16 strong pirate fleet in 235 BC

[fomalhaut]

yeah, um, how is that even partly historical? i never ever understood the pirate menace to the degree represented in EB. by themselves they overpower every great nation combined. they just seem so artificial, there solely to make traversing waters a chore. that plus the fact that maintaining a fleet in EB is a feet in itself, its just absolutely silly the amount of pirates that exist.

[Arjos]

yeah, um, how is that even partly historical? i never ever understood the pirate menace to the degree represented in EB. by themselves they overpower every great nation combined. they just seem so artificial, there solely to make traversing waters a chore. that plus the fact that maintaining a fleet in EB is a feet in itself, its just absolutely silly the amount of pirates that exist.

One of the TW's engine limitations, I think the team actually reduced their spawning rate, not sure though...

[Ibn-Khaldun]

You can change the pirate spawning by changing descr_strat.txt file.
At the start of the file there is a line pirate_spawn_value.
Change it to something like 100 or bigger and the pirates don't spawn as often as usually.Also, pirates(just like brigands) spawn randomly. There is nothing that can be done about that.
The reason Mediterranen don't have huge pirate fleets is because both player and AI factions tend to destroy them before they can merge.

[vollorix]

I think there is a correlation between the pirate ports ( Eleutheroi ports, probably the docks ) and the pirate ships in the area. In Mediterrane Pirates seem to spawn quite rarely, but there are also very few Rebel ports at the game start, and with time those towns got conquered, while the northern ones stay save for decades.

[NikosMaximilian]

A bit off-topic: Does anyone else gets pirates spawning in the Caspian Sea? I do, and it's a pain in the arse. Since you can't train anything there to beat them, you gotta cheat and teleport them elsewhere. But it's a bit silly that pirates spawn in a sea where you can't train a navy.

[vollorix]

Pirates spawn even in smaller lakes sometimes...
Just move them to the Mediterranean ( move_character "Admiral Name" xxx,xxx ( for coordinates )

[Randal]

Well, having a pirate menace is historical. In the 1st century BC there were huge pirate fleets operating from Crete and Cilicia. Lots of individual pirates preying on commerce, but also fleets that engaged the Romans in battle and defeated them. The Romans sent various fleets and magistrates against them, with only limited success. One of Pompeius' extraordinary commands was a mission to defeat all the pirates in the Mediterranean. And even after his son Sextus organised a fleet of pirates to continue the war against Caesar through unconventional means.

It was the Romans themselves who caused this problem. They had defeated and weakened the eastern powers such as Macedonia and the Seleucid Empire and had forbidden them from having big fleets. This created a power vacuum they neglected to fill themselves. It's similar to what happens in-game when there are a -lot- of eleutheroi ports in the region.

Pirates in the Baltic sailing to the Mediterranean still is weird. But the big pirate fleets themselves make sense to me.

[NikosMaximilian]

Well, having a pirate menace is historical. In the 1st century BC there were huge pirate fleets operating from Crete and Cilicia. Lots of individual pirates preying on commerce, but also fleets that engaged the Romans in battle and defeated them. The Romans sent various fleets and magistrates against them, with only limited success. One of Pompeius' extraordinary commands was a mission to defeat all the pirates in the Mediterranean. And even after his son Sextus organised a fleet of pirates to continue the war against Caesar through unconventional means.

It was the Romans themselves who caused this problem. They had defeated and weakened the eastern powers such as Macedonia and the Seleucid Empire and had forbidden them from having big fleets. This created a power vacuum they neglected to fill themselves. It's similar to what happens in-game when there are a -lot- of eleutheroi ports in the region.

Pirates in the Baltic sailing to the Mediterranean still is weird. But the big pirate fleets themselves make sense to me.

I agree -to some extent- that the amount of pirates are accurately represented. What I find unrealistic is the 16-unit or entire full stack. It's a contradiction with the way pirates have historically operated. Such a fleet would require manoeuvring and logistics that go against the hit-and-run tactics of piracy.

[Fluvius Camillus]

Well, having a pirate menace is historical. In the 1st century BC there were huge pirate fleets operating from Crete and Cilicia. Lots of individual pirates preying on commerce, but also fleets that engaged the Romans in battle and defeated them. The Romans sent various fleets and magistrates against them, with only limited success. One of Pompeius' extraordinary commands was a mission to defeat all the pirates in the Mediterranean. And even after his son Sextus organised a fleet of pirates to continue the war against Caesar through unconventional means.

It was the Romans themselves who caused this problem. They had defeated and weakened the eastern powers such as Macedonia and the Seleucid Empire and had forbidden them from having big fleets. This created a power vacuum they neglected to fill themselves. It's similar to what happens in-game when there are a -lot- of eleutheroi ports in the region.

Pirates in the Baltic sailing to the Mediterranean still is weird. But the big pirate fleets themselves make sense to me.

Agreed, don't forget about Rhodos, because Rome slowly removed them from the picture, their fleet and wealth diminished, that was one of the main causes of mass piracy.

~Fluvius