Fleet Operations

Any Questions or Confusion on these rules, please raise with the Arbiters as soon as possible so we can elaborate and improve!

Fleet operations can be messy business, so in order to clear up any confusion on the subject, the following guidelines have been put in place to assist fleets and fleet combatants with various tasks and ideas such as methods of escape, terms of surrender and methods of repair.

Initiation

Fleet Operations occurs when either side has more than 2 ships present - this is to differentiate it from Piracy. In progress Fleet Operations cannot become Piracy. If unsure, ask an arbiter!

Victory

Victory is declared when one side has either fully surrendered or escaped, or both sides agree to stop (see Geoffrey's Law for more details).

Escape & Surrender

In order to Escape a conflict, a ship must close sails & gunports after reaching a friendly port. Once a ship has closed sails and “Escaped” it cannot then enter back into combat once it has repaired. Once a ship has escaped, it is out of the fight permanently, until such a time as the fleet engagement is over. The ship must declare 'Ship Name has Escaped from Fleet Operations' in global chat.

For a ship to have properly escaped a fleet battle, the ship must reach a friendly port. If that port is not owned or operated by the company that ship is with, the ship must request Safe Harbour (including for allies). This means announcing in global chat that 'Ship Name is requesting safe harbour at Port & Company Name'. Once the port owners reply a confirmation, the ship may then lower sails and come to a complete stop. Ships that have escaped the fleet engagement are not subject to piracy or the Rules of Plunder.

Please allow for a few seconds of cannon balls in flight before accusing of foul play - as much as we want, communication is not instantaneously transmitted, understood and acknowledged.

In order to Surrender a ship must close sails & gunports and announce in chat that 'Ship Name is surrendering'. Once a ship has surrendered it cannot re-join the fight but may move to not be in the middle of a fight, or anchor nearby. Once the fleet engagement is over, it will be subject to the Rules of Plunder, should the company that the ship belongs to have lost the fight.

The Rules Of Plunder

You must leave enough resources aboard the plundered ship to enable them to make repairs and get home.

Tames are OFF LIMITS as plunder, unless the plundered party agrees to part with them for RP or other reasons. (See Geoffery's Law for more information.)

Remember to not Stone Age someone through plundering. It’s not fun for the plundered company to have to climb back up from nothingness. Only take what you think is fair.

Mid Fight Refuel & Repairs

There are many methods of repair for a ship during a fleet engagement:

• Utilise a fleet tender to carry resources into the fight, for ships to pull alongside and transfer repair materials, ammunition and other resources across during the fight.
• Drop and pickup crew at a nearby island to gather resources.
• Head to port to restock from main resources.

If a ship has not declared Escape or Surrender, then the ship is still a valid target in the fight - Just remember some ports have defences!

During any of these manoeuvres, the ships cannot (purposefully) anchor. If a ship anchors because of 'last player leaving the ship' raise anchor as soon as possible (e.g. single player crew).

Arbiters judgement may be called at any point to ensure that specific ships are not breaching these rules.