Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon

APRIL 2013 RELEASE
Federated States of America
HOTCHKISS REVOLVING CANNON
Federated States of America Gun Section
The M1867 3” Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon is a distinctly American piece of machinery. Machined
to the highest standards and produced in massive quantities in factories coast to coast, the Revolving
Cannon is a common sight amongst Federal Regiments wherever they are fighting.
Wonderfully simple in its design, the Revolving Cannon is nothing more than a Gatling gun scaled up
by a factor of six. With its chain feed and quadruple-barrel configuration a Hotchkiss Gun can lay down
a constant torrent of 3” high-explosive shells into the enemy, rapidly blasting though anything that
should stand in its way.
The gun has a decent range, Effective out to Range Band 2 and at Long Range out to Range Band 4.
This gives the gun a good command of the battlefield, but does mean that it can be out ranged by other
artillery pieces if it is left out in the open.
Like all weapons of its type, the Hotchkiss Gun has the Move or Fire MAR, meaning that it must not
move in order to fire. Also, like many other FSA mechanical weapons the Hotchkiss Gun has the Crank
MAR, meaning that it can boost its number of attack dice with a Game Card.
Field Gun
Gun Section
Mv
LP
Pts
3”
2
30
IR
KR
MAD
5
7
2
WEAPONS
Hotchkiss Revolving
Cannon
WEAPON STATISTICS
Name
RAD
IAD
Effective Range
Long Range
WARs
Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon
8
4
1,2
3,4
Crank, Move or Fire,
Rapid-Fire (3)
MARs & ABILITIES
Towable, Limited
Traverse (Hotchkiss
Revolving Cannon)
(Forward)
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BACKGROUND & TACTICS
However, it is the Rapid Fire MAR that makes the M1867 one of the
most feared weapons on the battlefield. The Rapid Fire MAR allows
the gun to make multiple Ranged Attacks in a single activation,
representing its incredible rate of fire.
At first glance the Attack dice of the Hotchkiss Gun may appear to
be rather low, only eight Blue Ranged Attack Dice and four Blue
Ironclad Attack Dice at Effective Range. However, with the Rapid
Fire MAR you are rolling these multiple times, which quickly makes
up for any perceived shortfall in firepower.
Rapid Fire attacks are rolled as separate attacks rather than as a single
pool, making the Hotchkiss Gun better at targeting Infantry and
light vehicles rather than going after large multi-Life Point models
or heavy Ironclads – although, with that said, with so many attack
dice being rolled the chances of rolling well against big things should
not be discounted.
Like all Field Pieces, good positioning is key to getting the best out
of the weapon. With its relatively limited range the Hotchkiss will
do well being deployed at the front of your Deployment Zone,
preferably on elevated ground or in cover if at all possible, with good
lines of sight over the major routes of the battlefield.
The M1867, being both fragile and being able to spit out a great deal
of firepower, will almost defiantly be at the top of your enemies hit
list. By a combination of clever positioning and the use of screening
infantry a good deal of incoming Ranged Attacks can be avoided,
and even if the enemy does get a good shot off against the Gun
Section, the Field Piece’s IR of 5, KR of 7 and three accompanying
Federal Infantrymen should be able to soak up the worst of the fire.
A far greater threat is that of enemy Cavalry and Aeronauts. If they are
allowed to Charge your Gun Section, it soon won’t be there anymore.
However, would be attackers can soon be seen off by having a Section
of Federal Infantry guard the Gun Section, or having your Scouts lay
traps to block off any Cavalry Charges.