Mounted Unit Formations

[Wooglin]

Hi all. New COG player here with some thoughts and questions on mounted units (dragoons, cavalry, lancers & etc).

1. Why is there a column/line formation option for mounted units? Is "line" = dismounted? If not, why is mobility reduced so much?

2. Do charge damage results improve or decrease in "line" formation

3. What is represented during mounted unit "ranged" attacks (i.e. regular LMB attack)? I think historically very few mounted units carried guns in this era. Is this supposed represent some kind of probing maneuver?

4. Can anybody point me to a good summary as to what different types of mounted units are good/bad at? Example: heavy cavalry = best for attacking/defending enemy cavalry (I think).

If this is RTFM, I am sorry in advance.

- w

[Treefrog]

Wooglin,

1. I've never read that cavalry on line are dismounted. They are mounted, on line. It is typically more difficult to move any formation on line as opposed to in column.

2. I don't know if on line produces more casualties; seems to me they do. Even if they don't, if you believe the unit should charge on line then go ahead and treat yourself and do that to satisfy you sense of historical accuracy.

3. Mounted unit ranged attacks are firepower attacks. Many if not most cavalry units carried pistols; light cavalry tended to carry carbines or mustketoons too. This is a throwback to the old carracole days when they rode forward, fired their pistols at point blank, then wheeled away to allow the next rank to come up. Of course, one division of French dragoons without horses fought the Ulm campaign dismounted with their muskets until they found horses.

4. Heavy cavalry's speciality is attacking other cavalry. Lancers are excellent on infantry and get a bonus in the rain. Light cavalry's speciality is movement, so they are better at scouting, covering advances, seizing ground in advance, and covering retreats. The irregular cavalry has limited morale and thus has less combat staying power. AI irregular cavalry will often try to overrun your artillery. Strategically, the irregular cavalry is good for harrying enemy depots, etc.

[Hard Sarge]

for 2., Line should do more damage, but with the range of the die roll, you may not see it all of the time, you can get a good charge or a bad charge

one thing though is it is easier to lose the formations when on line

for 3., whell Eric has said, that it is not totally firepower when Cav does a normal attack, it is not as if they are just pointing there weapons at the target, the unit is not really just in the hex it is seen in, so it is Sword, Lances and Pistols shots, in and out and what not

(to be honest, I think the range should be cut down, I think they should have no more range then 1)

for 4,. I thought the Manuel had some info one each units do well at

Lt Cav and Irr Cav can run down retreating units, also in quick battle they work well in the chase

Lancers can be used to attack Inf in formation or Square and has a chance to break them (better chance ?)

[Treefrog]

Sarge, as I recall the manual says that lancers have a 40% chance to break squares, doubled in the rain (when the infantry doesn't get to shoot back, hehehe).

[malthaussen]

I figure that most vanilla "cavalry" units are dragoons, since that was the most common cavalry type at the time, and hence they would be armed with carbines, so would be able to make a fire attack (albeit not a particularly effective one). As Treefrog points out, most cavalry carried some kind of firearm, which you can confirm yourself by looking at sketches and other pictures from the war. (Painters, however, tend to romanticize their cavalry pictures, and usually just show a sabre or lance for armament)

Lancers, of course, are the best cavalry to have, since they move like hussars and fight like demons from Hell. There's a reason they're so expensive to produce.

-- Mal