reduced artillery movement

[Oaty]

I wonder if artillery will still have reduced movement in empire. Kind of annoying in Rome and medieval especially when they were on ships. I'm guessing the only reason they did it in rome/medieval was so you cant sack city after city. I don't think artillery should slow down an army especially sine they were horse drawn.

[CBR]

I'd say the heavy guns and mortars belonging to the siegetrain should be slow.


CBR

[Martok]

Can't say I disagree with you there. My understanding is that artillery was pretty ubiquitous in this period (at least among the European powers), so at the very least I think all armies should move at the same speed regardless.

[Fisherking]

I am sure someone at CA has thought about it already, at least I sure hope they did.

Artillery of this time would have better road movement than infantry and almost as good as cavalry but the off road movement would be slower than infantry. Ever try taking a wagon cross-country? Or any wheeled stock for that matter. And in forest it would mean cutting a road for the whole army and trains to get through. Coehorns could be manhandled through the woods but larger pieces needed much more time and manpower to be moved through wilderness.

So it would mean artillery moved at different speeds in different locations.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

^^ That would be a good gameplay mechanic, and give an even more tangible benefit to building roads in your provinces...

[CBR]

Foot artillery only used horses for pulling the guns and wagons while the gunners were still on foot. So they were not faster than infantry.


CBR

[Elmar Bijlsma]

I am sure someone at CA has thought about it already, at least I sure hope they did.

Artillery of this time would have better road movement than infantry and almost as good as cavalry but the off road movement would be slower than infantry. Ever try taking a wagon cross-country? Or any wheeled stock for that matter. And in forest it would mean cutting a road for the whole army and trains to get through. Coehorns could be manhandled through the woods but larger pieces needed much more time and manpower to be moved through wilderness.

So it would mean artillery moved at different speeds in different locations.

Almost as good as cavalry? May I point out that is damning with faint praise? Cavalry was typically slower then infantry other then in short operational manoeuvres. Any serious marches and they'd be trailing the column or slowing it down.
Infantry could leave their baggage train behind and forage off the land for weeks on end if needed, cavalry couldn't because of the horse feed.

[Polemists]

Yes calvary is slow has anyone ever ridden a horse


...No....stop eating the shrub....napolean is coming and we need to get back in formation

[Fisherking]

The point was that the artillery pieces themselves were drawn by teems of draft animals. Outside of Europe with a decent road network, long cross country moves might require that they be moved by sledge rather than by their wheels but on good roads they were of little encumbrance. Foot artillery and most wagons in the trains would have been pulled by oxen which were good at hauling loads but not noted for their speed.

Up to this point in TW games supply has not been a factor of movement. In fact the whole idea of moving with artillery prior to gunpowder is a bit silly. Most of the machines were built on the site rather than transported and artillerists had a whole different skill set. Some may have been disassembled and moved.

You can march a column of horses at about 60 miles a day (100 km) and Infantry about 20 miles (roughly 34 km) sustainable. Living off the land slows this progress considerably. Drinking water was not an option in most places and the troops had to brew their own beer as well as bake their bread. Foraging off the land is one thing when it mean robbing peasants and another when it is finding food in a wilderness, while being watched by an indigenous force, likely hostile…

Diseases killed hundreds and sometimes thousands in campaigns, usually about twice what the enemy could manage.

There is good reason why we can accomplish in a game what no one did in these times. I don’t think we would like it so well if it were truly realistic, even in the age of reason.