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| Fire combat - Artillery https://wargame.ch/board/nwc/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17175 |
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| Author: | Christian Hecht [ Mon May 22, 2023 11:42 am ] |
| Post subject: | Fire combat - Artillery |
Gentlemen, I was thinking about fire combat again and again in the past, currently my perception is that we usually use units that fire in a way most beneficial to us, but that is not necessary like they were used back then. I make three threads to not mix the discussions on the different unit types. This one is about artillery. To me it seems that it's only good on the defense because the fire values on short ranges are by far greater compared to ranged fire. On the offense it may work out if used as part of a combined arms attack, but usually that needs speed and so is limited to horse artillery. Any kind of ranged fire by foot artillery, even heavier 12-pdr batteries, is just not effective as the casualties are low and by that the chance of disorder too. If that is correct one wonders what's up with the stories of artillery that was used to shake the enemy line in preparation for an assault. This often used by all participation armies, just like the massing of artillery in to grand batteries. Even if not that big the French grand battery at Waterloo is a good example, hours of massed fire onto the enemy line, in this case with not much(or at least not enough) effect but that was because of the circumstance like the soft ground. It's fire was followed by the attack of d'Erlon's infantry corps. Now, how do you use artillery generally? |
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| Author: | Alexey Tartyshev [ Wed May 24, 2023 4:46 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Fire combat - Artillery |
I remember how things were 10 or so years ago - everything was happening too quickly with mass melees and blietzkrieg tackics making artillery, infantry in lines and skirmishes underpowered. This put me off from the series back then. With new engine version 4.06 it look promising. But I need a few PBEMs to arrive at my conclusions. Looking for an opponent btw for Quatre Bras battle if you are intrested. |
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| Author: | David Stoll [ Sun May 28, 2023 10:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Fire combat - Artillery |
Playing with the fire phase might help since your artillery will fire with 100% firepower during your Defensive Fire Phase unlike the 50% for reactionary fire, which is only triggered for movement so doesn't work as well for battery vs battery combat (I think it can be triggered by opponent fire, but I think less the further the distance, has been some time). The other key factor is probably just simple force superiority. If you can bring up twice the amount of guns at the focal point the defense will be forced to withdraw unless they get reinforcements in time. Also it might be a more prudent form of attack, assuming you can protect your guns, you can inflict casualties with minimal risk or force an opponent out of a strong position (a bridge/crossing). While a close combat assault might get counter attacked, cut off and destroyed. Lastly, from what I read they usually bombarded the opponent for several hours with these large batteries (40-60 guns?) so it might just be a slower process. |
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