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Old 11-02-2009, 02:20 AM   #56
Icelander
 
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Iceland*
Default Re: Emerging smokepowder weapons in my fantasy

Quote:
Originally Posted by Polydamas View Post
Those weapons seem broadly reasonable. I think most rich armies would play around with smokepowder, and it might have a use against plate armour and large monsters, but because of the price I doubt it will be a serious competition for bows and crossbows. That seems to be the position you're leaning towards, Icelander.
Agreed. Even though I use slightly less optimistic stats for bows and crossbows than GURPS RAW, those weapons still outcompete early firearms by a considerable margin if considered from a cost-effectiveness point of view.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Polydamas View Post
For the armour piercing role, one historical approach was using cast-iron shot for smallarms. In the Realms this ammunition might be cheaper and more spherical than historical iron shot. Steel shot from smoothbores seems to have about a (1.25) to (1.5) armour divisor according to the best test I know of.
The lighter steel shot will do less damage than lead shot, though. I expect that armour penetration is still better with steel than lead, but do you know how to compute the damage difference?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Polydamas View Post
But can you cram more firepower onto a ship by hiring archers or wizards or gunners? Given the cost of powder, I'd expect most naval guns to be light things, with possibly a few heavy guns which are expected to fire once or twice in a given fight.
Certainly, wizards are a naval necessity. But even very rich privateering firms, such as the PCs' company, have trouble finding enough for their purposes. Minor mages abound, but the truly powerful ones that can sink a ship with their spells are not very common.
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