Experianced Players -How many Ships do you have in a Division and How many Ships can you handle without PAUSING ?

[AP514]

In another Thread about Stupid Amounts of TP's and how the second ship in the Division always ate the TP's-Experienced Players told me they Never Trust the AI to do any thing. So, I ask the Question because I can only Keep control of a few ship and Pausing really Wrecks the Fun for me.

[MasterFool]

I pause with a single ship, so it's part of the game for me. The second I see ocean, I hit pause. I set the ship(s) up and the divisions. I tend to run small to medium sized fleets, usually no less than 3. I can run single to quad divisions easily once I have them set up right. They don't normally give me issues as I do pause them and make sure everyone is fighting correctly. More than 4 and I generally have 'reserve' divisions set to screen or follow, letting the AI handle targeting.

Pause is the only way to keep multiple fights going on between larger fleets. I also run at least 2-3 divisions when chasing down fast fleeing target(s). Three is optimal with two divisons faster than the target(s) and 1 at the same speed or even slightly slower than the target(s), because you have to force the AI into evasive maneuvers by flanking it on two sides. This slows the forward progress of the running ship(s) and let's your heavier force catch up. This is done precisely with pause.

If you don't pause, you are giving up your only way to overcome some of the AI advantage of 'knowing' and 'controlling' all its ships almost instantly and simultaneously. You're fighting handicapped. I guess if you want a 'fairer' fight, it's probably a better way to play. I'm too old and slow in the head to give the AI that much advantage. If I didn't have pause, I probably couldn't play the game.

I gave up playing EVE Online because I no longer have the manual or mental dexterity to keep up with the kiddies, that and the devs there just threw a good chunk of the players to the wolves just for giggles. I won't play games with devs that listen to the most radical factions of their player base.

As with shipbuilding in UAD, there has to be balance or it doesn't work. Pause is part of the balance for me as a player. If they removed that, I wouldn't play the game ever again either as it would break it for me.

[Hidden Gunman]

Generally two to three ships per div, I only pause when I am selecting on enemy ships at long ranges...I've learnt the hard way the game decides you want to move to that speck on the horizon, not actually select it as a target.

[vanDyck]

My divisions have 2-4 ships. I keep ships of one class and refit state in one div. My biggest, full (close to TF crew limit) TFs contain:
1 Div 4x BB
1 Div 2x CA/BC
1 Div 4x CL
2 Div 4x TB/DD (mostly set to follow the BBs and BCs until they do a torp attack or chase somebody or need to defend my captial ships)
So i mostly work with 3-5 DIvs and 18 Ships max.
These TFs are preset in a one TF one harbour setup according to a TF list in a text file thats open in the background, showing me which TFs is stationed were, what ships belong to it and how much crew it has.

I pause only if something needs quick attention, mostly evading torps or a heavy hit.
To evade torps i normally detach the ship, slow it down to 5 knots to minimize the turn circle (most of my quick ships have balanced rudders), let it do a turn away from the enemy on parallel course to the torp to minimize the hittable surface. Afterwards i reattach the ship, if needed i disband the full div and rebiuld it according to the ships positions.
I run battles mostly on 1x speed during phases were something may happen to not miss anything and play quite zoomed out to keep an overview, jumping from Div to Div to check course and targets.

[Chris]

I have 489 ships total in my fleet, my average fleet is 10-15 battleships, 10 battlecruisers,20 heavy cruisers, 10 light cruisers and up to 40 destroyers per fleet.

My battlecruisers do the bulk of the work, given then all have 16 inch guns bigger than my battleships do they are actually my best armored and best gunned boats they serve as boats to intercept and hunt down enemies given they are fast 36 knots

[Mobzonk]

3 or 4 ships in a division

For example a big fleet with 6 divisions with 18 ships:
1 * 1 heavy cruiser out front for scouting
2 * 3 battleships in two columns
1 * 3 light cruisers following battleships, for detection ability on the world map
2 * 4 destroyers at the rear for torpedo attacks if needed, and for ASW on world map

Smaller force of cruisers with 3 divisions and 9 ships:
1 * 3 heavy cruisers
1 * 2 light cruisers
1 * 4 destroyers

[Drakken]

In the early game 6 to 10 x BB and nothing else

1920+ this is rather
2 to 6 BB (based on their size)
(Like many old retrofited BB, with always a modern BB) or (2 x 100.000 tns BBs)
1 or 3 BC or CA (CA are close to useless during big battles)
4 to 7 DD

Sometimes 1 LC to lead the pack of DD (if the LC is fast enough) but i rather keep my LC to patrol sea zones alongside with some DDs.


In 1953 i am still using modernized 1921 BB, but even with good weapons and equipement, they are no match for modern BB so they need to be with 1 or 2 modern BB/BC

[Hidden Gunman]

Originally posted by Drakken:

In the early game 6 to 10 x BB and nothing else

1920+ this is rather
2 to 6 BB (based on their size)
(Like many old retrofited BB, with always a modern BB) or (2 x 100.000 tns BBs)
1 or 3 BC or CA (CA are close to useless during big battles)
4 to 7 DD

Sometimes 1 LC to lead the pack of DD (if the LC is fast enough) but i rather keep my LC to patrol sea zones alongside with some DDs.


In 1953 i am still using modernized 1921 BB, but even with good weapons and equipement, they are no match for modern BB so they need to be with 1 or 2 modern BB/BC

My current campaign I'm in 1949, running some ship classes which are 25 years old, upgraded naturally.

Some designs are just too good to make obsolete. In particular, I played around with a complementary pair of cruiser designs, one chock-a-block with 8.7" guns, the other with 11.7", all hyper accurate, both designs relatively high speed...paired with each other they eat anything of the same class or smaller, even two and a half decades and four or five upgrades later.

Old destroyer designs just strip out the guns, torps and fancy gear and load up with mines, ASW and minesweeping gear and park in your ports on protect or simply for mining.

[Bramborough]

Four divs in "main" battle TF;
2xBB
1xBC in follow
3xCL in screen
3xDD in screen

This 9-ship setup has done fine for me through 1965. Could even be 6-ship as far as tactical battles go...the main reason for DD presence is ASW/mine protection on global map.

I do have to keep a keep close eye on the CL/DD divs and be ready to intervene as, they like to occasionally make an uncommanded run toward the enemy force. I'd like a "Screen position but Follow behavior" option....which *should* be do-able, as both things are already present in game.

[ironhide77777]

I get by just fine with 3 ships in total each fight or less and win.

[AP514]

Well, Interesting Info....
I my self run (About the Max I can handle in late 1930's)
1x3 Ship BB/BC Group
1 or 2 , 2 ship CL Group
2x2 DD Groups

[Chris]

Originally posted by Hidden Gunman:

Originally posted by Drakken:

In the early game 6 to 10 x BB and nothing else

1920+ this is rather
2 to 6 BB (based on their size)
(Like many old retrofited BB, with always a modern BB) or (2 x 100.000 tns BBs)
1 or 3 BC or CA (CA are close to useless during big battles)
4 to 7 DD

Sometimes 1 LC to lead the pack of DD (if the LC is fast enough) but i rather keep my LC to patrol sea zones alongside with some DDs.


In 1953 i am still using modernized 1921 BB, but even with good weapons and equipement, they are no match for modern BB so they need to be with 1 or 2 modern BB/BC

My current campaign I'm in 1949, running some ship classes which are 25 years old, upgraded naturally.

Some designs are just too good to make obsolete. In particular, I played around with a complementary pair of cruiser designs, one chock-a-block with 8.7" guns, the other with 11.7", all hyper accurate, both designs relatively high speed...paired with each other they eat anything of the same class or smaller, even two and a half decades and four or five upgrades later.

Old destroyer designs just strip out the guns, torps and fancy gear and load up with mines, ASW and minesweeping gear and park in your ports on protect or simply for mining.

The oldest battleship in active service in my fleet is from 1902 I kept upgrading the heck out of it and it just excels even if it should be obsolete and I continue to use them they are secondary ships in the fleet superseded by newer better ships but they perform so well i cant obsolete them

[Drakken]

Yeah, relics are nice until they encounter a modern BB, they will then, sink in a blink with all their nice upgrades. ;)

[Hidden Gunman]

Originally posted by Drakken:

Yeah, relics are nice until they encounter a modern BB, they will then, sink in a blink with all their nice upgrades. ;)

If you need to use them as your main battle force, then you have more serious problems than simply fielding old ships.

Mind you, if the AI wants to send their shiny new modern BBs way out into mid pacific or the atlantic to hunt down HMS Obsolete and USS Rustoleum, it can be my guest. The reality is that those museum pieces can sink subs and transports just as easilly as a newly commissioned advanced class...and from what I see, they dont do too bad in autoresolve either.

[Drakken]

They are included in a task force with at least one modern BB, the one leading the pack, and so the one almost always targeted first by the AI. If I still have them in 1958, maybe I don't have that much of a serious problem...
And btw, I don't need them anywhere else anyway, as the world belongs to me but Germany, and based on the size of the German fleet, they will be lucky if they have to fight a fishing boat. Anyway, in the past, they have participated in sinking the latest BBs, not just subs and transports.

[Sandam]

Originally posted by Drakken:

Yeah, relics are nice until they encounter a modern BB, they will then, sink in a blink with all their nice upgrades. ;)

I thought that too, was ready to charge them into their last stand since I had no chance of escaping, but then this happened: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3273529794