this suggestion will diversify how the fleets react in battle. the outcome of a battle will depend no longer only on ship strength but also on the strategy chosen.

each player starts out with the basic 'form the line' strategy as it is now. after 500 battles (win or lose) a player can add a 2nd strategy; more come after a 1000, 3000 5000 and 10000 battles are won or lost. It is up to the player whether he gets attack or defensive strategies.

One strategy per fleet can be set. These strategies can be changed when a fleet is in a port.

1 form the line
Attack strategies:
2 hammer and anvil
3 wedge
4 False flag (skirmish only)
defense strategies:
1 form the line
5 patrol
6 disperse
7 convoy

1 Form the line.
All ships in the fleet form a line and sail past the enemy ships.
This is the standard strategy with no pros and cons.

2 Hammer and anvil.
The fleet separates in to elements. The first engages; when the enemy ships try to escape they’re met by the ‘anvil’.
PRO: Ships that manage to escape are caught and attack by the 2nd element
CON: Fleet is separated into elements and has less firepower. Since the fleet breaks in 2 elements, both elements will be regarded as fleets when they lose their battle.

3 Wedge:
An arrowhead formation in which the 3rd ship takes the center lead, the 2nd and 1st follow on the left and the 4th and 5th on the right. It breaks through the enemy line in the middle (attacks ship 3 first).
PRO: the lead ship will engage 2 ships at once.
Attacker can allocate lesser ships to the supposedly weak left flank. (First ship of the enemy will be far right, tail far left)
CON: lead ship receives per round double damage from 2 ships.

4 False flag:
Sails up to target fleet with neutral flag and thus gets in range without alerting the enemy.
PRO: halves the change to evade the attack
CON: gains hostility towards the ‘false flag’ nation.
Gets 50% more danger

5 Patrol:
The first ship sails ahead as a scout.
PRO: the ‘main fleet’ gets a small evasive bonus
CON: the patrol can be sunk, captured or plundered (a fifth of normal rate)

6 Disperse.
As soon as an attacker appears the fleet falls apart and each ship takes a separate course.
PRO: high chance that only 1 random ship (or 2 in case of anvil) gets attacked.
CON: delay in travel since the fleet has to ensemble again after it scrambled.
Each defeated ship has to pay ransom and can be sunk (again a fifth of normal fleet)

7 Convoy.
Defending warships engage the attacking fleet first, giving the merchant ships chance to escape.
PRO: Each round the warships survive gives the merchant ships a bit more time to escape. (To be caught by the ‘anvil’)
CON: Since the fleet breaks in 2 elements, both elements will be regarded as fleets when they lose their battle.
Delay in travel to get the ships back in position.

Bump. And +1 to the general idea.

Now, people can win by 2 methods: stronger,better - as everyone knows
attribute- Sometimes attributes can change the course of battle, as a result, the fleet with the perfect attribute wins

But this technique will enhance the strategy of the game, though only the veteran players can use it

Prostor wrote:Now, people can win by 2 methods: stronger,better - as everyone knows
attribute- Sometimes attributes can change the course of battle, as a result, the fleet with the perfect attribute wins

But this technique will enhance the strategy of the game, though only the veteran players can use it

now, veterans have hideout tech to gain advantage; this proposal does not rely on hideout but on battles engaged in win or lose. a peaceful trader who suffers a lot of attacks will be able to add defensive strategies because of that.

Great suggestions Maha. Adds depth to combat. Great for joint efforts in guild/nation wars. Players specialising in certain strategies can overcome their CON with good communication with a friendly/allied player.

+1

Sounds like a good rough draft to actual battle strategies +1

This could be one of the most interesting suggestions to really improve battle mechanics, but it seems not to be very read or interesting. It's a pity as it would be very much better than just draw some card.

Dejanira wrote:This could be one of the most interesting suggestions to really improve battle mechanics, but it seems not to be very read or interesting. It's a pity as it would be very much better than just draw some card.

Yep i think it sounds very interesting, it would add a little more strategy to the game

Bump again. And also this could weaken the voodoo importance in battles, maybe?
Isn't this suggestion worth a brainstorming? Many are pondering about voodoo in the witch doctor thread. Perhaps adding some interest in battles would divert people to play the witch doctor?