Firearms

Firearms are gunpowder-based ranged weapons in Mount&Blade: With Fire & Sword and Napoleonic Wars.

Gameplay

Gameplay-wise, firearms function very similarly to crossbows - they can inflict very high damage but have a slow reloading rate - which they replace in With Fire & Sword as the counterpart to bows.

Advantages

• Fast projectile speed reduces target dodging.
• High striking power disables targets in fewer shots.
• Less physical fitness/training required to use (as opposed to bows or melee weapons).

Disadvantages

• Slow loading speed limits overall damage and can be interrupted.
• Difficult to see projectile trajectory.
• Less ammunition can be carried compared to bows.

With Fire & Sword

During the mid-17th century, firearms have been mass produced in European armies and have thus been highly augmented in both numbers and varieties in With Fire & Sword. By this time, the outdated Matchlock variant is still used by some Ottoman armies and militias, the Wheelock variant is very common in European armies, and the Miquelet variant has started to become more prominent but is only used by elite soldiers.

There are three types of firearms in With Fire & Sword:

Muskets

• Slowest to reload but most accurate yet cannot be used on horseback due to its heavy weight, there exists three variations: Matchlock (worse stats), Wheellock (commonly used by all nations except the Crimean Khanate), and Miquelet (better stats).
  • There are also the Simple (slightly worse stats) and Good (best stats) subvariants and Handmade Firearms (worst stats of all but can be used on horseback) yet no double-barreled variant.
    • Muskets can carry the Balanced, Tempered, or Masterwork modifiers.
• All nations have musketeer-infantry troops: Countryman and Poor Cossack wield Handmade Firearms; Seymen, Posad Marksman, Musket Militiaman, Militia Musketeer wield Matchlocks; Marksman, New Order Marksman, Zolnier, Musketeer, Lithuanian Musketeer, German Infantry Musketeer and Scottish Musketeer wield Wheelocks; Serduk, Janissary, German Infantry Musketeer (veteran), Lifeguard, and Mercenary Marksman wield Miquelets.
  • Muskets are recommended for infantry-type companions skilled with Firearms (e.g. Fedot).

Carbines

• Faster to reload than a musket - but less accurate - and more accurate than a pistol - but slower to reload
  • There exists the same three variations and two subvariants as muskets as well as Dutch and Double-barreled Wheelock varieties, which are strangely less accurate than their pistol counterparts.
• All nations except the Crimean Khanate - which only uses horse archers - have medium-cavalry troops armed with carbines: Djura wield Matchlocks while Moscow Reiter, Polish Dragoon, and Swedish Dragoon wield Wheelocks.

Pistols

• Fastest to reload but least accurate due to its short barrel, there exists three variations: Old (worst stats), "Regular" (commonly used by some cavalry troops), and Good (best stats and commonly used by Reiters and Generals. Each variation, in turn, has two subvariants: a shorter-barreled, faster-reloading one and a longer-barreled, more-accurate one.
  • There is also the Double-barreled Miquelet (Flintlock) and the Dutch (both "Regular" and Double-barreled) varieties, which are strangely more accurate than their carbine counterparts.
• Due to its inferior stats, pistols are wielded only by a few cavalry troops - Djura, Watchman, Zaporozhian Cavalryman, Volunteer, Polish Reiter, Swedish Reiter, and Moscow Reiter - as well as non-cavalry - Netyag and Generals.

Napoleonic Wars

Firearms make a return in the Napoleonic Wars DLC. Muskets with bayonets are very common and are typically used by most infantry, while pistols, cavalry muskets, and rifles are used by other units.

Muskets

Muskets are the primary weapon of the backbone of each Napoleonic nation; the line infantry. They're cheap to mass produce, which makes them great military firearms for the time. Muskets in Napoleonic Wars are reasonably inaccurate and take a fair amount of time to reload. There are two variants of muskets, the infantry musket and the cavalry musket. The infantry musket is the ultimate equilibrium weapon: providing a fair reload time, accuracy and melee capability. It takes approximately 12 seconds to reload and cannot be used on horseback whatsoever, only put on the user's back to use if they are dismounted. The cavalry musket is less accurate, but is faster to reload. Its lack of a bayonet may be seen as a large disadvantage to many, as the bayonet is a very deadly weapon in the hands of a good player, while using the stock of a cavalry musket can be daunting. Cavalry muskets can be fired on horseback but only reloaded while the horse is stationary.

Rifles

Rifles of the time had rifling technology. Grooves cut into the interior of the barrel meant that cartridges would spin, which would give the advantage of superior long range accuracy over their musket counterparts. In game, this does have its drawbacks. Rifles have a slower reload time than muskets, at 16 seconds, and rifles can only melee with its stock which has its aforementioned problems. France does not have a rifleman class, their closest to a skirmisher class being their light infantry, which can only spawn with muskets. Rifles can be fired, but not reloaded on horseback.

Pistols

Pistols are the sidearms of officers in Napoleonic Wars, packing a decent amount of punch in a small package. Pistols should never be relied upon however, as they will only kill a full health opponent in one hit if it's a headshot, not to mention they're frighteningly inaccurate. However pistols do have the fastest reload time, and are the only firearm in the game to allow the user to move while reloading.

Other

Other less conventional choices are available for use. These are carbines and musketoons. The musketoon is available to very few troops, and is useful in very few situations. Essentially acting as a shotgun, the musketoon spreads out many shots in a large area at closer ranges. It has no bayonet and a slow reload time, on par with the rifles. It should be used carefully around teammates.

Carbines are another choice for cavalry troops, acting very similarly to cavalry muskets, but are better at closer ranges for quick strikes, fitting perfectly for dragoon regiments.

Trivia

• Firearms have existed since classic Mount&Blade in the form of a hidden Flintlock Pistol powered by Cartridges, both only accessible via the cheat menu.

Gallery

The original Flintlock Pistol

The original Cartridges