TL3+1 Mechanical Artillery

[teviet]

Originally Posted by Icelander

So, what I guess I mean with 'substitute' for cannon is something that can be used from a range to at least have a chance of damaging enemy vessels or kill some of their crew. Smaller pieces that can be used to suppress enemy wizards and larger ones that can be aimed at the mast in the hope of crippling the opposing vessel.

A research project on the Byzantine navy many years ago impressed on me how effective napalm is as a ship-killing weapon. Age-of-sail ships could blast broadsides at each other for hours and still sail away, but one good hit with a 5th century flamethrower and the ship would burn to the waterline. I never understood why incendiaries were not more widespread in early modern naval warfare, though lack of access to petroleum may have been a factor. (Though I haven't exactly kept up with the latest historical research on this.)

TeV