The counterfactual design begins with an 80,000-ton hull, sixteen 16.5-inch guns, and a proposed speed of 30 knots. A joke about having no real logisticians to support the armament keeps the game exercise separate from actual procurement. Even this displacement does not remove naval-architecture constraints: the first arrangement produces severe pitch and consumes weight before protection and endurance are settled. The design would make more sense against human opponents than the game's artificial intelligence, which changes the value of its extreme features. An apparently unlimited specification quickly becomes an interconnected design problem.
Chapter · 45:08-52:54
Setting the requirements for an 80,000-ton counterfactual battleship
The exercise begins with an 80,000-ton hull, sixteen 16.5-inch guns, and 30 knots, then exposes the constraints hidden inside that extreme specification.