Refit and Repair 2
The arms race of the waves, back for a second time, far away.
Here, at the Ocantroval Archipelago, the nations of Veenland and Magna Mongadizafra. Two nations that came to be in their modern form in far different ways in the nineteenth century, and will soon find themselves fighting against each other at the dawn of the twentieth century. However, these nations are ones who's background will be made through decisions made by you, the players.
What Is This?This is an arms race where you will be controlling the naval forces of Veenland or Magna Mongadizafra and designing the ships, guns, fire control, ect that they use. The rules are somewhat based on They Who Dare, just like the original, though there are quite a few major differences. The key differences, however, from other Arms Races games are as such:
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly Your nations will have a few traits that will be made by players choices in the pregame, these traits can be good or bad. The perks in question chosen will have effects on the game, and should lead to some interesting differences in terms of how the sides use their forces and also the characteristics of their nation, not only adding a bit of a interesting dynamic and difference between the two sides outside of name and equipment, but also potentially making the game a bit more asymmetrical. These perks are added through choices in decisions of the creation of the nation, and these choices will often either lead to another related event in the nations history, good or bad, or simply be a double edged sword. These will be selected at the start of the game, and potentially can change over the course of the game depending on the perk in question.
Abstraction in Production This game’s only resource is production points, which represent industrial production. The budget of PP fluctuates from turn to turn, dependent on national traits, how long the war has gone on, and finally the success and size of the navy. PP is spent on progressing projects as well as building and maintaining ships, along with any separate equipment. In the beginning of the game, neither side has its economy on a proper war footing, and PP budgets will increase to represent greater spending on defense. As both sides progress toward total war, the rate of increase will slow, and there will be increased competition from the army for your budget.
One does not 'hold' sea like they do land The map doesn't have a front line, however it does have regions of sea where ships will go. Of course, one side could theoretically send a cruiser force to raid convoys right in the enemies backyard, so long as they have cruisers with enough range, but going further away from friendly controlled ports has its risks. A ship hit by a torpedo a few hours from a friendly port is much more likely to survive than one hit by a torpedo that now is forced to sail at 5 knots and will take over a month to reach a friendly port in waters enemy ships commonly transit through. Its important to mention that unless enemy ships sail there, sea zones behind the main areas of fighting are under your control, and that ships can be intercepted before they reach sea zones as they cross others.
Land for Landlubbers Battles on the ground are done over bases that exist on the map, and fights over said bases are represented with a cross of swords, however should the base flip over to the other side, the battle might still continue as the last pockets of defense stubbornly hold onto their last bastions on the island, or as the enemy army remains not too far from the base they just lost control over. Needless to say, docking at a base currently being fought over is generally a unwise idea, though you can still use it should it be in your control while in combat, and this might be more useful later on should the game reach certain years.
Companies are useful, you know. Should the game reach a point where aircraft are a useful addition to the navy, you will be able to request a type of aircraft and a few general characteristics you'd like from it. After a turn or two, three companies will present offers of aircraft for you to take, all with their pro's and cons. These stats are naturally rolled, which means some are obviously better than others at times. However companies tend to have a trend in a few things they are good at.
The Roma wasn't built in a day. Ships that are under construction take time to make, the amount of time to make a ship decreases as time goes on and on perks. Ships that are damaged usually take less time to repair than building a new one from scratch and so too is refitting a ship. Finally ship designs are limited by the size of the dry docks you have, which can be expanded for production points in order to make bigger ships, though this will take a year to do.
Cargo sends its regards. While development of things like X Lighters can be done, other certain Auxiliary ships like repair ships or sub tenders, no cargo ships will need to be produced or made by your navy. Do not take this to mean that you can try to throw landing forces everywhere while they are unguarded, as you don't have an infinite number of them or marines, and losing them will hurt future landing attempts for a time.
The Nations:The Republic of
Veenland. Once a Dutch Colony, it is best known for it's long guerilla war against the British for their freedom after the colony was taken by the British during the Napoleonic Wars, and it being the worlds first Socialist nation. It's heartlands are full of fertile fields, and low hills, and mires for which it is named. It's form of government is a
Proto Syndicalist RepublicThe Republic of
Magna Mongadizafra. Once controlled by the Spanish, the Republic became free during the collapse of the Spanish Empire in a relatively bloodless revolution. It's heartlands are quite warm, and have distinct tall mountains and mostly rocky or dry lands around them that are rich in ore. It's form of government is a
Representative Republic
The Sequence of Play:
There are 4 turns per year, with each turn split into the Design, Revision and Refit, Production/Deployment, and the Battle phases.
During the
Design Phase, you can propose
Projects and
Ship Designs, along with progressing existing ones. Projects can be anything from guns to weight saving techniques, while Ship Designs are purely for ships. Each team has 6 dice to spend on rolls every turn, and can bank up to 4 dice to the next turn. To start a project takes 3 dice: one to roll time estimate, one to roll initial progress, and one to roll project expense. Additional dice may be added to ‘double-roll’ any of the projects dice rolls. After the initial rolls are made, the design rolls 3 main dice for Effectiveness, Cost and Bugs. These will be the final rolls for the project if no revisions are made.
Each die of progress rolled has a corresponding cost in
Production Points (PP) that must be paid. For every such ‘paid’ die, you can choose to
rush the project, which adds an extra die worth of progress (not subtracted from the 5) but has a 50% chance of adding a bug to the project or worsening an existing bug.
Ship designs meanwhile use 4 dice, however unlike projects they don't have the initial three dice rolls and instead just have the final three rolls instead along with a single d4 to determine how many seasons it takes to finish the design, with a minus or plus depending on the size, class, and complexity of the design in question. The time required for the ship to actually be completed in the shipyards is determined by me based on the size of the ship, its complexity, and quite simply any national bonuses or cons in effect on top of it. Additionally, for it to progress, 1 PP must be dedicated to it per season. A few example of a project and ship design is:
2 Pounder Pine Gun | 12/15 progress | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 6 PP invested
Van Bergenaar Class | 2/3 Seasons to Completion | Armored Cruiser | 6/2 PP cost | 7 Season Construction Time
During the
Revision & Refit Phase, you can spend one die on making a
Revision. Examples of revisions are fixing a flaw that causes your 14 inch guns to explode violently when firing. Meanwhile, Refits are spent on things like modifying your oldest Battlecruiser with the newly developed fire control and anti aircraft guns. It should be noted that it is possible to lower Cost through a revision, but it will result in either bugs or a reduction in effectiveness except on high rolls. Of course, you can turn this to your advantage by specifying exactly which aspects of the existing design should be traded-off for a reduction in cost. Revisions that fix bugs will be applied for free to all deployed equipment, however refits will be used to fix bugs on finished, constructed ships. Retrofits that add capabilities or fix bugs with finished ship designs will only be applied to newly produced ships and ships that stay at home port getting refit.
There are technically speaking, no diminishing returns for multiple revisions to improve a ship design beyond original specifications, but obviously, in practice its hull will be outdated and its machinery likely as well with time. While the latter can be replaced, it tends to take significant time to do so, additionally, adding too much without doing things that reduce the ships weight can cause it to become overweight.
During the
Production & Deployment Phase, each team spends
Production Points on producing new ships and equipment, and on maintaining existing ships. Unspent PP will not be banked to the next turn. Ship's cost a certain amount of PP each turn when being built, and not spending their PP cost on them will result in construction being paused. If a ship has a cost of 3/1, that means that producing a new ship of the class costs 3 PP per turn until its finished, while maintaining that ship costs 1 PP a turn. When a ship is under Refit, it is treated similarly to a ship being built, however it generally costs much less and takes much less time, with an exception being if its a major conversion, like turning it into an aircraft carrier, or replacing all of its machinery. Additionally ships under construction when a revision has been done to the design can, depending on the state of construction, take a delay in order to apply the new addition. It also should be noted that sometimes, ships might have a delay in construction, or be ahead of schedule, and this applies to ships being Refit as well.
A very important aspect of the game is suggesting
Deployments or Operations for the ships produced. Examples of deployments would be for a battleship escorted by two cruisers and four destroyers to bombard a particular coastal town to assist in a landing, or for a cruiser to raid enemy shipping by itself. Note that suggesting deployments of multiple ships together is important, a battle cruiser on its lonesome is, while less likely to be spotted, much more vulnerable should it come to face a fleet of other ships or be spotted by submarines than a battle cruiser with a proper escort.
Finally, in the
Battle Phase, you simply wait for the other side to finish or for me to write how things are going on the high seas. There is nothing to be done during this phase.
Ships
The main unit of your Navy is a
ship, who'd guess? They always represent one specific vessel of their class and they often will have a special little card made by me with general specifications on them. Despite this a quick short description of any ship will also be provided. An example of a ship is as such:
Post Dreadnought Battleship with six turrets with two guns of 12 inch caliber each totaling twelve guns. For a secondary armament, it has ten 6 inch guns and a tertiary of twelve 3 inch guns, all of which are in casemates. Its armored with nine inches of belt armor and has a armored deck of a inch and a half while the turrets front, sides, and back has a thick ten inches of armor while the top of said turrets has two inches. The casemates are armored with four inches and a half and the conning tower has twelve inches protecting it. It uses an all or nothing armor scheme, displaces twenty four thousand tons of water, and has a max speed of 23 knots. Has two submerged torpedo mounts and an improved director for fire control.
Crew Experience is Regular
Captain Eddie Campbell, Experience is Elite, Nature Cautious.
Currently assigned to the 1st Fast Transport Fleet landing troops at Primebrook.
Each ship also has a
level of both crew and captain experience, which in this case is “Regular” and "Elite" respectively. Experience is tracked from 0 to 100, but in- game you will only get to see the experience levels. These levels are, in ascending order: Poor(<10), Greenhorn(11-24), Trained(25-44), Regular(45-70), Veteran(71-90), Elite (90>). Those of poor skill have basically just completed the most basic of training and haven't been given time to have any working up, while those of Elite are master sailors and strategists who run with almost clockwork efficiency.
Experience of a crew determines how accurate the ship is, how good its damage control is, how likely it is not to break down, and generally just preforming its job better. Captains meanwhile determine how well it maneuvers in combat and how likely it is for the right calls to be made. Captains also have a nature, being either Aggressive, Cautious, or Balanced. An aggressive captain is more likely to order his ship to risk getting closer to try and unleash a well aimed torpedo spread that can be devastating to an enemy battleship at the risk of his own light cruiser, while a cautious captain may elect to try and leave battle and not risk the ship if it takes too much damage. Lastly, a captain may have varying traits. There are one to three which are hidden initially, but more can be gained as their service record continues. These can be anything from prone to bouts of rage, to unlucky, to even such things as being a War Hero.
When a ship is finished it will enter a state of Working up for two seasons, in which the crew will get to a Greenhorn status, however they can be ordered to go out into the fight before this if so desired. Over time, should a ship not engage in combat, its crew will slowly gain experience as they properly man the ship, however if they are engaged in combat missions and get into gunfights with other ships often, experience increases faster, proportional to the intensity of the combat. Experience also can decrease to represent losses in combat should they suffer enough yet not sink.
Every ship that is more than a fishing boat that was confiscated by the navy and had a gun slapped on it has a
captain. It also should be mentioned that the captain in the biggest, newest, most important ship in a fleet will generally be put in command of said fleet. If there are multiple ships of that description, I'll pick the most experienced captain of the bunch, though you can specify who if you wish.
Marines and other misc things.
Both sides have Marines and they have their own equipment that is designed by the navy. This equipment can be designed using revisions or designs, but regardless they aren't the focus of this game. They still exist, and you'll probably be hearing a lot about them if you decide to try an amphibious invasion of an island, likely about their success as they land or their failure as their transports are sunk. But their equipment can make a difference, especially if things at sea are mostly even.
Should the game get to a point where naval aviation is a thing, each turn you can tender a proposal for aircraft, with a primary and secondary focus on the craft. Three aircraft will be rolled up in a season or two and you will then pick one of these aircraft for use. Squadrons based on either carriers or land will have their own experience, and you can have things like flying boats and floatplanes for scouting. They use the same experience levels as crews, and each squadron would cost a small amount of maintenance.
Should either side make Submarines, they will be able to be ordered like a normal ship, but they likely won't have a special unit card made for them...Mostly because the thing I use for ships only really works for surface ships, not submarines. Regardless, should you create a submarine, you can also set up a general doctrine telling them to use prize rules, simply go and do as the Jerries did and go unrestricted. Both have their pro's and cons. Related to that, you can make Auxiliary cruisers...Pinguin fans rejoice.
Land fortifications and installations are a thing, however, for the Navy they are mainly defensive guns, docks, and if we get late enough, airfields. Defensive guns are quite cheep, and useful should your navy be on the other side of the archipelago...or below the waves. It should be noted you have a home dock where your ships are made, it has a displacement limit on what it can make, and you can expand it for some PP, which takes 4 turns to complete.
I believe these can be summed up as: no being (too) salty, no whining, no accusations of GM bias and no spying. Violations may see you removed from the game.
As for complaints about historical/physical inaccuracy, you may submit one argument only about why another side's equipment is unrealistic, with sources if possible. I reserve the right to alter effectiveness in retrospect, but battle results will not be changed. Repeated badgering about one issue reduces the chances of me acquiescing to your complaints.
Q Aren't you planning on running an arms race already? A Yes, yes I am. This is easier and quicker to set up, and I'm used to work now and want to do this.
Q That sounds like a bad idea A Not really, I've had to do a lot more work for a different game for months. This'll be a lot easier, so I'm better able to keep going.
Q Where is the map? A I plan on waiting for flags for both sides to be made first before it is made, so that I can properly place bases down.
Q Will ships that aren't the lead ship have names? A Yes, you name them. If you don't name them I'll be upset, badger you for a bit, and then if I still don't get a name I'll name it myself. Feel free to take inspiration from other real world nations naming schemes.
Q Why did you basically write the same information down twice some times? A Because I felt it needed a bit more explanation...or needed more emphasis in case it got overlooked...Or I just didn't notice I wrote it down twice.
Triple-expansion engines are new, and used in more recent steam ships
Turrets are in use, as well as new and modern single casemates.
Most modern warships are made of specially made steel, and the nations are no different.
Torpedoes in their modern form exist, but are of short range.
Proper propellers are in use by both navies.
The largest gun either side has is 12 inches (304 Millimeters)
Poll
7 (43.8%)
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Topic: Refit and Repair 2 (Read 2240 times)