Civil war history is big here with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Atlanta (no more SD for me, normzone!). I was learning how the Minie ball made bayonets obsolete, as with the longer range soldiers rarely found hand to hand any more.
Also I was learning about the black companies - willing escaped slaves were put in single race comapnies (commanded by whites) and fought hard.
With battle at a distance it does not matter how big and strong you are. It matters if you are quick and cool in the clutch. These qualities are why sweatshops world round employ preteen girls. I envisioned a girl musket regiment. These girls would treat their musket like a crew weapon, together loading aiming and shooting faster than a man could alone. Bravado and honor are not issues. At a distance the enemy is not as scary. They will not run because they know they will be run down. Especially if set in the Old South this could be an exciting aspect of an alternate history sci fi.
If I were writing it, I would start with a soldier bringing back 35 captive girls, the regimen having surrendered together rather than fight when their line was overrun. They are polite southern girls. The Union soldier capturing them states that they killed so many in his unit they were ready to kill them all until they got into the entrenchments and saw who they were fighting. Later the story documents a similar girl musket regiment in action.-- bungston, Jul 25 2014 12-pounder Napoleon http://en.wikipedia...Canon_obusier_de_12Handy, lightweight little field cannon. [8th of 7, Jul 25 2014] Being Japan, maid shooting .50 rifle https://www.youtube...watch?v=3XnMQUqjiH0 [not_morrison_rm, Jul 25 2014] Ziva David http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziva_DavidA watered-down fictional portrayal of Type II [8th of 7, Jul 25 2014] German army prankster http://en.wikipedia...huss_%28Seil%29.jpgsets off gun with long piece of string as the crew snooze inside...oh those crazy Germans [not_morrison_rm, Jul 26 2014] // These girls would treat their musket like a crew weapon, //
If you're going to give them a crew-served weapon, why not an artillery piece ? A 12-pounder Napoleon can be handled by a female crew - they're not overly large or heavy, and for distance moves they're towed by horses, and lots of women like horses.-- 8th of 7, Jul 25 2014 what [8th] said. [+]-- Voice, Jul 25 2014 Have you been getting into the local moonshine?
What drove you to Atlanta - professional opportunity?
See, if you were to set the same story in San Diego it could be with hot senoritas in swimsuits with surfboards.
Also, suggest Culture:Movie:Derived Work rather than your current category of choice.-- normzone, Jul 25 2014 /drove to Atlanta/ - Desire for blackeyed peas and fatback. And professional opportunism.
/artillery/ - sure. But watching people load and fire a civil war rifle I was thinking teamwork could be efficient. Plus I can envision all 3 crew members teaming up on the rifle, then firing together, the front girl sighting from midbarrel and the back bracing the triggergirl against the kick.
The idea evolved from the idea of single [x] companies, together with thinking about the evolution of combat.
If this is a derived work from a movie I want to watch the movie so link it up. I am not sure the Atlanta Cyclorama counts.-- bungston, Jul 25 2014 While women have participated in combat throughout recorded history, often with notable success, the few occasions when they have been deployed as front-line infantry have not been sufficiently successful to encourage further experiments; this is not in any way to deprecate their outstanding contribution as tank crew, special and irregular forces, pilots, intelligence and signals personnel, and anti-aircraft gunners.
Further, we strongly advise avoiding making deprecatory remarks in the presence of serving or former female service personnel, if you desire to be boringly conventional and wear your lungs inside your chest cavity.-- 8th of 7, Jul 25 2014 I think all the mint juleps and parasols might hinder the activities, if you're going for proper southern girls.-- not_morrison_rm, Jul 25 2014 This is just because you have a thing about girls with guns, isn't it, [bung]?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jul 25 2014 //This is just because you have a thing about girls with guns, isn't it, [bung]?
Predictably for Japan, there is a video series of some lass in a maid outfit firing weapons...see link if you really must..-- not_morrison_rm, Jul 25 2014 //girls with guns //
Sadly there seems to be no middle ground between "cringingly useless" and "disturbingly competent".
The first sort do things like putting their personal protection weapon in their handbag (#include <EOSSAHR.H>) and the second sort are all really wonderful people who are effectively without flaw and undeserving of any criticism whatsoever, even of the mildest sort, and additionally are never wrong. <link>
Either way, it doesn't work out well.-- 8th of 7, Jul 25 2014 Reminds me of the Black Watch, a Scottish regiment whom the Germans in World War 1 called "Ladies from Hell" on account of their kilts.-- Spacecoyote, Jul 26 2014 Hmm, thinking about it, by placing a piece of cheese in the muzzle of the 12 pounder*, it would an entertaining way to keep the mice down...
*Just goes how much the pound has been devalued over the centuries,looking at the Panzerhaubitze 2000, the unit cost is US$4.5 million...-- not_morrison_rm, Jul 26 2014 // keep the mice down //
Just how big are the "mice" round your way ? Are you quite sure your rodent identification skills are up to the mark ? You're not mistaking them for something else, like maybe capybara, or elephants ?
Don't forget that in most cirumstances, a big thing far away can look the same size as a small thing up close ...-- 8th of 7, Jul 26 2014 random, halfbakery