Monitors or Ironclad Gunboats

[HenryPigLatin]

Has anyone experimented to see which performs better, monitors or ironclad gunboats? Monitors are faster with much better armor. Gunboats pack a lot more firepower. I'm wondering what the difference is in combat vs other ships and forts, both. Historically, monitors struggled to elevate their fire enough to attack some forts. Does anyone know if that's the case in game?

[Polygon]

The # of guns and their sizes may be slightly different so check the manual there, but I do know the Monitor has turret guns. I am pretty sure the ironclads did not. Obviously, turret guns would make a great difference in battle.

[Stale Baguette Police]

Historically the monitors had a very low profile to the water other than the turret so it was hard to hit from water level and the ability to rotate the turret (though unreliable at times) could prove decisive. So it excelled in ship to ship combat, even though such combats were limited.

That said, because they were so low to the water, they did badly in choppy water and sometimes sank as a result.

The ironclad gunships had a lot more firepower and saw a lot more action versus forts and other ships, mostly in bays and rivers. There was a somewhat fuzzy line between CSA ironclads as some of them were designated "ironclad rams" (the most famous ones) and the rest...which were glorified floating batteries with little maneuverability but lots of guns and armor.

The union riverine ironclad gunboats we're probably the "best" in the war as they caused the most damage relative to their production cost and could be constructed quicker than monitor with all the fancy moving parts.

[A_P_Hill]

Not to mention that some "Monitor" types also had stationary turrets and the guns were rotated on a pivoting floor and fired out of 4 to 6 openings in the turret wall.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/USS_Keokuk_h59546.jpg

[HenryPigLatin]

To clarify, I was wondering if anyone had tested both out in game.

[A_P_Hill]

Not with my CC rating right now. I am hanging on by my fingernails.

Started in 61 and I am now into 63. this has been the longest campaign I've had.
So sorry, No. I haven't tested the difference.

[HenryPigLatin]

Nice! I haven't gotten a game to last into 63 yet.

[Stale Baguette Police]

Originally posted by HenryPigLatin:

To clarify, I was wondering if anyone had tested both out in game.

The hidden stats for each ship might be in an accessible file.