Steam & Iron

[Nefaro]

Took a stab at Dogger Bank last night at Admiral difficulty.  Things got very confused, very quickly.  I did manage to pound one German BC into scrap, but still hadn't sunk her by the time I had to give it up for the night.

I dunno how many times I've beat some German ship to death and couldn't sink or cripple them before running out of ammo, even well outgunning them.  >:(  My last game was the two British BCs against the two German CAs at the Battle of the Falklands and after both were out of ammo I had only managed to score Medium damage on them and they were still making speed just fine.  I'm convinced that the German damage control teams consisted of highly advanced aliens who could get any stricken turret back up and running in eight minutes or less and repair engine damage in their sleep.  :P

[Gusington]

Can orders be given to ram enemy ships?

[Bismarck]

Can orders be given to ram enemy ships?

Ramming?  Gus, you're truly old school.  How about boarding parties or cutting a dreadnaught out of Wilhelmshaven?

[besilarius]

Ah, Gus, you would enjoy one of the great characters of the Royal Navy, E.R.G.R. Evans.
One of the survivors of disastrous Scott expedition to Antarctica, he was sent back because he came down with scurvy, thus saving his life.
During World War I, he commanded HMS Broke (you remember him, the chap that captured USS Chesapeake in the War of 1812 - James Lawrence crying "Don't give up the ship." and all.) during the battle of the Dover Straits.  He torpedoed two german destroyers, and then rammed one.
Stuck into the rammed ship, he actually had his crew break out boarding cutlasses to fight off the germans.  However, his crew came up with the expedient of throwing steaming hot mugs of cocoa at the Huns to drive them back.
Got into quite a bit of trouble over this, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention.

[Sir Slash]

No orders to ram, no orders to strike your colors or abondon ship that I've seen. Ships also won't collide with each other of the same side, perhaps with enemy ships you can. If one of your ships sinks, you can detail a ship to pick-up survivors. I also don't believe there are any reefs or any way to run aground in the game but can't remember for sure. The game's been patched a bunch since it came out and alots been added. Also when one of your BC's blows-up, you have to scream "Mother F#@*ER!!!" at the screen your self as there are no keyboard commands for this.

[Bismarck]

Oh, those wacky Brits!

[Gusington]

I scream at my monitor all the time. The option to ram would be keen...really show the opposing side who's boss. A hot cocoa raid would be even better. Maybe the option to tickle the other side with feathers too.

[LongBlade]

Ah, Gus, you would enjoy one of the great characters of the Royal Navy, E.R.G.R. Evans.
One of the survivors of disastrous Scott expedition to Antarctica, he was sent back because he came down with scurvy, thus saving his life.
During World War I, he commanded HMS Broke (you remember him, the chap that captured USS Chesapeake in the War of 1812 - James Lawrence crying "Don't give up the ship." and all.) during the battle of the Dover Straits.  He torpedoed two german destroyers, and then rammed one.
Stuck into the rammed ship, he actually had his crew break out boarding cutlasses to fight off the germans.  However, his crew came up with the expedient of throwing steaming hot mugs of cocoa at the Huns to drive them back.
Got into quite a bit of trouble over this, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention.

Ah, the old hot cocoa trick.

I tried this once with Rice Crispy Treats but got different results.

[Herman Hum]

Can orders be given to ram enemy ships?

I don't think you can deliberately ram.  However, I seem to recall a number of reported collisions.

[Gusington]

Hmm ok then I'll just say I did it on purpose :)

[bob48]

The RN is trained to brew extra-strength assault cocoa for when things get rough, and often wade into a boarding action with specially sharpened ships-biscuits.

I thought everyone knew that.

[LongBlade]

Can orders be given to ram enemy ships?

I don't think you can deliberately ram.  However, I seem to recall a number of reported collisions.

+1

Ramming usually resulted in me being rammed. I can't recall it being a good tactic - for me.

[panzerde]

I dunno how many times I've beat some German ship to death and couldn't sink or cripple them before running out of ammo, even well outgunning them.  >:(  My last game was the two British BCs against the two German CAs at the Battle of the Falklands and after both were out of ammo I had only managed to score Medium damage on them and they were still making speed just fine.  I'm convinced that the German damage control teams consisted of highly advanced aliens who could get any stricken turret back up and running in eight minutes or less and repair engine damage in their sleep.  :P

This, in spades.  Clearly the German ships are made of adamantium.  To be fair, I had to actually circle HMS Glasgow with both German CAs and a CL and shell her steadily for about 20 minutes even after I'd knocked he speed down to 5 knots in the Coronel scenario.  I nearly ran both CAs out of ammo sinking three ships.  But yes, German damage control seems almost supernatural.

OTOH I can't even seem to get the RN to hit the German ships most of the time when playing Jutland.  It's also a bit head-scratch inducing to be told in the scenario status update, before even my scout forces have engaged, that my best course of action is to preserve my force and withdraw.  This in a theoretically balanced scenario between a DD, a CL, and two BBs on each side.

Still, both games are great fun, despite some occasional WTF moments.

[besilarius]

Gus, since you are so interested in ramming, you should look up the Battle of Lissa.
Outnumbered by the Italians, the Austrians adopted the ramming tactic, and actually did catch one enemy ironclad.  Of course, they were in the middle of changing course, and fighting a fire, so they were a bit distracted.
The navy that got the most out of ramming was the Royal Navy.  They sank more of their own ships than anybody else did.  The most famous example was in the Mediterranean, when Victoria and Camperdown ran into each other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_ram

[Gusington]

^Gotcha covered...I am currently reading this

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1847244165/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is simply an amazing title, and Lissa is included. Note the price asked. I got my copy for $7.59 :)

I also have the 1750-1850 book. Both are incredible.