So, another test battle with Orks. Again, ordnance-heavy Tau as an opponent. [next tests will be against IN and SM, but at that moment, bomber hordes test orky defenses best.]
I used proposed changes, as in:
Torpedoes -> Short Burn Torpedoes
Gunz now not random
Torpedoes -> half random (D3+3 sort of thing)
Launch Bays -> random still.
Turrets -> Random
Heavy Gunz -> "Ork Heavy Gunz roll to hit like ordinary weapons batteries but do not count gunnery modifiers for range. If fired over 15cm Ork Heavy Gunz will only hit on a d6 roll of 6. Each hit scored by heavy gunz causes double damage, ie, two hits instead of one.
Also, Kills had AndrewChristlieb's profile. Terrors I've done similarilly. Ravagers had d3+2 torpedos. [d3+3 looked too strong, and, in a hindsight, would be. These guys were crazy powerful as it is.] I didn't use any other class this time.
Conclusions:
I won. With Orks. Against Tau. We're on to something here.
non-random batteries aren't too reliable or powerful in any way. I've done minimal damage with battery fire during the course of battle.
heavy guns with 30 range - these things were good. Hitting on 6 isn't that much of a hindrance. On lock-on, they could be deadly. Haven't had a single chance to use lock-on during this battle.
So yeah, batteries look fine now. Not too strong and at least I knew what to expect when firing them. Positive on this one.
Holyhell, torpedo escorts. With 40 range and guaranteed reasonable strength they were a scary sight. I'm not even sure if 40cm speed should stay. More on it after next battles.
Next thing - turrets. +1 turret upgrade still seems mandatory. We might as well make them d3+1 costing 5 points more. No reason not to take it.
Also... random turrets don't really work. It varies, with a single roll, from 'oh god, oh god, ship's dead' 2 turrets, to 'I can shrug off 8 strong bomber waves without bracing' 4 turrets. Really, that's how that looked to me. Depending on that one solitary roll, ships were either falling into pieces or coming out with just minimal damage.
Other thing - I've bought ram upgrade on every cruiser. I still think they should be mandatory to encourage ramming. And it was ramming and boarding that did the real damage. Just as orks should
Ok, so, what would i change... Turrets. They need greater strength, but on the other hand, not be completely deadly to small bomber waves. What would you guys think about making ork Kroozers 3 (or even 4) turrets standard, but hitting on 5+? Wall of fuire thing - they shoot so many shots bomber pilots need to dodge a lot and can't fire properly [less bomber attacks] but weak when it comes to hitting anything.
Also, I'd remove any turret number upgrades and just give them more turrets for higher cost. Orks need all the turrets they can gat, and there's no point in not taking them.