Black Powder Weapons (Split)

[bergh]

first of all, I also wan't black powder weapons for TROS
BUT, i need info about the different techs used:

Flintlock
Matchlocks
Wheellocks

can anybody give a short description of these techs, and maybe link a picture :)?

[Valamir]

Do a google on those terms, and maybe a few others like "15th century" or "historical" to cut down on all of the modern day blackpowder hunting sites out there and you'll find whole encyclopedias of information on them.

[bergh]

sorry i should have thinked of that my self....my little stupid brain is not working right i think

[Andrew Mure]

Here is some information I managed to dig up from Encarta on early firearms. Hope it helps.

Firelocks
In the first quarter of the 14th century, the firelock was developed, a simple, smooth-bore tube of iron, closed at the breech end except for an opening called a touchhole, and set into a rounded piece of wood for holding under the arm. The tube was loaded with shot and powder and then fired by inserting a heated wire into the touchhole. Later models had a saucerlike depression, called a flashpan, in the barrel at the outer end of the touchhole; a small charge of powder was placed in the flashpan and fired by applying a so-called slow match. The slow match, consisting of a piece of cord soaked in a solution of potassium nitrate and then dried, smouldered without flaming or becoming extinguished. The charge of powder in the flashpan was difficult to ignite, was frequently affected by moisture in the atmosphere, and required repriming just before use to ensure against misfires.
Matchlocks
About the middle of the 15th century a type of musket called the matchlock was introduced. This weapon was essentially the same as the firelock, except that the slow match was clamped in the top of a device called a serpentine, an S-shaped piece of metal pivoted on the centre. Pulling with one finger on the bottom of the serpentine, as on a trigger, moved the top with the attached slow match into the priming pan, which contained the firing charge of gunpowder. Because only one finger was needed to fire the weapon, the matchlock left both hands free to hold and aim the firearm. A refinement in the shape of its stock to permit firing from the shoulder produced the harquebus.
Wheel Locks
An improvement in the firing mechanism of small arms, called the wheel lock, was invented around 1515. It consisted of a spring-driven wheel, which, when released by a trigger mechanism, rotated a hardened steel rim against a lump of iron pyrites, throwing a shower of sparks into the powder in the priming pan and thus firing the weapon. At approximately the same time as the wheel lock, gunsmiths introduced rifled barrels.
The wheel lock was too complicated and expensive for general acceptance; early in the 17th century, the snaphance was invented. This type of firing mechanism consisted of a hammer powered by a trigger spring and bearing a piece of flint; when the trigger was pulled, the hammer struck the flint against a serrated steel striker plate located above the priming pan and thus produced a shower of sparks.
Flintlocks
The final development of the flint-ignition firearm was the flintlock. It resembled the snaphance, except that the striker plate was .L-shaped; the bottom limb of the L was used as a cover for the priming pan, to protect the powder from moisture until the upper limb was struck by the flint of the hammer. This action produced a shower of sparks when the powder in the pan was uncovered.
The flintlock was the prevailing type of small-arms weapon for both shoulder guns and handguns from the end of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century. Smoothbore flintlock muskets were the primary military weapon for infantry in the armies of the principal European powers. In 1807 the Scottish clergyman and inventor Alexander John Forsyth invented the percussion-ignition system, making possible the development of successful breech-loading firearms, that is, firearms loaded through the rear of the barrel rather than through the muzzle.
Many early 19th-century breech-loaders used a cartridge containing only powder and ball; the weapon was usually equipped with a nipple holding a percussion cap that was fired by the impact of the hammer, or striker, when released by the trigger. In the 1850s the self-contained centre-fire cartridges came into use. Their design, with one-piece case, is essentially identical to modern centre-fire types.



"Small Arms," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 99 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

[Salamander]

Well, I did do some stats for firearms last year.
Here they are for those who are interested. Also, I added a few new rules for the support of muskets and arquebuses through play. I'll add them at the bottom...

Renaissance is the setting I am planning on employing. I have been contemplating the use of firearms in the game as well. Several things must be considered historically.

1). While they were easier to use, they were not at all accurate beyond a few dozen yards at the beginning of the Renaissance.

2). Arquebuses were notoriously innaccurate, but the muskets were amazingly heavy (like 20 pounds heavy).

3). Loading and prep times could lead to the loss of an entire company of Arquebusiers/Musketeers if the captain was not thinking that far ahead.

4). Rain... Matchlock... 'nuff said.

5). Remember! Always rewind your wheellock after reloading but before firing!

So... I had been contemplating some stats based upon what I know about firearms of the day.

ARQUEBUS:
The Arquebus was the standard weapon at the very beginning of Modern History with the first examples being fielded by the Spaniards in 1475. The weapon was heavy and fairly clumsy, but was proven to be effective in volley. The Arquebus was a popular move due to the fact that the industrially based weapon could not be readily made by the masses and the support of the weapon required specialized knowledge. This meant that the weapon was easier to collect and if not collected, the person posessing the weapon had a limited use before he was either caught, or ran out of powder.

Firing Type: Match ( + 10 - 20 rounds prep in wet weather)
20 rounds preparation time.
Refresh begins once the Arquebus is leveled.
3MP dice to reduce prep time by one second at Reflex/TN of 8.
Attack Target Number (ATN): 7
Effective ST: 4 - 7 (depending upon amount of charge)*
DR: ST + 4p (8 - 11)
Range: +1 ATN per 15 yards.

*For every additional Effective ST beyond 5 there was a chance the weapon would explode in the user's face. To reflect this, reduce the number of successes by one for every additional Effective ST beyond 5. If a botch occurs the weapon explodes causing 2 + 1 for every additional charge on Puncture Wound Table: Zone XIII. Other wise a Botch indicates the weapon did not fire due to the powder failing to ignite or the match having gone out.

Cost: 4g/2g/16s
Powder (per Effective ST): 3b/2b/1b
Bullet Mold: 8s/4s/2s,8c
Match (per foot): 8c/4c/2c,3b

Matchlock Musket:
The Matchlock Musket was an advance upon the Arquebus, being more accurate, but much heavier at the same time. The matchlock was in fact heavy enough to warrant requiring an aiming fork (And the Arquebusier laments, "Great! more things to carry")!

Firing Type: Match ( + 10 - 20 rounds prep in wet weather)
20 rounds preparation time.
Refresh begins once the Musket is leveled.
4MP dice to reduce prep time by one second at Reflex/TN of 8.
Attack Target Number (ATN): 6
Effective ST: 4 - 7 (depending upon amount of charge)*
DR: ST + 4p (8 - 11)
Range: +1 ATN per 20 yards.

*For every additional Effective ST beyond 5 there was a chance the weapon would explode in the user's face. To reflect this, reduce the number of successes by one for every additional Effective ST beyond 5. If a botch occurs the weapon explodes causing 2 + 1 for every additional charge on Puncture Wound Table: Zone XIII. Otherwise a Botch indicates the weapon did not fire due to either the powder failing to ignite or a match having gone out.

Cost: 6g/3g/2g
Powder (per Effective ST): 3b/2b/1b
Bullet Mold: 8s/4s/2s,8c
Match (per foot): 8c/4c/2c,3b
Fork: 1s/6c/4c

For those who want to know, the Arquebus was between 10 and 14 pounds on average and the Musket was between 20 - 25 pounds. The fork weighed about 2 - 3 pounds. The average Arquebusier/Musketeer would carry perhaps 20 rounds of shot and powder, which weighed about 2 pounds.

Wheellocks exist, but are incredibly expensive and are most often seen as pistols used by the wealthy.

Wheellock Pistol:
The Wheellock is the first weapon to use a flint and steel system to create the spark needed to fire the powder. The wheellock is usually made by conglomorate. A clock maker would produce the firing mechanism while a weapon smith would make the barrel and a carpenter would produce the fittings. The wheellock was an incredibly expensive weapon due to its complexity and was reserved for the wealthy. As fire arms of the day were reserved for the battle field, it would be rare to see a person wandering around with a wheellock for any other reason than to "doo mischeef moste greivous".

Firing Type: Wheel
20 rounds preparation time.
Refresh begins once the pistol is leveled.
2MP dice to reduce prep time by one second at Reflex/TN of 8.
Attack Target Number (ATN): 7
Effective ST: 3 - 5 (depending upon amount of charge)*
DR: ST + 3p (6 - 8)
Range: +1 ATN per 8 yards.

*For every additional Effective ST beyond 3 there was a chance the weapon would explode in the user's face. To reflect this, reduce the number of successes by one for every additional Effective ST beyond 5. If a botch occurs the weapon explodes causing 1 + 1 for every additional charge on Puncture Wound Table: Zone XIII. Otherwise a Botch indicates the weapon did not fire due to either the powder failing to ignite or the wheel not being wound properly.

Cost: 12g/6g/4g
Powder (per Effective ST): 3b/2b/1b
Bullet Mold: 8s/4s/2s,8c
Winding Fork: 4s/2s/1s,6c

I have yet to start the campaign, but I have been doing some research on the weapons and culture. I have to say that I am glad I have been nosing around the Renaissance as I have come across some startling information. I will be using it in my game.

While I have not yet used these stats in play, they are what I have been able to come up with. Balance be damned is the motto and I put these together as historically accurately as I could. The bit about firearms being picked up at that time and how it was easier to collect them and keep the population from having them is mostly conjecture, but makes sense considering the cost and effectiveness of bows and crossbows was superior up until the tail end of the 16th century. The early Renaissance harness was no longer proofed with a crossbow quarrel, but with a musket ball, so the advent of fire arms did not lead to the fall of full harness. I have heard several theories, most of them quite interesting.

Hope this helps...

RULES ADDENDUM:

For those of you who are keen on a little more accuraccy I also added some rules do describe the inherent unreliability and general innaccuracy of the weapon.

Reliability of Early Firearms:

In the renaissance early firearms were not very reliable, to this end we are going to instill a rule of "Ones for Guns" In essence, any ones rolled will have an adverse effect on the attack, to be determined at the time of occurrence. It could range from a reduced amount of damage due to shoddy powder a match going out or a misfire, etc...

Bracing to Fire:

Muskets were notoriously heavy weapons and were quite poorly balanced. Due to this they were employed with a stick with a forked end. The musket would be braced upon the fork and then fired. To this end we will be instilling an ATN increase when the musket is not properly braced. When fired free hand (no bracing or fork) the firer will see a +2 ATN. For bracing against something without (not a fork) will see a +1 ATN. Using a fork will see no increase in ATN.

[Brian Leybourne]

Split from a very old thread, please don;t post to old threads, guys.

NB, firearms are in TFOB.

Brian.