New guy few ? help plz

[Brogie]

Hi, i am new to ETW but not TW still learning new tactics for land battles and dont want any help on that front as like to learn but the new sea battles are proper doing my nut in

is there any good ship/sea battle guids out there, i cant seem to keep trak of what my ships are doing what and my ships dont seem to damage them pesky pirates ( seems to be a bug on ym comp when the tutorial advise speech is playing it cuts out half the time so i dont get the full advice )

also does the game end after 100 years or can u still play your game after or do you need to mod a file like u did in prev TW games ( of u do need to mod it can u tell me how i direct me where i can find out thanks

is there a way to increase the txt size in the menus and info panels, its so small its hard to read, changing screen resolution doesnt tseem to help that much

thanks

[naro]

group some ships together (perferably the same rate (eg all 5th rates group 1)) use the auto formation button to put them in a line formation so your ships will follow the leader and snake your ships around the enemy.

Thats the simplest tactic to use in ship battles and its quite effective. some people like to use double lines as it concentrates fire more quickly on the enemy but it is a more difficult formation to manuvuer without any crashes
eg: (>=ship)
> > > > >
.> > > > >

[Billmonaghan]

My basic strategy is to group ships in a vertical line. If I have five or less ships I use one line, any more an I group them by speed (brigs and sloops in one line; Indiamen in another, frigates in another). Then I put all the lines at the starting line, usually with the firgates in the middle. Then I select all my ships and load them with chain shot.

Then, I try to get out ahead of the enemy ships, "crossing the T" and blasting their sails away and reducing their maneuverability, before loading with round shot to damage their hulls and guns; then closing with grape shot, if necessary, to kill crewman until they surrender.

As you get more experienced, you'll still want to start this way (grouping ships in lines and moving the lines in unison); then start giving individual orders to individual lines as you engage and giving individual orders to indvidual ships as you start chasing down individual enemy ships.

I never monkey with boarding ships; either I'm not doing it well or it doesn't help much. You don't need to board a ship in battle to take it as a prize. It seems enemy ships just have to be surrendered and not sinking to be a prizes at the end of the fight.

I still haven't figured out how to use sloops and brigs well. Especially if their line ends up closest to the enemy as we close for battle, I tend to lose most or all of them by the end of a fight. I imagine their crewman all hastily scratching out their last will and testament when they see Admiral Monaghan coming. There's some way to take advantage of their speed and maneuverability I haven't mastered yet.

I haven't used ketches enough to offer advice there. I've been putting them in horizontal lines and have them hang back and lob shells into enemy lines, but I haven't done it enough to tell if I'm being effective.

I also haven't used many ships of the line; I tend to use them like big, slow frigates and don't know if special tactics are useful.

[Spartaaaa]

You might want to try the tips and tricks thread on third or second page

[Brogie]

ok thaks for the info one final question

if u put your troops 3 rows deep do all fire or just the fron line of frotn and 2nd?

ta

[Bloodzen]

ok thaks for the info one final question

if u put your troops 3 rows deep do all fire or just the fron line of frotn and 2nd?

ta

With line infantry only the first row will fire,but if you research fire drill in the tech tree once the first row fires they will duck and the second row will fire than third and than it will start over again,rince and repeat.
You can also research platoon fire later on which I dont find as effective but heres what it does,instead of the entire line shooting all of the troops on the right hand side will begin to fire,than the group next to them will fire and the next and the next and by the time the entire line has fired it will begin again.
This is done so as their is a constant barage of fire on your enemy.
Hope that helps