In navy combat, the fighting takes place between the ships (and their crews), not the troops on board those ships. The transports have very little offensive capability, but the warships in a navy will act to protect the transports, and will be destroyed in combat before transports are damaged.
Naval combat is affected by the following factors:
- Command rank of navy commanders involved ❖ Tactics used
- Relations between nations
- Artifacts
- NPCs present
- Spells cast
- Nations’ naval expertise
A few points to bear in mind:
- Navies may only attack navies of other nations whom they either dislike or hate, but will defend against any navy which attacks them, regardless of their relationship to them.
- The less friendly your nation’s relations towards the attacking nation, the greater the benefit to your navy (see Effect of Relations on Combat table above, G – 2).
- A navy cannot be attacked by an enemy army, but if the ships can be anchored in the hex, it can initiate an attack against an army. In such a case the navy will anchor its ships and the troops will go ashore, thus becoming an army.
- A navy can also attack an enemy population centre. If the navy seeks to destroy or capture the population centre, the force will anchor its ships and the troops will go ashore, thus becoming an army (again, providing the ships can be anchored). If a navy seeks to threaten the population centre, however, whilst it must be able to anchor its ships in the hex, it will not do so, instead remaining a navy. Navies cannot lay siege to population centres.
- A navy may prepare for the possibility of battle without actually attacking by issuing a defend order (order 240 – Defend). This means that the navy can be given tactics in anticipation of a battle, but if not attacked, will not initiate an attack itself.
- Navy battles take place before army battles, which take place before population centre battles. It is theoretically possible, then, for a navy to be involved in three battles in a turn if they first attack a navy, then land to attack an army, before finally moving against a population centre.
- Combat artifacts will have their effects divided by 100, as will some spells (see chapter on spells for specific spells which are affected in this manner).
- All ships have a constitution of 3. The strength of a warship varies between 2 and 5 depending on the nation’s naval expertise, and can be found under the nation details later in the Guide. All transports have a strength 1.
¶ Navy Combat Equation
Navy combat is calculated automatically by the ME-PBM program. However, combat calculators are available which will help you to determine whether or not you will be successful in combat.
¶ Orders