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Re: (TFT) TFT Industrial Revolution

Uhm, that was the point, kinda. It is easier to be OK with a firearm than with a bow. Read what i actually write for the rules, not my explanations, which are long and probably hard to get. So, gunmen on average are less accurate than a bowman, is basically what I was going for, because the bow skill (especially when added to the missile weapons skill) means that someone has been training for awhile. Why did renaissance and even medieval armies switch to crossbows and guns (at least for the most part)? because it was easier to hand someone a gun or crossbow, tell them how it worked, and send them to the front. Bows require much more training. I'm not representing the modern day, I'm essentially representing the civil war, tech-wise, with revolvers, early repeating rifles, and lots of trapdoor and muzzleloaders. I'm not saying to be excellent with a gun doesn't require practice, which it does sound like I implied, but what I was actually saying was to have a skill with the bow good enough to be an archer in a military or even as a hunter was and still is harder than it is to become a gunner in the military or as a hunter. This is why I said that bows can get missile weapons while guns cannot- bowman who devote their talents to archery can become very accurate 'earlier' in gameplay, meaning that characters can be accurate archers for a military or just for the adventuring party early on. On the other hand, you can also be a gunman in the military and a party, but you are trading away your accuracy and ability with the gun for more power possibly even speed (or you could put a lot of your dexterity into it). Olympic shooters aren't really a good representation. A good comparison would be a native american archer's accuracy vs. that of a civil war soldier using his service rifle. I think that rule not only balances the game for more medieval tech users (that and that armor is more effective against guns than it really should be, but still) but also makes some sense realistically. 
On Jul 3, 2010, at 9:23 AM, raito@raito.com wrote:


Quoting Joey Beutel <mejobo@comcast.net>:

In real life it takes practice from a young age to be a truly
excellent archer. Not so with guns. However, to keep things
Bunk. Olympic shooters practice every day possible, not just on Sundays (as English law once held). That guns require less physical strength does not mean in any way that it requires less physical or mental technique at the upper edge of prowess (your 'truly excellent'). It does mean that you can train someone who is not strong to load and fire a gunpowder weapon. And is it not true that the original purpose of the NRA was to promote marksmanship because of the poor accuracy of Civil War troops? If it were so easy to be excellent with a firearm, you wouldn't expect to see the problems that have been found with discarded Civil War era firearms -- guns shot with the ramrods still in the barrels, double and triple loads, etc. Using Olympic shooting as the model, archers shoot 72 arrows at 70 meters at a 1.22 meter diameter target (with the 10 ring 12 cm across). Gunners shoot 60 shots at 50 meters at a 154.4 mm inch target (with the 10 ring 10.4 mm). For gunners, the 2008 gold medal for 50 meter rifle prone went to a guy who shot a 599 out of 600 in the preliminary round (final round has different scoring). For archery, the men's world record is 687 out of 720. So, for the modern world at least, gunners shoot far more accurately than archers. I'd say that being a truly excellent shooter of any discipline takes about as much effort as the other. 
Neil Gilmore
raito@raito.com
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