Recapturing ships

[moose1999]

Just wondering, is there any way to recapture a ship that has surrendered to the enemy?

[Mus]

Can you grapple them?

[moose1999]

Yeah, I found out that I could.
But I can't board them.
Get a "Can't board surrendered ships" message.
Would be cool, though, boarding and counterboarding a valued ship several times over the course of a battle.
Not sure how historically realistic that would be - but it could be fun.
Probably a bit hard to balance right, though.

[Hard Sarge]

well, really, the only way to not lose a captured ship, is to not lose the battle, you have to win, to keep your battle prises

a surrendered ship, normally is not worth the fight for, the crew is out of action and only trying to keep the ship afloat

not really sure about the rules for a boarded ship, as it don't really have much of a crew on board when taken

[Mus]

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge

not really sure about the rules for a boarded ship, as it don't really have much of a crew on board when taken

Boarded ships have a prize crew on them from the other nation. You can fire at boarded ships and reboard them if you want.

I think hes talking just about ships that have struck.

[moose1999]

Yes, talking about ships that have struck.

I think the surrender mechanism in naval battles in general needs a little adjustment.
I've had a few battles where ships that had seen no action in the battle and were deployed far away from the fight, surrounded by a high number of strong friendly units, suddenly surrender from morale loss.
They were not threatened in any way and could easily have made their getaway.
I think ships that suffer a morale breakdown should only surrender if they are in the vicinity of enemy units or have suffered heavy battle damage.
Undamaged, unthreatened ships, placed deep within the enemy battleline, a safe distance from the action, shouldn't suddenly surrender but try to retreat instead.