When I began to have battles with Col. John Brogden 6/1/XIV, AotC he requested that we have a house rule where he proposed that artillery stacking be limited to a maximum of eight guns per hex as he considered it a more realistic interpretation than the limits imposed by the game. It sounded right to me so I readily agreed. Whether I am wargaming with miniatures, boardgames or computer games I am always hoping to have the most realistic representation that is possible.
I recently came across a manual titled Instruction for Field Artillery (
https://books.google.com.au/books?id=G2cDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false) where on page 185 it instructs that the distance given must be 14 yards between each piece (and each piece would probably occupy a frontage of 1-2 yards) - it was printed by the Union in 1864.
This would mean that as the John Tiller hexes have are considered as 125 yards, a limit of 8 guns would fit the manual instructions almost exactly. [The manual also instructs that the limbers are to be 6 yards back from the pieces and the caissons back another 11 yards from the limbers.] In short, they took up a lot of room. The reasons for such spacing between the guns is obviously because of smoke and safety.
Furthermore, when I mentioned this rule to another Union opponent (who agreed to have it for our current game) he provided me with this link (
https://www.battlefields.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/Gettysburg--July%203%201863--Picketts%20Charge%20Artillery%20Positions%20%28October%202019%29_0.pdf). That link shows artillery positions at Gettysburg and when examined you can see that in most instances there are no more than six guns placed within 125 yards.
What do others think of this house rule? A more realistic option?