Naval battle | Battle Total War: Attila Guide

Last update: 11 May 2016

Naval battle is easier to describe as a land battle on a completely flat plain, where you can't hide or take a strategically better position. Here as well you must position your armies, set a formation, pick a tactic, move on the enemy and defeat him. You have shooters and close combat units, a commander and active abilities. Ships are the main difference.

Every ship has two important statistics - crew and durability. A ship can be defeated by losing all its crew, killed during boarding or due to shooting, and destroyed by artillery attack or being rammed by heavier ship. Similarly to buildings, it can be set on fire, which makes him volatile to flammable missiles. Just like in land battles, ship crew has morale and might want to retreat in case of trouble and, just like on the land, it can be hunted in order to take prisoners.

Another important difference is limited maneuvering. Naval units can move freely on the sea and only thing that limits them is the coast and other ships. On other hand, naval units, just like land ones, can get into each other way and block each other. It might lead to situation when few ships are "glued" to each other and their crews have jumbled due to boarding. Giving them aid in such situation might be hard, just as retreating a ship, as connected ships are treated just like infantry formations in combat. Because of that, if ships are swimming towards each other, you should send the strongest ones in front. Otherwise, moving them back might be hard.

In difference to land battles, there is no cavalry on the sea. Although there are faster and slower ships, in general ships have similar speed parameters. Because of that, trying to flank an enemy or hurt him with ships with archers might not work as you intended. Artillery is exception, but rarely someone will place it before stronger and more mobile ships. Because of that, usually naval battle consists of three phases - firing, then series of boarding with limited backup from shooters and finally capturing prisoners.