Matrix Games Forums

Dear all

Do you know what the different messages displayed during naval combat mean? For example internal explosion etc...

I am pretty sure they are all just chrome, not really telling you anything.

it's a damage die roll.

Internal explosions, magazine explosions etc. are what is called in some other games "critical hits", They indicate extra damage, e.g. in case of magazine explosion, very serious additional damage, often lethal to ship.

Unlike Nomad, I find some of the messages significant and they help me assess what happened in combat. This is most useful in Naval vs Naval combat where follow-up battles are likely.

For example - If a hit in the superstructure has the message "Fire in the superstructure", it is a minor fire that has a good chance of being extinguished at the end of the battle. Multiple instances of the same message means there is a good chance some of the fires will grow to significant levels and start causing system and engineering damage. But if you get the message "Fire on main deck", that is the first deck below the weather deck and thus within the hull. These fires are much more serious and harder to put out.

The Internal Explosion message mentioned I take as just meaning the shell exploded inside the hull, causing damage according to the weapon size vs the ship size. Sometimes you get a penetrating hit on the hull with no damage message - a dud shell (I think 10% will be duds) or it went through a part of the hull like the bow without doing significant damage.

There are a couple of personnel type messages: "Severe Casualties to Damage Control Parties"; "Severe Casualties Below Deck". The ship data includes a value for Damage Control parties, but Alfred (our guru who knows how the code works) says the game lowers the Crew Experience rather than change the Damage Control number.

Other messages do seem to be Chrome - something to spice up your imagination of what it is like on the ship being hit. Examples - "Control tower penetrated" ;"Hit on the Bridge"; Fire Control system damaged". I haven't been able to see any specific changes in ship abilities to fight or damage levels after the battle from these.

This is just some of the messages that came to mind. There are more for Torpedo and Bomb hits, or progressive flooding or fire after the battle.
Part of the fun of learning this game is to study the results after battles and form your own framework for assessing damage to the enemy.

And another big thing to keep in mind - subsequent attacks interrupt the damage control efforts and can often make flooding or fires progress to the point where the crew cannot handle them. Even attacks that do no additional damage directly can cause additional damage through suspension of damage control.

I had just started a game as Japan against the AI. A few turns in, a returning mini-sub carrier was returning to Kwaj when the Enterprise task force ran encountered it. I had not set the sub to be in a sub TF, I just left it the way it was and set the home port to Kwaj then sent it home. The JN sub put two torpedoes into the Enterprise which shouldn't have sunk t. But one torpedo had an "ammunition storage explosion" while the other one had "fuel storage explosion" so there was trouble. Those are not the main magazines nor the main bunker fuel nor avgas storage areas. Probably a ready storage for AAA ammunition and/or ordinance for aircraft on the carriers, while the other one would be the avgas carrying dispensers for the planes. The end result was that the Enterprise did not go two hexes to Johnston Island to disembark aircraft, nor to put out fires but actually sank with a full load of aircraft one hex away from Oahu. The only thing that I can think of is that those two torpedo hits with the resulting explosions started fires which the crews could not put out.