SirSamuelHood

I think it was just US and Dutch forces. The combined efforts of the US, Dutch, and British at all three battles today was exemplary. It's a lot of fun working together with other nations like this.

That's actually quite an interesting story. I wonder how many captured merchantmen would have been able to fend privateers off had they been better equipped.

'omg ganked nerf the brits!!'

Automatic stewards to feed us during dinner parties

₤5,000 a man! (or more) WEALTH EASE DISTINCTION YOUR LAST CHANCE OF A FORTUNE! The ships of the Windward Isles Squadron will shortly sail to scour the seas of ALL KING GEORGE'S enemies. They are destined to TAKE, SINK and DESTROY the Tyrant's helpless man-of-war, without Mercy, sweeping the Ocean of his Trade. There is no time to be lost! Once the Squadron has gone by there will be no more PRIZES, no more fat French, corpulent Spanish, and cowardly Swedish merchantmen, loaded with Treasure, Jewels, Silks, Satins and Costly Delicacies for the immoral and luxurious Usurper's Court. The Enemy must soon be Bankrupt - the End is Nigh! Come and join the Fun before it is too late, and then set up your Carriage! Rear Admiral Hood and Commodore Ahab have been prevailed upon to accept a few more FIGHTING captains. Only exceptionally wide-awake intelligent men will be entertained, capable of lifting a Winchester bushel of Gold; but PERHAPS YOU ARE THE LUCKY CAPTAIN! Hurry, there is no time to be lost. Hurry to the Rendezvous at the "Dead Frog Inn" in Bridgetown - YOU MAY BE THE LUCKY MAN WHO IS ACCEPTED! No troublesome formalities. The best of provisions at 16 oz to the pounds, 4lb of tobacco a month. Free beer, wine, and grog! Dancing and fiddling aboard. A health-giving, wealth-giving cruise. Be healthy and wealthy and wise, and bless the day you entered His Majesty's Service in the West Indies Station! GOD SAVE THE KING!

The F buttons (F1, F2, etc) disable gundecks if used while aiming with a particular side. I'm not certain if they divert crew to the other cannons though.

True. It would also alert members of a nation to a potential flip long before it occurs, which would be good. Not everyone checks the conquest section of the map very often.

I like the idea of making aggression generate more slowly as your nation's territory increases; overextension should have consequences!

The zombified corpse of PotBS begins to dig its way from the coffin

Spooky!

surely the pursuing ship should be able to pick up some of the more buoyant cargo being dumped.

Ah, PotBS, where the skill buttons you mash mean far more than the rate of the ship you're in.

My ping is consistently 170-180 and has been since sea trials opened up. It has never overtly adversely affected my ability to enjoy the game.

There's also the hundreds of people proclaiming themselves king of britain to worry about

I think they toyed with that idea for a while when open world first happened, but decided not to go through with it.

This may also be a measure to prevent people from stealing tagged traders.

'You can't point fingers without evidence' 'Yes I can' oh boy

I definitely think that having to thwart the port's defences rather than hold two circles would be a good measure for victory.

Remember that Trafalgar-esque battles were incredibly rare. That's why it had such a huge impact on Britain's sea control for the next few centuries, and that's why it was treated with such awe at the time that it happened. Battle of the Saintes, only 4/33 French ships were captured, the rest fled, yet this remained a decisive British victory and ended France's plans to nab the wealthy sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean. Why? Because the French were hopelessly outmaneuvered. French Captains weren't following signals correctly, the British took advantage of the changing wind (France had started with the weather on their side) and split the French line and caused great disorder. Battle of Chesapeake Bay. A decisive French victory where no ships were destroyed during the battle (though HMS Terrible, 74, had to be scuttled after the battle due to wounds incurred). Why did the British lose? Failure to follow signals correctly, the British ships dawdled and arrived in battle piecemeal, an entire squadron under Hood interpreted a signal for maintaining the line to take precedence above a further signal for close action, and thus never even significantly engaged with the enemy. In naval warfare at the time, a lot more victories were accomplished by outmaneuvering, outwitting, and making capital of the enemy's potential failure to engage properly, than by actually annihilating their fleet. I think that should be kept in mind for any large battle mechanic like this.

The grind, and then the lack of things to do after the grind. There's nothing to do after hitting RAdm besides conquest.

Really enjoyed the latest episode, keep up the good work and happy new year, Jeheil.

I really like the looks of these ships. It would be interesting to see more 'obsolete' lighter ships of the line with 44-62 guns.

Heh heh heh. Fine wood.

If you sail a SOTL in a way that invites raking from frigates, you deserve to lose it. The procedure for a powder monkey bringing a single charge of powder to a gun was riddled with safeguards to ensure that no detonations occurred. The galley fire would be doused and the embers thrown overboard, and no lanterns were to be lit. This was because you were sailing in a vessel constructed of (sometimes) decades-old dry wood, coloured with extremely flammable paint. The rigging was tar-soaked hemp rope, the sails were (again, highly flammable) canvas. Contained within the ship is enough black powder to keep the guns firing for hours. It's easy to see why the risk of fire was reduced as much as possible aboard ships. Having large barrels of explosives just sitting on the aftercastle would be a very, very, VERY easy way to garner this result for yourself in battle. It's an interesting idea, but simply not practical. If it was, they'd have done it.

That would help with speed and maneuverability. Do you know if she was used for escorting commerce?