On a level 40 mission I would send 6.6 to 7 million troop strength.  Because I attack my prizes with the following knowledge in mind.

** Defense is a harder position because it takes almost twice as many units for you get the same defense power level as offense power level.  The prize strength is the same for both mission types.

***The reason why the corsair seems easier is because special troop units don't apply.  The fishheads have the same stats in every category unlike the other Spanish troops. This is also why higher level prizes need more power than what the base level formula will give you to compensate for the specialization bonus.  (example submarines are weak against pirates)

Hope some of it helps.

Hi,

nice explanation of immortal crew attack by Kdh.

This can help raiding/defending prizes without loss until level 20/25 (especially if you have access to pardonned and Dread Fleet units).

You can also add bunch of unit you are ready to loose (up to the same strength of your immortal crew) and reach levels 30.

But beware this technique is not helping reimbursing back your bank as you destroy prizes with few loss.

I'm sure there is a technique for high levels that helps banking more efficiently, but this is kept undisclosed...

On Sea forts, Safe Haven and Caravels, you have to check which spanish troops are there and send appropriate unit class.

On black corsairs, this is always Poseidos (send whatever you have).

Thank ye fer the kind words cap'n.   I did work hard on that one in another day and age.  Though me post here was not meant as the immortals method.  True enough ye can get prob to level 25 with all the classes and research.  So far I think 22 was me highest.  That too was a long ago memory.

What I was really getting to was "Controlled Losses".  That is the key to winning anything from the LH.  It allows you to lose only what you want to.  When you got control over your bank then payouts become more predictable.  When ye start seeing foggs spyglass or Davinci Screws every hit or other ye be close to a payout on that level number.  I've gotten over 5 in a row artifacts using controlled losses and a full tank of res. then me big payout on the upper level cause I was smart enough to keep climbing until it hit me.  You can win in the LH.  What it takes is understanding how to decide who lives and who dies.

I left the dread out of this shot.  6.6million against a lvl 40 corsair.   I could have used dread and anything else as well to get my desired power level.  That would have allowed me to get lighter losses since I wouldn't need as many of these to get my 6.6million.  Pay close attention to the losses in the pirate class and tell me how many dread you would have sent along side the rest.  :))

also see how normally I would have guessed 2 bucs, 3 skirms, 4 sap, 5 elite, and 6 bonnies would be going down instead of the lighter losses?  according to the formula 6.6 million is more than needed to get the 3.8% loss rating I shoot for.  I learned to overcompensate for special teams on the higher level prizes so my "immortals"  in this case the duelists have a better chance at staying immortal.  What it comes down to is understanding how battle is calculated and what your target is.

I hit this one for the pic.  Normaly I start my lower levels and work my way up until close to a payout.  Then I work my higher levels as my "bank" increases until the payout is achieved.  Preferably you get your payout and walk away with a few hundred juggs or something.  Find out what works best for you in that regard.  I've also gotten multiple payouts by working lower levels jumping to high keep hitting the high after payout and working down to mid levels for a few "smaller" big rewards.

Very good stuff KDH.  Defensive prizes are very tuff though.   How would you do a Safe Haven Level 40. let's say.  It requires a hell of a lot of defense points and takes a lot of units all at once.  Do you do waves for defensive prizes?

And, lets say after 3 waves against a defensive prize, how do you know what to send in a final big wave to win with "controlled losses" ?

Navigator

The math is the same. Just higher numbers and losses. I'm still unsure about how special teams take place. If I don't have 6.6 million to take a level 40 defensive prize I do the math to find out how many of the dread, veterans, ect that I can keep safe given my strength. I go for one hit one kill on my prizes not the waves method.

If you are doing the waves method.  Here is how to track your targets power level.  "Prize Ranking" number.  Multiply that by 10.  You will get the approximate power level of the troops you keeled on that prize.  Add 'em up each time you hit it and you will have a good idea what is left.    (also sending 1 unit to a prize lets you know what troops are there.  You can add up all their offense or defense stats)

I noticed many people have about half the total defense power as they do offense power. It takes some work to get your defense up to the same prize level striking power as your offense. By nature it takes almost twice as many defense units to make the same power level as offense.

imo: It takes the same amount of time to produce defense as offense. (resources don't matter if you have enemy flags to gain from).  I do produce defense but I concentrate on offense. I then try to win the defense when hunting prizes. I lose both types of troops on my prizes and get paid back both types. I also sometimes switch to a defensive mission when I know I'm close to a bigger payout.

I have also kept my top mission level low enough to be able to take out all my offensive prizes daily every day. (currently level 41 is my R&G mission)

As my prizehunting troop strength increases then I increase my mission levels to higher ones. I usually wait until my defense is able to take out the top defense missions daily before hitting the next Riches and Glory mission. Keep in mind if you need 6.6 million for your LH top level then reserve that amount for only that task and you can always work those prizes. Prizes are predictable. Players not as much. If you use your prizehunters for pvp you might have a long recovery road at times depending on your max level.

(you might have to right click and open in new tab/window to view the pictures in larger size)

I included the MoA report in that second screenie.  Do you recall what I said about artifacts and being close to a payout?  14:04  Davinci Screw on a level 34.  I then decided to go up to top level and work down.  I didn't have two level 40's to do comparison pics with so I used level 39's.  The first 39 gave the payout.  The second one was a normal "win".

You will notice in screenshot number 2 I did not lose nautilus, BH subs, or BH GB's.  I also sent less dreads to the party.  According to the math "10" should have been immortal at 3.5million. with my loss rating of 0.042.  I added 6 of each playing it safe and took the loss rating down to 0.39.  in the end if you look at the offensive pirate losses you can see that  9 was the magic "immortal" number against this prize.  9 of each dread would have given me fewer losses and still been safe.  

DISCLAIMER:  I normaly use 5.5 million or more on a lvl39 mission  to keep my "10" immortals. ****Remember what I said about special teams.  Don't blame me if you walked to close to the edge and dread fell in.  The higher the level the more this applies.

Losses are good.   IMO:  Controlled losses are better and allow you to keep growing your army a bit more efficiently. 

The Base army of troops was the same in both pictures.

 1880sub, 233gb, 1380mano, 380gren, 480curi, 2007bonnie, 207skirm, 207elite, 207trtl, 107jnk, 80drgn, 357sap 

The prizes both look to be imbalanced but if you look at prize ranking number you can see they weighed in at 147890 and 149470 for power level.  I sent 5.5M against the first one and 3.5M against the second.  Depending on the risk, the reward, and the moon alignments in position to my happy go lucky gambling prize addiction is which way I hit it.  :))  first and foremost I try to keep the dread from dead aye?

Gr8, good stuff, KDH.  Very methodical and successful, kudos.

Navigator

Thank you again.  I hope it helps you and others.  It took me too long to understand why my juggs were dying to save me marauders when I first started.  I hope understanding how battle works will help others stay in the game instead of getting frustrated and leaving.