From the Counselors, the Tinker tells me that some new prizes have been sighted, for example a Sea Fort. I send my defensive forces there, but then I am lost. How many? So far I have been sending all. And yes, I win all, but lose quite a few valuable units (fleet, mercenaries,pirates). If I send not my most valuable units, I also lose a lot. On these prizes you may in some experience points and some gold/timber/rum, but not enough others to compensate for your losses. So as a result, my number of units have started dwindling down.

What am I doing wrong?

Then one time I got presented with two prizes. It was not clear to me if I have to attack or defend them. Unfortunately I chose Attack, the wrong choice..... ALL my attack units have been destroyed, not a single one left. It now seems impossible to recover from this. The game has become impossible to play. Anyone else has had this experience, and how to proceed from here?