# The Industrial Battlefield

*The Heavy Armory, Siege Engines, Great Guns, and Vehicle Weapons for Exodus NDS. Source: https://exodusnds.com/sourcebooks/heavy-armory/the-industrial-battlefield*

Between 1860 and 1938 the gun learns to load from the breech, absorb its own recoil, and fire without smoke. The machine gun, the torpedo, and the armoured turret all arrive. So does the war that used them.

The first two entries and the last are **personal-scale** crew weapons.

From this chapter on, prices are in present-day US dollars.

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/heavy_armory/heavy-armory-industrial.jpg">

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Tripod Machine Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Water-cooled gun, medium machine gun, belt gun</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic">

<span class="dmg">10</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range short">Extreme</span>
<span class="enc">9</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Gunnery</span>
<span class="price">4000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1890</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Auto-Fire, Pierce 2, Vicious 2, Sustained Fire, Emplaced, Crew 3, Prepare 2</span>

</div>

A belt-fed gun on a heavy tripod with a water jacket. It fires for as long as it has belts and water. **Sustained Fire** is the reason it changed warfare. A crew of three carries gun, tripod, and ammunition between them.

##### <span class="weapon-bar blast"></span>Trench Mortar
<span class="weapon-aka">Light mortar, stovepipe, knee mortar</span>

<div class="weapon blast">

<span class="dmg">10</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range short">Long</span>
<span class="enc">5</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Gunnery</span>
<span class="price">1500</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1915</span>
<span class="type">Blast</span>
<span class="qual">Indirect, Blast 8, Siege 2, Crew 2, Inaccurate 1</span>

</div>

A tube, a baseplate, and a bipod. A bomb dropped down the muzzle fires itself. It cannot attack inside Medium range. One person can fire it alone at Slow-Firing 1.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Quick-Firing Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Three-pounder, six-pounder, Hotchkiss</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic ship">

<span class="mount">Light</span>
<span class="dmg">4</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Long</span>
<span class="crew">3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">15000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1880</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Pierce 1, Crew 3</span>

</div>

A small breechloader firing fixed ammunition as fast as it can be fed. It was built to stop torpedo boats and ended up on the first tanks and armoured cars.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Pom-Pom
<span class="weapon-aka">One-pounder automatic, revolving cannon</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic ship">

<span class="mount">Light</span>
<span class="dmg">3</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range">Medium</span>
<span class="crew">2</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">18000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1880</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Auto-Fire, Crew 2, Limited Ammo 25</span>

</div>

A machine gun scaled up to fire small explosive shells. It is the ancestor of every automatic cannon in the next chapter.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Field Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Seventy-five, eighteen-pounder, quick-firer</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic ship">

<span class="mount">Standard</span>
<span class="dmg">5</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Extreme</span>
<span class="crew">5</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">60000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1897</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Blast 3, Pierce 1, Crew 5</span>

</div>

A recoil-absorbing field gun that stays laid on its target between shots. A good crew fires fifteen rounds a minute. It may fire shrapnel: Blast 5 and no Pierce.

##### <span class="weapon-bar blast"></span>Heavy Howitzer
<span class="weapon-aka">Six-inch, 155, heavy field howitzer</span>

<div class="weapon blast ship">

<span class="mount">Heavy</span>
<span class="dmg">8</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range">Long to Extreme</span>
<span class="crew">8</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">150000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1900</span>
<span class="type">Blast</span>
<span class="qual">Indirect, Blast 5, Crew 8, Slow-Firing 1</span>

</div>

The gun that dominated the trenches. It is still the standard heavy artillery piece a century later, with longer range and better shells.

##### <span class="weapon-bar blast"></span>Siege Howitzer
<span class="weapon-aka">Super-heavy howitzer, railway gun, the big gun</span>

<div class="weapon blast ship">

<span class="mount">Capital</span>
<span class="dmg">14</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Extreme</span>
<span class="crew">20</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">900000</span>
<span class="avail">Rare</span>
<span class="from">1910</span>
<span class="type">Blast</span>
<span class="qual">Indirect, Blast 8, Pierce 3, Emplaced, Crew 20, Slow-Firing 4, Prepare 20</span>

</div>

A gun built to break a fortress. It moves in pieces by rail and takes hours to assemble. Its shell is aimed at a map square, and what is in the square is gone.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Breechloading Naval Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Four- to six-inch gun, casemate gun, deck gun</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic ship">

<span class="mount">Standard</span>
<span class="dmg">6</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Extreme</span>
<span class="crew">6</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">120000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1880</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Pierce 2, Blast 2, Crew 6, Slow-Firing 1</span>

</div>

The secondary gun of a battleship, the main gun of a destroyer or a gunboat, and the deck gun of a submarine or an armed merchantman.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Turret Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Eight- to ten-inch gun, monitor gun, cruiser gun</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic ship">

<span class="mount">Heavy</span>
<span class="dmg">10</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Extreme</span>
<span class="crew">12</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">500000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1862</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Pierce 3, Blast 3, Crew 12, Slow-Firing 2</span>

</div>

A heavy gun in a rotating armoured turret. The first ironclads carried two. A cruiser of 1910 carries eight.

##### <span class="weapon-bar ballistic"></span>Battleship Gun
<span class="weapon-aka">Twelve- to sixteen-inch gun, main battery</span>

<div class="weapon ballistic ship">

<span class="mount">Capital</span>
<span class="dmg">16</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Extreme</span>
<span class="crew">30</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">4000000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1890</span>
<span class="type">Ballistic</span>
<span class="qual">Pierce 4, Blast 6, Crew 30, Slow-Firing 3</span>

</div>

The largest weapon ever put on a ship, mounted two or three to a turret. It throws a shell the weight of a motor car to the horizon. Only another battleship is armoured against it.

##### <span class="weapon-bar blast"></span>Torpedo
<span class="weapon-aka">Locomotive torpedo, tin fish, tube</span>

<div class="weapon blast ship">

<span class="mount">Heavy</span>
<span class="dmg">12</span>
<span class="crit">2</span>
<span class="range">Long</span>
<span class="crew">3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">50000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1870</span>
<span class="type">Blast</span>
<span class="qual">Pierce 2, Inaccurate 1, Limited Ammo 1, Slow-Firing 3</span>

</div>

A self-propelled underwater weapon running straight on a set course. It has no guidance: the attack is the aim. It hits below the armour belt. Against a target that has seen it and can turn, add 1 Bane Die. A homing torpedo, from 1943, has Lock-On and Tracking and loses Inaccurate.

##### <span class="weapon-bar blast"></span>Naval Mine
<span class="weapon-aka">Contact mine, moored mine, infernal machine</span>

<div class="weapon blast ship">

<span class="mount">Standard</span>
<span class="dmg">10</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Placed</span>
<span class="crew">4</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">8000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1860</span>
<span class="type">Blast</span>
<span class="qual">Pierce 2, Limited Ammo 1</span>

</div>

A moored charge with contact horns. It attacks the first ship of Scale 3 or more to pass within Engaged range, with 3 Ability Dice against Average difficulty. Finding one is a Hard Perception check from the bow and needs daylight.

##### <span class="weapon-bar blast"></span>Depth Charge
<span class="weapon-aka">Ash can, depth bomb</span>

<div class="weapon blast ship">

<span class="mount">Standard</span>
<span class="dmg">8</span>
<span class="crit">3</span>
<span class="range">Engaged</span>
<span class="crew">3</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="price">3000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1916</span>
<span class="type">Blast</span>
<span class="qual">Blast 4, Inaccurate 2, Limited Ammo 8</span>

</div>

A drum of explosive with a pressure fuse, rolled off the stern. It attacks only a submerged target the dropping ship is passing over. Sonar, from 1920, removes one Bane Die.

##### <span class="weapon-bar fire"></span>Flame Projector
<span class="weapon-aka">Static flamethrower, tank flamethrower</span>

<div class="weapon fire">

<span class="dmg">10</span>
<span class="crit">4</span>
<span class="range short">Short</span>
<span class="enc">—</span>

</div>

<div class="weapon-detail">

<span class="skill">Gunnery</span>
<span class="price">6000</span>
<span class="avail">Military</span>
<span class="from">1915</span>
<span class="type">Fire</span>
<span class="qual">Burn 4, Blast 5, Emplaced, Crew 2, Limited Ammo 10</span>

</div>

A large flamethrower fixed in a trench wall or the hull of a vehicle. Against a structure or an open-topped vehicle it has Siege 2.

<img class="framed" src="https://exodusnds.com/assets/sourcebook/heavy_armory/heavy-armory-depth-charges.jpg">
