American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

I have never used skirmishers much. In the woods I understand the point. But in open fields where a lot of the action occurs they serve no purpose. I wish it was different and that skirmishers might go out five hexes in open fields to create a larger speed bump to enemy attacks. Impossible I am sure.

Personal Preference Opinion - I've never cared much for variable entry locations and times. Depending on how the scenario is designed it is possible that a division with four brigades may enter the map from each of the four corners due to their randomized entry locations. It makes command and control impossible to maintain. A well-designed scenario should (in my opinion) have randomized entry locations set for divisions as opposed to brigades to avoid this. But I feel like, in most cases, the units arrive by brigades and are subject to being scattered to the four winds. And even if the units arrive by divisions, then you could have a corps with four divisions arriving from all four directions and that still makes command and control an impossibility. As someone who prioritizes a strict adhesion to the command radius school of thought, it just doesn't appeal to me.

Again, all personal preference. To each his own.

I don't use skirmishers as often as I should either, but I've had some awfully good players use them against me effectively even in open fields because they (at times) kept me from getting a unit(s) close enough to melee, take a better shot, cause isolation, or cause me to leave a gap in my line. I personally appear to have trouble determining when best to use them.