New armor and shipyards

[Caplin (OP)]

Hi all,
I am slightly puzzled by the function of the new armor button as far as existing ships are concerned.
When pressed, I understand that it changes the armor of a design to the newest variety available.
Does this happen instantly, for all ships of the design whereever located, or does it require a refit?
I ask because when I brought my missile cruisers back to Earth for the latter purpose the cost was listed as zero BP.
Thanks for any info.  
All the best,
Zack.

[welchbloke]

Hi all,
I am slightly puzzled by the function of the new armor button as far as existing ships are concerned.
When pressed, I understand that it changes the armor of a design to the newest variety available.
Does this happen instantly, for all ships of the design whereever located, or does it require a refit?
I ask because when I brought my missile cruisers back to Earth for the latter purpose the cost was listed as zero BP.
Thanks for any info.  
All the best,
Zack.

IIRC, you should copy the design then use the new armour button to create a new design with the new armour.  This is the class you should refit to; otherwise if you just change the armour on the existing design the change will be applied to all ships of that design and the requirement for a refit is avoided.

[sloanjh]

Hi all,
I am slightly puzzled by the function of the new armor button as far as existing ships are concerned.
When pressed, I understand that it changes the armor of a design to the newest variety available.
Does this happen instantly, for all ships of the design whereever located, or does it require a refit?
I ask because when I brought my missile cruisers back to Earth for the latter purpose the cost was listed as zero BP.
Thanks for any info.  
All the best,
Zack.

IIRC, you should copy the design then use the new armour button to create a new design with the new armour.  This is the class you should refit to; otherwise if you just change the armour on the existing design the change will be applied to all ships of that design and the requirement for a refit is avoided.

Plus, IIRC, there's no way to go back to the old armor if it was an "oops" moment.

John

[UnLimiTeD]

Why would anyone go back to old armor?

[Hawkeye]

Why would anyone go back to old armor?

As sloanjh said, if it was an "oops", i.e. you hit the button by accident, magicaly upgrading the 20 ships of an old design to the new armor.