Can you put 32pds on 3rd rate Ardent class? and when do i get access to Larger Ships

[Faith]

Im playing the British campaign and ive gotten just past the Harm Rum mission and ive managed to capture 2 Ardent class third rates (the only non fifth rate ships ive seen so far) and ive been told that it should be possible to put 32pds on her bottom deck but when i scroll down the largest i can mount is 24pds, it litterally doesnt show me the option of anythign larger even tho there are plenty of guns availeble in the shop,

second question is when i can expect to see larger or atleast different ships, i think ive faced atleast 7-9 Ardent class third rates at this point, but never any other third rate or larger ship (not even any fourth rates so far) and im wondering when this might change,

Loving this game, some of the missions are a bit slow but its very fun and seems quite realistic!

[Malkor]

I just checked in my current british campaign, where i was able to capture the Arrogante in the Fireworks mission. Which is the first time you will encounter a 3rd rate SOL. You are right, you can only choose from 24pdr cannons for the lowest gun deck. However, you can put 32pdr Congreves on it (you find the research for that in the second part of the techtree) as well as 32pdr Woolwich, 32pdr French Re-bored and 42pdr French Re-bored. I think this is a bug but it could also be intentional.

The british campaign isn't finished yet, there are still some missions missing. So as far as the british campaign in its current state goes, the biggest ships you will be facing are 3rd rate Ardent and Bellona class ships. 4th rate ships are very rare and you might only see one during the entire campaign. Or none at all. In the US campaign you will see a 2nd rate Barfleur class ship with 90 cannons for the first time in the mission A friend in need. You will not see a 1st rate SOL, at least on the enemy side. In the last big sea battle you will see a french 1st rate but that ship will be on your side. But according to a statement from one of the devs, the US campaign will undergo some rework. Maybe we will see an enemy 1st rate SOL after all. Who knows?

[Faith]

Alright, thank you for the response, il make sure to get the French Rebored stuff once i can, i guess i need another research for Wolwitch ones aswell? i have smalle wolwitch guns but none as large as that, really hyped to try out the American campaign aswell

 

[RAMJB]

It's intentional. Ardent's lower decks don't have the weigh allowance to load standard iron 32pdr guns. Too heavy for the deck. Brass you can (most optimal choice imo), so you can congreves and carronades (both too limited to be the most powerful deck of a 3rd rate). I think that it can load the french guns is an oversight nor a bug - those are heavy as heck and it shouldn't be possible to mount them in there.

Keep in mind the Ardent is in there to represent the old 68 gun 3rd rate, which was pretty much rendered obsolete by the brand new 74 gun classes (the ones represented by Bellona). Those older ships usually didn't carry guns that big even in the lower deck. 

Edited April 19, 2020 by RAMJB

[Malkor]

Little correction Ramjb: 32 and 42pdr French Re-bored have a weight of 24, the 32pdr Woolwich has a weight of 23 and the 42pdr Woolwich has a weight of 27. So the low weight of the French Re-bored is probably the reason why they can be put on a 3rd rate Ardent class.