The naval tech branch is a little bit oversimplified to be perfectly honest. There were 2 highly valued ships in most every major navy that went completely unnoticed: the Motor Torpedo Boat and the Subchaser ships. Unlike destroyers, which try to be everything, these 2 ships had very specialized roles, ones that they did really well: a Torpedo boat struck fast, struck hard, and then vanished into the blue, and the Subchasers weeded out submarines, one step at a time. Rather than having the Destroyer be the weak piece of crap that it is, focusing more on subs than actual boats, you could instead just add 2 ships that were specifically designed to hunt subs and sink battleships.
Here's what I propose:
For the Motor Torpedo Boat, you need the following - Lv. 1+ research (duh), Lv. 1+ Industrial, Lv. 1+ Naval base. These units are dirt cheap, have 5 hitpoints, can't fight off aircraft to save their lives, can't attack ground units, but function almost as a polar opposite to carriers: instead of 1 attack 5 defense, it's 5 attack and 1 defense (in naval battles). Torpedoes are ship killers, so this would be realistic. They're kinda like the hit-and-run type. Did I mention it would be the fastest naval vessel in the game, topping at over 100 km/h? Because that's a very, very real number.
Meanwhile, for Subchasers, you also need the same requirements as the MTB. These are a bit more expensive, and aren't great in naval combat, but these bad boys can actually defend themselves against aircraft just fine, with a passive defense of 2, where a MTB would have .3 - in addition to that, 2.5 attack and 3 defense against naval vessels, and here's the icing on the cake: 5 attack to Submarines, 5 defense. If a submarine comes within viewing distance, it will be revealed. These units still can't attack the ground forces, given that most Subchasers' guns' never really go above 37 mm cannons, which could deal with infantry, sure, but they have pitiful range, which essentially rules out ground attacks.
Why such drastic numbers? It's actually backed by history: Torpedo Boats had virtually no armor, and tiny 12 mm machine guns, which have extremely crappy range. The flip side is that they had torpedoes, which will kill any kind of ship, with virtually no exceptions. Hence the high attack power, but low defensive capabilities. Torpedo Boats have to get really close to strike, so they'd essentially function like less-stealthy submarines that do a LOT of damage, meaning you'd have to enter point-blank range to fight a navy vessel. Subchasers, on the other hand, were really the only ship equipped well enough to fight off submarines: the destroyers could too, sure, but the Subchasers stood a much better chance. They sometimes came with armor plating, although not too often, and usually had 2-3 machine guns - one of which usually, if not always, serves as AAA - as well as a much heavier 37-45 mm cannon, sometimes even higher: that, realistically, is enough to do real damage to a destroyer. The real gem lies in it's depth charges: virtually every subchaser came equipped with depth charges, to weed out and destroy submarines; some even carried rockets - yes, rockets. Still, the fact remains that they don't have a lot of range - maybe about 30 km - and never did, not in history, so they'd be best suited to defend transport ships and coastlines. They aren't as fast as MTB, usually capping out at about 55 km/h, but they get the job done.
Where would this put destroyers? Well, higher up: destroyers actually had HUGE guns, capable of easily sinking a battleship, and were faster (kind of) than the heavier, more bulky cruiser. They too could take on a submarine, but not as easily as a subchaser. They are far, far slower than most subchasers: most destroyers usually don't go above 50 km/h, and that's at top gear, which is not used very often. They, unlike their Subchaser cousin, can do a lot more naval damage than CoW thinks they can. I'd give 'em a 6/6 attack/defense rating, at least. Air defense could go up too, maybe to a 4, and sub attack/defense should be lowered slightly, to like a 3/3. They would require a naval base level 2: Yes, destroyers would take longer to get, which is actually perfectly real. They're range would be upped by at least 10 more km, same for the cruiser, and they can attack ground units - finally - but not for much damage, maybe .5 for tanks and 1 for infantry. They can easily get annihilated by artillery. So why would you keep them? Easy: they have way, way more HP than a subchaser. For maximum efficiency, you could group up a SC, Destroyer, and a Cruiser, and you'd be damn-near invincible.
i'll try to put together a new and improved Research Tree for reference when I have time, but until then, got questions? Comments? Comment below.
Here's what I propose:
For the Motor Torpedo Boat, you need the following - Lv. 1+ research (duh), Lv. 1+ Industrial, Lv. 1+ Naval base. These units are dirt cheap, have 5 hitpoints, can't fight off aircraft to save their lives, can't attack ground units, but function almost as a polar opposite to carriers: instead of 1 attack 5 defense, it's 5 attack and 1 defense (in naval battles). Torpedoes are ship killers, so this would be realistic. They're kinda like the hit-and-run type. Did I mention it would be the fastest naval vessel in the game, topping at over 100 km/h? Because that's a very, very real number.
Meanwhile, for Subchasers, you also need the same requirements as the MTB. These are a bit more expensive, and aren't great in naval combat, but these bad boys can actually defend themselves against aircraft just fine, with a passive defense of 2, where a MTB would have .3 - in addition to that, 2.5 attack and 3 defense against naval vessels, and here's the icing on the cake: 5 attack to Submarines, 5 defense. If a submarine comes within viewing distance, it will be revealed. These units still can't attack the ground forces, given that most Subchasers' guns' never really go above 37 mm cannons, which could deal with infantry, sure, but they have pitiful range, which essentially rules out ground attacks.
Why such drastic numbers? It's actually backed by history: Torpedo Boats had virtually no armor, and tiny 12 mm machine guns, which have extremely crappy range. The flip side is that they had torpedoes, which will kill any kind of ship, with virtually no exceptions. Hence the high attack power, but low defensive capabilities. Torpedo Boats have to get really close to strike, so they'd essentially function like less-stealthy submarines that do a LOT of damage, meaning you'd have to enter point-blank range to fight a navy vessel. Subchasers, on the other hand, were really the only ship equipped well enough to fight off submarines: the destroyers could too, sure, but the Subchasers stood a much better chance. They sometimes came with armor plating, although not too often, and usually had 2-3 machine guns - one of which usually, if not always, serves as AAA - as well as a much heavier 37-45 mm cannon, sometimes even higher: that, realistically, is enough to do real damage to a destroyer. The real gem lies in it's depth charges: virtually every subchaser came equipped with depth charges, to weed out and destroy submarines; some even carried rockets - yes, rockets. Still, the fact remains that they don't have a lot of range - maybe about 30 km - and never did, not in history, so they'd be best suited to defend transport ships and coastlines. They aren't as fast as MTB, usually capping out at about 55 km/h, but they get the job done.
Where would this put destroyers? Well, higher up: destroyers actually had HUGE guns, capable of easily sinking a battleship, and were faster (kind of) than the heavier, more bulky cruiser. They too could take on a submarine, but not as easily as a subchaser. They are far, far slower than most subchasers: most destroyers usually don't go above 50 km/h, and that's at top gear, which is not used very often. They, unlike their Subchaser cousin, can do a lot more naval damage than CoW thinks they can. I'd give 'em a 6/6 attack/defense rating, at least. Air defense could go up too, maybe to a 4, and sub attack/defense should be lowered slightly, to like a 3/3. They would require a naval base level 2: Yes, destroyers would take longer to get, which is actually perfectly real. They're range would be upped by at least 10 more km, same for the cruiser, and they can attack ground units - finally - but not for much damage, maybe .5 for tanks and 1 for infantry. They can easily get annihilated by artillery. So why would you keep them? Easy: they have way, way more HP than a subchaser. For maximum efficiency, you could group up a SC, Destroyer, and a Cruiser, and you'd be damn-near invincible.
i'll try to put together a new and improved Research Tree for reference when I have time, but until then, got questions? Comments? Comment below.