14 DAY TRIAL // The Napoleon's Battles section of the new game from The Creative Assembly and SEGA includes two naval battles. I confess to never really exploring this side of Empire, mainly because the Artificial Intelligence was rarely interested in posing a significant threat by way of the sea.
I usually just built the biggest ships in the greatest numbers possible and simulated the battles. But with The Battle of the Line and Trafalgar both coming with predetermined numbers of ships engaged and with preset starting positions, this was not a option. And I also confess to not being able to beat the Battle of the Nile just yet, despite my best efforts.
The French fleet comes arrayed in a sort of defensive formation which, historically, resulted in their destruction. The toughest ships are to the front of the line and they are quickly assaulted by two or more enemy vessels. The British seem to like going for the front two or three ships and batter them, even if that means losing two or three ships in the process to my broadsides. Once they cut off the rest, they pound them and I can never mount a quick and successful defense.
My plan is to use my quicker frigates to run circles around the bigger ships of the line and get at their back, while delivering as many broadsides as possible into the path of the advancing British force. But the British under Nelson also seem quicker and more able when it comes to targeting their cannon fire. Unfortunately, in spite of my best efforts, all of my five attempts resulted in failure, with pretty much the same number of English vessels surviving.
I plan on returning to more solid continental ground for my next diary but with both the Battle of the Nile and the engagement at Trafalgar clearly showing my failures, I will return to them at a later date.