Naval Modding: how to change the range of different guns?

[Black Serpent]

Hi all, I'd like to modify the ranges of different caliber ship guns, such that e.g. a 32-punder has longer range than an 18-pounder (for round shot only is enough).

I tried to edit the projectiles_tables in the relevant pack file, which has range entries for different naval guns. Changing the *_shot projectile doesn't do anything, but changing the *_shot_uniform has an effect.

Tested by changing the 18lb and 24lb projectiles, and on a 64-gun ship of the line (which has both gun types), the port side fires the projectiles at the right (different) distances but the starboard fires all projectiles only at the shorter distance.

Does anyone know how to fix this, or of anyone who has dealt with this or a similar problem before? Thanks!

[JaM]

its the top deck that defines the range for whole ship...

[Black Serpent]

Thanks for your reply JaM

its the top deck that defines the range for whole ship...

This makes sense, at least for the right (starboard) side of the ship. But as I said before, the port side works fine (I tested with really different ranges, 200 and 900, and each gun deck made splashes in the water at obviously different distances after firing the whole broadside). So I got excited that maybe it is doable, but with some other tweak still necessary to apply the setting for both sides.

If indeed the top deck controls the range of the entire ship, can this be changed somewhere?

[JaM]

nope, cant be changed. top battery needs to have same range as lower batteries.. which is not actually that unhistorical, as these guns were usually zeroed for flat trajectory, and most guns had point blank range around 300-400m... both NTW and ETW are quite limiting when it comes to naval warfare..

[Black Serpent]

Indeed, disappointing... I agree that for most practical purposes (close range combat, where you can fire the whole broadside point blank) it doesn't make a big difference.

But for those situations where you have long-range combat, I wanted the heavier guns to reach farther. So for a 2/3-decker the heaviest guns could start firing and, as it approached the enemy progressively more guns could start. The all-or-nothing broadside at all distances is indeed quite limiting. And again, I'm puzzled that this appears to work for one side of the ship, at least from my tests...

There's also the point that in agitated seas, big ships would not be able to open their lowest-deck gun ports, so they were not always as strong as their total number of guns.

[St Vincent]

Some points:

1) Given a rolling sea, a yawing ship and questionable weather, hitting anything at any distance was almost impossible. Long-range gunnery duels were essentially indecisive and ineffectual.
2) Although there is some evidence that it was occasionally done, firing on the 'up' roll against masts and canvas, and 'down' against the hull, this seems to have been an ideal that rarely survived much beyond first contact as the ability to control broadsides was limited in action.
3) The ability to control broadsides in action very quickly broke down if the hull was under fire as internal splinters flew about, the noise of guns going off, the smoke below decks...
4) The key factor to RN victories certainly seems to have been rate of fire, discipline and training.
5) Lower gun ports were certainly an issue, although ship design could help. French ships tended to be larger, faster and more lightly built which seems to have helped them somewhat in using the lower deck in heavier seas.
6) You could allow the Danes to mount a few howitzers on smaller ships...
7) It would be nice if someone did a mod or sub-mod where countries actually built ships and in proportion so there would be a balanced fleet. You can design as many clicks and whistles as you like, but if naval combat is a pointless walkover then it is really an exercise in futility.

StV

[Frunk]

Thread moved from Napoleon: Total War Modifications > Compilations and Overhauls.

[Steph]

7) It would be nice if someone did a mod or sub-mod where countries actually built ships and in proportion so there would be a balanced fleet. You can design as many clicks and whistles as you like, but if naval combat is a pointless walkover then it is really an exercise in futility.

In Masters of Europe, the number of ships buildable in each region is limited. So you could have at most of few 122... If you want a large fleet, you HAVE to build smaller ships and frigates.