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The AI is building ships (BBs especially) with all turrets up front. Seems odd, I don't think any nation did that and I would think the weight distribution would have some impact on the ships maneuverability. There needs to be some flexibility, but no heavy guns aft of the superstructure ought not to be permitted.

British Nelson class and 2 French classes, Dunkerque and Richelieu, had all upfront main guns.

You have the main magazine at only one part of the ship which reduces weight considerably. Also of course the weight distributions were well calculated. You should look up Drachinifel at youtube if you don't want to read books about all forward main gun warships.

thedoctorking wrote: Fri Sep 29, 2023 7:06 pm The AI is building ships (BBs especially) with all turrets up front. Seems odd, I don't think any nation did that and I would think the weight distribution would have some impact on the ships maneuverability. There needs to be some flexibility, but no heavy guns aft of the superstructure ought not to be permitted.

Imho two superimposed forward quadruple turrets are the best BB configs, especially after researching all forward main armament for the weight bonus.
If you look at ammo consumption, forward turrets are almost always out of ammunition first and thus see more action.

IRL you can look at the Richelieu, which combined the widest torpedo protection of all BBs with speed second only to Iowa, good armour and armament equal to the heavier Bismarck, much of this due to the weight saved from the all forward arrangement

Thanks for the info, guys, shows you what I know.

I have noticed that problem of the front turrets running out of ammo first. My only concern is that when I'm running away, I've got no return fire.

When running away with these sorts of ships I think you have to go diagonally towards the wind if possible and avoid getting aft shots from the enemy. A large screening force helps throwing torpedos at the enemy capitals and also mix your carrier strike with the retreat.

thedoctorking wrote: Mon Oct 02, 2023 3:50 pm Thanks for the info, guys, shows you what I know.

I have noticed that problem of the front turrets running out of ammo first. My only concern is that when I'm running away, I've got no return fire.

This is true, but how often does aft return fire really make a difference? Especially since most designs would only have 2 or 3 guns of a ship firing aft? AFAIK this also means you get extra small salvo size accuracy penalty.

For retreats try to angle your ships just enough that the forward guns can still fire.