Irregular Troops

[ady2650]

Are there any rules in BP that I am missing, I only see the mandatory formation of 'warband' for irregular troops, is there anything else that applies ?

[Big Al]

Hi Ady

That's about it, Warband, Marauders (Cavalry) or Skirmishers. It's the same in P&S too. Personally, I have a bit of a problem with Zulus just being Warband because of the definition of them being non drilled units. Zulus were well drilled and trained, certainly since Chaka took charge. Can you have a drilled warband? Possibly. Take a look at the scenario in the back for El Teb. There is a little more there about the troop types for the Mahdists.

[HobbitMiles]

A lot depends on who/what you want to depict. I suggest thet you check out how the units behaved in the campaign that you're looking at and apply the rules that you think reflect that behaviour. I'm fairly sure that there is a mention near the begining of BP that you might want to treat Zulus as regulars IF you feel that better represents them (but that isn't how they're represented in the given scenario or how they were played when I did Rourke's Drift with the warlord chaps).

As a matter of interest what is it that you do want to represent? Someone may have already thought it through.

[Alan Charlesworth]

Would that be Cossacks that you are trying to sort out?

[grant]

Troops which are not regular should be fed a healthy fibre-filled diet.





Sorry - couldn't miss that opportunity!

[ady2650]

Thanks for the replies gents, yes even yours grant

nail on head really and yes its the irregular/regular cossack debate, from the premise that there has been much debate about the Russian irregular cavalryman; were they true irregulars? Or irregular cavalry that fought using regular- ish tactics. I believe that both could be true, as all Cossacks were irregular cavalry but not all irregular cavalry in the Russian army were Cossacks. thoughts ?

[grant]

I agree Ady. It's tough to perfectly label some of these troops. The Zulu and Mahdi provide for the perfect examples. Zulus are well disciplined Warbands, Mahdis are just insane mobs of troops. But both still form as Warband.

[Big Al]

Well, on page 142, the "Crimea River" scenario, the Cossacks are given the Unreliable, Lancers and Marauders Useful Rules but not declared Warbands, although they are cavalry units. You could create a small table similar to that used for the "Freshly Raised" Useful Rule, where you roll to see what type of unit turns up on the day. This would make them naturally unreliable where they may act as a warband or as regular troops (blame it on the vodka). You have little control over how they act on the day. Roll when you are giving them their first order or when they are sent in to fight. Each entry on the table can have a couple of Useful Rules attached to it which are the traits of that unit for the day. Unless, of course, you want something more predictable that you can call upon for your army choices

[grecian1959]

Ady my reading of it is that
guards cossacks were really good quality regular lt cavalry
don cossacks were the best cossacks and nearly trained
other cossacks were non battlefield cav ie wavering or untested
baskirs/kalmucks would be native warband

[ady2650]

Guys once again thanks, think I have decided on the way I am going to go on this and will post my take soon

ta ady