Crew numbers & allocation

[NickAbbottt]

Hello Devs.

 

This is a post I had in another toipc, but as i'm actually making a suggestion, I thought i'd place it here.

 

Regarding crew numbers available for certain duties;

I'm going to use HMS Victory as it is an excellent and well documented example.

 

The crew of HMS Victory had 821 men at Trafalgar.

146 of these were Royal marines. (Royal marines were often used to help serve the guns on the upper deck until needed for boarding).

31 ship's boys (some landsmen were also used as powder monkeys along with the boys).

 

Leaving around 650 sailors and officers.

 

21 midshipmen

10 officers including the Captain

17 warrant officers

43 supply and Admiral's staff supernumeraries

 

Around 550 men left.

 

120 men required to make full sail. (obviously not needed in battle with reduced sail but leave it there anyway as a max required)

 

So we have around 450 men to man 106 guns.

 

If all guns were used then a crew of 4.2 men would be available for each gun. Lets call it 5.

If the crew were to man one side only as was the norm, then 8-10 men would be available for each gun.

(the Royal marines manning the weatherdeck guns have replaced the landsmen assigned as powder monkeys so no need to take any of that into account)

 

As many people and the devs have stated, the larger guns require around 10 men to man.

This is optimum, as more people would just get in the way and slow things down.

 

Therefore it is clear that the crew a ship had available to man the guns were sufficient to man only 1 broadside efficiently (and the British were well reputed for being efficient with their guns).

It is possible to man a gun with 5 or 6 men but obviously this would seriously reduce the speed of loading.

It was unusual in battle for a ship to have to fight both sides simultaneously, but if it happened a gun crew could certainly be split.

 

Therefore, the max number of crew that can be assigned to the guns should be the max required to man 1 side. Why would you take crew away from other duties?

Sails are your engines and additional means of steering. You certainly wouldn't want to take away those in battle!

As you take casualties, then you may wish to transfer crew to help work the guns if you want to win the fight, or to sails to maneuver/ close with the enemy or make a run for it. (which is why I like the inclusion of the new crew mechanics)

 

I think that for sails, a minimum crew should always be maintained (if possible) at the expense of guns if necessary (as by that point you're guns wont be doing much anyway). Say a quarter of the normal requirement is always maintained no matter your focus.

 

I would also like to see the ability to designate whether the assigned gun crews are to work the port, starboard or both sides. This way, the vessel has the option of fighting one side at maximum efficiency or both sides with the obvious penalties (reload time and traverse speed).

 

I hope i've made a good case and that this is taken into consideration by the devs.

[Galileus]

I think that for sails, a minimum crew should always be maintained (if possible) at the expense of guns if necessary (as by that point you're guns wont be doing much anyway). Say a quarter of the normal requirement is always maintained no matter your focus.

 

I would also like to see the ability to designate whether the assigned gun crews are to work the port, starboard or both sides. This way, the vessel has the option of fighting one side at maximum efficiency or both sides with the obvious penalties (reload time and traverse speed).

 

I hope i've made a good case and that this is taken into consideration by the devs.

 

Devs are working on improving the manning system, so that you cna more precisely decide who does what and where and when. This pretty much covers everything you say, bar one small detail.

 

I see absolutely no reason to not allow players to completely un-man his sails. Most of the times it's a mistake, obviously, but making mistakes is part of the game. If we were to base everything on "because in real life no captain would do it", then we could as well replace players with AI.