Overview
His Majesty's Royal Artillery Corp is a subdivision of the Royal Army that currently includes a battery of Gatling Guns and a battery of light canons. The Artillery Corp is one of the smallest divisions of the army, boasting a total manpower of less than 300 personel manning twenty hand cranked Gatling Guns and twenty muzzle loading Saker canons. However, despite its size, it is arguably one of the most important and powerful parts of the Army, and the branch which arguably has the most industrial resources currently devoted to it.
History
When the Royal Expedition came to Glas, it did not bring any heavy artillery, save for 20 hand cranked Gatling Guns and their crews. For the opening stages of the war, these guns proved sufficient, laying down covering fire into masses of Goblin infantry that had never seen anything of their like before. But their range, and the difficulty in producing new cartridges, was quickly noticed by Army High Command. Heavier artillery was needed, but its development would be slow and painstaking. While the initial foundry was built within th first year of landing, the materials and expertise simply did not exist to build large scale artillery. A policy of slow progression was instituted. One pounder Falconet canons were ordered as a stopgap measure, while the raw materials and supply chains were developed to produce larger pieces. The first canons to enter service barely qualified as overgrown muskets, but they proved sufficient against an enemy that had no answer.
Force Composition
The Royal Artillery Corp has two batteries as of 4 KV, one of gatling guns brought from the old world and crewed by Old Worlders, and one made up of locally produced canons, crewed by natives of Glas and lead by a former merchant of the New World. Limitations in both manpower and industrial capacity have prevented the large scale expansion of the Corp beyond two batteries.
Weapon Types
Gatlings
These weapons are predecessors to Old World machine guns. They fire hundreds of 45.-70 caliber rounds a minute and are operated via a hand crank. Although the shells they fire use black powder, the casings themselves are currently beyond the means of the Kingdom to produce and are aggressively collected after every battle to be reloaded. Gatlings are more than capable of ventilating all but the most heavily armored Greenskinf forces, although their lack of mobility limits their offensive use. In general these weapons are deployed at strongpoints just behind the frontline units where their fire can soften the enemy's charge at its most critical point.
Falconets
The smallest cannons that can reliably be considered as such. More accurately described they resemble oversized muskets mounted on wheels. Their power is still able to destroy both orks and trolls at distances of up to a mile, providing the royal army with the ability to launch the first blow in any battle and whittle down enemy numbers before the lines connect. Their effectiveness against the smaller craft the goblins use has been observed as well which is why after the introduction of the Sakers, all army falconets have been transfered to the navy. Effectiveness against more well built ships is dubious due to the light weight of the shot. Royal Intelligence has cautioned that the Crown currently does not posess weapons capable of reliably sinking Elven, Dwarven, or some Human built ships.
Sakers
The upgrade to sakers represents a massive boost in firepower of the royal artillery corps. Their range is increased by 2-3 times and their destructive power increases roughly 4-8 times compared to falconets. Where falconets could kill trolls and orks with careful aim, sakers now obliterate the later with a glancing blow and mortally wound trolls with a single hit. Additionally, the sakers have proven more than a match for most of the wooden fortifications the greenksins have constructed which provides the army with the capability to seige their fortifications at leisure.
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