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[6.3] LAND BATTLES
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OVERVIEW
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Land battles usually occur when you decide to attack a town. In a turn based
strategy minigame, you move your pirate units across the map, trying to
outmaneuver and defeat the defenders. You win either by routing all defending
units or by reaching the gates of the city with one of your units. You lose if
all your units are routed.
In order to attack a town, you must do either of two things:
- Beach your ship some distance away from the town and march inside; pick the
option to attack the town when it is presented.
- Sail into a hostile town which opens fire on you as you try to enter, then
pick the option to attack.
The latter only works if the town opens fire on you; otherwise, you will just
sail inside peacefully and never get the option to attack. For this reason, it
is usually easier to use the former method. If you can't or don't want to, the
best way to piss off a town enough to get fired upon is either to get a price
placed on your head by its nation (just keep attacking them), or to get an
individual grudge from the town. To do the latter, attacking ships coming in
and going out of the town, and press the space bar a couple of times to bombard
its fort with your cannons while on the world map. Especially on the higher
levels, their patience runs thin, and you'll soon be able to attack them from
sea.
In terms of how the minigame works, it doesn't matter which approach you take.
Either results in a land-based battle. The approach in which you have to
maneuever your ship toward the fort while dodging its fire, popular in the
last two Pirates games, is gone.
When a battle starts, your crew and the enemy soldiers are divided up into a
number of units varying between 6 and 9. You get one unit of officers (elite
melee), and a number of pirate (melee) and buccanneer (ranged) units. These
numbers are always equal, or have 1 more of pirates. So at the least you'll
have 1 officers, 3 pirates and 2 buccanneers, and at the most 1 officers and 4
each of pirates and buccanneers. How your units are divided up depends on how
many men you have compared to the enemy. The game always strives to make the
units on both sides roughly as big, so if you outnumber the enemy you tend to
have a lot of different units to work with.
You can't choose how your units are divided up, but you can choose their
starting position - sort of. When the battle starts, you can click 'change
start location' to cycle through three different ones, and pick whichever one
you think is best. The enemy units are placed after yours, and you get the
first turn.
Each turn you get the option to move your units and attack enemies. When all
your units have moved, the opponent does the same. The battle continues until
either side runs out of units, or one of your units reaches the city gates.
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TACTICS
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Be sure to read the manual section on land battles before you do any. This is
the most complex minigame in terms of strategy and controls, so it's good to
know the basics. Here are some tips on getting the most out of your land
battles:
- Buccaneers are weak in close combat and should never be exposed to it.
Maneuver your pirate units such that no enemy can ever engage your buccaneers
in melee.
- Buccaneers can shoot *from* a forested square no problem and they can also
shoot *at* an enemy in a forest, though damage is halved. However, they cannot
shoot *through* a forested square even if you can see the enemy. The same
restriction applies to all your ranged enemies. Shooting through friendly units
and rough terrain is no problem at all. In fact, just behind an impassible
rough terrain square is one of the best places for a buccaneer unit to be.
- Enemies can be routed before the unit is destroyed by hitting them with one
attack after another. This way, your buccaneers can defeat an enemy even if
it's hiding in a forest, but you'll need to concentrate your attacks on one
unit. Morale will drop to angry, then wavering, and finally panic, and at that
point the next attack automatically defeats the unit regardless of how many men
are left in it.
- The single best way to beat any enemy unit is to flank it. If you attack from
either of the sides or one of the three rear squares (so anywhere except from
the three in front), your attack rating is doubled. This practically guarantees
a win under all but the worst circumstances.
- Infantry units have 2 moves, cavalry has 3. However, when either type of unit
moves into a forest square, their turn ends. Indian units are the exception -
they are therefore the only ones who can move into a forest and then
immediately move again. Be aware of this advantage as they *will* use it to
launch surprise attacks against your weak buccaneers, if you let them.
- If a unit's first move is attacking an enemy unit, it may or may not be able
to move again. This depends on how easily the battle is won. If it's a close
call, it takes them the entire turn to do it. If you waltz over the enemy you
get another move, assuming the enemy was not in a forest.
- Enemy units will usually opt to shoot rather than engage in melee, unless
they spot a weakened melee unit or can reach a buccaneer unit. Because of this,
there's something to be said for *always* ending your turn in a forest square.
- When enemies are in range of both your pirates and buccaneers, have your
buccaneers soften up the enemy before you let your pirates have their turn.
Use "skip turn" (SHIFT-7) liberally to let your units act in the order you
want them to.
- Enemy cavalry is very dangerous in the open field, especially if they're
attacking. Don't let them catch any of your units, not even your powerful
officers, out of a forest. If they attack you while you're in a forest their
attack is greatly reduced and you can probably beat them off. If you can hit
*them* while they're in a forest, you will slaughter them. If they don't let
you lure them into a forest, shoot 'em from a distance with buccaneers or set
up a flank attack.
- Artillery is bad news. Not much to do except charge it with several units and
engage it in melee as soon as possible. Try to approach it through the edge of
a forest; move out of the forest and closer to the artillery, then back into
the forest with your second move. This lets you advance at top speed without
exposing yourself too much to its return fire.
- If you can reach the gates of the town without finishing your enemies, do so
unless you can wipe them all out the same turn. You might get a little less
gold and not wipe out as many enemies this way, but nothing stops you from
attacking the same town a second time right afterwards to get the rest; and if
you've done well, this time you'll be facing a much smaller garrison.
- If an enemy is too powerful for you, you can bring more men; but you can
also convince indians and pirates in nearby villages/havens to attack the
target and soften it up for you. Indians are preferred because they don't
plunder the place even if their attack succeeds. Using pirates introduces the
risk that they succeed and take all the gold before you can; use them only to
soften up a powerful target they can't handle. This kind of preparation can be
the difference between facing artillery or not, so give it some serious
thought.
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OUTCOME
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A land battle can end in three ways.
- If one of your units reaches the gates of the city, you win the battle and
the sack commerces. You'll get an amount of plunder based on how many of the
enemies you managed to defeat, and how wealthy the port is. If your force was
particularly overwhelming, you will also get the option to install a new
governor, thus switching the town's nationality.
- If you rout all enemy units, you win the battle. You get the maximum amount
of plunder and a bigger chance that you're allowed to replace the governor,
though that still depends on how overwhelming your force was.
- If all your units are routed, you and the other survivors (not every unit
that falls in a land battle is killed, per sé) regroup at your ships. You gain
nothing and you're left with a much smaller crew than before.
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