"SYW Bn. Guns - yes or no?" Topic

I've been building SYW in 15mm, 20mm, 25mm, and 28mm since 1978. I have never added battalion guns. However, lately I notice, probably on Jim Purkey's excellent photos of his SYW collection, all of his foot units have battalion guns. It has me debating whether or not I should include them in my 28mm collection. What do you think? Do you include them in your collections? Also, I have Austrians, Prussians, and Russians and am wondering if the Russians had them or not. Thanks – Hal

It's usually a scale thing – if you have large (number of figures) units a regimental piece doesn't look out of place, if they're small then they can overshadow the infantry.
For details on who used them have you tried Kronoskaf? link

My infantry units are 48 figures strong. Thanks, Billy.

For a 48 figure unit, I think I would go with "yes."

no

I have had 25/28mm SYW since about 1978 as well – I use 24 fig infantry units and have never had a battalion gun

I don't use them, Hal. Charles S Grant has added them in the 2nd version of The War Game rules and it seems to work for them, but I'll still leave them out (less painting to do).

In the end if you think they add some interest to your units then go for it- it's your army.

I use them. My 15mm regiments have them and it looks good.
One stand has two infantrymen and a small battalion gun manned by two gunners.

The King of the Battlefield Eighteenth Century Wargame Rules show three stands to a regiment (though you can use four or more). Width in line equals depth of column of march.

Some players just have the gun and gunners on a stand, but it does not blend into the unit. Save that for the artillery units.

Have fun. Huzzah!

definitely no

My battalions are 16, 20 or 24 figures (4-fig stands), so I don't include battalion gun miniatures for the same reasons that BillyNM and Dal Gavan stated. The SYW rules we use are [modified] Rank and File, which accounts for battalion guns with the simple, elegant mechanic of adding an extra die (nominally 1 per stand) as long as the unit is at more than 50% strength.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it . Sound sdvice all around.

I put them on for appearances only. I don't play games that are tactical enough to where an individual battalion gun makes a difference.

A long time ago, I read an article that said that most battalions grouped their guns into ad hoc batteries. This gave better fire control and avoided embarrassing situations like crossing walls and streams.

Yes ,I have them painted .

I now include battalion guns and they basically serve as just another stand in my battalions. So if each stand gets to throw a D10 die, they simply get an extra die when the unit fires. This solves the problem of actually using the gun models as separate artillery pieces and having to go through all the extra actions needed to fire both muskets and artillery pieces. This works better than any other system that I've tried.

There doesn't seem to be much love for battalion guns in this thread.

They solve the problem of getting artillery into the unitary line of battalions used in SYW orders of battle.

They offer the infantry a little more firepower "reach".

The canister/case-shot at short range is a useful supplement to musketry.

They also act as an impediment to rapid movement. But if rapid deployment was required then they'd be left behind somewhere and the larger pieces used to cover the movement.

I suggest firing them off at brigade level at range and then – as per above – supplementing musketry effect rolls.

We use for our 15mm armies battalion guns just for visuals sake. Also are we adding now battalion guns for our 28mm French revolutions armies.

48-man uinits? IMO that's a yes for battlion guns (1 gun per battalion that is).

Definitely going into my SYW armies and I'd suggest you can't do Russian Observation Corps without.

I am a fan of what Der Alte Fritz does and agree that using battalion guns is more of a representative thing. They look nice in the unit, but in practical terms best used as another base.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I have elected not to do them. Hal

Using Koenig Krieg I will usually put a stand, a 4-gun unit, 2 sections or 1 gun and four gunner figs per brigade for French and per regiment for Austrian and Prussian. I also have smaller stands with one gunner figure and no gun for single sections (2 guns).