Is there any mod that has realistic firing power

[Forward Observer]

Thanks for reply well if you consider that they use rifles and a rifle could be accurate at 500 meters the game is a bit inaccurarte

Hi Jo,

I might also point out that the rifles modeled in the game are supposed to represent mostly post US civil war era rifles, i.e., 1863 Springfield's and 1853 Enfield's---firing .58 and .577 caliber Minnie balls respectively. The ammunition was interchangeable in combat situations. On a target range, a trained marksman lying prone might get 500 meter hits, but on the battlefield under combat conditions the effective combat range was closer to 180 --240 meters. Remember that combat firing conditions are immensely different than firing range conditions.

The elite troops would have the breech loading versions of the same weapons, which would be the Trapdoor conversion of the Springfield and the Snider conversion of the Endfield. While much faster to load, these were still single shot rifles, so the soldier had to eject the spent round and manually load a new cartridge for each shot.

Of course these rifles had 3 to 5 times the effective range of Napoleonic smooth bores, but unfortunately military tacticians of the period were still using outdated Napoleonic tactics----concentrating on volley fire and not individual aimed fire. However, this was still deadly since most troops were simply standing in a line firing at a similar enemy line firing back. This was nerve wracking stuff and only experience, a steady hand under fire, and of course pure dumb luck counted toward survival. Cover, concealment, and small squad tactics were still many decades away for the majority of organized military.

Another factor in effective range is that while a muzzle loader can be fired from a prone position (greatly improving one's aim), it is difficult if not next to impossible to re-load while prone. One generally has to stand up to load or reload---hence troops standing in line firing volleys. Breech loaders solved this problem, but military commanders of the day were still stuck in out-moded Napoleonic tactical ideology.

There is all of that--and of course the fact that this is a still fundamentally only a game with a historical base, and not a true simulation of actual combat. As a game the developers have to sometimes have create what may seem like artificial levels of expertise to give the player goals to achieve to progress--or to "level up" if you want to use gaming vernacular.

However, IMHO, the TW games still do a pretty good job of simulating the difference in effectiveness of raw untrained troops versus hardened veterans through battle acquired combat experience for both units and their leaders-- along with occasional tactical advancements such as "kneel fire" or "suppression fire"

I do question the developers giving archers what appears to be the same effective range as riflemen, but that is another discussion.

Cheers


P.S. I forgot to mention that until the wide spread use of chemically formulated smokeless gunpowder much later in the century (around 1880 and on) all the weapons of this period were using black gun powder--even the breech loaders. Black powder is basically a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate (salt petre). I creates huge volumes of smoke--plus it leaves a fouling and corrosive residue behind in the weapons. Unless there is a strong wind present--after one or two volleys of rifle fire and/or artillery, the entire battlefield will be covered in a thick layer of smoke much like an equally dense fog.

I've done some ACW re-enacting and believe me, if it's a still day, the smoke can hang over a battlefield making it hard to see people only 10 or 15 meters away--and impossible to see anything 100 or 150 meters away. Directing units was made equally made hard by this problem. That's why commanders of the day usually removed themselves to any high ground available in an attempt to just see was going on.