Infuriating ships!!!

im not sure but on previous total wars the little radius that went round ships and fleets used to mean something, like a ship cant come into your radius without you being allowed to fight it. why have they changed this and made it so ships can slip by you so easily!!! it is so damn infuriating it is beyond belief, am doing a satsuma campaign on legendary and was hoping to go republic once i was prepared, its like the computer read my mind and thought it would give me a taste, from nowhere over the course of a few turns eleven clans declared war on me ( about turn 80) and ever since my island has been covered in ships and fleets bombarding everything and then running away when i get close. unless you start the turn relatively near to a ship you want to attack you have no chance of getting them as they will just retreat miles away, u can't even pin them in sometimes, they just slip by you like you are not even there. I am at my wits end with this campaign and am going to jack it in, am sick of chasing ships all over the place, its ridiculous, I just checked and it is actually the entire map bar my allies saga(2 provinces) and the vassal u start with. it is literally like i have already gone republic.

ok rant over

Well.. the AI has always been more about annoying the player into submission rather than actually strategically/tactically defeating him /troll.

Have you tried splitting up your navies? I may be talking total bull here.. Never played Legendary before, from what I read, I wouldn't have the patience for it anyways.

I find that ZOCs are very weak for everyone but me actually -on land and at sea!

I had a very similar Imperial game as Satsuma. Enemy ships really annoyed me until I:
(a) made some cruiser squadrons to engage and defeat enemy stacks - typically 5x Kasuga-class corvettes + either the HMS Warrior or some frigates
(b) made some patrol squadrons to protect key shorelines and trade routes - typically 3x corvettes + whatever ships I could capture from the enemy! :)
(c) sent a single gunboat to every enemy port, slowly following up my cruiser squadrons, to prevent ports from rebuilding or producing new enemy ships

The investment of 50 koku every turn for an enemy port was compensated for by my trade income and the ability totally run the seas!
If the enemy has a lot of military ports it can be good to keep a patrol squadron nearby to bombard them back into submission if they do get around to rebuilding though.

I totally share your pain, friend. You have an entire stach, but the small enemy ship slips away and bombs your ports next turn.. Beyond stupid.

Try to send smaller fleets against him, so the AI would think he has a chance to win. You kick his ass on the battlefield.

Since you've made it to turn 80, I dont think you have a problem with that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 47thlegion

im not sure but on previous total wars the little radius that went round ships and fleets used to mean something, like a ship cant come into your radius without you being allowed to fight it. why have they changed this and made it so ships can slip by you so easily!!!

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I believe you can still mass surround them--lots of gunboats with very small spaces between.

But more importantly, remember that the ships tend to flee directly away. So choose your angle of attack, so they flee into the shoreline. Then go up and bam. Very satisfying.

There are some choke points in the sea which you can block, Providing you have conquered up to or beyond that region on the land too :) I think these choke points are close to "noto" in the north of the map and south being the "kii" region.