War Ship Design

One of the reason these ship types was used is that it was a cheap solution to the problem. Also they could be built just about anywhere.

In the game any ship in any number can be built anywhere as long as recruits and money is available.
Also recruits is for all practical purposes the most important resource in the game.

So cheap, fragile ships with high manpower needs such as galleys in game is not very cost effective.

Ardagor wrote:One of the reason these ship types was used is that it was a cheap solution to the problem. Also they could be built just about anywhere.

In the game any ship in any number can be built anywhere as long as recruits and money is available.
Also recruits is for all practical purposes the most important resource in the game.

So cheap, fragile ships with high manpower needs such as galleys in game is not very cost effective.

Agree with you about the Galleys in the main rules - for a sea going ship I would much sooner use 200 recuits on 1 Frigate than 2 Galleys.

But I do think for some positions which include large rivers or inshore lakes it is worth while considering small shallow draft craft like Gunboats, Cavalry Galleys and barges to move/guard supplies and for various other purposes. Since it does not take that many recruits to build up a perhaps unique ability.

Large Galleys are a bit of an odd one in that they do use up a lot of man power and are rubbish in a fight with a proper war-ship. So you basically have to provide escorts for a ship which uses as many recruits as a lineship but I think if you view them as Marine landing ships rather than Naval Ships they do have their uses. In G2 2500 Rumelian marines plus smaller numbers from other ships equiped with musketoons/blunderbus, Dalmatian broadswords and Grenadoes were very effective street fighters.

Some players think Dragoons are rubbish because they can not stand up too a Cavalry charge or line Infantry in a fire fight while others really like the flexibility. Large Galleys are rubbish against Naval and marines get mangled in the open by both Cavalry and Infantry so like Dragoons can be viewed as a total waste of recruits. But if you like some flexibilty and think you could end up street fighting esp in Venice they may be worth a look.

Basically, think any position needs to consider what type of campaign it may have to fight including geography and weather and taylor its forces accordingly. Also need to amend forces to your preferred style of play - some of us like raiding to damage opponents EH and disrupt lines of communication and supply. Others think anything which is not most cost effective for a battle is a waste of recruits and resources.

If you are a battle heavy player in naval terms anything which is not a Lineship or a few frigates used to scout for the battle fleet and protect them from fireships is indeed a total waste of money and recruits.