Thoughts on Naval Bombardment

[Graphic]

Does anyone feel this is a bit silly? Non-explosive shells cause massive craters and although a lot of settlements are coastal, they're in hilly areas on the battlemap.

It's a bit gamey, yes, but Total War has never been a war sim. It's a fine addition IMO.

I approve of this. But I find the AI's behaviour in the light of naval bombardment truly ridiculous.

I designate the target area and order the strike. There comes a flare flying, probably thrown by some joker hiding in the bushes. In the middle of the enemy formation, which is standing still. Time 'till impact - 15 seconds. I countdown silently, yet the AI does nothing. Only several seconds before the impact, their jedi senses awaken and they scatter away, suddenly making room for the shells to fall! Only reason I ever hit anything is the fact that the ship's cannons are not precise.

This "evasive maneuvers that start 4-5 seconds before impact and vacate the entire targeting area" have happened to me every time I used naval bombardment...

Again, it's definitely gamey, but it's a necessary evil. If they didn't move naval bombardments would break the game. It helps if you imagine that the ships are just off the coast and they can hear the cannons firing.

[Vladimir]

Again, it's definitely gamey, but it's a necessary evil. If they didn't move naval bombardments would break the game. It helps if you imagine that the ships are just off the coast and they can hear the cannons firing.

Which I believe you can. If you pay attention, you can hear distant thunder.

[Voigtkampf]

Again, it's definitely gamey, but it's a necessary evil. If they didn't move naval bombardments would break the game. It helps if you imagine that the ships are just off the coast and they can hear the cannons firing.

Hmmh, yeah, well, I get the "gamey" thing, of course. You can't have 100% reality in games, that much is certain. What irks me is the apparent AI cheating. And yes, I am almost sure as well to have heard the distant canon thunder each time some 4-5 seconds prior to the impact.

What is and will always look silly is the fact that the AI doesn't react to the initial flare, at all, and then always vacate the designated area before the impact. Even when they are marching. Not only that their superior hearing saves them from the direct impact, it gives them a special boost for the moments when they scatter around like roaches on speed. No amount of goodwill can ignore how silly that all looks. Only thing that might help is to simply close your eyes.

[Graphic]

Hmmh, yeah, well, I get the "gamey" thing, of course. You can't have 100% reality in games, that much is certain. What irks me is the apparent AI cheating. And yes, I am almost sure as well to have heard the distant canon thunder each time some 4-5 seconds prior to the impact.

What is and will always look silly is the fact that the AI doesn't react to the initial flare, at all, and then always vacate the designated area before the impact. Even when they are marching. Not only that their superior hearing saves them from the direct impact, it gives them a special boost for the moments when they scatter around like roaches on speed. No amount of goodwill can ignore how silly that all looks. Only thing that might help is to simply close your eyes.

The AI isn't cheating. I don't know if you've fought against the AI when they had naval support yet, but when they call it in the Yosemite Sam guy goes "they firin' their bombardment suh!" or something to that effect. The AI just rightly assumes that you're calling it in on the thickest clump of their army.

They may not act naturally in avoiding it, but they aren't cheating.

[quadalpha]

The AI just rightly assumes that you're calling it in on the thickest clump of their army.

I don't think that part's quite right because I've tried to use bombardment as counter-battery. I've never had the AI bombard me yet. Do you not get to see a flare?

[Voigtkampf]

The AI isn't cheating. I don't know if you've fought against the AI when they had naval support yet, but when they call it in the Yosemite Sam guy goes "they firin' their bombardment suh!" or something to that effect. The AI just rightly assumes that you're calling it in on the thickest clump of their army.

They may not act naturally in avoiding it, but they aren't cheating.

It is a perfectly sound assumption, to be honest. I will test it during the campaigns and see what happens. Lets give the AI the benefit of the doubt.

[Azi Tohak]

I think it's great fun, but it seems to me the AI does a decent job of avoiding the flare as much as they can. I don't know why they don't simply stop when the flare plops in front of them.

I had a substantial increase in the number of shells (16 to 48 maybe?) when I had a single larger (26) gun ship in my fleets.

[Timothyier]

I think you mean the ability to improve military ships and then rely on a number of firearms. That's pretty neat, but very random. I think the burst is heavily based on the number of ships and guns of the fleet. I can not imagine much more with the frigates of 20 guns + as a gunboat with only 3, but I do not use this function very often. At some point bearing is outside the scope of the support container.

I also have this theory that some boats are better than others, and with the same battles. Frigates have a lot of weapons, but they are a bit slow and was bulky. In the open sea battles, I noticed that you have something that the speed and firepower, not necessarily just the firepower to be united. I bet the heavier boats are better in the bombardment of ports and ships and troops easier / quicker and better fights.

[Yesugey]

On battlefield map, it's best to use them in the castle sieges. Sieges are harder in the firearm era, and Naval Bombardment closes the deal because there is nowhere for the enemy to run. Man, it's fun to watch the bodies flying!

To use it on regular battle, you must wait for the engagement to start. The enemy units trying to escape gets even bigger losses.

I also like to bombard the routing enemy if they clomped together. Fun to guess the time of the bombardment right.

On stragety map, Bombarding a place is extremely advangageous because you might literally shot down unit production.