Gunpowder

[Uriak]

Well when you consider the destruction sphere they invoked in the stream it was definitively an exploding contraption. Now was it gunpowder ? Nothing says it. With the number of threads about this topic, I wonder : is the concept, the aesthetic? That people want to see/avoid ?

I know irl it's often associated with the end of the "old way" to do war, but stuff like late armor plate and many contraptions we don't have issues with are from alter times than the first firearms in general.

 

[ashbery76]

I prefer it medieval.

 

[Newbee53]

Well when you consider the destruction sphere they invoked in the stream it was definitively an exploding contraption. Now was it gunpowder ? Nothing says it. With the number of threads about this topic, I wonder : is the concept, the aesthetic? That people want to see/avoid ?

I know irl it's often associated with the end of the "old way" to do war, but stuff like late armor plate and many contraptions we don't have issues with are from alter times than the first firearms in general.

For me it’s about verity, bows and arrows have been done a tone, and of course the 'vibe.' Guns, weather specialized magic wands or not, are a major part of the world and its history. Various types of gunpowder biased weapons have been around for a lot longer than many would expect. And it’s kind of weird to see plate armor from the same age as the first siege canons but lack the weapon all together.

Then it’s the fact that magic makes heavy armor viable against firearms. And of course, cannons, musket lines, and all kinds of similar things are just very cool to play with, and when you have knights in heavy armor going up against line of muskets, and mages throwing balls of fire everywhere. It’s just fun.

And of course, cannons have their place in medieval fantasy having been used in the hundred years war by both sides. My memory might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Joan of Arc would have fought alongside cannons as well.

Basically, for me: It just fits well enough that overlooking it seems deliberate and stands out. Especially for when cultures heavily use stone walls and massive castles.

Plus, it fits so well as an invention of classical orks that I'm a little disappointed that games with strong lore and gunpowder don't have it invented by them. Of course, this isn’t a complete focused on AOW4, more AOW3. Personally, I’d have built that campaign a lot differently and put the most dreadnought focused race as the orks. But personal preferences are always different.

 

[Entherian]

For me it’s about verity, bows and arrows have been done a tone, and of course the 'vibe.' Guns, weather specialized magic wands or not, are a major part of the world and its history. Various types of gunpowder biased weapons have been around for a lot longer than many would expect. And it’s kind of weird to see plate armor from the same age as the first siege canons but lack the weapon all together.

Then it’s the fact that magic makes heavy armor viable against firearms. And of course, cannons, musket lines, and all kinds of similar things are just very cool to play with, and when you have knights in heavy armor going up against line of muskets, and mages throwing balls of fire everywhere. It’s just fun.

And of course, cannons have their place in medieval fantasy having been used in the hundred years war by both sides. My memory might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure Joan of Arc would have fought alongside cannons as well.

Basically, for me: It just fits well enough that overlooking it seems deliberate and stands out. Especially for when cultures heavily use stone walls and massive castles.

Plus, it fits so well as an invention of classical orks that I'm a little disappointed that games with strong lore and gunpowder don't have it invented by them. Of course, this isn’t a complete focused on AOW4, more AOW3. Personally, I’d have built that campaign a lot differently and put the most dreadnought focused race as the orks. But personal preferences are always different.

There's also the aesthetic of mostly-unaltered people of various races fighting things far above their weight class, like demons and angels and iron golems, simply by banding together and using big booms. Instead of having to become more innately magical themselves, they channel the magic they claim into making machines and tools that help them fight and that make their lands more hospitable. That was one of the things I loved about dreadnoughts, how they used such things as "mana fuel cells" to power their machine units and factories. It's still magical, it's just using it in a different way.

 

[The Kingmaker]

I prefer it medieval.

Although firearms are mostly too late to be medieval, cannons were all the rage in the 1300s. Definitely a medieval innovation.

 

[Szeron]

That could be cannons. It could also be mechs or armored flying airships shooting lightning.

Speaking of things we don't want to see..

If I never see one of these dastardly Syron Forceship return to the series, I'll be happy. (I suspect there's a fair chance of seeing them again with the Eldritch Realms expansion though.)

 

[STARSDragoon]

Speaking of things we don't want to see..

If I never see one of these dastardly Syron Forceship return to the series, I'll be happy. (I suspect there's a fair chance of seeing them again with the Eldritch Realms expansion though.)

I totally forgot Syrons could build that.

 

[akinata]

Although firearms are mostly too late to be medieval, cannons were all the rage in the 1300s. Definitely a medieval innovation.

from 1300-ish to 1500 (AD) gunpowder was used for fire arrows (using gunpowder for incendiary effects), hand canons of variable size, canons, ribauldequin,
, hwacha (primitive multi rocket launcher), grenades, bombs, fire lance ... but the gunpowder itself was discovered much much sooner.
it is true tho that the first arquebus and muskets were right after the end of the middle ages.

 

[The Kingmaker]

from 1300-ish to 1500 (AD) gunpowder was used for fire arrows (using gunpowder for incendiary effects), hand canons of variable size, canons, ribauldequin,
, hwacha (primitive multi rocket launcher), grenades, bombs, fire lance ... but the gunpowder itself was discovered much much sooner.
it is true tho that the first arquebus and muskets were right after the end of the middle ages.

Yes, my point is that the idea that gunpowder is a post-medieval invention is incorrect.

 

[Rey De Leon]

Soo, we are getting dreadnought class back with many of gunpowder/cannon units back. They've been part of AoW lore for ages so nothing unfitting in bringing them back.
Early muskets, cannons and steam tanks (not sure about dreadnaughts from AoW3 but something similar would be cool to see).

It is interesting that given the fact we already have 'industrious' culture, the new one most likely would be called 'militarist/technocrat/engineers' with one chaos/one materium affinities. It's actually a bit difficult to draw a fine line between these two cultures so I am curious how Triumph split them. Historical analogies would be something like 15th century Ottoman empire (actual units like muskets and cannons) and 19th century Germany (society structure, industry).

Most likely we will also have first tomes with mixed affinity requirements (like tome of doom-powder, tome of steam, tome of moving steel etc).