Artillery Damage: 18th/19th century cannon

[Hendrik]

Hi there,

does anyone know where I can find the damage ratings for 18th/19th century artillery, in particular Civil War era 70 and 300 pounders (about 5 and 10 inch caliber) as a round/full ball, not filled although grapeshot would be interesting, too.

I would very much appreciate any guess.

SDC estimates would be great, MDC good, too.

Kind regards
Hendrik

[The Galactus Kid]

I don't recall if there are specific examples, but Transdminesional TMNT would be the source I would check first.

[Hendrik]

I don't recall if there are specific examples, but Transdminesional TMNT would be the source I would check first.

Thank you, but TD TMNT has nothing on arty, "just" black powder rifles.

The breaching power of the 10-inch 300-pounder Parrott rifled gun, now about to be used against the brick walls of Fort Sumter, will best be understood by comparing it with the ordinary 24-pounder siege gun, which was the largest gun used for breaching during the Italian War.

The 24-pounder round shot, which starts with a velocity of 1,625 feet per second, strikes an object at the distance of 3,500 yards, with a velocity of about 300 feet per second. The 10-in rifle 300-pound shot has an initial velocity of 1,111 feet, and has afterward a remaining velocity of 700 feet per second, at a distance of 3,500 yards.

From well-known mechanical laws, the resistance which these projectiles are capable of overcoming is equal to 33,750 pounds and 1,914,150 pounds, raised one foot in a second respectively. Making allowances for the differences of the diameters of these projectiles, it will be found that their penetrating power will be 1 to 19.6. The penetration of the 24-pounder shot at 3,500 yards, in brick work, is sic 62 (misprint for 6.2) inches. The penetration of the 10-inch projectile will therefore be between six and seven feet into the same material.

To use a more familiar illustration, the power of the 10-in rifle shot at the distance of 3,500 yards, may be said to be equal to the united blows of 200 sledge hammers weighing 100 pounds each, falling from a height of ten feet and acting upon a drill ten inches in diameter.

[SOURCE: Parrot Rifle on Wikipedia]

[The Beast]

The old Armor, Castles, and Weapons book has a section in the back of it with very early cannons. However it was split up into three smaller books and I don't know if the cannons survived the cut. Also, AFAIK, no Palladium book covers the time period you're looking for.

[Hendrik]

The old Armor, Castles, and Weapons book has a section in the back of it with very early cannons. However it was split up into three smaller books and I don't know if the cannons survived the cut. Also, AFAIK, no Palladium book covers the time period you're looking for.

Thank you!

Yep, the book is great to get an idea on all weapons 15th century down but it does not have damage ratings and does not cover the era I am looking for. The latter is not too bad as long as I find equivalents.

I thought perhaps the above information can help some weapons buff to give an estimate how strong the cannon is vis-a-vis modern shots, grenades, etc.

[Dreamstreamer]

I would work backwards from whatever stats there are for stone walls and castles, figuring a few solid hits from the five-incher to take out a 10' section of wall; one solid hit from the ten-incher. A simpler method is to just use the stats from the Heavy Weapons section of most core books.

Rocket Launcher and 40mm Grenade Launcher do 1d4x100; 90mm Recoiless Rifle does 1d10x100. (BtS1E, pg. 239) Somewhere near those numbers is probably appropriate. Good luck!

[Glistam]

Page 271 of Heroes Unlimited second edition describes the damage of the Create Force Fields "Bolts of Force" sub-power as: feels like getting hit by a rock or cannonball. It lists the damage at 2D6, which I think it a bit low for a cannonball, but there it is anyway.

[Hendrik]

Hmm, that sounds more like the damage a bowling ball may make when tossed by the dude

Thank you both very much for the references. I really should have thought of tha myself, Dreamstreamer.

[Hendrik]

I would work backwards from whatever stats there are for stone walls and castles, figuring a few solid hits from the five-incher to take out a 10' section of wall; one solid hit from the ten-incher. A simpler method is to just use the stats from the Heavy Weapons section of most core books.

Rocket Launcher and 40mm Grenade Launcher do 1d4x100; 90mm Recoiless Rifle does 1d10x100. (BtS1E, pg. 239) Somewhere near those numbers is probably appropriate. Good luck!

A good friend gave me the same guestimate as your numbers. I like the analogue and think I will go with it. Thank you!

[Dreamstreamer]

Slight necro (hey, it's been less than a month!), but I just ran across an article by Bill Coffin on Siege Weapons (linked from the Cutting Room Floor) and thought of you, Hendrik.

Link

Hopefully, you can glean some further/additional insights.

[Hendrik]

That is an excellent article, and I was unaware of it. Thank you!

[Jerell]

If you're a human and get hit with artillery, just roll a save verse death. If you pass, 50% chance to lose a limb. That keeps it nice and simple.

[azazel1024]

TD TMNT does have a bit on artillery in the story on civil war soldiers getting pulled forward and they you heading backward. IIRC it is a 12lb Napolean gun and it had a damage of 2d6x10.

Problem is, PB is terrible at arty and scaling. Something like a 50lb or 300lb, insta death if you get hit by it no matter what (on an SDC scale).

Also keep in mind, the parrot rifle fired SHELLS also, not just solid shot. Even at the low velocity we are talking, a solid shot from a 300lb parrot rifle would be likely to dish in the side of an Abrams MBT if not actually penetrate it (and would likely knock it sliding a good distance). Something that deals on the order of 1-2k SDC in a hit wouldn't be out of place if not 3-4 times that.

[Tinker Dragoon]

TD TMNT does have a bit on artillery in the story on civil war soldiers getting pulled forward and they you heading backward. IIRC it is a 12lb Napolean gun and it had a damage of 2d6x10.

It's actually two 6-pounders, but you're right about the damage: 2D6 x 10 for cannon balls, or 8D6 for canister shot.

[azazel1024]

I guess that is what I get for not having the book in front of me and quoting from memory. At least I was right about the damage