Forty-eight torpedo boats become the interim denial force

Without submarines, the campaign substitutes a mass force of forty-eight torpedo boats. Each crude craft carries five four-inch guns and three launchers, but extreme pitch and roll, no useful deck armour, and a very small displacement make it dangerous for its own crew. Funding enough boats requires a temporary collapse in research spending, turning a cheap unit price into a major force-level budget choice. Sixteen are assigned to support Cattaro and the remainder are distributed for the Russian war, so numbers and basing are part of the design concept. This is a game solution rather than a model procurement plan, and the interim weapon consumes resources intended for the capability it replaces.