Otherwhen
Junior Officer Lesson 2: Trading Runs
The purpose of this lesson is for ye to learn more about maneuvering around the battlefield and how to use terrain features to yer advantage. Ye will do this by attempting to run away from brigands and avoid getting grappled. Even after ye become full officer, these tactics will serve you well any time ye wish to memorize a route or move valuable commodities.There are two stages at which it be possible to avoid brigands - before they drag ye into battle, and during the battle.
AVOIDING FIGHTS - BEFORE BATTLE
Best way to be avoiding fights altogether is to be moving fast. 'Twill get ye to port quicker, and make it harder for the brigands to catch ye. This is a reason to practice yer nav. Having good sailors is also a great boon. If ye be sailing alone with bots, ye may consider putting 3 bots on sails for the first league out of port, until ye get yer speed built up. But, don't forget to move them back to cover carp and bilge, else yer ship will get into trouble. In normal conditions, ye can switch off a bot between carp and bilge every league.However, moving fast opens ye to the possibility of coming up too fast and overtaking a brigand who wishes to battle ye. Sometimes ye will get a message in yer chat window "You are being pursued by ..." even though ye be the one coming up behind. At this point, if ye be quick enough, ye can hit the "Turn About" button. This drops ye back and also slows ye down. Once you get the follow-up message "You are no longer being pursued by ..." you can wait a few more seconds and then hit "Turn About" again to resume yer original course. Note that this only be effective when ye be coming up too quickly behind a brigand.
It will do ye little good if the brigand be coming up fast behind ye, or if he be coming at ye from the front looking to intercept. If the brigand be chasing ye, and ye be near a league point, ye may be able to waste time at the league point so that the brigand stops chasing ye.
If ye be sailing with Otherwhen crew (jobbers be there to win battles, not to run away from them), and the ship be moving at close to full speed with no damage, ye may ask the officer in charge fer permission to go up to the crow's nest and practice this turnabout technique. (It be much easier to see the other ships from the large crow's nest view.) If the officer be running cargo, he or she may place ye in the nest in charge of turning the ship about, as necessary.
AVOIDING FIGHTS - DURING BATTLE
Ye may perform the above with flying colors, and them sneaky underhanded devious briggans will still force ye into a battle. Yer purpose at this point be to avoid the battle going to a melee. To do this, ye need to successfully avoid yer enemy fer 10 hourglasses. Note that if the brigand successfully hits ye more hourglasses be added to the time afore ye can disengage. After the 10 rounds, the "Disengage" button will become active, and ye will receive a message like '10 rounds have elapsed. The defender is allowed to disengage'.In order to successfully run away, think of 3 areas - How to manage yer crew, how to manage yer tokens, and how to use terrain features of the battlefield.
CREW MANAGEMENT:
The quality of yer crew affects the number of sail tokens, so tis very important in running away. Remember that swabbies perform always at a 'Fine' level of skill.Angryjohnny says: "If I sail alone with three swabbies, and the ship is completely undamaged, I will generally assign all three bots to sails. I run the bilge meself, and pause every round to do the battle nav on the small board in the bilge puzzle. And, I forget about carp completely. I believe that 10 rounds of carp damage isn't too much to fix, and if I have a big lead by round 7 or 8, I will switch a bot back to carp at that point."
Lordkalvan says: "I can't see enough of the battle field in that little window, and I get distracted by the puzzle. Usually the only puzzle I do during sea battle be guns, because most of the time I can load one gun in less than an hourglass, so I check the battle field after each gun gets loaded. I keep two bots on sails, and swap the third on between bilge and carp as needed."
CREW MANGEMENT IF DAMAGED:
Remember, this changes if ye enter a battle while carrying damage. If yer carp meter is partially filled, the bilge will fill quicker, if the bilge meter is partially filled, the sails will be less or not effective. Bots can fix these things, but slowly. If yer good at carp or bilge, ye should probably try to fix the ship during the first few rounds of battle, while yer making yer initial moves - the ship can get fixed much quicker with a human touch.TOKENS:
Every ship automatically receives 8 sail tokens at the start of battle - 4 forward, 2 left, and 2 right. It matters not what type of ship, or how damaged it be. I find if I have 3 bots on sails and no damage, I generally receive 1 or 2 new tokens per round. Unused sail tokens expire after 5 rounds. If ye hold yer pointer over one of the token icons, it will show ye a series of numbers like (0,0,0,1,0). This means ye has one token, and it will expire in 4 rounds. If ye know what course ye want to take, then turn off "auto sails" - ye need the precision of selecting tokens yerself. If you click the button to the left of one of the sail token types, ye will receive that type of token next. Make good use of yer initial 8 tokens.TOKEN TIPS:
I recommend not using 4 tokens in one round, unless ye start out verra close to the brigand. Remember, that you can use a combination of a left token and a right token in an 'S' shape instead of forward tokens. It'll move ye forward and shift ye to one side. One advantage ye have is that the brigand expects ye to close and attack, and that is how it will plan its moves. So, even if ye start out facing the brigand at fairly close range, ye may be able to confuse it by going straight by, and forcing it to make a U-turn.ENVIRONMENT:
Making good use of yon environment be essential fer avoiding a battle. Make full use of winds to carry you away from the brigand without requiring sail tokens. Remember, though, that yer enemy can make use of these as well. Sometimes, the bot will get confused by winds, and head in the wrong direction, or head into the same oncoming gust of wind fer several rounds. As for whirlpools, it be best to avoid these for now, until ye get a feel for how they operate. However, if at all possible, do not move in squares adjacent to a whirlpool that yer enemy is capable of reaching. If he can get into the whirlpool, he will often use this opportunity to grapple ye.See also Lordkalvan's Whirlpool Tutorial.
ROCKS:
If ye be stuck facing a rock, ye can turn around. Just use whichever turn token ye think will work. It will give ye a minor amount of damage; less than if ye had been hit by cannon. If ye try to hide behind short rocks, yer opponent will likely fire at ye and ye will get hit. Ye can hide behind tall rocks though. Hitting short rocks causes less damage than hitting tall rocks. Note that hitting the edge of the board is like hitting rocks.TIMING:
Cannons and grapples fire after the token move. So if yer opponent be in the perfect position to blast ye, ye can still avoid the fire. First comes the token movement, second the wind and whirlpool movement, and last the cannon and grapples.RANGE:
Cannon shot travels 4 blocks and then sinks (counting the blocks where the ships be). If there are three empty squares between yer ship and the other one, then the shot is wasted. This is bad if ye did the firing, but good if yer opponent did.DUELS:
After reading this lesson, ye be allowed to have duels with Otherwhen officers. The other officer must have permission to attack. This be optional, not required. Find somebody willing to duel with ye, and pick a port that has two borrowable sloops in port. Usually Beta and Turtle will have sloops available fer this. Both officers set sail at the same time, and the other one attacks ye. Ye will try to run and disengage, and yer opponent will try to catch ye. Neither ship will load guns. After the disengage or melee, turnabout and put into port to restock.Please note that most brigands will be easier to disengage from than an Otherwhen Senior Officer in a duel would be, but that the brigands will try to shoot ye.
THE LESSON:
After reading the above, ask fer JO Lesson 2. Be prepared to answer questions on the lesson, and then ye will sail with the training officer aboard. Ye will need to use turnabout to avoid another ship, and then when a brigand does engage the ship in battle, ye will handle the battle nav and attempt to disengage.
PERMISSIONS:
After passing this lesson, ye will be given permission to sail any Otherwhen sloop whose owner gives permission, with just yerself and bots. Other Otherwhen midshipman, officers, and yer hearties be allowed, but no jobbers. Ye be encouraged to practice a lot, and it be best in pairs so ye can help each other. Ye may also sail yer own sloop the same way if ye have a sloop in Otherwhen. Some Otherwhen sloops be marked as allowing officers to borrow them, and some are not allowed to be borrowed - when in doubt either use a different ship or ask specific permission from the ship's owner.
To offer yer hearty a job, click their name in yer hearty list, or else type /job and the person's name.
Ye do not have permission to attack other ships. Ye should practice trying to disengage from battle when ye get attacked, and using turnabout to avoid attacks. Ye won't earn poe doing this, but the only cost will be a bit of rum. If ye choose an easy route (such as Alpha - Turtle - Cnossos), ye can let the brigands catch ye sometimes, so that ye have a chance to win some poe - but keep in mind that if ye lose, ye will have even more rum and shot as well to replace.
If ye use yer own ship, then ye be allowed to shoot all ye likes. Just keep in mind that ye will have to pay to restock the shot.
Dinna dispair - two more lessons and ye will get to fire at the brigands even from borrowed ships.