Quote Originally Posted by Watchman
(properly Helvetian; "Swiss" is apparently derived from an insult related to pigs the Landsknechts called them with)
???
pig in german is "Schwein", I cannot see that much resemblance there apart from both beginning with an "S".
The swiss call themselves "Schweizer" in German, so I´d doubt it comes from some insult having to do with pigs.

And concerning artillery, of course a cannonball can kill several men at once, but wouldn´t a fast advance be a usual and logical reaction to this? Were there battles where people just waited to get shot to pieces?