Yesterday I challenged my luck again. Solo on sloop. I had hoped a girlfriend (edit: female friend, not lover) would join me, but she had better plans - to play a farm simulation! An unbelievable decision, but be it as it is. I had equipped my little boat and had sailed off. Not far from my outpost I saw the silhouette of a galleon with a subotpimal sail position. Having recently taken part in a debate on success as a solo sloop against galleons, this would be another opportunity to re-evaluate my own advice.
The galleon had anchored. With full sails, bow in the direction of Lone Cove, at the southern tip of the island on the east coast, but so far towards the centre of the island that one would first have had to haul in sails, weigh anchor and turn the ship in order to take up a good battle position. In addition, the wind blew in a northerly direction and thus sideways to the galleon. The galleon could have turned or escaped with the wind only towards the north and thus along the island. If their crew had chosen the short way around the headland, they would have had to sail south and against the wind. In their place I would have decided for a defensive position and for the latter direction of rotation. With the number of cannons and full crew it could have taken this way confidently and calmly and the low speed would have increased their marksmanship.
I had to choose my attack in such a way that the galleon would not be able to do so. If I lead along the island in an arc of a circle, I could shoot at the sides and tail of the galleon. Before I reached the range of their cannons, I would have to turn away - but the further arc would be covered by a large cliff east of Lone Cove. I would have time to repair my boat and get some ammunition. The disadvantage of this route would be that I would have to sail most of the way north or south. So in one direction against the wind, in the other direction with the wind, while I would sail either behind the cliff or behind the galleon. Since the galleon is such a big destination, I decided to sail the way past the galleon with a tailwind, the way back against the wind. One risk would be that the course would be so predictable that I had to reckon with attempts at boarding. But the way the galleon stood, a player would have had to swim all the way - I had planned my route with sufficient distance. The time I would need for the way back would also have been needed for the galleon to repair, turn, get into battle position. In order to gain an advantage, I had to hit the galleon as hard as possible with ten bull's-eyes on each passage and to decimate the crew as much as possible, as well as cause sufficient damage. By the time the crew came back, I was almost back in position to shoot again. The way the galleon stood, I didn't have to count on a very experienced crew - or a very careless one.
Meanwhile I had taken an unsuspicious route to the east to make my first attempt coming from the east under cover of the cliffs. This feint would not have surprised a good crew on the galleon, but it was worth a try.
In the first lap, on the way to the galleon, I encountered enemy fire from several cannons simultaneously. I didn't score full ten goals, but some on deck, some on hull, some on steering wheel. It seemed to have been a sufficient amount, because on the way of the bow away from the galleon not a single shot was left by them. I myself received three hits, had damage to the mast and steering wheel.
On the next lap only one cannon returned the fire, again I mainly hit deck and waterline.
On the next two laps the galleon didn't shoot any more. Since I couldn't see that it was deep in the water, I had to assume that the existing crew was busy keeping the ship afloat. I now preferred to shoot at the hull.
In the final round, I hit the hull again, but interrupted my course and turned an arc past the southern promontory of the island. Instead of the large clockwise curve, I turned a small counter-clockwise turn. Since nobody shot any more, I shortened the time between my last and the comming salvos. After the last volley the Galleone sank.
The sinking galleon drifted away from the island. At the water surface appeared some chests, four or five golden skulls, a few boxes of unknown contents, as well as a mermaid and a lifeboat. So I had to reckon with at least one opponent in the water or on the island. I didn't want to succumb to the risk of being boarded by more than one opponent while greedily taking the treasures. I quickly got two skulls and two chests. When I noticed the first player, I took some distance - when you notice one, there could be three more on their way to board you. But I could only see one player. He tried to escape with the lifeboat and a treasure, maybe a tall tale item, I could not see it. I didn't see any other players, so I took the most of the treasures and followed the lifeboat.
A cat and mouse game followed. The lifeboat tried to escape, I tried to sink it or kill the player. I couldn't, in a medium swell it's not easy to do solo. Often the rowing boat got out of sight. I went around it in circles, shot with cannon, sniper, the boat went back and forth and managed to keep distance. Sometimes, I just cut off the lifeboat's route and played music.
After about ten minutes of cat and mouse, finally the opponent tried to board me, but he couldn't make it. I shouted to him that he did well with the boat, thanked him for the adventure and sailed away to deliver my harvest.
Later I had a bad feeling, what if it had been a single player? But the course of the battle did not speak for it, for instance an initial enemy fire from several cannons? Sigh. Those doubts.
Duration of the action: approx. 1 hour
Microsoft OneDrive
