William Black" <william.black@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>"Rich Rostrom" <rrostrom.21stcentury@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
>> You seem to think that a matchlock musket
>> with a maximum effective range of maybe
>> a hundred yards, that takes a minute to reload,
>> and can't even be fired in wet weather,
>> is "the wrath of God".
>
>From a standing start you can get three volleys in the first minute and
>they'll blow holes in seventeenth century steel breastplates at 200
yards.
>
>The Romans march into battle, they'll get shot to bits in the two
minutes
>it tales to march up to the people with the guns.
If it comes down to a field battle
between a full-sized Continental
army and a Legion using the same
tactics they would use against Picts
or Germans, something like that is
possible.
But it won't. The Romans are not stupid.
They will see that they are in a bizarre,
dangerous, and novel situation. They will
_adapt_. It is very probable that some
Continental state (the Dutch, possibly)
will offer to supply Britannia with firearms
in return for alliance against Spain.
There will probably be English soldiers
fleeing the wrath of O'Neill in Ireland.
Being Protestants, they won't even consider
signing on with Spain or France.
Within a month of the ISOT, long before
any Continental power would be considering
invasion, Britannia would have a company or
two of their own musketeers, plus a cannon
or three. Now, the Romans weren't psychic:
they won't abandon the standard Legion
formations and weapons until something
Bad happens; but the Bad thing won't be
the complete destruction of Britannic
arms in one battle.
Incidentally, there were plenty of cases
of shock action overwhelming troops with
firearms well into the 19th century;
far better firearms than were around in
1600.
--
| People say "There's a Stradivarius for sale for a |
| million," and you say "Oh, really? What's wrong |
| with it?" - Yitzhak Perlman |
|
