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Dock
FISHING BOAT | FISHING SHIP | TRADE BOAT | MERCHANT SHIP | LIGHT TRANSPORT
HEAVY TRANSPORT | SCOUT SHIP | WAR GALLEY | TRIREME | CATAPULT TRIREME | JUGGERNAUGHT

All boats twice as resistant to conversion as other units.

Fishing Boat
FISHING BOAT
  • Cost - 50W
  • First Available - Stone Age
  • Speed - Medium
The Fishing Boat represents a small, primitive vessel for use by one or a few fishermen. The first boats were probably dugout canoes, made from a single large log. These were excavated by fire and adze. Despite the passage of time and great technological advances in all areas, there are more log-hull boats in use today than of any other single type.


Fishing Ship
FISHING SHIP
  • Cost - 50W
  • First Available - Bronze Age
  • Speed - Fast
The never-ending quest for food eventually enticed humans out onto lakes, rivers, and oceans in search of fish. Fish of greater size and variety and in greater quantity were often found in deeper offshore waters. Fishing ships, larger than small canoes, were developed to control larger nets. Fishing ships were able to hold greater quantities of processed fish (cleaned and salted at sea) before return to land was required.


Trade Boad
TRADE BOAT
  • Cost - 100W
  • First Available - Stone Age
  • Speed - Fast
Small boats were used by Stone-Age peoples for trading across rivers, lakes, and oceans. We know, for example, that tool stone found on Aegean Islands was brought to the mainland and other islands by traders long before large seagoing boats existed. Primitive trading boats were usually dugout canoes, papyrus bundles, or hide boats with a limited cargo capacity. They probably carried only limited quantities of valuable trade goods, such as carvings, ivory, furs, tool stone, decorative minerals, and amber. Large bulk cargos could not be carried profitably in small trading boats.


Merchant Ship
MERCHANT SHIP
  • Cost - 100W
  • First Available - Bronze Age
  • Speed - Fast
As civilization spread around the Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean, and China Sea, larger trading ships came into use to carry bulk cargos such as olive oil from Greece, cedar wood from Lebanon, grain from Egypt, and rice from China. Typical ancient Merchant Ships had keels and were built of planks, but did not have interior framing. They carried a single mast for a mainsail and were steered with a large paddle. Their broad beam allowed for cargos far beyond those of dugout canoes. Recent underwater discoveries of ancient merchant ships indicate they had good sailing qualities and required only a small crew.


Light Transport
LIGHT TRANSPORT
  • Cost - 150W
  • First Available - Tool Age
  • Speed - Medium
The earliest use of boats in war was probably to carry men across rivers, lakes, or seas to raid and plunder. The most suitable boat for this purpose was built as a compromise between speed and capacity. Raiders did not want to spend long periods in boats making a crossing and needed to surprise their enemies. The boat also had to carry a reasonable number of raiders and have room for any booty to be brought back. The fastest boats of ancient times were galleys powered by sails when possible but mainly by oars. The Greek penteconter with 50 oars was a common transport for troops. In most cases, the crew of oarsmen became raiders when they reached their destination.


Heavy Transport
HEAVY TRANSPORT
  • Cost - 150W
  • First Available - Iron Age
  • Speed - Fast
Ships built for carrying military units replaced smaller galleys when armies grew larger and targets became more valuable and better defended. It became necessary to move ever-larger armies for invasion, and to bring siege engines and supplies along for extended sieges of coastal cities. The Heavy Transport represents a larger sailing ship, something like a Merchant Ship, built mainly for capacity at the expense of speed.


Scout Ship
SCOUT SHIP
  • Cost - 135W
  • First Available - Tool Age
  • Speed - Fast
The first true warships built to attack and sink other ships were galleys with a heavy ram mounted at the front. The warship attempted to ram an enemy ship and stave in its hull, causing it to take on water if not sink. Early warships were almost oar-powered torpedos, consisting of a light, floating hull manned by oarsmen. A sail, if present, was used only in transit, not in battle.


War Galley
WAR GALLEY
  • Cost - 135W
  • First Available - Bronze Age
  • Speed - Fast
The appearance of the ram triggered an arms race in ship design. Hulls were strengthened to support ever-heavier rams on the bow. As hulls grew larger, more oarsmen were required to provide power. A deck was added and a second group of oarsmen was placed there. This increased power without increasing length, but the deck made the ship somewhat unstable. A ship with two levels of rowers was called a bireme.


Trireme
TRIREME
  • Cost - 135W
  • First Available - Iron Age
  • Speed - Fast
  • Special - Fire rate once/2 sec
Ancient ship designers tried numerous tricks to get more power for warships, including putting more men on single oars. The most successful design was the trireme, three tiers of single rowers per side. This ship provided reasonable maneuverability and speed. It appeared around 600 BC and made up the bulk of Mediterranean navies for several hundred years after 500 BC.


Catapult Trireme
CATAPULT TRIREME
  • Cost - 135W 75G
  • First Available - Iron Age
  • Speed - Fast
  • Special - Fire rate once/5 sec; Small damage area
The ultimate warships of antiquity were advances on the trireme that occurred after the death of Alexander the Great. These ships were first broadened so that multiple rowers could apply power to each oar. Based on limited descriptions and detailed figures for crew and rowers, it is believed that the largest ships of this period may have had catamaran hulls. The broadening of ships and decks added weight and further reduced speed and maneuverability, but increased stability. Decks supported catapult artillery and large marine contingents. Ships engaged each other primarily with missile fire and boarding.


Juggernaught
JUGGERNAUGHT
  • Cost - 135W 75G
  • First Available - Iron Age
  • Speed - Fast
  • Technology Required - Engineering
  • Special - Fire rate once/5 sec; Medium damage area
The most remarkable advances in war ships appeared on the Mediterranean before the conquest of the entire region by Rome. These ships could reach enormous size, carrying crews of several thousand rowers and marines. They fought by firing catapults at each other until close enough to grapple and board. The largest were too slow to effectively ram each other. Because of their size and slowness they could not operate far from shore and needed substantial support from supply ships carrying food and water for the crew. The largest were show ships, built in an arms race that emphasized size and expense instead of practicality.

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