Slitherine

I've just started yet another new game - the Campaign. Eight turns in as Coalition and I've not yet seen any convoys. I see the chance is at 20%. Is this just bucking the odds or could a little something be broken here?

Bern

Bern wrote:I've just started yet another new game - the Campaign. Eight turns in as Coalition and I've not yet seen any convoys. I see the chance is at 20%. Is this just bucking the odds or could a little something be broken here?

Bern

Convoys are not used in the later stages of a scenario, a design decision to distinguish small scenarios.

Umm not sure I understand - I'm in the early stage of the 1805 scenario.

Bern

I guess bad luck then but the 20% is not per turn but per occasion. I thin convoys spawn

ALLIED_TURNS_BETWEEN_CONVOYS 3 /*allied turns between each convoy*/
CONVOY_PROBABILITY 20 /*% chance of a convoy appearing*/

every third turn. Add to that , there are 2 locations also for them to appear which doubles the chance roughly.

OK - got it. My bad luck !

Bern

Is it bad luck or pirates somewhere outside the map capturing your convoys before they reach the area covered by the map?

Firefly wrote:Is it bad luck or pirates somewhere outside the map capturing your convoys before they reach the area covered by the map?

Ah yes that must be it. I'm now in at around fifteen turns and still no convoys - those durned pirates must be on overtime

Bern

What scenario you playing?

The 1805 as Coalition, and I've just got my first convoy. Took its time but its here.

Bern

Bern wrote:The 1805 as Coalition, and I've just got my first convoy. Took its time but its here.

Bern

Thx, you answered my question, I playing french, 15 turns now, no convoys.

Also, I have coalition at moderate difficulty, still finding it not too tough, what exactly does difficulty settings change? Thx. great game...

taggan wrote:

Bern wrote:The 1805 as Coalition, and I've just got my first convoy. Took its time but its here.

Bern

Thx, you answered my question, I playing french, 15 turns now, no convoys.

Also, I have coalition at moderate difficulty, still finding it not too tough, what exactly does difficulty settings change? Thx. great game...

Difficulty affects economies so the enemy will have more production and manppower (and you less) on higher difficulty. Furtermore it affects some start up bonus units, AI will get some extra units on start of scenario on higher difficulty. Especially if you try some of the shorter scenarios they are very tough at higher difficulty.

firepowerjohan wrote:

taggan wrote:

Bern wrote:The 1805 as Coalition, and I've just got my first convoy. Took its time but its here.

Bern

Thx, you answered my question, I playing french, 15 turns now, no convoys.

Also, I have coalition at moderate difficulty, still finding it not too tough, what exactly does difficulty settings change? Thx. great game...

Difficulty affects economies so the enemy will have more production and manppower (and you less) on higher difficulty. Furtermore it affects some start up bonus units, AI will get some extra units on start of scenario on higher difficulty. Especially if you try some of the shorter scenarios they are very tough at higher difficulty.

Thank you Firepower...

Speaking about convoys - I'm playing against the AI as France, 1805 at a moderate advantage and I'm getting convoys at a regular intervals but all of them are with horses, none with PPs (at the same time I'm playing a PBEM where most are PPs, only a few with horses). Is it as it should be? Maybe it is just the case of luck, but it gives strange effects (I have 250 horses now and can't help but wonder what place can breed more horses in a few turns than whole of Europe in 100 of them)

Borsook wrote:Speaking about convoys - I'm playing against the AI as France, 1805 at a moderate advantage and I'm getting convoys at a regular intervals but all of them are with horses, none with PPs (at the same time I'm playing a PBEM where most are PPs, only a few with horses). Is it as it should be? Maybe it is just the case of luck, but it gives strange effects (I have 250 horses now and can't help but wonder what place can breed more horses in a few turns than whole of Europe in 100 of them)

And just as a comparison: in this PBEM, I am the Coalition, and Russia is down to about 80 horses. I have built one light cavalry, one heavy, and two horse artillery. 80 is not a good reserve of horses, and I don't think Russia has over-built.

A tangential question here: as the British, I am finding it easy to sit in the Bay of Biscay, and pick off French convoys.
Two questions, actually:

1. Is this historical, more or less?

2. How will the French ever solve this problem, without a navy?

Ships also cost a lot to patrol the seas in maintenance, they are better suited for naval battles concerning naval invasions so unless you invest a lot in Frigates or Privateers it is going to cost GB a lot as well.

Naval unit cost zero in upkeep in or adjacent to your Sea Ports.

firepowerjohan wrote:Ships also cost a lot to patrol the seas in maintenance, they are better suited for naval battles concerning naval invasions so unless you invest a lot in Frigates or Privateers it is going to cost GB a lot as well.

Naval unit cost zero in upkeep in or adjacent to your Sea Ports.

But what about the issue of the French navy? My opponent's upkeep for naval maintenance is very low right now, primarily because France no longer has a navy. I don't know the period well enough to comment further. But I wonder how they can replace their navy, when I can just pop in to the Bay of Biscay any time I feel like it and destroy his new ships in their ports.

Anyone know how this went down historically? Surely the French had some ships left after Trafalgar? Or, did England just own the entire Atlantic Ocean for the next ten years?

Should increase port defence bonus a lot in patch then, so that it becomes a safe build up for them. Is that right with you fellas?

firepowerjohan wrote:Should increase port defence bonus a lot in patch then, so that it becomes a safe build up for them. Is that right with you fellas?

It probably makes sense to do so. While I believe that port raids occurred during this era, surely there must have been a significant danger involved. Wouldn't these ports have been guarded with big cannons? Even in the colonies, it wasn't a really good idea to sail into an enemies port (Quebec City and Halifax in my country come to mind; they had huge citadel like fortresses with commanding views of the harbours).

Maybe do a poll?

I agree with Happycat. Boosting port defence is essential. By and large it was impossible for wooden ships to sail into a port. They would simply be destroyed by the port defences which were always sited to cover the often quite narrow entrances. A favourite trick of the defenders was to use heated shot to cause mayhem.

There are several instances of Royal Navy Captains who were court-martialled for allowing their ships to get too close to port defences and suffer damage or worse.

Bern