[First post first suggestion]

And where´s the problem? Ships got captured and 'changed sides', sometimes more than once.

 

About 'to repaint the ships to their respective country?': navies didn´t have a unified colour scheme until the 1810s.

For example, here are Col. Fawkes observations about the ships present at the Battle of Aboukir:

 

British

 

Alexander

Audacious

Bellerophon

 

Plain yellow sides

 

Defence

Orion

 

 

Pale yellow sides.

 

Goliath

 

Light yellow sides with black streak between the upper & lower gun ports.

 

Culloden

 

Yellow sides with two small black streaks between the upper & lower deck ports.

 

Leander

Majestic

Swiftsure

 

Yellow sides with a black streak between the upper & lower deck ports.

 

Theseus

 

Light yellow sides with a black streak between the upper & lower deck ports with hammock cloths yellow and ports painted on them to resemble a three decker.

 

Vanguard

 

Yellow sides with a black streak between upper & lower deck ports.

 

Minotaur

 

Red sides with a black streak between the upper & lower deck ports

 

Zealous

 

Broad red sides with small yellow stripes.

 

Mutine

 

Yellow sides

 

 

French

 

ex Franklin

 

Plain yellow sides.

 

Le Tonnant

 

Broad light yellow sides with small black streaks in a line with the muzzles of the guns and two between upper and lower deck ports.

 

Le Spartiate

 

Light yellow sides

 

Le Conquérant

Le Guerrier

Le Mercure

Le Peuple Soverain

 

Dark yellow sides.

 

L’Heureux

 

Dark yellow sides -- very dark.

 

L’Aquilon

 

Red sides with a black streak between the upper & lower deck ports.

 

Le Généreux

 

Dark red sides

 

Le Guilleaume Tell

 

Light yellow sides with a black streak between the upper and lower deck ports.

 

Le Timoléon

 

Dark red sides -- very dark.

 

Frigates 

 

All yellow sides.

 

 

From 'Nelson´s Bright Yellow', Mariner´s Mirror 2013, by Gardiner.

 

Interestingly, Gardiner states that 'the Victory with her ‘orange’ hue (i.e. before the 'pink' repaint in 2015) broadsides may now be more representative of a French man-of-war than a British one.'

Thank you for the clarification Malachi!

[Correct Armament of Ships]

As this proposal seems to be generally liked it would be nice to see what the devs think about it...

In the meantime let me present you my more controversial proposal on gun v. carronade balance:

 

Historically the carronade was a huge success and short after its introduction became part of standard armament for many vessels. It was mostly used either on top decks of ships and frigates or as a main armament on smaller ships.

It quickly replaced small caliber long guns, however it never replaced the ships main battery on larger vessels. For ships of the line it gets pretty clear. Advantages of heavy carronade when compared to heavy gun are overshadowed by its disadvantages.

 

Large weight carronade, like 68 pounder start to require more crew and are quite cumbersome to operate and thus start to be similiar in this aspect to the normal gun. Although its damage against light vessels is extreme, its low velocity would struggle to penetrate side of a ship of the line. (32 pounder used 10 lbs of powder charge, while 68 lbs carronade used 5 lbs of charge).

 

On medium sized ships, like 4th rates and Constitution, when they were in competition with 24 pounder guns as the main armament, their advantages or disadvantages become more blurred. From what I read, they werent chosen as the main battery on these ships for the fact that they were not accurate at longer ranges and frigates wanted to retain ability to shoot for the rigging at range, weight distribution as frigates were designed to have certain weight at their upper deck and tradition.

 

In game I would like these aspects to see implemented as follows:

1. Carronades keep their range;

2. They lose the ability to be loaded with double shot;

3. The armour penetration of a carronade falls down with its weight and is about 40% penetration of the same weight gun;

   

     Meaning 24lbs carronade has about equal penetration to a medium 12 lbs.

     24 lbs carronade has higher penetration than 18 lbs carronade, the 68 lbs carronade does have about equal penetration with a 42 lbs carronade.

 

4. Accuracy of carronades shooting normal is the same as their accuracy today, while shooting double.

 

These changes would probably need to be implemented with my first proposal. Although theoretically allowing first rates to have all carronade loadout, it would be of very questionable practical use for a first rate.

This I believe would lead to reflect their real life use in game. They will still be very useful on top decks of larger ships (mainly due to logistical reasons) and would be of very much use in smaller ships expecting to fight „unarmoured targets“, but would be of no use in a line fight.

Definitely would like to see this implemented. Although you should be able to be given the option to fit out the ship with all long guns and with that carrying all the penalties that come with it.

[Musketmen, sharpshooters, swivel guns...]

Perhaps the biggest missing feature in the combat so far is the widespread use of swivel guns and marine/topmen sharpshooters. I vaguely remember admin expressing disinterest in these elements of naval combat, and it is true that they were likely not often decisive as weapons.

 

But I have dreamed up an idea for a small-arms based gameplay feature that I am quite enamored of. It serves two purposes.

 

1) Include the historically accurate and visually exciting employment of small arms. There will be the crackle of gunfire from the waist, quarterdeck and fighting tops during lulls between broadsides.

2) There will be a POTBS-style skill that can be activated to debuff the enemy. This will add complexity, unpredictability and tactical decisions to the gameplay but on a 100% REALISTIC BASIS. A non-magic skill.

 

The feature suggestion is as follows.

Swivel guns, marines in the waist and sharpshooters in the tops fire automatically on enemy vessels at close range, without input from the player. Basically, they just do small amounts of crew damage. It is cool to watch.

 

However, the player also has a set of usable combat abilities that function as debuffs. The rationale behind these abilities is that the captain orders his sharpshooters to suddenly concentrate their fire on a designated target. This is in effect a debuff with a cooldown, whose effects last 30 seconds or so.

 

This Suppression skill would have several variants:

A) Suppress gunners. The reload rate of the enemy's quarterdeck and forecastle guns is penalized.

B ) Suppress seamen. The enemy's yards turn much slower, even on auto-skipper. Setting and furling sail is much slower. This is what you do when a more maneuverable vessel is about to rake you, or if you want to screw up your opponent's combat tack. I think it would be a devastating, realism-based debuff and a blast to use.

C) Suppress officers. Once officer skills are modeled, this could momentarily counteract their skill bonuses. At the moment, it could prevent the use of Focus commands for a certain period.

D) Suppress sharpshooters. This protects you from the effects of the other three abilities, in a situation where a failed tack or sudden drop in maneuverability would be disastrous.

 

Any thoughts?

Absolutely spot on! Definitely need to bring in as much historically authentic features as possible, otherwise what's the point?

[First post first suggestion]

Hello everyone,


First of all, I would like to thank the developers who producing such an awesome game. I cannot wait until it is open to purchase again.


I actually have 4 suggestions really but how easily they could be implemented into the game is another discussion.

1. From the YouTube videos I have been watching, there seems to be a distinct lack of sailors onboard the ships and from what I've seen there seems to be only one person per cannon operating them. Also when adjusting sails, there are no sailors physically doing this which seems to be a shame.

 

2. Again from what I've seen in the videos, the game seems to follow the Empire: Total War route when it comes to viewing the ship. It would be amazing if there was a way to actually be the captain standing on deck of the ship and give orders to sail the ship instead of being at the helm from a 'birdseye' view. This would certainly bring more immersion to the game. This wouldn't have to be fixed view, but merely another option.

3. If it were possible to implement the 2nd suggestion, perhaps it would be beneficial from the role playing aspect to add character creation and customisation for the captians. With different uniforms being unlocked at different ranks/ship size etc.

4. Something I noticed whilst watching battles was that there seems to be from different nations fighting for the wrong nation...
For example: I've many British 1st rate ships fighting under a french flag and many French ships fighting under a British flag.
I know this is being anal but from an authenticity point of view it looks very out of place. Perhaps a solution to the problem is to repaint the ships to their respective country?


Before people go off on a rant saying it's in alpha stage etc. I am fully aware of that concept and that these suggestions would hopefully get a look in if the majority agrees with them.

Many thanks for your time.

Mr Miller