2 ms·

I don't "define technology as 'gunpowder'", it's the article that says the model uses military technology: >The borders are seeded with military technology, st

by zeteo 13y ago

I don't "define technology as 'gunpowder'", it's the article that says the model uses military technology: >The borders are seeded with military technology, starting with the use of horses. That technology then spreads as societies fight it out virtually. There are periods in which military technology varied significantly. 500-1500 CE is not one of them.

vacri 13y ago
Even if you just look at military technology, this just isn't true at all. Siege warfare in particular progressed significantly, on both offense and defense. And contrary to your comment earlier that gunpowder wasn't much in use/it was just archers and pikemen, cannons were in use in Europe from the 11th century, and by the end of the period in question were commonplace. At the end of the period, star forts were beginning to be constructed, a response to the power of cannons. And like I said, the saddle and stirrup made significant changes to the way cavalry were used in battle. Sure, it didn't change as fast as we've seen in the past couple of hundred years, but nothing else has either. I'm not sure what other periods you're talking about, since the broad tech you're complaining of - spears and archery - predates written history.
- zeteo 13y ago
  > cannons were in use in Europe from the 11th century I'm sorry, you're off by two centuries [1]. Yes, cannons started making an impact in the 15th century, but that doesn't change the fact that military technology was overall pretty stagnant during 500 - 1500. For comparison, here are some major developments during the previous millennium: [2] [3] [4] [5] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_artillery_in_the_Middle_Ages#Muslim_and_Christian_Iberia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_artillery_in_the_Midd... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataphract#Exposure_to_Western_civilization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataphract#Exposure_to_Western_... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catapult#Greek_and_Roman_catapults http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catapult#Greek_and_Roman_catapu... [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_infantry#Antiquity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_infantry#Antiquity [5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_archer#Appearance_in_history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_archer#Appearance_in_hist...

by zeteo 13y ago

vacri 13y ago

Even if you just look at military technology, this just isn't true at all. Siege warfare in particular progressed significantly, on both offense and defense. And contrary to your comment earlier that gunpowder wasn't much in use/it was just archers and pikemen, cannons were in use in Europe from the 11th century, and by the end of the period in question were commonplace. At the end of the period, star forts were beginning to be constructed, a response to the power of cannons. And like I said, the saddle and stirrup made significant changes to the way cavalry were used in battle. Sure, it didn't change as fast as we've seen in the past couple of hundred years, but nothing else has either. I'm not sure what other periods you're talking about, since the broad tech you're complaining of - spears and archery - predates written history.

zeteo 13y ago
> cannons were in use in Europe from the 11th century I'm sorry, you're off by two centuries [1]. Yes, cannons started making an impact in the 15th century, but that doesn't change the fact that military technology was overall pretty stagnant during 500 - 1500. For comparison, here are some major developments during the previous millennium: [2] [3] [4] [5] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_artillery_in_the_Middle_Ages#Muslim_and_Christian_Iberia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_artillery_in_the_Midd... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataphract#Exposure_to_Western_civilization http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataphract#Exposure_to_Western_... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catapult#Greek_and_Roman_catapults http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catapult#Greek_and_Roman_catapu... [4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_infantry#Antiquity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_infantry#Antiquity [5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_archer#Appearance_in_history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_archer#Appearance_in_hist...