'Futuristic' technology in the early 19th century

With the stunning news that both ironclads and hot air balloons being in the game, i wonder what other 'not exactly in the time frame' technology might turn up in game. I am thinking:

• Breech loading musket rifles / minie ball rounds
• Some kind of early infantry armor
• Telescopes for rifles
• Early mines

What do you guys think, and moreover what technology might they slip into the game that doesn't exactly fit?

I thought breech-loading rifles and mines were in ETW already..? Infantry armor, mm, I don't think so. Telescopes for rifles sounds like an oddity CA might pursue.

I recall early mines being in ETW as well, though it may have just been the mod I was playing (but it was centered on historical accuracy so it may have been a vanilla ETW feature). Personally, while I love history, these little extra non-time period bits are welcome as I like to think of Total War games as more of a sandbox within a time period.. who knows, with our own goals and agendas perhaps we would have the chance to develop these things in an earlier time period

Originally Posted by Solar

I thought breech-loading rifles and mines were in ETW already..? Infantry armor, mm, I don't think so. Telescopes for rifles sounds like an oddity CA might pursue.

Yea there's fougasse already is it called I think.. I was thinking maybe there would be some kind of pressure mine or something.. as for the breech loading i was thinking not for specialist units but if they gave the line infantry something like the snider enfeild..

Originally Posted by brucedickenson

Yea there's fougasse already is it called I think.. I was thinking maybe there would be some kind of pressure mine or something.. as for the breech loading i was thinking not for specialist units but if they gave the line infantry something like the snider enfeild..

Im pretty sure a fougasse isn't a mine directly. I think its more boobytrap-ish : D in my game it looks like the box just fires a lot of grenades like the grenadiers has and then they explode? :p

Originally Posted by brucedickenson

With the stunning news that both ironclads and hot air balloons being in the game, i wonder what other 'not exactly in the time frame' technology might turn up in game. I am thinking:

• Breech loading musket rifles / minie ball rounds
• Some kind of early infantry armor
• Telescopes for rifles
• Early mines

What do you guys think, and moreover what technology might they slip into the game that doesn't exactly fit?

Hot Air balloons were in use, so not outside the time-frame at all.

Breech loading weapons existed in ETW and in reality, remember Ferguson's rifles?

Sappers would sometimes wear body armour when working under fire.

i think u should check ur history as well before labelling stuff as out of time frame

Originally Posted by TheAussieDigger

i think u should check ur history as well before labelling stuff as out of time frame

Or check to see if it's already in ETW (which 3 out of 5 of those are)

Medieval Chinese had landmines, it's not new stuff.

Originally Posted by emperorpenguin

Hot Air balloons were in use, so not outside the time-frame at all.

Breech loading weapons existed in ETW and in reality, remember Ferguson's rifles?

Sappers would sometimes wear body armour when working under fire.

Nobody used breechloading rifles during the Napoleonic period, just like nobody really used them during the 18th c. (except the ferguson rifle, which saw service for 1 or 2 years).

Here are some other wild (probably wrong) guesses:

Pneumatic rifles (also in ETW)
Submarine (another ACW artifact)
Perkins Steam Gun (c. 1824, 1000 rounds per minute)

I want a legit gatling gun. Not a weak ass puckle gun.

Originally Posted by erasmus777

Nobody used breechloading rifles during the Napoleonic period, just like nobody really used them during the 18th c. (except the ferguson rifle, which saw service for 1 or 2 years).

Here are some other wild (probably wrong) guesses:

Pneumatic rifles (also in ETW)
Submarine (another ACW artifact)
Perkins Steam Gun (c. 1824, 1000 rounds per minute)

Nobody used breechloading rifles during the time? There were a number of limited usages of exactly such weapons! Aside from Ferguson we have Durs egg's breechloading carbine of the 1780s, which saw trial use.
Giuseppe Crespi's carbines used by some Austrian cavalry. John Hall's 1811 breech-loading rifle.

No pneumatic rifle either? So what exactly was the Girardoni air rifle developed in 1779, used in the field until 1800 and held in stores until 1815?

Submarines were from the ACW? So you've not heard of Turtle? It's attack on British ships during the AWI only failed due to the copper-bottomed hulls. The concept was shown to work.

How about doing some research before making such sweeping statements?

But he's substantially correct, Emperor. Breech-loading weapons weren't practical until the development of primer and (most importantly) automated, uniform brass cartridge production technology. And that's what these people are really talking about - effective breechloaders.

The rest of his post I think you misread. Those were "guesses" of things that were going to be included. And someone already mentioned the Turtle.

Originally Posted by Randall Turner

But he's substantially correct, Emperor..

Saying NOBODY used them when clearly some soldiers did does not make him substantially correct!

I demand Communism and Socialism to be a government type if Ironclads are in the game! I want my gentlemen to write books on communism so I may spread it to all corners of Europe!

Perhaps I will name one of my gentlemen Lenin and send him off to Russia...

Originally Posted by LiN

I demand Communism and Socialism to be a government type if Ironclads are in the game! I want my gentlemen to write books on communism so I may spread it to all corners of Europe!

Perhaps I will name one of my gentlemen Lenin and send him off to Russia...

I would be all over that -- they should start with the three basic governments from ETW and have you research socialism and then communism becomes an available choice -- but can only be revolted to and then only if there is a monarchy in place!

I want battlefields big enough to let us use and show the difference between range and accuracy of smoothbore vs. rifled artillery.

Originally Posted by l33tl4m3r

I want battlefields big enough to let us use and show the difference between range and accuracy of smoothbore vs. rifled artillery.

They are.

I was thinking that technology that wasn't in wide use in the armies till say the Crimean war in the UK's sense might end up in Napoleon total war.

well iron clads are a mid victorian thing, think HMS Warrior or La Gloire. Or of course Monitor and.. erm.. the other one. If we're going that far into the future, having breech loaders seems fair enough, but it isn't really napoleonic. Oh well, it'd be kinda cool to be able to go all steampunky if you felt the historic route was dull, though again i reckon that'd be better suited to a victorian style total war game than a napoleonic one.

Originally Posted by Moggy Cattermole

well iron clads are a mid victorian thing, think HMS Warrior or La Gloire. Or of course Monitor and.. erm.. the other one.

Merrimac (the ship was renamed Virginia, but most use Merrimac).

It is rather silly to introduce Ironclads into NTW as they didnt appear until 50 years after the Napoleonic period, but as a "cool factor" item, its..well. cool i guess

Originally Posted by Moggy Cattermole

If we're going that far into the future, having breech loaders seems fair enough, but it isn't really napoleonic.

Not quite Napoleonic, no. Even 50 years after, during the ACW, most "line infantry" still mainly used muskets (muzzle loading weapons). Specialist units and Cavalry generally had better weapons like the Sharps, Spencer and Henry rifles, etc, but they were few in number compared to the musket.