ochoin | 20 Aug 2015 6:23 p.m. PST |
As wargamers we are often forced to compartmentalise what actually happened in battle in order to make it manageable to game. Hopefully, this does not do too much violence to historical reality. I will start with two assumptions that you may feel free to challenge: 1. cavalry fought in squadrons rather than regiments in the SYW 2. generals such as Seydlitz would gather heterogeneous squadrons together for battlefield actions & use them as a single striking force. If my assumptions are correct, this creates a problem. In Napoleonics, I am used to dealing with regiments as the base unit for cavalry units. For the SYW, I need another way of compartmentalising formations. So, my proposed solution that I may add to my (home-grown) rules: : a cavalry general or army commander can take one turn (minimum) to assemble an enlarged cavalry unit made up of squadrons from two or more regiments that are in good order. This new, enlarged unit will have the morale & capabilities of its most numerous previous unit. The enlarged unit must move & fight in base to base contact with the general attached. Casualties will be allocated on a pro-rata basis. One or more turns will be needed to disassemble the enlarged unit. The current morale state will apply to all squadrons. OK, what do you think?
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jeffreyw3 | 20 Aug 2015 6:31 p.m. PST |
Why are regiments the base battlefield unit during the Napoleonic period? |
Extra Crispy | 20 Aug 2015 6:40 p.m. PST |
I use squadrons during Napoleonics too, adding them up (so to speak) into larger formations for grand tactical battles. |
ochoin | 20 Aug 2015 6:44 p.m. PST |
Thanks guys but I'm talking SYW here: can we leave Naps to another time? |
Extra Crispy | 20 Aug 2015 8:20 p.m. PST |
Bricole! Your rules seem sound. I guess the question is what scale game are you playing? |
ochoin | 20 Aug 2015 8:39 p.m. PST |
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mghFond | 20 Aug 2015 9:32 p.m. PST |
Our group plays WSS rather than SYW but we do charges by squadron. Your rule sounds good to me. |
jeffreyw3 | 21 Aug 2015 4:00 a.m. PST |
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inverugie | 21 Aug 2015 9:44 a.m. PST |
I've been struggling with this conceptually, and your solution seems sound, although I think regimental- rather than squadron-sized cavalry units would be more the norm by the SYW. I assume your 'cavalry general' is meant to be a wing commander or above rather than a brigadier (ie, a brigade would still melee as separate units rather than a single, larger formation)? |
Musketier | 21 Aug 2015 10:31 a.m. PST |
The squadron was the tactical unit for cavalry, in both the Seven Years' War and Napoleonic times. Cavalry combat of the times is described as x squadrons meeting y squadrons, z fresh squadrons being brought up, etc. Regiments did not necessarily have all their squadrons in the same place, or even in the same theatre. Most rules choose to ignore this, but you seem to have found the solution! |
ochoin | 21 Aug 2015 12:20 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the thoughts & comments. |
Musketier | 21 Aug 2015 12:56 p.m. PST |
Addendum: The time required to gather the formation would depend on the length of time represented by your game turn, and could vary by army and scenario: At Rossbach, Seydlitz' use of the Prussian cavalry was particularly effective because he'd been given full command of it before the battle, despite his lack of seniority: "Gentlemen, I obey the the King, and you shall obey me!" Something tells me that in the French army, with its surfeit of prickly, high-born officers especially among the mounted arm, that chain of command might have taken a little longer to establish… |
ochoin | 22 Aug 2015 3:34 a.m. PST |
@ Musketier Nice point. I'll take it on board. |
Walter White | 22 Aug 2015 6:59 a.m. PST |
With only a few exceptions, I don't think that the squadrons would have been separated from the parent regiment whilst on the battlefield. Some of the large Prussian 10-squadron dragoon and hussar regiments might have been divided into two wings and parts of the Yellow and Black Hussars were sent to Prinz Ferdinand's army, but I don't recall them being broken down further into individual squadrons sent off in a local task force. Austrian horse grenadiers and carbiniers were of course converged. Austrian hussar regiments seem to have been broken down into smaller packets of squadrons at times. Chotusitz comes to mind here. |