Tips on Cannon Choice on a Given Deck (9 lbs vs 32 Carros vs Empty))

[CrustyJohnson]

Hey guys, I tried searching for this question anddidn't find it; if it was already answered I'm sorry! I was hoping y'all could drop some knowledge on the meta behind when to choose to mount carronades over normal longs on a specific deck or whether to not mount them at all. You don't have to give a hard and fast rule, but just maybe some guidelines on how to choose. I'll provide two examples that I've seen on Youtube.

A captain sailing a Wasa had longs on his two lower decks and carronades on his top in lieu of the 9lb longs. he kept the carronades locked most of the fight and only used them in certain instances, such as when close enough to ensure penetration or when having a good shot on the sails. In another fight, a captain in a Wasa did not even have any cannons on his top deck.

Are 32lbs carros pretty much always the way to go over 9lb longs due to the 9lbs not penning well when fired in a broadside alongside the other longs (32s and 24s) and the faster reload time? Is there any rough rule about when to choose the carros over the longs or maybe just to not use the deck at all (Pandora's top deck comes to mind), such as "always use carros when they at least triple the weight of the normal cannons"? Another situation: a Constitution has a top deck of either 12 lb cannons or 42 lb carros...are the carros always the better option or are 12 lb cannons good enough to use and 9 lb cannons are just trash? I know a lot of the answers are going to prob. say something like "depends on what strategy you are using", but I would like to know more of what you all usually do and why. Thanks!

[Tom Farseer]

It depends on choice of ship and play style.
On 6th rates and light 5ths I personally tend to favor 32pd Carronades over 9pd long guns because of their greater damage potential in ranges below 250m. I have also sailed hunting Wasas without anything mounted on the top deck in order to save weight, thus gain speed. Ships like the Prince work well with 6 pounders. Stay at range and whittle your enemy down slowly.

If a ship has a fully mounted upper gun deck as for example the Constitution has, it should never go empty as you lose too much firepower. If your aim is to build for speed and hunt lighter ships, longs or even mediums will do you just fine as 12 pd guns have decent penetration on smaller ships at range. If you expect to face heavy ships use 42pd Carronades. You need the damage and at longer ranges the 12s will often bounce anyway.
Only ships where I would always chose Carronades are the Victory and the Christian. That deck of 68 pounders (or the 1.5 decks of 42s on Christian) massively increases firepower.

[Mad Dog Morgan]

I find that I never mount carros less than 32 lbs on any deck for any ship. Longs simply give you more options than just brawling in close. 

[CrustyJohnson]

1 hour ago, Tom Farseer said:

It depends on choice of ship and play style.
On 6th rates and light 5ths I personally tend to favor 32pd Carronades over 9pd long guns because of their greater damage potential in ranges below 250m. I have also sailed hunting Wasas without anything mounted on the top deck in order to save weight, thus gain speed. Ships like the Prince work well with 6 pounders. Stay at range and whittle your enemy down slowly.

If a ship has a fully mounted upper gun deck as for example the Constitution has, it should never go empty as you lose too much firepower. If your aim is to build for speed and hunt lighter ships, longs or even mediums will do you just fine as 12 pd guns have decent penetration on smaller ships at range. If you expect to face heavy ships use 42pd Carronades. You need the damage and at longer ranges the 12s will often bounce anyway.
Only ships where I would always chose Carronades are the Victory and the Christian. That deck of 68 pounders (or the 1.5 decks of 42s on Christian) massively increases firepower.

Thanks for this answer! Makes a lot of sense.

[Audacious]

With caronades you have to chase npcs and get close as they get smart and keep range. IF player sees you have caros he will farm you from range and you will be useless. So, mount caronades on top deck if needed and keep med/long on main decks. 

Edited July 22, 2019 by Audacious

[Tenet]

Captain, you should remember that Thickness values decrease proportional to amount of Armor-HP remaining. This means that if some weapon is unable to penetrate at combat distance at the start of a round, it may pick up that ability at a later point.

9pd Long vs 32pd Carro is a choice dependent on the type of battle and rate. At lower rates: 6th and light 5ths, the armor values and ships sizes are such that at typical engagement ranges both guns will penetrate. It's very rare to see situations where people successfully stay at long range in group fights. A faster ship with longs will be able to destroy a slower ship with carronades, by keeping distance. 

When looking at top decks of 3rd rates and above, the choice is somewhat more difficult because you typically already have Longs on the bottom deck that can reach out at range. Carronades become the preferable choice in scenarios where you want to maximize hull damage in a fight with low number of participants, or where close range is forced. For example - if you fight against AI in a 1v1 Mission, and you want to kill it via destroying one of the sides + core, then Carronades are great. However, in a similar scenario, if you plan to stern rake and board as your victory condition, longs work out better. If you play in group missions, longs also tend to be a safer choice. In PvP, it's either or - typically carronades are used on the top deck because of the devastating potential of chain shot, and saving Double-Charge/Double-Shot for bigger guns. 

 

Edited August 4, 2019 by Tenet