Beware the Celtic Attack Transport!

[Kekkonen]

OK, so I'm at war with Boudica (for a change). I'm moving the surface part of my fleet away from her sight so as to lure her transports out of the cities where my subs could wreak havoc on them, and while moving I make a slight goof and leave a carrier just outside one of her cities. But no worry, thinks me, since the only ships in that city are three transports; no reason to move one of the subs to cover the carrier, right?

Wrong. Her transports go on the offensive, and the second one sinks the carrier with three jet fighters. How on Earth did that happen?

[onodera]

Well, I think both Carriers and Transports are Attack 16. But yeah, Fighters on Carriers need an intercept rule. And Torpedo promotions.

[Kekkonen]

Yes, but aren't they defense-only ships, i.e. unable to attack?

[Proteus_MST]

They definitely were unable to do so at Vanilla and Warlords.
Don´t know about BtS, as I´m not able to build Transports yet.

[JimMac]

I've lost ships to enemy transports in two BtS games so far.

Actually, I dont mind that transports can attack now...maybe they shouldnt be so strong though?

[Proteus_MST]

What about Galleons?

I am able to attack with them in BtS, but don´t know exactly if you already could do it in vanilla or Warlords.

[tsubame]

You always could attack with transports. Sometimes I'd use the unloaded transports to fight frigates and heavily wounded destroyers.

Can get Nav I that way.

[Morrissey]

I'm sure you've always been able to attack with transports. I think I remember finishing off a destroyer with one a couple of times. Also attacking frigates and the like when I was the first to get to combustion.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Kekkonen
Yes, but aren't they defense-only ships, i.e. unable to attack?

Maybe they've gotten a lot smarter now?

[Micah Goodman]

The AI has gotten a lot more aggressive and smarter. I was using Privateers to sink fishing boats in my last game and at first it was easy. The Romans and the Ethiopians only had Triremes and Galleys. Soon however I was facing fleets of Frigates. After one engagement where I lost two Privateers and had a third heavily damaged I sailed away from Roman territories. After reaching another continent two turns away I began repairing my ship. The next turn three Roman Frigates appeared near me spread out to cover a maximum area looking for my ship. I tried to run but the third ship caught me and sent me to the bottom. My lucrative Privateering days were over.

[Krill]

Operation Watergrog is alive and well I see...

[jdchambe]

on a somewhat related note, I have noticed that the AI likes to use workboats to explore territory early in the game. That, of course, has always been possible, but I don't think the AI ever did that before either.

[Jvstin]

Originally posted by jdchambe
on a somewhat related note, I have noticed that the AI likes to use workboats to explore territory early in the game. That, of course, has always been possible, but I don't think the AI ever did that before either.

I never saw that in vanilla or Warlords but I certainly see it now, too.

[Shrapnel12]

I too have fallen victim to the smarter AI in naval warfare. My Privateer survived an attack from two caravels but was severely hurt. Thinking the AI would never come after me, I headed into the deep ocean and fortified for repairs. Next turn, another caravel showed up and sunk my Privateer. I thought that was pretty cool, but since I couldn't see any ships when I sailed away from the coast, I'm still not sure how he got to me so fast. The lesson however is that the AI will hunt you down!

[nbarclay]

I've long made it standard practice to use transports to attack obsolete ships and sufficiently wounded enemy transports in order to get them additional experience. Nav I for transports is nice, and Nav II is even nicer (although the options for escorting Nav II transports are more limited). If an enemy frigate has little enough experience that I can get better than 98% odds, I'm even willing to attack with a loaded transport, at least as long as the units on the transport have little enough experience that losing them wouldn't be too painful if I get unlucky.