"Roads widths and Weigt ratings." Topic

How many road widths and weight ratings do you use normaly? This is key even from Napolionic time if you need to move heavy gear any distance.

I don't fiddle with official ratings, but go with the simple standard of the vehicle has to physically be able to fit on the bridge to use it. No idea how many different width bridges I have.

None. All roads and bridges are assumed to be suitable.

Extra Crispy, do you only fight with minimal gear, not heavy gear in any period. I suspect some roads would be difficult even in the Napoleonic period.

In our Flames of War campaign games, the map man who lays out the terrain tells us the state of the roads.
You can't dig in on "good roads". Those give you the road bonus.
Some roads just negate the bad terrain. For instance, no "big check" if you stay on the road.
There are grades in between but it's ad hoc and arbitrary.

In my AWI TSATF games with skirmish figures, you get bonus dice for movement if you stay on the road in column. So far I haven't differentiated various types.

As with miniMo, road width is a physical characteristic of the terrain used. If the scenario dictates restrictions on road travel, build that into your layout.

I am not aware of many tactical situations where exceeding a weight limit for a bridge came as a surprise. Since this would be a rare occurrence, it is best handled at the scenario level, rather than having a large codex of guidance on the movement of heavy gear. This would be built into the scenario using differential hindrance (movement penalties) by unit type.

While there easily could be a difference between "tanks must cross this bridge one at a time, causing delays" and "tanks go slower across this bridge than other units", unless you expect to see that affect outcome, it's not worth a specific, detailed rule rather than the abstraction. Either way, this is best handled at the scenario level rather than in the rules.

Mostly that would be off-table for me even in moderns--unless you really wanted to move a Tiger tank across an untested bridge within visibility of the opposing army, in which case no penalty could be too severe.

But for horse and musket, roads are either hard-packed dirt or cobbled, and the distinction only matters in event of rain or serious thaw. Bridges are assumed capable of handling limbered artillery or are specified as foot traffic only, and fords are case by case. (If anyone cares, back in the day I did some checking, and Napoleonic artillery could ford about 1 meter or a bit over. But shallow water did not promise you river banks you could get up or down, and if the bed was sufficiently soft, if didn't matter how shallow the water was. As others have noted, best done case by case in the scenario.)

Moving a siege train in a campaign game would be different, but I haven't done a campaign game in decades--and never do a siege game if I can avoid it.

Not sure what you mean by "heavy gear." Pre-20th century my armies certainly include guns and sometimes baggage trains. Not sure what else would be "heavy gear."

For WW2 and beyond, again aside from maybe limiting a bridge to foot traffic only in a scenario, in general a road is a road. They may confer different movement bonuses, but I just don't get bogged down in that kind of micro-detail.

In our AWI rules, the only thing a road does for you is negate terrain. Roads were more like what we call now trails. They certainly don't give a movement bonus.

Die rolling negates movement bonus.
Normal road movement in TSATF in column is 4D6. I said that if you start 30" away from nearest known opponent, change D6 to D10. With usual caveats about "getting close", of course.
Lou rolled 1, 1, 1, 2.
Not much of a road bonus, is it?

Gaming on the Northwest Frontier, Winston? Those roads have some serious potholes.

Extra Crispy cannon and ammunition would be heavy gear for the bigger ones.

In that case, my original comment stands. All roads, bridges etc. are assumed to be up to the task.

Heavy gear moved by the same method as farming gear. So a "road" good enough for a farmer pulling a cart would be good enough for a cannon. Ditto for bridges.