The next day after my training with the knights I decided to skip the classes again. Of course, Lilith was not too happy about it and considering how spineless I become when it concerns her, I attended some of the morning lessons.
“Miss Delight, why you don’t want to have a lunch together?” This time her puppy eyes did not shake my resolve.
“Lilith, do you not remember?”
“I understand that you have an appointment but why not spend some time with me until you have to go?” (L)
“Because I should be going now if I want to arrive in time.”
‘Sigh’
“But…” She was going to refute, yet the decision is the same.
“This discussion is over. If you are alone then you might go play with Charlotte. You two were having fun together, so why not?”
“As you say…” ‘Baka…’ Did she say something…?
I arrived to the training grounds a bit later than I planned. Judging by the instructor’s face he was not pleased.
“Repeat the exercises we did yesterday.” Instead of scolding me he just made me work out.
While I was busy I checked if I have anything new.
‘Ding’
‘You received 14 upgrade points, 4 silver coins, 40mm/56.3 Bofors STAAG Mk II (Replaces Medium AA), 14’’/50 Mk IX (Replaces MG)’
HMS Delight – BC. Mod – 1949. Upgrade progress – 6/10.
Accuracy – 34/100
Reload – 25/100
Recoil – 1/100
Machinery – 97/25
Guns – 50/25
Equipment – 97/25
| Main guns | 14''/50 Mk IX. Loaded - 0/8. Firerate - 0.75/3. Range - 40 km. |
| Secondary guns | 4''/45 Mk XIX. Loaded - 0/12. Firerate - 5/20. Range - 18 km. |
| Tertiary guns | 3''/50 Mk 34. Loaded - 0/4. Firerate - 11.25/45. Range - 13 km. |
| AA guns |
40mm/56.3 Bofors STAAG Mk II. Loaded - 16/16. (+10 to accuracy of Medium AA) 20mm Mk V Oerlikon. Loaded - 20/20. .50 M2 Browning. Loaded - 8/8. |
“I am done.”
“Who said you’re done?! CONTINUE.” (I)
“Yes sir!” I guess it is a bit too early to say I was not punished.
After I finished the warm-up the instructor called out to have some targets created.
“Use some smaller spells which can be used within short range.” The targets are human-sized so I guess this is the plan.
Bang Bang
Bang Bang
Bang Bang
“Just how can you miss from such a range?!” He was tearing his hair after seeing that only one shell hit a target. Well, my secondaries are not the most accurate weapons.
“Should I just fire the main guns?” He fervently shook his head after understanding what will be fired.
“Will this change if you are closer?” (I)
“No. Just accept that only a third hits the targets.”
“Fine… Set up a lot of targets!” A large group of targets appeared.
“Now, try attacking the targets with the stiletto but after a few seconds use the spells.” I leaped towards the targets.
‘Pierce Pierce Pierce’
Bang Bang Bu-bu-bu-bum
The results were quite satisfactory. A couple of targets were destroyed with the stiletto and a few were torn apart by the gunfire from point blank range.
“This is impressive but now you will be repeating this. Again and again and again…” (I)
Two hours later.
“This should do it. While you are sluggish to learn, you still made quite a lot of progress. You want to train a bit longer or try the next of my ideas?” (I)
“Go ahead, sir.”
“Good. Try attacking some targets in melee and the rest destroy from range. All should be done simultaneously.” Three groups of targets appeared.
Bang Ba-Bang
While I was piercing the targets in the first group I fired a few shells at another group. The results were predictably bad but I am still surprised to see that only one shot hit the target.
Bu-bu-bu-bu-bum Bu-bu-bu-bu-bum
As I fired a number of shots I noticed that only the first few shots are flying almost where I aimed but the following shots stray quite a lot from the aim. I guess the longer I fire, the more recoil affects my shots.
“Can I have some time trying a certain something…?” The instructor nodded.
“Can anybody make me a huge, super armored target?” Meanwhile, the gun barrels lowered.
The B turret had a jamming which was immediately solved but the X turret had more serious issues with hydro-electric system and is now offline.
BO-BO-BO-BO-BO-BOOM
Instead of firing with delay I fired all shots in a fast broadside fashion. I was not amused to see that all of the shells flew in different directions. It is like if I hip-fired a fully automatic .50 machine gun.
“I guess we can try again that exercise.” The instructor nodded, even though he was quite dumbfounded.
After I applied my new knowledge, the results were better. Instead of firing rapidly, I fired single shots from cannons and short bursts from automatic weaponry.
“That should be it for today. I gave you some ideas of how to use your abilities. I hope one day you will remember me with a good word. If you want to train with the stiletto, find me. Farewell, Miss.” The instructor turned around and walked towards the sunset.
[Sunset…? Sunset… SUNSET?! I HAVE A MEETING SCHEDULED!]
Yay. Retrofit is available. What kind of retrofit should Delight have?
She can retrofit her hull and her weaponry. Neither of these retrofits is without cons. Consider carefully.
Hull: While rebuilding a 44000 t battlecruiser if impossible, she can have all of her electronics replaced with 1986 ones. It means that she will have less chances of having equipment malfunction. However, her age also will remind of itself. There are less experienced sailors to operate her steam engine, not to mention its old age and increasing number of breakdowns.
Hull 1986 retrofit:
Machinery reliability - from minimal 25% chance of breakdown -> to minimal 50% chance of breakdown.
Equipment reliability - from minimal 25% chance of breakdown -> to minimal 0% chance of breakdown.
Accuracy - +10 accuracy bonus (does not increase the stat itself).
Weaponry: This retrofit introduces a lot of significant changes. Consider with utmost attention. While the main and secondary guns are not affected in any way, the other weaponry is changed. Her Bofors L60 are replaced with Bofors L70. The 76 mm guns are replaced with BRTTTTT Mk 15 Phalanx. All of Oerlikon guns are removed, it means that Delight loses 10 independently firing gun mounts. The Phalanx are a bit overkill for her situation, also she loses a lot of flexibility of oerlikon guns, also she loses medium range AA gunfire of 76mm. Unlike BRTTTT, 76mm can fire at 10 km with ease, which is 8 km further than phalanx.
Another significant change is about her scouting aircraft. She loses both hydroplane catapults and has them replaced with helipad for Sea Lynx helicopter. The helipad is located right between her funnels and secondary tower and is a very, VERY dangerous to land on. The helicopters can search for submarines (does not exist in fantasy world), deliver troops (does not exist in fantasy world), carry ASM and ASW weaponry. Also, they are 2x slower than the hydroplanes which means they are worse at fire correction, and they can't land or be launched from the water (and with Delight's luck it is a disaster).
Aside from all of this, Delight has MM38 Exocet anti-ship missiles installed. No idea what they can be used against but there are 4 of them for each side.
Weaponry 1986 retrofit:
Main guns, secondary guns, deck machine guns - the same.
Medium AA - Bofors L70, 8 twin mounts. (16 guns)
Light AA - Mk 15 Phalanx, 4 mounts. (4x 6-barreled guns)
Anti-ship missiles - MM38 Exocet, 2 mounts. (2x quadruple missile containers)
Hydrolanes are replaced with helicopters. Catapults are replaced with helipad.
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No 1986 retrofit. Votes: 1 14.3%
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1986 Hull retrofit. Votes: 0 0.0%
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Full 1986 retrofit (Hull and weaponry). Votes: 6 85.7%
A warship that is proficient in close combat would be terrifying Warspite and Zuikaku for example and sword wielding shipfus need more spotlight also. She said it! Lilith said the thing! She did!!!!!
So, naginata wielding failure of a fighter was not enough?
so you're referring to this https://youtu.be/9hn3kWDafiQ
let's be honest the she being retrofitted or not will not make big difference like she now can send helicopters to send people and stuff and has missiles that can blow up buildings
Currently she has no helicopters and no missiles. Not to mention that neither of these things will actually happen.
@AFP_Writer why the helicopter can take off and land from the ground its no stretch to make than a useful short term couriers
@yokai1235 To take off the ground they need to first leave her helipad, which is conveniently located at a place where it is easy to crash. Not to mention her bad luck and constant malfunctions.
Also, the primary use of aircraft on Delight was to spot her targets, which will be a bit harder with the helicopters' slower speed.
@AFP_Writer what's the difference she barely was able to launch the planes and crashed the same one 2 times also helicopter can work as remote watch towers as they just need to be on delight for refilling so in a sense she can cover less ground but but can keep on Overwatch for alonger time wich in the corrent situation is more favorable
@yokai1235 As I said, the primary issue is that the helis have low chances of surviving long enough to be useful. They will either crash on take off, or on landing. Unlike the hydroplanes they cannot be operated right from the water.
Remote watch towers are a nice idea but there are only two helicopters which would not be enough to cover a large area, also they need to arrive to the area. The planes are less effective at spotting but they are twice as fast. The helicopters can be useful if I can find a situation for them, for now they are there because they are there, not because they have some importance for the plot, after all, the big guns are what D uses.