East Indiaman

Introduced in BtS Naval Unit The unique unit of the Netherlands (replaces Galleon)
Strength	6
Moves	4
Cost	80
Upgrades to	Transport
Required technologies	Astronomy
Required resources	N/A
Other attributes	Can explore rival territory without declaring war Cargo space: 4

Compared with the Galleon, the East Indiaman has 2 more strength and one more cargo space. In addition, the East Indiaman can explore in other civilizations' territories without causing a declaration of war, making it even more useful in exploring the world.

Civilopedia EntryEdit

The term "East Indiaman" describes a vessel designed to transport goods between Europe, India, Indonesia and China during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The East Indiaman was an armed merchantman; although primarily designed for the transport of goods and passengers, it was nevertheless outfitted with cannon in order to protect itself against pirates or to open up hostile ports of call. In fact, the East Indiamen were among the most heavily armed ships of their time, and were sometimes acquired by state navies for use as warships.

Because the East Indiaman was designed to carry cannon, the East Indiaman was inevitably slower than its descendants: the Ship of the Line and the Frigate. Yet the strengths of the East Indiamen ensured that the European trade companies that employed them could protect their profitable monopolies on all trade between Europe, the Americas, Africa and India.

StrategyEdit

Using East IndiamenEdit

Many players will leave researching Astronomy until later, (except in heavily water-based maps,) as it obseletes a few things. As a result, East Indiamen are pretty safe alone for quite a while. Giving them Navigation promotions will make them more effective at crossing the seas quickly.

As East Indiamen match Privateers in strength, they're mostly safe from them.

Against East IndiamenEdit

Getting a higher-strength unit (e.g. Ship of the Line, Frigate) is recommended for dealing with East Indiamen. Remember that they can explore your territory even without open borders, so block any sea bottlenecks you don't want them going through.