The counterfactual becomes more complicated when the ships' equipment is separated from their game statistics. Thunderer's STAAG mountings and Vanguard-style 5.25-inch guns would give British engineers unexpectedly advanced anti-aircraft equipment in 1939. Its in-game accuracy, concealment and survivability raise a different question about how much of the game's balancing should carry into the scenario. Clarke objects that its vulnerability does not match his expectation of a progression from King George V and Lion, which he associates with heavy armour and close subdivision. A ship appearing exactly as represented in the game could therefore differ from one that its supposed national designers would actually have built.
Notable Point · 4:58:45-5:02:42
Why game statistics cannot be read as warship engineering
Thunderer's advanced anti-aircraft equipment offers concrete technology to examine, while its game-balanced survivability conflicts with the expected British design approach.