So the handguns in the game seem rather lacking, especially in the Revolver department. Here is my proposition for Revolvers to be added into the game.
The only Revolver currently in the game is the Nagant, despite the fact that Revolvers were still quite prevalent in the Second World War and every single major power fielded atleast one model. These are my propositions for some revolvers to add into the game.
Russia, as well as the Nagant, should get a S&W No.3 Russian. This single action revolver was built from around 1880 until 1915 by the Russian Army. It fires six slow but punchy (and supposedly quite accurate) .44 Russian rounds (which from what I found were eventually also made in smokeless so no black powder shenanigans are required) and is a top-break single-action. Whilst single-action is generally not competitive against double-action, the spur on the trigger guard aids with cocking the hammer and should speed up the process a good deal. This would be almost an upgrade to the standard Nagant, as it can reload much faster and has a cartridge that’ll do a good amount more damage. Also due to it’s heavier weight it should have greater damage for meleeing.
Germany gets a Reichsrevolver 1883 and possibly a Rast and Gasser M1898. The Reichsrevolver is a single-action revolver that reloads via loading gate (like the Nagant), however it lacks an ejector rod so the user will carry a separate ejector and use that to push the cartridges out, which is admittedly a slow and very tedious process. These drawbacks are somewhat outweighed by the fact that it fires 10.4 Reichsrevolver (which once again there seems to have been smokeless loads produced for so you can use that instead of blackpowder tomfuckery), which is another slow yet punchy cartridge. Also due to it’s rather spectacular weight, this would be a superb melee weapon. The Rast and Gasser 1898 is a complete contrast on the other hand, being basically a better Nagant. The Rast and Gasser is a Double and Single-Action gate-loading revolver with 8-rounds of 8mm Gasser (which is similar to the round the Nagant uses). While it is gate-loading like the Nagant, it employs an Aberdeen Loading System, which allows the user to pull the trigger to rotate the cylinder instead of manually spinning the cylinder like on a Nagant, which allows it to have an increased loading speed. It also was more comfortable to shoot from my knowledge.
(depicted on top is the Reichsrevolver, with the Gasser below it)
The Americans also employed Revolvers during the war, most notably the M1917 Revolvers. S&W and Colt both made swing-out cylinder revolvers that holds 6 rounds of .45acp that used moon clips for loading. This would make reloading quite fast and make this probably among the best revolvers in the game. The S&W ones are generally better quality than the Colt ones so maybe make them higher level idk.
Since we’re definitely getting the British into the game, we should include the famous Webley Revolver and the less famous Enfield Revolver. The two Webley Revolvers I’d suggest would be the Mk.VI chambered in .455 Webley and the Mk.IV chambered in .38-200. Both these revolvers were top-break revolvers with 6 round cylinders, with the .455 Webley sort of being akin to a slightly weaker .45 and the .38-200 being akin to a 9mm from my knowledge. The Mk.VI also could use a Prideaux speedloader which would make reloading it very fast if included. The Enfield No.2 would be very similar to the Mk.IV but maybe could have better upgradability.
(Mk.VI Webley on top, Mk.IV Webley in the middle, Enfield No.2 on the bottom)
Now for Revolvers for nations that we might get hopefully (due to us not knowing if we’ll get these nations, I will be less in depth with them). Italians could get the gate-loading double-action Bodeo 1889 in 10.35mm Ordinanza Italiana. The French if added could get the swing-out cylinder double-action Mle.1892 in 8mm French Ordnance. The Japanese could get the top-break double-action only Type 26 in 9x22r Type 26. The Norwegians could get the Nagant 1893 in 7.5mm Nagant.
(Shown below from top to bottom: Mle.1892, Bodeo 1889, Type 26, and Norwegian Nagant 1893)
Revolvers, while often not the preferred sidearm, were present in WWII in decently large quantities and to ignore them would be, in my opinion, a missed opportunity. Because of this, I’d like to see more of them in the game even if they aren’t better than semi-automatic pistols. Thank you for reading this and if you have any suggestions or think my ideas are stupid please let me know.