Game question?

[General]

Playing Gettysburg right now. I'm on the second day around noon and everyone is engaged. To save time, I highlight all attacking groups on the same hex instead of one at a time like the A/I does. Does that give me the same results as doing it one at a time? Even if each attacking force on the same hex has different strength and fatigue/disrupted levels?

[rhondabrwn]

Good question, I've wondered that myself for years. My impression is that I seem to get more overall casualties inflicted by doing teh attacks separately, but it's just an impression. I've never approached this in any systematic way to track results and compare.

Anyone else know for sure?

[captskillet]

I do the same thing general, Inquiring minds want and NEED to know [;)]...........IMHO and I have no data to back it up, I just figured that to concentrate all your fire in one massive volley (inc. arty) would inflict more casulties than to nickle and dime it so to speak firing each unit. The problem is I have a Corinth Camp going on, a Gettysburg hist scenario (also on Day 2 around 9:20 AM turn), just got Shiloh, theres still WITP, COTA, HTTR and now BoB is gonna be released REAL soon and there just aint enough of me to go around [:D]!!

[General]

I seem to inflict more casualities doing it separetly also, although one would think the massive volley would do more damage. 

[Rhetor]

ORIGINAL: General

I seem to inflict more casualities doing it separetly also, although one would think the massive volley would do more damage.

The BIG flaw of the battleground system is that a 12 gun battery inflicts way more losses than two 8 gun batteries. A 700-strong battalion is much more deadly than two 400-strong battalions.
In CW games, 6-gun batteries of the Union were much better than two 4-gun Confederate batteries. An unintentional side effect was that in this way the inferior quality of Confederate artillery ammunition was simulated. Luckily the scenarios with 2-gun sections appeared, even though marching the artillery became a nightmare.
But in Napoleonic BGs the Russian 12-gun batteries were real killers.

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Rhetor

ORIGINAL: General

I seem to inflict more casualities doing it separetly also, although one would think the massive volley would do more damage.

The BIG flaw of the battleground system is that a 12 gun battery inflicts way more losses than two 8 gun batteries. A 700-strong battalion is much more deadly than two 400-strong battalions.
In CW games, 6-gun batteries of the Union were much better than two 4-gun Confederate batteries. An unintentional side effect was that in this way the inferior quality of Confederate artillery ammunition was simulated. Luckily the scenarios with 2-gun sections appeared, even though marching the artillery became a nightmare.
But in Napoleonic BGs the Russian 12-gun batteries were real killers.

And does this also apply to the HPS series?

[Rhetor]

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn
And does this also apply to the HPS series?

Well, that I don't know, since there is no demo versions of the HPS games. But from what I hear the game works basically on the same engine, with casualty tables in .PDT files

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: Rhetor

ORIGINAL: rhondabrwn
And does this also apply to the HPS series?

Well, that I don't know, since there is no demo versions of the HPS games. But from what I hear the game works basically on the same engine, with casualty tables in .PDT files

I'm ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) so I have no patience to sit down and systematically track losses to test this out. I was hoping that someone more detail oriented would have figured out the preferred tactical method.

Personally, I've fired one rifled cannon and took out an enemy gun, while firing a stack of 10 guns did nothing but affect fatigue. Sounds like a lot of varience in losses due solely to random die rolls, making it tough to really get a handle on this question.

Any mathematicians out there who want to run a couple of hundred battles and calculate it all out? Please... [&o]

[General]

Jeez, I'm shocked no one has the answer.  Usually on forums there are a few who are pretty well educated and have the answers. 
Is there another forum for the Battleground Series?

[jim pfleck]

In the Battleground games, each unit that fires has its shot resolved individually. So if you have 4 regiments in a hex and they all shoot at the same target, the game resolves each shot and then, in the message box, show you the results.

So, there is an advantage in shooting with one unit at a time. If my target hex has three regiments and I have eight regiments in range, it is best to shoot at a unit until you cause losses and/or fatigue, and then move on to the next one. The advantage of this is you cause as much fatigue as you can. However, if you are facing two 100 man regimements and one 600 man regiment, you may want to target the big one more to wear it down with losses.

There is a limit on how much fatigue can be casued by fire (I think it is one point per turn and then more from melee), so that is the advantage of spreading around fire and not shooting with a whole stack at once.

However, HPS is different. Fire is rated on an man-for-man basis, so if you have a stack with three regiments totalling 1000 men, and you fire with all three at once at one target, it will resolve the fire as ONE 1000 man shot instead of three regiment shots. In HPS, the 900 point fatigue scale makes a huge difference. In Battleground, a shot that inflicts simoply fatigue or a 100 man loss causes the same fatigue. In HPS, fatigue loss is varaible but is proportional to the number of men lost in the volley. I spread my fire around a lot less in HPS games and focus on large regiments. I hope this helps.

regrards,
Jim Pfleck

[rhondabrwn]

ORIGINAL: jim pfleck

In the Battleground games, each unit that fires has its shot resolved individually. So if you have 4 regiments in a hex and they all shoot at the same target, the game resolves each shot and then, in the message box, show you the results.

So, there is an advantage in shooting with one unit at a time. If my target hex has three regiments and I have eight regiments in range, it is best to shoot at a unit until you cause losses and/or fatigue, and then move on to the next one. The advantage of this is you cause as much fatigue as you can. However, if you are facing two 100 man regimements and one 600 man regiment, you may want to target the big one more to wear it down with losses.

There is a limit on how much fatigue can be casued by fire (I think it is one point per turn and then more from melee), so that is the advantage of spreading around fire and not shooting with a whole stack at once.

However, HPS is different. Fire is rated on an man-for-man basis, so if you have a stack with three regiments totalling 1000 men, and you fire with all three at once at one target, it will resolve the fire as ONE 1000 man shot instead of three regiment shots. In HPS, the 900 point fatigue scale makes a huge difference. In Battleground, a shot that inflicts simoply fatigue or a 100 man loss causes the same fatigue. In HPS, fatigue loss is varaible but is proportional to the number of men lost in the volley. I spread my fire around a lot less in HPS games and focus on large regiments. I hope this helps.

regrards,
Jim Pfleck

Thank You! [&o]

[jim pfleck]

No sweat.

Go to
http://www.wargame.ch/wc/acw/

and

http://www.wargame.ch/board/acw/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=4

for more answers and opponents! These guys know these games inside and out.

Jim P.

[1NWCG]

The ACW Club are very well versed in the games and have Military Academies with writings on them. [:)]
 
Our club with the link below has some people who can help and writings on the Napoleonic games.  There's other places for the games too.

[General]

Thank you for the info!

[1NWCG]

No problem. [:D]