Having looked at the “big boys” (battleships and dreadnoughts) in parts 1 and 2 of this series, and at the “small guys” (destroyers) in the third, I am now turning my attention to the middle for a discussion on cruisers in Dystopian Wars and how they match up with their historical counterparts. In a way, this will be a much more difficult topic to tackle than the first three, as the definition of what a cruiser is and what it is supposed to do has never been very fixed, and there have been many variants and sub-types that defy easy classification. However, I’m going to give it my best shot, using the same methodolgy I used last time; I’ll start with a brief discussion of the history of the real type, followed by an overview of the Dystopian Wars classes, and finally I’ll compare and contrast the two.

A (Brief) History of Cruisers

Though the term cruiser first appeared during the age of sail, I am going to pick up my discussion at right about 1880, when steel construction and steam propulsion started to become standard. As the very name “cruiser” suggests, many ships of this type were designed for long-range independent operations. During peace time, this might include “showing the flag” at distant strategic points, for example. During wartime, a whole host of other missions were added, including commerce raiding, scouting, and directly supporting the battle line. These missions naturally flowed from the fact that, until after WWI, anyway, a cruiser was the smallest warship that was truly ocean-going; the state of naval technology at the time did not allow for smaller ships that were fast enough or possessed sufficient range.

By the start of the 20th century, several different types of cruisers had evolved, each specialized towards a different task. The smallest of these were the scout cruisers, which emphasized speed above all else. In the age before aircraft and radar, these ships were the vital eyes and ears of a fleet, responsible for seeking out the enemy and reporting its position. Another type was the protected cruiser, which was a bit larger and more heavily armed but still lacked all but the most basic armor protect. By far the largest cruiser type of the time was the armored cruiser; these ships were often as large as a battleship, but traded armament and armor for a bit more speed; they typically mounted guns of about 8″, as compared to the 12″ of the average battleship. However, this trade off was not as big as it seemed on paper; In an age of abysmal gunnery accuracy (usually less than 5%), the higher rate of fire from the 8″ gun could actually make it a more destructive weapon. This effect was famously seen at the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), when Japanese armored cruisers caused significant damage to Russian battleships.

WWI and the Rise of the Battle Cruiser

Regardless, the armored cruiser type was expected to fight alongside the battleship in a major battle, capable of outrunning larger ships and destroying smaller ships that were able to catch them. This concept eventually led to the “battle cruiser,” which is an offshoot of the all big gun dreadnought type battleship. The first ship of this type, the HMS Invincible, revolutionized cruiser design in the same way that the HMS Dreadnought revolutionized battleship design. Mounting no less than eight 12″ guns and having a then unprecedented speed of 25 knots, the Invincible outclassed all cruisers built to that time, and other navies rushed to build similar ships of their own. However, these capabilities came at some obvious and not so obvious disadvantages. The obvious drawbacks were cost related; battle cruisers were expensive to build and operate, which meant that they could never completely replace all other cruiser designs. Less obvious was the fact that many battle cruisers were no better protected than the armored cruisers they replaced, and this made them extremely vulnerable as guns got bigger and more accurate. The HMS Invincible herself learned this to her sorrow when she was destroyed by a magazine explosion during the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

The Treaty Cruiser

Ultimately, the battle cruiser turned out to be a bit of an evolutionary dead end in cruiser development. This was partly due to the continuing rapid pace of naval technology; by the end of WW I, it was possible to build “fast battleships” that were both heavily armored and had speeds in excess of 25 knots. However, the biggest reason for the type’s demise was the series of naval arms limitation treaties that were signed between WW I and WW II. The first of these, the Washington Treaty of 1921, limited cruisers to 10,000 tons displacement and guns no larger than 8″. However, unlike battleships, the Washington Treaty did not cap the total tonnage of cruisers each nation could build; this naturally started a new naval arms race between the various naval powers (especially Japan and the United States) in the construction of 10,000 ton cruisers with as many 8″ guns as they could carry! These so-called Treaty Cruisers represented something altogether different than the earlier types of cruisers that came before, as new advances in propulsion and armament made it easier to build a powerful ship on a limited displacement.

However, this new race alarmed many in the governments of the the world powers (especially Great Britain), such that the next major agreement, the London Treaty of 1930, placed further limits on the construction of cruisers. The British were anxious to cap the construction of large and expensive 8″gun cruisers, as the Royal Navy could not hope to build enough of these ships to cover its global commitments. In the end, the London Treaty created two types of cruisers; light cruisers (CL) could only mount guns of 6″ or less, while heavy cruisers (CA) could mount guns up to the previous limit of 8″. This is the first time that the cruiser type was so specifically defined, although the terms themselves had been in use previously. Furthermore, the London treaty extended the total tonnage caps that existed for battleships to cruisers, which effectively limited the number that could be built.

While the British had hoped these requirements would push Japan and the United States to build smaller 6″ gun ships, what actually ended up happening was the proliferation of 10,000 ton ships packed with large numbers of 6″ guns! Just like with the armored cruiser and the battleship in 1900, the higher rate of fire possible with a 6″ gun made these “light” cruisers as dangerous or even more so than their heavy counterparts with 8″guns. It is worth pointing out though, that despite similarities in size and armament, many treaty cruisers had very different doctrinal roles within their respective navies. The Japanese, for example, equipped their cruisers with heavy torpedo armaments, to be used for attacking the enemy battle line in a war of attrition as it advanced across the Pacific. the US Navy, on the other hand, completely removed torpedoes from its cruisers, intending them to be surface escorts for the larger fleet units.

WW II to Present

During WW II, cruiser construction largely followed the heavy and light classifications developed in the 1930s; though the treaties were no longer in effect, 20 years of development had been done on 8″ and 6″ cruisers, and so these designs were the natural starting point for any wartime class. After the war, the proliferation of air power and guided missile technology combined to cause significant changes to the cruiser type; while a few of the gun-armed cruisers remained until the Vietnam war, most cruisers built after WW II were designed to be used as guided missile ships (CG). For the US Navy, this meant anti-air missile systems to defend carrier groups. The Soviets, on the other hand, packed their cruisers with large numbers of surface attack missiles. Today, these cruiser designs remain in service with the Russian and US Navies, the only major powers to operate the type (Peru also operates one elderly gun-armed destroyer of Dutch extraction).

Cruisers in Dystopian Wars

So, lets take a look at the cruiser type in the game. Here are some general points:

• All cruisers are Medium Capitol class models.
• Average DR/CR is 4/6, with the occasional modifier (+1 DR for FSA, +1 CR for EotBS, etc).
• Average moment is 8″, with some as fast as 10″.
• All cruisers have 4 HP.
• AP is between 4 and 6
• AA and CC vary between 2 and 4
• Every cruiser except the EotBS Nakatsu has one or two primary turrets, with an output of 9-10 AD in RB 1 (the Nakatsu has similar dice from its broadsides).
• Point cost varies from as low as 55 points to as high as 70, depending on upgrades.
• All cruisers except for the Prussia Reiver have a limited RB 4 shooting ability of 3-5 dice, usually from an auxiliary weapon like torpedoes or rockets.

Now, I have been a bit down on cruisers myself in the past, and this is because my experience has shown these ships just aren’t overly efficient for their points. Given their relatively low CR and DR, they are easily damaged and often destroyed before they can reach their optimum firing ranges. Designs that can take shield generators (the Plato, Lexington, and Tribal) have a certain advantage in this area, since their survivability is significantly improved. However, in my view even these classes are, at best, mediocre; the rest are just bad. The French Marseille is an interesting case, though; I think its Retardant Armor upgrade and skimming ability put it ahead of those cruisers that can’t equip shields, though they do not represent a complete substitute for shields. An outlier in all of this is the French Ecuyer support cruiser; while many of its stats are similar to the other cruisers, its boosted AA abilities are a unique specialization in the game.

What about the Gunships?

I am lumping gunships in with the discussion about cruisers, because they are also Medium Capitol class models and as such compete for the same percentage of fleet composition in a list. In general, gunships have several advantages over cruisers:

• 5 HP vs. 4 HP
• “Built in” generators.
• Several designs have better long-range shooting (Princeton, Agincourt, and Tanuki)
• Two designs give access to a faction specific special weapon (the Zeno and Toulon)
• Four designs have superior CR to their cruiser counterparts (The PE an FSA miss out on this one).
• In general, the offensive capability of a faction’s gunship is significantly greater than its cruiser.

Of course, all of these upgrades come at a price. In general, this price is in the form of a high points cost, though sometimes stats are nerfed a bit as well; the CoA Zeno has a speed of only 6″, and the PE Hussar only has 4 AP, for example. Also, all of the gunships have  DR that matches their faction’s cruiser, which means they are equally likely to be damaged. Also interesting is the fact that Gunship squadrons are smaller, normally only 2 ships.

Comparing Dystopian Wars Cruisers to Historical Cruisers

So, how do the game’s cruisers compare to their historical counterparts? Well, as we have previously discussed, the overall level of the game’s technology is roughly equal in many ways to that of WW II and immediately afterwards. So, it seems natural to start there as a point of comparison. In general, I think that we see Dystopian Wars cruisers fulfilling similar tactical roles to the light and heavy cruisers of WW II, since like their historical counterparts they tend to be heavily armed for their size but fairly fragile. The wide variation in armament seen among cruisers in Dystopian Wars is perhaps more pronounced that what was seen in the 1930s and 40s, but I think it nicely captures the historical fact that each navy is going to alter its cruiser designs to best match its particular doctrines and tactics.  Of note, the peculiar specialization of the Ecuyer support cruiser does have some historical parallels; during WW II, both the US Navy and Royal Navy built cruisers that were specialized anit-air platforms.

Accounting for the gunships is a bit more difficult, as they don’t have a clear historical analog (despite the fact that some of the game designs are called ‘armored cruisers’). In some ways, the gunships seem to represent the specialization of cruiser types that was seen around 1900. However, they certainly do not rise to the level of what would be considered a battle cruiser; a Dystopian Wars analog of that type would have to be much larger and more heavily armed. It is tempting to think of the standard cruisers as  light cruisers and the gunships as heavy cruisers, but I find this convention less than satisfactory given the very specific historical definitions of these types. Perhaps it is for the best that Spartan created a separate non-historical category for these designs!

So, there you have it; Dystopian Wars cruisers do bear some resemblance to their historical counterparts, though as with the large and small ships, there are significant differences. Until next time, good luck and good hunting!