Improving Naval Battles, is it Possible?

[Patrick4357]

A sour topic for some, an unfortunate discussion for others.....Naval combat in the Total War series. Nobody really wants to play Naval battles unless they have to get this retainer, this unit, this piece of armour. The very few who like to play naval battles have no incentive to play either lack of fellow players with the same motive, or do to the new "Veteran/Retainer" features of a progressive land battles that is not offered to Naval units comparing it to a "Classical battle". Also, the gameplay mechanics of it is very lackluster, do you agree?

I would just like to hear every/anybodies opinions on how to improve this category, because as you can see, it's not going anywhere, whether we like it or not, it's here to stay. I on the otherhand think it can be improved upon, and this is why.

Making the game persistent like land battles, adding veteran fleets to singleplayer campaign that has been the very foundation of the Total War series since the original Shogun, and also in Multiplayer, so players can take pride in their seafaring fleets as they do in their land conquering counterparts. Another addition I pondered about in the many times that a naval battle dragged on was this: What about putting what units you want on whatever ships you want. An elite unit of Naginata monks on a "light mori" to make your own personalized fleet. Or veteran Matchlock Monks on a Siege Bune.

What do you guys think, and if you disagree, what do you think that they can do about making naval battles so monotonous. Thank you for your time.

[John Haukewood]

These additions sound like they would be fun. On the other hand, I do enjoy fighting the naval battles in Shogun 2; they are so much more up-close and personal than the ones in NTW and ETW due to the emphasis on boarding (at least till fire arrows and cannon come along.) I love the feeling of stealing my opponent's fleets to use against them--I only wish you could do that after capturing their siege/artillery too...

[crunchyfrog]

These additions sound like they would be fun. On the other hand, I do enjoy fighting the naval battles in Shogun 2; they are so much more up-close and personal than the ones in NTW and ETW due to the emphasis on boarding (at least till fire arrows and cannon come along.) I love the feeling of stealing my opponent's fleets to use against them--I only wish you could do that after capturing their siege/artillery too...

You can, there's percentage chance to capture each enemy mangonel or cannon after a battle

[John Haukewood]

You can, there's percentage chance to capture each enemy mangonel or cannon after a battle

Oh! Lovely! I just started playing Shogun 2 a few weeks back (and I don't have FOTS), so the feature must have slipped my notice. Sure wish they had it in Napoleon, though.

[debux]

I guess it would be hard and late to include this to S2TW, but they are brilliant ideas, especially the one of manning your own ships with troops of your own choosing (I don't play MP at all, so the thing of veteran fleets doesn't affect me at all, but I'm amazed that CA didn't do it at all. Having veteran ships for MP, plus the opportunity to personalize their crew would sure make naval battles far more interesting and players would care a lot more about fighting them. One can only hope R2TW has something like this.