I tried to post this last night, but submit didn't work, so I copied it to an off-line text file. From posts on the thread today, looks like I got the premise right. Some thoughts on what might happen below.
Would make a *very* interesting mod, with some quite strange tech trees (e.g. a poison gas branch, several electricity/battery advances, etc.)
jimbob27 said:
I don't really understand the concept.
No combustion... yet you're saying coal and steam engines and everything are alright? Coal dust is extremely explosive.. people would just use alternative materials to get the same effect if the present materials arn't there.
No combustion also means no iron, no copper, no electricity.. basically no to everything that isn't a pointy stick.
I think the idea was that things could burn, but not explode. Or perhaps more specifically, no gunpowder and no internal combustion engine.
That is, anything human or tension powered is ok, as are steam engines. Nuclear power could fit in with this system or not, depending on what you were going for.
You can do amazing things with steam if you have to; the airplane catapults on modern carriers are actually steam catapults, driven off the waste heat from the nuclear reactor, I believe.
Navy:
Everything up to oil-powered ships would be on, and then modern navies OK if you allow nuclear power. It would be nice to simulate the reduced endurance of steam powered navies by bringing back the damage/turn thing from civ3 helicopters.
Air:
Obviously, zepplins would play a much larger role. Observation baloons, barrage balloons (tethered balloons with some sort of ranged troops would be a good defence against zepplin bombers, perhaps)? Then true zepplins. Not sure how flight would work without the internal combustion engine. Is it possible in theory to have a steam-driven plane? Too heavy? Obviously, no rockets of any sort, although you could still have a spaceship with alternate propulsion, using controlled nuclear explosions to launch. (Assuming nuclear explosions are possible, not just nuclear power). Perhaps electric engines get developed, allowing a tactical fighter (low endurance). Steam helicopters?
Artillery:
Interesting to speculate on how advanced weight-driven or torsion siege engines could get. Probably just catapults and trebuchets, though. Maybe one further generation.
Steam catapults and/or steam cannon seem like a possibility, though. Not sure what kind of maximum pressure you can get, but remember, the ammunition would have to be purely physical (e.g. no explosive shells).
With electricity, you could build electro-magnetic rail guns which can pack a serious punch (continuous acceleration along the entire length of a football field anyone?); would work as railway guns for heavy artillery. Eventually, you could have rail guns lauching tactical nukes if you allow nukes.
Poison gas would also be a significant artillery ammunition, as would Greek fire/napalm. Imagine a whole poison gas research tree, with better gas and gas-countermeasures coming into play.
Cavalry/Armor:
Mounted units would stay about the same until the invention of the carbine, which would make modern cavalry weaker. No reason you couldn't have clumbsy steam-driven tanks, but I can't see them getting much better than WWI tanks. You could eventually have armoured electric cars in a traditional cavalry recon/mop-up role, but questionable whether you could really have electric tanks. Of course, they might not have to haul around all that much armor, since there wouldn't be PIATs and Bazookas.
Infantry:
I expect that you'd see the longbow as more dominant; it was arguably more effective in the hands of a trained wielder than the gun until repeating rifles in about 1850 (more accurate, longer range, and/or higher rate of fire). The problem was that it required a *lot* of training, and guns were comparable and required less training. You'd get expensive, elite longbow troops that would be about as effective as Napoleonic infantry (e.g. about like grenadiers), and presumably cross-bows could be improved about to the level of musketmen (and be much cheaper).
Can't see personal steam weapons, really. Flamethrowers would be big, as would close-combat ranged weapons (tomahawk, shuriken, etc.); you'd have those instead of pistols, Xbows/longbows instead of distance, and of course everyone would still carry a sword or axe.
Not sure if electric personal weapons make sense, but you might get something reasonably effective out of compressed air (e.g. range and accuracy of a xbow, a little bit more dangerous, perhaps)? Eventually lasers, I suppose.
Sorry this is so long; it's late, I got a bit carried away.
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