Did the timurids actually have elephants with canons on them

[Triple Deep Threat]

Seems very silly

[Gigantus]

Probably had trebuchets on them as well....

Canons would have broken the back of the elephants when fired unless it was a ridiculously small calibre.

[Ashur_Arbaces]

Originally posted by Gigantus:

Probably had trebuchets on them as well....

Canons would have broken the back of the elephants when fired unless it was a ridiculously small calibre.

I also can't see an elephant reacting well to the sound of a cannon going off right next to it's ears.

[Gigantus]

I think that could be trained, but I wouldn't make bets on it - it's vastly different from training horses not to panic from loud battle field noises.

[Tuidjy]

They actually tried it, and it must have worked at least a little bit, because the idea stayed in parts[historum.com] of[teakdoor.com] Indochina[i.pinimg.com] for centuries.

A couple of caveats, though.

1) It was very small cannons. Nothing as big as depicted in Total War... and lets not even go into how big Total War's elephants are compared to the real thing. The cannons were swivel mounted, 25-40mm half pounders.

2) They were notoriously inaccurate, so much the contemporaries remarked on it. A far shot from the Timurid precision anti-personnel wonders.

3) They were a total pain to reload. Once again, quite different than in game.

4) When the Thai military hunta tried to reenact the setup in the 50s, they found that yes, elephants got used to the noise, but they also lost their hearing and became much harder to control and calm down. I doubt the Timurid fared better.

So, yes, they did exist, and no, they were nothing as effective as what we get.

The cannons in Total War are full size, 6 pounder serpentines, that appear to be breech-loaded, and are just as accurate as the full-sized thing. I.e. they are a dozen times as powerful, utilize technology that was only refined in the 19th century, and suffer no penalties from being fired from a moving, unstable platform.

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Rocket elephants were also tried. More powerful charge, due to manageable recoil, but so inaccurate that they were abandoned.

Consider ourselves lucky Creative Arts did not implement them. They would have made them better than Katyushas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkTEhyt_Is

[Triple Deep Threat]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

They actually tried it, and it must have worked at least a little bit, because the idea stayed in parts[historum.com] of[teakdoor.com] Indochina[i.pinimg.com] for centuries.

A couple of caveats, though.

1) It was very small cannons. Nothing as big as depicted in Total War... and lets not even go into how big Total War's elephants are compared to the real thing. The cannons were swivel mounted, 25-40mm half pounders.

2) They were notoriously inaccurate, so much the contemporaries remarked on it. A far shot from the Timurid precision anti-personnel wonders.

3) They were a total pain to reload. Once again, quite different than in game.

4) When the Thai military hunta tried to reenact the setup in the 50s, they found that yes, elephants got used to the noise, but they also lost their hearing and became much harder to control and calm down. I doubt the Timurid fared better.

So, yes, they did exist, and no, they were nothing as effective as what we get.

The cannons in Total War are full size, 6 pounder serpentines, that appear to be breech-loaded, and are just as accurate as the full-sized thing. I.e. they are a dozen times as powerful, utilize technology that was only refined in the 19th century, and suffer no penalties from being fired from a moving, unstable platform.

----------

Rocket elephants were also tried. More powerful charge, due to manageable recoil, but so inaccurate that they were abandoned.

Consider ourselves lucky Creative Arts did not implement them. They would have made them better than Katyushas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkTEhyt_Is

Wow thank you, thats crazy. So the cannons were like small musket cannon? Wow and i thought they were added for myth

[Gigantus]

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

They actually tried it, ....

The detailed info is much appreciated, thanks.

[Tuidjy]

Originally posted by Чебурашка:

Originally posted by Tuidjy:

They actually tried it,

So the cannons were like small musket cannon?

The technical term is swivel gun. A small cannon balanced on a pole, and the operator can move around the pole, thus aiming the cannon quickly, on muscle strength alone.

Here is an European version[i.pinimg.com] of the weapon in question.

My understanding is that they were used a bit like a big shotgun. Strictly short range, always in conjunction with other troops. The idea would be to soften the enemy right before an assault, a boarding, etc.

And this is the modern[upload.wikimedia.org] analogue.