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Post by Yan Taylor on Sept 13, 2014 12:37:56 GMT -6
Wouldn’t surprise me if circumstances unfolded so fast, that when he reacted to one threat another would occur almost simultaneously, and I recall a ww2 vet talking about the battle of the bocage, he said that his position covering one field would be quiet, but 50 yards away through the hedges another position would be fighting for their lives.
Ian.
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Post by Mulligan on Sept 18, 2014 3:05:47 GMT -6
Ian, OK, I'm now going to demonstrate my newly acquired cavalry tactics knowledge from Napoleon: Total War. When coming within firing range the attacking cavalry formation (column) fans out. Files are at about three to four feet apart, or more. After taking the initial volley of fire the files then close ranks to knee to knee distance as they engage the enemy line. This would allow for wiggle room on the volley, if a horse goes down in front of you. More applicable to musket fire, rather than Winchesters. Thank you, Quincannon. No mention of crossing rivers while charging in my Hussar handbook, but the river bank at Ford B looks pretty flat. I think you're right, Ian, the five companies would enter the Big Village like a runaway train. Mulligan cc: Cavalry Tactics
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Post by Yan Taylor on Sept 18, 2014 4:24:41 GMT -6
Good morning Mulligan, I used to wargame Napoleonic’s in 25mm, and the rule book we used (in fact I still have it) says that all Line Infantry would go into square if Cavalry were in charging range, now I watched and learnt from some old ex-army boys who took me under their wing and taught me some tricks and one of the most important ones I remember is the combination of Cavalry, Horse Artillery and Infantry;
1/ get you Cavalry in charging distance (any infantry will form square) 2/ get your Horse Artillery as close as possible and unlimbered, they are devastating when firing on troops in square, especially from a side on angle 3/ get your Infantry in as quick as you can, as troops in square (especially one hit my shot and shell) are not as effective as troops in line for repelling Infantry attacks 4/ once the square breaks “send in the Cavalry”
Ian.
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Post by quincannon on Sept 18, 2014 6:22:32 GMT -6
M: There is no such thing as Cavalry tactics, only tactics employed by cavalry.
Ian: Its called combined arms and what you describe is an 1815 version of the battle group/task force in the attack.
Funeral today Ian. Big one so the product will be late and maybe as late as tomorrow,
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Post by Yan Taylor on Sept 18, 2014 6:35:50 GMT -6
Ok Chuck no problem, funerals are a part of life my friend, I suddenly realized that the older you get the more frequent they accure and they never get any easier.
Ian.
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Post by Mulligan on Sept 25, 2014 13:38:41 GMT -6
Found this while doing homework on "Cavalry Practices and Tactics". It's a live-fire training exercise for 6th Cavalry horses, Fort Bayard, New Mexico c. 1885. Looks like it could've been taken at Reno-Benteen during the fight, except for post buildings (seen through the gunsmoke). M.
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Post by Mulligan on Sept 27, 2014 15:14:49 GMT -6
Yan, Were your 25mm war games the serious Sandhurst strategy-planning variety, or more for recreation? ~~~ In order to visualize and comprehend cavalry movement I'm getting somewhat involved in the cavalry-training aspect of my grandson's video game, Napoleon: Total War. It's all virtual, of course, but I'm learning to coordinate the various horse-artillery, light cavalry, and dragoon units in real time. Mulligan
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Post by Mulligan on Sept 27, 2014 16:54:33 GMT -6
Actually, my family thinks I'm becoming a bit too involved. M.
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Post by Yan Taylor on Sept 28, 2014 6:06:26 GMT -6
Mulligan, the first two photos are on the money, but it was common to have two men on each team (four in a game) with both guys moving and manoeuvring the figures using tape measures to determine the length a unit could move in 60 seconds. In fact it takes two people to move all of the Regiments plus Artillery into position, try and move a dozen Infantry Regiments and four Cavalry Regiments along with Artillery and in some cases Skirmishers on your own, and you would soon get bogged down.
Ian.
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Post by Yan Taylor on Oct 5, 2014 12:54:26 GMT -6
Going back to a conversation a while back concerning Custer’s Battalion moving down MTC, now if he did split into three, then would the move a split look something like this? I hope I have got the locations right, as that looks like deep coulee on the left. Having said that it does look like deep ravine. Ian.
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Post by tubman13 on Oct 6, 2014 3:48:24 GMT -6
Well drawn, but there very well may have been troops on the bluffs on both sides of MTC, not just the Custer side you show.
Regards. Tom
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Post by Mulligan on Oct 10, 2014 17:06:55 GMT -6
Doing my homework, now studying up on George Crook, plus continuing to peruse the hefty Donahue map book and a special leather-bound "Friends of LBH" edition of Jerome Greene's Stricken Field. I've put von Clausewitz on hold for awhile. Custer obviously stepped in bear poop as he ascended from Cedar Coulee and no well-crafted plan, and no amount of anyone's battlefield genius, was going to save him. Still spending late nights with my virtual Napoleonic cavalry striking deep online into the heart of enemy territory. I am constantly devising new tactics to ambush Austrian General Johann Peter Beaulieu, whose military entourage predictably attempts to escape from Lombardy via hidden back roads. I have attained the Golden Eagle, an achievement emblematic of "expert" game play, mainly on the strength of these wee-hour equestrian exploits. Mulligan
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