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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[0]
Short Story
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
USE
USE
USE
USE
[5.3]
[5.4]
[6]
HOW DOES PLAYING WITH THE SAILS HELP ME USE MY SOL IN COMBAT?
SUMMARY ON SOL COMBAT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------"It was a long week in port at St. Eustatius. Repairs on the Royal
Sloop "Revenge" lasted for nearly 5 days, and now it was finally ready to go
back out to sea. The governor reported much English activity has been spotted
around the Island, and has requested of you to hunt down the foul enemy to
its last man. You take this mission happily - the English have been a thorn
in your side for almost a year now, their pirate hunters getting bolder and
bolder by the month, and now sailing ever larger Brigs and Frigates to
capture you for that lucrative 50,000 gold pieces on your head. But you'll be
damned if you let them stop you, their fat Merchantmen and East Indiamen are
ripe for the picking, and the Shipwright here at St. Eustatius has promised
to buy any larger frigates you can catch off your hands at very tempting
prices.
So, with a cheery heart, your 100 men board the vessel and set sail
out to the Big Blue Sea.
As the Sloop weaves its way out of port, it passes a Dutch Brig
sailing off towards San Juan on a raiding mission. The captain hollers
towards you that he had just gotten news of two escorted English Merchantmen
sailing south across the Lesser Antilles towards Barbados, and wishes you
good hunting. Your ship breaks off to the south, quickly zipping out of the
bay, heading south on its war patrol.
After two days of fast sailing, with the winds helping with every
bit, the watchman in the crow's nest reports having spotted the first
merchantman escorted by a Sloop of War. With cheers and eager battlecries,
your hull, smashing a hole the size of a grown man into the top deck.
"FIRE!", you shout at once, and release a flaming broadside of 16 cannons at
the enemy, so far away off to the south. 'At least', you think, 'we shall
repay him in kind'.
But the Frigate suddenly lowers its sails, and veers off with good
speed away to the south. Its sailors struggle and finally raise the sails
again, and the ship seems to be whizzing away at a very good speed. As you
watch, your cannonfire splashes short of the enemy, well off its stern,
leaving no mark on the enemy juggernaught. Frustrated, you order the sails to
be raised, turning to pursue.
The enemy captain, encouraged by his successful dodge, lowers his
sails once again, and turns his ship with surprising speed to bring its
broadside your way again. It fires another deadly volley, but this time your
ship has gained some good speed, and you decide to pass underneath the
cannonballs, struggling to close the distance. If the enemy wishes to bombard
you, they can now do so at leisure, but if only you can get close enough...
The enemy ship shows no intention to run. It releases another volley,
and this time, despite your speed, you are hit by several shots, some
roundshot crashing through your decks, some chainshot ripping through the
sail, and little pellets of Grapeshot rip through your crew, decimating your
men left and right. But by now you are close enough. You tack to port,
sliding out of the enemy's line of fire, and quickly pull starboard to sail
next to the enemy warship, now looming above your tiny vessel, a huge menace
of the seas.
With a crash, your ships collide, and hooks are thrown high into the
air to catch the top deck of the enemy ship. Pirates scramble up the ropes,
some falling off into the sea, slain by bullets fired from enemy pistols the enemy ship is literally packed with enemy soldiers, all intent on placing
every last one of your crewmembers in Davy Jones' Locker. Swords flash as
your remaining pirates scramble over their side, and quickly the sound of
battle is everywhere. You hop over the side and into the fray, just as an
English officer, an Admiral it seems, storms angrily out of his cabin towards
you, a shiny Rapier in his hand..."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------[1]
The Ship of the Line is in fact the largest kind of Frigate-class ship
available in the game. As you would probably know if you've read the manual
or have played the game a bit, there are several "Classes", sort of like
"Families" of ships, from the tiny "Pinnace-class" to the hulking
"Galleon-class". These classes differ from one another in all variables, from
crew size to speed and maneuverability. Each family has a different model for
its ships, and they are quite easily distinguished from one another also on
the main sailing map. The different classes are also used for different
purposes by different nations, and some nations will change the kind of ship
they use when you select a different era of gameplay.
Each "Class" of ships has three variants - a small, medium and large
variant of the same ship-type, kinda like brothers who resemble one another
in many aspects, but one's big, the other small, and the last one's somewhere
in the middle. In the case of the Brig class, for example, you may encounter
B)
C)
The Maximum number of Cannons that the ship can use in combat
(not the limit of cannons you can have in the cargo hold).
D)
E)
The actual size of the ship model (All ships of the same class
have the same model, just bigger or smaller depending on the
actual variant)
F)
And finally, the amount of damage the ship can take to its hull
and sails (Bigger variants can survive more hits)
Other variables, like the ship's speed and turn rate, stay constant across
all three variants (except for the War Canoe, the "small" variant of the
Pinnace family, which appears to be faster and more agile than its bigger
siblings, although this is under debate).
The Ship of the Line is the largest variant of the Frigate class, and
therefore surpasses the other Frigates (known in game as the "Frigate" and
"Large Frigate" types) in all the aforementioned categories.
The Ship of the Line is a "Large" warship. Like the other Frigate-class
variants, it is built both to be a powerful, gun-totting vessel, as well as
being fast enough to do combat with most other kinds of ships without being
seriously outmaneuvered.
[1.1]
The SOL carries 48 cannons on board, the same number a Flag Galleon
possesses. However, the SOL is much much faster and more maneuverable
than any Galleon. In fact, in the right winds, any Frigate type can
sail faster than any other ship. Of course, wind conditions are
variable, and you won't often encounter such situations where you
have an overwhelming wind advantage, but Frigates are still faster
than any of the merchants or the galleon class ships in any kind of
wind.
Small Merchantman. They sell for 1800 gold when they are fully
upgraded, too.
*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------[2]
The SOL has often been called "Elusive", and this definitely has good reason.
Some people have finished several games without seeing ONE, let alone
capturing one. But why? Why is this single ship type so much rarer than
others?
Aside from the most obvious reasons (like, hey man that's a pretty powerful
ship), the Ship of the Line also follows some technical rules that prevent it
from appearing as often as any other ship. Let's take a brief overview on the
various reasons why different ship types often appear in the open Caribbean:
*
Merchantmen, Large Merchantmen, Cargo Fluyts and Large cargo Fluyts,
Barques and Coastal Barques, and of course Trade Galleons, are all "Merchant"
ship types. You will very often see them sailing out of a port and headed to
another city, with cargo on board and possibly a good amount of gold. They
are generated frequently, much more frequently than any other ship, and most
cities will send one or two of those in a single month, as well as receive
about two or three! The largest variants of the various Merchant ship
families, I.E. the West Indiaman, East Indiaman and Treasure Galleon are
rarer, appearing mostly when a nation sends out a "Treasure ship". This still
happens much more often than SOL spawning. In any case capturing one for the
purpose of using it in combat is a silly practice since they can't sail to
save their grandmothers.
*
Sloops and Brigs, of all size variants, occur mostly as escorts (sent
automatically in a convoy with merchant ships to provide them escort in
places where a lot of combat has recently occurred, or by nations with whom
you are not on speaking terms). You'll often see them as Pirate-Hunters when
you've upset a nation - this is a very common occurance - they come out of
their cities, shouting at you to stand and fight. It is also very common to
meet Brig or Sloop raiders, privateers, pirates and famous-pirates, so these
are probably as common as the basic merchant ships in terms of general
appearance ratios. The Royal Sloop is somewhat of an exception, because in
some eras it will be much more rare. However one of the named-pirates (Roc
Brasiliano) sails one, and I believe that Royal Sloops can be "persuaded" to
enter the water in any era with some triggering event or another. Shouldn't
be too hard to get one, although you can bet that it is quite a good ship.
Frigates and Large Frigates (the small and medium variants of the family,
respectively) can sail only out of non-spanish cities, as Escorts to Merchant
ships or as Pirate-Hunters sent out to capture you for the bounty on your
head. You will also see them as Raiders and Invasion forces sent by
non-spanish nations. In all cases, the Frigates will start popping up usually
when the enemy is pretty upset, or if shipping in the area of a city has been
hurt repeatedly. The Large Frigates seem to sail only out of "Prosperous" or
"Wealthy" cities, while the "regular" frigates can sail out of any city if it
has been annoyed enough. And if you don't want to upset anyone, you can try
going after the #1 pirate of the Caribbean, Henry Morgan, who sails a Large
Frigate, or #2, namely Blackbeard, who sails a "regular" frigate.
However, the Ship of the Line does not fit into ANY of the above categories.
In fact, the only kind of SOL you will see in the game will be categorized as
a "New Warship" - you'll see this caption over the SOL when it appears on
your main sailing view. New Warships are not limited to SOL class, they can
be Royal Sloops, Brigs of War, sometimes Sloops of War, Frigates and Large
Frigates, and for the Spanish they'll be any kind of Combat Galleon. But
while the other ship types can be seen performing roles other than "New
Warship", the SOL will ONLY ONLY ONLY appear as a New Warship.
New Warships are released from cities in what at first may appear to be
completely random chance. A common frequency to see one is about one per
every 4-8 months, and even when one is released there is certainly no
guarantee that it will be a Ship of the Line. You'll sometimes even see a
Sloop of War "Escort" tugging a Sloop of War "New Warship" behind it. Rather
silly. However, once you've tried the strategies and pointers suggested in
this FAQ, you'll see how the chance of having a SOL spawn out can be
increased. Don't expect the sea to be crawling with them though. While many
affecting factors have been discovered, there is still a great mystery on the
exact number and magnitude of factors make them come out. So far, even with
special strategies used, frequency doesn't increase to staggering
proportions, just maybe one SOL in a year or two.
[2.2]
B)
C)
[2.3]
When speaking about chance to locate one at sea in the first place, the
chances are very very slim. Like I've mentioned earlier, you may not even
encounter the SOL in an ENTIRE single game. It depends on a whole lot of
factors, from the era you're playing in to the level of discontent you've
caused a European power, to the economic prowess of cities belonging to said
upset nation. Even in the "Sol Capture Walkthrough" described in a later
chapter, where you spend most of your time "engineering" conditions for a SOL
to appear, you may not see them more frequently than once per game year, and
sometimes even if you see one you won't be able to catch it before it goes
into port.
Many people have seen one only to lose it. The SOLs is not a Pirate-Hunter
ship, and so does not appear for the purpose of chasing you around. Its
agenda is to leave one city and arrive at another, like merchant ships do, so
you're going to have to chase it. Sometimes they'll be sailing from one port
to another just outside your viewing range and your ships may never cross
paths. Vigilance therefore is key, but more often than not it is no guarantee
locals.
Combined, the SOL's resistance to damage, low crew-minimums, and high cargo
capacity, effectively cuts down the number of times you would have to visit a
port to make repairs, replace crew, and sell cargo.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[4]
// Note that this section deals with the actual process of capturing the SOL,
as well as the basic conditions that are needed to spot one out at sea. To
get detailed information on how to maximize your chances of locating a Ship
of the Line, read the last section in this FAQ.
[4.1]
While battle against a SOL can be difficult and highly dangerous if not
handled properly, the most difficult part is actually getting one to show up.
In order for this to happen, lets sum up the most known factors and
conditions that must occur for an enemy SOL to be spawned.
** SOLs are only spawned by NON-SPANISH nations. In fact, the Spaniards will
NEVER spawn a Frigate of any kind.
** SOLs spawn only when any one non-spanish nation has placed a bounty on
your head, of what APPEARS to be no less than 30,000 gold pieces. You
may see different SOLs belonging to more than one non-spanish nation
in a single game. Also, the importance of Bounty has not been
entirely proven.
** SOLs, like all other "New Warships", spawn to protect a certain shipping
line that has been terrorized by enemies, including mostly yourself.
** SOLs spawn in this way from the city of origin for that particular trade
route, so hitting merchants going from city A to city B will
eventually spawn a New Warship going also from city A to city B (but
there's no guarantee it'll be a SOL). This is not related to the
Pirate-Hunters, which will spawn if you attack friendly shipping in
the area regardless of destination or origin.
** SOLs will ONLY spawn from a "Wealthy" city, and no less. It seems like
city population is also an important factor, as well as "national"
prowess, I.E. a stronger nation seems to send out more SOLs, but
since the game provides no hard data on this, there is no way to
accurately confirm this.
** SOLs seem to come more frequently if you are playing in 1680, averagely in
1660, and much less often in 1640. So far, there have been no
sightings of one in neither 1600 nor 1620, but it is unknown if they
can actually spawn in those eras or not.
** SOLs are NOT sent out to meet you like Pirate-Hunters, they're simply sent
out from one city to another, so they're not going to chase you down,
and you have to be present in the area to spot them and chase them
down instead.
Studying these points can give us a fairly obvious set of guidelines we need
to use to encourage SOL spawning. The simplest way seems to be just getting a
non-spanish city angry, and simply placing it under naval siege, sinking
every merchant that comes out of the city, while allowing "improvement" ships
like "New Governor" and "Immigrant" transports to enter so that the city
remains Wealthy. This is the most basic strategy you can employ, and
reportedly it works best with cities like Barbados which tend to stay wealthy
if not directly assaulted.
Sinking merchants repeatedly (as well as the pirate-hunters that come out to
play) raises the bounty on your head, increasing the level of discontent for
that city. However, you need to stay out at sea for as long as possible, or
set up a nearby friendly port (by conquest or politics) where you can stop
for repairs and restock - otherwise you might spend one day too many away
from the city you're besieging, and might actually miss a SOL sailing out of
there.
If you wish to MAXIMIZE potential, you can do this by rearranging the
political map in a single area so you can ambush several cities at once in
this way, increasing the chance of seeing a SOL. More on this is explained in
the last chapter.
[4.2]
Sea combat against a SOL can be handled in different ways, depending mostly
on both your stronger points in naval combat as well as the type of ship
you're sailing. A smaller ship will generally want to dart in as fast as
possible, using superior maneuverability to close the distance and board,
while a larger vessel may actually carry out a contest of gunnery and
navigation against the SOL to whittle down its cannon or otherwise prepare it
for easier boarding.
[4.2.1] HOW DO I USE A SLOOP, PINNACE, OR WAR CANOE AGAINST A SOL?
When you fight a SOL with a very small vessel, like a Sloop, Pinnace or War
Canoe, you are seriously, seriously, outgunned. Causing enough damage to the
SOL to bring it to its knees from long-range can take a long time, and is
often very ineffective as well as dangerous. Your most important factor in
this battle would be the wind. You'll need to utilize it to your advantage so
you can weave in between volleys and board the enemy as fast as possible.
Start the battle upwind of the enemy, or otherwise align the ships so that
the enemy is situated in your "best direction of sailing". For a Sloop that
would be somewhere between beam reach and broad beam reach (about 45 degrees
or less off the wind direction). For a War canoe, it will be exactly
perpendicular (90 degrees off) to the wind direction.
First, you'll need to dodge a volley or two of cannonfire before you can
actually close the distance. Don't get hit! Any damage to your sails can slow
your ship enough so that when you try to close in for a boarding you'll get
hit by another volley and may either sink or be unable to sail faster than
the SOL, in which case it will maneuver around and blast you to bits. You
need to avoid, avoid, avoid. Close in to Chain-shot range if you can. A
sloop, at this point, can attempt to fire a volley of Chain-shot to make the
SOL a bit slower, but this doesn't always do enough damage to the enemy, so
it is often best avoided.
Once you're ready at a mediocre distance from the SOL, with it placed
directly in your "best sailing" direction, wait for the last volley, and then
dart in as quickly as possible. Trying to approach from a different direction
may be very tough, since the SOL can turn quickly and fire at you, and you
would be going at less than optimal speed. If you're at your best sailing
direction, you'll be approaching the enemy as fast as possible, thus
shortening the time the enemy has to reload and fire again. If the winds
aren't strong enough, your ship may actually take one of those volleys, but
by now it will probably still have enough sails to close the distance and
board. For war canoes, however, getting hit by one broadside can mean death,
so it would have to be a pretty damn good rush if you want to survive.
Remember that facing a SOL with a ship that carries 40 men can be hazardous
to your health. Your crew may get chopped to bits if you're not a good
fencer, so take this into consideration before assaulting.
[4.2.2] HOW DO I USE A BRIG AGAINST A SOL?
Brigs, I believe, have more trouble assaulting a SOL without taking damage,
since they are slower than Sloops and will therefore be more open to incoming
fire when they try to dart in for a boarding. Also, since the Brig is
physically bigger than a Sloop, it is a larger and easier target to hit, and
therefore may suffer many more hits when fired upon by a SOL broadside.
However, a Brig can take much more punishment than a Sloop, and so it might
be worth the risk. The larger "Brig of War" can sometimes actually gunfight
the SOL, but it would require some damn good maneuvering to avoid incoming
fire, as the SOL is every bit as maneuverable as a Brig if it has copper
plating and/or cotton sail upgrades. If the brig sustains some damage to the
sails, it might not be able to close the distance fast enough before the SOL
lands another volley on you, and by then you've probably lost the fight
already.
[4.2.3] HOW DO I USE ANY KIND OF FRIGATE AGAINST A SOL?
Theoretically, this is the simplest vessel with which to take a SOL. Being
equally maneuverable, and carrying similar amounts of crew and cannon, a
Frigate can afford to gunfight the SOL at long firing range. Whittle its
cannons down (DON'T SINK IT!!!) until they no longer pose a serious threat
(16 cannons are not a serious threat to a frigate), then close in and either
chain-shot them a few times or charge and board. With a frigate, you can
probably afford to sustain several cannon hits (unless you get 48 cannon hits
to your ship, in which case you'll probably be too slow to win).
Another tactic, which is often my favourite when taking a SOL with another
Frigate (or my own SOL!) would be to charge right in on them from upwind and
board them as quickly as possible (like smaller ships do, just simpler).
Start upwind from them, and sail directly with the wind right at them, you'll
reach them soon enough). The difference between this tactic and the one
explained above for smaller ships is that your frigate can take the damage
and keep sailing. Since choosing not to gun-fight them from long range
probably means you'd be taking damage anyway, it's obviously better to close
the distance while you're taking it.
An accomplished captain with a Large Frigate or SOL can possibly even make
the SOL surrender by breaking its main mast. This requires either great skill
or great planning, but it is very much possible. Don't expect to stay
unscathed, though. The enemy is DANGEROUS whichever way you look at it.
[4.2.4] HOW DO I USE A COMBAT-GALLEON AGAINST A SOL?
Don't. It outmaneuvers you easily, and you can't avoid its gunfire
effectively.
[4.2.5] HOW DO I USE A MERCHANT SHIP AGAINST A SOL?
Please, please don't. Just don't. If you really have to, try running circles
around the SOL, blasting at it with your numerous guns, and taking it before
you do too much damage to its sails. No, seriously, please don't attack a SOL
with a merchant unless you're VERY, VERY, VERY good. VERY.
[4.2.6] WHAT SHOULD I DO IF THE SOL IS ESCORTED?
Although I've taken on a SOL escorted by a Large Frigate (You can imagine
what that's like), it has only happened to me twice, and therefore considered
VERY rare. Most of the ships escorting a SOL would be Sloops, sometimes
Brigs, and sometimes the SOL isn't escorted at all.
When attacking a SOL with an escort, you have to remember that the escort is
at the same time both unimportant, and a serious liability. Your main goal
would be to either avoid the escort altogether (possible only with a fast
small ship, or with a very good starting position and wind conditions in a
big ship) or to board and sink the escort as soon as possible (Best if you've
got a Frigate-class). Don't let the escort stay alive or engage you in
cannon-play, because the SOL will keep bombarding you as you fight, and your
maneuvering will either be insane or impossible.
[4.2.7] FINAL WORDS ON SOL-CATCHING COMBAT TACTICS
All this said, you've probably got a good idea of what you're going up
against. Picking the right flag-ship to do the job, as well as pre-battle
maneuvering and correct wind assessment are every bit as important as your
sailing skills. To me, SOL captures are among the most interesting battles
you can attempt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------[5]
//NOTE: While this chapter holds true with any kind of Frigate, the
differences between having 32 and 48 cannons is immense, as well as having
450 vs. 300 men on board, and other distingishing factors between a SOL and
its smaller siblings. A Large Frigate can often double as a second ship to a
SOL, but you will notice the difference in gunnery performance very quickly,
from the width of your volleys to the damage you can safely take. However, as
far as handling and maneuverability goes, the SOL is much the same as a
Frigate or Large Frigate, and the same tactics can be used for all three
ship-types, as long as you allow for some adjustments to compensate for less
cannons, men, and survivability.
[5.1]
The first thing you need to know about the SOL is that it is the fastest ship
in the Caribbean when sailing from East to West, mainly because its top speed
is achieved when sailing directly with the wind, and most of the time
(especially in lower difficulty levels) the wind is going West. However,
sailing against the wind, as with anything larger than a Sloop, can be slow
and tedious. To balance this out, you will be constantly applying pressure to
the political map of the caribbean to allow you to stay in the same area for
a lengthy period, eliminating the need to sail east and west too often. This
is one of the main reasons why siding with the Spaniards gives best results
for SOL users - Besides the fact that in order to get a SOL you'll be
fighting against someone non-spanish, the Spanish have cities everywhere on
the map so returning to port never takes much more than a week or two. This
strategy is further explained below.
If you HAVE to sail directly east, either hope for the wind to change
drastically north or south (Only possible in high difficulty levels) or
instead zig-zag northeast-to-southeast across the caribbean in order to
maintain "OK" speeds. It takes a while to master, but will seriously
shorten the time it takes to sail from Vera Cruz to Barbados from 8 months
(or more) to about 4 or 5. Also make use of storms, as they can really boost
your speed.
The SOL can chase down ships at leisure, especially if equipped with Cotton
Sails. However, the best part about a SOL is that ship-to-ship combat quickly
becomes redundant, and you will be much better off using the huge 450-man
crew to storm cities and plunder them for all they've got. While this can be
performed with a fleet of smaller ships, having a lone flag-ship often proves
to give much faster sailing time across the open-sea map, whereas a fleet
will constantly slow down to accomodate the varying speeds of its member
ships. Because the SOL is so powerful, enemy ships are ALL considered easy
prey, so Pirate-Hunters, Evil Spaniards, and the top Named Pirates (namely
Henry Morgan and Blackbeard) cease to be dangerous conflicts. With 450 men on
board, you'll find that fencing is also much less dangerous as you're very
unlikely to run out of crew, and that large enemy crews that used to defend
themselves against your boardings will now surrender to you without a fight
simply because you vastly outnumber them in manpower.
Your ship is a veritable terror on the seas, and it should be used
accordingly. Sailing westwards is easy, but coming back takes a long time, so
the best strategy is to stay in the same area for a long period of time. To
this end, you will use the SOL's immense power to restructure regions of the
Caribbean, placing friendly cities in the midst of enemy concentrations, or
actually MAKING enemy concentrations near your friendly ports. Most "Buried
Treasure" maps point to locations in close proximity to where you bought your
first map piece of a set, so making excursions from the same city to find
different treasures will make sure you don't stray too far when pursuing
them. Pay attention to the locations of Evil Spaniards and try to ambush them
when they come close to your current location, otherwise you might end up
chasing them all the way to Puerto Bello, forcing you to spend months trying
to get back to the Lesser Antilles in the east. In general, basing yourself
around Santiago gives you the best options, but not the best yield. On the
other hand, basing yourself in St. Kitts or Trinidad gives you the best
yield, but any out-of-area sailing you need to do will probably be westwards,
again a big problem. But since your ship is big and mighty, you'll find it
rather easy to base yourself pretty much anywhere, changing friendly and
enemy cities to maximize yield in a certain area that you find is easily
accesible to you (Like making Maracaibo and Margarita into English cities so
you can raid the spaniards on the Main more easily, etc.).
Money is a serious matter of consideration, because you will need LOTS of it
to keep such a large crew happy. This isn't very hard to do, because you'll
be making lots of money from your plunderings and warmongering pretty soon.
However, more often than not you will need some starting capital to prevent
your crew morale from deteriorating. There are several things you can do to
help yourself with this.
First of all, when you're sailing a SOL (And in my opinion, in any game you
play), do not fill it up with 450 men right away - this will make morale
deteriorate badly if you can't get lots of gold fast enough. You can keep
somewhere around 200 men (The minimum for best combat performance is 168),
and increase crew size gradually when your capital grows to about 200,000.
The easiest way to get all this money is to find all the Lost Cities, and
possibly also Montalban's Hideout. To keep a crew of 450 men happy
indefinitely, you need somewhere along the lines of 1,000,000 gold, which is
almost an impossible amount. However, keeping crew and gold proportional
during your career will often keep the crew content for at least 6-10 years.
Keep in mind that marrying a girl in St. Eustatius or Nevis or Martinique is
pretty damn silly. Your best reward for marrying a Beautiful Daughter is that
she can provide you with all the Lost City maps you'll need, but after
finding each city you will have to visit your wife again for more map pieces.
Since all Lost Cities are in Mexico and Central America, having to sail all
the way east after finding each treasure will make your time run out like
a chicken on fire. Your first priority once you've acquired a SOL would
probably be to sell all your other ships and make your way, as soon as
possible, to Puerto Bello. You should enter, in this order or otherwise,
Santa Marta, Cartagena, Nombre de Dios, Puerto Bello, Santa Catalina (if it
exists), Port Royale (if exists), Havana, and Florida Keys. If you can't
enter one, consider sneaking in, or even capturing it. What you're looking
for is a potential marriage with a beautiful daughter. Since these cities are
close to Central America, sailing between your wife and the lost cities will
take much less time. Once you've located and begun courting your new wife,
take the time to visit Campeche, Veracruz, and Villahermosa. You need to
conquer all of them, and pass them from Spanish rule to another nation. This
will prevent the Evil Spaniards from spawning so far to the west. If you're
partial to the Spanish, you'll need to appease them later by sinking enemy
ships or visiting a nearby monastery to get an Amnesty escort mission. It may
also be advisable to take St. Augustine for the same reason. Sometimes you
can't get them all, but getting a few helps alot. Also remember that while
sailing up the coast of Central America you will probably run into several
Named Pirates, and this would be a good chance to take them out. If you
happen to know the location of Montalban's hideout - so much the better.
Assault his hidden fortress as quickly as possible, as the 100,000 gold
reward is very very important to you.
If you're not much of a Land-Battles person (And most people aren't, mainly
because land battles are so incredibly slow and tedious), you'll be wanting
to make ship-capturing raids. In theory, SOL raids should be very ineffective
because you'll probably be doing ALOT of damage to the enemy ships before
capturing them, thus rendering them worthless. However, once you get the rank
of Count with a foreign power, damage is no longer a factor in ship value as
long as you sell the damaged ship at a port belonging to said foreign power.
If you're going to go out for repeated capture-raids, make sure you first
engineer friendly ports in the area that can provide this service for you taking demasted ships to a far away port to sell them for full value can take
a long time. Just make sure to sink small vessels and capture only the bigger
ones (like combat galleons and frigates), which are worth much more in gold.
There's an 8-ship limit, after all.
[5.2]
* Whether you cause damage to enemy hull, sail, or cannon (And exactly how
much damage you will cause with each cannonball hit) is randomal, so
don't count on the enemy's Remaining Guns number to tell you how
close the enemy is to sinking. You can sink a ship without destroying
1/4 of its cannons, sometimes, and you can destroy all cannons
without damaging the ship much at other times.
* Hull damage is displayed as smoke bellowing out of the enemy's hull. The
smoke's color and consistency changes as the ship becomes more
damaged, but it can sometimes be hard to guage exactly how bad the
enemy is hurt just by looking at the smoke. Also, a lightlysmoldering ship can sometimes sink completely if you hit it with
enough cannonballs in a single volley.
Whenever you get the opportunity to fire Chain-shot instead of roundshot, DO
SO. Trying to get the enemy's gun count to 0 is risky, since you can't always
do this without first sinking the enemy ship. However a single 48-cannon
volley of well-placed chain-shot will often get the enemy to raise its white
flag, thus effectively making it harmless without risking sinking it
altogether. This doesn't work with enemy Escort ships (or any ship that comes
in at slot #2 when you enter ship-to-ship combat), as they will keep firing
even when demasted. These are often better to sink anyway, if you're not
risking hitting the #1 ship as well.
Grape shot is often useless, since you've probably got a much larger crew
than they do anyway. Besides, if you can demast the enemy with chain-shot,
there's no reason not to do it! (They surrender, hence no more fighting).
Unless of course you're trying to keep the enemy ship intact. Keep in mind
that Grape-shot as well as Round-Shot has a certain chance of hitting enemy
sails too, so you might damage enemy sails anyway. Grape-shot is useful
against an enemy #2 ship, because it will never surrender, and sometimes you
don't have enough time and maneuvering space in a battle to actually sink
them - so it's better to kill some crew before they try to board you.
Maneuvering in Ship-to-ship combat for the Frigate-class is of the utmost
importance. In a Sloop this may seem trivial, especially since the ship
remains greatly maneuverable even at slow speeds. With Frigates, the
unexperienced user can often make the mistake of assuming that they are
highly UNmaneuverable, and therefore attempt to perform as few tricks as
possible, accepting the occasional hit from enemy gunfire. This is, in fact a
mistake. A Frigate can become a very agile weapon in the hands of a skilled
user, enabling the captain to minimize (or even eliminate) damage taken in
combat. The key here is to know when and how to change sailing direction, and
obviously to avoid sailing into the wind if there is nothing exceptional to
be gained by doing so.
[5.2.1] WHAT SHOULD I DO ONCE COMBAT STARTS?
When a battle begins, the SOL's first priority is to gain speed (And maybe
launch a broadside if the situation allows). All ships enter battle at 4
knots of speed. A War Canoe can put this up to 15 or 16 in a split second,
while for a Frigate, especially if ill-aligned before combat, will take much
more than this. However, once turning away from the wind, a Frigate can
quickly reach high speeds, approximately 12 to 13 knots in a mild wind, which
is basically enough to begin maneuvering. Smaller vessels lose speed much
faster when they turn away from their best sailing point. A Frigate takes
time to lose speed, and can therefore afford the larger turn radius because
same direction, otherwise it may leave you for too long facing the wind, in
which case you'll lose more speed and may become highly unmaneuverable. Once
the 3/4ths are complete, you are sailing perpendicular to the wind, with your
broadside aimed at the enemy. Since you turned towards the enemy and still
haven't sped away, you are also now closer to the enemy, possibly within
Chain-shot Range. Be wary - the enemy may very well attempt to turn sideways
to fire at you. If the enemy's sails are still in good condition, it may take
you some pretty good aiming to actually hit him with Chain-Shot.
[5.2.3] THE ENEMY'S IN BAD SHAPE, AND I'M CLOSING INTO GRAPE-SHOT RANGE. HOW
DO I END IT?
In a SOL, entering Grape-shot range is seriously risky. The only true reason
to enter this range is either if you're in a bad spot and are trying to gain
speed, or if you've already subdued the enemy (0 cannons, or white-flag
raised) and have no fear of being shot. Otherwise, it is best to stay at a
longer range so you can avoid incoming fire.
To close in from Chain-shot Range to Grape-shot range, the best tactic
involves changing the aspect of battle, I.E. your ship's position relative to
the enemy and to the wind. So far, if you've followed the previous
explanations, you have been trying to stay downwind of the enemy so he can't
catch up with you. Now, however, you will be trying to maneuver your ship so
that the ENEMY is relatively downwind of you, for that moment when you turn
downwind and pounce. A skilled captain can dart at an enemy ship in this way
similar to what War Canoe captains do when they're facing a powerful enemy
(Which is basically any enemy. War Canoes are fragile).
Bringing your ship around the enemy can be tricky, since it almost always
involves sailing directly into the wind. The moves themselves are pretty
simple - turn your ship perpendicular to the wind direction (90 degrees off),
and then some. Keep an eye on the speed gauge, to make sure you're not
dropping below 7 knots. The enemy will either turn to chase or turn to fire,
in either case they will be aiding your maneuver by either playing along with
it (sailing further downwind) or chasing you and losing speed. If your speed
drops too far, turn slightly back downwind (no more than 30 degrees), then
tack back. Eventually, you should reach a situation where a line drawn from
your ship to the enemy ship is at about 60 degrees off the wind direction.
Now would be a good time to glance back at your speed gauge. If you're doing
less than 7-8 knots, tacking directly in the wind at this point will slow you
down considerably. However, if your distance from the enemy is also long
enough (about chain-shot distance), you can afford to slow down, as you will
very soon pick up speed again. Tack into the wind (or AWAY from the wind, if
that seems better at the present conditions) to finally bring your ship in a
straight collision course with the enemy. This is pretty much where battle
ends, because you're going to gain enough speed to be free to do whatever you
want. Be wary of incoming fire, although mostly you should be able to evade
it without doing anything spectacular.
A note on Grapeshooting - With a SOL, grapeshooting the enemy is often
futile. You would be better off chain-shooting them to take their sails
down - this, at least, ensures surrender. When you're confident enough, you
can just sail downwind and smack into the enemy.
[5.2.4] WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN ATTACKING SMALL SHIPS THAT ARE FAST ENOUGH TO
ESCAPE?
The problem with SOLs attacking a smaller vessel is obvious - the enemy is
far more maneuverable than you are, and can probably avoid cannonfire at long
ranges with ease. Moreover, an enemy not bent on your destruction (Like a
smuggler or a Treaty ship) is more likely to use wind to its advantage and
just run away, instead of fighting. If your starting moves are not precise
and quick, you'll quickly lose sight of the enemy.
When attacking smaller vessels, pre-battle positioning is KEY. You will need
to assess wind conditions first, and position your ship accordingly. The best
position to start a SOL vs. SMALL battle is upwind of the enemy instead of
downwind. There are several reasons for this:
* The SOL sails fastest downwind, and loses speed very quickly when sailing
upwind.
* A small boat, on the contrary, sails fast in slightly-off-wind conditions,
but has no trouble clocking a few good knots when sailing upwind.
* Frigates are the fastest ships in the Caribbean, but ONLY when they are
sailing at their "best point". Otherwise, they are no faster than any
other ship.
* Sloops, Pinnaces and War Canoes gain speed quickly, but their maximums,
even at good wind conditions, are not as high as a Frigate's.
A small enemy is, by definition, not powerful enough to pose any serious
threat to you. Therefore your first interest is to close the distance as soon
as possible to maximize the chance of landing cannonballs on the swift enemy,
or at least convincing it to make the mistake of turning to fire at you.
Therefore, when a battle starts, your first move should be pointing yourself
downwind, straight at your enemy (or do this before combat!). You will
steadily begin to gain speed. The enemy, at this point might turn to fire,
but since you're gaining speed in this phase, the shots will probably pass
over your ship and splash behind you. If the enemy turns downwind, you are
sure to overtake it (though if you surpass its speed, the A.I. will probably
decide it's better to turn and fire). If the enemy turns perpendicular to the
wind (like War Canoes), you can adjust your heading slightly to that
direction, but rememeber that your top priority is not to board, but to land
a broadside on your enemy.
You must fire that broadside only when you are sure that you've closed as
much distance as you're going to do (if you're very close, you might not need
to fire at all). If your firing angle and aiming skills are at their best, or
if you're playing a lower level of difficulty, you can probably try to fire
some chainshot along in the same volley, to increase the chance of saildamage to the enemy.
A good way to increase change of hit is to fire while turning with the sails
reefed (see below). Since it takes a bit of time for the SOL to fire all its
cannons, turning the ship while it's firing will send different cannonballs
in different directions, creating a "spread". Start firing BEFORE your
broadside is aimed directly at the enemy, then "sweep" across the enemy's
path to fire your cannonballs all around his ship. Note that the enemy still
has some chance to avoid all them, and that by using this technique, you're
increasing the chance of a hit while reducing the damage given to the enemy,
so more often than not, you will not do enough damage to slow him down.
Once the enemy has been injured enough to prevent its escape, you may now
attempt to board it. Make sure you don't sink the enemy if you're trying to
board, and watch out - some of the bigger "small ships", like Royal Sloops,
carry 20 guns on board. Not enough to cause you any major damage, but enough
to hurt you and your men. Be wary even when you're winning.
[5.3]
HOW DOES PLAYING WITH THE SAILS HELP ME USE MY SOL IN COMBAT?
Pressing the "2" key on your keypad, during both map sailing and combat
sailing, will lower your sails. The term "Reef the sails" is more accurate,
since they are actually pulled upwards. In this state, the ship will go
slower, develop and lose speed slower, but will have increased turning speed.
Pressing the "8" key will "raise" the sails back to full state, increasing
speed and reducing turn rate.
Handling a ship's sails can be awkward, especially if you haven't had much
experience sailing in combat even without tinkering with sail states.
However, once you can master the technique, you'll find that dodging
cannonballs with a huge ship like the SOL becomes simple!
The reefing/raising technique is best used in the "Snaking Chase" maneuver,
where you lure the enemy into trying to chase you while maintaining long
firing distance from it (see sections above). By reefing the sails, you will
be able to suddenly change direction, fire at the enemy, and quickly turn
back into the wind to gain speed, thus escaping incoming fire.
The maneuver itself is rather simple, although getting the hang of it can be
difficult.
Once you've gained good speed in combat, going downwind as my earlier tactics
instruct, hit the "Reef Sails" button (2). Immediately begin turning sideways
to aim your broadside. As you align your guns and begin firing a volley, a
good idea would be to raise the sails again (8) to start gaining back speed,
however this is not always neccesary. Once firing has been all but completed,
reef the sails again, and turn back downwind, raising the sails at the end of
the turn to begin regaining speed and distance. You'll eventually also learn
how to reef your sails at just the right moment to bring your broadside
towards the enemy just as your cannons are fully loaded, thus minimizing the
time you spend with your sails down (not gaining speed).
When dodging cannonfire, you need to reef the sails as soon as the enemy
releases its volley. Begin turning away from the volley (or if you were
headed away from it in the first place - turn sideways from the incoming
cannonball's heading). You will need to eventually make a 90 degree turn.
Once you've turned about 60 degrees, raise the sails and continue turning
until the 90 degrees are complete. When you make such a quick turn and hasty
acceleration, much like a car "whipping its tail" in a tight curve, the
cannonballs will land where you were supposed to be, however you have strayed
from that position already, and shouldn't get hit at all.
Note that you will need at least 168 men on board to reef/raise your sails at
optimal speed. Also notice that reefing takes much less time than raising,
and that while you're switching sail modes, cannon-reloading pauses until the
sails are set.
At closer ranges (Chain-shot range), whipping your ship around may not
provide the best results, but it will often help you turn what would
otherwise be a complete hit across the side of your ship to slight damage by
only a few of the cannonballs. It will be best if you do the maneuver when
the reefing will put you at best-sailing-point AFTER the 90-degree turn
(You'll speed away from the cannonball impact zone much faster).
At Grape-shot range, forget the reefing maneuver altogether. If you've come
this close, it's better to board quickly rather than keep playing with an
enemy that fires back. Remember that once you've smacked into the enemy (the
game shows you a close-up of both ships right before boarding), no further
damage is recorded, so if the enemy has fired a large broadside at you, this
is a good way to minimize the effect of what would otherwise be a devastating
hit.
Another important thing to remember (And this is a VERY important strategy
for SOL sailing) - fighting in the middle of a storm, or otherwise when the
winds reach 19-20 knots, your ship becomes so fast you don't need to reef the
sails at all.
And last, but not least - if your turn is going to bring you "into the eye of
the wind" (Sailing AGAINST the red arrow), do NOT reef the sails. You will
lose so much speed that the turning rate is not increased at all. Better keep
those sails up so you can quickly regain speed as you turn away from the
wind's eye.
[5.4]
While the SOL seems like a big, ungainly tub in the water, it is in fact very
fast and very maneuverable. It is clearly no match for the maneuverability of
a Sloop, Pinnace, or War Canoe, but using it correctly can help you maintain
an advantage over any other ship. Using reefed sails tactics you can do
combat without injury to your ship at all, and as long as you maintain good
distance, you can probably sink any other ship with ease. Wind direction is a
very important factor, so both pre-battle positioning and constant attention
to changes in wind direction can both make or break a triumph.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------[6]
So far, I have played three games that were, from the get go, played only for
the purpose of getting 8 Ships of the Line together in a single fleet. They
were all successful, although the later two games performed the task much
faster than the first, since I had learned alot in the meantime about the
optimal conditions for SOL spawning and capture. This section details what
would possibly be the best strategy for "enticing" SOLs to sail out with much
more frequency. However, do not expect to catch them all in two years. My
best game yet has provided only about one SOL per year, although I have no
idea how many SOLs I had missed when sailing away from "Killing Fields" for
repairs.
This startegy can be used to get just one SOL, if you want, or to get a fleet
of 8 (Which is obviously more of a CAREER than a STRATEGY). Fleets are much
harder to build since you will need a whole lot of crewmembers, and once
you've captured two SOLs or more, you'll need to avoid dividing the plunder
because that means dropping all but one ship. The strategy seems a bit
pointless for capturing just one, but it will definitely do the trick if you
haven't seen a SOL before, or if you're trying to catch one to continue the
While the strategy written here is pretty specific, you will probably play it
a bit differently than I do. There is no guarantee that my strategy is
absolutely best, but it's the best one I've heard/used so far.
Also note that while the strategy defines the "attacked" nation to be
English, you can use any non-spanish nation instead, as long as you make sure
to change the other nations mentioned accordingly.
[6.1]
The whole SOL capture strategy rests on building a specific area in the
Caribbean, hereby referred to as a "Killing Field", which contains several
cities belonging to the same non-Spanish nation. Shipping in this area will
be constantly attacked for a period of several years. The object is to both
upset that nation and its cities considerably, by sinking almost anything
that belongs to them, and at the same time maintaining those cities at
"Wealthy" status so they can spawn Ships of the Line. Additional cities
belonging to the same nation will send in reinforcements and improvement
ships, as well as their own merchant shipping (which can be attacked to make
those further cities also likely to spawn SOLs).
Let's have a quick overview on some of the political goals we'll be trying to
achieve in the area:
A) Nevis, Monserrat, and Antigua will all need to be English. These are the
cities we shall be assaulting.
B) Barbados and Martinique must also be English - these are "support cities"
that may also participate in SOL spawning.
C) Either St. Kitts, Guadeloupe, or St. Eustatius will serve as homebases.
Each has its own pros and cons, as explained. You can also use all
three as homebases, though results may vary. "Homebases" will be
given to the Spanish, French, or Dutch, or if you're using more than
one, you can give them to different nations. If one of these seems
useless to you as a homebase for this strategy, give it to the
English.
[6.2]
The starting Era of the game will be a very important factor. In 1640,
adjusting the political map is often simple because cities in the Lesser
Antilles are weak, and easy to conquer. In 1680, SOL spawning is MUCH more
frequent than 1640, but conquering cities in the area is hard since they are
heavily protected. 1660 is an average on all parts, and is the era I usually
play for this strategy.
Your starting nation is not important per-se, but I like choosing the English
for three reasons. First, you'll get a sloop, which is pretty much the
easiest ship to start with. Second, it gives you the chance to start the game
in St. Kitts (Especially in 1640), which puts you right near the fields.
Third, and most importnat: It's just so highly ironic (since you'll be
attacking them constantly for the next 10 years).
[6.3]
Your first and foremost agenda will be to restructure the Lesser Antilles and
set up a killing field as described above. This can be approached in several
ways, but I'll describe a pretty straightforward one.
Begin by capturing several warships, brigs, sloops, or the occasional Frigate
if you see one. Try capturing warships from different nations, since you
don't want to be upsetting anyone in particular at this point, not even the
English. Go around and visit the different cities in the area (including the
eastern Spanish Main) to gather enough troops to later be able to assault
well-defended cities.
During this time, you will gain valuable information about the different
cities in the Lesser Antilles area, in regard to troop sizes and available
Ship Upgrades. If you've gotten yourself a good warship by now (depends on
your preferance, could be a War Canoe, Brig of War, Royal Sloop, or some kind
of Frigate), it would be wise to upgrade it as soon as possible. If you need
money, either hunt down Buried Treasures, or seek out Named-Pirates. You can
also raid the Spanish Main for a while to gain money by selling captured
ships at Curacao.
[6.4]
Now it's time to do some serious work. Head back to Nevis with at least 350
men. Your first task would be to conquer EVERYTHING for the English, from St.
Martin in the north, to Martinique in the south (it can be useful to get both
Trinidad and Margarita too, or you could go all-out-berserk and get Cumana
and Caracas). If you're not good at land-battles, haven't acquired enough
men, or aren't looking to capture more than one SOL, you can settle for
Monserrat and Martinique. These are the two most important for the strategy,
as long as Nevis, St. Kitts, and Antigua are still English.
The English will be very pleased with you, granting you rank and promotions.
You can probably repair ships free of cost at ports, and possibly also
upgrade ships for free. However, do not be tempted to capture enemy ships at
sea, since you'll be switching allegiance pretty soon! Only attack if you see
a ship you'd like to be using (nevermind whose ship it is), so you can get it
upgraded now before you start upsetting the English.
Once this is done, you will need to decide where you're going to put your
homebase. There are several factors that come into play, signifying different
approaches to the whole strategy.
*
St. Eustatius and St. Martin, the Dutch colonies, are often wealthy
and easy to protect, so they'll pay good money for cargo you capture.
However sailing towards them makes you leave the Killing Fields for a
long period of time, so it may not be a good idea.
St. Kitts is very close to Nevis, but sailing to the killing fields
takes time (Southeast...) even if it's very closeby. St. Kitts is
harder to protect against enemy attacks.
Guadeloupe is probably the best choice, because when you sail back to
The fun starts now. Sell every ship in your fleet except your main vessel. If
your crew isn't awfully happy, you might want to consider Dividing the
plunder to start fresh with your upgraded flagship. Then sail out, and head
towards Monserrat.
Your strategy is very simple. You will need to sink/capture ALL of the
outgoing merchants (Any merchant that spawns out of English cities is far
game). You might also want to sink/capture INCOMING merchants (from
Martinique, Barbados, ETC) to increase the chance that further-away cities
may also spawn SOLs. Note that attacking merchants not only upsets cities,
but also damages their economic level. For this reason, you must NEVER attack
any "Immigrant" and "New Governor" ships belonging to the English, as they
will help restore the English cities to Wealthy status.
English Pirate-Hunters are fair game, and I would heartily recommend sinking
any Indian War Canoes and Pirates sailing about in the region, since they can
easily hurt the English cities as well as your homebases. Also, "Invasion
Force" ships, of any nation, should be promptly sunk, as they endanger the
carefully constructed political situation. I'm not sure about Raiders, but I
think these can be safely let out. Smugglers are probably best left alone,
unless you need to capture them for money and cargo.
Your sailing should be a simple circle around Monserrat with excursions to
catch ships that move through the area. Monserrat's fort, and possibly also
Nevis' WILL eventually begin firing at you, so be wary.
The fluttering of English flags over their cities will provide you with a
good indication of how upset they are. The more vigorous the flutter - the
more upset the city. If a city is "Wealthy" and its flag is waving gentler
than other cities, you should place it under priority and perhaps even shift
your sailing somewhat to that direction. Don't miss any merchants going out.
With this strategy in effect, the English will despise you more and more with
each passing month. I actually hit 1,000,000 in gold bounty on my head once
just from the English. The Spanish will give you enough acres of land to
fully satisfy your "wealth" points (24/24), as long as they're at war with
the English. If they happen to sign a peace-treaty, feel free to conquer all
spanish cities you've installed for a different government that IS at war
with the English. Soon after you begin your mischief, the English will start
sending out Large Frigates to hunt you. Be sure you have a good enough ship
to take those out, otherwise they'll annoy you by firing at your fleet.
Try staying out at sea as long as possible. If you have two or three ships
you can use for combat when the first ship gets too hurt to fight - so much
the better. The moment you leave the Killing Fields could be the moment a SOL
passes through. Even when sailing back to your home port, keep an eye out for
any SOL that may be slipping past. Also I'd warmly recommend getting the fine
telescope, as well as zooming out as far as possible.
[6.6]
Once you've gotten one, you might want to just keep it, crew it, and go off
to complete the rest of your quests. However, you might feel up to the
challenge of catching 8 of them to make a whole fleet of SOLs. The trick here
is of course keeping your crew happy for ten or so years, because once you
have 2 SOLs or more, you can't divide plunder without losing all but your
flagship.
So once you have one, you can follow my earlier instructions on how to get
the most gold in one pass to the west. This MAY take a year or so to perform,
but it's worth at least 300,000 gold, which is crucial for a crew of 450, and
in no way enough to keep them happy forever. And your crew will need to grow
by about 200 men to be able to sail all the other SOLs in your fleet without
losing fleet-speed.
By now you're probably powerful enough to be able to turn all cities in the
Eastward Region to the English, except of course all the cities you find
neccesary to keep as homebases. This may reduce your negative attitude with
the English, but it will eventually increase the chance of seeing more SOLs
by a great amount. It will also provide you with more battle opportunities,
which in turn equals more money and more English agitation, etc. etc...
The biggest problem with trying to get a full fleet of any kind of ship is
that you will constantly be reducing the room in your fleet, so capturing
enemy ships becomes less lucrative. However, eventually you'll find that
you're limiting your actual boardings to only merchants, sinking everything
else unless you know it to be carrying lots and lots of gold. Besides, you've
got a ship built for sinking enemies, so why the heck not? Just make sure
that by this time you have enough money to appease your crew that you don't
really need to catch a whole lot more too quickly.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------FINAL WORDS
Thanks to GameFAQs for hosting this file.
Thanks to all the people at Cutlass Isle Forums (http://www.cutlassisle.com)
for a good number of important facts used to complete this FAQ.
If you have any questions, please PM me at the Forum site (Username is
Headrock). I can't promise I'll answer, but I'll do my best. You can also ask
others on the forum, as most people will know the answer to your question.
And thank you for reading!
Headrock.
P.S. all rights reserved and s***. Whatever the heck that means.
Feel free to distribute.