Napoleon Total War - Naval Unit Guide

The aim of this guide is to explain the role of different types of ships in battle and how to get the best out of them. Where possible it will avoid restating information that is readily available in other places, and instead focus on data that is somewhat hidden from view, but has a meaningful impact on the units.

The strategic context has more impact on naval battles than it does on land battles and this will be explored briefly in the guide.

In the game, armies exist to capture and defend provinces which are the core to a faction's existence. Fleets cannot gain territory, so their role is more strategic in terms of supporting the overall position of a faction. With only a European theatre and many trade nodes on the same map, Great Britain, France and Spain start off as major naval powers. Over the course of the campaign Russia, Prussia and Austria may make use of fleets more but have roster deficiencies. Broadly speaking, there are five roles that fleets need to fill in the game.

Trade routes provide opportunities to inflict financial loss on enemies and gain for yourself. As the trade routes exist within the one theatre, raiders are more easily caught so forces may need to be larger than individual ships. Frigates provide more return from raiding than ships of the line, and groups of ships add more than individual units so two frigates in one group will bring in more than two operating separately. As a result, frigates are a far better investment for raiding than larger ships, and this gives a reason for the recruitment of smaller frigates like the 24-Gun/Corvettes.
If an enemy faction is earning strongly from trade, then it will be due to their trade ships on trading posts. These fleets are juicy targets in wartime, and their defeat not only sets your opponent back in earnings but will net decent prize money. Small fleets of fast, powerful vessels are good for this role as most merchant vessels are poorly armed. Spain, Portugal and Great Britain are very close to many trading posts and therefore can exert control over these. Some nations can build well-armed Indiamen which will stand up to frigates.
Blockading a trade port prevent all trade through the port so it can impact an enemy nations economy heavily. However, unlike commerce raiding, no income is earned by the blockading faction. Blockading a port also prevents naval recruitment, and if the port is unoccupied your forces can enter and raid which damages the facility and prevents further recruitment until it is repaired. If the nation only has one trade port, they cannot earn any trade income from the sea.

The impact of blockading is often significant enough to justify sizeable home fleets for defence. Home port blockading is therefore high risk and either performed by solo fast ships which are expendable or large enough enough force to make the blockade permanent.

The only way for armies to cross water is via ship. This can present a high risk as the loss of the fleet results in the total loss of the army. As such, it is either best kept to a minimum, or performed with significant protection. Any vessel can transport any number of troops.
The most basic role for fleets is the destruction of other fleets, generally in response to one of the roles above. Fleets can travel large distances, so a strong fleet in port can project its influence across a wide area, intercepting enemy forces as they appear. The type of vessels needed for this role will depend on what they are countering. To hunt light fast commerce raiders, you will want good fast frigates, not slow ships of the line.

There are three Light Ship types: Brig, Sloop and Galley. The Galley is only used by the Ottomans. These ships can serve various purposes but are not key role players.

Brigs and Sloops are fast. Galleys one of the slowest ships. The Sloop responds better to the wind due to ketch rigging. Brigs can obtain Top Gallants. Light Ships are some of the weakest ships in the game. They have vulnerable magazines and are prone to explosion in battle.

• Brigs and Sloops have weak but long range (500) broadsides; Uniform Armament more than doubles the damage bringing them much closer to small Frigate power. The Brig has stern chasers.
  
• Galleys only have forward firing guns of medium range (450) which are more powerful than any frigate's broadside.

• Commerce raiding: fast enough to escape, cheap enough to be cost effective and expendable (Brigs return more than Sloops)
  
• Blockading unprotected ports: fast enough to escape, cheap enough to be cost effective and expendable
  
• Transporting armies: can be produced in any port and are fast

For Brigs and Sloops, the strength of these ships is their speed and manoeuvrability. As such, unless they greatly outnumber the enemy, they need to try to stay at long range, and chain shot the enemy sails. Their speed allows them to dictate when and where combat will happen and the stern chasers on the Brig come in handy.

Galleys should sail straight at the enemy vessels, they're too slow to attempt to outmanoeuvre anything. Their powerful guns can cause flooding in smaller vessels and their low profile makes them hard to hit. Very cheap so can be deployed in large numbers.

Getting into range of pretty much any vessel. Light ships can be knocked out in a single volley from a decent ship, and they have poor morale.

A frigate is a warship that prioritises speed over combat ability. They can be defined by the saying "they outgun what they can't outrun, and can outrun what they can't outgun". They are truly multirole and will find a lot of service in the game, especially as they can mostly be built from the first level of dock. The 38-Gun Steam Frigate is a late game advanced technology unit which has constant propulsion, however its role is not altered by this. Recruiting a Steam Frigate earns prestige.

• 24-Gun Frigate/6th Rate/Corvette
  
• 32-Gun Frigate/5th Rate
  
• 38-Gun Frigate/5th Rate
  
• 38-Gun Steam Frigate
  
• Razee

Frigates are handy sailers, some of the best ships to handle. They are comfortably faster than ships of the line and trade ships. All sailing frigates are able to obtain Top Gallants.

Steam Frigates do not have to rely on wind power and can sail independently as well as being faster than other frigates.

These ships have decent hull strength, but still noticeably less than ships of the line. It is enough to let them shrug off light ships and trade ships though. Magazines are decently protected so there should be fewer explosions in combat. Hull strength of most of them is relatively similar, except the Razee which is as tough as a 64-Gun ship of the line. Cannon Frigates are accurate shooters with fast reloading, and all bar the Razee have broadside with range 500. Generally they are much less powerful than ships of the line. The Razee has comparable power to a 50-Gun SOL. Uniform Armament technology more than doubles the power of most ships except the the Razee and the Steam Frigate.

• Commerce raiding: on lucrative routes, strong enough to defend themselves
  
• Blockading ports: generally a poor use given their cost compared to Light Ships
  
• Transporting armies: good escort where men of war are not a threat
  
• Destroying fleets: excellent hunting commerce raiders, tradeships and auxiliary fleets; in large battle fleets they play several roles; good protection for tradeships in trade regions.

The context of the battle determines how Cannon Frigates should be employed. They can be used relatively aggressively against lesser ships, especially the Razee: pummel the enemy ships with roundshot until they rout or are sunk. Their speed, extra gun range and high rate of fire can be very effective. They also have decent crews to board and capture trade ships for prize money.

In larger fleet battles, Cannon Frigates play a supporting role to the ships of the line. They can use their speed advantage to slow the enemy ships by taking out sails and masts. If the enemy has artillery ships, frigates are there to get past the line and take them out. Finally, they are there to prevent the enemies frigates from doing either of those things.

Razees exist to counter other Frigates thanks to their speed. While they can stand up to small SOLs this is not the best use of them as they will take heavy damage.

Ships of the line are much hardier and more powerful than Frigates so will hurt them badly. Indiamen are also more than a match for a Frigate (except the Razee) so be wary of engaging them.

Two fast frigate like vessels are armed with Carronades, very powerful but short ranged weapons. The strength and weakness of this armament shapes their role differently to other Frigates. Recruiting Steam Paddle Frigate earns prestige.

• Carronade Frigate
  
• Steam Paddle Frigate

Both ships are quite fast, the Carronade Frigate being similar to a 6th Rate while the Steam Paddle Frigate has propulsion independent of the wind. Carronade Frigates are able to obtain Top Gallants. Carronade Frigates are about as hardy as a 5th Rate, and have moderately tough magazines. Steam Paddle Frigates are as tough as a 64-Gun SOL. The Steam Ship does have an elevated likelihood of catching fire. Accurate shooters with fast reloading, Carronade Frigates have range 250. Very powerful gunnery, almost to the level of ships of the line. Steam Ships have cannon bow and stern chasers with range 450. Neither ship is affected by Uniform Armament.

• Destroying fleets: hunting other frigates, finishing off wounded ships of the line.

Carronade Frigates seem to be the naval equivalent of shotguns. The vessels are fast and manoeuvrable enough to get into advantageous positions to unleash their powerful broadsides. Ideally they obtain a position ahead or astern of the enemy and give a broadside up the line. Against other frigates, they may struggle to get into range, but if they do they will devastate the enemy. Carronade Frigates will struggle against Cannon Frigates without support. These ships should be used sparingly as complementary ships not as the core of a fleets. The cost and short range weaponry make these ships poor choices for traditional Frigate roles like commerce raiding and blockades - as solo operators they're out-ranged by everything, so a sizeable fleet of trading ships can inflict a lot of damage.

Ships of the line are vessels optimised for slugging matches with enemy fleets. They exist to exert dominance in regions, and to protect important home ports. Designed for fleet battles these are precious vessels where number count. The Indiaman exhibits characteristics of this category despite being a trade ship. These vessels are slow, expensive and time consuming to replace so should not be risked in solo missions or far from friendly ports. 80-Gun Steam Ships and Ironclads earn prestige.

• Sail 2-deckers: 50-Gun, 64-Gun, 72-Gun, 80-Gun, Indiamen
  
• Sail 3-deckers: 86-Gun, 98-Gun, 106-Gun, 122-Gun
  
• Sail 4-decker: 140-Gun Santissima Trinidad
  
• Steam 2-deckers: 80-Gun, Ironclad

Ships of the Line are all slow and cumbersome ships. All of these vessels can obtain Top Gallants. Steam vessels can travel independent of the wind and are the fastest in this category. All Ships of the Line are very tough, the toughest in the game. There is a large range within this category, with the top end having hulls 4 times as strong as the bottom end. Their magazines are the most protected so explosions should be rare. All Ships of the Line have range 450. Many have stern and bow chasers. Broadside damage output is very high. Uniform Armament has a bigger impact on the smaller vessels giving them more usefulness in the late game, however the Steam ships are not affected.

• Blockading ports: overpowering enemy home port defenders and blockading the main trade revenue
  
• Transporting armies: for high value armies
  
• Destroying fleets: the primary purpose of these ships is the destruction of enemy fleets

The only weakness of Ships of the Line is their speed, so keep them in formation and not isolated by faster, longer range vessels. Line astern is the only formation that should be used and generally keep to simple manoeuvres. Align with the enemy as much as possible and try to get double ups (2 vs 1) on their line. If the fleet is large consider splitting it into multiple groups of 3-4 in line astern for flexibility. Primarily Ships of the Line need to be moving, so avoid complicated manoeuvres that tangle the line as they are very slow to reorient themselves if blocked, leaving them vulnerable to stern or bow shots. Also, their large size puts them at risk from artillery ship rockets or mortars so ensure there are some faster ships around to take out such threats.

There are two units which fulfil a niche role in fleets carrying long range artillery, the Bomb Ketch and the Rocket Ship. Prestige is earned by recruiting either ship.

Both ships are quite slow and poor handlers, although they can outrun ships of the line. Both Specialist Ships are weak with extremely vulnerable magazines. Keep them out of harms way or they will quite likely explode. Gunnery skill is less important for these two ships as their primary, forward mounted weapons are explosive. They have range 750 and fire in an arc which means they can fire over friendly vessels.

• Destroying fleets: in large fleet battles these ships can do a lot of damage to grouped enemies

Specialist Ships play a role sitting behind your primary line of ships, and fire at large vessels or groups of ships. Don't expect them to take ships out in one volley, but they will often set vessels alight and weaken them progressively. Avoid them being shot by any vessel, they are very fragile. Protect them from opposing light ships, as a Frigate, Brig or Sloop can take out quite a few of these ships solo.

One important statistic that is not readily available in the game is the total damage output of each ship's broadside. The unit cards show the total number of guns, it does not relate what size of gun nor which are fore, aft or broadside. Additionally, the impact of the Uniform Armament technology is not clearly explained in game despite having a large impact on broadside damage. It is also worth noting that typically the heavier guns are on the lowest deck, and as you go up the decks the guns get lighter.

To get the real picture, the data files were processed and each ships roundshot damage was collated. The following charts show the main vessels plotted against the total broadside damage output (x-axis) and hull strength (y-axis). Broadside damage is calculated as the sum of roundshot damage for all guns on one side. Where a vessel's broadside is increased by Uniform Armament, a second plot is shown with "(U)" next to the name. As there was a clear distinction between the lower end and the top end, there are two overlapping charts to provide more detail.

Key points:

• 3 deckers and larger are significantly tougher then 2-deckers but not always more powerful
  
• The Ironclad is a game changer for nations who can't build 3-deckers
  
• There's a clear performance gap between normal frigates and ships of the line
  
• Uniform Armament impacts some ships much more than others
  
• Razees and Carronade Frigates can tackle 50-Guns and Indiamen

There are a few different sail types across the vessels in the game, and this impact how efficiently they use the wind. The chart below shows the efficiency at different angles to the wind. Generally, the square-rigged vessels, which are the majority of vessels (rated vessels and brigs) are the least efficient, while those with lateen sails catch the wind better across the angles. It also shows that Galleys and Steam Ships suffer some slowing when facing into the wind. Notably, French ships are better sailing ships than everyone else's.

Naval related technologies are scattered throughout the Military and Industrial research trees. Several are not fully explained in the game so here is a summary of the effects of these technologies.

• Military: Improved Coppering
  
• Industrial: Bottling and Canning, Mass Production, Interchangeable Parts

Top Gallants only applies to square rigged ships excluding steam powered ships, so no Sloops or Bomb Ketches. Uniform Armament re-configures the guns on a large number of vessels, replacing the smaller guns (6, 9 and 12-pounders) with 18-pounders and larger guns (18, 24 and 32-pounders) with 32-pounders. Depending on the original armament, this can have a significant increase in broadside power, especially for the smaller vessels. To unlock advanced steam-powered ships, a range of technologies from the Industrial tree are required. Steam Ship Propulsion and Screw Propeller enable the first set of ships, the addition of Iron Plating enables the pinnacle warship - the Ironclad.