The Navy - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

The Navy

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Oct 25, 2003 14:26:58 I can't say I've ever read anything about the Solamnics having a navy, but if they have the isle of Sancrist and port cities, such as Palanthus, it's hard to believe they don't. My question however, is do any of the navies of Ansalon, or the rest of Krynn, have cannons? Most importantly, does the Solamnic navy have cannons?
#2
zombiegleemax
Oct 25, 2003 20:25:34 As far as I know, nobody except the Gnomes have technology equivalent to firearms or cannons. And most people are leery enough of Gnomish inventions to avoid any of them that are designed to explode (the ones that do so accidentally are bad enough!).

I've never heard of the Knights having a navy. They may subcontract to civilian Solamnic ships or to the Ergothians.
#3
zombiegleemax
Oct 26, 2003 11:43:39 hehe who needs cannons when we got wizards hurling firballs and lightning bolts? ;)
#4
zombiegleemax
Oct 26, 2003 15:00:45 Well, the Solamnics have never been big fans of wizards, even White Robes. So they've historically not had much magical support. This is why the Knights of Takhisis proved to be so effective early on. It doubtless aided their naval efforts as well.

Since most people are likely to be wary of gnomish weaponry (especially sailors), most naval forces are likely to employ more conventional weaponry, catapults and ballistas.

I think Dunbar Mastersmate was an Ergothian, and he was a White Robe Sea Wizard. The Ergothians may therefore employ wizards in their (much more extensive than the Solamnics) sea-faring activities.
#5
zombiegleemax
Oct 26, 2003 15:04:33 true...the solamnics aren´t very fond of wizardry...but I seem to recall another post mentioning something about an arcane order associated with the solamnics...Auxiliary something...? These spellcasters might prove to be valuable to the Solamnics in future naval battles...
#6
rosisha
Oct 26, 2003 15:39:45 Thats fairly recent thought, and it will take time for the Solamnics to build them into their armies and fleets. My guess is that for raw naval power the Empire of Ergoth is your best bet, those people would kick butt on the open ocean. Thats why i find it very hard to believe that the Knights took over Ergoth! I mean, it would be like the Spanish taking over Britian. Wouldn't happen!

But did happen in the game, so we'll deal with it!

Rosisha, designing Gnomish Weaponry!
#7
zombiegleemax
Oct 26, 2003 21:13:52 Given the, at best, grudging acceptance that Solamnic Auxiliary Wizards get, I doubt that there will be a large number of them, at least for the foreseeable future. Certainly not enough at first for every Solamnic ship to be manned by a mage.

Ergoth was a power in decline for a long time, but recent events seem to have convinced them that passivity no longer benefits them, nor can the Solamnics be relied upon to hold back all the forces of evil in the world. The Ergothians will probably rise as the primary naval power in the next few years, and they will probably have magic in their naval arsenals.
#8
zombiegleemax
Nov 03, 2003 14:33:10 I agree with what others have posted, and as I see it naval power was not a significant factor in most of the wars that have taken place on the continent, and firearms (and cannons) are virtually non-existent outside of gnomish territory.

In my own campaign (346 AC) however a costal nation’s naval power is very important to the security of that nation’s coastline and merchant shipping. With the rise of the hobgoblin nation of Ilithia in the east (south of Qualinesti plus the occupied lands of Enstar and Nostar) and the Minotaur Empire in the west, the Ergothian Republic and the Solamnic Federation (among others) have had to significantly upgrade their navies to deal with the depredations of these two naval powers.

The recent introduction of gunpowder weapons (firearms and cannon) in the recent Ergothian-Goblin Wars has set in motion the initial steps in a revolution of naval warfare across Ansalon.

George
#9
zombiegleemax
Nov 03, 2003 18:33:52 Naval warfare, takes a backseat "support the landlover" postion. In fact from the time of the Greek city-state to the middle ages, naval warfare mirrored land warfare by the ramming and boading the enemy ships and killing everyone on them, then if able, capture the ships for your own. The ram was basically a disabling weapon, not really a "ship-killer" system. Inspite of "Greekfire" this support/mirror to land warfare mentality was the mainstay of naval tactics.
Then someone invented the cannon and thus the first true ship killing weapons were avalible. Thus began the "blow them out of the water days" that started with the Spannish Armada.

BTW: It would take alot of fireballs or a BIG fireball (or a dragon) to destroy a ship. Why do you think ships of the sailing days had so many cannons to start with. In reality ships are tougher then most think. See Master and Commander to see what I mean.

With the rise of the Minotaur Empire sea power may finally come into it's own and steal it's share of the spot light from the kind of land and air power on used on Krynn.
#10
Matthew_L._Martin
Nov 03, 2003 20:28:55 The dwarves have developed cannons, but so far, they've only been demonstrated as stationary emplacements in Thorbardin. ("The Gift of Fire", Sue Weinlein Cook and William W. Connors, DRAGON #232) The Knights of Takhisis were _very_ interested in the technology. (_DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE_ Dramatic Adventure Game, Book Two: "Dusk or Dawn", Thoradin entry.)

Matthew L. Martin
#11
zombiegleemax
Nov 13, 2003 20:00:18 Naval power has always been important, both in reel life and in DL.

Both the Solamnics, the Ergothians and the minotaurs have a large fleet.
(of course only the gnomes have ever sunken a minotaur warship, the gnomish steamship blew up)

Ergoth need a large civilian fleet to trade with the surrounding areas. And to connect the costal areas with each other.
Solamnia must have both civilian and military vessels, since there aret trade routes going from Caergoth to sancrist and to palanthas. And of course the rivers in Solamnia.
troop transports the same ways would also need ships.
The minotaurs are simply a civilization of islands.

The silvanesti also possesed a large fleet at some point, the evacuated during WoTL by sea.

we have to realize that with a relativly bad road system and relativly few horses around, 1 knight pr. 10 footman. (at least 10)
Sailng is much faster.
#12
zombiegleemax
Nov 14, 2003 22:35:43 Well, as any Naval officer will tell you, having a "fleet" of ships and having a true "navy" are two very different things. A navy is far more than just a bunch of ships with soldiers onboard. There's a whole realm of specialization involved in naval military that is completely separate from regular land-based military.

There's never been much made of the Solamnics having a big navy. But to be honest, until recently they really weren't in much of a position to. Remember that they had been in a period of some hardship for much of the time between the Cataclysm and the War of the Lance. Maintaining their landholdings were probably far more important than policing the high seas. When you look at much of their focus, you see it as being on the land and not at sea.

I wonder how much Zeboim's influence has on the sea-faring activities of Good peoples?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Oct 25, 2003 14:26:58	I can't say I've ever read anything about the Solamnics having a navy, but if they have the isle of Sancrist and port cities, such as Palanthus, it's hard to believe they don't. My question however, is do any of the navies of Ansalon, or the rest of Krynn, have cannons? Most importantly, does the Solamnic navy have cannons?
#2 zombiegleemax Oct 25, 2003 20:25:34	As far as I know, nobody except the Gnomes have technology equivalent to firearms or cannons. And most people are leery enough of Gnomish inventions to avoid any of them that are designed to explode (the ones that do so accidentally are bad enough!). I've never heard of the Knights having a navy. They may subcontract to civilian Solamnic ships or to the Ergothians.
#3 zombiegleemax Oct 26, 2003 11:43:39	hehe who needs cannons when we got wizards hurling firballs and lightning bolts? ;)
#4 zombiegleemax Oct 26, 2003 15:00:45	Well, the Solamnics have never been big fans of wizards, even White Robes. So they've historically not had much magical support. This is why the Knights of Takhisis proved to be so effective early on. It doubtless aided their naval efforts as well. Since most people are likely to be wary of gnomish weaponry (especially sailors), most naval forces are likely to employ more conventional weaponry, catapults and ballistas. I think Dunbar Mastersmate was an Ergothian, and he was a White Robe Sea Wizard. The Ergothians may therefore employ wizards in their (much more extensive than the Solamnics) sea-faring activities.
#5 zombiegleemax Oct 26, 2003 15:04:33	true...the solamnics aren´t very fond of wizardry...but I seem to recall another post mentioning something about an arcane order associated with the solamnics...Auxiliary something...? These spellcasters might prove to be valuable to the Solamnics in future naval battles...
#6 rosisha Oct 26, 2003 15:39:45	Thats fairly recent thought, and it will take time for the Solamnics to build them into their armies and fleets. My guess is that for raw naval power the Empire of Ergoth is your best bet, those people would kick butt on the open ocean. Thats why i find it very hard to believe that the Knights took over Ergoth! I mean, it would be like the Spanish taking over Britian. Wouldn't happen! But did happen in the game, so we'll deal with it! Rosisha, designing Gnomish Weaponry!
#7 zombiegleemax Oct 26, 2003 21:13:52	Given the, at best, grudging acceptance that Solamnic Auxiliary Wizards get, I doubt that there will be a large number of them, at least for the foreseeable future. Certainly not enough at first for every Solamnic ship to be manned by a mage. Ergoth was a power in decline for a long time, but recent events seem to have convinced them that passivity no longer benefits them, nor can the Solamnics be relied upon to hold back all the forces of evil in the world. The Ergothians will probably rise as the primary naval power in the next few years, and they will probably have magic in their naval arsenals.
#8 zombiegleemax Nov 03, 2003 14:33:10	I agree with what others have posted, and as I see it naval power was not a significant factor in most of the wars that have taken place on the continent, and firearms (and cannons) are virtually non-existent outside of gnomish territory. In my own campaign (346 AC) however a costal nation’s naval power is very important to the security of that nation’s coastline and merchant shipping. With the rise of the hobgoblin nation of Ilithia in the east (south of Qualinesti plus the occupied lands of Enstar and Nostar) and the Minotaur Empire in the west, the Ergothian Republic and the Solamnic Federation (among others) have had to significantly upgrade their navies to deal with the depredations of these two naval powers. The recent introduction of gunpowder weapons (firearms and cannon) in the recent Ergothian-Goblin Wars has set in motion the initial steps in a revolution of naval warfare across Ansalon. George
#9 zombiegleemax Nov 03, 2003 18:33:52	Naval warfare, takes a backseat "support the landlover" postion. In fact from the time of the Greek city-state to the middle ages, naval warfare mirrored land warfare by the ramming and boading the enemy ships and killing everyone on them, then if able, capture the ships for your own. The ram was basically a disabling weapon, not really a "ship-killer" system. Inspite of "Greekfire" this support/mirror to land warfare mentality was the mainstay of naval tactics. Then someone invented the cannon and thus the first true ship killing weapons were avalible. Thus began the "blow them out of the water days" that started with the Spannish Armada. BTW: It would take alot of fireballs or a BIG fireball (or a dragon) to destroy a ship. Why do you think ships of the sailing days had so many cannons to start with. In reality ships are tougher then most think. See Master and Commander to see what I mean. With the rise of the Minotaur Empire sea power may finally come into it's own and steal it's share of the spot light from the kind of land and air power on used on Krynn.
#10 Matthew_L._Martin Nov 03, 2003 20:28:55	The dwarves have developed cannons, but so far, they've only been demonstrated as stationary emplacements in Thorbardin. ("The Gift of Fire", Sue Weinlein Cook and William W. Connors, DRAGON #232) The Knights of Takhisis were _very_ interested in the technology. (_DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE_ Dramatic Adventure Game, Book Two: "Dusk or Dawn", Thoradin entry.) Matthew L. Martin
#11 zombiegleemax Nov 13, 2003 20:00:18	Naval power has always been important, both in reel life and in DL. Both the Solamnics, the Ergothians and the minotaurs have a large fleet. (of course only the gnomes have ever sunken a minotaur warship, the gnomish steamship blew up) Ergoth need a large civilian fleet to trade with the surrounding areas. And to connect the costal areas with each other. Solamnia must have both civilian and military vessels, since there aret trade routes going from Caergoth to sancrist and to palanthas. And of course the rivers in Solamnia. troop transports the same ways would also need ships. The minotaurs are simply a civilization of islands. The silvanesti also possesed a large fleet at some point, the evacuated during WoTL by sea. we have to realize that with a relativly bad road system and relativly few horses around, 1 knight pr. 10 footman. (at least 10) Sailng is much faster.
#12 zombiegleemax Nov 14, 2003 22:35:43	Well, as any Naval officer will tell you, having a "fleet" of ships and having a true "navy" are two very different things. A navy is far more than just a bunch of ships with soldiers onboard. There's a whole realm of specialization involved in naval military that is completely separate from regular land-based military. There's never been much made of the Solamnics having a big navy. But to be honest, until recently they really weren't in much of a position to. Remember that they had been in a period of some hardship for much of the time between the Cataclysm and the War of the Lance. Maintaining their landholdings were probably far more important than policing the high seas. When you look at much of their focus, you see it as being on the land and not at sea. I wonder how much Zeboim's influence has on the sea-faring activities of Good peoples?