Objects in motion mission

[j199]

Can anyone share how they are winning in the above mission? 

I'm going in with three frigates and a third rate with full crews, upgrades and the best cannon they can carry.

a) I can't seem to deal with the sheer number of enemy ships b) the two SOL seem unbeatable to my puny fleet! My guns don't penetrate their hulls but if I go close their broadsides blow me away. I also can't board them as their crews are bigger and better. After five or six goes i'm just skipping the mission

Any advice would be appreciated

[doublebuck]

What difficulty are you playing?  There are many ways to win a battle. In normal difficulty I went into that battle with the first deploy block I put one 4th rate ship and then three 7th rate explosive barrels ships to use them to take out some of those big ships in that battle which helped out a lot.  In the second deploy box I put in four 5th rate ships and used them to gang up on any ship near them.  Sounds to me you went into that battle with only 4 ships? I went in with 8 although three would blow up which is what I wanted.

I imagine if you don't have a lot of ships by this point in the campaign it may be a struggle.  If you can make a sloop or cutter fire ship it can turn the tide in a battle such as this one. Although I had plenty of ships to choose from but I did pick those 3 fire ships to wipe out the big ships but of course you have to get close to the ship without being destroyed before getting to the enemy ship to set it on fire so that is always tricky. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by doublebuck

[WilliamTheIII]

So my strategy was this:

I sent an Ardent to distract the opposing Ardent and Bellona (best ship currently available) while my other 5th Rates and another Ardent dealt with their 5th's and the Americans. My Ardent was able to destroy the Bellona (accidentally as I wanted to capture it) and severally weaken the other Ardent by the time my 5th's had mopped up the rest of the enemy. My combined forces were able to quickly and easily force the remaining Ardent to surrender. Note that it is in fact quite easy to win a boarding engagement against a much more powerful foe using boarding equipment. Though they have been nerfed, crew shocking the enemy ship will essentially guarantee a win with only a few casualties. Also, armor on larger ships are incredibly strong which results in mostly reflections. Eventually, you will start to pen and lower the armor and by the time it is down to half, you will be penetrating most shots.

[j199]

thanks i'll try some of these ideas.

[Unclespamm]

I took my entire fleet an made them about face. I used up armored 5th rates (dianas) with emphasis on boarding. The smaller ships outpaced their larger ones where my 6 uparmored 5th rates massacred everyone. I scooped up the prizes and sent them home.

Ive done the next part in 2 ways

 

1)use a fire ship to murder the smaller 3rd rate

 

2_ completely surround and smash the 2 3rd rates with the uparmored 5th rates. board and send home

 

increasing the distance between the "main" threat and the smaller escorts will help you enormously

[ColonelHenry]

It's quite easy actually provided that you have at least 2 Ardents already in your possession (which you should by this point playing as the Brits). Use those 2 Ardents to soften up and board the Bellona (double boarding), and then turn around and smash the escorting Ardent (and board if you want). The other ships you should bring should be 1 back up boarding focused 5th rate (just in case shit hits the fan), and 1 actually good 5th rate like an Endymion, Leda, or Dedaigneuse (worst of the 3 I listed) to deal with the other ships. Once the 2 3rd rates are dealt with, those other ships should be... well ya know what to do next.