Privateer Theory

[Sneakysnaga]

I'm wondering if there is a strategy that involves large-scale use of Privateers to gain naval superiority on the quiet. Obviously this is of limited use on a Pangea map! But where sea travel is important, this could be very beneficial. But how much so? I'm wondering if anyone had tried this?

The idea of being able to demolish your oppositions navy without them knowing who is behind it appeals to me! (Well I am SNEAKY Snaga! )

I guess the problem might be that the privateer comes along too late for its primary benefit which would be to stop settlers getting shipped out from the AIs home island. But it would stop them from sending troops, and leave their colonies vulnerable. It could also be a way to intervene in a AI-AI war without any diplomatic fall out.

Comments?

 

[nameless53]

i do that a lot already.

BUILD tons of privateers, or enslave tons (barbarian galleys=great practice ect.)

it would seem though from what i heard their attitude can change but reputation is not hurt...

but i dont know for sure, latest i heard.

privateers however have bad defence and cant bombard, and cant upgrade... at the end i dispand them aid to create stuff like ironclads.

 

[Khift]

Privateers are *******s. But fairly effective *******s at that. Use them to hunt down enemy Galleys to create a two-fold effect - the AI loses their primary transport and you get a one out of three chance of acquiring a new Privateer for each Galley you take out. Just remember to never ever use them against England. You don't want to feed the Man-o-war machine.

It's debatable whether Privateers can be effective against enemy Frigates, but it isn't hard to get a bit of a tech lead and use them to pick off Galleys with little to no resisitance.

 

[Longasc]

You can build three privateers and with some luck you will end up with 7-9 harassing enemy ships.

But the sea war is not so important, and if you really want Naval supremacy on Archipelago maps, England's Man-O-War and the Byzantine Dromon are by far better.

They are nice, and they can create a fleet of many ships. But they are naval units, and those get only important later, for continental Invasions with lots of Destroyers and Carriers.

 

[dresdor]

You should remember the privateer's role in history: disrupting enemy naval trade and forces while not blaming the government they work for. Use them to take out soft enemy targets (unescorted galleys and galleons) but you should have a nice navy in the traditional sense. It's nice to take out others with your privateers and not get caught, but it's also good to have frigates and ironclads. Destroyers and battleships.

Privateers are knives for a dark alley, but you need more than knives. You need swords and armor for out in the open, and thus you get your realy navy.

 

[T-Money]

I use the privateer blockade strategy a lot to cut off enemies on my territory before attacking, but I was wondering something: is the enslave feature for privateers only available in C3C/PTW? Because I'm stuck with Vanilla civ till I can get my hands on some cash.

 

[dresdor]

^ I think so

 

[Capulet]

It's takes too long for my cities to build Privateers, so I usually ignore them until I have a city that builds them faster.

 

[JoeCivFan]

I never really used them. How do you end up with more than you started?

 

[DreadCthulhu]

In Conquest, Privateers have the enslave ability, meaning they get a 1/3 chance of producing a new Privateer every time they defeat an enemy unit. Sink 30 galleys, and you will end up with ~10 extra privateers.

 

[RFHolloway]

Does that also work with barbarian galleys?

 

[Longasc]

yes.........

 

[smeggo]

Built my first Privateer, got one turn out of port and some ****** sunk it!!!!
From the prevoius posts it sounds like I built it a bit too late.
Will try to build some in the galley era in the next game.

 

[huh?]

Build a Frigate and a bunch of privateers. "Hide" the privateers under the frigate and the AI will ignore them. Another thread somewhere said that the AI would attack the privateers, but your frigate would defend. In my last game, the AI would pass by without disturbing the stack, but if the frigate was not there the AI would take out the privateers.

If you study the map, you can see the spots that the AI likes to travel across before getting Navigation. You can station your fleet there to wreck havoc on the AI. Another tactic is to bait the AI to a spot by leave some terrain open, and blockading its route to the spot.

 

[Khift]

Build a Frigate and a bunch of privateers. "Hide" the privateers under the frigate and the AI will ignore them.

That is so cheap its practically an exploit, man. But then again, so are many other things, like Army pillaging rampages...

 

[Amiri]

i do that a lot already.

BUILD tons of privateers, or enslave tons (barbarian galleys=great practice ect.)

it would seem though from what i heard their attitude can change but reputation is not hurt...

but i dont know for sure, latest i heard.

privateers however have bad defence and cant bombard, and cant upgrade... at the end i dispand them aid to create stuff like ironclads.

Yeah, that's right I have watched as the Carthagian mood towards me sank just as my ships sank when they attacked me. How did I know it was them? I watched the boats come out of theire harbor. And we were supposed to be friends. (Had a MPP)

 

[Sneakysnaga]

Hmm interesting. Thanks for the feedback! I just started a archipelago map game. So far not a sniff of a barbarian galley, and I can't yet build privateers. But its only a matter of time!

From the comments, I'm still in two minds about whether they are worth the shields. But I'm going to try it, and I'll let you know!

 

[King Alexander]

I'll built privateer's only when the map suits their use. I remember some games in continents/archipelago that I were sinking every galleon/frigate that tried to settle the nearby islands and my privateers were close to my harbours, so no real danger of loosing them to other frigates.

 

[player1 fanatic]

They could be useful in pre-ironclad war too.

Bombard enemy ships with Frigates and then destroy them with Privateers.

Great way of increasing your naval force.
Not to mention that enslaved ships cost no upkeep.

 

[nameless53]

Yeah, that's right I have watched as the Carthagian mood towards me sank just as my ships sank when they attacked me. How did I know it was them? I watched the boats come out of theire harbor. And we were supposed to be friends. (Had a MPP)

dont be friends with carthage.
at first i thought they might be good friends.. dont know much about them... expected them to be friendlier than romans (trustworthy)

they end up trampling over your land, priva. attack, place citys on this little spec of space left somewhere.. and after you just had a war due to them on your land, the troops that was there to fight me stays there once peace is delcared and you have to threaten them again to leave.

just build some privas and but it around their harbor.
(great exploring and spying tool too.. troop movements and stuff.)