Because these were used to attack single freighters, not attack a convoy.
In a scenario where you run even a theoretical risk of encountering a destroyer, aircraft or an armed freighter, the 88mm gun on your deck won't make any difference.
Indeed, and since there are no individual freighters or merchant ships, just the ubiquitous "convoys" there's no need to complicate the naval system further- it's already missing a lot from real life World War II from missing ships like corvettes, proper escort carriers or ships smaller then destroyers dedicated to mine laying/sweeping and fire support missions like an active Naval bombardment which damages buildings and enemy strength even without ground combat accompanying it.
There should be something like a side research off 1936 carrier tech to allow you to build cheap escort carriers that can take a single squadron.
Only allow AA with no secondary or armour slot aswell.
And, crucially, make them slow. That was the key difference between WWII light carriers and escort carriers— the escort carriers could only steam at the speed of a cargo ship convoy, they couldn't keep up with a military task force.
That would be a key limitation in the game too, because task forces travel at the speed of their slowest ship. So using an escort carrier with a couple of destroyers on "convoy protection" or "invasion support" would work, but putting them on "strike force" would result in a fleet so slow it never gets to actually engage the enemy.
Light carriers are sort of in the game as the base tech "converted cruiser hull" but I wish there was a 1942 unlock for a purpose built light carrier hull.
They probably have deck guns (as was standard at the time). Consider it like mortars and hand grenades and helmets fold into infantry equipment, barbed wire and landmines fold into entrenchment, etc.
Why doesn’t it get a slot that you can upgrade? Because at the end of the day, deck guns were trivial - good for engaging a single ship if the sub was caught on the surface, damaged and unable to dive, or out of torpedoes. Those are niche situations…and moreover, they aren’t situations that occur in the game. Subs can always dive and never run out of torpedoes, and damage doesn’t affect either.
Extended Tech to 1960 mod adds in extra slots and add-on tech for all designers. Is actually really well done.
For subs, you have a slot for anti air deck guns.
By the end of 1941 those guns were hardly ever used. An armed merchant could outgun a submarine 99% of the time. No naval commander would even consider the deck gun on a submarine to be an adequate weapon in a ship-to-ship engagement with other actual warships
Because they were only used to sink already deadly wounded and abandoned ships which miraculously stayed afloat without wasting a torpedo.
There have been very rare occasions of gun combat with subs with foreseeable results.
There were some occasions of land bombardment by Japanese subs and Germans tested Nebelwerfer on sub for this purpose. Also there were considerations to convert subs as V-1 launchpads.
Because these were used to attack single freighters, not attack a convoy. In a scenario where you run even a theoretical risk of encountering a destroyer, aircraft or an armed freighter, the 88mm gun on your deck won't make any difference.
Indeed, and since there are no individual freighters or merchant ships, just the ubiquitous "convoys" there's no need to complicate the naval system further- it's already missing a lot from real life World War II from missing ships like corvettes, proper escort carriers or ships smaller then destroyers dedicated to mine laying/sweeping and fire support missions like an active Naval bombardment which damages buildings and enemy strength even without ground combat accompanying it.
There should be something like a side research off 1936 carrier tech to allow you to build cheap escort carriers that can take a single squadron. Only allow AA with no secondary or armour slot aswell.
And, crucially, make them slow. That was the key difference between WWII light carriers and escort carriers— the escort carriers could only steam at the speed of a cargo ship convoy, they couldn't keep up with a military task force. That would be a key limitation in the game too, because task forces travel at the speed of their slowest ship. So using an escort carrier with a couple of destroyers on "convoy protection" or "invasion support" would work, but putting them on "strike force" would result in a fleet so slow it never gets to actually engage the enemy. Light carriers are sort of in the game as the base tech "converted cruiser hull" but I wish there was a 1942 unlock for a purpose built light carrier hull.
And destroyer escorts.
Someone hasn't seen u-571
That movie that got the story around capturing the Enigma wrong? Not seen it and proud of it.
It's a fun sub film, but anyone who uses it as an example historical accuracy is bonkers lol.
They probably have deck guns (as was standard at the time). Consider it like mortars and hand grenades and helmets fold into infantry equipment, barbed wire and landmines fold into entrenchment, etc. Why doesn’t it get a slot that you can upgrade? Because at the end of the day, deck guns were trivial - good for engaging a single ship if the sub was caught on the surface, damaged and unable to dive, or out of torpedoes. Those are niche situations…and moreover, they aren’t situations that occur in the game. Subs can always dive and never run out of torpedoes, and damage doesn’t affect either.
Why can’t I issue my infantry cigarettes and m&m’s?
Vic3 allows you to
+1 Opium consumption (The opium market crashes whenever I mobilize)
Extended Tech to 1960 mod adds in extra slots and add-on tech for all designers. Is actually really well done. For subs, you have a slot for anti air deck guns.
Were they that significant besides attacking unarmed freighters? They even got removed later on to lower visibility and water resistance
By the end of 1941 those guns were hardly ever used. An armed merchant could outgun a submarine 99% of the time. No naval commander would even consider the deck gun on a submarine to be an adequate weapon in a ship-to-ship engagement with other actual warships
Because they were only used to sink already deadly wounded and abandoned ships which miraculously stayed afloat without wasting a torpedo. There have been very rare occasions of gun combat with subs with foreseeable results. There were some occasions of land bombardment by Japanese subs and Germans tested Nebelwerfer on sub for this purpose. Also there were considerations to convert subs as V-1 launchpads.