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Rationale:
Most sorts of ships are adequately represented in World in Flames,
at least when using the Ships in Flames ships. There are exceptions.
The US does not get the Brooklyn and Cleveland class cruisers, which
were heavy cruisers in all but gun caliber. All other cruisers of
their size are included in the game. There is no point in providing
separate counters for them, since the Americans never seem to feel
the need for more cruiser counters. Further, since they are not in
the game, the ability to produce them (i.e., production points) is
left out. This rule is an attempt to include the effect of the
large CLs without distorting the game in other ways. (Note that
the British equivalents to the Brooklyn and Cleveland class
are included as counters in the game.)
Historical Background:
The London naval limitation treaty of 1930 divided cruisers into
heavy cruisers (those with guns larger than 6.1") and light
cruisers (those with guns of 6/1" and smaller), and provided
tonnage limits for the categories. Most of the signatories had
a use for both small cruisers and large cruisers, but the United
States and Japan did not. Neither country thought small cruisers
particularly useful, and both had a dozen or so small cruisers left
over from after World War I.
What the United States and Japan, and later Britain, did was to build cruisers that were heavy in all respects except that they mounted 6" guns rather than 8". These were built after the allotment for heavy cruisers was exhausted, and hence were more modern than many of the actual heavy cruisers. When Japan abrogated the treaty, they refitted their Mogami and Tone-class cruisers with 8" guns. The US and British did no such thing. When war approached, both countries built more of these cruisers, unlike the Japanese, who never planned to build more. The Cleveland class of cruisers built by the United States was the most numerous class of cruisers ever built. It was not a completely satisfactory design, but served well.
On the outbreak of war, the Japanese had no large light cruisers, as they had been converted to heavy status. The British and Americans tended to prefer the 8" gun cruisers for heavy duty at first, although the diminishing number of such cruisers put the 6" gun cruisers into those roles. Although the United States built large numbers of even larger cruisers with 8" guns, the Navy continued to use the 6" gun cruisers as if they were true heavy cruisers.
US CLs In WiF
These cruisers are not represented in the counter mix, and the US
has not been given the production points that went into them.
Therefore, the US player receives one cruiser, completely free,
with the completion of each battleship and aircraft carrier.
(Battleships are surface combatants with a first-cycle cost of
2.) These free cruisers must have an initial cost of 1. If there
are no such in the force pool, the US player may either take
a cruiser from the construction or repair pool, or from the
next year's (or later, if necessary) force pool additions.
(Typically, the US player will probably pick from future force
pools.)
For scenario purposes, the US player gets a cruiser for all post-1930 ships. This includes all US battleships with a speed greater than 4, and all aircraft carriers except Langley, Lexington, and Saratoga. Note that in many scenarios, Wasp, Yorktown, and Hornet will already be sunk, and the US should receive cruisers for them. No other qualifying ships were sunk in the war.
Testing and Play Balance
This house rule has not been tested. It isn't intended as play balance,
but as a historical rule. It will probably mean that the US player
need not spend build points on cruisers, and will have some combination
of increased production in other areas and the US having more cruisers
than he or she particularly needs.
All contents of these pages Copyright 1998 by David H. Thornley, unless explicitly attributed to somebody else.