R/C Naval Combat

Hey folks,

What do you think the unwritten, all-powerful, governing rules are for this hobby? Please note, I'm asking what they are, not what they should be.

Be sure to specify which club and ruleset they're for, as there may be differences between the individual clubs and the different formats.

I'm sure somebody could go through the forums & find plenty of instances where somebody said that you either "have to" or "can't" do something a certain way. From these, a set of the immutable, unwritten laws could be derived, including plenty of corollaries, I'm sure. Maybe even look for cases where somebody has made an assumption that isn't necessarily true.

This could be an interesting thought exercise, & I hope there are plenty of replies. My candidates are in another thread, mostly technical, & I'll leave this one for others.

JM

I think that each individual has their own "immutable rules". For instance, the folks who founded Big Gun combat didn't care about reversing so they didn't mention it in their rulebook, but there are now major restrictions in several clubs. I've also heard objections about bumping and other non-damaging physical violence, reloading torpedoes on shore, appearances of ships, and a whole host of other stuff. It all depends on who you talk to.

First immutable rule: Safety is not an optional extra.
Second immutable rule: Cheats will eventually be caught.
Third immutable rule: You will be sunk.
Fourth immutable rule: No matter how well it worked on the test bench, it will go wrong at the pond.

quote:

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Originally posted by Darren Scott

First immutable rule: Safety is not an optional extra.
Second immutable rule: Cheats will eventually be caught.
Third immutable rule: You will be sunk.
Fourth immutable rule: No matter how well it worked on the test bench, it will go wrong at the pond.

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That sums it up.

Gloss on #3. So you might as well learn to like it.

[;)]

I would say once rule 4 kicks in then rule 3 is a certainty. Or in the spirit of the upcoming season." Tis better to sink than to be sunk."

Honestly, this could be a pretty good thought exercise. The basis for "outside the box thinking" is to first define the boundaries of the "box". Here's one that I'm sure many will recognize:

"You can't build bigger than (varies) scale."

JM

Personally I think that there are no "immutable rules" for the entire hobby. I believe that each individual has their own "immutable rules" of what the hobby should be like. I also think that much of the technophobia you and I have heard is due to fears of becoming dreadnoughted. They don't want all of their hard work made useless in mere months by a technogeek who builds ships better than they can.

Some of them are good, some of them not, and some are pure misconceptions. I don't agree with all of them, I also don't disagree with all of them. Here are a few examples of "immutable rules" that I have seen or heard:

*damage should always be clean holes. Anything that can potentially cause large chunks is too powerful.
*torpedoes should be fired from a foot or more away.
*the use of reverse in combat is not scale, therefore not acceptable.
*Everything should be penetrable and sinkable.
*combat ships may have cannons that really fire bbs.
*every ship should meet some minimum standard of detail.
*Age of Sail is impossible
*1/72 scale battleships are impossible
*submarines and destroyers are impossible
*ships should be based on a historical counterpart
*ship capabilities should be based on a historical counterpart
*you can remove weeds if you make it back to shore
*you can fix anything except battle damage if you make it back to port
*no individual can claim credit for sinking a ship
*ships only sink due to enemy action
*Arming every gun over 3" in a large battleship is impossible
*computer automation of systems, such as fire control or damage control, is unfair

If I had to list any all-powerful governing rules for the entire hobby (fast gun, big gun, Queens Own, Battlestations, Treaty, etc) they would be:

1) Operate a remotely controlled ship-shaped object (semi-scale only applies to historical ships, not all clubs may follow this)
2) Arm the ship-shaped object with one or more onboard projectile-launching cannons (blank-fire and IR lazer tag don't cut it for me)
3) Ship-shaped object must be damageable and sinkable (and hopefully recoverable and repairable too)
4) Must compete against other ship-shaped objects that meet all other points (can't call it combat without an opponent)
5) Must take all reasonable safety precautions to protect humans, ship-shaped objects, and venue (including owner, site, and local flora and fauna) from physical harm and legal liability.

Anything else is simply to narrow down the competition to ship-shaped objects of interest to participants and to make the hobby/sport practical, fair, and fun.

When your not on water, guns are pinned and CO2 system depressurized, before glasses come off anywhere (Watch your minors).

Never endanger another, if you can avoid it you better do it, no reason anyone should ever get HIT.

Friendly fire - isn't
Incoming Fire has the right of way
No matter what you have planned for or done to prevent it
the one simple thing you didn't prepare for will be your
undoing.

i think that about covers it all Bryan.