| Bye bye | 02 Apr 2013 2:16 a.m. PST |
Hi I am trying to confirm how many officers a cavalry unit has in the classic Horse and Musket rules from Don Featherstones the War Game. I had always thought the organisation was 13 troopers and 2 officers however I have just re read the action in Plattville Valley and see a reference to the 2nd Virginia Cavalry losing only officer and as a result having to make a morale check after 1 round of melee for losing all its officers. So is it only 1 officer per cavalry unit ? Cheers |
| JimDuncanUK | 02 Apr 2013 3:38 a.m. PST |
My interpretation of Featherstones ACW cavalry units came out to 16 figures, Office, Guidon Bearer, Bugler and 13 troopers. 16 figures makes it easy to rank up a unit, 4 x 4 or 8 x 2 or even 16 x 1. |
| Bye bye | 02 Apr 2013 4:15 a.m. PST |
Hi Jim So do you count the Officer, Guidon and Bugler as Officers for morale purposes ? Mark |
| MacDuff | 02 Apr 2013 4:16 a.m. PST |
The pictures show the regiments deployed in 2 ranks of 7 with an officer out in front or in column with 3 x 4, 2 trailing and 1 in front. FWIW, In BWMS he has 11 troopers (1 of whom is a bugler in the picture), 1 guidon bearer and 1 officer who rides out front in the pictures but since he has dropped the morale and saving throws in the simple rules used, there no longer seems to be a difference. |
| JimDuncanUK | 02 Apr 2013 8:21 a.m. PST |
Hi Mark Our past resolutions of officer casualties has been every fifth hit is on the command element of the unit which is entitled to an officers saving throw. For mounted cavalry this is either an officer, a guidon bearer or a bugler (13 troopers). A simple dice roll indicates which actual figure is lost. Featherstones rules only take account of the officer for morale reasons so a guidon bearer or a bugler lost is a temporary let off. For infantry regiments there is a Colonel, a Captain, one or two Standard Bearers and one or two musicians (20 privates) so there is a bit more resilience to officer casualties for an infantry regiment. It wouldn't be good to leave a standard dropped on the battlefield so usually a trooper or a private will pick it up. For artillery batteries I have a Captain (3 gunners) per gun and a Colonel per battery but they rarely come under small arms fire. We are planning to move to a morale system similar to that in On To Richmond which we have yet to agree upon the fine detail. Jim |
| vonLoudon | 02 Apr 2013 8:34 a.m. PST |
Jim, do you have a website? |
| Bye bye | 02 Apr 2013 9:07 a.m. PST |
Hi Jim I am working on a demo game using the rules. Some background on my blog. link The Unit sizes I am planning on are:- Infantry 20 figures plus 2 Officers
Cavalry 10 figures plus 1 Officer
Light Infantry 10 figures plus 1 Officer Rule modifications identified 1. Infantry can fire in two ranks rather than single ranks
2. Artillery only use a single dice for ranges over 18" and two dice for under 18" 3. The musket ranges to be reduced to represent smoothbores rather than the rifled muskets in the original rules. New range bands will be 0 – 6" (deduct 1), 6 – 12" (deduct 2) 12 -18" (deduct 3) 4. Cavalry and Light Infantry test for officer casualties using one coloured dice in 3 rather than the standard 1 in 5 used by infantry. Cheers |
| JimDuncanUK | 02 Apr 2013 9:39 a.m. PST |
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Frederick  | 02 Apr 2013 4:38 p.m. PST |
I think I have a copy buried deep in the library – I will check |
| Marc the plastics fan | 03 Apr 2013 4:23 a.m. PST |
Mark (Ilkley) – what happened to your WSS Zvezda figures? (sorry, off topic) |
| Bye bye | 03 Apr 2013 4:33 a.m. PST |
Hi Marc They have joined the forces of one of the other members of our loose group. There is also some dabbling with the old Les Higgins metal range which are now avaialble again Mark |
| vonLoudon | 03 Apr 2013 7:42 a.m. PST |
Nawthern Vayjanyah near Dulles AP in Loudoun county. Did you change to BWMS Featherstone rules? Andy Copestake has amendments to those. I'll check your site. |
| JimDuncanUK | 03 Apr 2013 7:54 a.m. PST |
vonLoudon We play Featherstones rules much as they are in the book apart from a number of similar changes to those mentioned by Mark above. Virginny is a State I have yet to visit, I have only managed 11 of the US states so far. What is there in Virginia to attract an Old School Wargamer on vacation? I'll maybe ask Andy Copestake about his amendments next time I see him although won't till Claymore in August or the Fall as you guys call it. |
| JimDuncanUK | 03 Apr 2013 7:57 a.m. PST |
vonLoudon Probably best PM me or comment via my blog as this not appropriate to the original post. J I M D U N C A N 7 7 9 @ B T I N T E R N E T . C O M |
