American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)

(1) What is the better way to fire ... one cannon shot at a time, or battery (all cannon in a single hex) fire?
(2) Which is more effective use of artillery ... firing on troops or counter battery fire?

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Respectively,

Maj Gen Billy Ray Wagenseller
7th Savannah Brigade
2nd Division
III Corp
Army of Northern Virginia

one shot at a time is better vs artillery.

I don't think it matters vs infantry.

I prefer to fire at artillery if at a mid range distance (points) and yank artillery does so much damage.

Up close and personal..........no brainer..........canister.

But I guess it depends on the situation.

nothing to back this up with.........just experience.

definitely looking forward to Reb responses.

the Yanks have so much artillery, it don't matter at all.........ya all.

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Lt. Gen. C. N. Matthews
Pickett's Infantry Division, I Corps,
Army of Northern Virginia, CSA

Regarding the issue of firing against artillery or against infantry - my two cents worth:

First Rule: Maximize the impact of shots fired (Why? We are almost always short of ammo)

Example: Two targets - infantry at 3 hexes vs artillery at 6 hexes. If you have a rifled cannon with range 18 the force multiplication is 300% at 3 hexes and 200% at 6 hexes. But, if you have a howitzer with range 9 the force multiplication is 200% at 3 hexes and 100% at 6 hexes. With the rifled cannon you have 1.5 x more impact firing at the infantry than the artillery, but with the howitzer you have 2 x more impact firing at the infantry. In the ideal world, you would fire your howitzer at the infantry and fire your rifled cannon at the artillery (which incidentally is what each gun was designed to do).

Second Rule: Concentrated Fire on Artillery is Useful, Otherwise Not

If an artillery unit sits by itself, then concentrate fire on it with the goal of quickly building up fatigue. The effect of fatigue on artillery is double that of infantry. You will disable the artillery unit relatively quickly - even if you never kill a gun. Ideally, keep track of hits. In the Battleground Games you want to reach four fatigues at least, which puts the artillery unit into Medium Fatigue - or equivalent to High Fatigue for an infantry unit. Then move on to concentrated fire against another artillery piece. Keeping in mind the First Rule, target artillery units that are closest first. In my opinion, shooting randomly at a pack of artillery units on a hill won't produce as good results because the fatigues will be spread around and the enemy units, although hit, will still be effective.

Third Rule: Artillery Fire on Infantry should Target Low Morale Units First

Study enemy forces and dispositions before the battle. Identify where the lowest morale infantry is likely to appear. Concentrate artillery fire on them. Low morale infantry will break under fire quicker. When they rout - if will affect troops around them. Conversely, hitting an A morale enemy unit will likely not cause it to rout. So, what was the point of firing at it?

Last Thoughts:

It makes more sense to target artillery early in the game. The ammo you spend will be paid back in the artillery fire you do not receive for the rest of the game. This is the same reasoning that justifies melee attacks on artillery early in the game rather than later. If it is going to cost you as many men in points as you receive in taking the artillery - then the payback should be shutting down artillery fire against you for a long period of time.

<salute!>