need help with naval battles

[Hooahguy]

I found it best to have few powerful ships than many weak ships. The AI sent quite a big fleet of ships (filled up 1 row) ...but their most powerful was a sixth rate and a whole lot of sloops and Indiaman. I had ONE(1) galleon. I won.

well, im early in the game, so all i can get is brigs and sloops. ive been using my research time for military techs and enlightenment.

but thanks for all the help. i was able to defeat the Danish fleet with only losing one ship.
i got up close, taking advantage of my speed, and raked them with anti-personnel shot. one surrendered, the other sank.

[A Very Super Market]

I presume you're playing in the Baltic. The answer is, spam galleys.

They are cheap, and easily produced, and completely expendable. You'll have to play each battle personally, because auto-balance will just make you lose. Spread them out in a line, and just move them forward until contact is made, and clear out the loose ones who aren't firing.

[Hooahguy]

galleys? why galleys? an indiaman trader blows them out of the water. i sent a lone indiaman trader to the americas, to scout the areas out, and i was attacked by 3 galleys. i crushed them, only losing 4 cannons on my ship.

[resonantblue]

If you have a mobilkity advantage (eg steamships) then you can effectively take longer ranged pot shots at enemy ships with barely any return fire. Every ship has a blind spot between the bow/stern guns (which are weak anyways, so no big deal) and their broadside.

With a mobility advantage I break my fleet down into squadrons of 2 and micro manage them to stay in the lead ship's blind spot. You'd be surprised how quickly 4-6 steamships can waste a 1st/2nd/3rd rate that can't fire back. If the AI (as it occasionally does) retreats into a giant ball in an attempt to bring more guns to bear, just fall back. They'll steam out again to come after you - if not just take potshots at stragglers until they do or retreat from battle.

If you don't have a mobility advantage, you are going to be forced to fight. If you have a clearly superior fleet, you might as well put everything in line and setup parallel to the enemy fleet and blast them into obvlivion... even if your fleet is not superior but you do have the heavier ships you can use the same technique of isolated the lead ships and concentrating on them so that you destroy the entire enemy fleet in piecemeal.

If you don't have a mobility advantage and you have weaker/smaller ships or the enemy just has too many more ships... the only way you're really going to win is efficient gun utilization. The idea is to keep guns on both sides of your ship firing while limiting the enemy's chance to do so.

[Hooahguy]

update from the front: a danish fleet with 2 6th rates, a 5th rate, 2 indiamen traders, and a sloop attacked my force of 8 brigs.
they captured 2 of my brigs, sank the rest of them, and somehow didnt lose a single ship. im starting to wonder if auto-calc would be better for me. but i did damage them. i think. anyhow, i have my army ready to take on Copenhagen, so thatll put a dent in their plans! [insert evil, but unsure, laugh here]
then i have to move a force to the Danish city on Iceland so i can take them out once and for all.

[hoom]

Brigs are very weak ships.
Indiamen don't have many guns but they are much tougher than brigs.

i got up close, taking advantage of my speed, and raked them with anti-personnel shot. one surrendered, the other sank.

This probably only worked because of the damage they sustained in the earlier battle.

Grapeshot is useless unless the side of the hull has been opened up by round shot first or the ship is open decked like Brigs/Galleys.

[Didz]

I very rarely build Brigs, preferring corvettes (TROM Mod) or sloops. I only really start build ships in earnest once I can construct 5th Rates, and only liners once I can get 3rd Rates. Everything else is overpriced for their performance.