Cogs and Holks

Cogs and holks are just variants on the same basic ship. A cog begins at 45 lasts, and can upscale in size like the snaikka and crayer. The holk isn't available, until you have upgraded your shipyard through money spent in construction and repair. It begins as a 55 last model, and ends as a 70 last model. You can acquire them earlier in the game from the pirates, but only as the "improved" models. This cuts their cargo capacity.

Unlike the earlier ships, the cogs and holks can carry weapons without being extended. A cog will carry two large weapons, and at final extension, four large and one small weapon on a side. A holk will carry five large weapons on a side, or ten altogether, fully extended.

Cogs are slow, and can easily be outrun by a crayer, or by a holk. A holk is a fast as a snaikka, no better. For some reason, the freesailing pirates (those not found in the tavern missions) prefer them. At first the ships will be extended once, but rapidly progress to second extension models, good for carrying only limited amounts of cargo. Frankly, I usually just capture them early on and auction them off to the AI competition. While a 70 man holk fully extended can carry 5o lasts, and mounts an impressive broadside, it cannot take out a crayer due to the faster manuverability of the smaller ship. I have even sunken a holk with a snaikka. So, for bulk goods, which don't require fast movement, they are acceptable, but really aren't worth running overall.

As throwaway ships, for a massive assault on a city or a pirate nest, the cogs or holks have their uses. But overall, they just do not cover their expenses adequately.

Crayers

Crayers are the best ships of the game. The name was derived from krieger, meaning a warship. They are much faster than the snaikka or the holk, and can sail circles around the cogs.

The beginning size is 28 lasts, and they sail with a crew of 8 minimum. The maximum complement of sailors for the basic model is 28. The first shipyard upgrade will take them to a capacity of 31 lasts, and to 31 maximum crew; the next upgrade to 34 (and as with all larger ships, there is one sailor per last capacity), and the final upgrade of the shipyard is at 35 lasts.

Two extensions are possible. To achieve the status of convoy leader, necessary for the Mediterranean trips or discovery of America, the ship must undergo extension. The first extension places two slots on deck, which allows for two small weapons per side. The second extension puts in three additional slots, allowing for five small weapons (small catapults, small ballistas, or cannons) or one large and three small per side, or two large and one small per side. Only with 4 cannon can a first extension ship be made a convoy leader. A second extension, 8 small or 4 large weapons is sufficient.

For Mediterranean voyages, unextended crayers can be attached to a convoy leader. They will sail 25% faster than the other ships, and since quicker returns mean quicker profits, are the premier trading vessels. In the shipyard, the damage is higher upon return with an unextended crayer, but the repair costs and repair time are equal across the board. The doubly extended crayer cost is identical to the first extension ship, and to the unextended ship, and each requires the same number of days to repair. Only the damage percentage is different. Since crew and captain salaries as well as repair costs figure in, the best trading configuration is a 35 last ship with one extension and four cannon, a crew of twenty, with unextended 35 last ships with crews of 8 attached. This will maximize the cargo carried, and the profits per crewman and per ship. Cannon may be transferred to shore for further cargo space as the ship sails, but by the time you are building 35 last ships, you have probably hit the maximum a Med port can sell to you.

More information on trading is available on a later writing.

For Hanseatic trading, at the beginning of the game, a 28 last crayer is fast and reasonably efficient. Time is critical to high profits, and the faster you move from port to port delivering goods in shortage, the faster you accumulate money. Later in the game, the 28 last crayers can be upgraded to be convoy leaders, outriggers, or simply auctioned off in favor of the larger sized models.

The Snaikka

A more underloved, and underappreciated ship doesn't exist in the game. Bigger isn't always better; small can be beautiful too.

The snaikka is at the start of the shipyard a vessel of cargo capacity 15 lasts (a last was about a metric ton, and a medieval unit of weight for shipping.) It carries a crew of twenty. Construction time will vary depending upon the upgrading of the shipyard, but in an advanced shipyard will be launched in about two weeks. The first size upgrade, available after a number have been built, is to cargo capacity 19 lasts, and finishes at 25 lasts, almost crayer size. It will then carry a crew of 25 also.

A snaikka like other ships can have extensions, which limit cargo capacity. After the second extension, the snaikka has a limit of 3 lasts. It then is capable of carrying a large weapon, such as a large catapult, large ballista, or bombard, and two of the small weapons. For automated routes, it makes an exceptional leader for other ships to be attached to. The repair time is much faster for this ship, and it degrades quicker than other larger capacity vessels. The ship will put in for repairs at the dockyard when it reaches 90%, and the other ships will perhaps be at 96%. Downtime will be only a day in an advanced shipyard.

For weaponry, a snaikka carrying five cannon on a side is a significant threat. A small fleet of them can wreak havoc on the largest ships. With a snaikka, carrying only two small ballista, I have sunk holks. Speed is equal to holks across the Hanse (both are rated 6), and exceeds cogs.

As exploration ships to the Med, in the older Patrician II they reached all the western cities. In the easier Patrician III, they can reach America! There is a trick for trading with the Med that can be employed. As mentioned, a fully extended snaikka has 3 lasts. While this makes for profitable trading for furs, repair costs make it a poorer ship for acquiring spices, cloth, pottery or wine. As the ship begins to sail, select the ship and transfer the weapons to your office. The ship still thinks it is a convoy leader, and now you have an additonal 6 lasts of cargo space! 90 units of cloth, wine, spice or even pottery is profitable after repairs. For shipments down of pitch, furs, or iron goods (beer is only marginal at best in a large ship) it is worthwhile too.

Welcome!

The Patrician series of games have been loved by many, and still have a strong fan base. I chose here to memorialize the first English language fan site, by adopting it's name, TheCrayer.
Here, with a few chosen contributors, we will give some of the best information, generated by years of experience with the game, to help newbie and old pros alike. Sadly, many of the old sites have fallen by the wayside. Ascaron has been put into administration, and its forum is locked. PatricianWorld was hacked, and since its administrator abandoned it, was swamped with spammed posts. The Tavern's Side Room is little better.
Again, welcome!