What are the long-term benefits, or even more immediate benefits, of a pre-atomic navy? I see the obvious ones, ie protecting fishing boats, possible supplementing land troops with ranged bombardment, actually succeeding in a naval invasion, etc, but is there anything that would cause an early navy to be worth it? In almost every game I've played (and I've played a lot, >350 hours), I find that the production required to have an effective navy is better spent elsewhere, such as in shoring up my power base on land, or in buildings. This strikes me as a bit unrealistic, though, as ancient and even medieval navies were pretty important. Athens, for instance, thrived mostly on the might of its navies.
Perhaps BNW will change this, with the implementation of overseas trade routes, but for now I see little point in a pre-atomic navy (unless you're England or the Netherlands). Why take 15 turns to build a frigate when you can build a cannon/trebuchet/musketman in 12? (I think the production on all units could stand to be lowered a bit, by the way, but that's a discussion for another thread).
So, to perhaps beat on a dead horse now, do any of you find any use for a pre-atomic navy that justifies building one? And by a navy, I don't mean one or two frigates. I mean 6-10 frigates with any number of privateers.
Perhaps BNW will change this, with the implementation of overseas trade routes, but for now I see little point in a pre-atomic navy (unless you're England or the Netherlands). Why take 15 turns to build a frigate when you can build a cannon/trebuchet/musketman in 12? (I think the production on all units could stand to be lowered a bit, by the way, but that's a discussion for another thread).
So, to perhaps beat on a dead horse now, do any of you find any use for a pre-atomic navy that justifies building one? And by a navy, I don't mean one or two frigates. I mean 6-10 frigates with any number of privateers.