"Using Cavalry on the tabletop" Topic

What do you guys do? How long do you think you can hold off the Infantry? What do you do with them after you drive off the opposing horse? How do you go about Cavalry vs Cavalry and Cavalry vs Infantry? General tactics and ruleset specific ones (please mention which rules)
~Joe

How long do you think you can hold off the Infantry?

Look at Seminary Ridge

Either Johhny Reb or Fire and Fury will work. Tactics are pretty much the same.

My group uses Fire & Fury. Dismounted Union cavalry usually does pretty well for a while. Their firepower is good, but they can't stand up to close combat well, so they should be used for slowing troops down until the infantry arrives (sound familiar?)

Mounted vs mounted is pretty much a crapshoot. If that's the way you want to use them, be my guest but it's a waste.

Cavalry charging infantry rarely turns out well if the infantry is in good condition and can get off some shots before close combat. If the infantry has artillery attached don't even THINK of charging cavalry against them.

ACW cavalry were not designed to be infantry, in the sense that they were expected to hold ground against all comers. Their mission would be to delay on favorable or key terrain until the infantry could replace them. They were designed to scout, delay, and perform counter-reconnaisance (against other cavalry).

I use Volley and Bayonet and mounted Cav vs Mounted Cav tends to be all or nothing. Mounted Cav vs Infantry usually goes poorly for the horse. The best course of action is invariably to get off the horse and form a skirmish line.

Depends on the unit, Custer's Michigan Brigade generally did well but then again most of it was armed with Spencer Repeating rifles, not carbines.

Keep in mind that the image of Buford's cavalry slugging it out with Heth's infantry and repelling multiple attacks on McPherson's Ridge is a fiction created by The Killer Angels/Gettysburg. While Buford did an admirable job of delaying Heth's advance until Reynolds arrived with I Corps, they did NOT engage in a close range firefight.

ScottWashburn I didn't know that….

so what was the standard SOP for say a Cavalry Brigade when engaging an opposing Cavalry Brigade or when they were to delay an Infantry Brigade/Division? The only thing I'm aware of is find some cover, dismount, shoot a bit, and run off. Ive also heard that most Cavalry units kept a Mounted reserve (Custer's "Saber Squadrons") but I haven't the foggiest idea as to how they were employed

thanks
Joe

It's probably an exaggeration to say that it was literally *invented* by Shaara – it has some currency going back, even to the reports of the time. But sure, there weren't multiple charges up the hill against carbine-armed cavalry. The action was infantry pushing forward against a skirmish line and engaged in a mid-range firefight whilst forming up, with a peppering of artillery fire into the midst. By the time the fire was hot enough to force the cavalry back, and the CS infantry was ready to move forward, Wadsworth had arrived.

The thing to keep in mind is that the action on July 1st started two or three miles west of McPherson's Ridge. Buford's pickets and skirmishers delayed Heth's advance for several hours. When the Confederates arrived at McPherson's Ridge and saw Buford's main force drawn up with a battery of guns on the road, they brought up and deployed their own artillery and infantry. By the time they were ready to advance, the I Corps was moving into position. So Buford did exactly what he was supposed to.

The delay wasn't a fight. Their presence forced Heth to ploy his leading two brigades into line off their march column, and that took 90 minutes.

What wargame makes you take 90 minutes for formation changes in two brigades…..

"What wargame makes you take 90 minutes for formation changes in two brigades….."? I suppose any with command and control rules that mean you can't guarantee units will do what they're told immediately. Black Powder, Fire & Fury, etc …

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
link

Buford's action is hard to reproduce properly in wargames as players on both sides generally know what to expect and don't really need to be cautious in the manner of a real general.

The matter of how long it takes a Division to deploy from line of march is also lost in most rules where the player requirements to 'get on with things' overrides time scales and proper movement distances.

You can make a game out of it but hidden movement and time scales have to be part of the requirements to stop the Confederates swamping the Union cavalry in most cases.

Right you are. How dare the people at the time not obey our wargame rules!!!

The drawback of hidden movement is that it is more trouble to administer than just moving figures, and also it spoils the spectacle if the troops aren't on the table.

There are various ways that command and control rules can represent fog of war and prevent 'helicopter generals' acting with unrealistic boldness and coordination.

Chris

That's the problem with ACW cavalry on the tabletop – scouting doesn't do much if you already have perfect intelligence. Granted, maybe that's more of a campaign level activity, but can still have tactical value.

In Altar of Freedom (referenced only because I've been reading it recently), even with hidden movement, you can't see the strength modifier of the opposing brigades. The throw a bone to cavalry scouting by allowing you to see an enemy brigade's strength if you have a cavalry unit within range.

Screening might be harder to model, although if the rules prevent enemy units from making road/march moves within a certain radius of enemy units, cavalry are effectively forcing enemy units to move into line.