Best Fleet Formation
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oldman
Rigger
Posts: 1152
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:41 pm Post subject: Best Fleet Formation |
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Hi,
Just wondering all yall pirates out there... what's your experience on the fleet formation?
The one I am using at the moment is.
1 Royal Sloop, 1 Large Frigate, 1 SOTL.... I have trimmed down crew size tremdously to about 600-700... Since any smaller would make my land battle weak... but any bigger would cause my crew to go hungry on the sea.
Another problem I encounter... Any thing bigger than 3 ships seem to travel a bit slower ... or maybe just my annoy inpatience. |
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rupertlittlebear
Helmsman
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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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Fastest thing going = exactly 1 war canoe with copper sails.
Add ships = slow down. |
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Vulture
Gunner
Posts: 509
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 12:34 am Post subject: |
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Two brig-of-war vessels and a royal sloop will do nicely. Now you can take on anything out there. _________________
32 brightly polished cannons, a bottle o'rum, ahh..... a pirates life for me! |
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Capt Peter Blackthorne
Cutthroat
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 6:54 am Post subject: |
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It's been debated at length, but I personally feel that having a fleet slows you down, no matter what ships/upgrades you have. So, my preferred "fleet" is a single frigate or large frigate with triple hammocks.
With a large frigate, I can have a crew of 375 men, which is really enough for most anything I need to do. I can get around the map fairly rapidly and still open a can of whoop-ass on most every Spanish city. |
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Cussler
Cutthroat
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:20 am Post subject: |
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I prefer 3 ships: one Pinnace-class ship, one Large Frigate/SotL, and one East/West Indiaman.
The Pinnace (usually War Canoe or Mail Runner) is my flagship when moving about the Caribbean, taking advantage of it's speed. If I have a Mail Runner, I'll use it to attack anything maybe from a Brig on down.
The Large Frigate/SotL is for attacking anything larger than a Brig.
And the East/West Indiaman is simply for more cargo room.
There are variations to that pattern, such as adding a Brig of War to have a 4-ship fleet, or replace the Indiamen with a BoW and keeping it at three, but I usually stick with what is above. |
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Grimmelshausen
Cutthroat
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:49 am Post subject: |
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If you take a warship, you almost always have to tow your prizes around, due to lack of cargo space on the warships, If you take something like a East Indiaman as our flagship (be carefull to upgade it, though) you can store a lot of goods in that one. It´s not as bad as one would think on first sight, 24 cannon is usually enough, it can take a lot of crew as well. It lacks a bit the speed and turning ability of a frigate, but against Spanish galleons, it´s still good. All in all, a rather good ship for plundering, but less so for missions. |
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rupertlittlebear
Helmsman
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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rupertlittlebear wrote: | Fastest thing going = exactly 1 war canoe with copper sails.
Add ships = slow down. | I tries, but nobody takes the straight line.
Now, what is wrong with this quote (unedited). |
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Capt Peter Blackthorne
Cutthroat
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 5:06 pm Post subject: |
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I'll have to try those copper sails sometime! I'll bet they look real pretty at sunset, too. |
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Blackheart
Powder Monkey
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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Capt Peter Blackthorne wrote: | It's been debated at length, but I personally feel that having a fleet slows you down, no matter what ships/upgrades you have. So, my preferred "fleet" is a single frigate or large frigate with triple hammocks. |
My sentiments exactly. I couldn't imagine sailing around the Caribbean in a canoe. So far I've been able to take out anything I want with a Frigate, though admittedly sometimes a war canoe or pinnace will get away. I also prefer having just one ship, though sometimes I'll run a Large Frigate with a Frigate for backup.
From what I've seen so far, there are obviously those who disagree. But to each his own. That's one of the nice things about the game, there are so many different ways to play it. But for me, I just don't like having a fleet, I'd rather just have my tall ship, and I rarely keep ships I take unless it or its cargo is particularly valuable. |
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rupertlittlebear
Helmsman
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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Blackheart wrote: | Capt Peter Blackthorne wrote: | It's been debated at length, but I personally feel that having a fleet slows you down, no matter what ships/upgrades you have. So, my preferred "fleet" is a single frigate or large frigate with triple hammocks. |
My sentiments exactly. I couldn't imagine sailing around the Caribbean in a canoe. So far I've been able to take out anything I want with a Frigate, though admittedly sometimes a war canoe or pinnace will get away. I also prefer having just one ship, though sometimes I'll run a Large Frigate with a Frigate for backup.
From what I've seen so far, there are obviously those who disagree. But to each his own. That's one of the nice things about the game, there are so many different ways to play it. But for me, I just don't like having a fleet, I'd rather just have my tall ship, and I rarely keep ships I take unless it or its cargo is particularly valuable. | Try sailing from Vera Cruz to Trinidad. |
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Blackheart
Powder Monkey
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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rupertlittlebear wrote: | Try sailing from Vera Cruz to Trinidad. |
Oh, believe me, I have. Only, I don't sail as the crow flies. I generally go north to visit my girlfriends around Jamaica and Hispaniola first, then make my way down to Trinidad. What's the rush, anyway? It's the Caribbean, matey, relax and enjoy it. Here, have some rum, and enjoy the sunset.
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rupertlittlebear
Helmsman
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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Blackheart wrote: | rupertlittlebear wrote: | Try sailing from Vera Cruz to Trinidad. |
Oh, believe me, I have. Only, I don't sail as the crow flies. I generally go north to visit my girlfriends around Jamaica and Hispaniola first, then make my way down to Trinidad. What's the rush, anyway? It's the Caribbean, matey, relax and enjoy it. Here, have some rum, and enjoy the sunset.
| A canoe can do it before running out of food (full crew) |
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Blackheart
Powder Monkey
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Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 11:52 pm Post subject: |
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I'm sure canoes have many benefits, obviously people seem to like them. It's just not what I would prefer to sail around in.
A full crew for me is 375 (on a large frigate with the hammock upgrade) but I rarely run a full crew unless I've decided to attack a city. My average crew is usually around 180 men. When I leave port, my hold is stocked with 40 guns and 50 tons of food, which is generally enough to get me where I'm going. And if the food runs low, I can always find another ship out there and relieve them of their supplies!
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oldman
Rigger
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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I think was two games ago... I ran the remaining game with just one Large Frigate... it did seemed to travel rather quickly... even sailing horizontally from Vera Cruz. Then, later I learned to sail north east from Vera Cruz and cut back down to Havana to restock...etc. The diagnal sailing does seem to catch the breeze and go faster... not sure if that is just my imagination or not...
Anyhow... whenever I sail back from Vera Cruz... I just let it sail and go about making coffee or sandwich or whatever... afterall, it will eventually land itself at the shore.
As to -- Just In Time (JIT) military recruit. That is a good idea... I just started doing that last night... except, even when I am a Duke... the enlisted number wasn't going up as fast as I would like... around 50-120 +- 30... but, that brings the total to just about 550-600... and can be tough trying to over taking port that has like 400+ soliders.
I guess... that is another execuse to play more Pirates |
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Blackheart
Powder Monkey
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Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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I'm sure you've thought if this, but... are there any pirate havens nearby to soften up the city? My usual habit is to kill off any pirate I see. Hey, who wants the competition, right? But they do have their uses for whittling down a garrison and making it easier for me to get the city I want.
Also, I've found that if my crew is happy, I can successfully invade against a fairly large garrison. Of course, what really turns the tide is using your units and the terrain to good advantage. If you can set your buccaneers behind impassable terrain, and keep your units in the forests, the garrison will be hard-pressed to dislodge you.
I find I usually fight defensive battles, letting the garrison attack me until they're wiped out. They will always attack me, so why bother to attack them? I'd rather fight on ground of my own choosing, and let the garrison be the one to come out into the open. |
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