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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dr. Strangemonkey" data-source="post: 1527684" data-attributes="member: 6533">Rams were an important of medieval naval combat up to a very late period.  Particularly in the mediterranean.I highly recommend, if you can find it, Exalted's Savage Seas.  It's the only naval supplement I've ever seen for any game that didn't secretly want to be Napoleanic.The important thing to remember about medieval naval technology and warfare is that you are at the middle point between the classical style of ships where you can park them pretty much anywhere and the more modern stuff that can carry a load of power but can't load it up except in a very few prepared places or through smaller boats.The upshot of which is that there are going to be a lot of very different boats and ships on the ocean and they're all going to have some military specialties.  Which will result in some very odd situations.Such as the terrible conundrum about longboats.They're great you can take em anywhere, you can project power, wreck shipping, maneuver like nothing, and put just about anything onboard them.You will also loose any major naval engagement against an advance naval power.  At the end of the longboat period I think they got taken out by a handful of high walled cogs.Earlier, seven Byzantine ships beat out a vast armada of Viking Longboats on their way down from Russia.  Totally and utterly slaughtered them.  But then still had to bribe them back into peace.  They just couldn't match the longboats ability to be anywhere in rougher seas and crazy rivers.The Alexiad of Anna Comnena has some awesome naval engagement pieces.  And there are several great depictions of medieval landings.George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire has a fantastic naval siege chapter.</blockquote>

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