Fleet size.

[stormbringer3]

Looking at the AARs I see you can decide the fleet size. What are the differences between them, for example, medium vs. large? Can you have a good game using the smaller fleet sizes?
Thanks.

[WilliamMiller]

The fleet size options are intended to allow you to manage smaller or larger fleets as you like...some players like to play with the largest fleet sizes (i.e. more historic size) and don't really mind the slightly increased time required/complexity, but some players like to use smaller fleets as it is easier to keep track of what assets you have/where they are/etc. The selected fleet size affects all AI nations fleet sizes as well, so the base difficulty is *not* increased or decreased because of that.

[stormbringer3]

Thank you for the answer. Will a smaller fleet game help the AI at all? In some games the more units the harder it is for the AI to cope.
Thanks again.

[cogsandspigots]

Thank you for the answer. Will a smaller fleet game help the AI at all? In some games the more units the harder it is for the AI to cope.
Thanks again.

In my experience with RtW1 and 2, the opposite is true. Small and medium fleet sizes can cause some very strange AI behavior and can make the battle generator freak out at times. Going smaller than Super Large is for player comfort, not the AI’s.

As for me, I find Very Large to be the sweet spot between having enough funds to play around, but not so much that the individual ships start losing meaning.

[stormbringer3]

Could someone please give me the number of ships that are in the different fleet sizes?
Thanks.

[cogsandspigots]

Could someone please give me the number of ships that are in the different fleet sizes?
Thanks.

On small, a medium sized nation could only field one or two battleships. On super large, a medium size nation can field about 15 battleships.

Carriers are roughly equivalent to battleships, cruisers about two times as many, and destroyers and corvettes six plus times as many as battleships.

[WilliamMiller]

As a example for the aerial portion of the game, I recall seeing a running carrier battle in a 'very large' fleet setting game (occurring in 1948 in that particular game) that involved over 1000 aircraft in total, which matches with some of the largest historical battles in aerial naval history...for comparison see the 'Battle of Formosa' in 1944 during WWII:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formosa_Air_Battle

Now, most battles in the game would not have anywhere near this number of aircraft involved, but it does show that the game can generate and handle the largest of such battles

[stormbringer3]

Thanks for the replies. Years ago the more complicated the game the better for me. At my current age that doesn't appeal to me. If I go for this game I'm interested in the smaller fleet sizes. An above post advised against the smaller fleet sizes because the AI didn't handle them as well. That poster also recommended Very Large fleet size. Perhaps I'm wrong in that the larger fleet sizes would add to the games' complication. Any further thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated.

[jwsmith26]

Using very small fleet size is probably not the best idea because one small mistake can have a major impact. The largest fleet size is probably not a great idea either because you may be overwhelmed with the number of decisions to make. I would recommend a middle fleet size to start.

Probably more important than fleet size is the nation you choose for your first game. The British and Americans have large fleets and large global responsibilities that can be difficult to manage for a beginner. France also has a fair number of global commitments but is not too difficult to play. Austria-Hungary can be difficult because it is economically weak and faces two opponents in the Mediterranean that are eager to squash its navy. Russia can be difficult to manage because of its split commitments to the Pacific and Atlantic and the difficulty of dealing with its easily blockaded European ports. Spain and China should definitely be avoided as a first nation to play; their naval industries are very weak to start, making them very fragile nations from a naval perspective. Probably the easiest nation to start with is Italy because you can limit your activities to the Mediterranean region until you are ready or interested in expanding. Germany is also a good nation to start with, though it faces 3 nations in its own backyard.

[RFalvo69]

Italy is always my first choice, with the biggest fleet available. Your area of interest is the Med but you gave to keep your eyes on A-H, France and UK/The Commonwealth (which has a strong presence in the area).

I also play with tech research very randomised. In the real world everyone built battleships and underestimated carriers. Having your naval policy benefitting from 20/20 insight would be unrealistic. Not really knowing what will be cool ten years from now gives the game an additional edge.