<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by andy taylor</i>
<br />If the defender in a melee wins the melee do the units in the defending hex take a morale check ? Surely if the defending side wins the melee they are not then going to get on there toes and leg it. I read a post fairly recently commenting that melee was too easy in our games,i couldn`t agree more.Could something be done to make melee more costly ? Could the attacker face a morale check if they lost the melee ?
Col Andy Taylor
"Taylors tigers cav division"
III corps
AoG CSA
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Hi, Colonel,
I'm not exactly sure why folks seem to think melee is "easy". As it stands now, the attacker has to muster a 5:3 ratio to have an even chance of success. This does not include any terrain or fortification advantages the defender might possess. The attacker has to suffer through full strength defensive fire while only firing back at half strength. In the single turn game, a unit slated to melee can be disrupted, changing the odds and forcing the attacker to make the decision of forgoing the melee or adding another unit (if available) and triggering more fire. Whether he wins or loses, the attacker is disrupted throughout the next player turn, while the defender might return to good order, depending on whether a rout occurred or if it passed the morale check. Even if all the defenders rout after repelling a melee, the defender can move in reserves to defend the hex or even counterattack the depleted attackers. In sum, melee is already weighted heavily in favor of the defender. If you want to eliminate melee entirely, I'm sure that could be arranged by house rule.
For a good narrative of how the mechanics actually worked, read "Red Badge of Courage", about a Union soldier in his first battle. He and a number of his regiment broke and ran when the Rebs attacked, but the regiment as a whole held. Later, after he rejoins his regiment, they attack and take a Reb position(it is a work of fiction, after all). Crane based this narrative on the war stories of ACW veterans, and veterans endorsed it as capturing the essence of combat.
MG Mike Mihalik
1/III/AoMiss/CSA
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