DeRuyter

Excellent site - Thanks Wind!

This ^^ I would vote for the top down gun deck view! I am always confusing which button is port and which is starboard and which deck is which! As for the damage cameras and text, just go to the WT forums and you'll see that not everyone likes it, especially the Simulator battle players. Also an argument for removing the name tags over the ships. In WT SB you need to know the silhouette of the enemy vehicles and look through your binos to see if you have knocked them out (unless on fire, ammo racked, etc.). So in NA you'd have to rely on the flags and when enough ships are in the game the type or class of ship.

Not only carronades but long 24s on pivot mounts amidships as well.

Here are a couple: "Seamanship in the Age of Sail" John Harland Illustrated by Mark Myers Pub: 1984 (reprinted through 1996) Conway Maritime Press (In the US by Naval Institute Press) ISBN: 0-87021-955-3 Super detail about every aspect of sailing ships, square rigged ships mainly. Recommended to crew of tall ships, which is when I bought it in the 90's for $60. Sadly quite expensive now unless your library has a copy: http://www.amazon.com/Seamanship-Age-Sail-Man---War/dp/0870219553/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426180142&sr=8-1&keywords=seamanship+in+the+age+of+sail Also: "Nelson's Navy, Revised and Updated: The Ships, Men, and Organization, 1793-1815" by Brian Lavery Great detail on recruitment, living conditions, dockyards, plus of course the ships and armament. I have the original edition published in 2000. http://www.amazon.com/Nelsons-Navy-Revised-Updated-Organization/dp/1591146127/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426180278&sr=8-1&keywords=brian+lavery "Nelson and the Nile" by Brian Lavery This one is on kindle for $3.99. It covers the campaign leading up to the battle as well as the battle itself. http://www.amazon.com/Nelson-Nile-Brian-Lavery-ebook/dp/B00JOBJGQ0/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1426180278&sr=8-8&keywords=brian+lavery Also I would recommend the "Anatomy of a Ship" series. I have the one on the USS Constitution http://www.amazon.com/44-Gun-Frigate-Constitution-Ironsides-22-Anatomy/dp/1591142504/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=08XA5JX0W1GRXCXW0JMD Also on HMS Victory (in paperback) http://www.amazon.com/100-Gun-Ship-Victory-Anatomy/dp/1591146372/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1426180721&sr=8-5&keywords=anatomy+of+the+ship+series Web site for ship details, including load outs, launching date, history and fate: www.threedecks.org Thanks to Wind for starting this thread!

Good ideas. +1 to exclude K/D ratio and other competitive stats (XVM anyone?). Not sure I see the relevance of total hours/time played though. That could lead to the same sort of prejudice as the competitive stats. I like the real world measures: assets and achievements. I think the number of battles and encounters also plays a role in determining player experience.

^^ I agree with Prater on this one - capturing a larger ship could be a ticket to a better command. Also it was expected that a British frigate captain would fight and beat a larger French frigate! This may work itself out in the OW as a SOL may not want to fire on a privateer schooner with bigger targets nearby or even not want to waste the powder, especially if a captain has to buy it himself!

We do need a 64 in the game. They were thought large enough to be in the line of battle throughout the Napoleonic wars. They were also used as squadron flagships for foreign stations like North America (HMS Africa) leading squadrons of frigates on blockade duty, etc. There is an excellent book on the HMS Agamemnon called "Nelson's Favorite": http://www.amazon.com/Nelsons-Favourtie-HMS-Agamemnon-1781-1809/dp/1557506205/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1426001434&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=nelsons+favorite+Agamemnon From what I have read they were considered 3rd rate ships even though they were being replaced by the 74s.

Interesting article on the discovery of the HMS Ontario (snow) shipwreck. She is very much intact on the bottom of the lake: http://www.shipwreckworld.com/articles/shipwreck-explorers-discover-1780-british-warship-in-lake-Ontario

Looks like the beginning time period is a moving target, but judging by the forum discussions it is trending toward 1700+ Don't get me wrong I like 17th century ships and have sailed on a replica of a Dutch ship from 1625 (and visited Bataviawerf). Just really a separate period in ship design, naval tactics, etc from what we are seeing in NA.

Hmm - I thought I read somewhere they were moving to a 1720 time frame for the lower limit?

This is an early 17th century design, so unfortunately prior to the time period set for NA. Two major clues in the plans besides the hull design: she has a whipstaff for steering and has square headsails (sprit tops'l) with no jibs.

This ^^ 17th century ships are beautiful and the capitol ships very ornate but NA is in a later time period in ship design. BTW - lots of theories for the foundering in 1628 not just the basic design as this was how large warships were designed at the time. Which of course puts them at a disadvantage against a ship built in 1778, etc.

Setting aside the specific arguments for/against USS Ohio what Alex said bears remembering - let's not go down the WOT road of more and more "paper" tigers, etc. Plenty to choose from without artificially throwing something in for "balance", or because it's "kewl"!

Actually those prices are quite reasonable for museum quality ship models, the sailing ships anyway. Custom made museum quality models can run easily over $10k.

Yes - privateers who ran the blockade in fast schooners.

+1 This is a pet peeve of mine (fingers crossed the repair kit system is radically changed for OW). The majority of rigging repairs during battle should be limited to splicing sail control lines or jury rigging a sail here and there. Even then look at the example of Constitution v Java. Constitution sailed a distance off to make repairs to her rigging before moving back into a raking position to accept the surrender. However when she collided with her sister ship President she had to put into port to fix her damaged bow and bowsprit. Currently you can magically fix a snapped bowsprit if you choose to repair your rigging. Similarly before the Nile the British fleet was caught in a storm and Nelson's flagship HMS Vanguard lost her top masts. Nelson had to put into port to repair the damage. As noted above ships routinely sent up and down t'gallant masts, royals and even top masts, especially before a storm, but not an operation to undertake in the middle of battle. Replacing sails (bending on sail) also can be a large operation depending on the sail. I have done this and you basically get 5-10 sailors out on the yard, plus a deck crew to send up the sail. Not bad if you are not also trying to fire guns and maneuver the ship!

I think you are being too negative about this. Yes okay she is symbolic and of course she is escorted by tugboats whether for her annual turn around or for a "sail". However it is not because she can't sail or as you've indicated would founder in the bay, it is because she is an expensive national treasure maintained by the Navy budget (tax payers), so the Navy won't take any risks with her at all. I got that directly from one of her Captains. She was restored to her 1812 configuration for her bicentennial sail in 1997. I was there in Massachusetts Bay for the event. Sure she was tugged into position, but then the tow lines were cast loose and she sailed at almost 5 knts under her own power. The breeze was very light, so you're not seeing fully drawing tops'ls. The weather restrictions also meant that she won't sail in less than 5 knts or more than 15knts of wind. She did have better wind for the practice sail before she put into Marblehead the night before. She recorded 7knts in 10-12 knts of wind. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Constitution_1997.jpg To my sailor's eye - jibs and spanker are drawing as are the tops'ls. Not a tugboat in sight in fact a stand off circle was cleared around her for the sail. She sailed again in 2012 for the anniversary of her battle with the Guierrier. Here is a Navy article about the sail: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=69100 Granted 3 knts is not fast, but let me ask you this: Would you turn down the opportunity to sail on her because it was only "in a straight line"? Here is an article by her Commander in 1997 which should answer the debate in this thread and your questions about her crew training, etc. http://www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org/discover-constitutions-history/topics-in-constitutions-history/constitution-sails/

There was a ship named Vrijheid at the Battle of Kamperduin in 1797. That one was launched in 1787 and sits squarely in the period represented by Naval Action. Looking at the order of battle for Kamperduin you have a ready list of Dutch warships of different sizes from the Napoleonic period. What we are getting in the game is an East Indiaman - Amsterdam (1748), based on the replica at the Scheepvaart Museum. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_ship_Vrijheid http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Camperdown

I got the connection error too. (7:15 PM ET) Everything on my end working fine.

Thanks - probably the only key I didn't hit while trying to exit from it!

I was in the middle of a game yesterday and this (editing?) screen popped up. I lost all keyboard control and could not exit from the screen. I closed the program and sent a bug report, but I wanted to post the screen shot in case this has happened to anyone else.

I have sailed on a replica of a ship built in 1625 and I would agree that ships before the early 18th c. (1710-1720) should be left out. Having said that I do agree that the early ships are beautiful and it is a shame to leave out the Dutch Golden Age. The differences in rigging and sail plan are more than meets the eye. The shape and size of individual sails changed and there was refinement of sail handling lines. Most importantly was the adoption of staysails and jibs, which allowed for much better upwind sailing and maneuver. Hull shape and design also changed, which again effected performance. I'd rather not see a WoT like tier system just to have a broader time frame of ships in the game that just opens another can of worms.

Yes - Ship of the Line (SOL) refers to a rate of ship big enough to sail in the line of battle whereas the term "ship" generally means a type of rig - ie 3 square rigged masts. A "ship-sloop" refers to an unrated warship with 3 masts as opposed to a "brig-sloop" which is an unrated warship with 2 masts. Then "sloop" also refers to a type of rig - a single masted vessel like the cutter (or a modern sailboat). Confusing, eh? The caveat is that this is generally RN or USA usage. A good reference is Nelson's Navy by Brian Lavery for the RN. For anyone who wants to look up ship stats such as launch date, number of guns etc try here: http://threedecks.org/