Understanding and Identifying artillery

For our purposes there are two categories which all types of artillery falls under. These are the towed and self propelled artillery types. The Former as the name implies need to be towed to a firing position whilst the later can get there on their own. Both types have both pros and cons and both are generally found in most armies and often in more than one calibre. Before we get into Identifying the major types and parts of modern artillery lets look at  a brief history of artillery.

The first artillery pieces appeared in Europe not long after the secret of gun powder came to Europe. The first types were liekely crude affairs and may have killed its crew as often as the enemy. But technology advanced and the basic direct fire  cannon that would last until the 19th century was developed. This was essentially a cast tube closed at one end. Powder then a projectile were placed and rammed to the rear of the chamber. a small hole at the top provided a place for a fuze which when lit would explode th epacked powder sending the projectile toward the target and the cannon to recoil to the rear. The slowness of reloading, the requirment of returning the cannon to firing position and the scarcity of powder would have