Sea battle

A sea battle occurs when a player or alliance attacks the town(s) of another player or alliance with ships.

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The basic breakdown
A sea battle will occur when a player launches a capture port mission.

Battles are broken up into rounds. Each round lasts 15 minutes, and the battle will only end with one party ending victorious in any of the situations:

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 * All of the enemy player's non artillery, air, or support units are killed.
 * Either the attacker or defender surrender.
 * Morale reaches a low point and the units flee.

The beginning of the battle
Unlike a land battle, a sea battle is not affected by town walls. __NOWYSIWYG__

Strategy
Using personal experience, the majority of players don't invest hugely in sea-fare, unlike the land units. This obviously means that unless you are attacking someone with a very high score, or you know they have a large fleet, don't overspend on sea units.

For your front line (or heavy infantry), you should have enough heavy battleships to fill it up and at least another 'squares full' in the reserves. Choose steam rams over fire ships or regular rams, if you can, as steam rams inflict twice the damage and have more than double the HP of fire ships but cost less than the double of fire ships. Steam rams will also beat any fireship army (the land-battle equivalent is that of swordsmen and spearmen; swordsmen are better for damage per gold and will beat spearmen any time).

In the third line (or long range fighters), you definitely need mortar ships. Ballista Ships don't provide nearly enough damage and it's the same story with the catapult ship except it's slightly better than the ballista ship. The mortar ship is quite expensive but not too much and since the catapult ship is too expensive for the damage it inflicts, it is not worth the money. Some people choose to have ballista ships instead of mortar ships as ballista ships are more than two times cheaper and inflict more than half the damage of a mortar ship. So are ballista ships better to have? In reality, no. As ballista ships are more suited to being in the front line than in the third line, they would get obliterated by opposition mortars. Therefore, ballista ships are only really useful in the front line where they would get absolutely smashed by steam rams and fire ships. In short, once you've unlocked something to replace ballista ships, use it and dismiss the ballistas. __NOWYSIWYG__

Morale
Morale is reduced each round by 10% automatically, and other factor can also hurt morale, such as:

- Losing more ships than the other side,

- There are more ships on the other side,

- There are more players on the other side,

- Etc.

Tenders are the only ships that can boost morale. __NOWYSIWYG__

Garrison limits
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The battlefields
Battlefield size depends on the single shore building of the highest level, whether it is a trading port or a shipyard. For example, two trading ports at level 7 are no different than one trading port at level 7 in the sense that both cases will make your town have a mini battlefield.

With every advancement of battlefield size, a larger number of ships are deployed at once. The non-deployed ships are all classed as reserves and will only come into battle to replace another ship that was destroyed. __NOWYSIWYG__

Good battle examples
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Bad battle examples
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Tips
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Battlefield layout
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Firing order

 * 1) Carrier ship evasion
 * 2) Carrier ship
 * 3) First strike
 * 4) Flank
 * 5) Long-range fighter
 * 6) Front line

(This means carriers can hit first strikes before they shoot, and first strikes can hit front lines before they can do any damage)

Flanks fire before the long-range fighters, allowing flanks to destroy the long-range fighters before they shoot if a breach is present in the opponent's flanks. __NOWYSIWYG__

Battlefield images and deployment
The battlefield background image will change depending on the size of the port you are attacking. __NOWYSIWYG__

Levels 0 through 7 Trading Port/Shipyard
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 * 3 slots x 15 spaces = 45 spaces allowing Heavy Battleship(s) ships
 * 3 slots x 15 spaces = 45 spaces allowing Long-Range Fighter ships.
 * 1 slots x 15 spaces = 15 spaces allowing First Strike  ships.
 * 1 slot x 10 spaces = 10 spaces allowing Carrier ships (only 2 Balloon Carriers) __NOWYSIWYG__
 * 1 slot x 10 spaces = 10 spaces allowing Carrier Ship Evasion ships (only 10 Paddle Speedboats)

Full deployment formation
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 * 9 Steam Rams, 21 Fire Ships, 15 Ram-Ships, or 21 Ballista Ships
 * 15 Catapult Ships, 9 Mortar Ships, or 21 Ballista Ships
 * 5 Diving Boats, or 3 Rocket Ships
 * 2 Balloon Carriers
 * 10 Paddle Speedboats

Levels 8 through 14 Trading Port/Shipyard
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 * 5 slots x 15 spaces = 75 spaces allowing Heavy Battleship(s) ships
 * 2 slots x 15 spaces = 30 spaces allowing Light Battleship(s) ships
 * 5 slots x 15 spaces = 75 spaces allowing Long-Range Fighter ships.
 * 2 slots x 15 spaces = 30 spaces allowing First Strike  ships.
 * 1 slot x 10 spaces = 10 spaces allowing Carrier ships (only 2 Balloon Carriers) __NOWYSIWYG__
 * 1 slot x 10 spaces = 10 spaces allowing Carrier Ship Evasion ships (only 10 Paddle Speedboats)

Full deployment formation
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 * 15 Steam Rams, 35 Fire Ships, 25 Ram-Ships, or 35 Ballista Ships
 * 10 Ram-Ships
 * 25 Catapult Ships, 15 Mortar Ships, or 35 Ballista Ships
 * 10 Diving Boats, or 6 Rocket Ships
 * 2 Balloon Carriers
 * 10 Paddle Speedboats

Levels 15 through 21 Trading Port/Shipyard
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 * 7 slots x 15 spaces = 105 spaces allowing Heavy Battleship(s) ships
 * 4 slots x 15 spaces = 60 spaces allowing Light Battleship(s) ships
 * 7 slots x 15 spaces = 105 spaces allowing Long-Range Fighter ships.
 * 3 slots x 15 spaces = 45 spaces allowing First Strike  ships.
 * 1 slot x 15 spaces = 15 spaces allowing Carrier ships (only 3 Balloon Carriers) __NOWYSIWYG__
 * 1 slot x 15 spaces = 15 spaces allowing Carrier Ship Evasion ships (only 15 Paddle Speedboats)

Full deployment formation
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 * 21 Steam Rams, 49 Fire Ships, 35 Ram-Ships, or 49 Ballista Ships
 * 20 Ram-Ships
 * 35 Catapult Ships, 21 Mortar Ships, or 49 Ballista Ships
 * 15 Diving Boats, or 9 Rocket Ships
 * 3 Balloon Carriers
 * 15 Paddle Speedboats

Levels 22 through 28 Trading Port/Shipyard

 * 7 slots x 20 spaces = 140 spaces allowing Heavy Battleship(s) ships
 * 6 slots x 15 spaces = 90 spaces allowing Light Battleship(s) ships
 * 7 slots x 20 spaces = 140 spaces allowing Long-Range Fighter ships.
 * 4 slots x 15 spaces = 60 spaces allowing First Strike  ships.
 * 2 slot x 10 spaces = 20 spaces allowing Carrier ships (only 4 Balloon Carriers) __NOWYSIWYG__
 * 2 slot x 10 spaces = 20 spaces allowing Carrier Ship Evasion ships (only 20 Paddle Speedboats) __NOWYSIWYG__

Full deployment formation
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 * 28 Steam Rams, 70 Fire Ships, 42 Ram-Ships, or 70 Ballista Ships
 * 30 Ram-Ships
 * 42 Catapult Ships, 35 Mortar Ships, or 70 Ballista Ships
 * 20 Diving Boats, or 12 Rocket Ships
 * 4 Balloon Carriers
 * 20 Paddle Speedboats

Levels 29+ Trading Port/Shipyard
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 * 7 slots x 25 spaces = 175 spaces allowing Heavy Battleship(s) ships
 * 6 slots x 20 spaces = 120 spaces allowing Light Battleship(s) ships
 * 7 slots x 25 spaces = 175 spaces allowing Long-Range Fighter ships.
 * 5 slots x 15 spaces = 75 spaces allowing First Strike  ships.
 * 2 slot x 15 spaces = 30 spaces allowing Carrier ships (only 6 Balloon Carriers) __NOWYSIWYG__
 * 2 slot x 15 spaces = 30 spaces allowing Carrier Ship Evasion ships (only 30 Paddle Speedboats)

Full deployment formation
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 * 35 Steam Rams, 84 Fire Ships, 56 Ram-Ships, or 84 Ballista Ships
 * 36 Ram-Ships
 * 56 Catapult Ships, 42 Mortar Ships, or 84 Ballista Ships
 * 25 Diving Boats, or 15 Rocket Ships
 * 6 Balloon Carriers
 * 30 Paddle Speedboats

Ship types
Ships break down into the following: __NOWYSIWYG__

Heavy Battleship(s)
The heavy battleships are the backbone of every fleet. They protect the ships behind them and attack opponents in the front line. __NOWYSIWYG__

Steam Ram
Just like the ram ship, the steam ram is fully equipped with a ram spur at its bow. However, it is a considerably more advanced version. Due to its steam engine, this ship can accelerate even more speedily and can therefore inflict a larger amount of damage on the enemy. The steam ram is probably the most dangerous ship at the front line.


 * Research required: Massive Ram

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Fire Ship
At the fire ship's bow there is flame thrower, which sprays greek fire over the sea. Even on the ocean's surface, the mixture keeps on burning and creates a bed of flames. A terrifying close combat ship.


 * Research required: Greek Fire

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Light Battleship(s)
The light battleship's are more agile than the heavy battleships, that's why they are the perfect choice to launch an attack from the flanks. They may also be used to help out at the front line. __NOWYSIWYG__

Ram-Ship
Equipped with a simple ram at the stable bow, this ship is the primary battle ship of the marines. A dozen strong rowers power it in order to ram the spur against the opposing hull. That alone is often enough to make an enemy ship sink.


 * Research required: None

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Long-Range Fighter(s)
Long-range fighters are placed behind the heavy battleships and attack the enemy from a safe distance. __NOWYSIWYG__

Ballista Ship
This ship contains a ballista, which was originally meant for firing grappling hooks. However, the ballista is also very valuable as a precise long-range combat weapon, as it hits the enemy under the waterline, even though it does not cause a large amount of damage.


 * Research required: Deck Weapons

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Catapult Ship
The catapult at the deck of the ship is smaller than its counterpart on land due to a lack of space. The ocean waves make it very imprecise, but it does fire clay jugs of burning oil, which leave dangerous little oil slicks behind at sea.


 * Research required: Counterweight

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Mortar Ship
The mortar ship has an especially large hull with a high water displacement, so that it can withstand the enormous recoil of the mortar. If the fuse of a missile is correctly measured, the powerful projectile explodes just over the enemy deck.


 * Research required: Mortar Attachment

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First Strike Ship(s)
The first strike units attack the enemy's front line. These units can cause a tremendous amount of damage. __NOWYSIWYG__

Diving Boat
A boat that sails below the water's surface is the ultimate sea weapon. Battleships also cannot defend themselves against them. Enemies will merely have their own diving boats at hand as a countermeasure.


 * Research required: Pressure Chamber

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Rocket Ship
Thanks to our research, our scientists have managed to store large amounts of explosive power in wooden devices that can be blasted several hundred meters over the water's surface and can cause a huge explosion if thrust on opposing ships. The enemy should be afraid - very afraid - of this lethal weapon!


 * Research required: Gunpowder

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Carrier Ship(s)
The  carrier ships'  job is to minimize the damage caused by the opposing first strike. When all the ships of the enemy's first strike have been destroyed, it also attacks long-range fighters, the front line and the flanks. __NOWYSIWYG__

Balloon Carrier
The balloon carrier is an enormous floating stronghold. With the balloons on it we can attack our enemy in the skies at sea too.


 * Research required: Offshore Base

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Carrier Ship Evasion Ship(s)
The carrier ship evasion units are able to reduce the danger of enemy carrier ships. If there are no carrier ships, that unit type attacks other carrier ship evasion units. Other ships cannot be fought. __NOWYSIWYG__

Paddle Speedboat
An invention that would have even astounded Heron: the paddle speedboat uses the impulse of a giant aeolipile as well as paddle wheels to drive into opposing ships with a huge amount of power and speed. The ship barely needs any crew.


 * Research required: Paddle Wheel Engine

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Support Ship(s)
The support units consist of several units that do not actively take part in battle, but support the fleet in a number of different ways. The type of support depends on the unit and can be found out by reading their description. __NOWYSIWYG__

Tender
A tender provides support for own ships. Trained engineers and divers can immediately fix small amounts of damage in the dock so that the units can reenter battle immediately.


 * Research required: Caulking

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Civilian Ship(s)
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Cargo Ship
Trade ships are the most important support for your island empire. No matter whether they have to transport goods, units or news: your seamen will make sure that everything arrives at its destination quickly and safely.

Each Cargo Ship costs more than your previous one. Cargo ships are purchased at a Trading Port and cannot be destroyed. They can hold up 500 resources or the equal amount in units (each unit has a size in goods). Trade ships are available for carriage in any of your own towns without the need for transport of the ship.


 * Research required: None

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