"Tell them from me they are unloading history." —Winston Churchill
 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
| Prereq: | Build time | HP | LOS | Attack | Attack speed | Movement speed | ||
|
32s (482t) |
536 | 21 | 59 | 1.9s (28t) |
47 | ||
| Cost | Created from | Armour | Weapon range | Specialty | ||||
| Base | Ramp | Pop | ||||||
 : x; : y
|
 : z
|
4 | 
|
22 | 0-18 |
| ||
Overall strategy[]
The next phase in modern naval technology, the Cruiser functions as the basic medium ship of the Mechanisation Era. She is still a very costly unit to build, but such is the price you pay: all it takes to devastate an enemy town is uninterrupted shelling by five of these warships.
However, obtaining these new warships isn't always so easy. For one, you must first obtain the Military-Industrial Complex in order to construct them, by finishing the research of Bessemer Process. The next step then will be that you need to research another upgrade, Steelworks, in order to unlock the ability to upgrade all Heavy Ships to the Ironclad. This means that JUST to obtain the Ironclad (as well as unlock the more devastationg Destroyer and Dreadnought-class vessels) you need to jump through lots of technological and resource hoops. For one, the Military-Industrial Complex is not very cheap to build, meaning that you will have problems if you do not have the resources on hand to complete whatever research you need to do (for instance, you need Oil to actually build the Military-Industrial Complex).
As always, however, Cruisers have one enemy like many medium and heavy warships: Torpedo Boats and Submarines. If this is the case, your task is to recruit your own Torpedo Boats to counter them, or to quickly tech up and get out the MIC to obtain Destroyers. Additionally, Cruisers are still rather small craft, so do not think of pitting them against enemy Dreadnoughts. Equally Cruisers, while capable of attacking enemy aircraft, are actually quite weak against them but by all means can be used with great efficacy against enemy Zeppelins in the event that they do make an appearance.
Trivia[]
The models of the Cruisers used in this mod are based off the appearance of the Scharnhorst and the Pisa.
See also[]
History[]
The emergence and proliferation of extensive steel production in early Industrial Europe soon meant that it was also being used more extensively especially in a military application.
Unsurprisingly, this had a profound effect on naval technology. In comparison to bronze or iron, steel — now released of the strictures of rarity and high cost — soon found itself being used, first in swords and cannon, as well as gun barrels, and eventually in shipbuilding. Steel was stronger than iron, and with its (now) low cost it meant that it was now possible to build warships of a relatively small size that were still nevertheless capable of dealing serious damage thanks to the strength of their construction.
The first such ship was the Esmeralda (later renamed Izumi by her Japanese purchasers). While Esmeralda continued to carry masts and broadside guns, she was also notable for a new addition — armoured decks, which made her more resistant to surface attacks. Tensions at the end of the 19th century meant that the construction and design of cruisers would soon follow suit, eventually resulting in the creation of heavier vessels, such as the battle cruiser and the dreadnought.