Anthracite Coal

[Delta Force]

I am considering having a few of my ships run on anthracite coal to reduce their smoke production and thus how easy they are to spot over the horizon. Confederate ships used it during the Civil War to try to avoid the Union blockade. How would the increased cost and rarity of anthracite (at least for naval uses) be handled in game?

[ctwaterman]

As I understand the question I really dont know....

I know Anthracite is better for the Clinkers and for keeping the greates clean which means you have to blow the stacks clean less often.  I really had not thought that they gave less of a smoke plume.   

In this time period Anthracite is found in large quantities in 2 locations...

The Coal fields of Wales and West Virgian and Western PA.....

Honestly it might mean that the smoke plume from a ship is only visible at 37miles instead of 40....  On the other hand U-Boats used to say you could see the sparks from Coal Fired ship for over 50 miles at night.

[miketr]

In my opinion its a level of detail beyond the scope of the game.  We are making a point to NOT track iron, nickel, coal, etc deposits let alone sub types of coal.

Coal fired ships are much easier to track than oil fired ships.  That is that and avoiding detection wouldn't be the primary motivation anyways for different coal types.  It would be better burning and more energy / heat per ton of coal.

Michael