Läderkanon

“These pieces are of very great use, and very easie and light of carriage. One horse may draw a peece, which will carry a bullet of a pound and halfe in weight, and doe execution very farre.”'
— Quoted in Firth, Cromwell’s Army, London, 1902
==In Game==
===Overall strategy===
The Swedish Laderkanon is in essence a primitive form of Flying Artillery that comes into play two ages earlier. While it is as fast as a Flying Artillery piece, it however shares the same defects with the Grasshopper Cannon, in that it has very mediocre range, but is still sufficiently cheap to be carried around. Nevertheless, the Läderkanon can pack a more powerful punch when attacking, but has a lower fire rate if compared to conventional Flying Artillery and Grasshopper Cannons, owing to the fragility of its barrel which is a copper-reinforced leather tube.
Category:Siege weapons
==== See also: ====
* Cannon
* Serpentine
* Grasshopper Cannon
==== Notes ====
In the scale of guns, 
Culverin, Grasshopper Gun => Leather Cannon => Serpentine, Topiji Cannon => Cannon => Gribeauval Cannon
==History==
Contrary to its name, the "Läderkanon" or "Leather gun" as used by the Swedes was not made entirely of leather. Rather, it was formed by first creating a tube of sheet iron, around which a shell of leather would be wrapped around and then secured, using ropes and metal hoops to keep the leather and iron tightly packed together to form a cannon barrel. Equally, while it was first introduced either by the Austrians or their Swiss foes, it was the army of Gustav Adolf who made extensive use of them. 
The Swedish king chose to use leather guns, for antipersonnel work, for several reasons - firstly, because the guns did not use so much metal as convention cast-iron or bronze barrels, they were cheaper and thus lighter to use. This meant that the Swedes in their wars of the 17th century had a field artillery piece that was light, portable and weather-resistant, yet was powerful enough to smash infantry and cavalry or even light fortifications at medium range. Apparently, the effectiveness of these guns did not escape the Scots either: of them, a Scottish military officer stated, "[They] are made with great art, and are light to carry, which is the greatest advantage they have.” To date, twenty-three leather guns are in collections in Scotland, all apparently of similar manufacture. Four are in the Scottish National Museum. 
===References===
*The Reverend's Big Blog of Leather, Leather Cannon