Have you been disappointed by how poorly the recruits mod works with blackpowder era warfare? I too felt that way, and as such, I have decided to create a mod to significantly improve the blackpowder warfare experience for the recruits mod!

Here is your guide to everything this mod has to add:

WEAPONS:

INFANTRY:
This mod adds 7 kinds of muskets to the game usable by the recruits (not really meant for player use), every one of which has its own upside and downside.

Reliable Musket:
No proficiencies, all-round decent musket that doesn't excel or fall behind in anything.

Drill Musket:
Reloads twice as fast as the other muskets, but has poor melee, great for overwhelming enemies with sheer volume of firepower.

Sturdy Musket:
Excellent melee, but terrible accuracy and shot damage, perfect for those who believe the bullet is stupid, and the bayonet is bold.

Heavy Musket:
Strong shot damage, but poor accuracy, perfect for close-ranged volleys.

Shock Musket:
Good melee, increased speed, and slower reload, good for neutralizing enemy firepower and forcing melee engagements.

Accurate Musket:
Good accuracy, poor melee, for those who prefer to fight from a distance.

Rifle:
Good accuracy, best shot damage, slowest reload, and lowest melee. This is NOT a line infantry weapon - you should give this to your skirmishers!

CAVALRY:
Three new cavalry weapons are also added, again with their own specialties. Again, these are more or less made for recruits, not players.

Sabre:
Fast swing rate, good melee damage, speed bonus on horseback. Perfect for your light cavalry.

Thrusting Sword:
Higher damage, slower swing rate, this sword is best for your heavy cavalry, who will have better staying power with its higher melee ability.

Lance:
Long, hollow, and fearsome wooden lances which can instantly kill anything it makes impact with. However, they give a melee debuff for after the charge. Best for punching through weak points in the enemy line and pursuing retreating foes. CHOOSE YOUR CHARGES WISELY!

ARTILLERY:
This mod adds in four new types of player-useable cannons which could decide the course of an entire battle if used correctly.

To move the cannon, sneak behind or in front of it and push. To turn the cannon, sneak beside it. To change elevation, sneak behind it. To fire it, get close and right click with a Linstock. Once fired, cannons will reload themselves.

The Nomad recruit, who has been replaced by the artilleryman will be able to use these cannons. Tell them where to fire with the Face command, and have them strategic fire to shoot the guns. Nomads will automatically pick up cannons once you push or place one near it. They will automatically limber when mounted and deploy when dismounted.

3-Pounder Battalion Gun:
It is the smallest cannon, but do not underestimate it! This cannon is the fastest to carry with both horse and on foot, reloads the fastest, and fires canister shot!

6-Pounder Field Gun:
Your standard run of the mill cannon. Fires roundshot that can tear apart enemy lines and wooden defenses, with a decent reload and carry speed.

12-Pounder Field Gun:
If the 6-Pounder wasn't strong enough for you, try the 12-Pounder. It fires a larger cannonball that can penetrate stone, has a larger AOE, but is slow to carry and takes longer to reload.

12-Pounder Howitzer:
All these cannons are great at killing things, but not so much at destroying enemy forts. That's where the howitzer comes in. The howitzer shoots explosive shells, though they are not very accurate. If you have several of them firing at once however, you could level an entire village! Though, they are slow to carry, have the slowest reload, and are not great at killing things.

THEORIES:
To create the different kinds of muskets, you will need "Theories." Theories are items named after real commanders from the 1700s that create muskets reflecting their style of warfare. They are crafted with a book and quill and gunpowder. Upon crafting, 1 of 6 theories will be randomly given to you.

Each theory crafts the following musket:
Bland -> Heavy Musket
Charles XII -> Shock Musket
Frederick II -> Drill Musket
Suvorov -> Sturdy Musket
von Daun -> Accurate Musket
von Ewald -> Rifle

Applying a theory to musket crafting looks like this:

Theories do NOT get used up when crafting.
If you do not use a theory, you will get reliable muskets instead.

You may also duplicate theories using books:

If you are using my uniform mod, you may also craft specific theories using the uniform kits and a book:

CANNON CRAFTING:
Crafting cannons is quite straightfoward.

First, you need to craft the carriage like this:

Then, you need to craft the cannon itself:

3-Pounder:

6-Pounder:

12-Pounder:

Howitzer:

Then, simply combine the cannon with your carriage, and your gun will be ready to place!

And without a Linstock, you can not fire your cannon. Linstocks are crafted as shown:

Field Defenses:
This mod adds one kind of field defense, that being the Chevaux de Frise, crafted as shown:

They will slow down anything that walks through them. This will buy your troops precious seconds in the face of an enemy charge. They have an even bigger bonus against cavalry. USE THEM WISELY!

Mechanical changes:
Crossbowmen have been renamed "Musketeers"
Nomads have been renamed "Artillerymen"

Musketeers and Horsemen get a permanent resistance buff to make battles last longer (though the musketeers have a stronger buff than the horsemen).

Unless they are equipped with rifles, musketeers have full knockback resistance. This is to ensure recruits stay in formation and aren't flung around when shot. Rifles do not get this because they were used in open order rather than in line formations.

Musketeers will not be able to reload on the move. This is to prevent situations where a commander could win by retreating the entire time while shooting.

This is everything my mod has to offer. Thank you for reading! Please have fun with my mod!

Credits:
Talhanation: For the Recruits Mod
Ewewukek: For the Musket Mod
Scarecrow01 and MinecraftGuy926: For the musket models here
Artbor: Inspiration for the cannon models here
OleksaYankovski: Inspiration for the sword models here
BasicModel: Inspiration for the lance models here
Armchair Interactive: Master of Command was this mod's greatest inspiration here
JackaKombatant: Playtesting support

Recruits: Blackpowder