Continuing with the theme of introducing odd weapons to European Napoleonic warfare, this thread's challenge is to introduce one or more units of mounted infantry armed with oversized muskets comparable to the Persian heavy jazayer / jezail.
Such a weapon would have precedents in a gunpowder army. Similar to the European amusette, which the Hessians used in the Revolutionary War, the jazayer -- 18ish kilograms, approximately 24mm -- was a major feature of Nader Shah's Persian army in the early/middle 18th century. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Afsharid_dynasty_of_Persia). It had longer range and more penetrating power than a European musket, but was considerably heavier. Presumably, this added weight explains why jazayer troops were primarily mounted infantry; it would be hard to lug a weapon like that around on foot. Jazayerchi were used on the battlefield against targets ranging from regular infantry to charging armored elephants. (They punched right through the latter.)
The challenge is to have mounted jazayerchi-style units in one or more European armies during the Napoleonic Wars. Bonus points if they are actually effective in some role or other, rather than being an experimental curiosity.
Such a weapon would have precedents in a gunpowder army. Similar to the European amusette, which the Hessians used in the Revolutionary War, the jazayer -- 18ish kilograms, approximately 24mm -- was a major feature of Nader Shah's Persian army in the early/middle 18th century. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_the_Afsharid_dynasty_of_Persia). It had longer range and more penetrating power than a European musket, but was considerably heavier. Presumably, this added weight explains why jazayer troops were primarily mounted infantry; it would be hard to lug a weapon like that around on foot. Jazayerchi were used on the battlefield against targets ranging from regular infantry to charging armored elephants. (They punched right through the latter.)
The challenge is to have mounted jazayerchi-style units in one or more European armies during the Napoleonic Wars. Bonus points if they are actually effective in some role or other, rather than being an experimental curiosity.
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