Pirates massively dominating trade lanes

**Sardonicus** · January 08, 2010, 05:58 AM

Hmmm,
I keep running into full stacks of pirates that vastly outnumber and destroy my trade fleets.
I try and include Brigs, 5,6th rates, sloops and such to accompany my trade fleets but no matter how many ships I send, the pirates always seem to outnumber me 3 or 4 to one and I'm crushed.

Is there anyway to disable pirates, or at least cut their numbers down so they don't dominate the trade lanes? A patch, a mod, anything?

**burden010** · January 08, 2010, 06:00 AM

The only way to "disable" the pirates without a large amount of naval battles, destroying their fleets, is to take the two pirate islands in the caribbean. This will wipe out the pirate faction and there will be no more pirate fleets.

**Sardonicus** · January 08, 2010, 06:03 AM

Thanks m8! I think I have the armies to do that, appreciate it!

**MortenJessen** · January 08, 2010, 06:03 AM

Hi there.
I am not aware of any of the means (mods or so) that can do as you describe. But getting rid of the pirates and at the same time benefit your own coffins are not that hard: a small fleet of three or four sloops only, since they are NOT to do battle but run for it if need be, loaded with an army of 8-9 militias and a general. The recepee: "Island-jumping ala Pirates". It takes 5 or 6 turns to get rid of the pirates this way. Good luck.
Y.S.
M. Jessen

**Rolling Thunder** · January 08, 2010, 07:32 AM

And while you're at it, capture every island in the americas.

**Dengero** · January 08, 2010, 07:58 AM

Or if you're patient enough, let the french do it.....or if you're the continental powers who doesn't rely on trade theaters, leave them around to annoy other countries (britain, UP etc)

**Humble Warrior** · January 08, 2010, 11:29 AM

Pirates should be your first priority in the caribbean. I treated them like the British really treated them at the time: DESTROY WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!
I sent all my forces to sink every pirate I could find then searched out their pirate lands and hung all of them there.

If you let pirates build up, they can become worse than normal nations and their radar seeking abilties to know where your ships are at all times makes them doubly extremely killable.

**Abspara** · January 08, 2010, 01:23 PM

Wipe em out! Head to the Caribbean and pillage their cities!

**Pikemen** · January 08, 2010, 01:28 PM

I like to keep them around to mess eith the other nations in my game

**priam11** · January 08, 2010, 01:42 PM

I find that they are more of a headache off the coast of Brazil and Africa. If you take out the pirates early in the far east zone,they seem to never pop up again. At least in my games, that is the case.