RULE THE WAVES II - 1900 - 1950A Game of Naval Ship Design and Naval Combat at the Birth of the 20th Century.D.O.W. thread on RTW I : HereNWS Store: HereOfficial forum: HereDevelopers journal: HereSingle-playerRule the Waves places you in the role of 'Grand Admiral' during the early years of the 20th Century. You manage the naval affairs of your chosen nation while navigating between the desires and demands of your own government, the efforts of potential adversaries, and the affairs of your potential allies.
The battle resolution mechanics are based upon our successful Steam and Iron (SAI) system for combat but technichal, economic and foreign policy decisions will also be necessary as the player guides their navy's design, construction, deployment and operations during a period of great technological innovation and political tensions.
Miscellaneous changes from RTW1• The world map has had some zones added to it, to emphasize the importance of the Suez canal and to make the map better suited to wars in the pacific.
• Trade warfare, both in the form of raiders and submarines, is now summarized in one screen instead of a number of separate messages.
• Refurbished the political system to cover the 30's. Less Kaisers, more Fuhrers after 1920.
• Armour thickness up to 20 in allowed, but increase in armour over 12 inches will not give the same proportional protection due to difficulties in manufacturing thicker armor plates.
• Additional ammo now costs more weight than before.
• Retrofit of cross deck firing not allowed.
• Centreline torpedo mounts cannot be used on AMC.
• Private shipbuilding expansions will be rarer when using reduced research speed.
• New research areas will be "discovered" and not be visible in the list until discovered.
• Number of superstructure blocks in the ship graphics increased to 6 and number of points in each block increased to 24.
• Ships can now have asymmetric superstructure and funnels (useful primarily for carriers).
• Engine rebuilds now take longer time.
• Risk of magazine hit now proportional to the number of main turrets.
• Allied ships may show up on your side in battles. Similarly, if you are at war with two nations, the allies of your enemy may show up.
• Allied bases and coastal batteries will also be present in battles.
• One inch of deck armour can be added in refits.
• Displacements up to 70 000 tons and speeds up to 36 knots allowed. (Possibly 80-90K tons and 40 kts if analysis/math holds up)
• Major overhaul of design calculations to fine tune calculations and handle ship design after 1925.
• Armour is now increased in effectiveness with technology progress instead of becoming lighter.
• The AI will up-gun light cruisers if it finds itself outgunned by player CL:s
• Reduced the tendency of ships with heavy flooding to go faster than safe speed.
• Improved crew size calculations (crews were too small in RTW1).
• Ship type MS is replaced with KE - Corvette.
• Better placement of secondary turrets in ship graphic
Several new tech areas added:* Anti aircraft artillery
* Radar and electronics
* Naval aviation, lighter than air
* Naval aviation, heavier than air
* Shipboard aircraft operation
* Missile technology
RADARRadar is divided into search radar and fire control radar. Search radar makes it possible to detect other ships in poor visibility. Radar detected ships will show as greenish outlines on the map. Early search radars are unreliable and prone to malfunctions. They are easily disabled by hits or even by own ships guns firing.
Fire control radar helps gunnery, and from level 3 will allow blind fire.
Once radar is invented, a nation will receive a number of radar sets per month. Radar sets will be automatically installed in ships with priority given to larger ships and ships in the active fleet. The player can manually install radar sets in ships, with the drawback that the ship will be unavailable the current turn.
Diving shellsOnce invented, diving shells can be selected for use in the ammo doctrine screen. Diving shells have a chance for long range near misses to be converted to hull hits bypassing armour. On the flip side, diving shells have a larger chance of pass-trough hits and duds.
Oxygen fueled torpedoesWhen oxygen fueled torpedoes have been invented, their use can be selected in the doctrine screen. Oxygen fuelled torpedoes give considerably better torpedo performance at the risk of more devastating torpedo explosions if torpedo tubes are hit.
Automatic loadingAutoloaded guns will have a 10% higher ROF. When the ship is straddling the target and going to rapid fire they will give a 30% boost to ROF. They also have better AA performance.
InvasionsYou can select a possession as target for invasion planning. If the conditions for a successful invasion are met (a substantial force with 4:1 superiority in the area) there is a chance that the invasion will take place. Invasion preparations will cost 1% + 300 000 every turn. Note: There will be no spontaneous invasions like in RTW1. You have to select a target to make an invasion happen.
Dual purpose gunsDual purpose guns are about 25% heavier than usual guns, but are capable of both AA fire and engaging surface targets. 4 and 5 inch guns are the most capable DP guns.
AA fireNote: All AA fire will contribute to decreasing the accuracy of attacking aircraft and causing aborts.
Heavy AA (PD guns) will fire at and possibly destroy attacking aircraft before they release their ordnance.
Medium AA guns will engage and possibly shoot down attacking aircraft before they release their ordnance. These guns are less likely than heavy guns to shoot down attacking aircraft before they release their ordnance.
Light AA guns will contribute to decreasing the accuracy of attacking aircraft and causing aborts, but are the least likely to shoot down attacking aircraft before they release their ordnance.
AA directorsAA directors will considerably increase the effectiveness of heavy and medium AA fire. More AA directors will improve AA fire, up to a maximum of 4.
An AA director will provide a limited anti surface capability if there is no regular director installed.
Fleet Exercise.You can hold a fleet exercise once a year with any ships you select from your own fleet. Ships participating in the exercise will cost twice the active mantenance cost and gain some experience. Large fleet exercises can raise tensions.
Diesel enginesDiesel engines are heavier than steam plants but reduce the weight penalty of long and extreme range. Diesel powered ships have better acceleration.
Fuel ShortageNations without access to oil run a risk of suffering fuel shortages in wartime. The risk of fuel shortage occurring in a turn will increase the longer the duration of the war. If a nation is blockaded, the risk of fuel shortage will increase considerably.
In a turn with fuel shortage, there is a risk that ships will have ordered strategic moves cancelled or that they will be unable to take part in a battle. The larger the ship, the greater the risk of being affected.
Ships using coal fuel will never be affected by fuel shortages.
Inclined beltInclined belt costs 10% more than a conventional belt. It adds about 10% to the protective effect of the belt, but it also entails a risk that long range hits will be converted to deck or lower belt edge hits.
Box protection to magazinesIf this option is selected, belt and deck thickness will be halved for hits to areas other than magazines. Belt and deck weight is reduced by 1/3.
All forward main armamentTo get the benefit of all forward main armament (Nelson or Richelieu configuration) a nation needs to research all forward armament.
Trade protection (replaces the RTW1 role of ASW patrol)Ships assigned to trade protection will not normally be available for fleet operations. However, in non home areas, any ship present might be used in battle.
DD and MS assigned to trade protection will be on ASW patrols or assigned as convoy escorts.
Cruisers assigned to trade protection will patrol against enemy raiders and provide heavy convoy escort.
CorvettesThe ship type MS - minsweeper in RTW1 has been replaced with the type KE - Corvette, to better reflect that the type covers various kinds of small surface combatants. Corvettes of 500 tons displacement or smaller are assumed to be civilian trawlers and similar craft impressed for wartime duties. Small corvettes are fast to build but cannot be built in peacetime. They will be automatically sold off after a war, like AMCs.
Anti submarine and mine warfareEach ship has a rating for its capabilities in these fields. However, if the ship has a capability in more than one of these fields, the effectiveness of each will be reduced, to reflect the fact that the ship has to divide its time between the various duties.
ASW warfareShip types capable of ASW warfare are DD, MS, CV and CVL. Ships capable of ASW warfare have an ASW rating. The ASW rating of a ship depends on displacement and installed equipment. All DD and small ships will automatically have a basic amount of depth charges when these are invented. Additional ASW equipment, like increased storage of depth charges, K guns and ASW mortars, need to be added to the design and will cost weight.
The ASW value of CV and CL will initially be low, but will increase with development of aerial depth charges and airborne radar.
AMC will have a limited ASW value during the early period (as Q-ships).
Mine warfareShips equipped with minesweeping gear will contribute to a minesweeping value for each area. This value will be compared to enemy minelaying capabilities inthe area to determine the risk of ships striking mines during operational movement and also influence the number of minefields during battles.
Scout aircraft on shipsShips equipped with scout aircraft will be more effective as raiders. They will also be more effective at hunting raiders.
Ship designOnce you have determined a ship design, that design needs to be developed until construction can start. Developing a design takes from 1 to 4 months, depending on ship type and displacement. Some ship types, AMC and small corvettes, do not have any requirement for development time, as they are converted from existig ships.
When the design has been developed, it is possible to start construction of any number of ships according to that design.
A ship design that closely resembles an existing ship will get a reduction to the price and cost of developing the design.