Naval Questions

[Cavell]

It's been a very long time since I've played any ETW, and figured I'd focus on doing a bit more naval stuff this time around, so I have some questions:

Isn't there a command to highlight an enemy boat so all your boats will concentrate fire on it? I seem to remember it, just not what the command itself is.

Is there any way to capture ships beyond boarding? I appear to have about a 75% to lock up and crash if I attempt boarding combat.

How are people capturing those huge pirate galleons with just sloops? Is it pure experience, or is there some trick I'm missing?

I'm sure I'll have more, but thanks in advance for your help.

[Fisherking]

You select the target by clicking on the enemy ship. But if you want the formation to make it a priority target you alt click.

The other way of capturing a ship is forcing it to strike its colors. That is best done by shooting its sails and reducing its crew.

[Bilgediver]

Generally if I'm fighting the pirates with just sloops or brigs I mass them and then auto-resolve. Usually I'll end up capturing one or two

[A Nerd]

Capture galleons with sloops?! My sloops usually just entertain the pirates by exploding on their first volley!

Capturing ships is a nice feature at the end of a naval battle. But if memory serves, now when you have the option to take surrendered vessels, the unit card doesn't display what the ship type is, it is just a quesiton mark. I find that annoying. I suppose you can just take all the ships and disband the ones you don't want, but I don't like to play that way. I would rather scuttle the crappy ones and take the good ones. For no other reason than to enjoy my playing style more. It might not make any sense, but neither do I! :P

[Fisherking]

If you click the icon it will tell you abut that one ship. If you click it again you turn it back off.

You can still select the ships and types you want it is just not as clear as it was in the earlier versions.

[A Nerd]

If you click the icon it will tell you abut that one ship. If you click it again you turn it back off.

You can still select the ships and types you want it is just not as clear as it was in the earlier versions.

Thanks! That will help alot! I have had no real naval battles to speak of in my current French campaign, other than my crappy ships decorating the bottom of the ocean, but it will come in handy as I grow more wealthy! Thanks again!

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Boarding actions seem to favor the AI as you have no tactical control. The AI, pirates especially, seem to fight much better than your blokes on a person for person basis -- even the navy types. The AI also adores heaving to next to your meleeing ship and pounding the crap out of it while it cannot fire back (this tendency also can be used to entrap them of course). All in all, unless my crew has chevrons to their none, I minimize boarding actions.

Getting them to strike is best if done by dismasting them. This kind of damage is repaired before the next scenario, leaving your prize with a good strong hull.

Capturing a galleon with a sloop, one-on-one, involves LOTS of micro-management to repeatedly bow rake the galleon at range until you tear off her sails. This must be done at long round-shot range as the galleon has some of the best bow chasers in the game and will sink your sloop if you get close. You must use your 500 to 400 range advantage. This become even more difficult with multiple enemies.

Some of the stories about that sort of thing were from a brief-lived patch (1.3?) wherein chain-shot was given the same range as round shot and doubled or better the damage done to rigging. Though the increased damage is plausible, the range was ludicrous. I would take a 32 gun frigate and dismast entire pirate fleets in 30 minutes. Lovely prize money.

As to prizes, unless I have a very large fleet, I take them all into my fleet -- thus exposing their icons -- assess which I want to keep and return the rest to the prize queue. No reason to sink something that can earn you 12-shillings a man!