They are moist, can smell fishy and work best when full of seamen....

[Brennus]

Hello everyone,

In a change from the usual posts I wanted to ask people if they would like to post pictures not of their armies but rather of their navies. Obviously as the RTW engine lacks the option to command naval battles and the fact blockading ports is a pointless endevour we all tend to focus far more on our armies, or in the case of some, lack of them. However one thing I have always liked about EB, and I feel it is often overlooked, is the variety of naval units available to the player, especially in contrast to the vanilla ships. Therefore I invite people to post images of their finest fleets (obviously we are limited to the unit cards) and massive naval encounters just to see how people like to set up their fleets; do you prefer nimble fleets for ferrying troops from one island to another or do you go for as many dreadnoughts as possible? Large fleets also reflect on your ability to build an economy strong enough to support your aquatic arms.

Please don't just unit generate, it detracts from your achievements.


DISCLAIMER: I am aware the title is a rip off of an Austin Powers movie.

[seleucid empire]

actually blockading the ports of some cities will cause their happiness to decrease dramatically. Those damn Carthaginians sent 50 armies to cyrene without success. and then they sent a fleet to blockade me. i didnt notice it until the public order bonus in kyrrene was less than 40 and then it was too late. it caused about 200% drop in public order and cyrene rebelled. but then i got them back by sending 3 armies all the way up to sack carthage, and north africa

[Brennus]

actually blockading the ports of some cities will cause their happiness to decrease dramatically. Those damn Carthaginians sent 50 armies to cyrene without success. and then they sent a fleet to blockade me. i didnt notice it until the public order bonus in kyrrene was less than 40 and then it was too late. it caused about 200% drop in public order and cyrene rebelled. but then i got them back by sending 3 armies all the way up to sack carthage, and north africa

I didn't know that. Any idea if they work well against Roman civil order?

[seleucid empire]

i think romans have really good public happiness buildings and even at 50% public bonus the ai cities dont seem to rebel. i also think that buildings like farm production and lafitida will affect your blockade

[Taedius]

Thanks, seleucid empire, for that info, I wasn't aware of it.

I don't have pics at the ready, unfortunately. But we all know how a huge treasury can affect our FMs, and with factions such as the Romani, fleets are a good way of stalling that. In one campain, after having conquered all of Gallia and far into Germania, I kept a presence of two Quinquireme fleets in the Baltic seas. Just because i could. Another thing I've noted with that faction, and make sure to capitalize from, is that the March of Time gives access to Liburnes and Covered Liburnes. Now, the covered version has slightly better stats (at least on the unit card) than Triremes, but are somewhat cheaper. Of course, the Romani is rarely hard up for cash, but this can be a welcome fact when you must still focus on land forces.

Normally, given a good economy, I will organize fleets in twos, keeping it medium. I usually stick to the Trireme level. I let them fight any and all pirates that come in range, to build up experience. This usually does the job and then some, untill the AS goes all naval...

[seleucid empire]

Thanks, seleucid empire, for that info, I wasn't aware of it.

i wasnt aware of it either till my latest campaign. im not even sure if it works for ai, but in my case i had no idea what was making my city riot every turn. It was a hellenistic city which was almost completely built up and i had annual festivals and the order was still 50% so i checked the settlement scroll and found out that it was due to blockading

[bobbin]

I was so ready to delete this thread when I saw the title, glad to see its not a spam thread.

[seleucid empire]

This usually does the job and then some, untill the AS goes all naval...

thats interesting because i have only seen carthage and ptolemies go naval. How strong was their fleet in your game?

[Taedius]

I was a bit surprised myself. I guess it depends if you get a grey or yellow death. Usually grey in my games.

The strength is hard to estimate. They seemed to be churning out the largest ships in both the Levant and the Persian gulf. They had LOTS down there.

[Brennus]

I was so ready to delete this thread when I saw the title, glad to see its not a spam thread.

Since when do i spam old boy? lol.

Personally I have only ever seen Carthage and Ptolemies (and of course Eleutheroi) spawning navies. What sort of ships do the Parthians and Saka have access to?

[Thunder Mist]

Personally I have only ever seen Carthage and Ptolemies (and of course Eleutheroi) spawning navies. What sort of ships do the Parthians and Saka have access to?

I believe the Parthians (and possibly Saka?) only have access to conscripted merchant ships. It's a bit disappointing once you have an empire large enough to warrant a navy, but eh.

What really struck me as a surprise, though, is the Gallic roster. They're able to build ships that are comparable to galleons!

[Brennus]

Do you mean the Venetic warships? They are fantastic and, even better for fans of Gaul, historically accurate.

[Basileus_ton_Basileon]

I can't imagine they'll be any good for ramming, however. How did they fight onboard? Boarding? missles? Insults?

[Brave Brave Sir Robin]

I doubt very much ramming went on in the Atlantic Ocean anyway. You probably attempted to board the other ship, that would be a bit easier to manage in the rough waters I think.

[seleucid empire]

I was a bit surprised myself. I guess it depends if you get a grey or yellow death. Usually grey in my games.

The strength is hard to estimate. They seemed to be churning out the largest ships in both the Levant and the Persian gulf. They had LOTS down there.

you mean the purple flaged megaships?????? woah.... ai recruitment, why would they need them there? lol and what were you doing down there anyway?

[Taedius]

It reminded me of vanilla, when the Egyptians would fill that secluded gulf with ships. The Seleucids were advancing well down the Nilus, and comtrolled most of the land down there. And me? Oh, I like having spies running around. I suppose this was one who'd been down mapping the Saba. I was gearing up for the inevitable conflict with the AS.

[Brennus]

It reminded me of vanilla, when the Egyptians would fill that secluded gulf with ships. The Seleucids were advancing well down the Nilus, and comtrolled most of the land down there. And me? Oh, I like having spies running around. I suppose this was one who'd been down mapping the Saba. I was gearing up for the inevitable conflict with the AS.

Any chance of a nice screenshot?