Ram
When one ship (in battle nav) attempts to move into the square that another ship is occupying, the other ship is rammed and both ships suffer damage. If a ship hits a rock or the edge of the board, the ship also takes ramming damage.
There are four size classes of ships: small (sloops and cutters), medium (merchant brigs and war brigs), large (merchant galleons and war frigates), and grand (grand frigates). If the ramming ship is in a larger size class than the ship being rammed, the smaller ship is usually "pushed" out of the square it was in, although collision mechanics can often be more complicated than this.
Ramming inflicts damage based on the ship's size. When a ship hits the edge of the map or rocks, it takes the amount of damage shown in the rocks table below. When a ship hits another ship, it inflicts the amount of damage shown in the ships table below upon the other ship, while also receiving the amount of damage appropriate to the other ship's size from the ships table.
For example, if a grand frigate hits rocks it receives the equivalent of 1.5 large cannonballs worth of damage. If a sloop rams a merchant brig, the sloop receives the equivalent of 0.667 medium cannonballs worth of damage, and the merchant brig receives the equivalent of 0.5 small cannonballs worth of damage.
Rocks
| Ship Name | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sloop | 0.5 | 0.333 | 0.25 |
| Cutter | 0.61 | 0.4067 | 0.305 |
| Dhow | ? | ? | ? |
| Baghlah | ? | ? | ? |
| Merchant brig | 1 | 0.667 | 0.5 |
| War brig | 1.25 | 0.833 | 0.625 |
| Merchant galleon | 1.5 | 1 | 0.75 |
| War frigate | 2.5 | 1.667 | 1.25 |
| Grand frigate | 3 | 2 | 1.5 |
Ships
| Ship Name | Small | Medium | Large |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sloop | 0.5 | 0.333 | 0.25 |
| Cutter | 0.5 | 0.333 | 0.25 |
| Dhow | ? | ? | ? |
| Baghlah | ? | ? | ? |
| Merchant brig | 1 | 0.667 | 0.5 |
| War brig | 2 | 1.333 | 1 |
| Merchant galleon | 2.5 | 1.667 | 1.25 |
| War frigate | 3 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Grand frigate | 4 | 2.667 | 2 |
Note that, if two ships are facing each other and both move, the results will be different depending on the size classes of the ships. If the ships are in the same size class, they'll move into each other simultaneously, and deal a single collision's worth of damage to each ship. However, if they are in different size classes, two collisions worth of damage are dealt to each ship. Our best explanation for this is that the larger class sizes move "before" smaller class sizes within a single phase of ship movement.
Historical Note
Prior to release 2004-04-28, there was no such thing as ramming. The swordfight began when both ships occupied the same square on the battle navigation board. Also, before this, the edges of the board acted like winds that pushed ships back onto the board.
