User Guide

11 1
When a fleet is docked in a province, its
icon is not displayed on the map. Instead, a
“fleet in port” graphic is added to the map that
shows a cluster of ships in the vicinity of the
harbour. In the accompanying graphic, there
is a fleet in the port of Tangiers. To select it,
either click on the cluster of ships or drag a
square around the location with your mouse.
In the graphic, you can also see that the port
of Andalucia is currently being blockaded by
an enemy fleet. This is shown as a circle of net-
ting that encloses the port. We’ll talk about the
effects of naval blockades in the Naval Combat
section [below].
Naval Attrition
Whenever a fleet is at sea, there is a chance that
it may encounter a storm or experience some
other difficulty that can cause damage to its
ships. Weather patterns change too rapidly to
be represented on the map in a meaningful way.
Instead, we use the concept of naval attrition to
simulate the natural dangers of being at sea.
Each month that a fleet is not docked in
a port, every ship in the fleet has a random
chance of suffering damage due to weather or
mishap. The chance of this occurring is deter-
mined by the attrition value displayed in the
top section of the fleet details display. Coastal
provinces have a much lower attrition value
since ships can often sense a storm approach-
ing and seek shelter in a bay until it has passed,
while open seas have a fairly high chance of at-
trition as the storms are often larger and more
difficult to avoid.
If a ship is unfortunate enough to be affect-
ed by attrition, it will suffer damage amount-
ing to 25% of its full operational strength, so
it can survive several such events while still re-
maining afloat. Not all ships in a fleet will be
affected. Damage occurs only to ships that fail
their attrition check.
Naval Repair
Any damage that a ship sustains as a result of
attrition or combat will reduce its operational
strength. If the strength ever reaches zero, the
ship will be sunk and removed from its fleet.
Ships can be repaired by sailing to the near-
est friendly port and remaining in harbour
for a period of time. Each month, 10% of its
strength will be restored until it has been com-
pletely refitted and is fully operational.
Naval Combat
Naval combat will occur whenever a fleet en-
ters a sea province that contains a hostile fleet.
You will receive a message to notify you of the
encounter, and can watch the progress of the
battle by clicking the “go to” button on the
message or by selecting the fleet on the map.
Like land combat, naval combat alternates
between two different phases every five days;
however, most of the other mechanics are con-
siderably different.
Positioning
At the beginning of the battle, each fleet’s ini-
tial position is determined based on the aver-
age speed characteristics of the ships in the
fleet. If there is an admiral in command, his
manoeuvre rating will also contribute favour-
ably to this position. The fleets will then begin
to close on one another, attempting to find a
suitable target in the enemy fleet. Again, an
admiral’s manoeuvre rating will enable them
to achieve this more rapidly and efficiently. It
is possible that a side with a very competent ad-
miral might mange to inflict several rounds of
damage before an enemy is able to return fire
in a meaningful way.
Targeting
Once a ship reaches a suitable position to attack
an enemy ship, it will open fire with its guns.
When there is a choice of targets, the ship will
attempt to select the most suitable enemy to at-
tack. This decision includes considerations of
the threat that the enemy vessel poses to the
fleet, as well as the targeting ship’s ability to
inflict meaningful damage to that enemy. In
the chaos of battle, there will occasionally be