We're going waaaaaayyy back here. I've thought a lot about guns, war, and how technology's advanced through war. Mostly tactics and technologies that apply almost purely to war.
How were the "hand cannon" and such seen when they were first fielded? Was it seen mostly as a possible replacement for the bow/crossbow? Just how muhc of a "primary" weapon was the crossbow? I know that eventually the gun took the main role on the battlefield, and got rid of a lot of older ideas of how to fight. Let me explain why I'm asking.
Say that for whatever reason, the hand cannon and such stayed on the periphery. The specific scenario I'm thinking would be a lack of war. It's known that govs generally prepare for the last war instead of the next one. This was seen in the 1800s/early 1900s in how we were thinking the civil War/WWI battlefields would look like. I don't have to worry about human history since I'm looking at aliens for this, but the idea is that if they aren't nearly as warlike as we are, they won't bother advancing weapons and tactics to match. Then add some other advances.
Gunpowder allowed a ball of lead, the basest of metals, to punch holes in armor that cost more than even some nobles would expect to earn in a year. Let's say that before the gun sees a major battle, a material revolution occurs. Someone figures out how to make better armor somehow. Vio la, the gun is back to where the bow and arrow were. Nice, but most still thought it best to get up close and personal. If we keep this tradition up, some of the advantages(ease of training was important, but if it had still been ineffective...) that allowed the gun to dominate the battlefield, and led to where we are today would stay out of the picture. At one point in the late 1800s(don't recall from the long ago source when exactly), the U.S. Army made a heavy silk vest that would stop a musket ball. Problem is, almost as soon as it was perfected(maybe even before), it was obsolete. I don't remember if it was the more powerful black powder cartridges like the .45-100, or smokeless, but it was barely made before it was gone. In some ways we're approaching another point like this now. Armor like the Dragon Skin is close to the point where the cheap easy to train with assault rifle can't match the "knight"'s armor. Provided the world stays "civilized", I can see us going back to battle rifles, perhaps even bigger.
There's a variety of reasons for why the development of this stuff would be so slow, while other areas would advance quickly. It'll more fun with other stuff I want to do, but I wanted to get some ideas here, especially about the idea of the guards on the flying saucer carrying Krags or something.
How were the "hand cannon" and such seen when they were first fielded? Was it seen mostly as a possible replacement for the bow/crossbow? Just how muhc of a "primary" weapon was the crossbow? I know that eventually the gun took the main role on the battlefield, and got rid of a lot of older ideas of how to fight. Let me explain why I'm asking.
Say that for whatever reason, the hand cannon and such stayed on the periphery. The specific scenario I'm thinking would be a lack of war. It's known that govs generally prepare for the last war instead of the next one. This was seen in the 1800s/early 1900s in how we were thinking the civil War/WWI battlefields would look like. I don't have to worry about human history since I'm looking at aliens for this, but the idea is that if they aren't nearly as warlike as we are, they won't bother advancing weapons and tactics to match. Then add some other advances.
Gunpowder allowed a ball of lead, the basest of metals, to punch holes in armor that cost more than even some nobles would expect to earn in a year. Let's say that before the gun sees a major battle, a material revolution occurs. Someone figures out how to make better armor somehow. Vio la, the gun is back to where the bow and arrow were. Nice, but most still thought it best to get up close and personal. If we keep this tradition up, some of the advantages(ease of training was important, but if it had still been ineffective...) that allowed the gun to dominate the battlefield, and led to where we are today would stay out of the picture. At one point in the late 1800s(don't recall from the long ago source when exactly), the U.S. Army made a heavy silk vest that would stop a musket ball. Problem is, almost as soon as it was perfected(maybe even before), it was obsolete. I don't remember if it was the more powerful black powder cartridges like the .45-100, or smokeless, but it was barely made before it was gone. In some ways we're approaching another point like this now. Armor like the Dragon Skin is close to the point where the cheap easy to train with assault rifle can't match the "knight"'s armor. Provided the world stays "civilized", I can see us going back to battle rifles, perhaps even bigger.
There's a variety of reasons for why the development of this stuff would be so slow, while other areas would advance quickly. It'll more fun with other stuff I want to do, but I wanted to get some ideas here, especially about the idea of the guards on the flying saucer carrying Krags or something.
