HMS Victory is a ship type in Empire: Total War. She is available with either the special edition of the game, or with the download of the Special Forces & Bonus Content DLC.
Description[]
HMS Victory is a first rate ship of the line, carrying some 100 guns and a crew of more than 800 men.
Like all first rates, Victory is not a handy ship, being both slow and unresponsive. Good sailing qualities, however, are secondary to the weight of broadside that she can both deliver and withstand. This is important in a warship that is intended to form the centrepiece of any squadron and act as an admiral's flagship.
Completed in 1765, Victory is probably the most famous first rate in history, and the only one still in existence. The work of naval architect and genius Sir Thomas Slade, Victory was always intended to be a flagship; the Royal Navy preferred the smaller 74s as battleships. Forty years later, in 1805, she was Horatio Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar, a battle which gave the Royal Navy undisputed mastery of the world's oceans for more than a century.
General Information[]
The HMS Victory is in most ways identical to a British First Rate Ship of the Line, except that it has far better hull strength. As with other first rates, the HMS Victory has poor handling characteristics and speed but excellent firepower and durability.
Although Great Britain is limited to building only one HMS Victory, multiple copies of the ship can exist if one is captured from the British navy, allowing Great Britain to construct another one.
Napoleon: Total War[]
The HMS Victory makes a small appearance in Napoleon: Total War. Napoleon Bonaparte orders it burned in the introduction cinematic. This is historically inaccurate as the HMS Victory was never captured by the French during the Napoleonic Wars. However, this could be meant to illustrate the sandbox nature of the game as the player can change the course of history.
The HMS Victory appears in the Battle of Trafalgar. True to history, it is a first rate ship of the line serving as Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship, and is placed at the head of its column of ships. In contrast to Empire: Total War, where it is a unique ship, in Napoleon: Total War it is depicted as a standard 106 gun First Rate.
History[]
Today HMS Victory resides in drydock in Portsmouth, where she is the flagship of the Second Sea Lord. As such she remains in commission and is now the oldest commissioned ship in the world. Following the scuppering of HMS Implacable in 1949, she is now the only intact survivor of the Battle of Trafalgar, as well as the only surviving First Rate Ship of the Line.
Trivia[]
- Due to the ship naming system of the game, the HMS Victory has a generic name similar to all other ships in the game.
| Empire: Total War Ships | |
|---|---|
| Light Ships | Brig • Galley • Light Galley • Race-Built Galleon • Sloop • Xebec |
| Frigates | 24-pounder Frigate • Admiral's Flagship, 5th Rate • Carronade Frigate • Fifth Rate • Razee • Sixth Rate • USS Constitution |
| Ships of the Line | Admiral's Flagship, 1st Rate • Admiral's Flagship, 3rd Rate • First Rate Ship of the Line • Fourth Rate Ship of the Line • Heavy First Rate • HMS Victory • Second Rate Ship of the Line • Third Rate Ship of the Line |
| Trade Ships | Dhow • Fluyt • Galleon • Indiaman |
| Support Ships | Bomb Ketch • Rocket Ship • Steamship |