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<blockquote data-quote="Aaron2" data-source="post: 1436494" data-attributes="member: 1436">By the 1600s, the pike-and-musket formations were develped. Here pike armed troops were relegated to protecting the musketeers (primarily from cavalry). Around 1650 the bayonet was develped to allow a musketeer to, essentially, carry his own pike around. From this point on the focus of battle was on gun armed troops.I'm curious what you mean by &quot;preferable&quot;. Early firearms from the 1400s used a matchlock. Here, the user would have to like a match (more like a long fuse) which kept burning and was used to ignite the powder. While reliable, it wasn't much use outside of battle as you couldn't walk around with it lit.&nbsp; In the early 1500s the wheellock was develped. It worked kinda like a modern cigarette lighter. With this, you could walk around with a loaded weapon and fire at any time. The downside was that it was so expensive that only the rich, and not common soldiers, were able to use one. By the early 1600s, the flintlock was finally invented. Its what you typically think of as the pistols used by pirates. This didn't change the battelfield much but it did make firearms more useful when your suprised etc. Aaron</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Aaron2, post: 1436494, member: 1436"] By the 1600s, the pike-and-musket formations were develped. Here pike armed troops were relegated to protecting the musketeers (primarily from cavalry). Around 1650 the bayonet was develped to allow a musketeer to, essentially, carry his own pike around. From this point on the focus of battle was on gun armed troops. I'm curious what you mean by "preferable". Early firearms from the 1400s used a matchlock. Here, the user would have to like a match (more like a long fuse) which kept burning and was used to ignite the powder. While reliable, it wasn't much use outside of battle as you couldn't walk around with it lit. In the early 1500s the wheellock was develped. It worked kinda like a modern cigarette lighter. With this, you could walk around with a loaded weapon and fire at any time. The downside was that it was so expensive that only the rich, and not common soldiers, were able to use one. By the early 1600s, the flintlock was finally invented. Its what you typically think of as the pistols used by pirates. This didn't change the battelfield much but it did make firearms more useful when your suprised etc. Aaron [/QUOTE]

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