Hi War Boy welcome to the game.

I think until you get to player level 40, there is not a lot of point in defending your heaven.

Having said this, you may be the type of player that likes to fight and go for the pvp tournaments, in this case I would make ( when able) Grenadiers, lots of them, and keep getting the level up to level 30, you will make some XP

If you do not wish people to see what you have there in defence, you need either anti scouting or to make enough flying dutchmen to kill the scouts.

You might also wish to explore the higher game play, where different ships are good for different things, and taylor, the way you wish to play to some of those units. ( If you need some help with that send me a private forum message )

Good Luck

Raventor 

I hope I won't disappoint you too much, but your best defence is to not defend at all. In other words:

1. build your harbour up,
2. keep your units safely there,
3. spend res as often as you can.

Defending non-stop is only inviting people to hit you with Fireships, for easy tournament points.

If you do defend, then do so only when you see incoming units, and turtle (send units back to the harbour) as soon as the attack passes.

Crowbar said:

I hope I won't disappoint you too much, but your best defence is to not defend at all. In other words:

1. build your harbour up,
2. keep your units safely there,
3. spend res as often as you can.

Defending non-stop is only inviting people to hit you with Fireships, for easy tournament points.

If you do defend, then do so only when you see incoming units, and turtle (send units back to the harbour) as soon as the attack passes.

Wise words as usual from Crowbar.

I would also like to put this point of view on the table.

If someone " Fire Ships" you ( it is going to happen at some point ) Look at it as a positive thing, in My opinion you need tournament points, so if someone spends 500 rubies on a fire ship, a one time deal / usage, they give you in the right circumstances " money ~ rubies " 

Here is why, Fire ship ( - 500 rubies ) hits your defence, you get points, there for points make prizes, prizes make rubies.

I think being a " farmer or a ship collector " are both undesirable ways to play our beloved game.

If you look at The Top Players, they are very " Proactive " basically they fight!

Farmer defined as a player that builds there heaven and does not do to much pirating.

Ship Collector defined as  someone that collects ships / units and doesn't use them except maybe defending something there brotherhood holds, and man do they complain if they lose a ship.

1. Decide on your playing style.

2. Pick who you fight and when.

3. and last Keep it Simple, you IMHO should be encouraging combat on your heaven, YOU have the advantage there.

Regards

I'd agree with Crowbar.  As fer specific unit types. I would build whatever produces the quickest and burn them on prizes to get the good stuff. A balanced army is going to be more effective in general.

imo, If you do want to play the defense game upgrade your Haven Defense Bonus.  Defending isn't worth it until your troops are at least on equal footing with the offense powers (1000 10000pts HDB).  I think it is 1% bonus for every 100 pts of HDB or something like that.  Also infirmary upgrades so you can get back some of your losses.  These bonuses only apply to your haven.

KDH said:

Defending isn't worth it until your troops are at least on equal footing with the offense powers (1000 pts HDB).

You sure you're not missing a zero here? 10% is not all that fascinating, IMO.

@Raventor: the points you get when Fireshipped are quite pathetic, IMO. Waiting a few hours, or even days (to have them relax), then Fireshipping back, can be far more useful (unless they turtle non-stop, in which case there is very little one can do).

And, since it was mentioned, never buy Fireships at 500 apiece. Practice some patience and a discount will come, either through the Wheel of Fortune (which is very biased and unfair, so don't count on it) or as a global discount (randomly, but it does happen once every month or two, I think).

KDH said:

Defending isn't worth it until your troops are at least on equal footing with the offense powers (1000 pts HDB).

You sure you're not missing a zero here? 10% is not all that fascinating, IMO.