VehicleType {
   Name = COMA
   ID = 2
   parent = 251
   Description = medium artillery
   Infotext = [#font2#Artillery#font1##crt##crt#Artillery is one of the three
              main branches of an ARMY, along with the INFANTRY and the CAVALRY.
               Artillery refers both to the personnel who transport and serve
              its weapons and to the weapons themselves. Traditionally, artillery
              weapons include larger firearms such as guns, HOWITZERS, MORTARS,
              and rocket launchers.  #crt#In the United States, artillery
              weapons are those that use ammunition larger than 25.4 mm (1
              in), except for portable rocket launchers such as the BAZOOKA,
              the RECOILLESS RIFLE, and small mortars.#crt##crt##crt#Early
              Artillery#crt##crt#The term artillery once applied to all weapons
              that used projectiles:  the BOW AND ARROW, the slingshot, and
              the many variations of the CATAPULT. Soon after GUNPOWDER was
              introduced in Europe in the 13th century, machinery for utilizing
              it in warfare began to be devised.  The earliest reference to
              artillery manufacture in Britain dates from the reign of Edward
              III (1327-77), when John Ryker, artillator regis ("the king's
              artillery man"), received sixpence a day for making spingards,
              a type of small CANNON.  During the 15th century the French
              and the Italians attempted to make artillery more mobile by
              mounting some of the lighter pieces on carriages.  A key technical
              development was the trunnion:  two posts, one on either side
              of the barrel, fixed the tube to the mount and permitted it
              to be raised or lowered.#crt##crt##crt#16th and 17th Centuries#crt##crt#During
              the 16th century the use and development of artillery increased.
              The younger duke of Ferrara used his artillery to destroy the
              Venetian fleet that had sailed up the Po River within a short
              distance of his capital in 1509.  Henry VIII patronized the
              art of gun founding in England after being forced to import
              his cannon.  He encouraged the development of hollow shells
              filled with powder.  In 1537, the Italian mathematician Niccolo
              Tartaglia founded the science of BALLISTICS in his Nuova Scienzia,
              in which he described the trajectory of a cannonball.#crt##crt#The
              Swedish king Gustav II Adolf (r.  1611-32), an innovative military
              tactician, developed effective methods for using artillery on
              the battlefield.  Gustavus limited his field artillery to nothing
              heavier than the 12-pounder, and he increased the ratio of cannon
              from one gun to six for every 1,000 infantry.  He concentrated
              his firepower, frequently massing guns in strong batteries,
              and he utilized the distinctions among siege, field, and regimental
              artillery.#crt##crt#As the standing-army principle that began
              about 1500 came into general use, artillery became an organized
              arm of the military. Louis XIV of France raised a regiment of
              artillerymen in 1671 and established schools of artillery instruction.#crt##crt##crt#18th
              Century#crt##crt#In 1715 Britain organized the Royal Regiment
              of Artillery, consisting of two permanent companies.  The English
              scientist Benjamin Robins laid the groundwork for modern ordnance
              theory and practice in his New Principles of Gunnery (1742)
              and contributed to the introduction of carronades (short, light
              pieces useful on ships) in 1779.#crt##crt#During the Seven Years'
              War, Frederick the Great (1740-86) of Prussia developed a horse
              artillery to accompany his cavalry. Mobility was improved considerably
              by adding a second pair of wheels to the gun carriage or by
              placing a four-wheel wagon, with interchangeable wheels and
              iron axletrees, under the rear part of the gun carriage.  Napoleon
              used his field artillery as a shock weapon, sending guns in
              front of his own infantry to fire grape and canister shot at
              the enemy infantry and literally blast holes in the opposing
              lines.#crt##crt##crt#19th Century#crt##crt#Cannon began to change
              rapidly during the 19th century. Improvements included the rifled
              barrel, breech-loading mechanisms, smokeless powder, recoil-absorbing
              systems, and better metallurgy.  During the U.S. Civil War,
              Parrott and Rodman guns were commonplace.  The gunmaker R. P.
              Parrott made cannon by surrounding a central tube of cast iron
              or steel with wrought-iron or steel hoops.  Thomas J. Rodman
              devised a method of casting barrels around a removable core
              that was cooled with water;  each successive layer shrank and
              compressed the previous layer.#crt##crt#Alfred KRUPP of Germany
              produced a successful all-steel gun drilled out of a single
              block of cast metal, but he soon returned to the built-up hoop
              system.  The hoops were replaced by countless turns of fine
              wire coiled under tension, creating wire-wound guns.#crt##crt##crt#Development
              of Modern Artillery#crt##crt#The science of mechanics contributed
              to the development of a gun mount that could absorb recoil--the
              backward movement of the gun caused by firing the projectile.
               Compression cylinders were used to absorb the recoil, and heavy
              springs returned the barrel to its original position. Because
              the recoil force could also be harnessed to open the breech
              and eject the shell, the French developed a 75-mm cannon that
              was capable of firing 15 rounds a minute;  its rapid fire compensated
              for its lighter projectiles.  #crt#The Germans developed heavier
              guns and howitzers, with longer ranges and larger bores.  The
              largest used in World War I, "Big Bertha," was a 420-mm howitzer
              that fired an 800-kg (1,764-lb) shell about 10 km (6 mi).#crt##crt#To
              support infantry advances in World War I, the artillery developed
              a standard pattern.  First, barrages were directed against entrenched
              positions and against barbed-wire entanglements;  then, as the
              troops moved across open ground, the artillery laid down a "walking
              barrage" in front of them. The quantity of shells and guns needed
              for the artillery severely strained the industrial capacity
              of the belligerents.#crt##crt#During World War II the Germans
              developed a self-propelled howitzer of two calibers, 540 mm
              and 600 mm.  They also had a railroad gun ("Gustave") of 800
              mm, used only at the siege of Sebastopol, on the Russian front.
              Improvements in mobility resulted in such versatile guns as
              the 105-mm howitzer that the U.S.  Army found so useful in World
              War II.  The U.S. Army now has a 155-mm gun for long-range use,
              and a cannon-fired nuclear warhead.#crt##crt#Postwar developments
              have begun to erase the distinction between artillery and other
              forms of armament. Shoulder-carried recoilless rifles and ground-launched
              rockets and missiles are included within the definition of artillery,
              which is usually classified into three main groups:  field artillery
              includes howitzers, mortars, and large recoilless weapons; antiaircraft
              artillery comprises cannon, medium-caliber automatic weapons,
              rockets, and SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES;  antitank artillery includes
              ROCKETS AND MISSILES and cannon.  Most U.  S.  artillery weapons
              are protected by an armored, wheeled- or track-mounted chasis,
              and are self-propelled. Towed howitzers are gradually falling
              into disuse.#crt##crt#]
   Armor += 20
   Picture = mk1v_coma.pcx
   WreckageObject = 402
   Weapons { 
      Initiative = 0
      Number = 2
      Weapon0.Punch@MaxRange -= 3
   } Weapons
} VehicleType
