<details deleted>
Oooh, nice ideas. I like 'em.
> Historically, even the largest ships had rams, & tried to use them.
> Now, a ram on a cargo ship seems stupid. So, what we need is a large
> warship, right? So:
>
> ship effort material
> ---- ------ --------
> galley 250 worker-days 50 wood
> roundship 500 worker-days 100 wood
> warship 1000 worker-days 200 wood
>
> A warship combines the capacity of a roundship (25,000 lbs), but adds
> the maneuverability of a galley. Thus it can have a ram, & it has a
> defense of 25, like the galley, but a bit better.
This looks good, too.
> But that's not all!
>
> We know you can't use siege engines at sea right? Too difficult. But
> why not have a ship designed to use them, as, historically, happened. &
> what better ship than a warship?
>
> So, a warship requires not only 200 wood, but 1 catapult as well, & the
> 1000 worker days. We'd have to lessen the effectiveness of these
> catapults at sea so warship v. warship attacks don't always end with two
> sinking ships.
I think some serious simulations would need to be run to see how ship
vs. ship combat would actually work, but the premise seems sound.
And interesting. It's pretty reasonable that catapults would be less
effective when fired from a rolling deck, it's just a question of
how much less effective so that they'd have an effect in battles,
but wouldn't be overpowering. It'll need some playtestin, but sounds
like a very good idea to me.
Also provides a new "niche" for players: providing escort for
merchent convoys. Someone with a few warships could make up convoys
that merchants could pay a fee to travel within.
Keith