Emerging smokepowder weapons in my fantasy

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Cannon round shot is actually not very effective against personnel, at least not compared to the 2-3 lbs. of smokepowder it takes to fire it and how many ca one ounce round balls might be fired from fusils for the same amount of powder.

Well . . . I've heard that the benefits of round shot include the ability to break up massed formations (i.e., pikes) at a distance. Relatively few people might be killed, but those deaths will be quite dramatic and may persuade the faint-hearted to recall an urgent engagement elsewhere. And, people ducking & dodging the rolling cannon balls will also disrupt things.

But the real prize is defense at short range -- multiple shots, langrage & canister. As Catton said of the American Civil War, a 12 pounder firing triple shotted canister would dismember charging infantry faster than their replacements could get into action.

"Well, that's the ACW." Well, a 12 pounder from 1550 could fire multiple shot rounds about as well as a Napoleon in 1862. It was in the areas of shellfire & mobility that the Napoleon shone; it was still a smoothbore firing multiple-shot rounds as in 1550. As Nathan Bedford Forrest said, "There really isn't any good way to attack a battery."