You have encountered another ship.
You can press the picture of your ship to view your detailed ship
status and the picture of the other ship to see a brief popup about
the opponent. During the battle, you will be able to see what parts
of yours and the opponents ships have been damaged in the latest
round of combat (red figures denote recent damaged).
Encounter Types
You will find that there are a number of different "types" of ships
you will run into:
- Merchants: These ships just want to be left alone. As long as
you are not aggressive (e.g., fire shots at them or close in on them),
they will not bother you.
- Warships: Warships are generally not aggressive
unless there is a war between their country and a nation that has
issued you a letter of marque or you have a high reputation. Warships
of a nation that you hold a letter of marque with will never attack
you.
- Pirate Hunters: Pirate Hunters will only attack you if you have
a reputation for piracy. They do not distinguish between friend or
foe, but if you have a letter of marque in the Pirate Hunter's country
you can choose to surrender at any time. You will lose your letter of
marque but be set free.
- Pirates/Privateers: Pirates will always attack you. You can surrender
to a pirate, which will result in them plundering all of your trade goods.
- Patrol Ships: These are light, fast warships that patrol the
entrances to harbors. They will demand that you submit to an inspection;
refusal to do so will be considered an act of piracy. Unless
you have contraband goods or have other plans, you ought always to
submit for inspection.
- Blockading Ships: Ships that are engaged in blockades will
try to intercept you if you try entering or leaving a blockaded port. If you do
not have a criminal record with the blockading empire and your nation is not at
war with them, you can submit and they will let you go free. Any other action,
however, will result in them trying to apprehend you. Successfully distancing
a blockader will either result in you entering or leaving the port (depending
on whether you are trying to enter or leave).
- Indian Warships: Native indians will always attack you. They rarely have
cannon, so this will usually result in a close-range encounter. Indians will
generally not accept your surrender; if they succeed in beating you, they
will massacre your crew and set your ship on fire. On the positive side, defeating
Indians will gain you rank with the threatened empire and even make them
forget some of your past sins.
Encounter Phases
An encounter may go through three different phases: at distance,
close up, and boarding.
At Distance
At distance, your ship has various possibilities.
- Broadside: Fire a broadside at the enemy ship. A broadside fired
at distance is much less effective than one fired at close range.
- Close: Close the distance between your ship and the other ship.
This will usually cause the other ship to initiate hostilities if
you are not already fighting.
- Distance: Attempt to leave the other ship behind. Success at
this action depends on the relative speeds (denoted by the rigging
rating) of your ships.
- Submit Submit to the enemy ship.
Close encounter
Once the ships are close, the fight begins in earnest.
- Broadside: Fire a broadside at the enemy ship. This fires the
cannons from one side of your ship at the enemy.
- Rigging: Fire a broadside at the enemy ships rigging and
sails. This is useful if you want to try and prevent the enemy ship from
escaping. Directed fire of this kind is much less effective than
a general broadside unless you have Chainshot.
- Deck: Fire a broadside at the enemy ship crew and cannons.
This is useful if you plan to board the enemy ship.
Directed fire of this kind is much less effective than a general
broadside unless you have Grapeshot.
- Board: Attempt to close the distance between the two ships and
board them. The chances of a successful boarding depends on the relative
sailing skills of the two Captains (Grapples provide an advantage).
In the combat itself, the relative fencing skills of the two captains
is important.
- Distance: Attempt to open up the distance between the two ships.
Success at this action depends on the relative speeds (denoted by the
rigging rating) of your ships.
- Submit: Submit to the enemy ship.
Boarding
When the ships are locked in boarding combat, the crews will be involved
in a life and death struggle. The situation leaves three possibilities:
- Board: Take the fight to the enemy. Continues the fighting.
- Distance: Attempt to cut the lines connecting the two ships and put
some distance between the ships. This relies on good leadership skill.
- Submit: Submit to the enemy ship.
Defeating an Enemy Ship
In general, defeating an enemy ship requires that you reduce one or more of its
attributes to 0 (crew down to 10 men or less). Merchant ships may surrender before then,
but military ships or ships on a mission will fight to the bitter end. Keep this in
mind before you engage them.
If your ship gets reduced to 0 Hull, it will sink. This will end your game, no
matter which level you are playing at.
If your ship's Sails or Rigging gets reduced to 0, your ship can no longer move.
If your ship's cannons get reduced to 0, you can no longer fire broadsides
(obviously).
If your ship's crew falls to 10 men or less during boarding combat, your ship will
surrender to the enemy. Note that, during combat, your ability to fire cannons also depends
on the size of your crew. You need at least 5 men per cannon that you will fire (note that
a broadside is half of your cannons, so for a 20 gun ship, you need a crew of at least 50
to fire at full effect). If you have less than the full number of crewmembers required,
your cannon fire will be reduced in effect.
Your fate depends on what kind of ship you were fighting; pirates will plunder your
ship, while most other ships will take you away to be put on trial.
If you survive a battle in which one of your sails or rigging was reduced to 0, your
crew will jury-rig repairs so that you can move again.