Privateers for cleaning duty :)

[unmerged(5367)]

I just found a new use for privateers.

If you want to take down someone with a large powerful navy, send privateers in, and the AI (who will keep their fleets out of harbor) will have their ships engaged.. And loose some ships.

And as privateers are cheap You can quickly and cheaply get rid of your enemys fleets . Especially useful in the mediterranean.

 

[unmerged(7937)]

As long as you aren't playing Very Hard, as commissioning privateers will earn you 1 BB each time you do it.

 

[unmerged(9347)]

i strongly suspect the AI does this

i tried it for a while when not on v hard but it didnt seem to get the results i desired

most combats with pirates just involve loss of moral and fleeing rather than ships lost and besides, the Ai doesnt seem to have much problem fighting pirates unlike ourselves who can find ourselves in quite a bind if we havnt been posting sentry ships off our coasts

aghhh its bringing it all back, my 1st game as spain. the hell i had with pirates in the carribean till i got wise. You do know i wont get any sleep now having nightmares about that dont you?

 

[Castellon]

Pirates are not even a consideration at higher naval levels. especially in the Med where you should have a ready fleet that can deal with them, or the caribean where you should expect them.

EDIT: The only time it is worth using pirates is if you can put them in the way of AI explorers.

 

[JohnMK]

Pirates are never a problem for me in the Caribbean for I usually station a single ship in each sea zone. To minimize the cost of such an investment you can station a galley instead of a warship. I'm not sure about the efficacy of stationing transports. It would most likely work fine though . . . but I couldn't with good conscience do that.

 

[Grunthex]

Besides. Galleys are cheaper.

 

[unmerged(6324)]

Bah I use pirates for a different reason hoho!! Since the AI dosen't suffer attrition it sends its explorer with one ship all over, and well I tend to take them down as a colonial natoin like Spain with my privateering especially the pesky Zheng He showing up neer Tangeirs!

 

[Baron Jukaga]

It's been said that using Galleys outside of the Med and Baltic is an exploit.

 

[unmerged(1057)]

Originally posted by Baron Jukaga
It's been said that using Galleys outside of the Med and Baltic is an exploit.

who says?..They are a part of the game..

 

[Baron Jukaga]

Originally posted by Wasa


who says?..They are a part of the game..

My apologies Sir, I forgot to mention the Black Sea.

 

[unmerged(8303)]

how is that an exploit? Don't galleys sink faster than warships? If they have all the benefits of transports/warships without the penalty than it is a design flaw and i'll sail my damn fleet anywhere i like.

 

[unmerged(6816)]

I litter the seas with galleys when I am a colonial power.

 

[BiB]

It's exactly for these kind of exploits with privateers the BB penalty got attached to it. Shame there isn't sommink that can be done about the galley one though

 

[sirbruce]

What about putting Privateers in the Caspian Sea?

Bruce

 

[BiB]

Seeing they're impossible to get out it's quite a lame thing to do

 

[Styrbiorn]

Originally posted by jaronpinochet
how is that an exploit? Don't galleys sink faster than warships? If they have all the benefits of transports/warships without the penalty than it is a design flaw and i'll sail my damn fleet anywhere i like.

Galleys aren't supposed to be able to sail outside the Baltic/Med/Black Sea, but of some obscure reason they can. Therefore it's an exploit, and as such it shouldn't be used.

 

[kurtbrian]

don't they recieve more attrition if they stop hugging the coast??

At least I thought so...

 

[coz1]

Galleys in the Ocean's is not an exploit - they will definately sink faster! IRL - it would never be done because of the loss of life, but what do we have to worry about that - they are cheap.

As for pirates, I think you get a BB even if playing Normal or Hard. I needed to get rid of a Spanish fleet in the Pacific Ocean but had no way to get to them since I did not know how to get there. But I did have a dock. It was much cheaper to hire some privateers than to build enough ships to take them out myself.

 

[unmerged(9678)]

Maybe just maybe...

Having Galleys set up near your colonies represent having small coastal patrol ships?

They certainly don't have any real combat power against a real navy.

 

[unmerged(7090)]

Originally posted by coz1
Galleys in the Ocean's is not an exploit - they will definately sink faster! IRL - it would never be done because of the loss of life, but what do we have to worry about that - they are cheap.

As for pirates, I think you get a BB even if playing Normal or Hard. I needed to get rid of a Spanish fleet in the Pacific Ocean but had no way to get to them since I did not know how to get there. But I did have a dock. It was much cheaper to hire some privateers than to build enough ships to take them out myself.

I second that. When I played as Korea, I used tons of galleys on the ocean. I didn't feel it was an exploit, though, because I lost so many of them to storms and attrition.