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Warmatrix

War Matrix - Modern shell

Geopolitical Race 1830 CE - 1880 CE, Weapons and technology

Raufoss Mk 211 HEAP ammunition
Raufoss Mk 211 HEAP ammunition
The modern shell elevated artillery to the position of the most powerful weapon on the battlefield.
Since the invention of gunpowder, almost all ammunition consisted of solid metal balls that did damage by hitting with a lot of kinetic energy. In the late 19th century CE advances in chemistry led to the invention of 'smokeless' gunpowder, which drastically reduced the amount of smoke produced by gunshots. Gunners wanted to use the explosive powder inside gun bullets too, to create ammunition that would detonate on impact, creating further damage. However smokeless powder was too unstable for that, endangering the gunners themselves. Further improvements soon overcame this problem.
In 1885 CE the first high-explosive shells appeared, filled with pitric acid. In the following decades new chemicals and mixtures improved both explosive power and safety. High-explosive shells are particularly effective against 'soft' targets that have little armor to protect themselves. Upon impact, they kill and destroy by a combination of blast force and spraying shrapnel around. The damage done decreases with the square of the radius to the center of the explosion.
The development of explosive shells ran parallel with the adoption of iron and later steel armor by ships. These targets required a different kind of ammunition, capable of punching through thick iron and steel: armor-piercing ammunition. In the late 1850's CE William Palliser invented the first such shell. It had a head that was hardened by chilling and was capable of defeating wrought-iron armor. The introduction of steel in the 1880's CE led to the introduction of steel ammunition, later improved by various metal alloys. All follow the same general design that has a hardened head and a small explosive charge in the rear.
Later the two branches were combined into high-explosive armor-piercing (HEAP) ammunition. This is designed to first punch through armor, then explode for maximum damage to the target behind the armor. HEAP is a compromise between the two paths that it combines.
Other, specialized types of shells are used alongside damaging types. For example pyrotechnical charges illuminate targets or throw up smokescreens.