Boarding

**Boarding Mechanics Short Guide**

Naval Action has now a new boarding battle system. It is round based as the previous system but it includes more commands and utilizes many new tactical factors such as “Preparation” and “Morale”.

Commands have counter commands. If you are actively defending the attacker has to have significant advantages to overcome your defenses. In particular the boarding battle is consisted of two main phases.

**Pre-Boarding**

Before you decide to board the enemy ship you need to press the Button “Boarding”. In “Boarding” mode your ship is able to throw grappling hook to drag the enemy ship, while it slowly increases its “Preparation” for Boarding. The more “Preparation” you have, the more commands you will be able to use during the boarding phase. So, if you plan to board an enemy ship or you sense that your enemy is going to board you, it is advised to build up the “Preparation” value, to increase your chances for victory. Be warned however, that while your ship is in “Boarding” mode, all other activities have reduced efficiency, such as reloading your cannons or sailing.

**The Boarding Battle**

When the enemy ship is close and slow enough, you will see a message that advises you to press “G” to start the boarding. Once boarding starts, it will appear a window that consists of the following information:

**Crew & Marines:** The total amount of men that are participating in the boarding. Numbers get reduced according to inflicted damage per round. If all your crew dies, then your ship is captured by the opponent.

**Morale:** The starting morale depends on the losses you have during naval combat. If during boarding the morale becomes zero, then the ship will withdraw or surrender, depending on the situation (See: “Attack/Counter-Attack” and “Disengage” commands below).

**Preparation:**The battle starts with the amount of preparation you have built up. During boarding, preparation is slowly increased per round and is vital for using the boarding commands. Every command needs a specific amount of preparation. If you do not have enough preparation for a command, it will be unavailable for the round. Additionally, each time you switch to a new command, a small amount of preparation is spent which gets increased a lot at the end of the round. Hence, you need to wisely use commands in order to keep preparation high enough to counter the commands of your opponent.

**Muskets/Cannons/Melee:** The amount of kills expected for next round categorized according to the commands selected by you and your opponent. For example, if you choose command “Musket Volley” then “Muskets” will have an expected damage calculation, while “Cannons” and “Melee” will be zero. These indications help to understand the power of the commands before they are enabled in the next round.

**Battle timer**

Each boarding round has a duration of 15 seconds. During this phase you can choose the command to use versus your opponent for the next round.

**Command Next Round**

This indication shows the command currently selected that you and your opponent are going to use in next round. The decisions of your opponent are visible during the round, so this helps to react accordingly. Each time you switch to a command there is a “cool-down” time that prevents you to switch to another command. Consequently, you will not be able to switch commands frequently during the round and is needed careful planning and decisions to counter the opponent’s commands at the right time. The available commands are the following:

**Brace:** This command is the default used at the start of boarding and when a previously selected command is no longer available. With “Brace” your crew heads for cover to reduce casualties from ranged attacks and some men fire back. “Brace” is ideal to protect your crew against incoming fire and increase your preparation for other commands.

·         **Effective** vs “Musket Volley”, “Fire Deck Guns”, (Reduces casualties)

·         **Minor effect** vs “Fire Grenades”

·         **Very Vulnerable** vs “Attack/Counter-Attack”

·         **Very Little effect** vs “Defend”

Preparation cost = **None**

Duration = **1-Round**

Reload = **None**
Cool down time = **Low**

**Defend:** Your crew assembles to face a boarding charge and very few men fire from afar. It is the most powerful response vs “Attack/Counter-Attack”.

·         **Very Effective** vs “Attack/Counter-Attack”

·         **Very Vulnerable** vs “Musket Volley”, “Fire Deck Guns”, “Fire Grenades”

·         **Very little effect** vs “Brace”

Preparation cost = **Low**

Duration = **1-Round**

Reload = **None**
Cool down time = **Medium**

**Attack / Counter-Attack:** You send a boarding party to attack the enemy ship. If you reduce the enemy’s morale to zero while this command is enabled, then the enemy surrenders the ship to you. Attack, Counter-Attack is very powerful vs all commands except “Defend”. You need to have great numbers and increased morale to win the “Defend” command of your opponent. Furthermore, if there is deck difference between the ships, the attacker faces heavy penalties vs the defender.

·         **Very Effective** vs “Musket Volley”, “Fire Grenades”, “Brace”

·         **Moderate Effect** vs “Fire Deck Guns”

·         **Very Vulnerable** vs “Defend”

Preparation cost = **High**

Duration = **1-Round**

Reload = **low**
Cool down time = **High**

**Musket Volley:** Organized firearms volley inflicting casualties from range. It is more powerful when your ship has more decks and crew than your opponent.

·         **Very Effective** vs “Defend”

·         **Effective** vs “Fire Deck Guns”, “Fire Grenades”

·         **Minor effect** vs “Brace”

·         **Very Vulnerable** vs “Attack/Counter-Attack”

Preparation cost = **Low**

Duration = **1-Round**

Reload = **Low**
Cool down time = **Medium**

**Fire Deck Guns:** The available upper deck guns of your ship can fire at the enemy while it adds some protection against Attack / Counter- Attack. Damage is higher if your ship has more decks.
Note: The command is unavailable if deck difference between the ships is greater than 1 or you have lost all your upper deck cannons.

·         **Very Effective** vs “Defend”

·         **Effective** vs “Musket Volley”, “Fire Grenades” (Depends on available cannons)

·         **Moderate effect** vs “Attack”

·         **Minor effect** vs “Brace”

Preparation cost = **Medium**

Duration = **1-Round**

Reload = **High**
Cool down time = **Medium**

**Fire Grenades:** Your crew tosses grenades to the enemy while initiating a ranged attack. It is more powerful when your ship has more decks and crew than your opponent. The explosion effect makes “Brace” almost useless. However, your men are more vulnerable to boarding attacks.

·         **Very Effective** vs “Defend”, “Brace”

·         **Effective** vs “Musket Volley”, “Fire Grenades”

·         **Extra Vulnerable** vs “Attack/Counter-Attack”

Preparation cost = **Medium**

Duration = **1-Round**

Reload = **Medium**
Cool down time = **Medium**

**Disengage:** By enabling this command you try to escape from your opponent. While in Disengage mode, you are unable to Attack/Counter-Attack, and because a large proportion of your crew is allocated to cutting the grappling hooks and moving away your ship, there is decreased efficiency in defending your ship from boarding or ranged attacks.

·         **Disables “Attack/Counter-Attack”**

·         **Reduces damage of all commands**

·         **Reduces “Brace” effect**

Preparation cost = **None**

Duration = **4-Round**

**Battle Log**

In each round, damage is dealt from both sides and is reported in the Battle Log. Kills are categorized in Firepower Kills (Fk), Boarding Kills (Bk), Outside Kills (Ok). Firepower kills are inflicted by muskets, grenades, cannons. Boarding kills are caused by melee. Outside kills can happen by fire of other ships that do not participate in the boarding.

**How you force the enemy ship to surrender**

As mentioned above, you capture the enemy ship if:

- You kill all enemy crew

- You reduce enemy’s morale to zero, while you “Attack / Counter- Attack”

If enemy ship has zero morale and you fail to capture it while it disengages, then it escapes successfully.