inqury about a not to serious subject

r16

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ı am a huge fan of Civilization , a turn based PC-game where you start in 4000 BC and manage your resources to develop your nation .

might appear yet another blogging but ı think ı will be justified by my inquiry . The quest starts with the "wonder" ı captured from another civilisation that produces a Crusader unit - sword shield and all -every five turns until the player discovers Railroads . I definitely prefer faster units but as this was free they had a place on the map and ı think one of them killed Hammurabi .The point is the AI is now fielding Riflemen and most unhistorically the guys in heavy armour is cutting the opposition down . In the age of Muskets the average battlefield depth was , ı hear , about 200 metres beyond which the lines formed and closed down to 80 where one could expect to hit someone he had aimed at . Reloading took time and there would be a melee after a few volleys . In one early case the English generously called on the French to have the first shot ; which was ineffectual but the following British volley was far more lethal as they had closed the gap as the French were still reloading . This reload lialibility is where armoured infantry might have had a chance but ı doubt they could finish the 200 metre march alive or could catch the gunpowder side if it decided to conduct a withdrawal . Armoured Horse Cavalry , knights in Western Parlance might be an option but Agincourt and the longbows suggest otherwise and firearms were much easier to learn meaning massive armies that won't be broken in a few charges . As it is the last time armoured horse is mentioned is 1908 when the British engaged them in Tibet .

so to get a shield carrying infantry to close and engage and defeat rifles in their earlier manifestations :

a one squaremeter plate to notionally cover the carrier made of iron with 10 mm thickness weighs around 80kgs .Were there better and lighter materials available ? Samurai Armour is said to be somewhat resistant to Arquebus fire and to support this theme ı think it was at Sekigahara that the gunpowder side had fences to stop the sword side to get into the ranks of the infantry so that the following volleys would finish what the first ones had started .

how do we calculate penetration values ? As many tanks up to 40s did fairly well with less than 20mm of armour and Leopard1 starts from 10 mm to its maximum of 70 , when did the rifles reached to the point of making personal armour a total impossibility ? Are there numbers for weight and speed specs of those early weapons ?

and the title should read "not too serious"
 

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