Perhaps we should outline the difference between specialists and non-specialists to avoid any confusion if possible. Specialists are defined as soldiers that have been trained recently or extensively to man a gun or a howitzer. As such they are allowed to reman guns and howitzers at no penalty. Perhaps the Russian Licorne should be treated separately. Non-specialists are defined as soldiers that have been exposed at one time or an other to the firing of guns and are consequently capable to fire a gun in case of emergency but not as efficiently as the specialists. We are assuming here the following: (1) They are capable of firing canister from guns and howitzers at no penalty since such fire requires little skill in aiming. (2) A penalty of minus one, for each die, when firing at a target on the same level, within the area of the first bounce arbitrary set at 36 inches and minus 2 behind that range. (3) A penalty of minus 2, for each die, when firing balls at a target not on the same level, since the aiming of the gun is more difficult, up to 36 inches and minus 3 behind that range. In addition a maximum of 3 dice are allowed when firing against compact targets like a square or a reenforced line etc. Howitzer firing is limited to canister-fire (at no penalty see above) and low angle fire or direct fire exactly as for guns. The howitzer may burst at the end of the roll (length to be determined) but apparently with very, very little precision since fuze cutting was a very difficult and inaccurate business even for a specialist. The above should provide a good working base for a rule. It takes in consideration the lower efficiency of the non-specialists in aiming, speed of fire etc. by just lowering the resulting casualties. That is especially significant at long range. The subject is open for discussion. The different categories of specialists and non-specialists have to be seen separately. The rule for manning guns has also to be revised (see this magazine page 24). Firing of Napoleonic Guns by Non-Specialists (Issue v.1n18) Firing of Napoleonic Guns by Non-Specialists (Issue v.1n20) Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 1 No. 20 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1977 by Emperor's Headquarters This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com