However, there are some other pieces I would really rather NOT change. Like the Bismarck class battleships for Germany. The Germans really didn’t have another battleship class that could compare to the Bismarck class. The Scharnhorst and Gniesenau were good ships, but they were actually battlecruisers and not true battleships. The Graf Spee was a Deutshland (excuse my spelling) class Pocket Battleship and much smaller than the Bismarck class. It had good armament and speed but lacked the armor protection of a true battleship so if you wanted to be realistic in the game, that would eliminate the “two hit” rule for German battleships. The Bismarck class was the best that Germany had to offer in the way of battleships and that is what we should have.
The same goes for the Yamato Class battleships for Japan. They were the biggest and most powerful battleships built by Japan so that is what we should have in our fleets. I remember Imperious Leader mentioned wanting to see the Kongo class (which was actually a battlecruiser, not a battleship). The Kongo class were very much outclassed by US battleships, even the older models. Why would you want an inferior class of ship to represent your battleships for Japan? Also, the Iowa class should remain the US Battleship for the same reason, they were the best and most powerful battleships put out by the US Navy.
As far as not replicating pieces, it is the advantage to avoid this because you effectively doubled the inventory of units and can design many games or use many new house rules.
The Bismarck was a one off warship. Scharnhorst is a much better candidate because it was probably the main iconic ship during the war for Germany. Graf Spee should be the cruiser for the new pieces. battlecruiser or battleship argument is immaterial. The Hood was England’s flagship and it was a battlecruiser.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Scharnhorst
“The German navy always classified Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as Schlachtschiffe (battleships)”
The Yamato is not an iconic japanese battleship. Japan was fond of having “pagota” style battleships of which Kongo or Mutsu was quintessential. Also, almost all of her battleships looked like the Kongo. ONLY TWO ships are Yamato class.
The goal is to represent the main iconic ships that served. Most of the work in terms of IJN Battleships were the Pagota style ships, so it makes more sence to make them in a game.
Also, both Yamato and Bismarck were not even available till 1941. All the choices i mention started the war.
If you just want the biggest or best ships represented then have Germany only get King Tiger tanks and ME-262 for fighters, and H class battleships ( DKM Friederich Der Grosse for example).
Then you got a bunch of ‘one-offs’, like Bismarck and Yamato.
