What's the best both formation and strategy for a naval battle?

[twgamer20197]

What both formation and strategy battle do you use when you face an enemy navy on the sea?

[Alwyn]

I tend to have strategies (based on cost-effectiveness, experience and technology) rather than clever tactics for sea battles. When I play as Carthage, I buy their cheap melee ships and ram the transports ships of Roman legions until they sink. This is a great trade (Libyan Hoplites killing Hastati and even Principes). It allows my fleets to get experience and naval traditions, so (with some naval research and the addition of some better units) they can defeat Roman warships later on.

My standard formation is a line with the melee ships in the middle, the ranged units on the flanks and any artillery ships behind. Two melee ships try to ram one enemy ship, unless they're transports which are easier to sink. The ranged units stay on the edges, trying to draw away enemy shops and disrupt their formation.

Fire arrows seem to be useful - they were very effective when Pontus used them against my Cimmerian ships!

I find barbarian fleets harder to use because their ships lack rams, so I'd be interested in any ideas for how best to use them. The TWC Wiki page on Cultural Groups shows that barbarian factions can recruit naval units which wouldn't normally be available to them if they capture ports from factions of other cultures (and don't convert the ports), I'd like to try that feature in future.

[twgamer20197]

My standard formation is a line with the melee ships in the middle, the ranged units on the flanks and any artillery ships behind. Two melee ships try to ram one enemy ship, unless they're transports which are easier to sink. The ranged units stay on the edges, trying to draw away enemy shops and disrupt their formation. .

Your standard formation seems something smart to me: It is not a good idea to put the ranged ships behind your melee ships because you might waste a precious time in first moving your ranged ships to get around ( because if you fire from behind you'll kill some of your troops with friendly fire ) for supporting your melee ships while they are engaging in combat. By firing the enemy ships from the side of your melee ships, you minimize the casualties caused by friendly fire )

Thanks for your answer, mate. I think another thing we should take into account is not letting your melee ships overlap or disturb one another. Maybe it is enough to use ony one melee ship to attack an enemy ship from the front. And using a second melee ship to support from the side or rear of the enemy ship.

As to ramming, I'd try to find a way to ram the enemy general's ship as quickly as possible as soon as the battle begins. Maybe that will increase your chances of winning.

[Alwyn]

You're welcome, I agree that it's important to avoid letting melee ships get in each other's way. When enemy ships are sinking, they are obstacles, which is another reason to have space in between your melee ships (to avoid them trapping themselves in a log-jam of sinking enemy vessels).

Yes, ramming the enemy general's ship early sounds like a good idea, and avoiding friendly fire is smart too.

[twgamer20197]

It is kind of easy to win a naval battle against enemy transport ships even if you are greatly outnumbered ( even 4 to 1 ). This strategy can be useful in a campaign where you want to defend a coastal area. For example let's imagine you play as Epirus and you are at war with Rome. And Rome sends land armies by sea to try to disembark them on the Greek west coast zone or on the Illyria province as well
- So when you intercept a land army by sea with your navy, just set all your war ships in ramming mode ( even the range ship units ) before the battle starts and in fire at will mode with flaming shots: That's because you should never try to board any enemy transport ships nor letting any enemy transport ship board any fo your war ships. Boarding or letting any enemy transport ship board any of your ships is totally forbidden.
- Don't send all your ships to the front against the enemy. Split your navy in at least two groups and go to the flanks of the enemy formation in order to try to make them break the formation. Try to kind of isolate the enemy transport ships and ram them. Once you ram an enemy transport ship, make your ship retreat quickly either the case the enemy transport ship was sunk or not. Specially if it wasn't sunk in the first ramming, don't waste time just for one enemy ship because it could be caught by other enemy transport ships that are coming to help ( You know the idea is not letting the enemy ships have any chance for boarding your ships ). You'll need a lot of patience in order to sink the enemy transport ships one by one. After you make your ships retreat to a certain distance, you can turn around and repeat the ramming to the ships that weren't sunk in the first attemp or ramming other enemy ships.
- Don't risk your admiral unnecessarily because losing him would be a serious morale penalty for your navy. You'd better keep him a bit far from battle. Just keep him in reserve.
- Remember you have this advantage in your favor: your ships speed manuever/movement.

Another situation in a campaign where you can get the most of your navies is if the enemy attacks a coastal city of you by both sea and land. And specially if an enemy land army is coming by sea and you have a navy or a decent garrison navy, you should try to sink as many enemy transport ships as possible before they even have the chance for disembarking their units

[Alwyn]

That's good advice! As you said, it seems important to keep your ships moving after they ram an enemy ship.

Yes, I enjoy combined sea and land battles - particularly when using land artillery against enemy ships, and ship artillery against enemy land units!

[twgamer20197]

That's good advice! As you said, it seems important to keep your ships moving after they ram an enemy ship.

Yes, I enjoy combined sea and land battles - particularly when using land artillery against enemy ships, and ship artillery against enemy land units!

If you are a barbarian faction you would have to look for another way of fighting the battle because you won't be able to ram enemy transport ships. In your case how would fight the battle more specially if you're outnumbered?

A detail I forgot:
If the enemy has some artillery ships, keep your admiral out of their range because they might fire at your admiral. In this case your admiral would have to stay far from battle for the most part of the battle duration.