User:Piplicus/Flotilla guide

Flotillas are a new, exciting release to hit the oceans. They open up a whole new level of strategy, teamwork, competition, and they bring another puzzle - Treasure Haul.

Since the release, many different strategies for tackling flotillas have been tried and compared, with no universal method being proclaimed. This guide aims to consolidate all the knowledge gathered about flotillas, and suggests tactics for flotilla hunters to improve their skills.

The Basics
Up to six flotillas may be found in an ocean at one time. Of these, Barnabas The Pale's and The Widow Queen's flotillas are sinking. Common consensus seems to suggest that of the six, Admiral Finius tends to be easier, and Barnabas The Pale tends to be more challenging.

In sinking flotillas, any ship that reaches full damage via another boat, known as receiving critical damage, will be sunk and lost forever.

In non-sinking flotillas, only brigand king ships will sink. Player ships that suffer critical damage will be removed from the board, dumped back at the last port they set sail from, and all booty acquired in the booty chest will be lost.

A ship of any size that sinks with 1000 PoE in the booty chest or more will generate a wreck, which can be used to haul treasure from.

Flotillas have some likenesses to blockades, but are unique in their own way:
 * Flotillas are ongoing (until they end)
 * There are no buoys
 * There is only one safe zone
 * Segments are approximately 10 and a half minutes long (probably 18 turns)

Each board will contain a smattering of rocks, wind, and whirlpools. The Brigand Kind will field a selection of green ships and red ships.

Green (supply) ships are merchant brigs and merchant galleons. There are often 3-5 supply ships on the board at one time.

Red (attack) ships are any other ship. The number and size of these ships is largely dependent upon the amount and size of blue (player) ships on the board at a particular moment.

The aim of a flotilla is to sink as many green ships as possible. Upon a certain number of green ship sinkings (suspected to be around the 15-20 mark), the brigand kind will disperse the flotilla to gather his forces elsewhere in the ocean, ending the flotilla on the very next turn.

Taking a ship in
If you are planning to take a ship in to a flotilla, choose your ship type carefully:
 * Sloops require only one person (three NPPs will be given to assist you), and can accommodate up to 7 people. However, they have pitiful firing power, and if a red baghlah or bigger gets in close range, the sloop stands a good chance of sinking. Solo sloops are good to treasure haul a wreck.
 * Cutters require more people, and is not a very good ship to take in. Firing only single small shot, and requiring lots of stations to be filled, this vessel can easily become dead in the water and be sunk.
 * Dhows are a good choice if there are red sloops or cutters on the board, but should be kept well away from larger ships.
 * Baghlahs are an ideal choice for a group of 14-18 pirates. A competent navigator will be able to take down war brigs, merchant brigs and merchant galleons as long as they do not get into dangerous positions. Provided they are the only ship on the board, they should spawn no more than war brigs. This will be covered more later.
 * War brigs require 20-30 people to run efficiently. They are similar to a baghlah, except they can take slightly more damage before the ship's mobility is impeded.
 * Merchant galleons are rarely used for flotillas. One might consider using one of these when there are too few people for a war frigate, yet too many for a war brig. It is unlikely that they would fare well in a flotilla.
 * War frigates are a popular choice for large groups. They do particularly well when there are 50-75 people on board, although they can be sailed fairly well from about 40 upwards.
 * Grand frigates are also rarely used in a flotilla. Not much is known about their potential in a flotilla.

A good rule of thumb is to use a ship type such that there are people lazing because all the stations are filled up. If using a ship smaller than a dhow or baghlah, expect not to sink any ships when alone.

Competent, cautious, conservative navigators tend to last on average longer in a flotilla before reaching critical damage. An average navigator should expect to last about 40 minutes and should stock accordingly.

The longevity of a trip depends on several factors:
 * The navigator's and CO's ability and availibility
 * The amount of stock on the ship
 * The number of people on the ship above the skeleton crew
 * The rate at which jobbers leave during the flotilla.
 * The number of other ships on the board
 * The nature of the attack (treasure haul or sinking, or even both).

It is crucial to remember that once in a flotilla, people can not board the ship.

The Board
The flotilla board has dimensions of x by x normal squares. Towards the south-east side, there is a safe zone added on, which is three squares thick, just like the ocean-side safe zone in a blockade. On the opposite side, there is no safe zone.

Player ships that enter the flotilla will normally enter onto a square on the back row of the safe zone.

Brigand King ships that enter the flotilla (spawn) will be put on to the first row of the board, facing the safe zone.

At the place where one would expect the other safe zone, there is not a wall. Squares beyond this act like wind. Compare this to walls in a sea battle before ramming and blockades were implemented.

If a player ship exceeds the boundaries, they will be blown back into the board at a rate of 1 square per move until they reach the main board again.

If a Brigand King ship exceeds the boundaries or moves into the safe zone, they will be removed from play immediately, and will not appear ever again.

It is in a Brigand King's best interests not to be destroyed, therefore they will ensure that they never place themselves into a position such that they will be guaranteed removed from the board.

It is therefore such that this hidden wind acts somewhat as a sanctuary from Brigand Kings' ships, and can be used to a navigator's great advantage, given this knowledge.

Treasure Haul
When a new puzzle hits the ocean, there is an influx of interest - people want to play the puzzle as often as they can, as long as they can, at every opportunity. Because treasure haul is a difficult puzzle to access (it requires the most effort to get to), coupled with the fact that when everyone on the ship treasure hauls the ship starts to fall into disrepair, there is a vicious circle that forms. (NB: The latest release results in treasure haulers now contributing little to the duties, which alleviates the problem. There is still an issue though.)

Essentially, the vicious circle results in selfishness, loss of control, loss of respect and bad will, which makes the process of attacking flotillas unsatisfying. It requires discipline and well-defined guidelines to overcome this problem, something which may deter jobbers.

When a ship sinks with 1000 PoE or more in the hold (all brigand king ships in flotillas and blockades have this), it generates a wreck. Residing on the 3x3 square that surrounds the wreck (with the wreck at the center) at the end of two consecutive turns will result in the treasure haul puzzle being accessible from the booty chests and holds on a vessel. At the end of three consecutive turns over a wreck, the Ahoy! panel pop-up will appear to everyone on the ship. It is at this point that most people will press the button and the ship becomes horribly vulnerable.

To avoid this pitfall, the following precautions can be taken:
 * Constant broadcasting that treasure haul is not allowed unless the navigator or XO explicitly states that everyone or a certain group of people can haul treasure.
 * Not staying over a wreck for three turns or more without enough tokens to move away.
 * Allowing people to treasure haul at safer dry wrecks, so they don't need to haul as urgently.
 * Planking constant offenders

Wrecks
Wrecks are fairly misunderstood. They are formed when a ship sinks with 1000 PoE or more in the booty chest.

They tend to last for about 50 minutes when left alone or hauled from an adjacent square. Hauling on top of it reduces the time it is present for. Any PoE that is contained in them is very quickly hauled up. Further hauling from that wreckage, known as 'dry hauling', is fruitless. However, hauling for fun is exactly that - fun. Letting people dry haul for fun will reduce their hauling cravings, and so they may not be as tempted to jump the gun in future opportunities.

Brigand King AI
While nobody, not even Shuranthae, knows the exact AI, it is possible to pick up certain traits that it seems to have. This is what makes battle navigation a little easier. However, in multi-ship situations, the AI can be less predictable. This is one of the appeals of flotilla hunting - making the pack mentality of the AI work against itself, and getting the brigand kind ships to shoot themselves as often as possible, without getting surrounded by the enemy.

It is a fair comment to say that if a navigator is not careful enough, they may find themselves in a situation where they are not just surrounded by the enemy (which is not in itself a bad thing), but with a real risk of receiving hefty ramming or shot damage. At all stages, it is imperative that the navigator has a route planned to escape at any given moment.

In general, the flotilla AI:
 * Never uses flaming skull shot
 * In most circumstances with few player ships will stay within about 8 squares of their side of the board
 * Will never sail off the board knowingly
 * Will never use the back row wind
 * Is still susceptible to the occasional LSM
 * Tends to keep a red ship amongst the green ships.