Artillery

**Artillery** is a class of heavy military ranged weapons built to launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms.

## Overview

Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and led to heavy, fairly immobile siege engines. As technology improved, lighter, more mobile field artillery cannons developed for battlefield use. This development continues today; modern self-propelled artillery vehicles are highly mobile weapons of great versatility generally providing the largest share of an army's total firepower.

The main purpose of artillery is to focus firepower upon the enemy position from long range. This is to not only destroy any enemy forces that could be used against you, but to also destroy enemy artillery and defenses. This can also be detrimental to enemy morale

## Types of Artillery

### **Gun**

A type of artillery that fires on a horizontal trajectory and involves direct-fire or line-of-sight fire. This typically has a long barrel.

### **Howitzer**

A type of artillery with a shorter barrel and can adjust its angle in order to launch indirect-fire.

### **Mortar**

A type of artillery with a very short barrel and shoots at very high angles. Normally meant to shoot over obstacles or barriers.

### **Rocket Artillery**

Instead of using projectiles launched by gunpowder, this involves the usage of long-range rockets.

### **Siege Weaponry**

Mechanical systems used for throwing ammunition in ancient warfare, also known as "engines of war", like the catapult, onager, trebuchet, and ballista, are also referred to by military historians as artillery.

### **Self-Propelled**

This is a type of artillery that is able to change its position and has its own source of propulsion. Unlike a tank, which is meant for direct fire and frontal support, a self-propelled artillery piece provides long-range support from the rear.

## Artillery in the New World

### Third Civilization Area and Outside of the Civilized Areas

Nations such as the Louria Kingdom relied heavily on siege weaponry, due to their technology being medieval-level. For countries such as the Parpaldia Empire, they relied on magical cannons, both for land and naval engagements. Land Dragons were also seen as a type of living artillery.

### Second Civilization Area and the Gra Valkas Empire

For these regions, the nations have realized the power of gunpowder, and for countries such as Mu and the Gra Valkas Empire, their military forces do employ more modern types of artillery, such as the gun, the howitzer and the mortar. However, these range between World War I and World War II levels. For the Gra Valkas military, their main type of artillery are the naval guns on their battleships, cruisers and destroyers.

### First Civilization Area

For nations like the Holy Milishial Empire, their adherence to magic, instead of gunpowder, causes their artillery to be less effective against their more technological opponents. Like the Gra Valkas Empire, their main type of artillery are the naval guns of their warships.

### Japan

Due to its advanced 21st Century technology, Japan possesses both direct and indirect artillery of all types, including the Type 99 155 mm Self-Propelled Howitzer and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System.