HELP! about the ships

[Sheepo]

ok.. i was wondering..... can i combine sheeps i meant ships into a fleet and follow on with an armada or its gonna be a lone solo pirate ship mission?!
if i can combinte ships into fleets how do i do it?! please reply!!

[TJ]

There is no way to combine them into fleets. It is a matter of timing their departure such that they are cruising in the same zone at the same time. When they are cruising at the same time the game will treat them as a fleet. Timing is the hard part of getting this to work out.

One of the proposed future enhancements woudl be the ability to group ships together so that they will act more like a fleet and leave together.

[Sheepo]

darn...... so when will the patch be out?

[Captain Bligh]

It's supposed to be out sometime this month.

[TJ]

As far as I know, any sort of ship grouping will not be in the patch. If it ever comes, it would have to be in another patch or more likely in an expansion if one is done.

[Mack the Knife]

There is no way to combine them into fleets. It is a matter of timing their departure

this is misleading (unintended of course).  as to answer sheepo's question, yes you can combine ships in a fleet.  if you time departures to be roughly at the same time, ships act together as a fleet in the virtual battles.  now, there's no button that says "create fleet" but with a little practice (well, alot of practice ) you can create a fleet by getting multiple ships to depart at about the same time.   in the strategy guide, one of the developers describes some tips and tricks on how to do it...

[TJ]

yes you can combine ships in a fleet

Yours is the misleading statement. They can act as a fleet if they are in the same zone at the same time, but you can not combine them into a fleet.

[Mack the Knife]

ships act together as a fleet in the virtual battles
there's no button that says "create fleet"

i don't know how you read that as misleading but anyway, that wasn't the point so get off the semantics.  for all intent and purposes you can "combine" a number of ships be timing their departure and make them "act" like a fleet by sending them to the same zone.   he asked how do you do it,  i told him there isn't a button but here's how to come as close as you can with what the game offers.  

[Captain Bligh]

You two are cracking me up, thanks for that, I needed a good laugh today. You both are saying the same thing just wording it differently.
In the words of the infamous Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

[PaulNAdhe]

I've had a fair amount of success using the method in the strat guide.  I've sent out snow / schooner, sloop / brigantine and frigate / galleon pairs.  They work well.

But, I always wind up with the smaller, faster ship returning first because of rations and the larger slower ship is left cruising alone.  This is particularly pronounced using the Frigate / Galleon pair.

So, I"m left wondering whether using this is such a good idea after all.  Particularly in more dangerous waters the slower ship might be caught in a dangerous situation.

I'm thinking of scuttling a couple of the smaller ships and creating another Frigate / Galleon pair since they came back with more treasure.  And using the Snow and Schooner for raids and exploration.

A Group to Fleet would eliminate this problem.  Of course both ships could only cruise to the limits of the smaller one.

[Mack the Knife]

In the words of the infamous Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"

wow!  the same guy who wrote the hit tune "Hurt so Good"!

[Sheepo]

well thanks..... i didi send a pair of Galleon but............... well Henry cost the life of 20 men down the sea and they were the riches pirate...... anwyay is there a way to imprive the micro management? i keep having problems with food and rum and not to mention when i get around 10 or more wealthy victims they tend to just gamble and eat which rlal kilsl the supply kinda fast

[Mack the Knife]

imprive the micro management?

well, it's a sim and perfect balance is the goal and half the fun/challenge of the game.  build enough, supply them with corn, and strategically place your chuck tents and you won't have food problems.  mess that up and you will, but that's the game!  same with rum or any other resource.

wealthy victims they tend to just gamble and eat

ransom them off.  get rid of the slobs and make money too!

[Sheepo]

but if they stay long enough you get big money..
like i had this wealthy victim b4 and i checked his ransom and wow! he had 2000 over random money~  

[Coconut Kid]

A Very Helpful Reply

... to answer sheepo's question, yes - you can combine ships in a fleet.  If you time departures to be roughly at the same time [and to the same sea zone], ships act together as a fleet in the virtual battles.  Now, there's no button that says "create fleet" ; but with a little practice (well, alot of practice) you can create a fleet by getting multiple ships to depart at about the same time.   In the strategy guide, one of the developers describes some tips and tricks on how to do it.

Mack the Knife was very helpful and clear.