• Kraiden@piefed.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      33
      ·
      4 days ago

      I was gonna pick bar shot for similar reasons. I feel like the flexible chain would allow for too much loss of energy. Pure guess though, IANA 18th century naval warfare expert

    • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      edit-2
      4 days ago

      In Sid Meier’s Pirates! it was the objectively correct choice 99% of the time. Even a tiny ship could take out a ship of the line with a few well-placed chain shot barrages, and ships would pretty much always surrender the instant they lost their mast.

      I think the story battles were an exception to the instant surrender rule, but without their sails you could switch to grape shot and pepper their helpless vessel until they had no crew left, then board for an instant victory.

      I miss that game. I should redownload it and see how it holds up.

      • mech@feddit.org
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        9
        ·
        edit-2
        4 days ago

        In that game the OP tactic was ramming ships of the line with a war canoe (it sails faster than cannonballs fly so you can evade them), then beating up the captain so his 2000 trained Marines will surrender to your 50 brigands.

        • Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          edit-2
          3 days ago

          I could never get the timing down on the dueling minigame. Chain shot is risk-free (and cost-free since dueling risks your crew), plus the dueling minigame gets harder as your character gets older but your sailing muscle memory remains reliable forever.

          • mech@feddit.org
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            3 days ago

            The dueling minigame goes into muscle memory, as well.
            And it uses the same timing, mechanics and keys as the dancing minigame.

        • YellowParenti@lemmy.wtf
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          4 days ago

          First thought was shooting parallel to floor, then ppl where talking about masts. I was like oh, ok that makes sense too.

          there’s also that a lot died of infection.

          The vast majority of wounds documented during the Civil War were caused by the Minié ball, while the rest were from grapeshot, canister or other exploding shells. Few men were treated for saber or bayonet wounds and even fewer for cannon ball wounds.

          Unfortunately for the soldiers and the surgeons, the Civil War was fought just years before the widespread acceptance of the Germ Theory and the understanding of antisepsis and the sterilization of instruments and equipment. The Civil War surgeons performed their work as best they could, but did not have the knowledge of the role germs played in causing infection. While some antiseptic substances like iodine and bromine were used, the reason for their effectiveness was unknown. The discovery of antibiotics was still decades in the future.