Tactics?

[dhankskunk]

So tell me what your favorite tactic(s) are when engaging an enemy vessel. I'll start -

I always get the wind gauge if at all possible & try to land one good broadside of round shot right when the battle begins. Then I close to chain-shot range & try to dismast my target while avoiding coming under his guns. I more or less use this strategy against merchants & more heavily armed ships. This strategy results from the fact that I really don't like the swordfighting & try to avoid it as much as I can.

So what about you? Share your brilliant stratagies here...
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Nothin' ain't worth nothin', but its free.

[Gun Pierson]

Uhm well....I come as close as I can get in the worldscreen with the advantage of the wind , the battle begins, a few secs later I board them with my canoe. Not much strategy involved, I know.

[dhankskunk]

^ So you must be pretty good at fencing eh?
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Nothin' ain't worth nothin', but its free.

[Gun Pierson]

Not in the beginning when I chose to play with the canoe, I can tell you that. I had to learn it by hard. But it's just like dancing where you look at the girl's hands. With fencing, I had to learn wich swing he was going to do and par it and counter it. After hours and hours of practice, it's going well now.

[Carey Bean]

If I'm looting a reasonably defenseless merchant ship with my heavily crewed frigate, I just heed Nelson's dictum and Go straight at 'em. No shooting, no softening up. Just start upwind and sail straight through their midships. It's very satisfying. Don't try this against a war galleon or anything with 12 or more guns though. (Well, I shouldn't be so dogmatic about this I guess -- I've never tried it in a canoe...)

But if I'm up against Raymondo, Montalban or even Mendoza, I like to try to stay upwind on the enemy's quarter (so I'm out of reach of his guns), whack his first his rigging and second his guns (though not using so much roundshot that the miserable rat sinks on me). When these are softened up, I like to make sure his crew are smattered against the bulkheads, with their blood flowing in the scuppers, before I tackle The Man.

Mendoza and Raymondo I have found handleable, so far, but Montalban is a handful, despite having only one eye.

Carey Bean,
currently doing business as
an aging and failing Vincent, the one-eared Dutch pirate,
who just stupidly lost his frigate to Mendoza's swordplay.
_________________
In Sid we trust, all others pay doubloons

[Carey Bean]

If I'm looting a reasonably defenseless merchant ship with my heavily crewed frigate, I just heed Nelson's dictum and Go straight at 'em. No shooting, no softening up. Just start upwind and sail straight through their midships. It's very satisfying. Don't try this against a war galleon or anything with 12 or more guns though. (Well, I shouldn't be so dogmatic about this I guess -- I've never tried it in a canoe...)

But if I'm up against Raymondo, Montalban or even Mendoza, I like to try to stay upwind on the enemy's quarter (so I'm out of reach of his guns), whack his first his rigging and second his guns (though not using so much roundshot that the miserable rat sinks on me). When these are softened up, I like to make sure his crew are smattered against the bulkheads, with their blood flowing in the scuppers, before I tackle The Man.

Mendoza and Raymondo I have found handleable, so far, but Montalban is a handful, despite having only one eye.

Carey Bean,
currently doing business as
an aging and failing Vincent, the one-eared Dutch pirate,
who just stupidly lost his frigate to Mendoza's swordplay.
_________________
In Sid we trust, all others pay doubloons

[dhankskunk]

[Gun Pierson]

[headrock]

Sea tactics have lots to do with the kind of ship you're sailing.
Your approach should be from different sides when you use, say, a canoe or a SotL, your running speeds are different, and there's also the question of what kind of prey you're after.

With any of the frigates I always prefer to shell a formidable enemy from far away, using the Frigate's good turning to avoid shots incoming (If any), and to keep as much distance as possible from the target. The battle often starts off with me being downwind (So the enemy is tempted to chase me). I turn to fire the first volley, and then begin to speed away. If the enemy is not following, I probably have enough time to turn and begin chasing it (see below for the "Stairwell" tactic). When the enemy is following me, I keep heading downwind, turning to fire only when I'm fully loaded, and to a different side each time (to offset the change in direction). You close only when the enemy has too few guns to stop you from coming into Chain-Shot range, and by this time you can take the mast off their ship. When you're already firing chain, remember to keep zig-zagging away from the enemy, and tack into the wind ONLY if the enemy has lost speed or cannot turn enough to give you a powerful broadside before you can turn away again. Watch out for enemy broadsides. Your cannon power is the most important thing you have, and you've got a big ship that's easy to hit.

If you're up against a smaller enemy, getting that chain-shot in is far more important than tricking the enemy into anything, so attacking a smallie with a biggie when the wind's against you is plain stupid. Always give them that first chain-shot, don't even mind it if they shoot back. Once they've got big holes in the sails, you can probably board them or give them grape-shot and end it.


On the other hand, the smaller the ship, the sooner you need to board. Your speed is essential and you have to know which way the wind is sailing so you can figure out which direction of travel is fastest. Try to put the enemy so that it is downwind as fast as possible. Then wait for a broadside and rush in. The shots will pass overhead, and you will reach the target in no time. If the enemy has too many people on board, you simply turn into the eye, fire a load of grapeshot or whatever else you may have, and then turn right back into your best running angle. At this point you can probably shell the enemy to submittion if you're good enough, but most people would prefer to board to avoid getting smacked with an enemy's broadside by mistake.

Another method for both big and small ships (useful in various conditions depending on starting locations and wind direction) would be the stairwell tactic, which is most useful for sloops and brigs attacking larger ships. You need to start behind and to one side of your enemy, with both ships facing or turning to "Running with the Wind". At this point you can start zigzagging towards the enemy, switching from "collision course" to "parallel" constantly. You close the distance while firing at your enemy each time you're fully loaded, and use the zigzagging to pass under the enemy's broadsides. This is the reverse version of the "snaking chase" that I described above (Where you get the enemy to chase you, then shell it with alternate sides).


Oh and if you're using the canoe... well... ask rupert. He's the best.

[rupertlittlebear]

One of my favorite topics.

Have you ever noticed that you can steer their ship?

Really folks, you can steer their ship.

Their desire to land a full broadside is so predictable that you can use your position and direction to cause them to change direction. When you suddenly turn, often they will fire a full broadside just out of frustration.

While they re-load you can close on an intercept course. Then just as the last canons are being run out again, you turn to look like you have the intention of crossing their midline and they will turn to face your direction of travel again!!

Har Har Har, another round of the same!!

They rarely fire with less than a full broadside. Ah that quiet time.

The fact that they do not know what a reef is becomes another tactical advantage. You can steer them into the rocks.

[Sashanan]

An AI quirk I like to take advantage of is that they decide whether to circle around you or try to ram you depending on how big their crew is relative to yours, and how many guns you both have. If you have considerably more guns than your opponent, they'll forget all about broadsides and just head straight for you. If your crew is big enough, that's precisely what you want; you can win the battle easily and add an undamaged prize to your fleet without taking on any damage yourself either.

This alone is a good reason to take a Ship of the Line, sometimes. You never actually have to *fire* those 48 guns, you just have to have them and scare your enemies witless. Kind of like nuclear weapons, where their real political power comes from having them, not from using them.

Though on higher levels, that SotL strategy doesn't work out for me, as enemies run away rather than ram and engage. From Adventurer on, I'd sooner use a Brig of War since the SotL has trouble catching smaller prizes.
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"Any fool can defend his or her mistakes; and most fools do." -- Dale Carnegie

[Vulture]

I really dont have much "tactics" as far as engaging the enemy. I just get within range with my Brig-of-War and Immediately engage the enemy. Not much escapes this powerful vessel. I just hammer down to the next vessel if one should escape. But it is a rare thing indeed for one to get away.
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32 brightly polished cannons, a bottle o'rum, ahh..... a pirates life for me!

[Civrules]

If I am afraid that the ship might escape, I use chainshot to beat up its sails. Then some grapeshot if there are a lot of men on it.
One thing to keep a note... never beat up a warship with roundshot, they sometimes explode when you do that.

[bryce777]

First I like to yell HARRRR!!!

Then for the really tough battles I yell SHIVER ME TIMBERS!

Sometimes, I get really nasty and break out the chu-van!

[headrock]

NO! ANYTHING BUT THE CHU-VAN!
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Blondebeard: "Madre de Dios! Es el Pollo Diablo!!"
<Spanish Guitar Riff>
Guybrush: "Si! He dejado en libertad los prisioneros, y ahora vengo por TE!"