Hello,

I wonder if other people often use other ammunition than the regular round ball.

I've found only one real good use for them so far, and that's when you're fighting with smaller, more agile ships against bigger ones.
With agile ships against less agile ones, you can more easily manoeuvre into the right position to fire your Ball and Chain without taking a full broadside. This can help you to take out some masts to further give you a manoeuvre advantage over the less agile ship(s).
With lesser guns against a high burden ship, crew boxes fill out faster than hull boxes, so grape shots can finish off the de-masted opponent.

Here is a report of a game where I do something similar, albeit with sloops against a smaller frigate.
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/158...s-take-frigate

So what do you think about this? And do you use ball and chain or grapeshot a lot? In which circumstances?