Hi everyone, I am a Procrastinator's friend who is just a little bit passionate about sailing and especially the great era of sailing naval combat.
(note after posting: this is very long to I have highlighted relevant bits)
It is hard to start talking about such a broad topic but I will start specifically.
It seems to me that besides all the fiddling you guys are doing with sail in general, a big task you are trying to work out is the English special unit (forgive me if I use poor terminology, I understand what it is to be a fanatic about a game - just not this one
)
The English super era of ships was in the late 1700s to early 1800s. It is during this time that although they were outnumbered by the combined fleets of the French, Spanish and Dutch (all bowing to the absolute command of Napolean in Europe) that England was able to dominate the sea by knowledge and training. The fact is that the famous English victories such as The Nile, St Vincent and Trafalgar had little to do with the quality of the ships. It was a known fact at the time that French ships were actually made better, with better timber, could sail faster (if handled properly) and very importantly, could sail closer to the wind. In a chase a French ship would catch an English ship.
The difference came in training.
The English were known to be able to fire their cannons 2 - 3 times faster than any other nation. You could imagine the big three decker 100 gun Victory blasting a full broadside into your ship in just over every minute. The English dominated the seas and kept the other nation's fleets holed up in harbours where they were unable to train. The dominance became so apparent that historians recall that at the battle of Trafalgar where Lord Nelson actually published his plans in the newspaper for the enemy to read, the French and Spanish KNEW they would lose, and the English KNEW they would win.
The superiority of the English was due to morale (can that be implemented in CIVS) and rate of fire of cannons (possibly more attacks per turn?). The training lended itself to better turning and faster trimming of sails aswell, but I'm not sure that is relevant here.
As for ship classes I feel that a lot of you are on the right track. It is difficult to give certain ships certain titles. A
Man-O-War was a generalised title given to fighting ships and even given to the people who fought on them. It wouldn't hurt to make this the English special unit as it was definetly only a title used in England (because the words are English).
Galleons and Galleases were Spanish used to pathetic effect in the Armada of 1588. The English used a new light frigate class to outmaneuver the Spanish troop ships and hit them at range. If the English had been boarded they would have been slaughtered - but they weren't. The English lost 100 men and the Spanish lost thousands as their ships foundered. This is what comes from manning ships with troops instead of sailors. During the late 18th C
frigates were used for scout duty around a fleet of SoL. Of course they also intercepted small craft, ran mail or fought their own frigate battles. But their main purpose was to create a chain of gun and flag messages that could alert the main body to another fleet or ships leaving a harbour - then bring in the big guns.
Something to question is do SoL need escorts? They needed frigates for scouts and resupply, but in battle they were unequalled. Don't compare SoL with the Galleons of the late 1500s. A 3rd rate to 1st rate ship needed time to accelerate or turn, but with a full spread of sail they could fly in the water - their masts were enormous. The stern and bow chasers of a SoL could cripple a smaller craft and one turn of their broadside that could fire with huge effect up to a mile, would make small ships strike their colours instantly (surrender).
Taking prizes was very important in the naval battles of the world. Each nations fleet was made up of captured ships from the other nations over the previous decades. At the battle of Trafalgar a French ship captured by the English fought against an English ship captured by the French. In the Age of Sail I believe it is very important that all ships can capture other ships.
But maybe only smaller vessels as the man power was an important factor (a 1st class ship would carry over 900 crew).
I think that is enough, ask me any questions any time and I will try and be brief
Thanks for letting me post,
Samart
thinking my city culture meter was broken. Thanks.
