Brigs or Sloops?

[FoulKnavery]

So yeah, those are your usual resource-permitting options early in the game, plus they're good for harassing the enemy and/or cannon fodder while you get your big ships in position. The sloop is cheaper and slightly faster, and as far as stats go it says they have slightly more firepower and hull strength, but brigs have more guns, and sometimes seem to do slightly more damage, though I've had mixed results.

The sloop's cheapness makes it ideal for filling up trade fleets early in the game on Darthmod, especially for smaller factions.

On my USA world domination campaign my battle fleets were mostly 24-pounder-frigates and brigs, in a crude attempt at achieving some degree of historical accuracy - although in that alternate timeline the US conquered Iceland, France and all of Spain's American possessions - It was a decent enough combo, though-had the brigs soften the enemy up then had the frigates capture stuff.

Tangents aside, which is actually more effective, combat-wise?

[Alwyn]

Welcome, FoulKnavery. Your summary looks accurate to me (I like playing as the United States and using 24-pounder frigates, too). The main thing I notice about brigs is that they seem to lose guns more quickly than most other ships in combat. I imagine that a brig could be quite effective if it could fire a few times before being fired upon, but otherwise would be likely to lose most engagements. Of course, this depends on which mod(s) you use.

[Sar1n]

I don't like brigs for one simple reason. Their guns and whole crew is out on the open deck. That makes it extremely vulnerable to enemy fire."Crossing the T" on them or even broadside exchanges invariably cause extreme damage if done at low/medium range.

Frankly, I'd advise you to move on to 5th rates (or 24 pounders for US) as soon as possible, even if it means fielding one frigate instead of three sloops. They can hold their own even against galleons, which are most likely the most dangerous enemies you'll encounter early, and are capable of filling the frigate roles in fleets even to the very end of campaign.

[Akarios]

Another thing to remember is that in the late war, brigs are actually faster than sloops. However, I still tend to prefer sloops even in the late game due to their maneuverability. As one of my legendary admirals from an earlier game was wont to say, sloops fighting other sloops or brigs came down to "fighting the corners." (i.e. maneuvering and shooting over one's shoulder to gain critical rigging hits) Once you've reduced the speed of an opponent, you can choose the timing and angle of the engagement, granting a huge advantage. (or as the aforementioned Admiral Calles used to say "Lame then Mame" )

As pointed out by others, a brig's biggest disadvantage is that it has a single unprotected gun deck, making bow or stern rakes very dangerous. Of course, given their maneuverability, if you're getting raked, you're not fighting your ship right.