Gunnery

[fleetp]

I'm playing at journeyman level, with swordsmanship as my primary skill.
My ship has brass cannons, fine grain powder, the Gunner specialist as part of the crew, and my number of crew members is at the max..
It appears (I might me mistaken) that my cannons don;t shoot as far as they did with the same setting when I played on apprentice level.
I checked the game user manual and the strategy guide. Are there any 'special items' that would improve my gunnery (beyond what I already have)?

[corsair91]

What can affects gunnery is
taking Gunner as your special skill;
the Gunner specialist; fine-grain powder; and bronze cannons.


According to
FAQ/Strategy Guide by Sashanan
Version: 1.5 | Updated: 05/12/2008
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/915017-sid-meiers-pirates/faqs/34143


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DIFFICULTY LEVEL
-----------------------

The damage dealt by your cannons and those of the enemy is dependent on
level. On lower levels, you'll do a lot of damage while enemy cannons barely
faze you. On higher levels, it will be the other way around.

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SPECIAL SKILL
------------------

GUNNERY
Lets your crew load their guns more quickly and makes the game more forgiving
in terms of accuracy. Since hitting enemies on higher levels can be tricky,
Gunnery skill can make the difference there. This one's not particularly
popular since many people prefer not to fire on enemies too much to keep their
ships intact. But don't discard it too quickly; it also makes the difference
when using different types of ammo that don't harm ships so much, and having
the ability to get off good Grape Shots can be very important on higher levels.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[7.3] SHIP UPGRADES
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

GRAPE SHOT
Allows the ship to use Grape Shot as an alternative ammunition type. Switch
to Grape Shot in battle by pressing 1; this can be done while the cannons are
loading and even when they're already loaded. Grape Shot has the shortest
range of all shot types and is hard to hit with. However, it mostly does
damage to the enemy crew, doing only very light damage against sails and hull.
It is perfect for weakening an enemy crew before boarding while leaving the
ship as intact as possible.

CHAIN SHOT
Allows the ship to use Chain Shot as an alternative ammunition type. Switch to
this by pressing 7 in battle. As with Grape Shot, you can do this at any time.
Chain Shot has better range than Grape Shot but not as much as regular Round
Shot does. When it hits, it mostly damages the enemy's sails but leaves its
hull intact. This is particularly useful if an enemy is threatening to outrun
you or maneuvering around you. A good broadside of this can cripple an enemy
ship without any real danger of sinking it before you have a chance to plunder
it. If you wipe out an enemy's sails entirely, they will always strike their
colours.

BRONZE CANNONS
Bronze Cannons fire more accurately than regular ones. Your shots don't spread
out as much, and a small degree of auto-aiming takes place when you fire your
broadside. Overall, your broadsides will do considerably more damage with this
upgrade.

FINE-GRAIN POWDER
Fine-grain Powder gives your cannons a better range for all three ammunition
types. Especially with the shorter range on Chain Shot and Grape Shot, this
difference can be very significant.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
[7.4] CREW SPECIALISTS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

GUNNER
Gunners train your crew in fast reloading. Your accuracy is unaffected - that's
what Bronze Cannons are for - but the reloading speed is increased
significantly. About twice as fast, as far as I can tell. This is an important
advantage in battle, depending on how often you rely on your guns. If you're
the kind of pirate who prefers to ram the enemy without using your cannons at
all, you'll likely be indifferent about the Gunner. But on higher levels you
usually don't have the luxury of not using them, making the Gunner much more
important then.


https://sidmeierspirates.fandom.com/wiki/Cannons


The only other thing I can think off that can also affect the Cannon ball speed is the

AdamMil - The Challenge Pack Mod
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=24

http://www.adammil.net/blog/v121_The_Sid_Meier_s_Pirates_Challenge_Pack.html

Includes

realistic cannonball speeds
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6760

This mod increases the cannonballs to a realistic speed, giving a very different and more challenging combat experience.

Replacement game executable

[corsair91]

Forgot about the PHTrainer

PHTrainer v3.20
https://www.lonebullet.com/tools/download-sid-meiers-pirates-phtrainer-v320-free-295.htm

PHTrainer Version 3.X
http://www.hookedonpirates.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5711


Includes amongst other options

Options Tab:
Create Phantom Cannons For Battle - You'll Always get maximum Cannons For battle Whether You Have Them Or Not

Fleet Status Tab:
Make your ships unable to get hurt.

Battle Tab:
No Reload for Your ship and/or enemy - You don't have to wait to fire again.
Enemy Only fire Cannons Once
Change/Lock amount of crew and guns in battle
Destroy Enemy Sails, Crew, or Hulls (separately)

Top Ten Tab:
Raymond/Montalban Options - Change their ship, Max Crew, Max Guns, Speed Boost

[fleetp]

Thanks. I'll look into the options in the PH trainer

[Guardacostas]

Gunnery i can say is the only talent i never tried. Usually i like a large crew so fencing is pretty easy, plus the more you damage an enemy ship the more it costs to repair.

[corsair91]

Other than the PH Trainer
Don't think anyone has done a "Superman" style mod
where all talents (special skills) are maxed out or for different talent combinations.


Never tried Gunnery talent either

I tend to consider how far way is the nearest port you can get a good ship price when you have Free ship repairs.
Or if paying for repairs what sort of expected profit if you do fix up the ship.
The more you damage a ship rigging with chainshot, the slower it is going to sail afterwards


Also what cargo, or type of enemy ship
if not worth bothering about, sink it and harvest the crew which takes good pre-positioning and don't care about reputation

Grape shot to reduce any oversize enemy crew first,
to avoid being over matched in fencing by opposing numbers

Type of ship and how fast a sailing ship you intend sailing may influence the choice of talent.