Ultimate Admiral Dreadnoughts: Campaign Fleet Design (Beginners’ Guide)

This guide is to help new players who are struggling with the campaign. It is written as of patch 1.02 live.

It will help you to beat the campaign as easily and efficiently as possible, making use of the power projection feature.

If you already find the campaign easy to beat then you won’t want to read any further.

Because this method makes the campaign super easy to beat I do not recommend playing in this way long term, this is just to help new players to understand the campaign mechanics.

Once you understand the mechanics you can then play in whatever way you find most enjoyable.

Power projection plays a huge role in the campaign. It is the quickest path to submitting your opponent.

If you have high enough power projection you will blockade the enemy.

Blockading the enemy ruins their economy and causes unrest in their country which can lead to a victory via revolution. It also impacts their naval prestige which is another route to victory.

All in all blockades are incredibly powerful and are achieved/denied through power projection.

You can win a war without firing a single shell through intimidation tactics, causing their populace to surrender.

The most effective philosophy I have found in terms of designing ships to win the campaigns as easily and efficiently as possible is-

Build 1 class of ship that’s sole purpose is power projection. You can make this ship fairly capable of providing some support in a combat role but it is not designed for combat and so it will only provide support at best and will not be suitable fighting a battle alone.

Build 2 classes of ships that are designed for decisive combat victories. Each ship class will perform a different role. 1 will be designed to gun down CA and smaller ships. The other will be to torpedo BC and BB, or finish off crippled CA and CL.

Power projection ship class

This ship needs to be as cheap as possible, with as high tonnage and range as possible.

The 3 major factors that contribute to a high cost are-
Speed
Armour quality
Certain components

Because this ship is not designed for combat you will be setting it’s speed and armour quality to the lowest possible setting, and you will not be adding any components that are very costly or reduce the weight of the ship.

Components that you don’t want are-
Fuel
engine
High tech auxiliary
Torpedo/bottom hull/flooding
Citadel
Armour quality

Components that are OK to use are-
Boilers
Propeller shaft
Steering
Barbettes
Reinforced hull
Reloading

Because you may still want this ship to play a supporting role in combat you will want it to have good long range weaponry (biggest guns) and good accuracy (best towers).

The remainder of your tonnage will be spent on armour. Because you have chosen the cheapest armour quality this has made the armour the best value per tonnage, making it the best way to make a really high power projection ship whilst keeping it’s cost relatively low.

Always try to avoid combat if this is the only class in the fight. If you do have to fight and you lose this ship then don’t worry, they are very cheap and you will have plenty more to play with.

Combat ships

These ships can be made as lavishly expensive as you like as you will have saved plenty of cash on your power projection ship class.

Type 1 gunnery class

These ships need to be agile as they will be performing screening duties and so will need to dodge torpedoes whilst gunning down the small ships.

The hulls that I have found to perform this role the best are the armoured cruiser 3, the heavy cruiser 1 and the large cruiser depending on which era you are in.

These ships need a good mix of speed, maneuverability, armour and guns/accuracy.

Below i will show my loadouts for all of these ships.

Type 2 Torpedo class

Their primary purpose is to take out the enemy battleships, but they are also useful to get the enemy to spend their torpedoes trying to shoot them as they make their advance.

These ships need no guns as they will not be in the fight for long. They will dart in, fire off all of their torpedoes and then beat a hasty retreat before they are sunk.

These ships need only 3 things, extremely high speed, exceptional maneuverability and 3 sets of torpedoes facing in 3 different directions so they don’t all fire at once.

Place the 2 Rear torpedo tubes side by side and tucked close up behind either the rear tower or funnel so that they can’t shoot forward. The 3rd torpedo tube will be placed at the front of the ship so it can fire forward.

You will fire the front facing torpedo first, preferably around 500m, this will likely miss unless the target is crossing your T.

You will then turn full rudder in the same direction that the target ship is evading until that side tube fires. This one will likely hit the mark.

As soon as your second torpedo fires you will then turn full rudder to the opposite direction to fire off the other side. If timed correctly this will likely hit the enemy in the rudder.

As soon as all 3 torpedoes are fired your job is complete and it’s time to flee.

If you have more torpedo class ships in the battle you will now perform the same routine with the next one.

If you don’t then you will finish off the crippled ship with your gunnery ship class.

1890

PP

Battleship 1 $334/1t
Lowest displacement
Lowest speed
Highest range
Fewest bulkheads
Spacious quarters
Best towers
Smallest funnel
Biggest guns in every placement
Enhanced reloading
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Remaining tonnage on armour

Combat

Torpedo boat  $1170/1t
27.1kn speed
Lowest range
Maximum bulkheads
Cramped quarters
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Standard torp ammo
2 torp tubes side by side
2″ gun

Build 10 BB and 49 TB

1900

PP

Battleship 3 $401/1t
Highest displacement
Lowest speed
Highest range
Fewest bulkheads
Spacious quarters
Best towers
Smallest funnel
Biggest guns in every placement
Hydraulic steering
Enhanced reloading
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Remaining tonnage on armour

Combat

Armoured cruiser 3 $525/1t
Highest displacement
23kn speed
Lowest range
Maximum bulkheads
Standard quarters
Best propulsion components
Best armour/barbette/bulkhead/citadel
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Advanced turrets
Enhanced reloading
Biggest torpedoes
Best rangefinder
12/6/6 belt
0.9/0.9/0.9 Deck
9.8 conning
14/7 turret
2×2 11″ guns
8×1 3″ guns
14×1 2″ guns

Destroyer 1 $1278/1t
37kn speed
Shortest range
Maximum bulkheads
Cramped quarters
Worst towers
Smallest funnel
Best propulsion
Best armour
Standard torp ammo
1.5/1.5/1.5 Belt
3 torp tubes, 1 facing forward, 2 side by side
2x 2″ guns

Build 17 BB and 21 CA
OR
17 BB, 15 CA and 47 DD

1910

PP

Dreadnought 1 $499/1t
Highest displacement
Lowest speed
Highest range
Fewest bulkheads
Spacious quarters
Best towers
Smallest funnel
Induced boilers
Auxiliary 2 engine
Shaft 1
Electro-hydraulic steering
Barbette 3
Reinforced bulk 1
Advanced hydraulic turrets
Enhanced reloading
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Best rangefinder and acoustics
12/6/6 belt
1.2/0.9/0.9 Deck
14.6″ Conning
1.6″ Superstructure
14/7 turret
4×2 12″ guns
2×2 8″ guns
6×1 3″ guns
10×1 2″ guns
4 torp tubes

Combat

Armoured cruiser 3 $887/1t
Highest displacement
26.7kn speed
Lowest range
Maximum bulkheads
Standard quarters
Best propulsion components
Best armour/barbette/bulkhead/citadel
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Advanced turrets
Enhanced reloading
Biggest torpedoes
Best rangefinder/acoustics
12/6/6 belt
1.6/1.6/1.6 Deck
12″ conning
1.3″ superstructure
14/7 turret
2×2 11″ guns
8×1 5″ guns
10×1 4″ guns
2×1 3″ guns
2×2 2″ guns
4 torp tubes

Destroyer 2 $4731/1t
44.5kn speed
Shortest range
Maximum bulkheads
Cramped quarters
Worst towers
Smallest funnel
Best propulsion
Best armour
Reduced torp ammo
Best acoustucs
1.5/1.5/1.5 Belt
3×2 torp tubes, 1 facing forward, 2 side by side
1x 2″ gun

Build 25 BB and 32 CA
OR
25 BB, 22 CA and 20 DD

1920

PP

Dreadnought 2 $686/1t
Highest displacement
Lowest speed
Highest range
Fewest bulkheads
Spacious quarters
Worst front tower (because of size)
Best rear tower
Smallest funnel
Balanced boilers
Steam turbines (for smoke interference)
Auxiliary 3 engine (luxury item)
Shaft 2
Electro-hydraulic steering
Barbette 4
Reinforced bulk 2
Advanced hydraulic turrets
Semi auto reloading
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Best rangefinder and acoustics
14/7/7 belt
2/2/2 Deck
16.8″ Conning
1.6″ Superstructure
16/8 turret
4×3 14″ guns
4 torp tubes

Combat

Heavy cruiser 1 $2006/1t
Highest displacement
30kn speed
Lowest range
Maximum bulkheads
Standard quarters
Best propulsion components
Forced boilers
Best armour/bulkheads/citadel
Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Advanced turrets
Semi auto reloading
Biggest torpedoes
Best rangefinder/acoustics
12/6/6 belt
2/1.6/1.5 Deck
15″ conning
1.6″ superstructure
14/7 turret
4×2 11″ guns
10×3 5″ guns
4 torp tubes
This ships stats seem absurd with such high pitch/roll but trust me it works a treat.

Destroyer 3 $7415/1t
46.2kn speed
Smallest displacement
Shortest range
Maximum bulkheads
Cramped quarters
Worst towers
Smallest funnel
Forced boilers
Best propulsion
Best armour
Reduced torp ammo
Best acoustics
1.5/1.5/1.5 Belt
3×4 torp tubes, 1 facing forward, 2 side by side
1x 2″ gun

Build 20 BB and 22 CA
OR
20 BB, 18 CA and 10 DD

1930

PP

Modernised Dreadnought $1265/1t
Highest displacement
Lowest speed
Highest range
Fewest bulkheads
Spacious quarters
Best towers
Smallest funnel
Oil 2
Balanced boilers
Auto reloading
Super Heavy shells
Standard ammo
Best rangefinder
Electric torps
18/9/9 belt
1.6/1.6/1.6 Deck
23.9″ Conning
1.6″ Superstructure
20/10 turret
4×3 15″ guns
4×3 deck torp tubes
4 underwater torps

Combat

Heavy cruiser 1 $2833/1t
Highest displacement
30kn speed
Lowest range
Maximum bulkheads
Standard quarters
Best propulsion components
Oil 1
Forced boilers
Best armour/bulkheads/citadel
Super Heavy shells
Standard ammo
Auto reloading
Biggest torpedoes
Electric torps
Best rangefinder/acoustics/radar
12/6/6 belt
1.4/1.4/1.4 Deck
13.5″ conning
1.4″ superstructure
12/6 turret
4×3 11″ guns
4×3 5″ guns
4 torp tubes
9″ guns are a good alternative If you want to keep a longer distance engagement

Destroyer 3 $13702/1t
48.2kn speed
Smallest displacement
Shortest range
Maximum bulkheads
Cramped quarters
Worst towers
Smallest funnel
Forced boilers
Best propulsion
Best armour
Reduced torp ammo
Fast torpedoes
Best acoustics
21″ torp size
1.5/1.5/1.5 Belt
3×4 torp tubes, 1 facing forward, 2 side by side
1x 2″ gun

Build 15 BB and 19 CA
OR
15 BB, 14 CA and 10 DD

1940

PP

Modern battleship 1 $1291/1t
Highest displacement
Lowest speed
Highest range
Fewest bulkheads
Standard quarters
Best towers
Smallest funnel
Balanced boilers
Auto reloading
Super Heavy shells
Standard ammo
Best rangefinder
Oxygen torps
18/9/8.3 belt
3/3/3 Deck
20.5″ Conning
3″ Superstructure
20.3/10 turret
4×3 18″ guns
10 underwater torps

Combat

Large cruiser $3267/1t
Highest displacement
35kn speed
Lowest range
Maximum bulkheads
Standard quarters
Best propulsion components
Oil 1
Balanced boilers
Gas turbines 2
Best armour/bulkheads/citadel
Super Heavy shells
Increased ammo
Advanced turrets
Auto reloading
Biggest torpedoes
Oxygen torps
Best rangefinder/acoustics/radar
14/7.4/7 belt
4.1/1.6/1.6 Deck
16.3″ conning
1.6″ superstructure
16/8 turret
4×3 12″ guns
6×3 6″ guns
4 torp tubes

Destroyer 3 $9080/1t
48.2kn speed
Smallest displacement
Shortest range
Maximum bulkheads
Cramped quarters
Worst towers
Smallest funnel
Forced boilers
Best propulsion
Best armour
Reduced torp ammo
Fast torpedoes
Best acoustics
21″ torp size
1.5/1.5/1.5 Belt
3×4 torp tubes, 1 facing forward, 2 side by side
1x 2″ gun

Build 16 BB and 13 BC
OR
16 BB, 11 BC and 21 DD