Any Naval Battle Advice?

[Elliott]

Hey there, I've found naval battles a total mess since Rome 2, Thrones is no better, I cant seem to do any better than the auto resolve. The Ships make contact and then its just a muddle of ships.

When ships board can other ships make any kind of impact?

Is it better to board or be boarded?

Ranged ships seem to be able to achieve little, my fire arrows seemed very ineffective at increasing fire damage. Is this the case?

Would love to hear from anyone whos had some success with naval battles in Thrones. I generally play Hard or Very Hard if thats any help.

[The Old Saxon]

I've learned a simple fact: if you are not a Viking faction in this game, you are screwed in naval battles. Sticking to land is your best option, only using ships when you need to cross the seas and being VERY careful while doing so.

[The Old Saxon]

On the other hand, if you are a Viking, take EVERY enemy fleet out before it lands on your shores. Unless, of course, they are Vikings, in which case you should be prepared to put up a good fight.

[Elliott]

Im playing as East Engle right now who dont seem to get any naval bonuses as I assume they are considred settled vikings. But im fighting a united Ireland so it should be a fair fight but I just cant make sense of it once the fleets clash.

[The Old Saxon]

Originally posted by Elliott:

Im playing as East Engle right now who dont seem to get any naval bonuses as I assume they are considred settled vikings. But im fighting a united Ireland so it should be a fair fight but I just cant make sense of it once the fleets clash.

In the period, naval warfare was basically fighting a land battle on ships. So the game is accurate in that regard.

Is Ireland controlled by Dylfin? If so, I would recommend not fighting them at sea.

[Elliott]

Originally posted by Wolf Surge:

Originally posted by Elliott:

Im playing as East Engle right now who dont seem to get any naval bonuses as I assume they are considred settled vikings. But im fighting a united Ireland so it should be a fair fight but I just cant make sense of it once the fleets clash.

In the period, naval warfare was basically fighting a land battle on ships. So the game is accurate in that regard.

Is Ireland controlled by Dylfin? If so, I would recommend not fighting them at sea.

No its controlled by Mide, The Gaels so they have no naval bonus.

My issue is not with historical accuracy but gameplay, there seems to be little tactics involved, Japanese naval battles also involved trying to have a land battle at sea and yet I found Shogun 2 naval battles to make alot more sense.

[Tartan]

Hey, a little late to the party, but I do all right in naval battles. They are my favourite part of the Total War games and I spend a lot of my campaigns dominating seas rather than the land.
I only bought Battle Brits last week, but I've played a number of naval battles through out the campaign as Circenn, winning them all, even against the sea kings.

My most recent victory was me (Circenn) vs Cent in a 20 vs 20 battle. I sunk all of their ships while losing 0 of mine.
What I've learnt through my battles is that, just like land battles, you want any advantage you can get. This can be a numerical advantage, a better Rock-Paper-Scissors build, or a experience build. Also that should you lose the advantage, it is much harder to regain it at sea than on land.

Because everything happens more slowly in naval battles, you have to think much further ahead than in land battles. Your first engagement is also the most important. You NEED to get good match ups when your front line meets their front line. However, from what I've seen so far, the naval battles in Battle Brits is much cleaner than all the titles so far as it's now much easier to get multiple ships into combat with a single enemy ship. If you engage an enemy ship from the front, you can swing another round the back and board them from behind. This has the same affect as engaging an enemy unit in the back on land. Even if your ship was boarded, if you sail another of your ships into the boarding enemy ship, your men will jump onto the enemy ship, run across it, and then jump onto your other ship to help your own men. So yes, other ships can make an impact.

In response to your second question, it's always better to board than be boarded as far as I have seen (though I am happy for people to correct me). In most cases, though not all, if 2 of the exact same units get into combat with no external factors, the boarding party generally wins. RNJesus does like to screw with you sometimes, but generally Poseidon favours the bold boarders.

Ranged ships are actually a lot more dangerous than you'd expect and their damage builds up quickly if left to their own devices. However, to really get the most out of your ranged units, you need to be at a good angle, not just firing over your own men as you might on land.
They can also fire while moving so can kite rather well too. However, I wouldn't be going ranged heavy in Battle Brits like you might in other titles.

Lastly, it is always good to keep a few ships back that you can slip through the centre of the enemy line once most ships have engaged as the enemy can't detach their ships to stop you from sailing through and swinging round to hit the back of enemy ships that might have an advantage over any of your ships.

Now, I am no Admiral Nelson or Yi, so take all of this with a grain of salt (heh heh. sea pun), but from what I read, I generally do better than most playing when it comes to naval combat and they are not broken like many people insist they are. They just are quite different to land battles and different maneuvers and sacrifices are need to do well.

Hope this helps and may the wind always be in your sails!

[Taleheart]

Those are all good and valid points, Tartan. And thank you for sharing your experience so thoroughly! If I may just ask some questions as well:
- First of all - What is the difference between melee and assault ships? (Except the AP buff of the latter) What is the correct way to play with both of those? My first instinct tells me that the melee ships are the holders and the assault ships are the flankers, would you agree or is it all a bit deeper than that. In land battles I personally prefer huskarls, greataxemen and axe-and-shield units for their cycle charging capabilities (which work wonderfully), however, there are no charges at the sea, then simply saying that the assaults "are just the axemen" is simply not true. So then what is the idea of the assault ships and what is the proper way to use them in the heat of a sea battle?
- And my second question - Will you be interested to play some MP with me to practice our skills? Not only naval battles, of course. This is not supposed to sould like a challenge, however, more like a friendly sparring without the rudeness and trolling, which accompany multiplayer in general.