Salvo Tutorial 3
Fleet Command: Advanced Squadron Control

Introduction: This tutorial reviews squadron creation, deals with advanced squadron controls and important aspects of automatic movement.  Some additional strategy considerations are covered along the way. (Please review Squadron Creation in tutorial II if you have any difficulty with squadron creation.) 

In this Tutorial you will:

  • Plan a Strategy for Winning
  • Create Salvo Squadrons 2 Different Ways
  • Add Ships to Salvo Squadrons 2 Different Ways
  • Set Command Modes for your Squadrons
  • Allow Ships to Choose their own Course
  • Accelerate Pre Combat Movement with Fast Mode


Key:     = Action Sections    = Information Sections     = Important Information

A Orientation
Start Salvo and Select the third Tutorial.

1 Start Salvo      
Click on the Salvo Icon, or start Salvo from the start menu:

       START/Programs/SprueGames/Salvo

2 Open the Help Screen
Click on the Rolled up maps on the table to open the Help screen.

3 Start the Salvo Tutorial
The Salvo Help Screen provides links to the QuickStart, User Guide, SprueGames Webpage, and the four tutorials.

Click on the 'Start Tutorial 3' button to start both the Tutorial 2 Battle and the HTML Tutorial 2 Document. If you already have the HTML Document open, you can just start the battle by clicking on the 'Battle' button. Likewise, if you only want to view the documentation, you can click on the 'Documentation' button.

 

 

Tutorial 3 Opening Screen:

 

Scenario Text :

 

Salvo Tutorial 3

British vs French
Jamaica
Fair Weather With Good Visibility

Finally arriving at Jamaica, the Hood, 52, finds the colony in danger. The defending English squadron is trapped in the harbor by a superior French force. However, the Hood has formed a support squadron en route to Jamaica that should balance out the opposing forces.

The enemy must be destroyed, not just driven off. To achieve this goal, the separated English forces will need to coordinate their attacks

 

B Evaluate The Two Fleets

This battle is a dramatic departure from the first two scenarios because there are significantly more ships.  On the English side, there are 7 ships:

Hood          52 
Calliope      50 
Hampshire     92 
Ranger        82 
Lance         76 
Wagner        86 
Lion            88
          (total : 526)

There are 9 French fighting ships, and the Tonnant is a first rate, with 110 guns.  So the French advantage is significant. The French Ships are:

Glorie        84 
Trehouart     82 
Chacal        30 
Bretgne       94 
Tonnant       110
Ocean         84 
Rasset        22
Marie         34
Danton       26
          (total : 566)
           

C Evaluate Situation

In this battle, your objective is to keep control of the victory markers and also damage the enemy fleet. The English role is basically defensive because the French have more firepower, you should be able to easily claim and defend the Victory flags and the English forces are split.  Take a Look at the initial situation:

1 Your Fleet Placement

The English forces are split into two groups of fairly strong ships.  The stronger Jamaican force is in the harbor and well positioned to capture and defend the scenario's victory flags.  The Hood and the relieving task force is approaching from the south, but not as close as the primary French strength.

2 Enemy Placement

The French fleet is also split, but all the French Ships-of-the-Line are in a single formation, headed toward the harbor. There is also a smaller and weaker secondary force of French frigates screening the south.

3 Plan

A lot will depend on what the French forces do, but the best course of action is to have the forces in the harbor create a defensive line, and for the relieving ships to support or attempt to join them.  If the French attack, they will be facing a defensive line on one side with substantial forces behind them. If the French do not attack immediately, then you will be able to consolidate the separate elements of your fleet.

4 Plan Details

The execution of the above plan is best achieved by creating Salvo Squadrons from each of the two groups of ships in your fleet, and then setting the squadrons to automatically move into the formations and displacement that you wish.  This will eliminate the need (but not the ability) to control each of the 7 ships in the English fleet individually. Furthermore, you can use automatic movement and Fast Mode to speed up the initial pre combat portion of the battle.  The actual steps are:

1.       Create 2 Squadrons
2.       Set Squadron Orders
3.       Advance Turns To Contact
4.       Engage French
5.       Develop Battle
6.       Conclusion

 

D Create 2 New Squadrons

There are two primary ways to create squadrons and add ships in Salvo, from the Ship Controls in the main screen, and from the Battle Map.  You will use both methods, as you create the two Squadrons for this battle.  Both systems create the same squadrons, so after this scenario, you will be able to use the technique that you like best.

           

1 Create Squadron 1 From The Ship UI

a) Right select the Hood in the main game screen and select the first panel of the Ship UI.

b) Click the 'Make New Squadron' button in the top left:

d) A squadron Command avatar should popup in the upper left corner of the screen, and depending on what command mode the squadron is in, there may be some squadron flags on the screen.

2 Add Ships from Ship UI

a) Select the Squadron that you have just created to make sure it is the current squadron.  When the squadron is selected, the squadron Command Mode will be visible. If there were more than one squadrons in existence, then this step would be more important, so you would know what Squadron the ship is being added to below.

b) Right select the Hood in the main game screen and select the first panel of the Ship UI.

c) Click the 'Add Ship To Squadron' button in the upper left:

d) The ship will now be in the selected squadron.  You can verify this in many ways:

q          The appropriate Squadron Flag will be displayed below the ship's country flag. .<11 Squadron Flag>

q          The Ship will be listed in the Squadron's Ship List

q          In the Main Ship List, the ship will report which Squadron it belongs to.

q          When the Squadron is selected, the ship will have a squadron marker below it.

3 Create Squadron from Battle Map

a) Open the Battle Map by pressing the M key or clicking on the map button.

b) Click on the top Squadron Button in the bottom left section of the map screen. This activates the squadron, provided that you add a ship.

c) Right Click on the Hood to assigning her to the squadron.

d) Return to the main view and verify the squadron's existence.

e) A squadron Command avatar will be visible in the upper left corner of the screen, and depending on what command mode the squadron is in, there may be some squadron flags on the screen.

4 Add ships from the Battle Map

a) Open the Battle Map by pressing the M key or clicking on the map button.

b) Select Squadron by clicking on the appropriate squadron Button in the lower left.  The ships belonging to this squadron will remain solid on the Battle Map, but other ships will be fainter.

c) Friendly Ships that are not in any squadron at all will react to having the mouse over them by switching from faint to solid.  These ships can be added to the squadron by right clicking on the ship. Click to add all the ships you need in the current squadron.

For the purposes of this tutorial, Squadron 1 should consist of the Hood, Hampshire and Calliope.

Ranger, Lion, Wagner, and Lance should be in Squadron 2.

You can also use the 'Auto Squad' button (in Settings screen) to setup the two squadrons for this tutorial with a single button click. Auto Squad works well for this battle, but will not always give you the exact squadrons that you want, so it is important to know how to manually create and modify your own squadrons.

Ships added to a squadron (either with the creation of the squadron, or subsequent ships) are automatically placed in Squadron Control mode.  In this mode, they will react to the squadron's orders.

There is a third way to create a new squadron or add a ship to an existing one that is a combination of the two systems for each above.  When you select a friendly ship (that is not already in a squadron) in the Battle Map, it will have the same "Make New Squadron" and "Add Ship to Selected Squadron" buttons that are available in the Ship UI.

E Set Squadron Orders

Now you have two squadrons setup and they need to have specific instructions in order for them to fulfill their roles in your strategy.  One squadron will be forming a defensive line, and the other will be moving to join or support the first one.

 

HOLD:   Set Defensive Mode For Harbor
Use the Squadron Command and the Battle Map to set the command mode and position the squadron's command flags.

a) Select Squadron 2 By clicking on the first Squadron Captain, floating close to the English Flag.

b) Set Squadron 2 to the 'Hold' Command Mode buy clicking on the command panel until Hold is the set mode.  With each click the command panel will switch to the next mode, loping through.

c) Set Flag locations.  When the Hold Command Mode is selected, the squadron's command flags will be come visible on the battlefield.  The flags can be moved by dragging and dropping them on the battle view, but lets start positioning them from the Battle Map.

1 Open the Battle Map.

2 Select Squadron 2

3 Verify that |Squadron 1 is set to 'Hold' Command Mode.

4 Move Square Flag by clicking on the flag, dragging it and releasing the flag in it's new location.  The Squadron Flags cannot be moved unless the squadron is selected.

5 Move both the square and the notched flag to position them so that they are the end points of a line that blocks the Harbor and defends the Victory Flags.

d) Adjust Flag Locations in the main Battle View.  Exit from the Battle Map and verify that the flag placement is satisfactory.  If not, you can adjust the flag locations.

e) After Squadron 1 Reaches the assigned line, you may find that you want to make it shorter, or longer, or adjust the angle.

FOLLOW:   Set Waypoints for Relief Squadron, Squadron 1

a) Open the Battle Map by pressing the M key or clicking on the map button.

b) Select Squadron 1  by clicking on the second squadron Button in the lower left.  The ships belonging to this squadron will remain solid on the Battle Map, but other ships will be fainter.

c) Set Squadron 1's Command Mode to  'Follow' buy clicking on the command panel until 'Follow' is the set mode.  With each click the command panel will switch to the next mode, loping through.

d) Turn on the Waypoint display by clicking on the "View Waypoints" button. If you neglect to take step 'C' above then the Command Mode will automatically switch to 'Follow'.

e) Click "Add Waypoints" button to start adding Waypoints to the Battle Map.

f) Right Click on the main map section of the Battle Map to add sequential waypoints.  The Squadron will follow the Waypoints in the order that they are created.

g) Click  the "Remove Waypoint" button to remove most recent waypoint.

Other Modes

         ENGAGE   The Engage Squadron Command Mode uses the third Squadron Flag that is tapered and longer than the two square flags.  When a Squadron is in Engage Command Mode, it will attempt to attack any vessel near the third Squadron Flag. Unengaged ships in the squadron will move closer to the third squadron flag and will engage enemy vessels that they encounter on the way toward the flag.

          CLOSE ACTION   The Close Action Squadron Command Mode sends a signal to all the ships in the squadron that they should engage enemy vessels at closer range.  Ships already engaged will move in to more dangerous range, and ships not engaged will close into fighting range of the enemy and

          FREE   The Free Squadron Command Mode allows the ships in a Squadron to choose their own courses, just as if they were in Self mode, but allows them to stay in the Squadron.

F Automatic Movement

The point of setting precise squadron modes, Waypoints, and Squadron Flags is to allow the squadrons and ships to control their own movement. The paths and moves that the vessels take may not be exactly what you would like, but each will do it's best to follow the orders set.  Moving the 7 ships in this battle can be much more efficient with automatic movement and Fast Mode.

Spacebar
When you press the spacebar any vessel that is not stationary and has not moved yet this turn will move automatically. 

  • Press the Space bar without moving any of your ships, and you will see all of your non-stationary ships move.
  • The same holds true for if you manually move a portion of your fleet, but not all.
  • Lastly, if you have moved your entire fleet manually, the Spacebar will still advance the

Fast Mode

Pressing the F key on the keyboard will place Salvo in Fast Mode.  In Fast Mode, Salvo does not stop for the player's turn. Instead, Salvo automatically moves the player's ships and proceeds to the next round.  Exit Fast Mode by clicking on the Mermaid, pressing the Spacebar, or pressing the F key again.  Salvo will continue with the current round until it is the player's turn and then halt for the player normally.

  • Press the F key to turn Fast Mode on.
  • Press the F key, Spacebar or click on the Mermaid game avatar to exit Fast Mode.
  • Press the Z key to reorient the display while Salvo is operating in Fast Mode.  The display will change direction to face the center point of all the ships in the battle.
  • Click on either of your Squadrons Commanders to focus the display on the Flagship of that squadron.
  • Place Salvo in Fast Mode and allow your two squadrons to follow the orders you have set out for each one.
  • Press F again (or press the Spacebar, or click on the Game Avatar, the mermaid)to exit from Fast Mode when you need to make an adjustment to the squadron controls. 

Battle Map And Main View

Fast Mode works in both the Battle Map and in the Main view. The Battle Map Fast Mode works a little different and is much faster than the using Fast Mode in the Main view.

G Engagement

As your squadrons advance in Fast Mode, the enemy ships will also be advancing, and the French actions may require some adjustment to your Squadron commands.  The Squadron in the harbor will probably be engaged before the relief squadron comes into range.  If this happens, you can manually control the harbor squadrons and allow the relief squadron to continue to follow Waypoints as it approaches the battle.

H Direct Control

There is a good chance that you will want to manually direct ships that are in battle at least part of the time. Your control of the ship will override any squadron based direction or original inclination that the ship has, except for striking and sinking.  

I Battle Progression

The French have superiority in total number of guns, but only if you count their 4 smaller ships in the screening squadron.  The English fleet is at least evenly matched in Ships of the Line, and the French will need to attack to claim the Victory Markers.  Therefore, if you can consolidate your squadrons, or if you can double (gang up on single ships) the French vessels, then the battle should start out favorably.  But, after the larger ships have taken a beating, the four French frigates may play a decisive role.

J Conclusion

It is up to you how you want to use Salvo's Squadrons, but hopefully you now have a strong grasp of how to create new squadrons, add or remove ships, and set squadron Controls.