How to attack friendly nations?

rjfalcont · Powder Monkey Posts: 6 **188 Gold** -

Hi. When I was against the Spaniards I took several of their cities to make my way to the rank of duke among the other nations. But now I have decided to be in favor of the Spaniards and return the cities that I took but it's too complicated, the "attack the city" button does not appear in friendly cities. I spend quite some time circling the city sinking every ship of that nation in its vicinity and nothing changes. I need tips.

English from Google Translate

rjfalcont · Powder Monkey Posts: 6 **188 Gold** -

I read that you have to shoot the city but that option don't appear. Maybe in NES version can but en 2004 PC version don't

fleetp · Boatswain Posts: 3852 **37192 Gold** -

If you sail past the harbor of the city and press the spacebar, your ship will fire cannonballs at the city.
I THINK (not sure) that you can then land your ship outside the city and then attack it by land.
.

Roland · Helmsman Posts: 4122 **22914 Gold** -

If you are playing the patched version, I don't think you can attack a city whose nationality you changed - unless the AI subsequently changed it again.

corsair91 · Sailing Master Posts: 8171 **220070 Gold** -

Sid Meier's Pirates!

Downloading patch and what does it change?

https://support.2k.com/hc/en-us/articles/201333793-Downloading-patch-and-what-does-it-change-

V1.02

The Following Issues have been Fixed:

includes

Allow re-sack of town if AI sacks town
Don't allow AI sack of town of we've gone as far as rescuing the daughter.
Daughter reset if AI takes over town

see web page for complete List of changes

corsair91 · Sailing Master Posts: 8171 **220070 Gold** -

What appears to an early 2005 v1.2 version of the
FAQ/Strategy Guide by Sashanan
is here

http://www.hookedonpirates.com/guide/index.php
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/guide/strategyguide/

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/915017-sid-meiers-pirates

FAQ/Strategy Guide by Sashanan

Version: 1.5 | Updated: 05/12/08

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/915017-sid-meiers-pirates/faqs/34143

[5.3] Land battles

Land battles usually occur when you decide to attack a town. In a turn based
strategy minigame, you move your pirate units across the map, trying to
outmaneuver and defeat the defenders. You win either by routing all defending
units or by reaching the gates of the city with one of your units. You lose if
all your units are routed.

In order to attack a town, you must do either of two things:

- Beach your ship some distance away from the town and march inside, then pick
the option to attack the town when it is presented;

- Sail into a hostile town which opens fire on you as you try to enter, then
pick the option to attack.

The latter only works if the town opens fire on you; otherwise, you will just
sail inside peacefully and never get the option to attack. For this reason, it
is usually easier to use the former method. If you can't (perhaps the island
the town is on is too small, St. Eustatius is a good example), or if you just
don't want to, you'll need to piss off the town enough to open fire on you. The
best way to do that is either to get a price placed on your head by its nation
(just keep attacking them), or to get an individual grudge from the town. To do
the latter, attack ships coming in and going out of the town, and press the
space bar a couple of times to bombard its fort with your cannons while on the
world map. Especially on the higher levels, their patience runs thin, and
you'll soon be able to attack them from sea. Be aware that both approaches will
impact the town's wealth, however, so don't overdo it (particularly not on the
bombardments, which gain you nothing).

[8] FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: I want to attack a city, but whenever I sail to it I just enter it! How do
I attack?
A: This happens if you try to attack a friendly city from the sea. It won't
work. There are two ways to attack a city:

- Beach your ship some distance away from it, choose to march, then march over
to the city. When your men reach it you get the option to attack it even if it
is friendly.

- Get the city hostile. This approach may be necessary if the city is on a
small island where you cannot actually beach your ship next to it (St. Catalina
comes to mind, as do many of the cities on the Windsward Islands). If you try
to sail into a hostile port, it will fire on you and you get the option to
attack it.

If the nation already has a price on your head, that should be enough to
convince most or all of their cities to open fire on you. If not, a good way to
get an individual city mad enough at you to open fire is to capture some
of the ships going in and out. They have very little patience with this if
you snatch them right outside port. Alternatively, or in addition to this,
pressing the space bar just outside a port lets you bombard their fort. This
doesn't seem do much damage to their garrison, but it will piss them off. Soon
you should be able to do an attack from the sea. Do note that this approach
can really ruin the population and wealth rating of a city, so you're cutting
into your own plunder.

Guardacostas · Rigger Posts: 1043 **11231 Gold** -

Corsair, you're saying there's a 1.5 patch of SMP? I thought the final patch was 1.2

Roland · Helmsman Posts: 4122 **22914 Gold** -

Guardacostas · Rigger Posts: 1043 **11231 Gold** -

Good to know! lol

corsair91 · Sailing Master Posts: 8171 **220070 Gold** -

Sid Meier's Pirates! latest Patch is v1.02

Latest version of the Sashanan's guide FAQ on Gamefqs is v1.5

Guardacostas · Rigger Posts: 1043 **11231 Gold** -

Thank you both!!