Matrix Games Forums

Dear Developers,

I have an idea which, if possible to make it so, might significantly increase the realism of the battleground artillery.

As everybody can imagine, loading and firing a muzzle-loading cannon was quite a wearisome task. One of the major flaws of the artillery in Battlegrounds is that a battery can fire for long periods of time without hampering its efficiency.
But what if for every salvo fired the battery had to "pay" with fatigue points? EG. 1 fatigue point for each salvo, that means that after 30 minutes of fast firing (that means two 15-minute turns both in offensive and defensive phase) the fatigue value would increase to 4, reducing the effectiveness of fire. After an hour of firing in this manner the battery would require a prolonged rest in order to be effective again.

I hope I have made myself clear, and sincirely hope that it is possible.

Your idea has merit, but I recall reading about some prolonged cannonades during the ACW, so perhaps your 30 minute period of max effficiency is on the short side of things? Maybe an hour before a battery starts to fatigue to the point that their accuracy suffers?

ORIGINAL: Swamp_Yankee

Your idea has merit, but I recall reading about some prolonged cannonades during the ACW, so perhaps your 30 minute period of max effficiency is on the short side of things? Maybe an hour before a battery starts to fatigue to the point that their accuracy suffers?

Well, the prolonged cannonades during the Civil War did not require the crews to fire "as fast as they could load". Henry Hunt and Porter Alexander would agree that 1 discharge every two minutes were the perfect rate of fire during artillery duels et caetera. In Battleground system that would be "firing only in the offensive phase". When you fire both during the offensive and defensive fire phase, you are using the maximum possible firepower, ie. "firing as fast as the crews can load", and that means you fatigue your gun crews.
Such a fast rate of fire was discouraged by the artillery specialists during the Civil War, precisely because the crews would get fatigued, the aiming would be poor, and the effectiveness of firing in such a haste would be low. Fast rate of fire was to be used only when repelling an infantry charge.

When firing only during one fire phase, usually offensive fire phase, we can fire with maximum efficiency for an hour, which seems reasonably accurate.