The "Line of Battle"

[Shadowood]

Maybe the Simple answer is: the SoTL and MoW are strictly confined to fleets containing themselves only

I approve this message

[PFH]

Maybe the Simple answer is: the SoTL and MoW are strictly confined to fleets containing themselves only

I approve this message

Of course you do

[Darakis]

What of the tail ships? most war fleets would usually have a Sloop or Cutter for a tail. The I see it the weaker ships would be the 1st ones out & the stronger ships would be the last ones standing. What happens if the last ship of the fleet loses?

[Sir Thalius Hayle]

True...however, under the current combat system SoTLs do open fire on lesser ships.

Maybe the Simple answer is: the SoTL and MoW are strictly confined to fleets containing themselves only, thus allowing for "Line" combat. another layer could be added in tactics where pre-set manuevers are included to give the player the possibility of getting stern and Bow shots for extra damage.

Great suggestion. +1

Fleets containing only SoTL and MoW ships would be high value and prime targets for pirates and privateers though, which makes them hard to put at sea without a lot of risk under the current system.

Hornigold's individual fleet treasury idea (viewtopic.php?f=4&t=3969#p59625) would help make fleets like that more possible though, as players would have to target and hunt individual fleets in order to take them. Currently one can simply light up all of a player's fleets, wait while all of the the player's less powerful fleets are attacked to drain the player's treasury, then begin hitting the high value targets to take them.

Confining SoTL and MoW ships to their own fleets would open up a whole dimension of naval warfare for the other ships available in the game, thus making them more useful.

Question would be, what if a fleet containing no SoTL or MoW ships is attacked by a SoTL/MoW fleet? How would battle ensue? That would be something to think on.

For now though, I would still like to suggest that battle in "The Line" work more as I originally suggested it until fleet formations could be discussed or implemented. It would allow for more strategy with regard to fleet setups once certain tech/tactics are put in place.

As for the question of ransom concerning tail ships being the first to go down and the last to be sunk being the strongest, perhaps the ransom should be based on a percentage of the fleet's total value rather than the base cost of any one ship.

Still open for suggestions before moving this to the official "suggestion" forum thread.

[Sir Thalius Hayle]

What of the tail ships? most war fleets would usually have a Sloop or Cutter for a tail. The I see it the weaker ships would be the 1st ones out & the stronger ships would be the last ones standing. What happens if the last ship of the fleet loses?

Three options I could envision. I'm sure there are more than 3, but these are what I would offer:

1) Ransom is still arbitrarily determined by tail ship in the fleet. This keeps ransom levels at current expectations.

2) Ransom will be determined by over-all fleet value, and percentages adjusted to keep it reasonable. This would shake up a lot of things when it comes to determining fleet make-up, and plunder expenses could still be accurately estimated and accounted for.

3) Ransom could be determined by value of first ship to go down. It would be most vulnerable to plundering as it was dead in the water the longest. I would imagine the weakest ships would tend to go down first (tails) but an attacker could reap higher rewards if they could manage to sink a larger ship first instead.

[Jack Teach]

Excellent idea!

[Sir Thalius Hayle]

Suggestion as it stands right now is this:

Make the Line of Battle more strategic.

Purpose:

1) Emphasis ships and ship types in combat by adding greater opportunity for strategy in ship choice and placement in a fleet.
2) Make outcome of naval battles more skill and tech/equipment oriented by providing a battle mechanic that better allows for their strategic use.

Currently when fleets face off in battle, the ships go head to head one ship at a time. Each lead ship battles until it's hit points are gone, and then the surviving ship faces off with the next opponent in line.

This post is to suggest a change in that battle mechanic:

Allow for battle to involve both fleets passing each other in battle in such a way that every ship passes every other ship in a line and fires on every other ship as they pass. Ships that survive the first round line up for a second pass. This continues until all ships on one side are sunk.

Basically this, by way of illustration:



At this point in the game attributes assigned to effect ship armor, accuracy, damage and other such things as well as player tech investments and which ships are placed where in the line will determine much about which ships survive the engagement. Future items such as ship tech added by players as well as possible customized ship attributes when constructed at shipwright will have significant effects on outcomes of such battles.

Plunder values for such battles are suggested to be determined in one of three ways:

1) Plunder values remain unchanged and are determined by value of tail ship of loosing fleet, the way the game currently works.

2) Plunder values are determined by over-all value of loosing fleet, with percentages adjusted to keep values appropriate. Losses are still consistent and able to be calculated and expected within reason.

3) Plunder values are determined by value of the first sunk ship of losing fleet. Plunder losses are a bit less certain, with higher losses going to enemies that are able to sink more valuable ships in the fleet first. Personally my preferred suggestion.

A suggestion was made in response to a historical reference that amounted to a suggestions of being able to assign SoTL and MoW ships only to fleets that were comprised of those ships. I find this idea intriguing and a potential change that would place greater emphasis on many of the other ship types that get over looked in favor of the ships with the bigger guns. I will not address the suggestion here though, as it seems appropriate for a different discussion on ships and their various roles in the game.

Humbly submitted for discussion before moving the idea over to an official game suggestion...

~TH~

[Captain Savage]

I love this and have been asking for a system like this since I started