American Civil War Game Club (ACWGC)
http://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/

Balloons in the ACW Series
http://www.wargame.ch/board/acwgc/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=15127		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Jefferson H. Davis [ Sun Jun 06, 2010 1:21 pm ]
Post subject: 
Interesting idea.......

BG Hank Smith
Army of Georgia
Smith's Corp Commanding
Author:  Robert [ Sun Jun 06, 2010 2:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
<font color="beige"><b>Bill,

Every game you play you're in a balloon high above the noise and smoke, able to see as far as possible under the current light conditions[;)]....that's the biggest problem with our games we are all seeing.

Far as I can recall they were used by the union during the initial advance of the peninsula campaign, attached to a barge on the James River that was towed...I recall something about a set up using wagons designed to make hydrogen for the balloons, not sure where I saw that.
I believe there was a multi-colored confederate balloon used about the same time, made up from silk dress material.

So your question got me looking and here is some information...seems they were used more than a few times! http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay ... s/LTA5.htm

Now what if Robert E. Lee had a piper cub???[8D]</b></font id="beige">

<center> <font color="beige"><b>General R.A.'Bob'Weir
Image
Image
</b></font id="beige"><font color="green"><b><font size="4">CSA Eastern Theater Commander</b></font id="size4"></font id="green">
Image

Image</center>
Author:  dmallory [ Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:10 pm ]
Post subject: 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Bill Peters</i>
<br />Ok - what would be the best way to model balloons in the HPS ACW series?

They were used as observation platforms. How many battles were they used at?

Brig Gen Bill Peters, The Boise Rifles, II Corps Artillery, AoA
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

General Peters,

How about giving the side with balloons long-range 'skirmish' ability? Any enemy units not in direct line of sight with ground units (infantry, cavalry, artillery, or leaders - that is, those who can normally 'spot') would show as question marks. I've read the men who actually went up in the balloons (at least early on) were not trained military men and were poor at estimating numbers - but they could report that they saw 'a lot of men' in a particular place.


Your humble servant,
Gen 'Dee Dubya' Mallory

Image
Image
David W. Mallory
ACW - General, 3/2/I/AotM (Club President & Cabinet Member)
Author:  dradams2 [ Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:54 pm ]
Post subject: 
.
Author:  KWhitehead [ Mon Jun 07, 2010 2:43 am ]
Post subject: 
I don't think balloons proved to be a significant factor which probably why they disappeared rather quickly. In theory they gave the observer a high platform to see miles behind enemy lines. But in practice the Virginia terrain consisting mostly of forest limited that view to the nearest tree line.

I have been researching trying to determine what can be seen or not seen by observers on a battlefield since I have always felt that the current HPS range of 70 hexes is way to far. The problem is that there is quite a difference between whether an object is large enough for the eye to pick it out and what information that gives you about an object. Seeing some men at two miles distance isn't necessarially an informitive thing. If you are seeing part of a division you probably will only see a few at any one time as they move. But if you are seeing a skirmish detail and thinking it's a division you have made a major mistake. In our games we know to within a 100 men what we are looking at even though at that distance a single blade of grass at a closer distance could cover up a company.

An interesting quote I came across while searching for information on the subject was "If an observer's view is blocked within 8 degrees of the horizon by say a cloud layer at 500 feet then visibility is limited to 0.75 miles." I couldn't find the math behind this claim but it says much about what happens to visibility on the battlefield once the guns start firing.

Rare did the Commanding General have a single view showing him the whole enemy army layed out before him like we have in the games. The nearest was Lee observing Grants move across the fords into the Wilderness. It still told him little other than the AoP was moving across his front. To know more he had to rely on observations passed up from the lowest levels to fill in his knowledge of what he faced. Most of what the Generals knew was based on direct observation of the people in their front, a few hundred yards. Things further away where seen through the eyes of privates who might or might not be good at counting flags and estimating troop levels.

General Kennon Whitehead
Chatham Grays
2/3/IV AoM (CSA)
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 5 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
https://www.phpbb.com/