Navy

[Denzil]

As a powerful faction do you really need to use navy to block ports? As say the Julii you'll be up against the Gauls, practically no navy. What is the point of using your D to purchase ships to have a battle with Greece/ Carthage. Would it not be best to build one/two per port to protect it? Having a war with Greece/Carthage would only drain your much needed resources further than a dragged out war with Barbarians. What is the point of navy?

Denny

[Barbarian]

I prefer having one, but well experienced and strong navy. As Romans, navy is surely one of the last things you need, but you will need at least one strong fleet later to transport your armies for invasions of islands like Rhodes and Caralis, and to get to Egypt etc. If you play as Scipii, or control the Sicily with another Roman faction, you can build some of the finest ships in the game, so, maybe it is worth it. But unless you can block all your enemy's ports, there is no real use for it.

But playing as the Greek cities, I have three strong full stack navies, which ensure my dominance over the seas. It is because 80%-90% of my income comes from the naval trade, and I can't afford to let my ports be blocked.
For example: Rhodes gives me 4000 sometimes even 5000 denarii per turn.
If it's port is blocked, it gives me -500. That is pretty huge difference.

[Denzil]

Protection seems to be he most important use for navy although how much are you spending on keeping you port open?

Denny

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I prefer having one, but well experienced and strong navy. As Romans, navy is surely one of the last things you need, but you will need at least one strong fleet later to transport your armies for invasions of islands like Rhodes and Caralis, and to get to Egypt etc. If you play as Scipii, or control the Sicily with another Roman faction, you can build some of the finest ships in the game, so, maybe it is worth it. But unless you can block all your enemy's ports, there is no real use for it.

But playing as the Greek cities, I have three strong full stack navies, which ensure my dominance over the seas. It is because 80%-90% of my income comes from the naval trade, and I can't afford to let my ports be blocked.
For example: Rhodes gives me 4000 sometimes even 5000 denarii per turn.
If it's port is blocked, it gives me -500. That is pretty huge difference.

Yup .. greeks need strong navy .. this is especially important in the early game ..
carthage needs strong navy also but other nations can live long tome without having the need for a navy .. it is needed only if you want to attack islands ..
britons need just 1 boat to transfer men from the island to the continent

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Naval dominance isn't really a thing I use a lot of money on. One half stack fleet of mid-class and high-class boats is all I ever typically use to protect my ports and deal with the annoyance of pirates when I'm playing as a faction starting around the Mediterranean. As said, less are required when playing a faction further North, away from the main shipping area.

I sometimes use more though if the AI is obsessed with naval invasions of islands. In this case, I mainly use them to sink fleets containing troops and keep foes from blockading island ports (which often knocks out a lot of income from the cities since naval trade is what they rely on).

Sometimes though, when I get to a certain stage, I'm too wealthy to have to care about protecting ports with a navy. Although income is knocked out, its of a too insignificant level to be concerned about and I typically let it happen.

[Punicus]

I don't focus too much on navies unless I need to make a long trip with an extremely important army to foreign lands for invasion (IE: attacking as the Seleucids on a trip to Greece or Rome).

carthage needs strong navy also but other nations can live long tome without having the need for a navy .. it is needed only if you want to attack islands ..

As Carthage, I feel that having several large navies is a waste as the waters around Carthage are infested with Romans, Pirates, Spainards and even Gauls, all of whom hate Carthage. The good thing about it is that you can get your men from Africa to Sicily, and from Sicily to Italy, with each trip taking one turn.

[Denzil]

So basically they are used to protect your ports and ship men from island to island?

Denny

[Punicus]

So basically they are used to protect your ports and ship men from island to island?

Denny

Exactly. If you can take care of the Romans early on when they don't have huge navies themselves, there's no need for a big navy. A half stack of decent ships with experience at most does the job for me.

[Quirinus]

Still, once my economy stabilizes, I like to have at least two or three biremes at each port, with a few large navies for combat and long journeys. This is so that I don't have to waste a few turns training up a navy for a short crossing, say, across the Adriatic, or the Hellespont. It's also nice to be able to harass the AI's ships every turn when they are carrying big armies. It's strange-- the AIs don't seem to have a sense of danger about these things. A common sight is a full stack army in a fleet of two, or even one bireme(s). More than once, I even saw a faction heir or faction leader in the aforementioned army.

I have a slightly off-topic question-- if an army is being transported across water when its faction's last city is taken, what happens to the army inside? I know that the fleet turns into pirates, but what about the army it's transporting? Does it turn rebel? If so, does it ever disembark, or does it sit in the ships until they are sunk? What of family members?

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

I have a slightly off-topic question-- if an army is being transported across water when its faction's last city is taken, what happens to the army inside? I know that the fleet turns into pirates, but what about the army it's transporting? Does it turn rebel? If so, does it ever disembark, or does it sit in the ships until they are sunk? What of family members?

I believe that everything, from family members to fleets to men in transportation, turns rebel. I do remember coming across an ex-Scipii fleet after I had destroyed them containing a few of their old troops. I don't think they disembark, however, since the fleet in question was just acting like a normal bunch of pirates - irritatingly performing blockades and sinking the ships of factions in its line of site.

[Good Ship Chuckle]

As far as navies go, I either go all out and have a massive armada that's the strongest in the sea. Or I have a couple dingies to perform transportation tasks. All or nothin for me.