Mike wrote: > Also reaction to new tech.. > > US Civil War, the armies both went to war using tactics books from 1814.
In the Civil War example, I can understand the generals. A gradual change had reached a tipping point and they missed it. Muskets and rifles had been getting better for centuries and in response the pike and shot formations had been getting thinner and thinner, until the pike was gone and the rifles were a "thin red line" -- yet the Highlanders held at Balaclava. Breaking up into dispersed skirmish lines required a breechloading rifle, which wasn't quite mature yet. Your example from the last post was more like Civil War generals charging an unbroken pike block with cavalry, because nobody told them what a pike is and how to deal with it. THAT would have been inexcusable. > Also amazed that the Gatling gun and like did not come out until after the > war, it was said to have been used in some places but .. All the elements or > most for WW1 was there in the civil war, other than maybe chemical munitions > but .. the rest was there for ground war fare.. I'm not amazed. A WWI-style watercooled MG gave three or four men the firepower of a hundred. A hand-cranked gatling firing gave an artillery team including horses the firepower of a cannon firing canister ... > Naval and Air was about to jump a bit forward, but it was showing some of > the signs later used in WW1. Actually, HMS Warrior was launched in 1860. Regards, Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
