Basing ACW dismounted cavalry

[SJDonovan]

I'm currently painting up a couple of armies to use with GHQ's Civil War rules and I noticed that there's nothing specific about basing dismounted cavalry. I assume that they are just treated as infantry. However, my understanding is that Civil War cavalry didn't really fight as close-order infantry but generally adopted a looser, extended line formation. I am therefore thinking of mounting them on I.25" x 3/4" bases and giving them +1 firing and melee die roll modifiers - so in effect they are half-way between close-order infantry and skirmishers.

With regard to my skirmishers, I had been mounting them 4 to a 1" base as is shown in the rule book. However, even taking the +2 die roll modifier into account, I think this could give the impression that 4 skirmishers have almost as much fire-power as 8 close order infantry. I'm therefore thinking of mounting my skirmishers 8 to a 2" x 3/4" base and then deploying my skirmishers in base-to-base contact rather than with gaps between them. As far as I can see this won't have any bearing on game play.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any comments on these suggestions.

Stephen

[dnichols]

Good catch.

Your right, the mounting of ACW dismount cavalry is not directly addressed. This is an omission/mistake by myself.

I like your treatment of the dismounted cavalry. The +1 firing and melee seems both realistic and within the general framework of the rules.

I like your idea as well of mounting skirmishers 8 to a 2" x 3/4". This would look realistic and your right really would not have any effect on game play. The size of the base would make it easy to turn it into a mini diorama.

I'm painting some figures myself right now for a game I am running at a con next month and I'm going to create some of these skirmishers using your mounting.

Please do let me know how this works out for you. I am assembling some errata and I would love to add your suggestions.

Thank you for posting your suggestions to the forum.

[SJDonovan]

Thanks Daryl,

I'm glad you like the ideas. I really like the rules by the way. I'm still in the process of painting up my troops (and I am painfully slow at it) so I am yet to roll a dice in anger but the rules read really well and I'm looking forward to trying them out. I particularly like the look of the melee system where a losing side may have the option of rolling again but there is always the danger of getting a worse result. Elegant idea that.

I hope you'll post some pictures of your games at the convention.

All the best

Stephen

[ACWBill]

Skirmishers should retreat behind the main body of infantry from which they're taken as soon as enemy formed infantry or mounted cav is in charge range.

Dismounted Cav should fight at a distinct disadvantage against formed infantry in melee. They simply did not have the mass to take them on in a whirling skrimish. Also, IMHO dismounted Confederate Cav should not receive ANY kind of fire benefit. They carried a mix of weapons which could be LeMats, Shotguns, Musketoons and Pistols. CS Carbines were often single shot variety. Union cav tended to carry repeaters of the Sharps or Spencers type and SHOULD get some sort of bonus at closer range. They also carried sabers all through the war where CS troops did not. Therefore, CS Mounted Cav in Melee after, say, 1863 should not get a big benefit for this. Before 1863, CS Cav should get a bonus in melee just for being CS Cav. After that, it went downhill quickly, especially in the west. Mounts were poor, or even impossible to find, forcing many western CS Cav units to fight dismounted all the time. Check Forrest's issues with mounts during Hood's 1864 Tennessee Campaign. Over half his units had no horses at Spring Hill, Franklin and Nashville from Nov. 1864 - Dec/Jan of that winter.

Thats my 2 cents.

B

[SJDonovan]

Hi Bill,

The proposed +1 fire and melee modifier for dismounted cavalry does put them at a disadvantage when fighting close order infantry. With the Micro Force rules you are aiming for a low die roll in both fire and melee combat so a positive die roll modifier in fact has a negative impact.

With regard to the modifiers for the varying quality of units at different stages of the war, Daryl has tended to do these on a scenario by scenario basis rather than incorporate them in the main body of the rules. For example, in the Battle of Rummel Farm scenario which depicts the cavalry engagement on the third day at Gettysburg, the cohesion levels of Jeb Stuart's troopers are 1 point below their normal levels to represent the fact that both men and horses alike are worn out by the hard riding they have engaged in. Doing it this way means that he has been able to keep the rules simple but that they are also very flexible.

Stephen