Naval combat

[Yoyoma1910]

Hey all,

So I figured I'd brush off my copy of Empire and give it another go. One thing that always seems to frustrate me is naval combat. A bit ironic, I suppose, since I'm in the navy... although as a corpsman not a line officer. Any strategy y'all find useful?

To me it seems that one must rely on numbers and size rather than finesse. Which sometimes I find a bit disappointing. I'm trying to find battle techniques that add that extra element of skill.

Yoyoma

edit:

Oops, I didn't realize there was a sub forum here, and it looks like there's already some discussion going on towards this end. Apologies.

[Kavin]

You have done very well. Its good, you can start next version of that.

[Peasant Phill]

I'm by no means an expert. I'm now in my first campaign where I focus on naval battles.

The most important thing in naval battles is the weather gauge. You want to be between the origin of the wind and your enemy as much as possible. In other words your opponents should have to go into the wind to get to you. This will give you the best chance to get into a good position and hammer the enemy's ships before they can retaliate.

Some more specific advice:
- Try to turn with the wind, it'll go faster. If you need to turn the other way around, make sure you have enough momentum.
- Don't be afraid to make a giant detour if it means you can take the weather gauge

[Centurion1]

im so bad at it i have to auto resolve everything. i mean im horrendous.

[A Nerd]

Start with smaller fleet battles and try to have ships that outclass your enemy. Great Britian is a good starting point. Don't take on the pirates before you have a decent fleet either.

[Centurion1]

i practice with the custom battles but literally stand no chance. ive gotten to the point where i can beat a sloop with a heavy first.......

no but really i lose if its like a sloop vs. sloop or first rate vs. first rate.

and i almost always lose if its two vs. 2