Winter, 1896, Design Phase.Magnus Invictus-class Battleship
Based on the design of the Pompey Magnus-class battleships, the Magnus Invictus-class takes the original design and hangs it out to dry a bit too long. It's a lengthened version of the Pompey Magnus which moves at 21 knots instead of 18. While we have retained the two twin 12" turrets this design has removed the 3" turrets entirely and replaces the 5" open-mount armament with 6 twin shielded 5" gun mounts as found on the Lepidus-class, with one superfiring over the aft turret and one superfiring over the fore turret, the other four in pairs next to the fore and aft superfiring turrets, where their lack of huge magazine spaces directly under the turrets means they won't interfere with the machinery underneath them. This does limit end-on fire but that is an acceptable compromise for keeping the beam shorter.
The ship retains the modernized Pompey Magnus class's armor scheme in its entirety, using many of the exact same plates as the original (such as the turrets, which are completely identical to the original battleship's) and the rest made to the same thicknesses and with the same machining and tempering. It also retains components as the masts, bridge layout and superstructure, and the structure of the magazines underneath each gun turret, amongst a great many other similarities. As before, the main structural elements of the ship are the tougher Composizione B alloy, as is the bridge tower and the masts.
The hull is lengthened to give the ship a finer width-to-beam ratio and extra space to install additional machinery to propel the ship faster. We've used our experience with making and working up over a dozen battleships of the predecessor class to refine the entire ship, from internal layout to turret mechanisms to machinery. This has saved weight in every section and component of the ship. It isn't revolutionary, but rather evolutionary.
The machinery is similarly evolved with a thousand incremental improvements across the entire powerplant, providing some more power on less weight and in a smaller footprint. More importantly, the added length of the ship gives more space for the addition of more of the newly improved machinery, adding the power needed to push the ship's speed up by three knots.
The only revolutionary component of this design, and indeed the only part not derivative of our older work, is the new torpedo defense system. It is well-known that torpedoes are not bothered much by hull plating or thin armor, nor is it reasonable to armor the ship from the waterline down to the keel, so instead we're going to let empty space do our work for us. Well, not empty space, it's actually still full of air. By adding bulges to the sides of the ship we can prevent torpedo hits from breaching the ship's citadel. These extend from below the main armor belt to the bottom of the ship and extend from just ahead of the forwards citadel bulkhead to just aft of the aft citadel bulkhead. These bulges are full of air and are constructed just heavily enough to set off a torpedo. The air layer forms a void in which the explosion can be dissipated. These are tested against mock torpedoes of the estimated size of the enemy's torpedo warheads, to ensure that they are as thin as possible while still performing the designed function.
As previously, weight is kept below the new 12.5k ton limit we now enjoy.
Effectiveness: 2 | Cost: 6 | Bugs: 5 | Time: 4+1
The Magnus Invictus Class Battleship is, in whole, quite similar to the old Pompey Magnus. In fact, one could argue that it is a larger, more streamlined version of the Pompey Magnus. It has improved machinery utilizing improvements and greater engine space to provide better speed. This has come at a cost, namely that of the crew quarters which are quite cramped, and the extensive machinery while simple to assemble, is hard to keep in perfect condition and even minor damage to the engine will result in a noticeable reduction of power. Further, the engines are a sizable target and, if any shell gets past the coal bunkers and the main belt, it will likely be ripping into the machinery spaces. Other than this, the double turreted secondary's are somewhat slower than what single mounts would be, and slower to reload due to more difficult access to munitions to reload. Finally, the ship is slightly overweight. Despite this, other than the engine when pushed, everything works as it should, and given the cost of the ship thanks to streamlining, it's more or less a straight upgrade of our existing ships, all be it taking a bit longer to make.
Costs 7/2, 7 season construction time.
(Due to new monitor, the card size is arguably a bit bigger than it should be.)
Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Training Command of Maritime Excellence (2 die spent. 0 rushed)
3+1+3=7
Work on the Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Tracom of maritime excelence's main building and the surrounding facilities have progressed smoothly. The main portion of further work is mostly the gathering of the supplies needed for the training, the proper personnel, organization of courses and setting up a proper barracks for the sailors and officers who will be attending. Other than the construction of the barracks and initial organization, the only thing that needs to be worked on is the extension to the military port nearby the training center. The extension of the docks is the thing likely to take the most amount of time, but after everything else should fall into place nicely and swiftly.
Wireless Telegraphy Research Grant (2 die spent. 0 rushed.)
2+6+6=14
Further work on the wireless telegraph has taught us quite a bit about the knowledge of broadbands, radio waves, and the nature of receivers. Along with the nature of amplitude modulation. In essence, a signal with information is mixed with a carrier signal in a way that causes the amplitude of the carrier to vary at the frequency of the information signal. While this sounds fairly complex, and it is not understood too well yet by our researchers, it is a very solid step, and testing with these frequencies so far has gotten some results in lab environments. Though, issues persist with attempts to get communications to actually be picked up by range, and simply increasing the modulation isn't working... Still, extensive progress has been done thus far.
Revision phase will be skipped due to lack of dice. Feel free to discuss strategy and buy plans.
Magnus Invictus-Class | 1/5 Seasons to Completion | Battleship | 6/2 PP cost | 5 Season Construction Time
Wireless Telegraphy Research Grant | 14/30 | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 6 PP invested
Corbiniano Ugolini Recruit Training Command of Maritime Excellence | 7/14 | 2 PP per die | Rushed 0 times | 6 PP invested
Naval
Early 2/4/7/9/10 inch guns
QF 3/5/6 inch guns (Average price, rifling wears out quicker than normal. Very reliable. 19k max range estimate for 6 inch version, 9.5k effective range.)
Basic 12 Inch guns (Average price, rifling wears out quicker than normal. Very reliable. 24 max range estimate, 12k effective range.)
State Of The Art Parachute Flares (Faro Starshell)
Triple-expansion engines.
Early steam turbine engines.
Steel hull construction.
Single Casemates.
Single and Double gun turrets.
Decent Rangefinder
Composizione B Steel.
Montagne Acciaierie Armor Steel
Modest Damage control techniques.
Ballistite
SM1895 Torpedo (Torpedo with 2k yards range at a speed of 29 knots.)
Marines & Installations
Defensive guns (Uses same calibers as naval guns)
50mm, 75mm, 105mm, and 150mm Howitzers
Magdala N95 Fucile (Clip-fed Bolt Action Rifle, 5 rounds)
Punto Nord M10 Carabina (Clip-fed Bolt Action Carbine, 5 rounds.)
Sette d'oro 87 Rivoltella (Basic Revolver)
Casciano P95 (Semi-auto Pistol, 10 rounds)
Punto Nord M6 Fucile da caccia (Shotgun, Reliable, 7 rounds.)
Bomba di latta (Extremely rudimentary makeshift hand grenade)
Lepidus class Light Cruiser: The Lepidus class is a blisteringly fast Light Armored Cruiser, or Light Cruiser, which has a good deal of armor that compliments it's speed. It's arguably undergunned but it's ability to pick it's fights, it's main prey being cargo ships, torpedo boat destroyers, and protected cruisers, should do enough to offset that. Especially with the addition of torpedoes. Costs 5/2, takes 4 seasons to build.
QF Refit (QFR): A simple replacement of the eligible smaller caliber guns to quick fire variants. Costs 1 PP to refit, takes 1 season to complete. Shipbuild cost same as original.
Armament Upgrade Refit (AUR): A upgrade that can be best defined as simply slapping more QF guns on the thing. Annoyingly, issues with regards to the fitting of the dual guns causes them to turn slower due to issues with the turntable and weight. Additionally, reduces the ships speed by roughly a knot. Costs 1 PP to refit, takes 1 season to complete. Shipbuild cost same as original.
Pompey Magnus Class Battleship:Arguably a miniature battleship, one that could be payed with whatever is in ones pocket compared to the price of true battleships, the Pompey Magnus class is...arguably mediocre. Yet, mediocracy in many numbers is a good thing. The ship is quite well armored and armed, though in part due to this it is slightly overweight, which could cause problems. Only costs 7/2, takes 6 seasons to build.
Refits of the Pompey Magnus Class:
Belt and Magazine Adjustments (BMA): Modification utilizing the overweight nature of the ship to cut down on the lower section of the belt in order to add a inch of armor to the rest of it, along with modification to the magazine in order to add another inch to the turret's armor.
QF Refit (QFR): A simple replacement of the eligible smaller caliber guns to quick fire variants. Costs 1 PP to refit, takes 1 season to complete. Shipbuild cost same as original.
Modernized (MOD): Modifications to the Belt and magazine, alongside the smaller caliber guns. Costs 1 PP to refit, takes 1 season to complete. Shipbuild cost same as original.
Magnus Invictus Class Battleship: Essentially an upgraded and larger Pompey Magnus that is faster and has a heavier secondary battery in twin mounted turrets along the side of the ship. Much like the ship it is based on, it is somewhat overweight. Further, the engines are fragile and a large target. Due to streamlining of said engine equipment however, it is quite quick to make and cheap. Only costs 7/2, takes 7 seasons to build.
Lepidus Class
Pompey Magnus Class W BMA modification
Magnus Invictus Class
CL - Light Cruiser
Lepidus Class, 19 ships, 65 Maintenance
Lepidus | CL | QFR | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 2 seasons | Eginardo Marino is captain, Trained, Aggressive
Vettius | CL | QFR | Currently assigned to raiding in the center | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | Bindo Zocco is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Curio | CL | QFR | Currently assigned to raiding in the center | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Verulo Di Miceli is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Vitellius | CL | QFR | Currently assigned to raiding in the center | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Gianpietro Nocella is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Cato the Younger | CL | No Refit | Currently assigned to raiding in the center | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | Rodolfo Colasurdo is captain, Trained, Cautious
Brutus | CL | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 2 seasons | Ildefonso Santoli is captain, Trained, Balanced
Horatius | CL | AUR | Currently assigned to Battlegroup Alaudae | Crew are Greenhorns | Undamaged | Liberio Irene is captain, Greenhorn, Cautious
Clodius | CL | No Refit | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 2 seasons | Euclide Iantosca is captain, Greenhorn, Balanced
Virgil | CL | AUR | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 2 seasons | Ursmaro Battaglia is captain, Greenhorn, Balanced,
Suetonius | CL | AUR | Currently Working Up | Crew are Greenhorn| Undamaged | Teodoro Catalani is captain, Trained, Aggressive
Scaurus | CL | MOD | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Creticus | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Flavus | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Catiline | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Cinna | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Ahenobarbus | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Strabo | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Laronius | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
Octavius | CL | AUR | Currently Under construction, 3 seasons remaining, 5 PP per turn construction cost
B - Pre Dreadnaught Battleship
Pompey Magnus Class, 11 ships, 32 Maintenance
Pompey Magnus | B | MOD | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 2 seasons | Mattia Cason is captain, Trained, Aggressive
Marcus Antonius | B | MOD | Currently under repair | Crew are Trained | Heavy damage, 2 seasons | Cremenzio Parziale is captain, Trained, Aggressive
Germanicus | B | MOD | Currently unassigned | Crew are Trained | Undamaged | Auberto Tartaglione is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Marcus Aurelius | B | MOD | Currently Working Up | Crew are Greenhorn | Undamaged | Donatello Cortesi is captain, Greenhorn, Cautious
Basil | B | MOD | Currently Working Up | Crew are Greenhorn | Undamaged | Alessandro Ferro is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Tiberius | B | MOD | Currently Working Up | Crew are Greenhorn | Undamaged | Azelio Guastella, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Trajan | B | MOD | Currently Under construction, 1 seasons remaining, 7 PP per turn construction cost
Constantine | B | MOD | Currently unassigned | Crew are Greenhorn | Undamaged | Brancaleone Casali is captain, Greenhorn, Cautious
Hadrian | B | MOD | Currently Working Up | Crew are Greenhorn | Undamaged | Leonio Borgo is captain, Greenhorn, Aggressive
Theodosius | B | MOD | Currently Working Up | Crew are Greenhorn | Undamaged | Bino Napolitano is Captain, Greenhorn, Balanced
Justinian | B | MOD | Currently Under construction, 1 seasons remaining, 7 PP per turn construction cost
13,000 Displacement Dry docks.
(134) 126 PP, 97 Maintenance.