Muskets!

[LuciusCato]

Any ideas on how they will rangle the musket accuracy issue? for example will millitia units, fire high? will we see musket balls hitting the ground and creating dust like arrows do in MIITW ? I assume Elite or Profesional (sp) unit will fire faster?

[Hunter Makoy]

i have a feeling it will be something like that. since there wont be as drasticly diverse unit types, i think there will be some very specific differences between the types of musketeers.

[Frost, colonel]

They have said that if you fire too soon that the volley will be ineffective, so if you're troops aren't quick reloaders, then perphaps you should wait till you see the whites of their eyes.

I did see some interesting 1800 centuary weapons at a museum, the Austrians had powerfull air guns and some countries had adapted muskets with grenade launchers fitted.

[General A. Skywalker]

I did see some interesting 1800 centuary weapons at a museum, the Austrians had powerfull air guns and some countries had adapted muskets with grenade launchers fitted.

a.) Those air guns weren't used on battlefield, as they weren't powerfull enough.

b.) Well, they didn't adapt grenade launchers on muskets. The weapon you're talking off is simply a grenade launcher. (But I know what you mean, the stock looks like a stock of a musket)
... but also hardly used, as far as I know.

[Frost, colonel]

a.) Those air guns weren't used on battlefield, as they weren't powerfull enough.

I thought that although the regular army didn't use them that they were used against french troops by partisans and were effective, still I could be wrong.

[General A. Skywalker]

I thought that although the regular army didn't use them that they were used against french troops by partisans and were effective, still I could be wrong.

Could be. I just know that the regular Austrian army didn't use them.
Effective... surely, they could kill a man. But the hole wouldn't be as big as if he was hit by a musket.

[Trax]

A wiki link about this peculiar instrument

Girandoni Air Rifle

This has the potential of becoming the ETW equivalent of flamin' pigs and elephant mounted cannons

[HansDuet]

Bunch of dudes owning redcoats with... air-rifles... Sounds fun
I got one lying in corner. Barely kills a pigeon...

[Mithradates]

Just to make this clear, that air-rifles were not like the today hobby or sport air-rifles:

"air guns could be fired in wet weather (unlike matchlocks) and with greater rapidity than the muzzle-loading guns of the period. Moreover, they were quieter than a firearm of similar caliber, had no muzzle flash and were completely smokeless, not disclosing the shooter's position on firing. Black powder guns of the 18th and 19th century produced huge volumes of dense smoke on firing, giving air rifles an advantage over them. One might also assume that the sound of an air gun would have been inaudible against the noise of a pitched battle."

"For general usage air guns were not a real challenge to the dominant position of powder weapons. They were expensive, delicate, air reservoirs could burst explosively and the valves were not well sealed and slowly leaked pressure. Historical accounts mention common soldiers were often unable to handle the complex guns [citation needed], this seems logical in an age where the average peasant recruit had never encountered a machine more complex than a horse-drawn cart. People who had any experience with mechanical devices (millers or clockmakers) were few and far between. The guns of the period were crude and required little skill by the infantryman.

During this period, France, Austria and other nations had special sniper detachments using air rifles. The Austrian 1780 model was named "Windbüchse" (literally "wind rifle") in German. The guns were developed in 1778 or 1779 [1] by the Tyrolese watchmaker, mechanic and gunsmith Bartholomäus Girandoni (1744-1799) and are occasionally referred to as "Girandoni air guns" in literature (the name is occasionally spelled "Girandony"; "Giradoni" [2] or "Girardoni" [3]. The Windbüchse (or the Girandoni Air Rifle) was about 4 ft (1.2 m) long and weighed 10 pounds (4.5 kg), which was about the same size and mass as a conventional musket of the time. The air reservoir was a removable, club-shaped butt. The Windbüchse carried twenty .51" (13 mm) lead balls in a tubular magazine. A skilled shooter could unload one magazine in about thirty seconds, which was a fearsome rate of fire compared to the slower muzzle loaders of the period. A shot from this air gun could penetrate a one-inch wooden board at a hundred paces, an effect roughly equal to that of a modern 9 mm or .45" caliber pistol."

[Bopachinas]

The first true sniper units were only used in the first world war. Otherwise you're talking about skirmisher units, such as jagers and the famous 95th and such.
If super special units of air rifle toting snipers are included, ill be very sad.

[Farnan]

The first true sniper units were only used in the first world war. Otherwise you're talking about skirmisher units, such as jagers and the famous 95th and such.
If super special units of air rifle toting snipers are included, ill be very sad.

Ever hear of Morgan's Riflemen?

500 handpicked sharpshooter trained to target British officers. They were considered war-criminals since targeting the aristocratic officers was considered agains the laws of war. You were only allowed shooting poor enlistedmen.

[Mithradates]

I like the idea of sniper squads, more beliveable than the arcani ninjas or the battlefield-assassins and such total nonsense units.

[Jackbob]

It would be cool if they added officers, flag bearers, drummers and other "special" soldiers for each company. Losing officers would of course decrease morale and maybe make the company harder to control.

[Hunter Makoy]

also love the fact that the bands will be there aswell, actual in battle music while u kill people, it doesn't get any better then that.