Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
... actually capture the ports that the other side is using to supply their three great field armies
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Icelander
the PCs need the capability to quickly land more troops than will fit into their existing ships' boats. Hence, the need for building more. And as these are being built for a single purpose, i.e. amphibious landing, it makes sense to adopt a design optimised for that role and not, for example, a design that needs to be small and light enough for it to be hauled in by larger ships.
Both speed and stealth are extremely desirable...
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OK, things are becoming a bit clearer now, but there's an open question. Are these craft specialised for landing troops in a port, or on a beach? Or do they need to be able to do both? The latter makes it harder.
For landing on a beach, you want something like a
Thames sailing barge. At 25x6 metres, they should be able to carry at least 200 men for several hours, and they're reasonably easy to beach and refloat, providedyou know how the tide behaves off the enemy coast. The TL4 version may not have the leeboard (retractable keel) which will limit their ability to sail fast, and against the wind. If this seems too advanced, something based on a
Norfolk wherry will certainly be possible - they existed at the historical TL4.
Note that while these craft will do fine for narrow seas - the English Chanel and North Sea were their habitats - sailing them across large oceans in bad weather is not a good idea. I presume this is happening in summer, before the summer storm season? When dealing with sailing ships, weather is always the primary unpredictable factor. Do the PCs have weather magic? If so, they need to be planning around that.
If you want to sail into a port and capture it, the requirements on the ship are less severe, provided you know how deep the port is and what the tides are doing. You can use larger ships with proper keels, which are much safer in bad weather. You need to provide some defence for the troops on deck, and you need to be able to land them rapidly, and you can combine these requirements by mounting timber movable bridges along the sides of your ships, using them for the troops to hide behind on the way in, and then swinging them out to the shore or wharf for the troops to run down. Of course, you need to know what wharfs are where and how high they are: there are reasons why professional navies collect this kind of information.