Battle Mechanics Question - Who Fires First

[Shadowood]

Since we are getting this all out. Where does Favorable Winds add into the equation. Is it 10% on Final Ship Speed?

Also where does Spanish Galleons fit in? Is it added onto the Final Ship Speed or somewhere before.

Thanks for the transparency on this subject CJ

[CrowsNest]

.....copy.....
I think that it is a good time to increase information flow on the battle engine. In this way, we will also improve it. It is a good engine but it surely can use improvements.

Perhaps discussions on ship ability can also enter the discussion. I have previously read form statements that a 60 att ship is the optimum fighting craft. Certainly in a prolonged battle that may well be the case, but not in all circumstances. The additional weight added by the iron protection increases the draft and without additional sail volume to compensate for the added weight the speed of such a vessel is diminished. Hence in many cases the additional weight disadvantages the 60 att vessel against a lesser weighted vessel (less iron) where other factors are present in equal proportions.

[Haron]

Complete transparency would be very nice, in my opinion.

It would make all those turns I've spent doing experiments to backwards engineer the combat rules wasted, but I still prefer transparency.

[Most Lee Harmless]

and why the sotl lose first shot 2 out of 3 to a frigate
maybe the sotl is not upgrade as we hink

The Sotl is not as fast as a Frigate : while both are classed as 'fast' the actual speed of each type is different : You will also find the Large Frigate is slower than a Frigate too. A simple way to see the difference is to use the 'travel calculator' function with each type in fleet.

The other thing about analyzing battle reports is that not all SotL's are the same, nor are all frigates : a 60 att Frigate will inflict considerable damage on a 40 att SotL, though it probably wont win the battle as the SotL will outlast it and wear it down : add in any voodoo cast, such as Bless/Drums, and any techs in play, any unrepaired damage pre-battle and it is all not so simple as the bigger ship will always win.

[Donald Trump]

I am pretty sure Plato's SoTL is not level 10. Shadowood's frigate is.

[Haron]

I don't see why you're so sure about that. If you're looking at the starting hit points, remember that he can have taken damage prior to the battle.

Anyway, a ship's level should not directly affect it's speed, so this should not influence who fires first.

(Han shot first, by the way...)

[Donald Trump]

I see his war fleet all the time on the Aiora boards...

[Haron]

That's the kind of information I think we should probably refrain from discussing here in the forum. What I may or may not know about his fleets I will not use in this discussion. Here I base my statements purely on the information provided, since Plato gave Shadowood permission to post that here. I'm sure there are several players who would be displeased if people started posting all their intel about others here :-)

[Donald Trump]

It is just the location of a war fleet. It can be moved. It isn't really valuable information. You can say my war fleet is in Gasp. Now it is in Akritori. He could have moved his now. I just see it on the plunderboards in Aiora sometimes.

[Captain Jack]

I am available to provide answers where needed but not educate anyone. Here is how I see this process:
-There is a book that contains info.
-There is no teacher to teach you this book (Which means we will not play the teacher role).
-Since the book is not complete though, we can add information to the book (in a transparent way).

So, on to the questions here without giving a chewed answer but rather providing info:

To determine if a cannon shot successfully landed, we first have the attacker ship which has an attack roll. Attack roll is determined by bronze cannon, double hammocks, crew and some luck.

Attack Roll and Initiative (who fires first) are two different checks.
Cotton Sails affect Initiative check.

Voodoo cards texting is always very carefully placed. What they write is what they do. This goes out for ALL cards.