In Broadside, what methods are most effective for probing and/or circumventing the fixed defenses?

Question

I asked a question about strategies for deploying the fixed defenses in Broadside. As the attacker, how do you deal with the cannons and mines?

The cannons can't be defeated. The best you can do is try and probe the setup to determine where the decoys are, but how do you do this?

• What class of ship do you use?
• Do you pick a channel to send the fleet through and hope both guns aren't located there, or do you send scout ships ahead and then move the rest of the fleet based on what you find?

The mines are single use so once they're revealed they're cleared from the board.

• Do you move around the mines or do you try and clear them out?
• What class of ship do you use to clear them with?
• Do you ever just try and completely avoid them?

Answer 1

As I remember, the British had several ships with a "mast" of 1. These ships are the best for. first, scouting the cannon, and if they survive, hitting a mine, because you lose the least sail.

The British have something like 25 sail to 20 for the Americans. Basically, the task of the British is to "figure out" the American defenses while losing less than 5 sail.

(I last played the game over 40 years ago, yes, I'm that old.)