[Crash during a prolonged battle of the chesapeak]

The game crashed during a long battle of the chesapeak, it really ticks me off that i will have to play to this long battle again.

I got a crash dump but i have no idea where to send it, any suggestions?

[Custom Battles idea]

sounds like a good idea, i would like to also have a mission editor and/or map editor to create new maps and missions.

now these editors combined with steam workshop would boost this games longevity, and who knows, maybe even add a campaign editor

[Boarding Success Criteria]

3 hours ago, Skeksis said:

Could be done as a ship upgrade, e.g. “Marines to target Officers” upgrade, once assigned there would be a greater chance of an officer kill and/or sooner surrendering, like surrendering with a higher amount of crew available. 

the way upgrades work id rather not have it that way, more like linked to the skills/experience of the crew

[First Impressions (update)]

6 hours ago, FailKnight said:

On the second point: This looks like an Endymion-class 5th Rate, in which case your facing, which has 22" thick planking on its sides and 17" on the bow, meaning 6pdr armstrongs are going to bounce at a third of their range and 12pdr might be able to penetrate slightly up till half range. The Endymions also have some of the highest hp planking too, about 45% more than the dedaigneuse-class or Hermione-class 5th Rates, which I am guessing based on the picture are your own 5th Rates. Angle of fire also seems to have an influence on penetration, so it could be your chosen angle worsened your damage.

i shot it from every angle, i took that into account. distance as well

the average gun was the 9pdr armstrong

the ship in the photo was only called 5th rate

i cant remember the ships at the time, but yes, at least 1 hermione class, others where just called 5th rate and the rest some 6th rate

[The Boarding Game and the Low Effectiveness of Cannons on Naval Battles]

 

i did both, the cannons that shouldnt have a line of sight to the target still fire instead of waiting for an actual proper angle, which leads to several unecessary shots that just get deflected

[The Boarding Game and the Low Effectiveness of Cannons on Naval Battles]

From my playthrough something that i always found prevalent in naval battles is that the fleet that can board the most always wins, which in turn kinda makes using canons redundant.

From what i can say is that if the enemy has 1 or 2 ships of the line (3rd/4th rate lets say) with a high enough crew count then the battle is lost.

In the mission "Objects in Motion" the enemy fleet had some two ships that where either 3rd or 4th rate (i cant know for sure) as opposed to my highest being a few 5th rate with a couple 6th rate. I tried outmaneuvering them and attempt to rake them to no effect to its guns, crew and hull. Plus the broadside is just stupid, instead of the canons waiting for them actually have sight on the target they shoot all at the same time missing most, what should be raking shots, or having the balls bounce off because they shot at an angle that no ship cannon could possibly achieve instead of "waiting for their turn". With that in mind the only other option to deal with ships is by boarding them.

The issue that im left with is, as most of my ships are 5th rate i cant employ enough crew to board an enemy ship and then fight the rest of the enemy fleet with whats left of my crew, assuming i win the boarding. the enemy ships of the line had 500 and something in one and around 650 men if my memory serves me right, and they could still keep a decent speed and maneuverability.

Long story short, it is simpler to play the boarding game than actually shooting your cannons at the enemy, especially since cannons (round shot) dont do much against the crew if it penetrates, even if its a full ship.

In order to balance this i suggest increasing shot damage to crewmates relative to their amount, ship size, broadside intensity and point of impact.

• The bigger the crew, the higher the chances of casualty of penetrating shots, due to the fact that there is a higher chance of hitting someone with the shot or with spalling.
• Have cannons only fire when they actually have the enemy ship in sights, and not waste their broadside by shooting the ocean
• Bigger ships shouldnt be able to hit smaller ships if those same smaller vessels are below their canons maximum depression 

[First Impressions (update)]

While im generally satisfied with the game, i would like to point out some issues i have with it.

• Friendly Fire: This issue seems to be more prevalent with land units than ships, even though it still happens. my soldiers will fire each other in the back even if i didnt gave them an engage order or even when they are supposed to be moving. Worse yet is when they are side by side with other friendlies they end up teamkilling each other if the enemy is slighlty closer to another unit, instead of not shooting at all.
• Ship Combat: This issue i have is due to the fact that even though i bombard an enemy ship they barely suffer any damage to crew, weapons or armour. This image is of a ship which i have been shooting at with ships from 6pdr to 12 pdr armstrongs included and at all angles and distances. this battle took a really long time to finish even though i used both round shot to destroy armour and canons and grapeshot to kill the crew. i defeated it in the end because i had a troop ship full of marines that i could transfer to my ships. https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/793136054344904291/B6B0BD86F68D7566EC659E6D735BB136D0B27266/ I captured the ship in the end and named it HMS Endurance. This photo is on the middle end of the battle, this was the last enemy ship left.
• Ship Cannons Angle: The cannons in ships have an unnaturally wide angle to shoot, there are several instances where the canons should not be able to shoot an enemy ship, much less hit it. And when they cant shoot they also shouldnt shoot, because if they have no target to shoot at then why shoot and possibly even hit a friendly ship or just delay the whole reload process?

i might update the list again, with more things. or maybe not

[Ship damage and how it affects (or doesnt) the crew]

i know shots can kill crew, the issue is that it is limited to the actual projectile instead of the subsequent damage.

for simplicity sake im gonna keep it at round shot. there have been several occasions where a full penetrating broadside somehow didnt hit a full crew of a ship

[Boarding Success Criteria]

i would add that losing officers in battle should influence the chance of the crew to surrender and also decrease the chance of rebellion, in case of the captured crew

[Ship damage and how it affects (or doesnt) the crew]

During naval battles  what i have noticed is that every penetrating shot doesnt really do much to change the tide of battle.

What i would like to see added is a "spalling effect" where a penetrating shot could incapacitate some crewman and wound others, with wounded ones still being able to fight but with a penalty to their effectiveness or make them prone to dying should another wounding event happen to them