[freeciv-data] Re: Artillery and sea units

[Thanasis Kinias <tkinias@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

scripsit Sugih Jamin:

> > The knights of the Middle Ages would probably kill phalanxes, but
> > not pikemen. It's also the case that pikemen are better armed(Iron
> > tipped vs Bronze).  Iron weapons vs bronze always ends with the
> > death of the bronze armed.

> Independent of the technological arguments one way or the other, we
> should keep pikemen if for no other reason than that they are usually
> used to mark the shift in balance from mobility (individual mounted
> knights) back to better organized infantry.
 
It's not a military advance, however, but a government one.  When the
feudal structure gives way to a centralized monarchy, the feudal army
(with the armoured knight as its core) gives way to a professional
military.  Had there been a strong, centralized state in AD 1000, there
could have been good infantry.  However, no one thought it was a good
idea then to have large numbers of well-trained, heavily armed peasants
hanging around with nothing to do.  

If we can successfully model the change in government and social
structure, the change from knights to infantry will follow.

-- 
Thanasis Kinias
Web Developer, Information Technology
Graduate Student, Department of History
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.

Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul