gunpowder weapons

[Colin]

Also, about 400 years separates revolvers and full plate armor, about 10 years separate matchlock weapons and full plate armor. So it's easily historically appropriate to have black powder if Maximilian armor and halberds exist.

Yep. Even in the early stages of the English Civil War and Thirty Years War, in the early-mid 17th century, it wasn't unknown for cuirassiers in 3/4-plate (that's plate everywhere except the lower legs/feet which were protected with sturdy leather boots) to take the field, and they were typically armed with a pair of wheel-lock (more rarely flintlock) pistols as well as melee weapons.

[Raven_Crowking]

I am guessing that beautiful image comes from an Osprey reference book?

[Colin]

I am guessing that beautiful image comes from an Osprey reference book?

I'm not sure; I found it online. That said, it's not from any of the ECW or 30YW Osprey titles I do have (and I have most of them).

Colin

[Raven_Crowking]

I am guessing that beautiful image comes from an Osprey reference book?

I'm not sure; I found it online. That said, it's not from any of the ECW or 30YW Osprey titles I do have (and I have most of them).

Colin

Well, it's a great image.

[Colin]

Well, it's a great image.

Indeed it is. It's also the sort of pic that's handy to educate people that extensive plate armour didn't simply disappear when firearms arrived, and indeed stayed in use for a good period of time afterwards (hence where "bullet-proofing" comes from). Eventually, it faded from use (at least as far as full-to-3/4 plate goes), but the cuirass and helmet combination continued well into 1800s even on the battlefield.

[Dark Lord]

And the earliest handguns appeared in the late 14th century.
Here's a pretty neat little record of armor with dates.
http://www.themcs.org/armour/14th%20cen ... armour.htm
You can see that what D&D calls "plate mail" doesn't show up until 1346. Which right around the time you get people shooting cannons and whatnot at each other.

I guess what I am saying is that it's perfect valid and fine to say you don't enjoy it in your games, and that it doesn't fit your ideal of the genre, but to claim it's not in the genre at all is just false. It exists in Appendix N, it exists in D&D, and it exists historically, so it's definitely in the genre.