The Viribus Unitis class was the only class of dreadnought battleships constructed by the waning Austro-Hungarian Empire. While they were a bit late to the race, they were very interesting in that they mounted an advanced superfiring 12x12" gun arrangement, in four triple turrets. This allows for a couple of very nice gun configurations for our hobby, and good firepower on a very small and maneuverable platform.

or with the "Death Y" configuration of two haymakers and a bow gun.

Given the current sidemount heavy meta, the Death Y is probably the most effective overall, but it does throw away the benefits of a stern gun. Triple bow or stern gun options are also available, but personally, I don't find them interesting.

At 28 seconds, the Viribus Unitis is in the slowest class of dreadnoughts. She won't be catching anything, nor will she be running away. However, she does get some points for acceleration, being a short, tubby boat with four shafts.

Four shafts and twin rudders on a nice, chubby hull make for excellenet manueverability. There are very few ships that will handle better than a well built VU.

The VU is a very small battleship, with plenty of casemate guns, and moderate to low freeboard. A well handled VU is very hard to hit.

Given it's excellent firepower for its size, great maneuverability and small target area, the Viribus Unitis class makes for an excellent ship for a beginning battler. The only difficulty a beginning battler might encounter is stuffing the required equipment in a fairly small hull, but that shouldn't be a big deal with today's equipment and especially batteries. On the other hand, more skilled battlers will encounter frustration with her lack of speed to pursue moving engagements.

The Viribus Unitis, and her sisters are excellent ships, both for beginners, and for more experienced battlers who are looking for light, easy fun and aren't really concerned with dominating the pond.

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