No. This is a bad idea all-around. The limit on ships isn’t for gameplay so much as it is for engine limitations - the water in AoE3 is prone to lag and crashing the game, especially on larger maps with a lot of players.
If necessary, just include all ships under a broad build limit to let players decide how many of what type of ship they want to ##### ### that’ll have to be tweaked from civ to civ, depending on what kinds of ships players want.
No. Make unique ships for the Natives that fulfil their own roles in unique ways. Privateers and Pirate ships are one thing, but the rest of the Native ships should be unique to them. I rather like the idea of the Haida having cannon-armed canoes.
Based on these general images of Haida canoes,
We know that they had sails, and we know these canoes could reach 70 feet or greater, with many capable of carrying up to 50 people or so. With a mounted cannon or an array of swivel guns, they could serve as smaller, faster ships with high rates of fire.
For an amusing, but practical, purpose, the “crew” could be replaced by a sea of bobbing helmets, like this. It’d supply a helpful visual indicator of why the ship has such high ranged resist. Some of these helmets could flair out much further than this, and they are made of dense heartwood from cedar trees.
Examples:
Gelwa Gunner
Light, fast, canoe with a high resistance into ranged attacks.
200 Wood, 200 coin
750 health, 75% ranged resist
11.5 Speed, 26 LoS, 25 Garrison
Can transport land units, and gather from whales and fish.
Special ability: Broadside
Main Attack:
35 Ranged
20 Range
1 RoF
Siege:
15 Siege
22 range
1 RoF
These would be more similar to really small battleships than anything else, armed with a small array of shorter-ranged swivel guns that deal ranged damage instead of siege. A high ranged resist would make them intriguingly good at raiding beaches, though their low siege attack would make them a little less than helpful into buildings. Notably, their attacks lack an AoE.
Gelwa Extraordinare
Heavier Gelwa armed with a single Culverin for long-range attack.
400 Wood, 200 coin
1000 Health, 60% ranged resist
11.5 Speed, 32 LoS, 25 Garrison
Can transport land units
Special Ability: Long-range Bombardment
Attack:
50 Siege
28 Range
2 AoE
3.0 RoF
Named for the culverin mounted on the front of it (the Culverin Extraordinary), the Gelwa Extraordinaire is a long-range siege ship, though notable as still having a decent attack to fight with regardless.
Gelwa Raider
Middling Gelwa armed with a gatling gun.
300 Wood, 200 Coin
800 Health, 60% ranged resist
11.5 Speed, 28 LoS, 25 Garrison
Can transport land units and train infantry and cavalry
Special Ability: Stand Guard
Attack:
30x6 Siege
30 (Stand Guard)
20 Range
2 AoE
4.0 RoF
0.5 RoF (Stand Guard)
With a Gatling Gun as its primary armament, the Raider is a ship that can land on a beach and train units. While beached, the unique special ability Stand Guard may be activated, effectively removing its Gatling Gun’s reload mechanic and allowing it to endless fire as it trains units on the beach. However, it suffers from less range than a normal Gatling Gun and is still a canoe, making it weaker than other Galleon-class ships in outright combat.