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From: jcc@frog.UUCP (Jim Chagnon)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.games
Subject: Re: Pirates! How do you score?
Message-ID: <24805@frog.UUCP>
Date: 26 Mar 91 21:11:00 GMT
References: <24535@frog.UUCP> <2558@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk>
Reply-To: jcc@frog.UUCP (Jim Chagnon)
Organization: CRDS
Lines: 71

In article <2558@odin.cs.hw.ac.uk> adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) writes:

>Your chances of taking a town seem to depend more on its civilian population
>than on its garrison.  It is easier to take a town with a small civilian
>populace (e.g. Margarita, which I often take shortly after starting the
>game) than one with a large populace (e.g. Panama, even after previous
>attacks had left it with virtually no garrison).

 This could be, but if you've previously attacked it (within say, 2 years)
you won't even "take" Coro or Gibraltar unless you have about 10x the towns
soldiers.

>The only reason your ship is faster at the beginning of the game is, you
>start with only a sloop, which is a fast ship. 

 Not true. I rarely play as late as 1660 (no sloops until then) and when
you begin at apprentice level, your "officers" are in charge of navigation,
gunnery, etc.  At the beginning, they are better than your opponents. Try
Bark against Bark (or any same ship), you are faster than your opponent, 
and shots that look like they will miss by a mile still hit.  To see how
bad this can get, answer the questions at the beginning wrong, and still
play.  Now you are very slow, and can't hit anything. Your cannonballs fly
right through the rigging without any dammage.
 As the game goes on, opponents (in like ships) move at the same speed as
you do, requiring more strategy to run them down or to hit them.  It could
be that the game is putting more responsibility on you (wether you advance
in difficulty or not), or a reflection of your failing health.

> If you capture and use
>larger vessels, you will be slowed down, as they are slower than sloops.

 This only effects normal travel. In battle, only the ship you choose has
bearing on speed or manuverability.

>> ...  And since I had to beat a hasty retreat, for the rest of the game 
>>the sleepy little hamlet of Santa Marta had a standing army of 500.

>In other words, you failed to attack Santa Marta 24 times in a row?!

 Yes.  I was testing different ships, attempting to actually dammage the
fort.  I found that, at Santa Marta, it is extremly difficult to even get
a shot off and still make it to the beach.  I'm well aware of the 
preferability of a land attack, but what the hell, variety is the spice
of life and as I said, I'd already screwed-up that game.

>A quick victory may help you capture the town; it will definitely help
>you loot it, because the inhabitants haven't had as long to hide their
>gold.  Having said that, I've never had the "Most of their gold has
>been hidden" message when I hit Panama. 

 They don't usually hide their loot in ANY inland town. St. Thome (hardly
worth the trip), Gran Granada, Villa Hermosa, or Puerto Principe are good
to leave alone, until you need a big score.  I actually pay for info on
these towns.

>better than any Inca treasure!  One of these days, I'm going to catch both
>the treasure fleet and the silver train in Panama, and then we'll see some
>real looting.

 In real life, the silver train didn't run all along the Spanish Main, but
only from Panama to Puerto Bello (or Nombre de Dios).  Silver came from Peru
by ship to Panama City, on the Pacific side of the Istmus of Panama, and was
then pack-muled to the Carribean side, where it was picked up by the treasure
fleet.  I'm not sure, but in the game (as it was in real life), I don't think
the treasure fleet goes to Panama.  You CAN catch them both at Puerto Bello,
though.

> Adrian Hurt			     |	JANET:  adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs
> UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian     |  ARPA:   adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk

jcc