Caribbean Corsairs advanced tips: beat The Crimson Fleet

Once you know the basics, Caribbean Corsairs gets more fun when you know the hidden numbers. Your cannons reach a little further than the rivals', you are always faster, and you reload faster. Use those three edges and even The Crimson Fleet's four ships are beatable without losing many hits.

Some numbers on this page are hidden: the game does not show them on screen. They come from the game's own rules.

Your three big edges

Every tip below is about using these edges.

Fire from the far end of the lane

Your gold lane reaches a little further than the distance where rivals can shoot back. (Hidden numbers: in the game's own map units, your lane reaches about 75, a rival fires from about 68, and your cannonballs fly about 78 before they splash.) So:

1. Come towards a rival at an angle, not straight at it.
2. Turn side-on while it is still near the far end of your lane.
3. Fire as soon as it glows gold.
4. Turn away right after the shot, before it gets close enough to answer.

You won't always manage it, because the rivals turn side-on too. But every shot you fire from the far end is a shot they can't return.

Swing between port and starboard

A side reloads in 2.8 seconds. If you fire the left side and then turn so the rival passes to your right, the right side is ready long before the left. Sailing a figure of eight near a rival lets you fire much more often than with one side alone, but only if your sails are up so you turn fast.

Holding Q or E (LB or RB) fires that side again by itself the moment it is ready. That helps in a swing, but it also wastes shots when nothing is in the lane, so let go when you turn away.

Use the wind

The wind always blows the same way. With the wind behind you, you sail at full speed. Into the wind, you lose about a quarter. On the SEA CHART, with north at the top, you are fastest heading up and to the right, and slowest heading down and to the left.

• To escape: turn so you sail with the wind.
• To chase: try to come at a rival from the side where the wind helps you.

Know who is attacking

Only the two rivals closest to you come in to fight. The others hang back and circle at a distance, a bit outside cannon range. This means:

• Don't charge into the middle of the fleet. Then the waiting rivals are close too, and which two attack keeps changing, so you can't keep track of them.
• Fight at the edge of the group, so the waiting rivals stay waiting.
• When a rival sinks, the next closest one comes in. Use the moment before it arrives to reload and maybe repair.

Make your repairs count

Each repair gives up to 55 hull, never more than 150. Repairing at 95 or lower wastes nothing. With both repairs used well, your ship can take 260 damage in a battle, which is about 29 rival hits in battles 2 and 3.

A good rule: use the first repair when the game says Hull below half!, and keep the second for the last rival or two. If you ever lose with repairs left, the result card will tell you so.

Use islands as shields

Cannonballs stop when they hit an island, yours and theirs. When both your sides are reloading, put an island between you and the attackers. Just keep a little distance from the beach, because bumping costs hull and speed.

Don't ram

A crash hurts both ships by the same amount, and a fast one can hurt a lot. You have more hull than a rival, but a rival you crash into is right beside you, side-on, ready to fire. It is almost always better to turn away and use your cannons.

Beating The Crimson Fleet

Four rivals, 90 hull each, five hits each. Here is a plan that works:

1. Start wide. At the start the fleet comes at you from the north in a row. Turn off to one side so you meet the end of the row, not the middle.
2. One target. Pick the closest rival and stay on it. Two good broadsides sink it.
3. Fire, then flee. After every broadside, turn away with full sails until both sides say READY.
4. First repair at half. When the Repair button glows, press it while you are sailing away.
5. Reset between ships. After each sink, take a few seconds to reload and line up the next one from the side.
6. Last repair late. Save it for the last one or two rivals.

The game's makers tested this kind of plan with a computer player: following the game's own help text wins The Crimson Fleet most of the time.

See also

• Tips for new captains: the basics these tips build on.
• Cannons and broadsides: reload, damage and hits in tables.
• Sailing your ship: speed, steering and the wind.
• The three sea battles: every rival fleet.
• Ready to rule the sea? Play Caribbean Corsairs, or see all game guides.

• About Caribbean Corsairs
• All game guides