not attack ships unless they are FIRST IN FIRING RANGE OF THOSE SHIPS. Planes need to get level and face flak fire before they drop ordinance. This is how its done in like every wargame. If you want realism thats it.

    To be clear, I don’t like the idea much at all, but I would certainly weaken it at least one level.

    The ASW idea is very interesting though, and as Subs are cheaper than planes it wouldn’t have such a great effect on the statistics if a Cruiser could get an attack on Subs before they fire back… This might well be worth pursuing.

    Cruisers did also have ASW capabilities, like the DD.

    http://harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=5216

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