Which Ships to build?

[Foxdragoon]

My Russian campaign is around the year 1722 and I have started to monopolize the North East trade theater of Africa with my Indiamen ships and almost all my trade routes in the Med. are being raided and some ports are getting blockaded by Venice. (Which is surrounded by neutral Austria so a land route is impossible). I was wondering which ships to start building. I have one port capable of building 6th rates and 5th rate flagships but the majority of my ports are trading ports and can only build sloops, galleys, and brigs. I was planning to use brigs but some of the stats are really confusing me and (as Russia) I don't yet have much naval experience. One of the ships, (I think the sloop?) had 200 attack power which is significantly higher than any of my other ships, but it seems so high that there must be a catch. Also, I was wondering if the trade theaters were considered open seas or not and how much of a factor that would actually be for choosing which ships to defend my theaters with (I thought smaller ships were at a disadvantage in the open seas?).

[Aeohjie]

It depends. If you plan on auto-resolving, then it's numbers that matter. As for direct command, I would suggest smaller fleets with the biggest ships you can afford. It's possible to take on larger ships with sloops and such, but it's a bit of a headache. As the enemy mostly relies on huge fleets of Indiamen and brigs, especially early on, you can use your large ships to punch holes through them to quickly rout them. If you can, try to use chainshot to capture them, especially trade ships. This can give you a jump start on your trade networks.

In your current situation, I would suggest a fleet of five to seven fifth and sixth rates. Either recruit an admiral's flagship 5th rate, or just promote one. Admirals contribute a lot to auto resolve and give your ships some bonuses to morale and such.

[Wingate]

I found upgrading a shipyard in the Baltic was key in establishing Russian naval power and trade protection. I generally like capturing Galleons, which are trade ships but roughly equivalent to a fourth rate ship of the line, but that's not a viable approach for Russia. Unless you abuse chain shot, beating a ship a rate or two higher 1-on-1 takes some effort, so going with the Russian preference for massive power, I had some 5th and lower rates but focused on 4th and then 2nd rates and finally got a few 1st rates. One of those makes a good guard for a trade fleet and massed can smash most opponents to pieces quickly.

I don't think naval is an optimal focus for Russia, but as Peter the Great it seemed appropriate. And, of course, artillery and ruthlessness towards taxing the peasants and and small neighboring countries.

[lemming3k]

It's early enough that you could get away with Light Galleys for the next 20 or so years - these are cheap, forward firing, high powered, and can be built in any port. Use a full stack or two for your med operations. They become relatively obsolete once the enemy fields anything higher than a fourth rate - or a large number of fourth rates with some back up. This usually won't happen before 1735, and only one or two nations bother with them at that stage. Once you hit 1750 you might find more nations start to use them and galleys became worthless for anything but transport vessels or shipping raiders. Again, as they're cheap they're good for this.

[SCA Tordenskjold]

Righto mate, hello.

What you should know first of all is that the stats and numbers you see when you r-click units does not yield the true stats. To find those, you have to enter battle and then r-click them. The true stats should be lying around on the web, a Google search away.

First rule of naval warfare is to never auto resolve. 's illogical and bloody broken to pieces. Forget about it unless you want to take a dump on anything remotely like a fair chance.

Galleys are largely worthless, except strategically to raid trade routes, block access and so forth. Sloops are awesome little critters; they are inferior to brigs, but a hunch more maneuverable. Brigs blow up. A lot. Sloops are your best mates. Galleys will often rout, and that can concern nearby friendlies and make them rout as well.

If you want to take on Venice, do as was proposed: Get fifth- and sixthrates (the latter are excellent sloop/brig killers) and an admiral; beware you do not recruit an admiral from an inferior ship, or *shudder* an indiaman.

Indiamen are affordable and you ultimately want them in trade anyway, so bringing a few of those along to rid yourself of the Menace from Venice (pretty good, eh?) won't cost you dearly. They are good fodder, have big guns (that fire slowly) and can attract some attention. We don't know WHAT Venice has, obviously, unless you tell us. A column of three fifths, three sixths and a few sloops and brigs (brigs in column, sloops flanking? You'll play to desire) will deal with almost any early naval threat.

[lemming3k]

I guess I must be the only one who's any good with light galleys, so I'm going to post a seperate thread with some tips please read it.