Caravels can cannon

[TacticalGrace]

When my caravel gets into a battle I swear that thing is firing off cannon. But I can't build cannnons yet so where do those caravels get them from?

[dojoboy]

Well, its technically a range-firing feature - just imagine it being done w/ out gunpowder --- maybe archers.

[TacticalGrace]

Originally posted by dojoboy
Well, its technically a range-firing feature - just imagine it being done w/ out gunpowder --- maybe archers.

nah... you'd never get them down the barrel of the cannon.

[PrinceBimz]

I would say the cannons that are on the caravel are not the same as the field cannons. The field cannons are bigger. I imagine when you get caravel researched it automatically comes with whatever cannons were on those historically. It says in the civlopedia discription that they were used mostly as warships but could carry units as well. So if they were used mostly as warships they certainly had some type of cannons on them. In fact I believe they were of the first sailing ships to use cannons back in that time.

[FNBrown]

What's inconsistent about this is that it is entirely possible to have Caravels without having researched gunpowder. I'd say it's something of a plot hole... Perhaps the tech tree should be modified so that chemistry is a prerequisite for astronomy...

[player1]

Still better then Civ2, in which you could get Frigates before Gunpowder (to eailsy take out enemy Pikes).

[SanPellegrino]

In civ1 you could get Railroad w/o the wheel

[MoonWolf]

Some ships used flamethrowers. I think it was mainly used in the Middleeast. It was a kind of bulb or sphere that spewed burning oil out of a "pipe". Also, I think some ships (but that was more galley-like ones...) had some sort of catapults firing balls of fire or archers with fire-arrows

[TacticalGrace]

Originally posted by PrinceBimz
I would say the cannons that are on the caravel are not the same as the field cannons. The field cannons are bigger.

Are they? I thought it was the other way round because it's easier to float around with a big gun than to drag it.

I imagine when you get caravel researched it automatically comes with whatever cannons were on those historically.

The trick is getting them to work without gunpowder

It says in the civlopedia discription that they were used mostly as warships but could carry units as well. So if they were used mostly as warships they certainly had some type of cannons on them.

The ancient greeks and romans had warships. they certainly didn't have cannons on them.

Gunpowder should appear much earlier on the tech tree allowing bombards. This should allow a Muskateers should not appear at that point though and will have to wait for metallurgy.

I guess that the flavour if of civ is a lot of high level abstraction leading to wierd dependencies like riflemen needing Nationalism rather than something more specific (and logical) like rifled musket or breechloading rifle, and cavalry needing Military Tradition (what kind of technology is that? It isn't even a concept like democracy or monarchy. Even by civ standards this is pushing it)

[bongo]

Ancient warship didn't have cannons but they had other forms of artillery. Different kinds of catapults and large crossbows. They fired both arrows and 'greek fire'(ancient napalm)

[Master Zen]

I always thought they were shooting arrows. It even sounds like arrows.

[TacticalGrace]

Originally posted by raguil_79
I always thought they were shooting arrows. It even sounds like arrows.

You're thinking of the galley.

[Dis]

Too many tech holes. I do hate complication, but perhaps smac was a better way of doing the tech tree. they could have done something similar.

[TacticalGrace]

Originally posted by bongo
Ancient warship didn't have cannons but they had other forms of artillery. Different kinds of catapults and large crossbows. They fired both arrows and 'greek fire'(ancient napalm)

In fact ancient (and even medieval) warships primarily didn't have much in the way of bombard ability. Naval combat was mainly fought by drawing alonside (or ramming) then sending over infantry. Even by the time cannons were available this still happened. The Mary Rose for example had loads of cannon (which was a major reason that it sunk) but it also had stacks of troops on board and had a "castle" and a "fore-castle".

[Kingof the Apes]

TacticalGrace: wasn't boarding ships a Roman innovation? I thought that before the Punic wars ship combat consisted of shooting arrows and ramming each other.