Ships of the Line: Holy Cow!

[bcaiko]

Hey folks,

So I just finished my first game as England, and I have to echo how much the Civ has improved. Playing England is a blast now. But the biggest surprise to me was how much more powerful Ships of the Line are compared to their counterparts.

Seriously, 3 Ships of the Line can absolutely wreck anything in their way. They will devastate any coastal city on par in tech to them. And, with the proper promotions, they can one-shot Crossbowmen. Once I got to Navigation, I easily dominated the game.

I'll certainly think twice about letting an opposing England get to Navigation, especially if they're prone to war. Or, at the very least, I'll build a very large defensive navy for my coastal cities.

 

[Ghonasiflaids]

They where always top tier if you used them right.

 

[Gratitude]

They where always top tier if you used them right.

Agreed, but facing them grouped together with the new improved naval AI was a bit of a shock.

In my first game England DOWed me but I thought nothing of it as they were on an entirely different continent. To my surprise, three Ships of the Line appeared off my coast a turn later. I was still unruffled and sent my fleet of frigates and pirates to deal with them. I outnumbered them 2:1. I was destroyed. In the end I had to move artillery to the coast to chase them off.

 

[Mozzington]

Even better if you make sure you build the Great Lighthouse and take a couple of picks from Commerce for the extra movement / sight bonuses. Unstoppable.

 

[prince_caspian]

Everything about England is better now. Longbows upgrade to 2-range gatlings, SOTLs really powerful now, the extra spy seriously wreaks a lot of havoc - Lizzy steals techs like once every 10 turns instead of 20 for all others. Now we can really feel the might of the British Empire on which George Macartney said the sun never sets.

 

[MaximusK]

Immortal.

The only way I was able to limp along with tech was thanks to the two spies (whilst beelining navigation). They leached at least 8 techs or so before I repositioned them to my two cities to start killing other spies.

 

[TravisATWA]

Well i just decided who my im playing next game.

 

[Adjuvant]

his name is Bond...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZtMWs31oo

 

[ense7en]

England was awesome before, especially if you bulbed up to get SoTLs way before anyone even had frigates. Great Lighthouse + Commerce left side ftw.

 

[dpaajones]

his name is Bond...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZtMWs31oo

The extra spy is basically a James Bond semi-UA.

England is now as awesome in the game as it is in real history.

If you're playing on a world with them on another continent you probably won't notice them until Navigation. Then...

I haven't got G+K myself - has the epic England war theme been retained?

 

[Ghonasiflaids]

Even better if you make sure you build the Great Lighthouse and take a couple of picks from Commerce for the extra movement / sight bonuses. Unstoppable.

Exactly. Pre G@K (When Caravels had +2 sight instead of +1), england with this combo would be able to see everything that ever happened in the seas, with only 4-5 carevels in a small map.

One of the biggest factors that always made england good was the +2 movement applied to EMBARKED units too. A classical english embarked unit had the same speed as a steam power embarked unit. Once you got astronomy you could hide an armada of rifles/muskets behind the line of an enemy coastal city, and the would never be able to even see them. If you had ships o' the line with logistics/supply, you could do hit and run tactics akin to Keshiks, only with the vast possibilities of the open ocean.

Strap on range and Indirect Fire, and forget about it. You win.

 

[Monthar]

I love it when England sends SoLs after my frigate/pirate (err privateer) fleet. I'm always nice and send them home. With my own crew of course.

 

[ooh shiny]

his name is Bond...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFZtMWs31oo

His name is Austin Powers. YEAH BABY!!!