how to win naval battles

[George Smith Patton]

how do i win naval battles?

[Wayz]

Make a line of ships upwind from the enemy "if you can" and then play a game of follow the leader with the goal of keeping as many ships broadsiding the enemy as you can for as long as yo can by snaking the line around them and countering their moves before lines break up for close combat melee and boarding action. Then its a case of keeping on top of every ships to keep their firing lines open on one or both sides. Is a lot of mouse work and messy so put this off as long as can.

[pgeerkens]

For small ship actions (as opposed to the fleet style engagements described by Wayz) a single Admiral's Fifth Rate is best. With their speed you can cross the T on any heavier vessels; then turn downwind on their front quarter (ie ahead of their broadside and behind the firing arc of their chasers) and gybe back and forth with chain shot to demast them.

The greater range of Fifth Rates compared to heavier vessels is great - but simply staying out of their firing arc is safer than relying on the range, which is difficult to eyeball accurately. Two hits from a Galleon is iffy - but a third will definitely sink you. I routinely can take out 2 or 3 galleons this way; and once captured 5, though that was touch-and-go the whole time and I was almost caught in the arena corner a couple of times.

Once the opposing vessels are all demasted you can work around to their stern and rake them with round shot to force a surrender. Stay at range doing this - as Galleons have a tail gun comparable to their chasers that is also capable of sinking you with just a couple of hits.

Admirals have at least a 50% chance of getting a favourable Attribute or Follower when taking out a heavier vessel at minimal casualties/hits. Build up your Admirals this way - then you can Auto-resolve fleet style engagements with much greater confidence.

There are comments on other threads on doing this with vessels lighter than a Sixth Rate. It's doable (on VH/VH, the difficulty level I play on); but man, it takes forever. I gave it a go with Brig against a Galleon one time. Even on 4x speed I'm sure it took near 30 minutes before those masts came down on just a single Galleon. This is probably best reserved for those playing on the lower difficulties; and those with far more patience than I have.

Finally, there is the opposite scenario: taking on multiple light vessels such as Brigs and Sloops with a single Fifth Rate. Here the danger is that one of the boats can grapple and immobilize you, allowing the other vessels to join the pile-on and overwhelm your crew. The basic tactics are the same, but you will want to be well practised on the technique of swerving away from them. On the flip side: one close-range raking broadside of chain shot against a Brig always brings a mast down.

[Empire_TW]

Early to mid game just use 5th rates and use chainshot along with the wind to demass fleets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtJweoVwa3E

Late game just spam heavy first rates, 2nd rates if you are low on cash and can't afford heavy first rates.

[Bfloo]

Park a fleet by a pirate port and pick their ships off 1 by 1 as they keep rezzing new ones, rank up your fleet, then autoresolve away.