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Hi, I don't post often but I have had some time on my hands and was crunching a little bit of data on cannons and am sharing that here. Please let me know if you have any issues getting to the image. [Attached] (tried to put the link in here but I am not allowed .png or .jpg extensions. I'll read on what I can do some more and see if I can get the image in here). https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eHih8eyfU7Q11i80PUeAk8o2VeihJaFE This is a heatmap for each cannon's damage out to 24 turns. This does assume 100% hits which while that is not how combat usually goes, it does allow you to see the potential of each cannon and have a level field for comparison between them. I do not take range into account here, only optimal damage over time. Also in the folder is the Excel file which has additional data and you can see how I did the calculations (I am sure there is a cleaner way, but I need to put some more thought into it). IMO, when choosing a cannon for your ship you need to take into account how you intend to wage your battles. If you want to get to shooting right away you need to pick a long range cannon like the Iron Thunderer or the Imperial Long Gun. Or, you can brave a rush to close quarters and unleash massive damage with the Magranite Flamethrower. However, be advised that if your ship is slow, or has no hull upgrades you may find yourself in Ondra's cold embrace. I think there are only a few "bad" choices here, again use tactics that optimize your cannon's potential. The Aedyr Channel Gun to me is one of the worse choices, if you want long range cannons get the Imperial Long Gun rather. Observations I and others have made: If you are going to board keep an eye on the number of crew the opposing ship has. Use grapeshot to reduce it and time the boarding action when this number is small. I find that having shorter ranged cannon is advantageous to this, and that it doesn't seem to matter how powerful the cannon is with grapeshot (unless you hit the sails with it instead of crew). If you find that your chance to hit is low there are two things I know can improve it. Hold for one turn prior to firing. And, make sure the range is between the minimum and maximum range listed for your cannon(s). Oh, also the skill level of your cannoneer is key. Choose a cannon that matches the jibe speed of your ship, remember the reload you are measuring is between your first shot and the hold prior to shooting "that" broadside again. If you are up against a much higher level captain or a crew too big to overcome in a boarding action use chain shot to immobilize the ship, then you can either escape or use cannon balls to sink them. Fast ships, like the Defiant and Voyager, are harder to hit and can both close for a boarding action faster and, if needed, have a better chance to flee the engagement. The Voyager's unique front/rear cannon allows you to keep a slim profile while taking out the enemies sails and/or crew. more to come... Thanks for your contributions! 1TTFFSSE Kaylon thundercheese Oriz I hope you find this useful. And, I am happy to respond to any questions or receive any comments or constructive criticism. -Toadbat Edit Log: 8/2/2018 - Updated title; cleaned up some grammar; attached heatmap; added additional observations and credits

I'm seriously confused about the crew numbers listed in ship battles. Seeing a ship with 4/16 crew, I thought it might be nice to test the boarding function and see how it works expecting there to be 4 crew members on there. However there were more, about 3 times more. Here is the example: Pre-boarding, Pre-boarding, Boarded So... how does this work? Is 4/16 just the number of people running the ship and they could have a million hiding in cargo? Is 4/16 a guesstimate of the Navigator that gets better with more experience? I'm staying away from boarding at all costs now that I've seen what they could spring up on you. Any info on this would be helpful!