Let's Sperg Rule the Waves II: Kiwis at Sea - From Pre Dreadnoughts to the Missile Age, Something is Always Bloody Wrong With Your Ships Today

[Adamska]

Well that was a pointless war. Bit of a shame you lost more than gained ship wise, but at least it was just the Aspern and not a real people CL. Also looks like Huber's really going ham on the Torp-tech, but I don't blame him since it's clearly shitting on trade fleets. I reckon you'll get quite a few more dings before his tenure's up since you get a bonus to the technology.

I find it hilarious that the game gave you the 15 in gun when I casually mentioned skipping a grade, and it's a good model to boot. Also nice on getting some nice 7 and 10 inchers; those are good raider guns.

The war probably didn't teach too much; seemed to just be a mild pissing match over trade and the Tsar realized it was a stupid idea to keep agitating against you since you locked down the med enough with those subs and that means lolno food trade. At most it might highlight that your colonies may need a bit more firepower and that you need to counter raiders in the big ocean now.

Oh yeah, and since we're getting there, I imagine that Franz Ferdinand may be Kaiser now given this is around the point Franz Josef dies.

That Tegetthoff class looks to be a beast of a ship right there. Especially those 13 inch guns it’s starting to look like an actual naval vessel. How long do you think this ship can stay relevant and combat effective?

lol it's completely obsolete thanks to Uncle Sam giving him 15 in guns and the fact he discovered how to make oil fired ships. Bit of a shame too, because the Tegethoff is a good design for the KuK; it's just the game decided to troll him a month later with the material needed to make a good inter-war period ship.

 

[GnomeofDoc]

completely obsolete

Well then... At least he can just redesign it since if I read correctly he hasn’t ordered any of them built yet.

 

[Adamska]

Well then... At least he can just redesign it since if I read correctly he hasn’t ordered any of them built yet.

True, and he can also put down on a seaplane carrier too for his Angola colony.

 

[Techpriest]

That Tegetthoff class looks to be a beast of a ship right there. Especially those 13 inch guns it’s starting to look like an actual naval vessel. How long do you think this ship can stay relevant and combat effective?

Not at all. She was a stopgap design really. I'll make my battleships of the future soon enough - I just need funding to open up for them.

The Italians despite the tension reductions continue to annoy me. Budget cuts also mean that my two battle cruisers are going to be a bit delayed. I can only afford short bursts of construction on one of them.

Doubly good I didn't build the T-series designs. Their guns are outdated now too.

We also have a basic fighter and a floatplane in service now. They're short range, but it's not terrible to have them.

Finally, I get the big news I've been hoping for for a long, long time. All or Nothing armor is now in play.

All or nothing armor is a massive improvement. It saves weight, increases effective armor thickness, improves speed, the whole nine yards. I just need director firing and I'll be set.

This is the other big one. Only slightly less penetration than your average AP shell, for bigger benefits.

Yeah, sure, no problem buddy.

Lets get the gang back together.

Oh yeah baby.

Skoda really keeps handing me good things.

With that in mind, I design my next generation of heavy cruisers. These are meant to bully the hell out of anything lighter than them, and some ships heavier than them (for example, early dreadnoughts) at a reasonable cost. I don't need and won't order many of them. I just want the design around really.

These beauties though, I want around ASAP. Her 15 inch guns make her easily able to outgun anything the Italians have, are building, or are planning to build. At 25 knots, she's faster than any design I've made so far in the battleship category. The only thing holding her back is her speed, and even then that's not a huge issue. I've also left weight in the design to refit her with fire directors as soon as possible. She'll need them for the long range gunnery she'll be expected to perform.

As I was saying, she'll need director firing. I'm going to rebuild all of my capitals (aside from the predreads) to use director firing over time. The Wien is the first in the docks for it, as it'll only take 4 months. The Lissa's won't get it - they're battle cruisers and they're rather garbage ones at that. I'm only keeping them around for tonnage.

After laying down my battleship and ordering more of the Brazzas, I unlock this wonderful little thing. Triple mounts will be standard on future destroyers.

The Germans sell me this. It's a big, big step forward for my navy.

TIME FOR ROUND TWO MOTHERFUCKER!

.

Especially after this unlocked in the same month

Intel reports say that the Italians now have 14 inch guns. No idea of the quality. The Habsburg class is going to have some competition in a few years.

The first month of the war sees me discover this. It'll be less than useful to start with, but I've got a ship or two in mind for basic carrier conversion after the war.

We start the war strong, killing six Italian merchant ships, losing 2 of our own, and sinking an Italian submarine.

I decline a good number of battles until I get a coastal raid - time to let slip my heavy cruisers without risk of interference.

It's early in the morning. We're off of Sicily, and boy oh boy am I ready to blow the ever living fuck out of anything that moves.

Our first catch of the day. It and another small transport fall as an Italian destroyer squadron runs the hell away. We catch a corvette too in the same way, sinking it as well.

Four small ships sent to the bottom, off the coast of Sicily. A well earned victory.

We keep giving the Italians hell. They're unable to stop my raiders. To my shock however, they try and invade Libya!

Monarch, Lissa, Minerva, Wien, Adria, and nine destroyers set out to stop them.

We spot them early in the day, with Lissa running into them.

It's all of the Italian battlecruisers.

We get into their transport line however, which isn't good news at all for them. A running gun battle ensues.

Lissa takes a pair of torpedo hits from a destroyer. The flooding damage isn't too bad, thanks to torpedo protection. This destroyer by the way, followed her WAYYY far out. One of our destroyers though nails one of their destroyers with a torpedo hit.

Then manages to hit a battlecruiser with one of our better torpedoes. She's going down, sooner or later.

Sooner when Theiss double taps it at close range.

We hit their newest battlecruiser too.

And a battleship.

I think we got the better of the trade, even as a couple of my Destroyers hit the bottom of the sea, so I head back towards Libya.

I didn't just get the better of them, I thrashed them. I sunk 2 capital ships. The Lepanto took a thrashing from my battle line during that battle (all two of the ships) and must have taken more extreme damage than I thought. It was on fire when I left it, but holy shit. That's amazing.

Director fire proved itself. 41 big gun hits from the Wien. She's a legend of a dreadnought now. Survived near death, directly involved in the sinking of two other capital ships, and involved in every major Austro-Hungarian victory so far.

Damn right that's a major victory. Even with all of my battleships or battlecruisers either getting repairs or working up, or getting refit, I don't think they'll try that again. The Adria class also proved itself today - her thinner armor caused a lot of pass through hits, while she was able to scramble past the enemy screening forces and kill several transports. They took a beating, but for an older ship design they did far more than I'd ever expected them to be able to do.

The battle of Derna is definitely what I'd call a decisive mahanian victory. Torpedoes proved themselves once again, to be capable of crippling larger ships. The only reason the Italians came close was those two torpedo hits on the Lissa. If anything this battle proves that you need to have ships capable of engaging and destroying enemy destroyers before they get into your battle line.

The first thing I do after this battle is lay down another Habsburg class ship. I'll also be designing a fleet escort light cruiser. Something that can screen destroyers away from me.

All in all, for two months into the war, this went far far better than expected.

True, and he can also put down on a seaplane carrier too for his Angola colony.

I did get a seaplane carrier put together. It's a cheap, shit design. The only real purpose for it would be scouting. She'll get shipped off to Angola, where her tonnage will matter more.

Well then... At least he can just redesign it since if I read correctly he hasn’t ordered any of them built yet.

The design you saw there was not admittedly my best design. 13 inch guns are mediocre at quality -1. I only installed them on her because I knew in the future we'd get improved elevation controls, and range. At that point, I'd upgrade the guns, speed, and put in new engines.

Honestly though, I'm very glad I decided not to build them. What I got for patience was and is a design that even on a napkin, compares favorably to real life designs of the middle to end of the first world war. The closest thing I could compare it to would be Warspite, even if she's slower and heavier. As for paper designs, the Italian Francesco Caracciolo class is the closest thing to my Habsburgs.

 

[GnomeofDoc]

Round two: Pasta at the Gates 2 Al Dente Edition.
Wasn’t the Wien one of your first few designs? If so that’s an old girl with some old boots on kicking some ass.

 

[Techpriest]

Round two: Pasta at the Gates 2 Al Dente Edition.
Wasn’t the Wien one of your first few designs? If so that’s an old girl with some old boots on kicking some ass.

Yep. A good dreadnought design is worth keeping in service for a long time. She's the first, and arguably the best one I've made so far.

 

[Adamska]

To: Oberkomandant Null
From: Zweiter Minister de Marine Friedrich Huber Edler von Strombach of the Reichsrat
Subject: Congratulations and Ideas

Good Afternoon Gnadiger Herr Null,

I must congratulate you on following through with the torpedo program; I am regretful that the oxygen compression experiment did not succeed, and must send my condolence to the families of the engineers. However I must state that I am pleased that the Warhead and Propulsion experiments were so successful. I am quite impressed that you were able to create a 500 lb warhead and manage to fit it on a triple housing. I've seen the results courtesy of the Defence of Derna. Quite terrifying really.

This leads me to a few ideas on my own. I have seen the abilities of our destroyer squadrons and their effects on the battle line. This leads to me to commission two different tests.

A cruiser design that is able to move at high speeds and release torpedoes akin a destroyer. The requirements behind such a vessel include:

• At minimum a 6 inch gun, and preferably the new 7 inch gun broadside
• At least two torpedo tubes using the new triple arrangement
• A minimum speed of 26 kts

A submarine design that can use medium ordinance as well as torpedoes.

• At minimum a 5 inch deck gun that can be used to deter merchant craft on the surface
• At least two torpedo tubes using the new triple arrangement
• A minimum speed of 8kts

We are truly beginning to dominate the Mediterranean, and I trust my compatriot and superior's judgement on your Capital designs. I do must state however I have but one more suggestion. As you have tested and landed planes on a ship, I have this idea: that a plane can one day drop torpedoes into the water, if rather small ones. I would at least like you to look into the potential for now.

You have done some good deeds for the empire during your tenure; it seems the Kaiser has cordially invited you once again to regale the tale of the Defense of Derna; I hear our former Kaiser was touring nearby with the governor at the time. May this letter see you well, and kindly inform my son that he should use his leave more often to visit home when in port.

With Respect,
Friedrich Huber, Edler von Strombach

Apologies for the double-post, but given the timeframe now, since Franz Ferdinand is Kaiser I imagine the 1917 Ausgleich did not go Hungary's way. Ferdinand probably instead finally split Slavonia from them because he famously did not like Hungary.

So something like this happened most likely:

 

[Techpriest]

We keep sinking Italian merchants.

I'll take a small engagement.

It's a small engagement with battlecruisers, sure, whatever game. We don't run into the Marco Polo.

I have a successful coastal raid, then one that isn't because of bullshit (bombardment target in a mine field, bad weather meaning I can't sight it before dusk falls).

At least the Italians are blockaded. I can pick and choose my battles now.

Yeah, no. This is risky.

Months of inconclusive fighting and my submarine force getting thinned out, I finally, finally get some good news.

I have to fight an unexpected battle on a coastal raid - but I get a nice screenshot!

Look! It's an airship!

We win it. It's just a slow, boring war.

I lose my floatplane carrier, but you know, could be worse.

I could be Italy right now.

The germans take Eritrea, because I really don't want anything other than reparations. The fucking budget cuts still stop all naval construction but for one thing. The next couple of months are hell. I scrap my predreads at the end of it.

The French sell me this lovely thing though, and I can't pass it up.

I also get a massive break in terms of Torpedo tech.

And a few months later, something that invalidates every CA design I've made.

While the Habsburgs are a step in the right direction, I still want a more powerful battleship. It's expensive as all hell, but I'll commission a design anyway. Increased elevation means I can hit ships from further away.

HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON OLD MAN!?

With the discovery of catapults, I can actually make half decent aircraft carrier conversions now. Or at least make descent float plane carriers.

I take the Sankt Georg, and strip her down fully. No guns. Just deckspace. Her engines will need replacement, but she'll be a great test platform.

Now this, this is a big deal. Bigger DD's means more torpedo mounts.

Skoda also comes up with high quality 8 inch guns. I've got a few CA and CL design ideas I need to get going with eventually.

I buy a fun tech from the US too.

Germany gives me a nice thing as well. Pity I won't use it for a while.

The Triglav class destroyer is in my opinion, the finest quality destroyer I could ask for. She's got secondaries, dual purpose of coures, along with an impressive four five inch guns, and two torpedo mounts, each with 3 torpedoes. She'll be a very good little ship, I think.

Meanwhile, the light cruiser Aurora will certainly help with fleet escort. With 5 six inch guns and four torpedo tubes on each side, she's also mounted with several medium and light anti-aircraft guns. Hopefully she'll have a long and successful career. She also carries a load of 30 mines - something many of my ships have been lacking so far.

The Sankt Georg has finished her rebuild. Commissioned by Emperor Ferdinand II himself, this new ship will start a new age of Austrian naval power.

Soon after the Sankt Georg finishes her reconstruction, our designers can now build small, purpose built aircraft carriers.

To go with this new ship, I select the MAG 26 as a torpedo bomber. She's got a very long range, a good speed, and can defend herself while taking hits.

This is annoying, but I can live with it. More Auroras won't hurt.

And as usual, as soon as I order FIVE new destroyers, something makes them obsolete.

Hell yes. It'll be a good way to deal with the Lissa's in the future.

Good aircraft carriers are nothing to scoff at.

Thanks Mr. Secretary. The Kaiser also commands me to build more battleships.

I scrap a few Aurora's to make at least some space. I still need another ship to satisfy the Kaiser's request, but I don't have the budget for it, at least not yet. The Budapests are improved versions of the Radetzky's, with just a minor change for the same weight. Put simply though, I can't afford to build all the ships he wants at the same time.

This also makes the Auroras obsolete. Oh well.

I pick up a security treaty with the US too. They'll help keep some people off my back - tensions were getting high with most of the rest of the world. That's also why I host a peace conference.

EDIT:
We're roughly half way through the game, but it's not over yet. I'm very, very far behind in terms of naval aviation, compared to everything else. I also didn't screenshot a few events I probably should have, mostly because I restarted this post after a bullshit as fuck battle where the Italians won and sunk several of my good ships. It'd have been a setback that would have taken months to address. As is, I think I've prioritized some kinds of surface combatants far harder than others. Also, despite two horrific wars, the Italians have a budget that far surpasses mine, and a battleship tonnage that gives me cold sweats to a degree. Britain's budget is impossible to match. Only the US comes close.

Things I didn't mention: I have 16 and 14 inch guns, each of quality 0 now. Skoda's been kind to me. I'll likely stick with 15 inch guns as my primary armament however, mostly because they're in a nice sweet spot when it comes to plunging fire and penetration. Plane research in this game is slow, boring and I mostly avoided it because I don't see a need to focus on it for now. I'll have to save up cash after my battleship spree to get my hands on some more air bases.

 

[GnomeofDoc]

@Techpriest those Italians have a missive hate Bonner for you, just because you keep kicking their ass and the next PM in line thinks they can do it better then the last. Then gets executed for being an incompetent fuck stick.

I got to say off raw tonnage it looks like we will still steam roll both Italy and Russia. Just don’t piss the French or the English off because we would be hyper fucked at that point.

 

[Adamska]

Haha , Italy really wants to be broken apart since it looks like given how it's still trying to pick a fight with you. Two government collapses in a single decade, the first just forcing an election and now a full fucking Revolution where the PM is killed as an enemy of the state. My question is do you think they stuck with a Kingdom, went Nationalist, or go Commie? My guess is commie personally, since they were gaining some momentum during this time as people were sick of this corruption shit and losing.

Kaiser Billy is even happier now is my bet, since now he can put some expendable stuff in the Red Sea to troll British shipping along that lane. This measure by the way would seriously fuck with their economy, given the extra time it'd take for Asia shipping to make it to the Home Isles. No lie, that ability alone will make Britain panic hard.

Also good kudos on getting the CV conversions; your BCs would make a pretty good model to test large scale, being quite viable with a CAP of 40 or so wings. Also looks like Huber's wish for Taranto style hilarity will happen some day.

Also, yeah that fight was bullshit. To give readers an idea, I heard what happened since he was playing through this run while I was there. Seven moments of sheer and utter horseshit happened in a single turn.

1. One of his Battlecruisers went down like the Hood but even sadder in a single volley without exchanging fire due to BS flashfire incident.
2. This volley was at extreme, and I do mean extreme range. We're talking right on the borderline of immunity distance.
3. He was forced to bombard a target that would've required him to near beach himself; the waters heavily mined.
4. He lost another BC due to the Italians magically being able to spot and torp him in the dark. His bulkheads failed and the sea did the rest
5. The Italians sortied right at his Battleline and forced him to cross Ts... in the dark, thus crippling his ships (Wien barely survived but was fucked).
6. His DDs refused to go on a torp run even when in sight of ID'd Italian ships while the Pasta had no trouble... for no reason.
7. The Italian DDs were able to just yeet into the main line despite being outnumbered and torp run fine... (JUST REMEMBERED THIS ONE)

See, one or two of these would make sense, but this all happened in the same month. Fuck, four of them in the same goddamn battle.

 

[NerdShamer]

So, often does this game bullshit you like this? Because I had my moments with other games, but I wasn't screwed this hard.

 

[Techpriest]

Oh thank god. I could use the budget too.

Something good also pops the next month. I'll improve my battleships with it when funding comes in.

Sadly, it's inferior to my current Flying Boats.

Shit. Just as tensions with the Russians are boiling up and over.

Hahahahahaha, get fucked.

Tension isn't looking the best.

Well, it's not the best but at least I've got a 15 inch gun armed ship now.

While it's not ideal, more prestige isn't a bad thing.

Hello! This is a good thing to grab now. Hopefully I'll be able to use it more in the future.

I also get another airbase set up in Dalmatia.

This is the first time in this game I've seen rebels succeed.

I snatch this up immediately. You see, I have ideas.

Skoda gives me better guns in a caliber I don't need.

Nice. Now I can blow through torpedo protection.

The Italians have gone hard in on the Fast Battleship. Pity that I've got better turrets, range, and can penetrate you from a greater distance, huh?

The boosts to revenue are immense. Prestige and budget are things I both like a lot.

Uh, no. Sorry Ferdie.

And the Budapests are now officially obsolete. Damn.

Silver lining though, I'm finally getting more cash.

How about no?

Important news. But I'll need budget space, and time.

Even better news. Sadly though, I decide it's time for the Wien to be scrapped. She was a good ship, and had served for almost two decades. But her time has come and gone. Even sadder, the Museum ship event did not fire for her. I'm really disappointed.

The next year, we get some decent tech at least.

With that in mind, I commission a battlecruiser design. Really, it's more of a fast battleship, but having it in the battle cruiser slot will help quite a bit. Magazine boxes means that the belt deck armor is halved everywhere but around the magazine. It's useful for shaving even more weight off of a design. Inclined belt increases the effectiveness of the belt by 10% but increases the chance of the deck getting hit.

Now this, this will come in handy. I'll want it for my next battleship design. I can now justify squeezing in 16 inch guns.

Damn. My 15 inch guns now are far less effective than I'd like them to be. I consider refitting my battlecruiser to use the 14 inchers, but decide against it. I've got the tonnage, I might as well use it.

This is a big one. I'll need to develop a dive bomber sooner rather than later.

Thank Christ.

My top spy nets me a wonderful discovery. The majority of the world's warships are not as heavily armored as mine. this is basically a battle cruiser.

The same can be said of the new Russian battle cruiser. She's ungodly fast, but her armament isn't that good. Neither is her fire control. I've got improved directors now.

I'll wait until kicking them again.

I want budget and I've got more prestige than I know what to do with.

This is good.

This isn't. Oh fuck me.

There was something nice that happened in this month -

Hooray for the ides of march!

****

So it's time for treaties. Treaties mean weird fucking designs.

 

[GnomeofDoc]

With the arms treaty, do you get to keep your current ships that are fielded? Or is a compromise where you have to strip the guns that break the new treaty?

 

[Adamska]

View attachment 786028
This isn't. Oh fuck me.

Jesus... this is SOOO much stricter than the actual Washington Naval Treaty!

To give everyone an idea, the WNT had a 35,000 ton limit on capitals (16 in gun limit), 27,000 ton limit for carriers (though conversions had a limit of 33k and for some reason they could have 8 in guns), and all other ships had to be under 10,000 tons.

This is ALL SHIPS. ALL.

I'm going to laugh my balls off if this somehow revives Pre-dreads or something like that. This is going to be the era of CVLs and Cruisers due to this catastrophic idiocy.

 

[GnomeofDoc]

I'm going to laugh my balls off if this somehow revives Pre-dreads or something like that. This is going to be the era of CVLs and Cruisers due to this catastrophic idiocy.

8 years of memes. Lol this is going to be a fun time man, you can still make designs for after the treaty ends correct?

 

[Techpriest]

Say hello to the new and improved Lissa class. She carries 36 airplanes, and has a wonderful 27 knot speed. She's also bristling with 8 inch guns.

Speaking of 8 inch guns! This horrific monster has 9 of them, in three triple turrets. She has 6 4 inch dual turreted secondaries, and 24 torpedo tubes - 12 on each side. This thing is awful. Awful awful awful. I still love it.

There must be some border tensions in Angola.

The british just sold me this wonderful bullshit.

And this bullshit too.

Also, holy shit, my destroyers now can do dual purpose armament. The Leopard class will need a rework.

January 1934.

The Czar's nation has finally collapsed into ruin.

Oh man. Oh my god. My all torpedo ships. KTKM-SAMA I'M COMING! I WILL MAKE YOU EVEN BETTER!

More money and prestige.

The British sold me a fucking trashfire of a tech but I'll take it.

AHAHA YES, YES, OF COURSE!!!!!

LOOK AT IT. LOOK AT IT AND DESPAIR, FOR IT IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE

Oh boy tensions with France!

AAAAAAAAGH!

When I can build actual carriers, they'll be bigger and better.

Yes! Austrian aircraft are great!

Good stuff. Now if only I could afford to build something like that.

Holy shit. Holy fuck. It's time to make some absurd destroyers.

HOW MANY TIMES DO I NEED TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON OLD MAN!

 

[GnomeofDoc]

Fucking round three here we go. Just out of curiosity how many ships do you have?

 

[Adamska]

Oh dear lord you made a ship that can be called a Panzerschiff or a Torpedo cruiser and still be right on both accounts. That thing is fucking nuts, but hey; so is that treaty. I'm dreadfully curious on how it'll do in that war.

Also gotta love Italy's decision to find absolution at the bottom of the fucking sea again. They lost all colonies, lost fucking Sardinia, lost borderlands to France and you TWICE, and they think they got this shit...

Also, hello there Soviet Union; bit of a late comer there. Still, in honor of their appearance I had this ready in case:

 

[Techpriest]

Fucking round three here we go. Just out of curiosity how many ships do you have?

Not as many as I’d like that are capital ships.

I'm going to need to start building more ships.

 

[Techpriest]

War with the Pasta is on. I set up my raiders, trade protection, and lay down that battlecruiser class I designed earlier - her armor isn't the best, but with 15 inch guns and that much speed, she'll be better than the Lissa.

Our raiders start up the iron harvest. 14 Italian ships are sent to the bottom, along with an Italian destroyer and 3 submarines.

I need to take this. The Italians cannot be allowed to invade.

I don't know how useful land based air is going to be, but I'd rather have it focusing on the enemy shipping right now.

We're throwing everything but the kitchen sink (and the Sankt Georg) into this battle. All available light cruisers, the Lissa, the Slavonien, all of our battleships, and every available modern destroyer is here. Our objective - sink the Italian transports.

Aircraft from the Slavonian spot what they believe to be the invasion fleet. I order everyone to full speed. We're going to intercept as fast as we can.

Lissa, just like last time we fought an Italian invasion off, is the first to put eyes on the enemy.

We've found their battle line.

Slavonian readies herself for a heavy, naval strike. The enemy is well within range for it.

Lissa starts landing hits. At this range, she can and will punch through the Marco Polo's deck.

Meanwhile, it looks like once again, the Italian battlecruisers are not defending their transports properly. Our battleline is steaming straight for them.

Unfortunately, she can't punch through the deck of this bastard. Damn you Italians, damn you!

Dusk is falling too. We're going to have to get in close. Risky, risky, risky.

I'm darting in and out of their sight at night, trying to make sure I can keep eyes on the convoy no matter where it is. We've sunk for sure one transport. Their battle line starts to pull up into us - and Leopard is launching torpedoes.

Our destroyers are launching torpedoes like crazy. Those 4 tube mounts mean a large spread, and at close range, these torpedoes are fast and deadly.

More hits. They're starting to peel away. I'm chasing the best we can.

We chase, catch, and kill a destroyer. We're taking hits in the night as they run away, but it's minor damage. The Ferdi has a disabled turret, but that's not the worst that could happen.

Everyone's pulled back towards the Greek coast. We know they'll need to come to us, and there's still time until dawn. Or there would be, if the AI wasn't braindead and crowding into port. I hate night battles.

At the very least, the Italians got just as lost as we did in that fight.

The iron harvest continues next month. 16 Italian merchants.

WHAT DID I TELL YOU OLD MAN!

This flying boat is hella good. I'm taking it.

Shit.

More pasta in the water.

Another fantastic month for our submarines and raiders.

Aww shit. I'm down a battleship too.

They're between me and home. Shit.

The situation is not looking the best. Lissa's getting hit. I can't outrun them. I've been landing a load of 15 inch shells on them, but they close the gap. My aircraft carriers don't have any torpedo bombers available, as they were using them as recon planes, and the dive bombers aren't doing a huge amount to the enemy. Erzhorzog Karl takes a critical hit to her electrical systems, putting her at a measly 10 knots. Night is approaching. I command my destroyers to go in, and close with the enemy.

Hit. It's enough to make them turn away, as dusk starts to fall.

By the skin of my teeth, I've avoided utter defeat.

Wait. Major victory?

We sunk the Roma!

We'd blown off two of her turrets, disabled a third, and set her on fire. She took a pounding before we'd killed her though - 30 15 inch hits.

A major victory, but we're still likely to be blockaded. All of our capital ships are in for repairs.

The first of my heavy cruisers finishes the next month.

I'd be fine with peace. It's ended the naval treaty, which means I can actually build battleships again. Sadly, it doesn't happen.

Holy shit, this is good news. We break the blockade the next month - apparently we did more damage to the Italians than I'd even hoped.

We're doing what we can still in the submarine war. I'll need to order more submarines sooner rather than later.

I've got to destroy a target, and all I have to do it with are a few light cruisers. The battle starts at night, which is OK, though.

Looks like the Vieste factory got rebuilt. We unbuild it, and head for home.

Our aircraft are in play too, from land based airfields.

So are theirs.

Helgoland takes a bomb hit to her engines. She'll be in dock for a while, it's lucky she fixed everything up. She was dead in the water for a while.

It's been a bloody day. We put a real dent in their corvette numbers at least.

With quality 1 six inch guns on the way, I'm going to scrap a few more of the Taurus shitboats.

The iron harvest continues.

It's early morning in the Adriatic. The plan - crush the Italian navy. I've told my land based air to target enemy vessels. I've ordered my carriers to prepare for a heavy strike load - we're going to hit them hard.

Oh, HELLO THERE!

My battle cruiser hits the Falco hard. She's going down.

BOOM!

I'm chancing it a little bit and hitting the battleships just outside of the minefield.

A lucky 12 inch shot hits my bridge. That's enough. I pull back after ensuring the Falco goes down as well.

It's a slaughter. Two heavy capital ships damaged, two sunk, a CL lost, and heavy damage to land targets - airbases most likely.

The two ships we sunk were sadly, old dreadnoughts. Nothing new, nothing powerful, nothing extra good.

It's still a major victory, even with several of my ships back in the docks for a two months.