Uber Ship of the Line

To sink the Royal Navy, all you need is one SoL and 3 Great Generals.

First, move all other units out of the tile, and attach a GG to a SOL. It will get 20 xp

Then, move one unit into the same tile and attach a GG to that unit. The SoL will get 10xp

Move that unit out and move a new one in, and attach a GG. The SoL will get 10xp.

Your SoL now has 40xp, which is enough to get veteran 1-6 promotions, a total of +75% strength. If you have any rebel sentiment worth speaking of, you should have virtually guaranteed victory against the King's Man of Wars. You can kill one every three turns, counting time to heal.

 

very nice.. but i don't get it..

 

You may still lose with the +75% bonus if your king lucks you out. 2 uber SOLs are more safe but that requires you 6 GGs.

 

Not if you attach a GG on a SoL which has another SoL in the same tile. If I am not mistaken, you need 4 GG's.
20 - 10
10 - 20 for attaching GG's on both ships.
5 - 5
5 - 5 for attaching a GG on units in same tile. Or do you get a third of the XP? Then you will even have around 43 XP per SoL.

 

This is not a viable strategy, unless of course you reload when you lose a battle you expected to win.
Look, I've just lost 2 frigates in a row trying to destroy enemy privateers. The probability of losing twice in a row was about 1%, but it did happen. The way combat works in Civ4, you are likely to lose your uber ship way before you sink all the king's MOW. It's not worth investing 3 or 4 GGs. Plus, as you said, even if it survives, it'll take time for your ship to heal between battles. Meanwhile, the REF will have time to land.

 

Nice thinking. Not sure if it will work. But I like the creativity...
Beyond that, where do you get 3 great generals? Don't you need to win a war of independence, just to to have 3 show up at your capital colony? Either that, or create havoc on the whole continent (at whitch point you'd be so powerful that any WoI is easily won on land - there will be no need for destroying the Man of Wars).

 

On the contrary, "create havoc on the whole continent" requires the stunning amount of something like 2 dragoons and 2-4 cannons...