Tips for modern naval combat tactics

[TigerBotHesh]

The computer's answer to breaking a blockade is to use hit-and-run tactics from its citites. It wants to sink a blockading vessal and return to its home port in one move, giving it chance to heal.

To combat this, make sure you're setting up blockades far enough out to sea that the AI ships can't attack (costs 1 movement point) and return to their port-of-call in one turn.

Modern navies, with their higher movements, might make this almost impossible. Guided missles are great blockade busters.

I'd rather just hit the targeted city fast and hard with everything I got than try to blockade it for any length of time. There's too many hammers tied up in a modern vessal to risk it trying to starve and city and collect a few gold per turn.

 

[ukrneal]

The other thing that can be done is to draw their fleet out. Use a small number ships to draw/lure them far enough out that they will chase after. Then, you can swoop in to take them out. It is really quite difficult to just leave your ships to take attack after attack while they return to base to heal.

One more thing that sometimes works is to have a mega-healing boat far enough out that it doesn;t get attacked, but close enough for you to send your ships to heal quickly wthout sending them out yourself.

 

[Inky]

No, it's not. It is a flat 3, set in GlobalDefines.

I thought that triremes and galleys had a lesser range, but I guess not. Thanks.

3 is far enough that a defender would need movement 8 in order to hit you and get back to a city. That's available to destroyers, but not all will be so fast.

You are better off with combat I than with drill.

In terms of winning single fights, yes. But if you wanted to minimize collateral damage, drill is better. I'd rather win the fight outright, or not fight at all.

I'd be comparing combat III to drill III, or even IV, for this sort of mission. The enemy will have barrage III units to attack with, which can make collateral damage problematic. Drill is the only counter to that.

 

[Wolfshanze]

Collateral damage is severely nerfed in v3.17... so Combat-1 is even better then Drill now.

 

[Crighton]

I like playing Future starts with islands and hemispheres, makes air combat and naval combat much more necessary, one of the tactics I use is the tried and true overwhelming force tactic.

But I also like to throw in a few diversions at the ai as well, chuck a few defensive units into very irritating spots to tie down his forces (paradrop paratroopers with several defense promotions onto forested hills for example).

Personally, I'm not to fond of suicide units like the cruise missle. I prefer carriers and jet fights since I can get dual use out of them (bombarding the units to soften them up for the marines/navy seals). I will say that if you take the missle cruiser and cruise missles to a large enough extreme (unlike what the AI seems to prefer to do) you can make one heck of an invasion force. Ten missle cruisers with four missles each in the hands of a human can be a wonderfull thing.

 

[Rusty Edge]

So, I went and looked up this mod. It says to play with 3.17 you have to have a 3.13 version of the executable?

Unfortunately I installed the patch already. I guess there aren't any work-arounds for already patched BtS?

-- SJN

There is a work-around now. See my sigline for a History in the Making thread post reference number.