Total War: Shogun 2 Naval Q&A - Coastalised!

Those lads from Creative Assembly has put up a thing with lots of text in them. I think they are called blog posts. They answer much asked questions about naval combat in Shogun 2. Highlights after the jump…

Please could you tell us a little about the different types of boat in Total War: Shogun 2?
GB: At the moment we have five major categories of ship in naval battles: Light, Medium, Heavy, Cannon and Trade ships. These types define not just the size, but the characteristic of the ships.
For example, light ships are smaller and faster than their heavy counterparts, with better manoeuvrability – ideal for ranged attacks. Although these are similar ships they all have their unique role within the light ship class (support arrow fire, close range firebomb throwing or matchlock fire). The medium and heavy ships are more robust, slower ships with a larger number of crew aboard. These are much better when it comes to boarding enemy vessels. Cannon ships are late-game units with devastating cannon fire. You won’t be able to get many of these!

It looks like they’re retaining the rock paper scissors element of the naval combat from Empire and Napoleon. Also trading ships? So I assume that the trade nodes are still in.
 

In previous TW titles, it was often the case that “bigger was better”. Is this true of the ships in Shogun 2 also?
GB: Not anymore. Certain ship types are still better in attacking others, just as before – but every ship has a counter unit.  For example: light ships used properly in small numbers are designed to be able to take down heavy ships.
Two or three light bow ships can kill the archers on a heavy ship and burn it to the waterline with fire arrows from a safe distance. These bow ships, however, are really vulnerable to any kind of ranged or boarding attack, so you will lose one or two during the attempt. It all ties into the whole rock-paper-scissor ethos behind Shogun 2 – everything works in balance, and the player has to make some tricky strategic decisions along the way.

 
Further underlines the rock paper scissors element of it. The question is factually wrong as Creative Assembly has updated Empire and overhauled the naval combat in Empire(to make it more rock, paper, scissors like).
 

How does the inclusion of land affect the tactical flow of naval battles?
GB: The addition of different terrain features will give much more diversity to the battles. You can defend areas between islands, or try to lure the enemy into a trap – forcing them in to an area where it can’t manoeuvre with heavy ships. You can use terrain as cover against enemy fire, regroup your ships and attack from a better position.

This is the major change(mostly because of the visuals) in Shogun 2. Naval combat are between coastal ships(ships that are not meant for travelling in deep waters) meaning lots of coastal battles. There will be things like shallow water(near beaches), and corals etc unfortunately you can’t land troops or crash into them. They just slow you down, which is disappointing. The land in naval combat will just be a visual element(no gameplay attached to them).

 
Read the entire naval QA blog post here