Ok this post got kinda long but i think it's well explained.
Proposition for a new officer type titled Commodore.
The Commodore will be able to control a convoy which will be a collection of fleets, say 1-5 fleets or 2-10 fleets.
The convoy can consist of X fleets of any composition so you could have a few Trade fleets and a couple of Battle Fleets for protection. When a convoy docks at port it gains danger equal to the total amount of fleets it is comprised of and at the top of the hour it losses danger equal to the total fleets. So if it contained 5 fleets then docking would generate 5 danger and the top of the hour it would lose 5 danger.
A convoy would show on the Plunder screen similar to a Fleet except, instead of seeing individual ships you would see the names of the fleets and the fleet IDs. (Spy network would then allow you to compare fleet IDs to your spy report to determine what the convoy comprised of)
When a convoy is attacked it could either be a random chance which fleet you engage, you could engage the fastest fleet in the convoy, you could engage the slowest fleet IF your fleet is faster than the fastest fleet or you could maybe pick a position in the convoy to attack, so if i pick position 3 i engage the fleet in this position. This would have the advantage of giving pirates more targets to aim for without the need for voodoo, but it would also be a gamble because you could potentially land a Battle Fleet.
If your attack is successful you get a % chance to engage another fleet in the convoy but you are more likely to engage a faster fleet? You would not be able to repair between engagements but you get the option to not attack and flee if you so choose.
The amount won for beating a fleet in a convoy should be lower than that won from attacking a normal fleet as there is the option to attack multiple fleets at once if you are lucky. Perhaps if you win once and lose the second time you lose all your plunder from the first win?
**Hostile Natives and Fugitive from Justice should still act independently and post the fleets singly as it would normally.**
Scenario 1: Random Fleet (A random fleet is selected every time, no strategy as such just pure luck)
Shaydo has Convoy 'Food' which consists of 5 fleets, position 1 contains a Battle fleets of fast ships and slots 2-4 contain trade fleets of slow ships. They dock at port and the convoy gains 5 danger, it is then attacked by Black Sparrow. He first gets slot 5 and engages a trade fleet which he destroys, lady luck smiles and offers him another chance to engage, he gets fleet 4 and destroys another trade fleet. He is truly lucky today because he gets to hit another fleet and thinking his luck is in he engages but this time he lands the battle fleet and gets torn to pieces and loses his plunder.
Scenario 2: Fastest fleet (Work your way down the list from fastest to slowest, almost guarantees you engage a BF first)
Shaydo has Convoy 'Iron' which consists of 5 fleets, position 1 contains a Battle fleets of fast ships and slots 2-4 contain trade fleets of slow ships. They dock at port and the convoy gains 5 danger, it is then attacked by Black Sparrow and he has to engage the battle fleet first. He defeats the battle fleet while suffering losses and gets the chance to engage another fleet, he decides to continue and because there as only 1 fast fleet he then begins attacking a very slow trade fleet, he wins again and luckily gets the chance to engage again which of course he decides to do and wipes out another trade fleet. Lady luck is shinning and he is given the option to attack another slow fleet but because of damages so far sustained he decides to break off the encounter and head for port with his plunder.
Scenario 3: Slowest Fleet IF your fleet is faster than fastest fleet (maybe each engagement increase the chance it will be the battle fleet you engage by 20%?)
Shaydo has Convoy 'Tools' which consists of 5 fleets, position 1 contains a Battle fleets of fast ships and slots 2-4 contain trade fleets of slow ships. They dock at port and the convoy gains 5 danger, it is then attacked by Black Sparrow and because he is using a fleet of Very Fast ships he outruns the battle fleet and gets the chance to engage one of the very slow trade fleets, he destroys the trade fleet and luckily gets the option to attack another fleet. The battle fleet has been bearing down on him since he started attacking so if he re-engages he is unsure if he will get a trade fleet again or if the battle fleet will have arrived and he will have to engage that one instead so he heads for port with his plunder.
Scenario 4: Pick position to engage (If used with spy network could guarantee a Trade fleet, but defeats the point of adding battle fleets?)
Shaydo has Convoy 'Tobacco' which consists of 5 fleets, position 3 contains a Battle fleets of fast ships and slots 1,2,4,5 contain trade fleets of slow ships. They dock at port and the convoy gains 5 danger, it is then attacked by Black Sparrow who decides to attack position 2, he engages a trade fleet and wins, he gets the chance to attack again and he then has to select either position 1 or 3 to engage next. He selects position 3 thinking the Battle fleet is at the front and gets torn to pieces and loses his plunder.
What are peoples thoughts on this, would you use Commodores, what scenario do you think would work best, did i miss anything?