Post by hardlec on Apr 16, 2016 21:24:17 GMT
In the parlance of this writer there are four types of artillery: Mortars, Howitzers, Field Guns and Rifles.
There are many exceptions. When a military organization needs an artillery weapon, the designers are given a set of specifications. The designers are not told to design a howitzer, but a gun that will help their soldiers achieve victory. The four categories I have selected are not requirements, but observations.
Mortars.
Mortars are typically muzzle loaders with a low velocity that use a very high elevation and arc of fire. The mortar typically uses elevations from 45 degrees to nearly 90 degrees (straight up.) Most mortars are designed to be light enough that they can be carried by men on foot. Divided up into the tube, base plate and bi-pod, a crew of three men could move a mortar of up to 81mm bore about the battlefield. The ammunition supply would require more people.
It was often a practice for a mortar in a pit or trench to fire up and over its protective barrier and then come nearly straight down over the barriers of the target, or out of one trench and plunge into another. The Union used huge mortars on armored barges to smash the defenses at the siege of Vicksburg. Trench mortars were used in the Great War, and the many of the mortars used in the early 21st century can trace their ancestry to the mortars designed for the fluid battlefields of WWII.
Mortars have almost no direct fire ability and damage their targets with the explosive warheads of their shells. Mortars also use smoke, incendiary, gas of various toxicities, and illumination rounds. There are even mortar shells that launch surveillance probes that float across the enemy's territory and send back intelligence, but this is an uncommon use of a mortar.
Mortars have been made from 2 inch bores to over 16 inch bore, extreme cases to 24 inches, but from 3 to 4 inches is most common.
Howitzers have short barrels usually about 25 times as long as the bore. They are are mostly towed or self propelled. They are typically breech loaders with low to medium velocity, but high velocities are not uncommon. The Howitzer is designed to launch a lot of ordinance at a long range, typically with a high arc. Howitzers rarely shoot at over 45 degrees of elevation. The large amounts of ammunition a howitzer uses makes supply a major concern. Howitzers can be used for direct fire, but seldom have sights for this purpose. While it has been said that howitzers are not accurate, a gun with no sights can't be evaluated too harshly. When it comes to hitting an unseen area with plunging fire, Howitzers are very accurate.
While howitzers were developed for the set-piece battles of the Great War, they proved there worth in the fluid warfare of WWII and have become the most common form of big gun.
Howitzers range in bore size from 3 inches to 8 inches, with uncommon to rare examples of 18 inches or more. Howitzers can fire an exceptionally broad range of ammunition, from nuclear to leaflets. As with mortars, the ammunition for Howitzers is not intended to cause damage by hitting the target, rather by getting its payload in the right place for the payload to damage the target.
Field Guns were the first breech loaders. The Field gun is intended to function with both direct and indirect fire. Unfortunately, when developed they were mostly high velocity, but as technology advance the standards of high velocity changed, and field guns became medium to high velocity weapons. As indirect fire weapons they were expensive howitzers, as direct fire weapons they were less effective than rifles of the same bore. The 75mm field gun was an excellent weapon, but when a variant of it was used as the main gun for the US Sherman tank, it was found to lack the punch needed to defeat Nazi armor. By WWII, it was a medium velocity weapon with a medium sized shell, not surprisingly it provided mediocre performance.
Many Howitzers had long enough barrels and high enough velocity to be considered field guns, but they were intended exclusively for the indirect fire role. As Rifles were increasingly replaced with guided missiles, the entire paradigm of the direct fire gun changed. One of the last Field Guns was the WWII British 25 pounder. It was an effective indirect fire weapon and had the punch to knock out tanks as a direct fire piece. By war's end, however, the 25pounder was ready for replacement in both roles. It soldiered on with good effect for several decades, however.
The needs of the militaries around the world made the Field Gun a solution without a problem.
The Rifle was designed first for navies as a weapon for armored ships to shoot at other armored ships. The intention was direct fire, and to damage the target by force of impact as well as the power of the payload. Rifles could shoot indirectly as communication became available, the big guns could shoot “over the hill” if there was an observer with a radio back to the ship. Dreadnought and pre-dreadnought warships typically had guns that could only elevate 15 degrees. Post-dreadnought warships had guns that could elevate up to 45 degrees, as shore bombardment became a higher priority. Anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns needed the high-to-hyper velocity provided by rifles. The need for layers of anti-aircraft protection and the ever increasing protection of tanks made for a plethora of rifles, in bore sizes form 20mm to 460mm. As suddenly as the prolific need for rifles came, things changed and the need evaporated. The guided missile replaced the rifle for most ant-aircraft purposes. Missiles became the preferred anti-tank weapon as well. By the 1950's, only an armored fighting vehicle could carry a gun powerful enough to engage an armored fighting vehicle. In WWII, tanks started with 20 to 35mm guns, but they were rapidly replaced by guns up to 128mm in bore.
In Game terms:
At the beginning of the Second Martian invasion, the armies of the world were armed with a Hodge-podge of artillery. Mortars were used because they could be carried by troops “on foot.” there were overlaps of howitzers and field guns, but rather few rifles on land.
Then Came the Martians.
President Roosevelt tasks an up-and-coming, very-able administrator named Woodrow Wilson to organize the artillery. Wilson has no ties with the myriad military contractors and pork-barrel policies, he is concerned only with evicting the Martians.
Army, Navy and Marines will use the same artillery for the same job. Shell size will be standardized to reduce expense and to be able to produce massive amounts of ammunition, being able to get the right shells to the right place at the right time.
Mortars:
3, 4, 6, 8 inches. Indirect fire. Low velocity area effect weapons.
Field Guns: 3, 4, 6, 8 inches. Indirect or direct fire, high velocity. Point targets or area effect.
Rifles: 3, 5, 7, 12, 14, 16 inches. Hyper-velocity weapons designed for point targets. 12 inch and above are dual purpose: super long range bombardment or destroy just about anything with a direct hit. Rifle ammunition is different from field gun ammunition to prevent confusion.
Machine guns: two types; 30-06 or 50 caliber. A 50 caliber machine gun is a powerful weapon, but not as powerful as a 3-inch field gun.
Now: there needs to be a consensus as to the statistics.
I'd suggest a complete re-do.
There are many exceptions. When a military organization needs an artillery weapon, the designers are given a set of specifications. The designers are not told to design a howitzer, but a gun that will help their soldiers achieve victory. The four categories I have selected are not requirements, but observations.
Mortars.
Mortars are typically muzzle loaders with a low velocity that use a very high elevation and arc of fire. The mortar typically uses elevations from 45 degrees to nearly 90 degrees (straight up.) Most mortars are designed to be light enough that they can be carried by men on foot. Divided up into the tube, base plate and bi-pod, a crew of three men could move a mortar of up to 81mm bore about the battlefield. The ammunition supply would require more people.
It was often a practice for a mortar in a pit or trench to fire up and over its protective barrier and then come nearly straight down over the barriers of the target, or out of one trench and plunge into another. The Union used huge mortars on armored barges to smash the defenses at the siege of Vicksburg. Trench mortars were used in the Great War, and the many of the mortars used in the early 21st century can trace their ancestry to the mortars designed for the fluid battlefields of WWII.
Mortars have almost no direct fire ability and damage their targets with the explosive warheads of their shells. Mortars also use smoke, incendiary, gas of various toxicities, and illumination rounds. There are even mortar shells that launch surveillance probes that float across the enemy's territory and send back intelligence, but this is an uncommon use of a mortar.
Mortars have been made from 2 inch bores to over 16 inch bore, extreme cases to 24 inches, but from 3 to 4 inches is most common.
Howitzers have short barrels usually about 25 times as long as the bore. They are are mostly towed or self propelled. They are typically breech loaders with low to medium velocity, but high velocities are not uncommon. The Howitzer is designed to launch a lot of ordinance at a long range, typically with a high arc. Howitzers rarely shoot at over 45 degrees of elevation. The large amounts of ammunition a howitzer uses makes supply a major concern. Howitzers can be used for direct fire, but seldom have sights for this purpose. While it has been said that howitzers are not accurate, a gun with no sights can't be evaluated too harshly. When it comes to hitting an unseen area with plunging fire, Howitzers are very accurate.
While howitzers were developed for the set-piece battles of the Great War, they proved there worth in the fluid warfare of WWII and have become the most common form of big gun.
Howitzers range in bore size from 3 inches to 8 inches, with uncommon to rare examples of 18 inches or more. Howitzers can fire an exceptionally broad range of ammunition, from nuclear to leaflets. As with mortars, the ammunition for Howitzers is not intended to cause damage by hitting the target, rather by getting its payload in the right place for the payload to damage the target.
Field Guns were the first breech loaders. The Field gun is intended to function with both direct and indirect fire. Unfortunately, when developed they were mostly high velocity, but as technology advance the standards of high velocity changed, and field guns became medium to high velocity weapons. As indirect fire weapons they were expensive howitzers, as direct fire weapons they were less effective than rifles of the same bore. The 75mm field gun was an excellent weapon, but when a variant of it was used as the main gun for the US Sherman tank, it was found to lack the punch needed to defeat Nazi armor. By WWII, it was a medium velocity weapon with a medium sized shell, not surprisingly it provided mediocre performance.
Many Howitzers had long enough barrels and high enough velocity to be considered field guns, but they were intended exclusively for the indirect fire role. As Rifles were increasingly replaced with guided missiles, the entire paradigm of the direct fire gun changed. One of the last Field Guns was the WWII British 25 pounder. It was an effective indirect fire weapon and had the punch to knock out tanks as a direct fire piece. By war's end, however, the 25pounder was ready for replacement in both roles. It soldiered on with good effect for several decades, however.
The needs of the militaries around the world made the Field Gun a solution without a problem.
The Rifle was designed first for navies as a weapon for armored ships to shoot at other armored ships. The intention was direct fire, and to damage the target by force of impact as well as the power of the payload. Rifles could shoot indirectly as communication became available, the big guns could shoot “over the hill” if there was an observer with a radio back to the ship. Dreadnought and pre-dreadnought warships typically had guns that could only elevate 15 degrees. Post-dreadnought warships had guns that could elevate up to 45 degrees, as shore bombardment became a higher priority. Anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns needed the high-to-hyper velocity provided by rifles. The need for layers of anti-aircraft protection and the ever increasing protection of tanks made for a plethora of rifles, in bore sizes form 20mm to 460mm. As suddenly as the prolific need for rifles came, things changed and the need evaporated. The guided missile replaced the rifle for most ant-aircraft purposes. Missiles became the preferred anti-tank weapon as well. By the 1950's, only an armored fighting vehicle could carry a gun powerful enough to engage an armored fighting vehicle. In WWII, tanks started with 20 to 35mm guns, but they were rapidly replaced by guns up to 128mm in bore.
In Game terms:
At the beginning of the Second Martian invasion, the armies of the world were armed with a Hodge-podge of artillery. Mortars were used because they could be carried by troops “on foot.” there were overlaps of howitzers and field guns, but rather few rifles on land.
Then Came the Martians.
President Roosevelt tasks an up-and-coming, very-able administrator named Woodrow Wilson to organize the artillery. Wilson has no ties with the myriad military contractors and pork-barrel policies, he is concerned only with evicting the Martians.
Army, Navy and Marines will use the same artillery for the same job. Shell size will be standardized to reduce expense and to be able to produce massive amounts of ammunition, being able to get the right shells to the right place at the right time.
Mortars:
3, 4, 6, 8 inches. Indirect fire. Low velocity area effect weapons.
Field Guns: 3, 4, 6, 8 inches. Indirect or direct fire, high velocity. Point targets or area effect.
Rifles: 3, 5, 7, 12, 14, 16 inches. Hyper-velocity weapons designed for point targets. 12 inch and above are dual purpose: super long range bombardment or destroy just about anything with a direct hit. Rifle ammunition is different from field gun ammunition to prevent confusion.
Machine guns: two types; 30-06 or 50 caliber. A 50 caliber machine gun is a powerful weapon, but not as powerful as a 3-inch field gun.
Now: there needs to be a consensus as to the statistics.
I'd suggest a complete re-do.
