When I was taking a look at the different types of projectiles that were fired from artillery in the past, I happened to find information about a particular cannon projectile that was called the “Carcass Shot”. This projectile was apparently an early form of incendiary bomb or shell that was first used by the French and the Münsterite troops under Louis XIV and Bernard von Galen during the year of 1672. And it was later used by the English Royal Navy in the 18th and early 19th century.
Once bursting on impact the Carcass Shot would not only set fire to its surroundings but also release noxious fumes, which came from the various ingredients that were filled inside the cannonball. Therefore the Carcass Shot was not only an incendiary weapon but also an early chemical and area denial weapon as well, where its filling would continue to burn for up to 11 minutes. Except for being fired from artillery such as mortars and howitzers on land, they were also fired from bomb vessels out in the sea. The reason as for why this cannonball was named “Carcass” was because the circles which pass from one ring, or plate, to the other on it, were thought to resemble the ribs of a human carcass.
This Carcass Shot could potentially serve as a new technology that can be researched from the [Arsenal] building in the game, where both the [Mortar], [Monitor] and their other counterparts could get a charged ability where it fires this Carcass Shot. Once selecting this ability the player could shoot this projectile anywhere on the map as long as it is not outside the attack range of the unit itself. And when hitting the ground this projectile will cause a fire that will spread out to a certain radius, which will damage any unit or building inside of it, and will last there for a certain amount of time, effectively denying the respective area for the adversary player to walk on with their units.
Would it be a good idea to add the C###### Shot as a technology to the game?
The information of this cannonball seems to be very limited, therefore I couldn’t find a comprehensive link or long description of the Carcass Shot but I’ll provide this link below that has some information about it:
(https://scienceviews.com/parks/carcass.html)
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I love the sounds of a area-denial attack, though I agree it would need to be a (slooooow) charged ability.
I was going to suggest that it could be a research that makes certain cannons have a ‘toggleable’ attack - the default being the Standard canon round though when clicked it flicks to Carcass Shot, however I think it needs to be a special ability with a non-abusable long cooldown.
I’d still love to see a toggle-attack button though - maybe being able to change from standard to Grape Shot/Cannister so we can change from a well-ranged attack to a close-range area of effect giant shotgun.
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I’m glad that you liked the idea of this Carcass Shot. If this technology gets added to the game it will definitely need to be a charged ability in order to avoid exploitation or spamming, just as you say.
Another thing that could be discussed is if it would be a good idea if it can deal two different types of damage at the same time or not, where it will cause both fire and poison damage. Perhaps when hitting the ground the Carcass Shot could also create a smaller damaging radius, outside the burning area itself, which will cause poison damage to units but this damage type won’t harm buildings and ships.
Having the ability to permanently alternate between Round Shot and (Grape Shot/ Canister Shot) sounds very interesting. Except for dealing splash damage, the Grape Shot could also have a “Pass-through damage” effect where its projectiles will travel a certain distance where it will pierce through enemy units just like the [Scorpion] from “Age of Empires 2”: (Pass-through damage | Age of Empires Series Wiki | Fandom)
Now that I think about it the Chain Shot could also be an interesting cannonball to have in the game, where it will temporarily debilitate the manoeuvrability of ships just as it was used for in reality.
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That sounds like it would be really OP even if it was a generic thing lol
A stun ability would add some needed depth to water combat. It could be useful for pinning down an enemy ship while it’s under building fire.
Found another piece of artwork that shows the Carcass Shot in it. The cannonball to the far right in the picture, and looks like it is in some kind of basket, is the Carcass Shot (though the small piece of text next to it does give away its name).
The Spike Shot is also an interesting type of cannonball and it seems that it was used in a similar manner to the Chain Shot for damaging ships specifically.
