The Naval Philosophies of The Great Powers

Leviathans came to prominence in the late 19th century. Starting with the obsession of Frances Rychnowski, there was a race between the Great Powers of Europe and abroad to develop the technology that would become known as “electroid” into something useful for warfare. It was a time of mad science and madder invention as each attempted to weaponize the substance.

As electroid was discovered to provide lift, several programs formed and there was convergent evolution in the Great Powers; it was time to take their guns to the sky. Soon enough, warships sailed on aerial currents, and threatened all that were below.

But in this time, each nation found itself reviewing its philosophy of leviathan warfare, and it is here where their differences truly shine.

British Empire

The British crown truly took to the philosophy of “bigger is better.” Their ships tend to carry large guns, larger than most other nations would even consider, in order to bring heavy firepower to bear on their foes at range. The HML Leviathan is the first of their ships to carry the truly terrifying 12” cannon, something only previously seen on ground and sea naval forces.

With the vast amount of territory the British Empire controls, it was inevitable that a fleet of leviathans would be built to first supplement, then nominally surpass the legendary British Navy. The sheer speed and lack of real operational boundaries of leviathans over navy vessels have made them staples of the British colonial presence, from Canada in North America, to sub-Saharan Africa, to the Indian subcontinent.

French Republic

The Republic managed to gain access to electroid technology early, and would quickly iterate on it. In many ways, the French would develop this tech faster than their other technologies could keep up. To counter this, the Republic would look back to the philosophy of their most famous general and take it to heart, “God is on the side with the best artillery.”

The French sky fleet relies on grand batteries of smaller guns, all working in tandem to conquer their foes. This has led to the fleet gaining a reputation for disciplined bracketing fire and talented naval gun crews. It is truly terrifying to witness the fusillade of withering fire that a French leviathan can project, and it is often supplemented by astonishingly accurate, and deadly, torpedoes.

German Empire

Dogged determination and rugged strength dominate the German warrior ethos, and this is readily reflected in its leviathan design philosophy. Reaching back into what had built Prussia, and had eventually united the German states into a unified empire, they have turned to precision design and armor enough to weather any storm of fire.

The German sky fleet could be best represented by the Greif-class cruiser. Bulkier than most cruisers, the Greif is heavily-armored, slow, and decently well-gunned. It traditionally adds its weight of armor to the battle line, as it follows the advance of the other heavy ships like the Kaiser. This slow advance of steel has given the German fleet a reputation of fearsome stoicism, nicely complementing the Prussian warrior spirit at the core of their military.

Russian Empire

Being the first of the Great Powers to take to the sky, but quickly falling behind technologically, the Russian Empire has made up the difference with the legendary skills possessed by its airmen. With the Battle of Tsushima in living memory, the Tsardom has redoubled its training efforts for its crews, and hopes to push their technology before it is too late.

The development of the Russian sky fleet has largely turned to its crews’ experience to produce outcomes greater than the sum of its parts. It cannot be overstated how much the human element plays into the Empire’s success on the field. The Aleksandr-class battleship is a product of this philosophy. Taking only a few design queues from the other Powers, the Aleksandr would be utterly alien to foreign crews should one be captured. And for this, these crews are revered.

Kingdom of Italy

Due to Italy’s late unification and industrialization efforts, it could not afford to invest in leviathan technology as early as the other European powers. With their low resource availability, and their nascent status as a Great Power under threat, the Italians were careful with electroid, and thus developed a wholly unique naval structure. One based on speed and tactical positioning.

Following a tried and true maxim of rapid response, the Kingdom of Italy has prioritized the development of their engine technologies and torpedoes to effectively act as force multipliers for their sky fleet. To be the first to a battlefield is their goal. And if they aren’t first, more of their fleet will quickly be there to reinforce. The Cesare-class is their most recent development, and is a knife-fighting, hit-and-run battleship, prioritizing rapid strikes to cripple its foes early.

You can find out so much more about the history and naval philosophies for each one of the Great Powers, as well as snippets around popular minor powers like the Japanese Empire and The United States in the Leviathans: The Great War: Core Rulebook, found here!

See you in the skies, admirals!

- Meical Kingfisher