Coastal Batteries

[Kirito]

Are Coastal Batteries even worth it since they are horribly inaccurate, and are stuck with the most basic of fire controls (Central Rangefinder), and depending on which nation you play you don't get good quality guns till after 1910-1915 or in some cases 1920-1925.

I tried spam building 8 inch guns, 10 inch guns, and 14 inch guns, as i feel these were the best with either fire rate, accuracy, damage or a combination of all 3; but even in 1930 they are still highly inaccurate and ineffective against even the biggest of ships.

Also is there plans for them to be fixed so there actually worth building or no.

[Lakel]

I have seen them once actually sink a BB, once. was rather surprising.

[Andrew Cree]

Coastal Batteries are well worth buying. Their biggest benefits are passive:

Coastal Batteries can delay invasion plans

Coastal Batteries can delay ground forces fighting in a colony

- both of these increase the chance of a peace deal before you lose the territory

They do upgrade with DP guns once the appropriate techs have been researched

*There may be hidden benefits we don't know about yet, such as helping to resolve a colonial rebellion.


The best way I've found to use Coastal Batteries in battle is to try and draw the AI into their range - however, the AI tends to be quite timid about them and will usually try and keep out of their range.

No, Coastal Batteries will not be fixed locations (without major changes) as it would make it far too easy for the human player to swamp the areas where the most fighting will occur from experience.

[ulzgoroth]

I mean I think they are fixed locations, you just don't get to choose them?

They're very rarely useful against enemy ships, since there's almost never a reason to sail into their range. This is, to be fair, mostly realistic - though you might expect shore bombardment targets to be placed under the cover of batteries when possible. Which doesn't happen.

[Shad]

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

I mean I think they are fixed locations, you just don't get to choose them?

I'm pretty sure they are re-generated every battle.

They're very rarely useful against enemy ships, since there's almost never a reason to sail into their range.

Depends on location. In closed seas like Baltic and Med, enemies can be pushed into battery range.

[ulzgoroth]

Originally posted by Shad:

Depends on location. In closed seas like Baltic and Med, enemies can be pushed into battery range.

I'm not sure about the Baltic, but the Mediterranean is easily big enough to make the range of the heaviest battery a rounding error.

Maybe if you're Austria and care about fighting in the Adriatic Sea the quarters are close enough?

[ThatZenoGuy]

They would be useful if they 100% spawned near bombardment targets but as it is, they spawn 200 miles away in an area where no battles actually CAN spawn.

[bthom37]

Originally posted by ThatZenoGuy:

They would be useful if they 100% spawned near bombardment targets but as it is, they spawn 200 miles away in an area where no battles actually CAN spawn.

I've seen them occasionally spawn on top of the bombardment target, and kill 3 DDs and 1 CL in one battle. Most of the time they just give your ships a spot to run to, however. I think in RTW2, I once saw a battery spawn near an invasion target, but don't think I've seen one spawn near one in 3.

[bthom37]

To address the initial question, they won't get many kills. There are mods that make them more viable (make coastal batteries great, I think). In vanilla, they're best for reducing resistance (I don't know if bigger batteries are better), and actually very good for minor powers (Austria in particular).

They're good for small powers because the AI hates going near them, so if you find yourself in a battle you don't want to fight, you can run beneath the guns and the AI either won't follow, or will take damage from the batteries. One exception - Finland, whatever is directly south of Finland, and the Baltic states ALWAYS get batteries once I own them. Baltic will almost always put two around the entrance to that area around Reval (Lubal?), guarding the entrance very well. Finland and the province south have such a narrow area to guard that they'll get kills. Malta can do ok in a naval invasion, but the AI rarely invades there. I build them in the Pacific islands sometimes, but honestly that's proved to be a waste of $.

[Andrew Cree]

Originally posted by ulzgoroth:

I mean I think they are fixed locations, you just don't get to choose them?

Afraid not, batteries are randomly placed every battle.