Losing naval Engagements

[Firestorm]

My union fleets on the Mississippi are losing battles when we outnumber the rebels 15/3 . then the ships retreat all the way up the Mississippi to the Ohio river but get destroyed once they reach Baton Rouge or Vicksburg, its not good, completely unrealistic and unplayable. also once in a naval battle you cannot withdraw, I was enjoying the game up to yesterday but i am very disillusioned now

[dkolodzi]

I just ran into a similar issue. My 10 ships easily defeated a 6 ship CSA river fleet, they lost 1 ship. The fleet even disintegrated. The same 5 ship fleet came back and now they defeat my fleet every time.

I wish the battle note gave you their fleet composition.

[CobaLT]

Forts in proximity could be the cause

[dkolodzi]

Originally posted by 76561197967538447:

Forts in proximity could be the cause

No forts nearby. The strange this is that the loss is instant sending my forces retreating and my ships are all still 100%.

[Wonko]

Originally posted by dkolodzi:

I just ran into a similar issue. My 10 ships easily defeated a 6 ship CSA river fleet, they lost 1 ship. The fleet even disintegrated. The same 5 ship fleet came back and now they defeat my fleet every time.

I wish the battle note gave you their fleet composition.

Not getting a real battle report at sea is driving me mad. Even if you're not going to tell me the composition of the enemy fleet and what types of ships they lost, GIVE ME THAT INFO AFTER THE BATTLE ABOUT MY OWN SHIPS!!! Don't make me have to memorize my fleet comps so I can figure out what got sunk on my own after the battle.

And yeah, I've noticed that even after a successful battle fleets seem extremely vulnerable to new battles in rapid succession which can lead to some massive upsets - I had a 20 ship fleet parked at the mouth of the Chesapeake - Frigates, Sloops of War, their steam counterparts, and three rated steamers. They won a battle, then another fleet engaged them and sunk like 5 ships, then immediately another fleet engaged and sunk 7 more. I had no idea what happened - mouseing over the rebel fleets suggest they don't have anything bigger than barques. I have no idea what happened - my fleet still had supplies and green initiative (yellow after the 2nd battle, still yellow after the 3rd). But we got absolutely ravaged.

[G Willikers]

I found that whenever my fleet stance was set to blockade, they pretty much automatically lost whatever engagement they were in regardless of the size of the enemy fleet. When I switched to patrol it behaved as normal. Not sure if that's the issue you have but it's annoying and creates an unnecessary micromanagement issue

[Duck]

listen, i have had this problem, too. the solution is a fleet with 4-5 ironclads. and you have GOT to fight near a port.

[Wonko]

Originally posted by Duck:

listen, i have had this problem, too. the solution is a fleet with 4-5 ironclads. and you have GOT to fight near a port.

Got to fight near a port?

*Union admiral stares at the Charleston blockade*

[Scotters]

Fixes are in the works for the Naval aspect of the game, I know the developers mentioned this somewhere here on the forums. I think they said maybe 1.02 or 1.03. So hopefully soon.

[Wonko]

In the opening months of the war I've been mostly successful with every 100% ready ship in one fleet at the mouth of the Chesapeake bay. I had one play where I accidently ran them into a rebel fort, and then they hit three CS fleets in succession (think Sideshow Bob and rakes) where it came to grief, but otherwise I've been fine leaving them there in blockade - I assume at some point the CS shows up with fleets consisting of more than a couple Barques or smaller vessels, but while I wait for my early builds to finish and stuff to repair, it at least lets me *start* the blockade and hopefully grind some XP while sinking a few vessels in the meantime. Beats sitting in port or not blockading ports since there really aren't that many ships to fight anyway.

[Johan217]

Originally posted by G Willikers:

I found that whenever my fleet stance was set to blockade, they pretty much automatically lost whatever engagement they were in regardless of the size of the enemy fleet. When I switched to patrol it behaved as normal. Not sure if that's the issue you have but it's annoying and creates an unnecessary micromanagement issue

I think you are on to something... It seems like the "Fleet Orders" make or break a fleet's behaviour. With no orders or with the Patrol order, combat seems to resolve as intended. By contrast, Blockade/Raid orders seem to get stuck in a loop of encounters where nothing ever gets sunk until one side retreats or disintegrates. I don't believe it is meant to work like that.

[Basilhare]

"No Orders" doesnt work either...current game has a Union Fleet of +100 guns w/ ironclads vs. AI CSA Fleet of 39 guns with No Orders around Cairo...no forts involved...My Union fleet loses each time and eventually disintegrates. Have not tried patrol yet. I will say that the naval aspect is a minor part of gameplay and has not lessened my enjoyment of the game...your mileage may vary...

[Johan217]

I had a few battles vs Blockading fleets with my fleet at No orders that appeared to be working (with indications of ships sunk) but they are indeed a minority. I'm now trying out Patrol, so far this seems to work better.

In any case I never had any luck using Raid or Blockading, so I consider those broken. Always ends in one side retreating or desintegrating but no ships sunk.

[chsalpha]

Yeah, I agree naval battles seem a bit weird & unbalanced at times. plus it would be great to have a naval battle info panel, showing you the strength of both sides and giving you the option to retreat (just like it works for armies)

[Duck]

Originally posted by Wonko:

Originally posted by Duck:

listen, i have had this problem, too. the solution is a fleet with 4-5 ironclads. and you have GOT to fight near a port.

Got to fight near a port?

*Union admiral stares at the Charleston blockade*

the OP was talking specifically about the MS river issue. So that is what my response was geared to. For whatever reason, if your river fleet hits two or three AI fleets in a row, they lose. If you are by a port, return to port immediately after 1st engagement. It is not 100% successful, but by fighting near cairo with 3-4 ironclads, i consistently have defeated whatever the heck floatilla the CSA manages to put in the river.

[Kemal]

Originally posted by dkolodzi:

I just ran into a similar issue. My 10 ships easily defeated a 6 ship CSA river fleet, they lost 1 ship. The fleet even disintegrated. The same 5 ship fleet came back and now they defeat my fleet every time.

I wish the battle note gave you their fleet composition.

I agree. I think the primary culprit are opposing ironclads, but because you don't get a battle report to know the composition of the opposing navy, it really is impossible to know for sure.