American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)
http://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/

Detached units and Melee
http://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24079
Page 1 of 1

Author:  Richard Coyne [ Tue Jan 06, 2026 9:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Detached units and Melee

I am currently playing an MP game in which detached units cannot Melee.
What a wonderful idea. I wish the game would enforce it automatically.
Seems easy enough, it already reports a unit being Detached and will not allow a disrupted unit to melee

I know some say it's a game, but it is an AMERICAN CIVIL WAR GAME why not try to make it as accurate and curb gamey moves to boot.
If not, then why give points for captured wagons.
The loss of supplies is bad enough without adding on a ton of points IT REWARDS VERY UNREALISTIC/GAMEY PLAY

P,S YES I DID LOSE A SUPPLY WAGON TO A 30 MAN UNIT WAY BEHIND MY LINE

Author:  Quaama [ Tue Jan 06, 2026 11:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Detached units and Melee

'Detached units cannot melee' sounds like a good house rule to me. It would prevent commando style raids, and stop units that rout the wrong way' becoming an infiltration force behind your lines.

VPs for supply wagons vary across titles, and across scenarios within titles. In two scenarios I'm playing they are worth 0VPs, in another 2VPs (per supply point).

Author:  RichWalker [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 11:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Detached units and Melee

Richard Coyne wrote:
I am currently playing an MP game in which detached units cannot Melee.
What a wonderful idea. I wish the game would enforce it automatically.
Seems easy enough, it already reports a unit being Detached and will not allow a disrupted unit to melee

I know some say it's a game, but it is an AMERICAN CIVIL WAR GAME why not try to make it as accurate and curb gamey moves to boot.
If not, then why give points for captured wagons.
The loss of supplies is bad enough without adding on a ton of points IT REWARDS VERY UNREALISTIC/GAMEY PLAY

P,S YES I DID LOSE A SUPPLY WAGON TO A 30 MAN UNIT WAY BEHIND MY LINE


I don't agree that they should be worth zero. However, some scenarios have excessive VP levels. In a recent Corinth game, they were worth 5 pts for every 25 loss.

I think in my titles, they are mostly all worth 1pt. I think it might also depend on the scarcity of the available supply. When abundant, more VPs, when scarce, less.
In the 3-day Gettysburg, supplies are not abundant and are worth zero. For me, I would still give them a 1pt.

As for detached units being able to melee. Unlike earlier wars, units in the ACW could and did operate with more independence. I would certainly exempt cavalry for this notion of no melee if detached. Also, unlike the M&P and S&S titles that do have the no detached melee option, those titles allow melee with Disordered units. In the CWB series, disrupted (Disordered is not used) cannot melee. So, there is already a certain limitation in who can melee when compared to titles that have the detached no melee rule as an option.

Lastly, it would be difficult to fully enforce with FOW using a house rule. And WDS is not going to implement this for the CWB series any time soon.

Author:  nsimms [ Thu Jan 08, 2026 9:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Detached units and Melee

Some scenarios reduce the Union command distance to as much as half of the Reb command distance. That alone has the Union primarily on the defensive for the battle. Also, this house rule would depend solely upon the trustworthiness of the opponent since there is no way (in most circumstances) for an opponent to know when it is being violated. It would require a lot of thought as to how it would impact the game, both in playability and historical accuracy.

Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 5 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
https://www.phpbb.com/