Naval strategies discussion

[AlliedCommander]

Greetings! I'm a new member. Enough introduction.

 

Players really don't use naval forces much. This thread is intended for debating the usefulness of shipyard units and uinteresting strategies.

 

Provided the map I'm on has suffient water, I always rule the sea and any land within advanced cruiser range in t4. People don't build much navy, even on islands. The key for me is advanced cruisers, they aren't very good versus some units, but people don't take advantage of their potential range of 19.

 

On an economic standpoint, I consider utility trawlers perhaps the most cost effective way to aquire resources. An aquaharvester, for the modest price of 90 carbon, can have approx. 700 food extracted from it.

 

(I did not go into advanced detail yet.)

[Sithmaster_821]

Navies are only good on mostly water maps. Otherwise they get toasted by land/air units. Navies just arent what they used to be in AoK

[AlliedCommander]

Yes, mechs and air have diminished their role, since ships without air protection have the potential of dyeing at any moment, and mechs are difficult to deal with. Strikes can be killed by frigates, mech destroyers and assualt mechs can be attacked by cruisers.

 

But many people have your view, which helps the few navy users to escape the wrath of enemy ships. I would agree ships are vulnerable close to land, but I use about 10 advanced cruisers with 19 range (two volleys from this group will take out a fortress) , with approx. 12 hvy a-a destroyers, and approx 25 advanced frigates.

 

This task force is cheap considering the numbers. Plus there are little additions to battlegrounds, like the stealthed sub.

[Kryllith]

I'm a fan of the gungan civ (whether or not I'm on a water map), and I absolutely love their navy. If I'm on a map with a large amount of water (a lake in the middle for example) then I'll usually launch myself onto it fairly quickly. Even early frigates can outdistance troopers, so they be quite effective for killing them or workers in Tech II. And if they are Gungans, then the diving bonus just makes them all the better.

 

I don't tend to use a lot of destroyers, since I prefer mass frigates. Usually I'll have enough frigates to obliterate destroyers before they get close enough to do harm. I'll usually keep a few destroyers close by, just in case, but I rarely go above 5.

 

As for cruisers... well the advanced ones can take down buildings almost as fast as cannons, and they're a heck of a lot more mobile. A number AA cruisers, especially the advanced ones, are more than enough to take out fighter wings. As such, sitting off shore and bombarding coastlines under the frigate/AA cruiser protection works quite well. Reaching buildings farther back may be impossible, but I can generally take out 1/4-1/2 of a base before I even have to send any ground forces into battle.

 

And, of course, if you're playing gungans than your medics can heal all your ships without spending more resources. Of course, water scarce maps negate all the benefits, but map with even small water sources (small lakes or rivers) can prove well for a navy...

 

Kryllith

[lukeiamyourdad]

Yeah like Kryllith said. But you still have to have enough water on a ma to build a shipyard and ships. If it's a very small pond than it will be useless.

[AlliedCommander]

I rarely use destroyers, only the anti-air kind. But even on a small pond ships can be effective against slower, more vulnerable units (frigates against troopers, cruisers vs. hvy weapons.

[Sithmaster_821]

The only time i built navies in small ponds was in AoC as the spanish. Spanish Cannon Galleons were tough to kill with only land units.

[Kryllith]

Heheh, I was playing against the Spanish (I think) with Teutonics in a MP once. The guy had it set up really nice, with a choke point well guarded by cannon towers. The western edge was a small lake, with a fair amount of mountains around it. After losing numerous units to towers and enemy units (it seemed he moved pretty much everything through this pass since mountains blocked passage everyplace else between us) I finally managed to get a shipyard built in the lake. I pumped out about 15 cannon galleons in that tiny little area... that was pretty much the end of him.

 

Kryllith

[AlliedCommander]

Another aspect of naval combat is that your fleet can sit away from the shore, idle, and be relatively safe. In the sea, there are no turrets or fortresses to worry about. With the faster ships, especially the hvy destroyer, which is faster than unupgraded hvy. strikes, can travel very fast since the only natural obstacles in the water are those minimal-danger sea monsters.

[Admiral Vostok]

I always build a navy if I'm Gungan (provided I'm on a map with some water) because they get so many bonuses. I sometimes do with Trade Fed and Naboo. The others I find aren't worth it, especially those civs that can't get the advanced cruiser, but I'll still get some trawlers on a watery map.

[Wehutti]

Yes, I like Gungan Navi units too, because some of them are invisible... until another Bongo or detector unit appears.

But those Bongo Behemoths worht their price in the 3rd Gungan Mission: Raid on Spearhead. But I need some Destroyers and Frigates there.

[AlliedCommander]

There are two main limitations for navies: 1. Many maps lack water. 2. Only 3 of the 8 civs specialize in navies.