[Freeciv] Re: Dirigible

[nicholas.g.lawrence@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

>saywhat
    >I've been following the discussion and gradually forming some
>opinions about it.  The first one is this - I'm starting to think
>that a dirigible's movement should be even smaller - perhaps only 2.
>Why?  One reason is to make the choice between building a dirigible
>and building an explorer more interesting.  I'll explain:
>
    >An explorer can move 3 (per turn) but can only see 1 square
>around him (or her).  A dirigible's big advantage over an explorer
>is its (proposed) 2 vision.  If a dirigible could also move 3 (or
>more), then there would be little reason to build an explorer once
>dirigibles became available.

    nick
according to
Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War
by Frederick A. Talbot

The first use of Dirigibles (actually balloons) was for observation.
The balloon in this case was tethered and could not move at all
(The tether was essential because it was also a communication
link so the observer could relay information to the commander
on the ground).

So the first balloon unit was vision 2 movement 0


>Davor
>It would be stupid to create two diffirent versions, with the only
>thing seperating them would be the ability to carry troops. It
>would be much smarter to create a new unit instead.
>
>A transport aircraft sounds like a good idea. And I'm astounded
>that it has not (yet) been implemented.


Now, when I read
The War in the Air
by H. G. Wells
it emphasised the advantage of having a stable aerial platform
for dropping bombs on targets, so I initially gave the dirigible
a high attack and defence. But Wells may be using a bit
of dramatic liscence. The heavy-lifting capacity of a dirigible
though makes it a good candidate for a troop transport.




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