Privateering Question

[bu11d0g]

I'm greatly enjoying the mischief that can be caused by using said unit, and as a newish user have a couple of questions.

Regarding Blockading. Is there a way to visually 'see' the trade routes at sea?

I am playing an archipelago world and therefore these trading routes seem to pass through 'straits' of sea 1 tile wide. Therefore meaning I can presumably blockade this pinch point and net a few routes (this is all my assumption).

Currently I gues where these routes go by clicking on the blockade button. I know I've hit gold because my PC grinds to a temporary halt as it calculates my ill gotten gains(!)

Regarding Bockading and territory. Should I then be able to blockade these routes nearer my own territory (or even in my own territory!)?

Thanks, answer these and you'll make an old sea dog happy!

[KMadCandy]

hmmz, i don't know. but i'm gonna follow this thread and hope that somebody does have a helpful answer.

Originally Posted by bu11d0g

Thanks, answer these and you'll make an old sea dog happy!

but bulldogs cannot swim! my father had to jump into the swimming pool, clothes and all, to save ours because they sank straight to the bottom. two separate incidents. so you be careful out there .

[DrewBledsoe]

Originally Posted by bu11d0g

I'm greatly enjoying the mischief that can be caused by using said unit, and as a newish user have a couple of questions.

Regarding Blockading. Is there a way to visually 'see' the trade routes at sea?

I am playing an archipelago world and therefore these trading routes seem to pass through 'straits' of sea 1 tile wide. Therefore meaning I can presumably blockade this pinch point and net a few routes (this is all my assumption).

Currently I gues where these routes go by clicking on the blockade button. I know I've hit gold because my PC grinds to a temporary halt as it calculates my ill gotten gains(!)

Regarding Bockading and territory. Should I then be able to blockade these routes nearer my own territory (or even in my own territory!)?

Thanks, answer these and you'll make an old sea dog happy!

If you want to see which area is actually being blockaded, once you have clicked blockade (and its finished freezing your pc), click the blockade button again. It will show the area being pirated in your civ's color. This way, its sometimes possible to blockade several cities with the same pirate ship......ah haaaaaar, me hearties!

Originally Posted by KMadCandy

hmmz, i don't know. but i'm gonna follow this thread and hope that somebody does have a helpful answer.



but bulldogs cannot swim! my father had to jump into the swimming pool, clothes and all, to save ours because they sank straight to the bottom. two separate incidents. so you be careful out there .

You absolutely would have multiple sinking bulldogs ......sorry shouldn't laugh at the poor beasts, but they're not the most elegant make and model of dog are they......bet your Dad was amused

[bu11d0g]

Thanks for the responses. I checked back and you get a hatched area , usability wise the hatching would be better coming on when you click the blockade button initially.

I'd imagined the trade routes as invisible lines or arteries which you needed to sit on directly to accumulate pieces of eight(!) Therefore on Archipeleago you can practically button up most trade routes on the map with a few stacks of well placed Sea Dogs.

Presumably this is safer to do in your own cultural borders and keep closed borders with everyone else.

Aside: Bu11dogs don't swim well, mine never did, although he (Eric) enjoyed canal boating tremendously. He'd hop off at the narrow bridges and waddle along keeping up with the boats (3 mph). Which brings me to wishing that you could develop the civ land tiles with a canal structure a la Telford and Brunel.

[DrewBledsoe]

Actually my reply should have been:- after clicking blockade then click on the pirate ship itself, to see its area of pirating..

Hope thats clearer.

[bu11d0g]

Thanks, I've also done a search on Canals here, and apparently these are catered for in a limited way by Forts :-
http://forums.civfanatics.com/attach...0&d=1192645087
and
http://forums.civfanatics.com/archiv.../t-227291.html

So I can see the future! It will involve an self sustaining "expeditionary force" of Galleon, Worker Drone and Stack-o-Privat'aarrs to go setup fort on a headland or to "Panama Canal" between two strategic oceans. Let the mischief begin!

[KMadCandy]

Originally Posted by DrewBledsoe

If you want to see which area is actually being blockaded, once you have clicked blockade (and its finished freezing your pc), click the blockade button again.

oh i tried that, kind of. after i blockaded i hit \ when it went to the next unit, and yay, i could see it! thanks!

Originally Posted by bu11d0g

So I can see the future! It will involve an self sustaining "expeditionary force" of Galleon, Worker Drone and Stack-o-Privat'aarrs to go setup fort on a headland or to "Panama Canal" between two strategic oceans. Let the mischief begin!

excellent! yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Originally Posted by DrewBledsoe

You absolutely would have multiple sinking bulldogs ......sorry shouldn't laugh at the poor beasts, but they're not the most elegant make and model of dog are they......bet your Dad was amused

dad thinks bulldogs are the greatest, most graceful, elegant, beautiful creature ever. he thinks any dog with a snout and tail isn't a real dog*giggle*. he wasn't amused during these crisisesesises, he was really scared that they'd drown! of course we were all amused at him dripping wet, once we knew both he and the dogs were safe .

anybody who expected my father to be normal, well, i have a defensive pact with monty to sell ya...

[DrewBledsoe]

Another quick pointer on Privateers, don't think they are safe "hiding" in a stack of your frigates to heal. An ai nation can attack them even here.(I found this out to my cost...had 3 privateers hiding / healing in a stack of 6 frigates not far off an ai coast. Suddenly 3 frigates appear , and attack them from within my stack...and they all got destroyed, almost at blitz too....).They are only immune from attack in cities (maybe forts not really sure).

[bu11d0g]

Yup, thats why I thought the remote fort outpost idea could 'hold water' (to keep the maritime puns flowing). The ability to scuttle off into a safe harbour when things get tough.

Siting the blockades in your own waters doesn't seem to offer protection from frigids either. In a way I'm glad they are stoppable, as these units would be too unbalanced otherwise.

My current game strategy (such as it is) seems to involve beelining for Privateers and then using the gloden age of plunder to give a bit of a slingshot into the space race.

This does rely on a watery world though.

[obliterate]

What's a good amount of gold per turn generated by blockading? I've only done it once and I was getting 7 gold per turn. 4 and 3 from different trade routes.

[Lord Olleus]

If you're running free trade, beware of blockading other civs, you might end up losing some income from your trade routes!

^2 is minimum, and more than 4 is generaly very rare.

[bu11d0g]

I have once seen 6 gold per turn for one city (Warlord Difficulty).

But you should be able to get several 2,3 and sometimes 4s per go as your reign of piracy gets into full swing. They make a lovely chinking sound as they appear in the ticker tape each turn :-)

If they last a few turns you should observe the victim cities start to loose population counts(!)

I've read somewhere here that you should promote 1 ship to the first aid promo, and others to the "Drill" promotion. This seems to fit the bill.
In RL goodness alone knows what passed for First Aid on these ships in the olden days.. probably given a slug o' rum and off with your leg with a carpentary saw.

[DrewBledsoe]

Originally Posted by bu11d0g

I have once seen 6 gold per turn for one city (Warlord Difficulty).

But you should be able to get several 2,3 and sometimes 4s per go as your reign of piracy gets into full swing. They make a lovely chinking sound as they appear in the ticker tape each turn :-)

If they last a few turns you should observe the victim cities start to loose population counts(!)

I've read somewhere here that you should promote 1 ship to the first aid promo, and others to the "Drill" promotion. This seems to fit the bill.
In RL goodness alone knows what passed for First Aid on these ships in the olden days.. probably given a slug o' rum and off with your leg with a carpentary saw.

Most of the amputation was done with the patient soberish (need a stronger word than mwahhahhahhhahhaaaouuuuuueee here). The rum was given after (if they survived).....see this article (not for the easily squeamish).... http://www.cindyvallar.com/medicine.html

[bu11d0g]

Excellent link Drew!

Some particularly unsavoury 'treatments', makes modern naval life sound almost bearable - Aircon, Internet, Females not having to be smuggled aboard / dressed up in disguise as men, anesthesics, three course meals etc etc,

Makes me wonder what the Nautilus Pirates? in SMAX get up to. I haven't played the game yet.

[duckduckswan]

An early treatment2 for syphilis came from the native peoples in the West Indies. They used a resin found in evergreen holy wood or guaiacum. The more effective treatment, though, was to administer mercury orally, through a vapor bath, or in the case of pirates, by injecting the medication into the penis with a syringe.

Oh, sweet Jeebus