Gravy's Guide to Naval Strategies and Tactics
1. Introduction
2. Choosing Ships
3. Strategies
a. Trade Nodes
b. Removing Enemy Fleets
c. Open Blockade
d. Closed Blockade
e. Transporting Troops
4. Battle Tactics
a. Basic Principles
b. Large Fleet Actions
c. Small Fleet Actions and 1 vs. 1
5. Technology Tree
6. Photo Gallery
7. Video Gallery
8. Suggested Books
1. INTRODUCTION: If you decide to pursue building a navy, there are some great benefits that could come; Increased trade or domination of trade nodes, protection of your sea trade, ability to transport troops, and extra income from raiding trade routs in addition to capturing vessels. You will be able to see enemy movements and of course there is the fun of naval combat. Certain nations start the game with many ports, or depend upon sea trade. Regardless of the situation, the factions that control the sea, control sea trade and wield lots of power by denying or limiting others access to the sea. It is wise in most cases to consider sea power as a means to dominate the world. My methods are not the only way of doing things, but I will share what works for me.
Special thanks to Hermann the Lombard for editing and advice. This is a work in progress. I will continually update this post.
Me, punishing 4 Spanish warships with my single 6th rate.
2. CHOOSING A SHIP: You should choose ships that you feel comfortable to use in combat. I never auto resolve because the combat is fun and you can achieve results that a computer algorithm won't give you, such as capturing entire fleets. In general (depending on your skill) I would suggest to use ships of the line for fleet actions against 4 or more ships and "cruisers" for actions against 3 or less ships. My definition of a cruiser is a ship used by it's self to patrol any area of ocean you see fit. The qualities I look for in cruisers are speed (on both campaign and battle maps), maneuverability, low costs to maintain, and survivability. It doesn't hurt if they have decent firepower either. If you use the same ship for long periods of time and they see lots of combat. The chevrons awarded to that vessel will also help its performance mostly in accuracy and moral. My personal preference is the 6th rate (in early game) for cruisers and the largest Ships of the Line (SOL) I can produce for fleet actions, but you can select your ship type from the list below. Late game, the Razee ship is good for cruising and I use 1-3 rates supported by niche ships for fleet actions. Remember, getting rid of obsolete vessels helps tremendously with upkeep costs. Keep small inexpensive ships around for cruisers, but scuttle ships of the line if they can no longer hold the line against your enemy's ship of the line. So, I would rather have 3 (2nd) rate battleships because they are great end-game, than 12 (4th) rate battleships which sink easily in comparison.
Ships of the Line (SOL)
Pros:
- Best morale
- Strongest hulls
- Best firepower
Cons:
- Slow speed
- Large turning circle
- Low accuracy and slow reload time
- Shorter range guns
Frigates
Pros:
- Good accuracy and reload speed
- Long range guns
- Good speed and turning rate
Cons
- Relatively weak hulls
- Not much firepower
Small Ships (sloops and brigs)
Pros:
- Fastest ships
- Very maneuverable
- Best accuracy and reload time
- Long range guns like frigates
Cons:
- Very weak hulls
- Lowest amount of firepower
I would also suggest that you consider the cost to both construct and maintain these ships. Most of the cost of a ship provided you keep them over 5 turns or so, is in maintenance cost. If you capture an expensive ship, you might have to repair it and therefore your upkeep cost will rise. Once the ship is repaired it will cost more to maintain than the previously damaged vessel.
3. STRATEGIES: You should set some goals for yourself, and try to accomplish them. There are many ways to accomplish what you've set out for yourself, but I will outline what I typically do.
a. Trade Nodes-Bring in income: The idea in this strategy is to occupy trade nodes with trade ships. Any ship that can trade will have a gold coin in its unit card. When your ship sails into a node, no other faction can claim that node without first attacking and beating your ships on top of the node. Occupying the nodes helps increase your income and deny that same income to your competition. Most trade ships require protection from warships. Galleons and Fluyts are formidable war/trade ships, but Indiamen are particularly vulnerable to attack because of their slow speed, poor handling, and limited firepower. You will find that you can make more money if you spread your trade ships out on different nodes rather than concentrating them on one node by mousing over the green supply line. However, if you spread your ships, it will be harder to protect them. Some good news is that by spreading your fleets, you gain more vision because you can see any ship that comes close to your trade lines, and you can see potential threats. You may need to keep a protection fleet in the trade theater for immediate response to attack or to initiate attack. If one of your trade ships is attacked, even by another trade ship, it is often best to hit the "retreat" button and send warships to deal with the threat. Sometimes your ships will not retreat far enough away and will be attacked again on the same turn. If this happens, the fleet can be destroyed because you cannot retreat on the campaign map again or lose the battle. I would put one trade ship on each node to "save" the node for your faction, but move any ships you don't want to lose to a safer area out of the trade theater until your warships arrive. Do whatever it takes to claim as many nodes as you can, including having multiple ships entering and exiting the theater to ensure you can cover open nodes. Any type of ship can "save" the node for your faction, even a damaged warship. Usually a neutral faction will not attack your ships through the course of the game and having any ship on a trade node will claim it for you. Captured trade ships can be added to your own trade fleet, while other ships can be either added to improve protection fleets or sold to generate more money. To make the most of the income coming in from trade nodes, maximizing the number of trade partners is advisable. This strategy is good early in the game when you are not at war with as many nations. Later in the game, developing infrastructure will make up for losses in trade partners as the world turns against your expansion.
b. Removing Enemy Fleets- Even one enemy warship in a trade theater can severely cripple your trade by moving your ships off of trade nodes. You need to remove threats and keep the flow of money coming in. In the early game, I would put together as many warships as you can afford or need and look for enemy ships in prospective trade theaters. Pirates can be particularly dangerous because of their strong ships and aggressive nature. I would hunt them down and either capture or destroy them, starting on turn #1. Pirate fleets survive by capturing shipping, and luckily they rarely repair damaged vessels unless they are attacked in their own port. If you plan to use the trade theaters, the last thing you want to do is ignore them early game. In early game, other nations have sent fleets to the theaters, and in all likelihood they have been captured by pirates, eventually making super pirate fleets of 20 ships. If you want a big naval battle, you can choose to let them build up, but I prefer to control pirates and have access to the trade theaters early. Note that once the trade theaters have been cleared of large enemy fleets, it may not be necessary to maintain large fleets for protection there. If you take control of the 2 pirate territories, they will be destroyed and no new pirate fleets will harass your shipping. However, you will still need to control enemies moving into the trade theaters. An efficient strategy to protect your trade can be the open blockade.
c. Open Blockade- In the open blockade, one ship can cover the ships produced in multiple ports given the right circumstances, while a closed blockade requires one ship/fleet per enemy port blockaded. The idea behind the open blockade is to capture and control enemy shipping by assigning ships to patrol important areas, such as choke points. A great example of a choke point is the strait of Gibraltar. Be sure to not block the strait completely. Instead leave a small gap the enemy ships can get through. This will allow the AI to come to your waiting ships. For example, ships often try to get to other theaters via the exit theater squares and if your ships are cutting of the route completely, an alternate journey away from your choke point is often planned within the Mediterranean. Ports are not attacked directly, instead the shipping is allowed to come out of the port, and then it's attacked. This tactic works best if the enemy ships are streaming out one at a time into zones close to your pre-positioned ships. In such cases, often one of your ships engages one or multiple enemies. Place your ships in a way that makes the enemy ships take a long route, using up their movement points. The next turn, the enemy ships will be closer to you so you can catch them without using up as many of your own movement points. It is beneficial to have ports relatively close to repair damaged vessels. A good strategy is to have a reserve fleet/ship able to replace a damaged ship, so that the damaged ship can sail back and repair without leaving a gap in coverage. For these types of duties, cruisers are ideal. A good cruiser can handle all types of prey. In my case, the 6th rate is ideal because it can handle multiple larger ships by itself (up to 3rd rates with timed battles). I will explain how this is done in the "tactics" section. You want ships that can operate by themselves, for long periods at sea. You can get ships that are large, and tank-like absorbing much damage until repair is necessary or you can use smaller faster, low-cost ships and try not to take damage, thereby minimizing the need to repair (my choice). By having a low cost ship, you can have more ships operate thereby increasing your zones of coverage. When you are ready for the end of the turn, I would park your ships, if possible, on trade lanes used by your enemies. This will bring in more money. If you want to target a specfic faction's tade, but they are not highest trader on a certain lane, look for a place where they are vulnerable to raiding. A great place to look if you have the means is the trade lane directly outside a trade port. Speaking of money, capturing vessels is often a great way of increasing your income.
Notice how I place my ships on enemy trade routes, and enemy ships sail around my interception zones.
This placement denyies the enemy from attacking my ports or sailing through the gap between islands without first going into my interception perimiter.
Capture Values And Cannon Layout-Work in progress: please help me complete the list by replying with known values of undamaged vessels
Light Galley- $380 (only bow guns)
Dhow- $500 (only bow and stern guns)
Sloop- $550 (only side guns)
Racing Galleon- ~$560 (stern and side guns)
Indiamen- $600 (only side guns)
Brig- $750 (stern and side guns)
Xebec- $890 (bow, stern, and side guns)
6th rate- $910 (only side guns)
Galley- (only bow guns)
5th rate- $1270 (bow and side guns)
Fluyt- $1510 (stern and side guns)
Admiral's 5th rate- $1580 (bow and side guns)
Galleon- $1710 (bow and side guns)
4th rate- $1820 (bow, stern, and side guns)
3rd rate- (bow, stern, and side guns)
Admiral's 3rd rate- (bow, stern, and side guns)
2nd rate- (bow, stern, and side guns)
1st rate- (bow, stern, and side guns)
Admiral's 1st rate- (bow, stern, and side guns)
Heavy 1st rate- (bow, stern, and side guns)
Bomb Ketch- (forward facing mortar, side guns)
Rocket ship- (forward facing rocket battery, stern guns)
Carronade Frigate- (only side guns)
Razee- (stern and side guns)
Steamship- (bow, stern, and side guns)
24 Pound Frigate-
My biggest capture- $12,594 mixed fleet of brigs and sloops
d. Closed Blockade- The closed blockade attacks enemy ports directly. This can cut off the trade income going into capitals, and hurt factions that depend on trade immensely. I often use this tactic if I want hurt a faction's economy to slow them down. If you do cut off trade going to a capital through a trade port, you can no longer park your own ships on their trade lanes and steal income because all sea trade has ceased. If you have multiple enemies using a trade lane, your ships raid the faction that has the most trade passing by. If you cut off trade by attacking the port of the largest trader, then your ships will pull income from the next highest enemy trader. If your ship attacks a port and there are no ships or troops present, your ship will go into the port. Entering the port not only blockades it, it also damages the port facilities. Repeatedly leaving and re-entering the port increases the damage and thus the repair cost. If you then leave the port vacant the enemy can repair it, and then you can damage it again, draining the enemy's treasury. One land troop can kick a fleet out of a port. If a port is occupied by a ship or land unit, then your ship will "net off" the port and position itself outside. I have had enemy ships simply sail out of a port I was blockading and sail across the map. This may be a bug. I have had my blockading ship attacked by a fleet sailing out of the port I was blockading and after the attacking fleet lost, they escaped by "withdrawing" across the map instead of remaining trapped in port. If ports are being occupied by an enemy fleet, a good idea is to carry one unit of militia on board of the blockading ships to force out the enemies inside the port into combat with your waiting ships. Otherwise your ships will blockade their ships by throwing up a "net" and wait for the enemies to come out. Land units already nearby can also kick out enemy ships if you don't want to carry around a unit because of infrequent attacks.
One thing to consider, when you use the closed blockade, is the enemy can still build ships. I am talking about the instances when the port is undamaged and there are enemy ships inside the port. If they chose to sally out, they could do so at a time when they out number your blockading ships. I have found that by allowing the enemy ships to come out as they are constructed (during an open blockade), the enemy typically makes smaller fleets. Think of an open blockade as letting the pressure out of a valve, while a closed blockade shuts the valve completely allowing pressure to build until finally something explodes.
e. Transporting Troops- In previous total war games, ships carrying troops had limited movement points tied to the troops' movement points. In Empire, the movement points are tied to the ships only. Consequently, you are not supposed to transfer troops between ships…. well the developers disabled troop transfers by normal means (dragging and dropping and the transfer pop-up menu), but you can still transfer troops. Basically, troop transfers work by moving ships in and out of fleets while troops stay tied to the original fleet. Pre-position ships along the route you want to transport troops. Then, move a ship with troops towards the next ship (which contain no troops) and merge them but leave some movement points in the ship that is traveling so you can move that "used-up" ship out of the fleet. Now the troops are on board of the fresh ship and it can travel to the next pre-positioned ship. This system can move troops across a theater in one turn provided you have empty pre-positioned ships.
When taking troops off of ships, you should move the ship inside a port when possible. Then use the disembark button. Your troops will have movement points now to move inland. If you land troops on land without a port, then your troops will have no movement points and can only be moved the following turn.
4. Battle Tactics: First, size up what you have, its strengths and weaknesses and your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. Formulate a plan, but don't forget to be flexible. Choose how to group your ships and in what formation. Consider the wind direction and plan ahead. Will you be able to outrun your opponents? Wind direction, speed capacity of the vessels, and damage to sails/rigging will all contribute to outrunning, turning, and positioning your opponents. Sometimes, pure firepower and intimidation will rout your enemies. I will diagram two types of engagements: large fleet actions and smaller fleet actions including duels of 1 vs. 1.
Dismast first!
Then enjoy the kill!
a. Basic Principles:
-When commanding several or many ships, you can make all ships react to your orders immediately instead of them clumsily trying to get them back into
formation in line ahead. Un-group all ships, then select the ships you want to maneuver by dragging a box on the
battlefield or selecting their unit cards, then issue a movement order. Now all ships will proceed to the position
instead of wasting time following each other in "line ahead".
-Cross the "T", your ships shoot from the side (most ships), so expose your side to their bow or stern to maximize damage.
-Try not to expose your bow or stern to enemy fire. Turn when your opponent can't shoot back if you are in their
zone of fire. For example, turn immediately after they have fired a broadside.
-Auto-aim is generally more accurate and easier to control when battles are chaotic. When you manually control
broadsides, they can be difficult to aim, so fire when your enemy is relatively close. Also, manual broadsides fire straight out which may cause some guns to
miss, where auto-aim puts almost all the guns on target. This is especially important when raking a narrow target.
-Broadsides hurt morale. Firing on the stern or bow hurts morale in addition to taking out multiple targets at once.
For example, one shot can take out several cannon.
-By positioning your ship to the bow or stern of most ships (light galleys fire from the bow but not the side) you can fire at them when they cannot return
fire. Certain types of ships have no guns in places, so zoom in and see where they are (or look at my list
above). For example, Galleons don't have guns in the rear, while brigs have no guns on the bow.
-Don't take needless damage. Most of my tactics are based on maximizing damage to the enemy while preserving my
ships.
-Round shot- sinks enemy ships, takes out crew and guns. Minimal damage is done to the sails. Round shot can skip off water and still do damage to the target's hull. This is
longest range type of shot. Hull damage decreases morale.
-Chain shot- dismasts ships and allows you to move while your enemy can't. This shot has a range just under round
shot. When a ship is dismasted, you can maneuver to their weak points and capture them, increasing your number of ships
or your income. Chain shot can take out crew and guns, especially if you are firing down the length of the ship from
the bow or stern. When sails are fully exposed, the damage to the rigging is maximized. Chain shot can do damage to multiple ships. If ships are grouped together, all masts the
shot sails through will be damaged. Generally (galleys are an exception) a ship will not be able to maneuver well
enough to keep it's strong side facing you when their rigging is at "red" level. So, you can move to the
weak point while out of range of their guns then come in close to use grape shot. Being dismasted significantly
decreases morale.
-Grape shot- Close range shot. Takes out crew only. Loss of crew translates to
loss of many guns, which decreases morale. Since the kills that add to a crew's experience or chevrons have to be
direct hits, grape shot will increase the skill of your gun crews many fold. When you de-mast a ship for example, the
crew that is killed by falling into the ocean, because they were in the rigging, will not count as kills for your gun crews.
Grape shot does not damage the hull, so when you use it, you don't lower the value of the intended target of capture.
-Hulls do not repair at sea. If a ship is damaged, it has to go back to port to repair. But, sails and rigging do regenerate after each battle. So don't
shoot up rigging and expect it to be still damaged next battle, even on the same turn. You can add a captured ship's crew to your own fleet. After each
battle there is a pop up debrief menu, and the button at the bottom "add crew" will top off crew in the selected ships in your fleet using crew from
the other selected ships. Also, if you scuttle a ship in your fleet in the debrief menu, gun crews and guns (if needed) will be transferred to your remaining
ships.
-Instead of taking a direct line into the wind, turn just to the side of the wind, and then turn back across the wind.
This is called tacking into the wind, or beating up wind and your overall progress up wind will be increased if done correctly.
-When tacking up wind or sailing down wind in a "s" shaped curve, it is an excellent opportunity to expose your broadside to chasing
ships. If you are going up wind, target the hull and crew with round shot since many sails will be rolled
up. If you are going down wind of your pursuer, target the sails with chain shot as their sails will be fully open and
large targets. When going cross wind, it is your discretion on which type of shot you choose.
-Use faster ships to out run and out turn your opponents. Fire then head away from them before they can shoot back by
turning to bring their guns to bear.
-If you are slower than your opponent, you can take out their sails making them slower than you or close fast and hurt them badly with your superior fire power
if you have it.
-Assuming a ship has chasers, there is a "dead zone" about 45 degrees off the bow or stern of a ship where the chasers and broadsides can't
cover. This is a good spot to shoot from because your opponent cannot shoot back.
-When fighting with a group of your ships, you can have all available ships that are selected concentrate their fire by pushing "alt" then
"right click" the target.
-If you pressed the "broadside" button, but want to cancel it, press the "fire at will" at will button once. The red ring around the
broadside button will disapear, and you can choose your next action.
-If you are taking on water (indicated by the water drop icon on the unit card) sudden movements can increase the rate of taking on water and sink the ship
more quickly. If you are on fire, a ship will eventually burn to the powder magazine and explode. Turning "fire at will" off will allocate crew to deal with damage or fires. When
the issue is dealt with, the unit card will no longer flash the type of danger and you can fire your cannon once more with "fire at will" on.
-If an enemy ship is routing, and you can board them, they will surrender as soon as your grappling hooks pull the ship in and the boarding planks fall.
-When a ship routs, it takes a straight path until it rallies, sinks, or escapes off the map. You can park your ship in
the direct path the routing ship is taking to block him and this slows him down immensely. Now you can rake him with
cannon fire to increase your crew's chevrons, or simply board him to make him surrender as soon as you rope him in.
-I find it a waste of crew to board ships, unless you are running out of time to end a battle. I find it more
efficient, in terms of loss of friendly crew, to use cannon to force the enemy ship to surrender. It is efficient if
the enemy ship cannot return fire, which is why I dismast them and then maneuver to an optimal angle.
-When you engage enemies with multiple ships, be careful not to cross into your own friendly fire zones. For example, place 2 of your ships 30 degrees off the
bow of an enemy ship rather than directly to the sides. This will give both ships the advantage of bow shots, and keep them from hitting each other.
-If your ships sink in battle, all crew is lost. So, you will lose all the experience those ships have gained. Try to avoid this.
-You cannot capture ships that come into battle as reinforcements. You can sink and destroy the enemy ships, but if you capture them on the battlemap, after
the battle is over you will see the captured ships retreat across the campaign map.
-If an enemy ship starts its turn inside your interception perimeter, you cannot intercept them and they can move through your zone without a battle. For
instance, if your ship is right outside an enemy port but is not blockading it, the enemy can sail outside of the port and on to its destination without
battle. If the enemy ship starts its turn beyond your interception zone and sails into it by "accident" then you will be prompted if you want
intercept them. The interception will occur at the edge of your zone on the campaign map. If an enemy ship means to attack your ship (even if it starts
outside your interception zone), then they will sail through your interception zone, right up next to your ship on the campaign map, and then the battle pop-up
menu will be displayed.
-At the end of a battle, if you win, you will be prompted if you want to continue the battle or just take the win. If you click "end battle", you
may not capture any ships that are routing. It is my advice to click "continue" and try to capture all the ships possible to ensure their capture.
If your ships are carrying any agents or troops on the campaign map, you will not be able to add captured ships to your fleet because this is tied into the
game developer's intent to control troop/agent transportation (see transporting troops section above).
-This was discovered by Hermann the Lombard: If an enemy ship is stuck at the edge of the map, on the red line or over it, that ship cannot be captured.
As long as its on or over the red line when the battle ends, the ship will escape on the strategy map provided it can do so. Meaning it has not already
retreated once during the turn. If it cannot escape on the strategy map for any reason, it will be destroyed rather than captured.
-I will add more about specialty ships later.
b. Large Fleet Actions:
Ask yourself first if you want to capture ships or simply sink them. Consider the time limit, wind direction, shot
selection, and formation. As a rule of thumb, you want your fleet to fire down the line of the enemy fleet. This would mean having multiple ships of yours,
already in position, firing at the first few ships in their line ahead formation (their usual choice of formation). In order to do that, it is benefical to
"head off" their formation, or cross the "T", when your ships have their broadsides pointing at the enemy's bow.
The diagram below outlines a battle in which you are in a position to fire at the open sails of the enemy fleet using chainshot. By using chainshot, you are
trying to disable ships and spread them out, so you can capture the isolated enemy ships later. Chainshot can hit multiple enemies per volley, so its best to
fire at an angle where multiple enemy ships are in the line of fire. When you make that turn after your first pass (part 2 of the diagram) it is best to time
it so that you will not expose your stern to enemy fire. Your stern will be hit if you make your turn too soon in range of enemy guns. If you wait too long,
your ships will sail off into the distance, out of range and will be of little use. So plan ahead for your turn, and do it when the turn is not exposed. If
you have extra small ships, a good place to position them is covering your turns to protect your line while each ships executes a turn. When you turn back
with your lead ship, make sure you watch your angle to the enemy fleet, so that they cannot fire at your bow down your line. Remember, spread the damage you
take out between all your ships if you can. You don't want your ships to sink or rout. If a ship cannot stay in line ahead formation because it's
too heavily damaged, I suggest to de-group it and move it to a support position out of the heaviest fire. And if the enemy starts routing, thats a job for
your fast ships in reserve to chase down.
Fleet vs. Fleet (assumes both fleets are similar types)
c. Small Fleet Actions and 1 vs. 1
Ask yourself first if you want to capture ships or simply sink them. Consider the time limit, wind direction, shot
selection, and formation.
1 vs. 1
Fleet vs. 1 (assumes you have faster ships)
1 vs. Fleet (assumes you have a faster ship)
Capturing a Light Galley (assumes you have a standard ship that fires from sides)
5. Technology Tree- Some techs are good for some fighting styles or situations (carronades
for close combat, copper bottoms help speed in battle and on the strategic map, and reduce the cost of large fleets). I will not explain each, but I will say
that some techs benefit certain types of players heavily. I would go for the quick techs first because you usually have
a slower research rate in the beginning of the game. My overall strategy is to get to the end game ship types
quickly. This is because the longer a ship exists, the more experience it will gain if used often. I would like to build up the skill level of ships I want to keep for a long time.
Consequently, I think upgrading shipyards is one of the most powerful things you can do. Towards the end of the game
you will find that you have many ships with high amounts of experience. I also find that fewer numbers of powerful
ships (three 3rd rate ships) can defeat large fleets of inferior ships.
6. Photo Gallery
I will add more types of engagements later. I know I am heavy on the 6th rate battles.
click to link