There are twelve individual technologies. Each has a level that is set when a campaign is created. They can increase throughout a campaign through investment in technology.
This investment does not automatically produce technology breakthroughs, but it makes them more likely. The greater the investment, and the higher the priority accorded to technology areas, the more likely it is that breakthroughs, small or large, will occur. Remember that scientific advancement is not pre-ordained and advances will come somewhat unpredictably.
This is a combination of all the technologies associated with fire control of naval guns using optical instruments, and includes improvements in ballistics that relate to improved fire dispersal.
The higher the value, the greater the chance of scoring main gun hits at all ranges, in all weather conditions.
This value represents essentially the ballistic performance of main calibre guns in terms of armour penetration. It reflects a number of variables, including shell velocity and weight. (This is simplified into a single value; in reality, guns varied considerably in terms of their penetration capability against vertical as compared to horizontal armour.) The higher the value, the better the overall penetration capability.
In reality, there were significant differences between different countries and even within a country, between different gun calibres, in terms of ballistic performance. For example, British guns had relatively poor ballistic performance generally, due in large part to conservative decisions regarding lower velocities (to preserve barrel life) and only moderate shell weights. US practice, which resulted in outstanding ballistic performance for their 16 inch guns, relied on very heavy shells and good though not exceptional velocity. European (French, German and Italian) practice preferred high velocity and relatively light shells.
This value indicates the capability of radar, both for long range enemy searching and shorter range fire control.
This value indicates the efficiency of face-hardened armour plate. In real life, significant differences existed between countries in terms of armour quality. Best by a considerable margin was Britain, with their face-hardened armour up to 20% better than US ‘A’ class armour; worst was probably Italy, which had difficulty producing single armour plates of sufficient thickness and had to rely on sandwiched layers of steel and wood.
The higher the value, the greater the protective value of armour for a given thickness.
This is a simplified value representing the efficiency (speed, range and explosive power) of torpedoes, whether launched by surface ships or submarines. As this value increases, so does the range, speed and power of your torpedoes.
In WW2, big variations in torpedo technology existed. At the head of the pack by a long way was Japan, whose "Long Lance" oxygen-enriched torpedoes simply far outclassed any other navy’s torpedoes in terms of speed, range and power. They were a true "secret weapon" for the Japanese in the early years of the War. Some countries, eg US and Germany, had surprising problems with their torpedoes, such as in the reliability of the magnetic detonators. Britain had relatively good all-round capability and reliability, but were well behind the Japanese.
Although all navies used steam turbine machinery almost exclusively, especially for the faster naval vessels, the efficiency of the machinery and propulsion systems varied considerably.
The US and France had the best technology – relatively high pressures and temperatures and good gearing systems. Germany had high pressure and temperature systems but surprisingly poor reliability. British ships were generally rather poor steamers, due to a combination of conservative machinery design and single reduction gearing.
The better the value, the better the range your ships will have for the same amount of fuel.
This value represents design and ship building efficiency, i.e. the ability to minimise wasted tonnage: the higher the value, the lower the required total tonnage for a ship of given characteristics.
Various factors are included here, notably excellence in welding, use of aluminium and other weight-saving techniques, as well as good ship design.
This value represents the sum of various ASW technologies – sonar, ASDIC, hedgehog and other depth charge weapons, ASW tactics and so on. The higher the value the more effective your escorts will be in repelling and damaging enemy submarines when they attack.
This value represents the effectiveness of your attacking submarine doctrine. The higher the value, the more your submarines can act in concert and the more effective they will be when attacking.
Germany pioneered the so-called wolf-pack tactics and attained probably the high-water mark of coordinated submarine offensive tactical doctrine.
All navies started the war with similar technology for submarine propulsion underwater, but developments during the war, mainly by Germany, featured more efficient batteries, the so-called Schnorkel (allowing running under diesel power while submerged at schnorkel depth) and the Walter closed cycle hydrogen peroxide engine.
The higher the number, the more effective your submarines will be when attacking and also evading attack underwater, due to increased speeds and/or range underwater.
All navies started the war with low or non-existent experience or doctrine in conducting amphibious operations, and with very little in the way of purpose-built designs for small craft designed to effectively deliver assaulting troops between their transports and the beachhead.
As the level increases, the chances of your troops making effective amphibious assaults increases significantly.
This represents all the relevant technologies used in WW2 aircraft design - chiefly engine (including jet engine), airframe and weapon systems.
As an exception to the other technologies, this one is measured not by a number in the 1.0 to 10.0 range but by a value representing a number of months bonus in design attainment. For example, if the bonus is shown as 11 months, this means that all aircraft available in SAS for that country are now available 11 months earlier than the date of their historical availability.