Artillery

Inhaber
Unknown

Unit History
The Russian artillery was unique when compared to the rest of the European armies of the period; the artillery park was 75 percent howitzer, rather than cannon, in type. Unlike the common short-barrelled pieces found in other European armies, the Russian howitzer was long-barrelled. By increasing the barrel length of the weapon, the point-blank range was increased which allowed the shell to act just like a solid shot with the additional advantage of the damage caused by exploding. The drawback to the long-barrelled howitzer was that it was both slow to load and tended to be large which made it unwieldy in the field.
Another factor that reduced the artillery effectiveness of Russian artillery was that the gunners were apparently exceptionally brave. Many accounts recount that they stayed by their guns too long and were often over-run, not only by Prussian cavalry, but even by Prussian infantry. In addition, the Russians apparently never learned to mass their artillery and to deliver concentrated fire; instead, the artillery was dispersed up and down the front of the line which dispersed it lethal effect.



Comments
These gunners are my favourite artillery unit because of the helmets of the howitzer crews. In addition, this is the only army that has a large quantity of howitzers that is a much different gun than the usual 6 to 12 pound gun. I have modeled this by having one battery armed with normal guns and the second armed with howitzers. Unit painted in 1991.

Sources
S. Carpenter, Russian Artillery in the Seven Years War, Seven Years War Association Journal Vol. X No.2