This page is still only semi-done, so it's only a collection of 'hints' so far.

Gunnery is the fast-paced piece-chasing ride of loading the cannons in the correct order, without accidentally washing them out. A good gunner with a good rating can load the cannons in mere seconds.

Gunnery stations look like various sizes of cannons, and are found above deck on sloops or cutters, and below deck as well on some of the larger ships. (not the merchant ships, however) If you haven't earned your stripes, an officer can order you if you're a cabin person or a jobber.

The gunnery puzzle plays faster the higher your rank is, allowing master gunners to load cannons even faster.

If you're confused, the red powder goes in first, then the white cloth-looking wad, then that nice black, round, and shiny cannonball. You can place arrows by clicking, holding and dragging in any direction, then releasing. Alternatively, the mouse wheel makes the cursor's arrow face different directions, (you can also use the keys) and you can click to place an arrow. (or press ) Spacebar churns out all eight pieces more quickly.

For keyboard control, the arrow keys will move the cursor.

The first thing you need to absolutely remember is that the pieces go in: powder, wad, shot. If you mix up the order you have to get water in AND THEN reload another time, which seriously hurts your rating.

If you can, try and set a couple of arrows (if you can do it with one, even better!) so that the pieces form a "track" around all four cannons.

Then all you need to do is switch the remaining arrow(s) towards the cannon(s) you wish to load as pieces come by, and then refresh them again before loading the next cannon.

Unfortunately crates will usually stop you from setting up a track around the cannons, so you'll have to do it the more traditional way: look out for groups of two pieces next to each other. If you see a piece of wad and a cannonball next to each other, load a powder into the hardest nearby cannon to reach, and direct them there. By starting with the hardest cannons, you make the finish of the puzzle easier.

If you see water travelling ahead of another piece you need, or powder and a cannonball travelling together when you need one (or both) of those, try and seperate the one that is following by using the mouse wheel and then clicking just after the leading piece goes by.

If you spot two pieces going in the wrong order, clear the space behind them, let them move past the cannon, and then reverse them back into it.

It's usually not worth using the space key, as the first item to come out of the barrel is powder, which you can then stuff into the nearest cannon while the board's still clear. If you're fast and you've got dirty (fired) cannons, then you can also use the first water out of the barrel. With some pratice, you should be able to direct all of your initial three pieces into one of the cannons on the left.

Always try and direct pieces the straightest way you can- turning takes longer. And never leave arrows pointing into cannons unless you have a piece on the way which will beat anything else to that cannon- accidentally letting water in is only one step better than mixing up the order, and you don't know which might happen.