Naval battle

[Sirlion]

Ok so after extensive research I read that descr_ship.txt doesnt work at all apart from two things, ocean going and the ship type. And that's it.
So, what exactly is needed in order to be able to set up naval battles properly? I see ships in the EDU have basically the same stats as regular land troops and I dont like this one bit. Can I set up different types of weapons onboard, for example number of cannons as primary weapon and swords as secondary, so as to simulate cannonades and then boarding with sword fights between troops? Or is the game simply not reading any of that?
Can any of this be scripted in some way if that's the case?

[Gigantus]

The game is not reading any of that as the necessary code does not exist. Naval battles have only become operational in ETW so this was probably a prelude that didn't make it - other then the two issues you mentioned. Whereby my experience has shown that the ship type has no other meaning then being a reference\label for the EDU - you can create your own entry if you wish and use it in the EDU.

[Sirlion]

Okay. Then what does the game read in the EDU to consider one ship stronger than the other? just the primary attack value? does defense value still count? what about morale?

[Gigantus]

Afaik it's the usual attack and defence stat values in the ship's EDU entry that are used for the auto resolve. Not sure if morale figures in auto resolve.

[Sirlion]

Okay I made some tests, apparently morale is not only counted into the equation but its maybe even more important than the defense value. I'd say it plays the second most important role in the autoresolve calculations. This is good, at least its a solid third value to work with.

[Gigantus]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep that in mind.

[Sirlion]

More tests prove that the Exp level is also taken into account.

I made a test with 1 ship vs 1 ship,2 morale points apart from one another, and I have changed the Exp value for the weaker one during several combat phases. Turns out the Exp level improves the odds of winning a battle or at the very least, not getting sunk. It is a rather marginal help compared to the morale bonus, but it still shifted a 2:5 situation into a 2:4. Greater values than 5 dont seem to count for whatever reason, or are simply too small.
the armour value doesnt seem to do anything instead, the same applies for the weapon upgrades.

[bitterhowl]

And what about crew soldier type? Knights instead peasants for test purposes?

[Gigantus]

No influence whatsoever afaik as their stats do not appear and would only have a role\effect in an actual battle, don't think using sec stat values will have an influence either.