<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by ALynn</i>
<br /> How historic is it to have a fresh regiment, just sent to battle with their cartridge boxes full to shoot off their entire supply of small arms ammo in a single 20 minute period while the regiment next to them might be able to fight for horus upon hours and never run out?
Regards,
Brig. Gen. Alan Lynn
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
General Lynn,
Actually, something very much like that actually happened at Shiloh. A federal regiment got off the boats the morning of the first day and starting marching toward their assigned brigade. They didn't even know fighting had begun until they showed up at the battlefield -- and they had NOT been issued cartridges when they disembarked, because no one back at the landing knew the fighting had started, either! Their regimental commander promptly countermarched them back to the landing to try and find a supply depot. (As you can imagine, their fellows in the brigade were none too happy to see them come marching up then turn around and march away!)
Also, remember that each turn represents a 20-minute period, not a single volley, and as such must be somewhat abstracted. Soldiers going into battle were only issued 40 rounds of ammunition and were expected to load and fire 2-3 times per minute. During a heated exchange, it would be entirely possible for the regiment to be so low in ammo that it was no longer able to maintain enough fire to be counted as such in game terms. (In actuality, few firefights went that long.)
Still, I agree with you -- I would like to see each regiment and each battery have its own ammo counter. I think it should be decremented each time the unit fires, however, not just during offensive fire. I'd also like to see separate artillery ammo wagons. (I'm just guessing, but I would expect the ammo was kept in separate wagons.)
Your humble servant,
Gen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory
David W. Mallory
ACW - General, 3/2/I/AotM (Club President & Cabinet Member)
CCC - Lieutenant, Georgia Volunteers, Southern Regional Department, Colonial American Army