CAPT E.

Thank you for confirming, Commodore. Very much appreciated!

Hello, LT Sterner,...I am still waiting for you to send the promised form to my email.

Thank you, LT Sterner. I am looking forward to receiving your email (sertman@optonline.net).

I get your point, PinkyDK, but my first time through the campaigns I did not have a clue what I "should" be doing, yet I still managed to achieve victory (medium hard level) through each sea and land battle. In the first sea battle, I did not realize I could capture the two ships, so I just kept them at bay and got my critical assets to safety. Yes, some of my subsequent victories were very close---in particular, I did not have sufficient land troops---but I managed. So even "noobs" (which I clearly was) can complete the game and win. I have never tried "easy" mode, so I can't say whether that mode is also useful for new players.

Sorry, I just saw your post. FYI, I have just posted a related comment in General Discussions about a perceived imbalance in the game mechanics for stern damage.

To the game developers: On several occasions, I have used my ships to force an enemy ship aground, bow in. I've then pulled in and anchored perpendicular to the stern of the grounded ship and sat there bombarding the grounded ship with my cannons. My impression is that damage to a ship's stern may not be accounted for realistically by the game mechanics. First, I tried using canister shot to rake the decks and take out crew. Canister shot appears very ineffective in this instance. Given that the quarterdeck and poop deck are elevated, the lack of effect due to canister shot at the stern might be reasonable, as the crew working on the main deck might be protected by the ships superstructure astern. But I have also tried using regular round shot, and it also seems rather ineffective, particularly considering that stern armoring is thinner than side armoring. As a minimum, one would expect that continuous bombardment of a ship's stern by round shot should disintegrate the rudder and damage the steering tackle beyond any hope of repair at sea. But the shot should also destroy the captain's and mate's cabins, and probably the infirmary, which should have a consequential effect on crew morale, disability, and mortality. And I would also think that continuous bombardment of ship's stern with round shot should be able to sink the ship (which has never occurred in my attempts). Given these observations, you might wish to reconsider whether game mechanics are properly accounting for cannon damage to a ship's stern. Also, a damage indicator for the stern---similar to those for port and starboard armoring---would be helpful, so the warfighter could assess how much damage was being done to the enemy ship. Thanks for a great game and particularly for being receptive to concerns and suggestions by the "rank and file." Regards, CAPT E.

Greetings Skeksis, In your screen capture of the game, I see that the Galga is on fire. I can't see the ship to tell how bad is the fire...it may be too out of control to save the ship. Nevertheless, to have any chance of saving the ship, you need to transfer an officer and sufficient crew to perform damage control. Also, when coming alongside for boarding, I typically shift to canister shot to take out crew without causing more damage to the ship I intend to board. If you keep blasting away with round shot and cause a fire, its liable to catch your own ship on fire, as well. I've lost ships that way before. I can't say for certain whether your observations might represent a new "bug." However, in previous play of this particular scenario, I have captured both enemy ships without either of them sinking.

Gsam, I am truly sorry that you are unhappy with the game. My comments below are not meant, in any way, to minimize your concerns; we just have different perspectives. I expect, a priori, that managing a fleet of ships will be difficult. For me, that is part of the challenge...a game should not be too easy or it will not be fulfilling to achieve ones tactical objectives. And I never use AI because it is just "too dumb." This is not a complaint about the game...even the best AI will not have the same tactical insight as a human warfare fighter. While I do agree with you that some battles seem misbalanced (by that I mean many enemy ships and much larger enemy ships than in my fleet), I have always found ways to even the odds. For example, using very fast, unarmed fire ships to attack and incinerate the largest enemy ship, while the rest of my fleet battles it out with the other smaller enemy ships (and wins!). Also, using fast, small armed ships to "tease" the bigger enemy ships and lead them off to the far downwind edge of the map. Once there, it takes the big enemy ships forever to tack back upwind and return to the main battle. So the challenge of the game...as is the challenge of warfare, in general...is to find tactics that lead to VICTORY, despite uneven odds. We don't always have the luxury of superior forces to follow the preferred tactic of "shock and awe." This is just my two cents; you are certainty not required to agree with me. Perhaps this is just not the sort of game that you will enjoy. Best regards, CAPT E.

To the game developers: Firstly, let me say that I sincerely hate to be a "whiner," as I know you have many other issues still to deal with. However, as one of the very early Admiral Edition supporters of game development, I am concerned that I have not yet observed my Admiral Character in the game. This despite playing through 2 American and 2 British campaigns, plus numerous separate battles. It was never clear whether anything was actually happening when I accepted my Admiral-Edition Character name and image. So I am concerned at this point whether some sort of technical glitch or administrative oversight has prevented my Character from being included in the game. And I would like to resolve this issue before it becomes too late. Please reply and provide me with a contact link so we can exchange information privately without cluttering up this forum. Thank you, CAPT E.

Graphics: High ; Resolution: 1920x1800 ; No other video options Thanks for reporting via F11...I was wondering if others experienced the same sort of problem. The game is still very playable, as is.

This is intended as a general comment, not as a major criticism. It does not seem to me that troop positioning via mouse in UAAoS is as refined as it was in UGCW. When I attempt to position and align my troops along a specific line of defense, some end of in front of my intended position and some behind. As well, I often have to use the shift key to reorient the troop facing direction, even though I was very careful to orient the desired facing direction when I released my mouse button during troop movement. I recall mouse positioning and facing of troops in UGCW being much more precise.

Once you have the boat deployed, select it, then put your mouse over the surrendered vessel and right click. As you do this, you should see a small boarding icon over the surrendered vessel as you right click the mouse.

Ditto to Rygoat's comment. Proper application of pushing the ship aground with another ship can help. Of course, I've heard that collision damage may be added to the game, which might make this method obsolete. Maybe they can add a towing kit to the upgrades list, so you can try to rescue your grounded ships.

Interesting idea. You'd want to bring some small/fast ships along in battle scenarios to act as naval skirmishers/scouts. That would be tough to do in the American Campaign. I never have enough money to deploy my large ships without selling the smaller trophies.

Greetings and welcome, MikeK! You ask about the mystery keyboard and mouse commands. There are others on these message boards more knowledgeable than I. However, here are a few useful commands. Q and E rotate the large battle map, which usually does not start in a N-S orientation. I find often find this confusing because the smaller large-area map in the lower right corner is oriented N-S. So if you are having trouble figuring out which direction are the bad guys or the retreat boundary, use Q and E to orient your battle map N-S. That said, when you are trying to board an enemy ship, it is often useful to reorient your battle map until you can get a better view of your angle of approach and distance between ships. I don't know of any keystrokes for orienting your ship; I use the mouse. If you want to focus your cannon fire on a particular ship when several enemy ships are in range, point to the desired target with your mouse and click the right mouse button. You should see a red triangle pointing from your ship to the desired target. To shut off port or starboard cannon fire, there are clickable icons for this at the bottom of the screen. Several folks in the AoS message forum have gotten together to develop a guide for the game, so you should look for that. I've been having so much fun just playing the game, that I haven't perused the guide myself. Fair winds and following seas!

Still waiting for my name to show!!!

I have very much enjoyed playing the early access American and British campaigns. I've hit a few bugs here and there, but overall everything has been quite playable. So, thank you for all of your hard work! Now you have me addicted and I am suffering withdrawal symptoms. I managed to capture Le Conquerant at the battle of Savannah Blockade, suffering huge damage to my fleet in the process. To capture Le Conquerant, I actually had to board three times with different ships, and also had to reboard two of my own ships to win them back when le Conquerant won the first two boarding actions. Now, I've repaired Le Conquerant and made it my flagship, and I'd really like to try it out in battle. Alas...there are no more scenarios developed! Please save this poor desperate sailor. When might I expect some additional scenarios for the British campaign?

In the British campaign, the darn French ships are very fast and, therefore, quite difficult to board. I go after them with a couple of ships; one to block and one to board. Even then, the French ships often escape from my grasp like squirming weasels. The French 68s and 74s are another matter. Still quite fast relatively, and if they hit you with a full broadside while you are alongside, your boarding crew can be disabled by the shock. Then the French have a better chance of squirming away. I've been working on ship upgrades to increase speed...and capturing some of the fast French ships, of course. I've never actually fought sailing ships, so I can't say how realistic are the game mechanics for boarding, but they don't seem completely unrealistic either. Boarding a fighting ship should be tough and very bloody. Also, I've managed to squirm away when the French had me grappled, so the game mechanics can be used to advantage, as well.

In some missions, the objective of your fighting ships is just to harass and distract the enemy while high-value units (example: troop and supply ships) get to safety. So you will have to decide whether you really want to capture a 3rd-rate enemy ship---and suffer potentially severe damage to your fleet---or just "tease" the enemy with your admittedly weaker fighting ships and lead the enemy away from the high-value units. Choose your battles; not every battle has to be a fight to the death.

In the Admiral Edition of Ultimate Admiral Age of Sail, how does one confirm that your "Character" (alter ego) has been accepted? I clicked the ACCEPT button, but I cannot tell whether anything happened. I do not see my Character in the list of officers for hire; albeit, that might be only a partial list of officers for hire at my starting level in the American Campaign.

Ah hah! Yes, that does it. Thanks much CajunNavy! BTW, from my play it does appear that crews can repair a damaged rudder underway, although I cannot confirm whether it can be done while delivering and/or receiving cannon fire.

OK, my maps are clearly oriented opposite one another. On the large battlespace map, south is at the top of the image. In the minimap, south is at the bottom of the image. Per your response, how do I rotate the battlespace image so it's cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) align with the minimap?

Sorry, this message will not follow the requested format. I just have a question. Is it just me, or is the small locator map upside down relative to the battlefield? On the small locator map for the tutorial play, the islands are at the top, but in the larger battle-space map, they are at the bottom. It really confuses my sense of direction.