[ WP ] In an alternate universe , gunpowder was never invented . What does warfare look like ?

set after the Cold War invention of gunpowder, which results in rapid military modernization ( and imbalance ) similar to the revolution of the automatic rifle, tank, jet, or drone. 
 
 12/2/89 
 Yet another spark providing some warmth in the cold. But a much colder deployment ironically enough. It's a nice town though, hopefully the stench is n't too bad after we're done here, I bet they have great beer, you've got to in a climate like this. 
 
 15/2/89 
 Urban combat is the worst, our nice big formations are ineffective, our launcher's shields only face forwards dammit, we need a second line! We drilled for this but I still hate it, there's only so much camaraderie possible in groups of 6. At least Jim came up with a replacement for our second line, weld spare shields onto our helmets, Jim's a fuckin' genius I swear. Figures that the top men that created these tactics we're forced to employ would n't actually think about how we were to go about protecting ourselves. At least we've got Jim. 
 
 18/2/89 
 We've been trying to clear this town for days now and we're running into energy issues, these auto-launchers are amazing with their steel-tipped nickel core darts and copper coils and whatnot, but nothing replaces a good old crossbow in my opinion. I would say there's at least a silver lining in that we're able to reliably penetrate their shields at this range... but so are they. 
 
 20/2/89 
 Going back to rearm today, apparently the first squad to do so. Plenty of rations, bolts and darts left but we ate up our oil, those coils are n't meant to weld I guess. Hopefully the quartermaster is n't too pissed. 
 
 22/2/89 
 Another generator just failed! Three men equipped with them and only one left! We just left the damn staging point yesterday! At least we were able to hock the dead generators off on another squad headed back. Just one's enough to charge three of our launchers constantly, luckily we've got plenty of bolts for our crosses, we're gon na need them. Oil is n't much of an issue now at least. Jim said he's gon na try to figure out if he can get our crosses to launch flaming bolts, use that spare oil up. We'd be a force to be reckoned with, especially against their oilmen. 
 
 23/2/89 
 Something huge just... went'kaboom', it's like an oil storage truck went off, a big one, like one of those crazy australian ones, man that was a fun deployment. I asked Jim if he was testing out his firebolt, `` no sir!'' Yeah right... 
 We found where it happened, I'm glad I did n't take Jim's bet. It does n't smell like burnt oil.. or look like it. Got on the radio and was told it was friendly. I would n't wish destruction like that on Moscow even. 
 
 24/2/89 
 It seems the enemy have cleared off, I'd love that beer now but I feel like we're going to spend quite a while longer on clean-up than normal. 
 
 29/2/89 
 We're moving out, leaving that damn crater behind... why would they do that? People lived there! The townspeople just stared at our convoy, it's like we still lost. 
 
 30/2/89 
 Apparently we saw something we were n't meant to, just got out of a special debriefing in HQ's truck, signed some papers. Something they're calling a bomb, using this new experimental powder. Weird stuff, crass stuff, does n't burn like oil does. Dropped it from a high altitude zeppelin and guided it in via radio and spotter plane. My first thought was `` why not drop it from the damn plane'' but I guess it's the same top men is n't it? I asked why we did n't fix its mess, we are n't construction workers he said. We could at least help somehow dammit. 
 
 5/3/89 
 It's the same thing, town after town, we wind seemingly randomly through their streets. I know why, it's the same reason why the townspeople are throwing broken bricks at us. The other squads in our truck started talking about returning fire, the six of us just looked at each other and silently agreed to stop them. When the convoy stops to refuel and there's a lull in the conversation, you can hear it, just barely. 
 
 6/3/89 
 Today a picture was thrown at us, passed around on the truck. It looked like the aftermath of an out of control fire that cut through everything in its path, wood, flesh, bone, stone, leaving it all unburnt. Everyone was quiet after that. I do n't like bombs. 
 

