Military - Tactics, NavalNaval battles can be tricky, there have
somewhat little strategy to them, and it boils down to the same
thing, the amounts of shots you can pump into them, i tend to
prefer the use of 'the line'. that is when ships are following each
other, the heaviest up front, that is in order: 1st rate, 2nd rate
.... 6th rate, sloops and brigs. each have they pros and cons,
first rates have a large broadside, and can decimate smaller ships
in just one or two full broadsides. they are however very slow. a
frigate has little gun power, but largely makes up for it in terms
of speed and handling, and can outrun most ships.in these naval
battles, there is three different types of ammunition:Round shot: a
basic ball, this has the most range and accuracy, it is used mainly
to decimate the hull of the ship, in intent to set fire to it, make
it surrender or sinking it.Chain shot: two balls chained together,
the purpose of this is to destroy the sails and masts, making the
ship slower (and making it, as the saying goes, a sitting duck).
this is best used when firing perpendicular to this ship (that is,
if your ship is sailing in front (or behind) of the enemy ship, and
fires, along the length of the ship). this will cause the most
damage. and if you manage to destroy the masts on a ship, this will
reduce their morale significantly, and will usually surrender, or
surrender soon after. Doing this is sometime a good way of
capturing a ship or making it surrender, and also, they won't be
able to flee as quickly either. if a ship has been de-mastered, it
is at a significant advantage, so much so that if a 1st rate is
completely de-mastered, a 6th rate will be able to take it (by
attack from behind or in front, perpendicular to it)Grape shot: if
you want, this is a shotgun. just bigger. you use it at close range
(usefull just before boarding) to kill the actual men aboard the
ship, doesn't damage the ship to, very usefull against single
decked ship (such as 5th and 6th rates, sloops, brigs and
galleys).TIP: when you setting up, group your naval units, then
tell them where to go, you will notice it will be a lot different
that way then when they not grouped. try it out and see which fits
you the bestTIP: having more then one 'line' can be usefull, it can
also backfire very quickly (friendly fire).Personally, i do not use
the boarding action very often. but that is just me, you may want
to experiment with this.But really, i can't tell you much about
naval battles, it is all acquired throught experience, you will
eventually know your limitation, and even if you can win the battle
before it starts, (for example, a 1st rate against 20 galleys will
usually loose)
