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| Turning the world upside down https://wargame.ch/board/cc/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5951 |
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| Author: | Al Amos [ Wed Aug 03, 2005 7:01 am ] |
| Post subject: | Turning the world upside down |
The EAW scale is 125' per hex, 5 minutes per turn, and each unit is company sized. At this scale units are in line (closed, open, or extended) and column (2,3 or 4 ranks wide), and skirmish. The movement concepts for this engine was adopted from horse & musket games with larger scales, and more abstraction in the formations. In those games columns could be attack, route, etc, etc. In our game scale they are for manuevre, not combat. In the larger scale games units in line move slower than column with the reason given the need to dress ranks of the many companies over a wider frontage is harder to maintain than dressing the ranks of one or two companies on a narrower frontage. Therefore, in the larger scale games columns move faster. I agree with that arguement and conclussion, however in our scale games it doesn't hold up. In the EAW scale game we form columns of attack with mutliple units, but those units are (should be) in line formation. The column that each unit can adopt is a marching column, ie a formation to move from point A to point B. The issue of dressing ranks still exists, however another factor comes into play that I believe has not been addressed that should be: the cadence. Most armies had several cadences but for simplisity I would like to focus on two: the ordinary step, and the quick step. Using US War of 1812 information provide by General Winfield Scott in his <i>Abstract of Infantry Tactics</i>. It this document he set the pace at 28", the ordinary step at 90 paces per minute, and the quick-step at 120 paces per minute. In the course of one minute, using the above information a unit marching at ordinary step would cover 210' while one marching at quick-step would cover 280'. Since most discussions of the day recommended that troops cover the beaten zone of artillery and small arms fire rapidly it would make since for the troops to advance into combat at the quick-step. Now while there could be situations where a unit was needed to relocate on the battlefield quickly, I think that the most common cadence for units marching in column (remember non-combat, pre-deployment, company level formation 2-4 files wide) would be the ordinary step to save wear-n-tear on the men. I could see a strong case being made that our reasoning for columns moving faster than lines at this EAW scale being reversed. Commanders with units near the beaten zone of the enemy's weapons would ploy their units into line to ready for combat. Then when ordered forward would encourage their units to move at a quick-step. Commanders manuevring their units toward, away or parallel to, but outside of the beaten zone of the enemy's weapons may very well use column of route (remember non-combat, pre-deployment, company level formation 2-4 files wide) to go there, and would not want to needless tire their men. Within our game engine units in line can disrupt (if using the appropriate optional rule) which reduces their movement by half. Units in column don't have that risk. Many players move in column right to within 125' of the enemy's front (one hex inbetween) to work around this, and since our movement charts give columns a speedier movement rate over clear ground to begin with, units can close into battle much quicker than in real life, making it difficult to use realistic tactis for the defender. What would our games be like if we calculated the movement rates for infantry units in line, or column IN THE OPEN based of the two different cadences. (Movement for units in line or column in any hex other than OPEN could use a reduced ordinary step cadence to allow for the extra difficulty moving through the non-clear terrain.) A unit marching at ordinary step, in the open, for 5 minutes would cover 1,050', or 8.4 hexes. A unit marching at quick-step, in the open, for 5 minutes would cover 1,400', or 11.2 hexes. (If said unit was in LINE, and disrupted due to the optional rule, then it could still cover 5.6 hexes.) So how would our games play out if we were to assume the line formation is the primary combat formation, and once near the enemy it would move at a quick-step, and the column is the primary travel formation and would move at the more liesurely ordinary step. Units in line could move 11 hexes per turn in the open, unless they disrupted then they would move 5 hexes. Units in column could move 8 hexes in the open. Units operating within the game engine in EXTENDED LINE use the column rate in the charts. Making these changes would have the effect of slowing these troops down in the OPEN. In non-clear terrain the charts could be constructed to penalize troops in column, and therefore troops in X order, less than troops in line formation therefore increasing the mobility of units using EXTENDED LINE over those in line. Since humans like even numbers, we like multiples and factors of 12 (1,2,3,4,6,12,24,etc) in games as well for some reason), and the game engine halves movement for disruption the rates could be 8 in column for open hexes, and 12 in line for open hexes, 6 if disrupted. To be more accurate it could be 8 and 11 with 5 for disrupted units. This would make units in column very vunerable in the open (slow and can't fire), and may encourage players to fight in line more. Just an idea. ---- Amended... Roads and trails were developed to create open terrain where there wasn't any before. Infantry could use either equally well, as could cavalry. Wagons and other wheeled vehicles could use roads better than trails. Roads and trails DO NOT speed up units, they're not moving sidewalks! SO, if the above idea was emplaced, especially the 12/8 combination we would see units in column being able to move 8 hexes down a trail or road. Of course units in line could not take advantage of a road/trail in non-clear terrain. However, in the open units trying to take advantage of road movement would drop from 12 hexes per turn to 8 so the urge to blitzkrieg may be reduced without destroying the advantages of road movement in non-clear terrain. It may be worth while to jump on a road and march around a big forest than trying to march through it, but it would be very dangerous to place your army on road in the OPEN to run around your opponent, as you would be in a poor formation to fight in, and the enemy in line can move faster and fight. Another advantage of this concept could be that the three games could be set at different cadences. Perhaps the regulations for the English/French in 1755 was different than in 1776 and 1812. This may be a way to add a bit of period flavor into the three titles. If JT were to make a new engine, I would ask him to develop movement rates for each army represented in the game based on each army's drill and practice. Just a dream. --- Cavalry I've not been able to locate an online Napoleonic cavarly manual, so I will use an 1862 manual. In a section talking about training horses the following information is given. "The walk should be at the rate of three and three-fourths miles an hour, the trot seven and a half miles an hour, and the gallop ten miles an hour. To confirm the horses In these uniform rates, measure off a half mile and practice the horses to walk it in eight minÂutes; trot It in four mlnutes, and gallop it in three minutes." - http://members.cox.net/ltclee/Cooke.htm#DOPI 42 hexes equal 1 mile (roughly). Using the above figures in one 5-minute turn a horse could: walk 13.12 hexes; trot 26.25; or, gallop 35 hexes! Horses are fragile animals, and could not go maximum speed forever. Wargamers are irrational animals that will push their units at maximum speed forever. So, game designers must strike a balance between the two. The best thing would be a charge button as in the NAP engine to allow the cavalry unit to move double its normal speed and then set the base speed to a walking speed of 13 hexes per turn. Again, since humans have a thing for 12, I would recommend cavalry in OPEN terrain to be able to move 12 hexes at a walk, and 24 at a trot. Since we can't have both speeds, and since we EXPECT that cavalry tactical speed to be greater than infantry's then I would go with the 24 hexes per turn in the OPEN. This give cavalry a big advantage IN THE OPEN, in non-clear terrain movement rates should be cut down drastically or not allowed. With this movement rate cavalry will be able to scout areas quickly. (Players could abuse this ability, but those who do will do so no matter what, so I think in terms of designing for those who don't/won't.) Fortunately, there are very few horse units in our game series that this increase mobility can be countered with vigilance and good tactics. Possible movement rates: Cavalry 24 Infantry 24 Terrain Costs OPEN Cavalry 1 (24 hexes) Inf Column 2 (12 hexes) Inf Line 2 (12 hexes) Terrain Costs ROAD/TRAIL Cavalry 2 (12 hexes) Inf Column 3 (8 hexes) Inf Line N/A The above would demonstrate infantry in line moving at a quick-step in line or column in the OPEN, infantry in column moving at an ordinary step for road/trail movement (variantion of the above idea), and it would show cavalry at the TROT in OPEN (battle conditions), and cavalry at a WALK along road/trail to show the need to save the horses for non-critical momement movement. Hmmm..... |
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