As HTC has expanded somewhat on the ground vehicle modeling, such as a more complex damage model, isn’t it time to do the same for ships and PT boats? Right now, damage to PTs and ships is either all or nothing.
PT boats may have been fairly fragile, but they did not just blow up all the time. They had multiple engines, which could be individually damaged, and could loose guns, catch on fire, and take on water when hit with big-gun near misses or aircraft caliber guns.
How about larger vessels like the destroyer escorts, cruisers, and aircraft carriers? Warships were designed to go in harms way, and a good portion of their equipment and personnel were devoted to damage control. I would like to see a damage model for ships based on something more complex than a simple explosion upon reaching a predetermined threshold of accumulated damage. Guns should be individual targets, as should radar. Make one ship in each TG the radar ship, such that taking sinking it or destroying the radar mast would deny the fleet radar coverage. Make it possible to damage the CV’s elevators, which would prevent aircraft from spawning (analogous to destroying hangers at a field). Instead of sinking all at once, make it possible to cause flooding on a ship that would have visible signs such as a list, being down by the bow or stern, or simply settling. Likewise, add shipboard fires, which could eventually sink the ship. If the ship takes damage but is not attacked and damaged further for a period of time, damage would be repaired…so long as the damage is not too significant. For instance, hitting the elevator on the CV will prevent spawning of aircraft for 15 minutes, after which the damage is repaired. However, put a spread of three torpedoes into one side, and flooding will be uncontrollable and result in the ship sinking within ten minutes.
If I hit a ship with a bomb and don’t do enough damage to sink it, it should still be affected somehow. I want to see smoke and fire from the damage I do, and know that I’ve degraded the vessel’s operation or lessened its defensive or offensive firepower.
