The Proper Use of the Brig of War
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Airsaw
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 Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:51 am Post subject: The Proper Use of the Brig of War |
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It's here at last, after much anticipation. The release was delayed due to the need to install several patches. (The attrition on crew eyeballs brought about by pirating activity is a subject for future study.)
In conjunction with Our Pleasure Productions, Airsaw announces the release of his much anticipated guide on the proper use of the brig of war while pirating on the Spanish Main. Well, he did announce the release while pirating on the Spanish Main. However, the guide is how to use a brig of war while pirating on the...ahem. And so, without further ado, here it is:
The Brig of War
This is a Powerpoint presentation, so don't forget the full-screen view button at the lower righthand corner. Done at 800 x 600 resolution. Hit your control key, F11 to full-screen your browser, then rightclick your tool bar and select "auto-hide". Click the center of the pages to turn them. Use your ESC key to exit the presentation. Close the browser window it opens by clicking the X in your title bar. Enjoy!
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headrock
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| Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:10 am Post subject: |
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ROFL!
Oh man, you had me laughing out loud several times there.
Not sure that had a lot of insight on how to use a Brig, I mean, that Galleon+Galleon fight looks much more interesting than the pirate fights (I mean, going straight for a boarding? Get a Canoe!), in other words I don't think we've seen the best of Brig Tactics, but it was still a wonderful read nonetheless. Kinda makes one want to do a presentation on "How to sink a Flag Galleon in three easy steps" or something, but I'll refrain. Anyhow, are we going to see some spectacular non-boarding fights? Preferably ones where the enemy doesn't turn his a$$ downwind, losing the fight before it even started? Again, that Galleon+Galleon fight looks like interesting material...
P.S. what difficulty was this played in?
P.P.S. What the hell? The Pinnace didn't turn perpendicular and speed off to the distance? I'm completely baffled. That's what they usually do whenever I attack them!
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Airsaw
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| Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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Ah...the galleons. I was matured in my career. (I always play Rogue, less stressful on my aged bones.) Since I'm a Spaniard this time I figured it would be appropriate to drive a galleon. SO, I figured, hey - flag galleon with two treasure galleons hauling the provisions should be nice. WELL there were these "new warships" which in the main were flag galleons, so I attacked one being escorted by a fast galleon. IT turned out to be a WAR galleon. Ugh. I won it, near Puerto Bello. Leaving port, though, here's this FLAG galleon sailing toward me, so I used the war galleon to capture it.
I think I have enough screenies of that battle for it to make sense. I'll check. Naturally, the galleon fleet simply MUST be a subject for itself, so I was saving the capture of it for that....which the bow and the fast galleon dealy seems to be an appendage of a sort, I guess.
Anyway, glad you laughed. It's kind of difficult to fight challenging ship to ship battles and be reaching for the prtscrn button. I'll see what I can do.
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kvollmer
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| Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:36 pm Post subject: How |
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Hey if you ever feel like it would be cool if you could demonstrate how to beat a sloop that doesn't charge straight at you. (Say like a pirate hunter) I'm just kind of wondering what the point is when 2 of the 3 ships you fought where pirates and just wanted to go nose to nose with you. Heck I can win that kinda battle with a trade galleon.
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Airsaw
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| Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 8:37 pm Post subject: Re: How |
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| kvollmer wrote: | | Hey if you ever feel like it would be cool if you could demonstrate how to beat a sloop that doesn't charge straight at you. (Say like a pirate hunter) I'm just kind of wondering what the point is when 2 of the 3 ships you fought where pirates and just wanted to go nose to nose with you. Heck I can win that kinda battle with a trade galleon. |
The point is, what's the point you're looking for? I charge and board. The only ship that escapes me is the pinnace-class. If you're looking for some loopty-doop, ballet sequence, sorry. No need for that in my brig of war. I close, dodge fire as I come in, then board and seize the prize. That's what piratin is about. All I need to know is what are the defensive strategies of each ship I attack, so I know HOW they'll fire, and how to pursue. If you have 32 guns, 32 guns does the same amount of damage no matter what kind of ship they're on. If I want a surrender, I just fire on the target. What's the big secret to that?
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headrock
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| Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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About not having to "dance around", as you said, basically that's true - the Brig doesn't really need it if you can assure some sort of numerical advantage in men. But then again, EVERY ship can do that - download the Fluyt Vs. SOL scenario, the only way you can finish that one is by charging and boarding, there's nothing you can do other than that, not even escape. And I assure you it can be done, AND WON; heck I've done it myself. But boarding without shooting is not a sea battle. I'm sure Rupert will agree with me that War Canoing is all about AVOIDING sea battle. So what makes the Brig different than a Canoe in this case? Less maneuverability? So what, you got thrice as many men (ok, potentially thrice). Your presentation shows that the Enemy, no matter who they are, are too stupid to fend off something like that, again, regardless of what ship you are using - I can do the same in a Frigate, what's the difference? Most Sloop players probably go for this approach too, and I doubt Trade Galleons can do much but this against enemy warships. It doesn't truly show how a Brig handles SEA COMBAT, it shows how a Brig AVOIDS sea combat.
Contrary to that, it's your choice and absolute freedom on whether you want to show sea combat or not, and in some scenarios you did soften up the enemy with cannonfire, and even subdued that pinnace which was damn fine work in my opinion - I guess what's more interesting is showing how the Brig handles tough situations, bad odds, bad wind-conditions, where sea battle is more complex. But of course, a good captain always knows how to avoid, or defuse, a complex situation before it happens, so actually forcing yourself to start combat with bad odds neither reflects your strategy nor your skill; I would never write tactical guides on how to use a Frigate when approaching from upwind, because a good captain doesn't need to ever tackle such bad conditions, when he can easily avoid them or circumvent them before they occur. Kind of like teaching an apprentice carpenter how to pull out his twisted nails rather than teaching him how to drive them into the wood correctly.
Ergo Kvollmer, while I too am sad we didn't get to see any really interesting battles, which the potential OBVIOUSLY allows, Airsaw is right - this is apparently the easiest way to use the Brig. Mayhap a bit disappointing, but the only thing that is to blame is the poor AI - even at swashbuckler it doesn't prove to be too difficult to beat with this tactic. And that goes for most ships.
However, and this is a big "however", as a big-ship captain one of the first things you learn is how to minimize damage and risk as much as you can. For some ships, learning to sail and learning to avoid damage are one and the same. For others it is far less obvious. And it is my opinion, due to my own training, that a battle situation is never good unless you were not at any real risk of sustaining damage at any point. Unfortunately, aside from the Canoe, I have yet to meet ships that can do the charge-and-board without exposing themselves to damage, and this goes for the Mail Runner too (what a big sucker that one is). If your reflexes are great, you might sneak out of a few "close calls", but again, I think that each of the warships has its own tactics that allow it to avoid damage altogether. For some the avoidance tactics are obvious (canoe), for some it will baffle people until they figure it out (Frigate), but to accept losses in combat, damage to the ship or sails, or loss of cannons, is in my opinion acceptance of mediocrity. Perhaps I'm overly perfectionist, but I think that, for any ship type, these are the most interesting and important battle scenarios - where one ship maintains utter dominance over the other from get go to the boarding or surrender of the other ship. With a charge-and-board, we see more of "let's get it over with before the enemy gets lucky and I get one in the face (or mast, or whatever it is the enemy is aiming at)". Excuse the preposition at the end there. Hmmm.
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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!"
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Airsaw
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| Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 12:27 am Post subject: |
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| headrock wrote: | | About not having to "dance around", as you said, basically that's true - the Brig doesn't really need it if you can assure some sort of numerical advantage in men. |
Excuse me? Didn't you look at the numbers? I have a numerical advantage only in one encounter, with the merchant vessel, and then only eleven men. I took Blackbeard with a crew of 46. One Monty encounter with as much, and Reymoldo with just 26 guys.
| headrock wrote: | | But then again, EVERY ship can do that - download the Fluyt Vs. SOL scenario, |
Again, you miss the point. In the sailing to and fro, I'm sure you'd want to use a fluyt. The BoW gets all over the map with no hassle with regard to wind.
| headrock wrote: | | So what makes the Brig different than a Canoe in this case? Less maneuverability? So what, you got thrice as many men (ok, potentially thrice). Your presentation shows that the Enemy, no matter who they are, are too stupid to fend off something like that, again, regardless of what ship you are using - I can do the same in a Frigate, what's the difference? Most Sloop players probably go for this approach too, and I doubt Trade Galleons can do much but this against enemy warships. It doesn't truly show how a Brig handles SEA COMBAT, it shows how a Brig AVOIDS sea combat. |
It says "aesthetic reasons" in one of my presentations. IT LOOKS GOOD. I LIKE IT.
| headrock wrote: | | Contrary to that, it's your choice and absolute freedom on whether you want to show sea combat or not, and in some scenarios you did soften up the enemy with cannonfire, and even subdued that pinnace which was damn fine work in my opinion - I guess what's more interesting is showing how the Brig handles tough situations, bad odds, bad wind-conditions, where sea battle is more complex. But of course, a good captain always knows how to avoid, or defuse, a complex situation before it happens, so actually forcing yourself to start combat with bad odds neither reflects your strategy nor your skill; |
I'm at a loss as to why this is relevant. I'm not telling YOU what to do. I'm telling you what I do. I mainly do what I do in a game because of the purpose of the game, for me IT'S FUN.
| headrock wrote: | | I would never write tactical guides on how to use a Frigate when approaching from upwind, because a good captain doesn't need to ever tackle such bad conditions, when he can easily avoid them or circumvent them before they occur. Kind of like teaching an apprentice carpenter how to pull out his twisted nails rather than teaching him how to drive them into the wood correctly. |
I have a word you need to look up - s a r c a s m. Check it out.
| headrock wrote: | | Ergo Kvollmer, while I too am sad we didn't get to see any really interesting battles, which the potential OBVIOUSLY allows, Airsaw is right - this is apparently the easiest way to use the Brig. Mayhap a bit disappointing, but the only thing that is to blame is the poor AI - even at swashbuckler it doesn't prove to be too difficult to beat with this tactic. And that goes for most ships. |
I'm sorry I failed to meet your expectation...however, I wasn't trying to. I figured you thought there was some magic song-and-dance about this, or was it you thought I THOUGHT there was? Geez. I just divorced an anal retentive - obsessive compulsive. 
| headrock wrote: | | However, and this is a big "however", as a big-ship captain one of the first things you learn is how to minimize damage and risk as much as you can. For some ships, learning to sail and learning to avoid damage are one and the same. For others it is far less obvious. And it is my opinion, due to my own training, that a battle situation is never good unless you were not at any real risk of sustaining damage at any point. Unfortunately, aside from the Canoe, I have yet to meet ships that can do the charge-and-board without exposing themselves to damage, and this goes for the Mail Runner too (what a big sucker that one is). If your reflexes are great, you might sneak out of a few "close calls", but again, I think that each of the warships has its own tactics that allow it to avoid damage altogether. For some the avoidance tactics are obvious (canoe), for some it will baffle people until they figure it out (Frigate), but to accept losses in combat, damage to the ship or sails, or loss of cannons, is in my opinion acceptance of mediocrity. Perhaps I'm overly perfectionist, but I think that, for any ship type, these are the most interesting and important battle scenarios - where one ship maintains utter dominance over the other from get go to the boarding or surrender of the other ship. With a charge-and-board, we see more of "let's get it over with before the enemy gets lucky and I get one in the face (or mast, or whatever it is the enemy is aiming at)". Excuse the preposition at the end there. Hmmm. |
If I walk away with the ship as a prize, apparantly there is some "utter dominence" involved. Maybe you think it's best the ship sees you appear on the horizon and surrenders immediately. Best of all worlds, I doubt your mighty SotL sees that very much...unless the ship is pre-damaged by weather or a raider vessel.
What's so mystifying about using a pinnace, war canoe, mail runner, zig zagging about dodging cannonballs, lobbing long range shots? The BoW goes straight for the throat, in fine pirate fashion, dodges ANYTHING if the right "coordination" is applied (the point of a video game using a joystick or control pad....) AND it looks good while doing it. It sails the board efficiently and in more than adequate time, carries a crew big enough to attack ALL ports should the need arise, and basically has nothing wrong with it at all...NO weakness but for the fact it...as well as a SotL cannot chase down a fleeing pinnace. Geez. It is an ENTERTAINMENT, not ROCKET SCIENCE.
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headrock
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| Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:10 am Post subject: |
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You seem to have completely misunderstood. I wasn't criticizing you, your decisions, nor your presentation. I'm merely pointing out to Kvollmer, and in fact to everyone, how easy it is for the game to sink into mediocrity. And this is without barring myself - my methods eventually grow repetitive, and seem futile when you see how easily all kinds of ships can just allow themselves to "go for the throat", as you put it. There's no excitement in any of this.
I miss the excitement, and I suppose I was hoping your presentation would provide me some. It did not. Am I allowed to feel disappointed?
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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!"
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Airsaw
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| Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:16 am Post subject: |
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| headrock wrote: | | I miss the excitement, and I suppose I was hoping your presentation would provide me some. It did not. Am I allowed to feel disappointed? |
I was, on the other hand, pointing out you expect too much. Pirates 2 is just an elaboration on Pirates. Pirates was, is, a good game with a certain amount of diversion. No more, no less. You may as well expect tic tac toe to be chess. Nyah.
IF YOU WANT the sort of elaboration you seek, you really need to get Battlefield 2, and the Special Forces expansion. There, I'm Astralman. I'll see you in the Gulf of Oman.
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b4lazarus
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| Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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Headrock... didn't you read the disclaimer??:
| Airsaw wrote: | | All law suits should be filed against rupertlittlebear who swore he’d defray any costs incurred through defamation, slander or libel. |
BTW Airsaw, the presentation did cause me to fire up the game again and play for an hour or two.
Crappy that the mod community cannot do their magic on this game, and revive it 
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Airsaw
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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| b4lazarus wrote: | Headrock... didn't you read the disclaimer??:
| Airsaw wrote: | | All law suits should be filed against rupertlittlebear who swore he’d defray any costs incurred through defamation, slander or libel. |
BTW Airsaw, the presentation did cause me to fire up the game again and play for an hour or two.
Crappy that the mod community cannot do their magic on this game, and revive it |
What ELSE is crappy is Take-Two is facing charges of dumping their own stock when news got out about this OTHER game they "own". If they don't stick by their own company, they sure don't take what they "own" seriously enough to apply decent quality control standards. Atari DUMPED the game on them, for what rea$on it's hard to fathom. Take-Two, bless their pointed little heads, are turning out to be the cosa nostra of computer gaming.
I HOPE THEY LOSE THE LAWSUIT! (crosses fingers)
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headrock
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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Mui Interesanto. Link?
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Blondebeard: "Madre de Dios! Es el Pollo Diablo!!"
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Guybrush: "Si! He dejado en libertad los prisioneros, y ahora vengo por TE!"
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b4lazarus
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, Take Two sued for insider trading, disowning Rockstar, lying about GTA and Hot Coffee, what else can they screw up??
I hope they don't screw around with 2K and fruit up TES Oblivion.
@Headrock.. just google "take two", there's a mess of stories on their troubles.
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headrock
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 1:02 am Post subject: |
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LOL, Jesus these guys are so screwed 
Well, serves them right for what they did to SMP, or rather, what they didn't do for SMP.
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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!"
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Cap'n Scurvy
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| headrock wrote: | LOL, Jesus these guys are so screwed
Well, serves them right for what they did to SMP, or rather, what they didn't do for SMP. |
What do you mean? I think the game is pretty well designed and rendered for a November 2004 release. The tone could have been darker and the animations less cartoonish, I guess, but I don't have any major complaints about it.
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