I've recently had a lot of odd things happen at Santiago Vega. It all began when a tavern rumour told me the French were besieging this Spanish colony. This looked like a chance to help myself to a French man of war, so I went along. My force at this time was a frigate for general use plus a battleship for storming forts.
The French squadron was there alright, with the aforementioned man of war. And, of course, there were some Spanish ships. And for reasons best known to themselves, an English squadron had turned up too. (England was friendly but not allied to Spain, and neutral to France.)
First I took Santiago Vega for myself to use as a base. Then I went out to meet the French. <i>All</i> the ships in the area showed up as friendly, green on the "radar", despite the fact that everyone hated me because I'd just captured a colony. So I reminded them of their duty by sailing up to the man of war and unloading a broadside of grape followed by a boarding party. Everyone else turned hostile. What made things even more interesting was that the newly captured man of war tangled itself with my frigate and knocked off my mizzen mast. Not long after it did it again and took down my mainmast, so I fought most of the battle with just bowsprit and foremast. My battleship amused itself with a French frigate. Several enemy ships tried to run away and might have made it if there hadn't been a big lump of rock called Jamaica in the way. One French war galleon and one English battleship went to visit my new fort. Eventually I won the main battle, then went to try to capture another English battleship which was trying to sail through the island. In theory I should have been able to capture it, but after the boarding action the "Capture ship" box was grey, even though the bit below it said "You can capture this ship". Oh well, I had the man of war, which was what I'd come for.
The tavern rumours were interesting. In chronological order:
France besieged the Spanish colony Santiago Vega.
The Spanish colony Santiago Vega has been captured by the Pirates.
Spain has lost all its colonies on the islands.
The French forces besieging have been thrown back by the Spanish.
The Spanish have repelled the French forces besieging .
Later on, without any warning that it was under attack, I saw another tavern rumour that the French had captured the Spanish colony of Santiago Vega. The "paper" map showed that Santiago Vega was now French, even though it also still showed up in my list of colonies. I went back to Santiago Vega, where the fort was indeed in French hands, so I set about retaking it, now sailing the ex-French man of war to attack the fort. During the battle, I got a bit too close to the rocks, and my frigate was close behind. Ever seen what happens when you pinch a grapefruit seed between finger and thumb? My man of war shot off past the fort at about 36 knots (that's what the speedometer read, anyway), then ended up going round in ever decreasing circles as the speed and turn rate dropped gradually from totally insane through moderately crazy back down to normal. Eventually I got back control of the man of war, and subsequently the fort.
The tavern rumours were interesting again. One said that France had lost all its colonies. I know that's wrong because I'd recently visited both Guadeloupe and Martinique, both still French. (I'd attacked Guadeloupe, but only to pillage, not to capture - I wanted a bit of extra spending money.)
The French squadron was there alright, with the aforementioned man of war. And, of course, there were some Spanish ships. And for reasons best known to themselves, an English squadron had turned up too. (England was friendly but not allied to Spain, and neutral to France.)
First I took Santiago Vega for myself to use as a base. Then I went out to meet the French. <i>All</i> the ships in the area showed up as friendly, green on the "radar", despite the fact that everyone hated me because I'd just captured a colony. So I reminded them of their duty by sailing up to the man of war and unloading a broadside of grape followed by a boarding party. Everyone else turned hostile. What made things even more interesting was that the newly captured man of war tangled itself with my frigate and knocked off my mizzen mast. Not long after it did it again and took down my mainmast, so I fought most of the battle with just bowsprit and foremast. My battleship amused itself with a French frigate. Several enemy ships tried to run away and might have made it if there hadn't been a big lump of rock called Jamaica in the way. One French war galleon and one English battleship went to visit my new fort. Eventually I won the main battle, then went to try to capture another English battleship which was trying to sail through the island. In theory I should have been able to capture it, but after the boarding action the "Capture ship" box was grey, even though the bit below it said "You can capture this ship". Oh well, I had the man of war, which was what I'd come for.
The tavern rumours were interesting. In chronological order:
France besieged the Spanish colony Santiago Vega.
The Spanish colony Santiago Vega has been captured by the Pirates.
Spain has lost all its colonies on the islands.
The French forces besieging have been thrown back by the Spanish.
The Spanish have repelled the French forces besieging .
Later on, without any warning that it was under attack, I saw another tavern rumour that the French had captured the Spanish colony of Santiago Vega. The "paper" map showed that Santiago Vega was now French, even though it also still showed up in my list of colonies. I went back to Santiago Vega, where the fort was indeed in French hands, so I set about retaking it, now sailing the ex-French man of war to attack the fort. During the battle, I got a bit too close to the rocks, and my frigate was close behind. Ever seen what happens when you pinch a grapefruit seed between finger and thumb? My man of war shot off past the fort at about 36 knots (that's what the speedometer read, anyway), then ended up going round in ever decreasing circles as the speed and turn rate dropped gradually from totally insane through moderately crazy back down to normal. Eventually I got back control of the man of war, and subsequently the fort.
The tavern rumours were interesting again. One said that France had lost all its colonies. I know that's wrong because I'd recently visited both Guadeloupe and Martinique, both still French. (I'd attacked Guadeloupe, but only to pillage, not to capture - I wanted a bit of extra spending money.)
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