T'ien Ch'i Gunpowder Theme idea

[Wauthan]

*Scratches head* How long would it take for these guys to reload their guns? Saw a show on Discovery that mentioned that trained crossbowyers were lucky to get two shots a minute since reloading took so long.

I'm also confused by the low accuracy of these weapons. Since there's no "Hold and Fire" command they might well be more dangerous to your own troops than any other archer unit in the game.

Wasn't the repeating crossbow only good for seven shots? It oughto be treated as a real crossbow though rather than a shortbow. It wasn't that much faster or weaker than a european "light" crossbow. I say give it one attack a turn + armor piercing but smaller ammunition.

[Simmy Sims]

Originally posted by Wauthan:
*Scratches head* How long would it take for these guys to reload their guns? Saw a show on Discovery that mentioned that trained crossbowyers were lucky to get two shots a minute since reloading took so long.

I'm also confused by the low accuracy of these weapons. Since there's no "Hold and Fire" command they might well be more dangerous to your own troops than any other archer unit in the game.

Wasn't the repeating crossbow only good for seven shots? It oughto be treated as a real crossbow though rather than a shortbow. It wasn't that much faster or weaker than a european "light" crossbow. I say give it one attack a turn + armor piercing but smaller ammunition.

OK, you inspired me to do some quick research. The matchlock harquebuse is supposed to have had a rate of fire of 2 / minute, same as the crossbow. So I really ought to give it the same RoF as the crossbow.

As for accuracy, I can't find anything indicating that these weapons were any less accurate than other weapons. Their effective range was much less than the bow or crossbow, though. Also, another game source inducates that guns were about as effective against heavy armor as against light. Try these stats, then:

Harquebuse
Damage 14
Armor-Piercing
Rate of Fire 1 / 2 Rounds
Range 20
Precision 0
Ammunition 12

Pistol
Damage 10
Armor Piercing
Rate of Fire 1 (no reloading involved)
Range 15
Precision -1
Ammunition 2

I found a page on the chu-ko-nu (the actual Chinese repeating crossbow). Rate of fire was supposedly 1 per SECOND, with a magazine holding 10 bolts and an effective range of 50-75 yards. The chu-ko-nu was a light crossbow (not otherwise represented in the game) and so should probably have damage characteristic of a shortbow.

Repeating Crossbow
Damage 8
Armor Piercing
3 shots / round
Range 15
Precision +6
Ammunition 3

Note: I'm assuming 3 actual shots per "shot", thus the high precision (I'm assuming one in three will actually hit something) and low ammunition (enough for one volley).

[Wauthan]

Excellent research and ideas Mr Sims. It seems like a very interesting mod for T'ien Ch'i. One that will be very unusual to play with.

These guys will be very "fire then melee" types with the low ammo but high damage. Makes them very versatile compared to the "fire or melee" as is the case now. I like your interpretation of many-bolts-as-one since this makes the Cho-Ko-Nu units a lot less of a threat compared to multiple attacks each turn.

Might I suggest giving this faction a forced drain and order scale to reflect its focus on research and discipline rather then magic?

[Simmy Sims]

Originally posted by Wauthan:
Excellent research and ideas Mr Sims. It seems like a very interesting mod for T'ien Ch'i. One that will be very unusual to play with.

These guys will be very "fire then melee" types with the low ammo but high damage. Makes them very versatile compared to the "fire or melee" as is the case now. I like your interpretation of many-bolts-as-one since this makes the Cho-Ko-Nu units a lot less of a threat compared to multiple attacks each turn.

Might I suggest giving this faction a forced drain and order scale to reflect its focus on research and discipline rather then magic?

Thanks. For the scales, I was thinking forced Drain 2 and Misfortune 1 (the latter because of the bad luck created by turning their back on their traditions). I could see this theme using Order or Turmoil (technological change = turmoil, discipline = order).