Managment Guide

[Lars166]

I thinking of getting this game but id like to see a guide on how the fleet managment is between combats. Do you know any good detalied guides on that part of the game.

I have tried youtube but most guides seemed focused on combat.

[albrightwillie0]

There are several guides for such things as officers and guns stickied on several forums. Not too definitive but somewhere to start. In a nutshell, you can select officers, crews, guns and custom enhancements for each ship which are pretty unique to this game and very welcome. Larger questions are beyond the scope of the game. Scripted scenarios.

[Commisar Jon Fuklaw]

Successful management is largely contingent on successful combat, and capturing ships in particular. So with that in mind, the main concerns in regards to management are the "opening moves", such as they are.

But, some general pointers should be noted:

1.) It's wise to examine weapon stats and possible ship loadouts in custom battle when considering researching weapons. The two main (successful) cannon philosophies to consider are "big stick" or "long stick", the former leaning towards carronades, and the latter leanings towards accurate, smaller bore cannon. I'd recommend sticking with one, rather than mixing and matching, though the latter can serve a purpose early on. Note that experimenting with crew/troop upgrades is also encouraged, as there are a small number of very effective builds.

2.) Never recruit more crew than is necessary. Crew upkeep is insanely expensive. I cannot underpin this enough. If you need to shift from naval to land battle prep, dismiss your crew or troops and shift them to your ships or troop regiments via the reserve system. Keeping some artillery or supply regiments in reserve might also be prudent for the second and third campaigns.

3.) Veterans are your friends. The moment you have a ship crew or troop regiment at tier 3, it would be wise to spend the money to seed tier 3 veterans throughout your fleet, as the crew/regiment upgrades offer huge advantages. Even as expensive as they are at full price, veteran crews are worth far more than the cost of hiring them.

4.) Research as little as possible. Going back to point #1, there are several ship upgrades granted by research that are largely ineffective due to weight considerations (e.g. rudder or accuracy upgrades) or simply being subpar to other options (e.g. mast upgrades or armor up/downgrades). Cannon, small arm, and troop type researches are, however, generally high priority.

5.) Admiralty upgrades are your friend. With the possible exception of +% admiralty assortment, the entire admiralty section of your career path should be earmarked as top priority to prevent bottlenecking your resources. There's little else to say on the career upgrades (what I wouldn't give for a + Funding or - Upkeep selection...).

[Tragopan]

Originally posted by Commisar Jon Fuklaw:

Successful management is largely contingent on successful combat, and capturing ships in particular. So with that in mind, the main concerns in regards to management are the "opening moves", such as they are.

But, some general pointers should be noted:

1.) It's wise to examine weapon stats and possible ship loadouts in custom battle when considering researching weapons. The two main (successful) cannon philosophies to consider are "big stick" or "long stick", the former leaning towards carronades, and the latter leanings towards accurate, smaller bore cannon. I'd recommend sticking with one, rather than mixing and matching, though the latter can serve a purpose early on. Note that experimenting with crew/troop upgrades is also encouraged, as there are a small number of very effective builds.

2.) Never recruit more crew than is necessary. Crew upkeep is insanely expensive. I cannot underpin this enough. If you need to shift from naval to land battle prep, dismiss your crew or troops and shift them to your ships or troop regiments via the reserve system. Keeping some artillery or supply regiments in reserve might also be prudent for the second and third campaigns.

3.) Veterans are your friends. The moment you have a ship crew or troop regiment at tier 3, it would be wise to spend the money to seed tier 3 veterans throughout your fleet, as the crew/regiment upgrades offer huge advantages. Even as expensive as they are at full price, veteran crews are worth far more than the cost of hiring them.

4.) Research as little as possible. Going back to point #1, there are several ship upgrades granted by research that are largely ineffective due to weight considerations (e.g. rudder or accuracy upgrades) or simply being subpar to other options (e.g. mast upgrades or armor up/downgrades). Cannon, small arm, and troop type researches are, however, generally high priority.

5.) Admiralty upgrades are your friend. With the possible exception of +% admiralty assortment, the entire admiralty section of your career path should be earmarked as top priority to prevent bottlenecking your resources. There's little else to say on the career upgrades (what I wouldn't give for a + Funding or - Upkeep selection...).

Great points!

I've been struggling with the weight and upgrades part of management in particular. Feels like there isn't much room for upgrades after guns and crew. End up having to use the weaker hull on all my ships just because they're always over capacity.

[albrightwillie0]

First ship ugrade for me is light weight gun carriages. Suddenly, lots of other things fit.

[Ninjasquirrel]

Go to custom battles and try fitting different upgrades and armament till you find a setup you like.

[Tragopan]

I have been doing so but feel as if I always end up having to fit my ships the same way. Lightweight hull, gun carriages, repair kit. It is likely because I am playing sub-optimally but I don't feel as if I can try out.. anything else!

[RackRazor]

Originally posted by Commisar Jon Fuklaw:

Successful management is largely contingent on successful combat, and capturing ships in particular. So with that in mind, the main concerns in regards to management are the "opening moves", such as they are.

But, some general pointers should be noted:

1.) It's wise to examine weapon stats and possible ship loadouts in custom battle when considering researching weapons. The two main (successful) cannon philosophies to consider are "big stick" or "long stick", the former leaning towards carronades, and the latter leanings towards accurate, smaller bore cannon. I'd recommend sticking with one, rather than mixing and matching, though the latter can serve a purpose early on. Note that experimenting with crew/troop upgrades is also encouraged, as there are a small number of very effective builds.

2.) Never recruit more crew than is necessary. Crew upkeep is insanely expensive. I cannot underpin this enough. If you need to shift from naval to land battle prep, dismiss your crew or troops and shift them to your ships or troop regiments via the reserve system. Keeping some artillery or supply regiments in reserve might also be prudent for the second and third campaigns.

3.) Veterans are your friends. The moment you have a ship crew or troop regiment at tier 3, it would be wise to spend the money to seed tier 3 veterans throughout your fleet, as the crew/regiment upgrades offer huge advantages. Even as expensive as they are at full price, veteran crews are worth far more than the cost of hiring them.

4.) Research as little as possible. Going back to point #1, there are several ship upgrades granted by research that are largely ineffective due to weight considerations (e.g. rudder or accuracy upgrades) or simply being subpar to other options (e.g. mast upgrades or armor up/downgrades). Cannon, small arm, and troop type researches are, however, generally high priority.

5.) Admiralty upgrades are your friend. With the possible exception of +% admiralty assortment, the entire admiralty section of your career path should be earmarked as top priority to prevent bottlenecking your resources. There's little else to say on the career upgrades (what I wouldn't give for a + Funding or - Upkeep selection...).

Nice! reserves. WTF is that? All I can figure is that there is a button on the ship in fleet management but when I click it it turns on for all the ships, what does it it do? I have read guide after guide about how you transfer crew to you newest ships but how? I figured out how to remove crew, but when I try to add crew to my new ship its says not enough weapons. WTF, how do I move their weapons over? I have read guide after guide telling me to sell my old ships but how? have clicked all over every option I could find. Can't find a way to SELL THE SHIP. All I have is this slider for crew, but guide after guide tells me to use my most experienced crew? How do I pick the crew? I click on the three little boxes at the top of the crew screen, they do nothing. WTF? the in game tutorial does great job of telling you what to do in mission, but they really need one for the in between management. The first mission is fun, but the management has me pulling my hair and wishing I never bought the game. When it comes to management, there are tons of guides telling you what to do, but not how to do it and its really not in the least bit intuitive.