Andreas,

Looks like a great deal of fun to me! I especially like the end of the second part. Very funny.


Alain,

Several things come to mind. First is that it may have been very, very limited early on but that has not stopped many technologies from development. The gun had an advantage that it was a new technology and while the bow and even the crossbow to another level was nearing the climax of its use the gun was just starting.

It took a while to find the place of firearms in war. I think this is why it is adopted into siege warfare where it becomes overtime the new mainstay. It took longer for it to become a integral part of field warfare because the same issues are not the same siege to field. The first real uses in the field with success are ones using siege tactics in the field. Even after this the guns and tactics needed to develop and they did. I tend to think of them as shorert range effective missile weapons early on. during the 15th I have little doubt they got to the point that they could blow massive holes into unarmoured and armoured men.

If you really want a good idea of the development of these weapons take a look at Bert Hall;s Ren. Weapons and Tactics.

Eric,

To be honest I do not want anyone shooting at me... :D
RPM

Thanks for the replies guys, that makes sense. And nice video Andreas.

-Alain

I've been doing more reading and searching on these and I'm wondering where one might be able to find an accurate reproduction handgonne since it appears that handgonne.com has closed down for business.

Thanks

The handgunner at Orleans is also known as Jehan de Montesiler. I'm too lazy to track down scholarly papers about him, let alone primary sources, so here goes an online article on him:

http://xenophongroup.com/montjoie/jean-m.htm

A factor not mentioned so far is the variety of possible projectiles with a sturdy firearm with a larger bore. You load it as always except for the lead shot, and load in, say... oily rags, greek fire, sulphur, etc. (or to be very surreal: acid-carrying containers) Considering the amount of padded protection on the field and the bad habits people exhibit while on fire, a quasi-flamer is something I'd prefer on MY side even with a limited range, which is BTW not as much a problem in sieges.