post battle questions

[grecian1959]

Guys recently we have played several battles using BP (AWI/napoleonic) on a 9x5 table.We love the rules despite its general difficulties being an attacker(usually shot up) and a plethora of disorders each turn never realised how many sixes can be rolled except when i need them of course!!!!!!!
while remembering its a game of dice and the best laid plan can fall on a dice roll of 1


so onto my questions----

*In our AWI refight british cav struck a American miltia unit in the open .Took closing fire and was shaken but charged in.did we play this right? Do units inf/cav if shaken or disordered by closing fire charge in? *In the case of cavalry if its shaken or disordered while charging in or in a later round of the combat, can it disengage from a combat in later rounds?
*Should non square forming infantry /miltia (ie; non Napoleonic period) charged in the open not generally be in SERIOUS trouble?
* a unit of infantry was charged in the flank by an enemy infantry unit.it could only stand facing as it was as its charge response action ,correct? it fought with -1 engaged to flank/rear and survived with a draw (aaaagh my dice ).If the unit draws or wins the combat or a later round does it ever turn to face frontally it opponent ?
* ontable AWI british stats are generally nothing special and we felt gamed exactly as ther opponent continentals/Miiltia.
* never ever charge in, while in attack column formation
*just an general feeling is that the militia stats for both periods need a stats reduction .While recognising miltias/landwehr general enthusiasm for the cause ,it took a while before they wouldnt be brittle on the battlefield or ever be any good eg; Russian 1812 militia units.Likewise Line units eg; french 1813/1814 conscripts,neapolitans etc need downgrade.im glad to see that LAK is due out soon followed by 2 Nap suppliments these might help with this.
* observation on heavy batteries eg 12pdrs in the game .Unless one side advances and attacks them always seem to be in long range looking for disorder 6's on one dice roll per battery which can be really ineffectual.So is BP a game of 6pdrs? I dont want game-isms appearing of 12pdr batteries flying around in the front line like lights which is generally un-historical




thanks Peter

[Cubster]

As regards the cavalry charging infantry question, this has cropped up before a few times. Opinion is divided.

My own is that formed infantry in line would be in a very strong position if charged in the front by cavalry. If the infantry holds its nerve and stands its ground (big if of course) then it will be pouring an awful lot of lead onto the oncoming unit and you cannot expect the attacker to have a good day. Even if they survived to reach the infantry unit, it would be faced by a wall of bayonets which outreach any sword and prevent the horse from making contact ... and the rear ranks are then reloading.

When you think about it, a square is simply a way to ensure the cavalry cannot flank the infantry unit and at any given time, it's firepower is at most a quarter of what it would be in line formation, yet we readily agree that cavalry would get mashed up if charging a square.

I think cavalry is often overpowed in Napoleonic rules. When faced with disciplined infantry, cavalry was all but impotent. Their weapons were speed, manoeuvrability and of course, fear. When faced with solid infantry in line, they would look to move to the flanks or intimidate them into breaking formation. A shaken or retreating unit was dead meat. Of course, if you could pin a unit to face one way with infantry and outflank it with your cavalry, or indeed force a unit to form square with your cavalry whilst hammering it with musketry or artillery, then happy days!

[BigMike]

After all Tarleton's dragoons are devastated at Cowpens after being lured into charging a formed line regiment. I suspect the way to get the cavalry charge to be truly effective is to get the unit to charge a disordered or shaken unit - that way they suffer to hit penalties and your charge bonus really starts to count.

[grecian1959]

thanks guys i do agree that cavalry charges versus formed solid infantry to the front generally would be suicide.i do feel that militia though should be jittery when faced with cavalry.also distance could be an issue in that cavalry that charges from within close range or at least 1 move distance COULD get the jump on cav perhaps??? so can you end up with shaken/disordered infantry being able to use closing fire with a minus1 only on the cavalry=> prob get a hit and a possible 6 for disorder .i dont want super cavalry at all but there was a reason footsoldiers feared them,i just dont want inf to strut about with impunity lol