Mssrs.,
For my part I doubt that I shall ever play again without NME. Although I gained some renown as a practioner of the infamous "ZOC kill" [:D], it always seemed to be the height of gamesmanship when an opponent's entire front line was evaporated in the space of 15 minutes[V].
Moreover, I find it curious that both Marechal Fuller and Baron Knox cite encounters vs. Mssr. Moss as proving the pitfalls of NME since it was a game of the Waterloo-Wavre scenario vs. the Generalissimo that cemented my belief in using NME. As I recall, by 2 PM 1/3 of the Allied forces had been eliminated and Mssr. Moss' sword had been tendered. [8D]
With NME, an outnumbered defender can finally stage a meaningful rear-guard action. More importantly, in a stand-up battle the victory no longer goes automatically to whoever lands the first punch. Instead, the palm goes to whoever husbands his reserves so that he can either extricate isolated units or launch truly decisive assaults which irretrievably sunder and isolate the enemy's main line.[8D]
Yes, high morale units can survive for several turns despite being isolated, but what's wrong with that? Guard units ARE supposed to die hard. But take a look at the broader picture. If an isolated pocket, stacked with their leader, survive in the rear, that means that the remainder of that Bg is now "detached" because their leader is trapped in the pocket. That in turn implies that the balance of the Bg will have a difficult time recovering from disorder, rendering it easy pickings for fresh waves of assaulting troops.
I would also note that, mayhaps, too many players have forgotten that a musket is meant to be more than just an appendage for a bayonet[:D]. Why melee an isolated, usually disordered, unit immediately? If you melee the isolated unit, it will actually have a BETTER chance to pass its morale check because the now disordered attackers exert a "0" threat. I would suggest that a better approach is to deploy your inf in line so as to riddle it with fire and simply wait for it to rout. Two or more, ordered bns in line, at point-blank range, exert an almost prohibitive "threat" factor for an isolated unit's morale check. Meanwhile, the return fire will cause negligible casualties and, even more importantly, insignificant fatigue losses on your men. If your opponent launches a rescue operation, use your reserves to make sure that the would be rescuers are themselves trapped.[8D]
Regards,
Paco
<i>Maréchal</i> M. Francisco Palomo
<i>Prince d'Essling, Grande Duc d'Abrantes et
Comte de Marseille
Commandant - Ecole Militaire
Commandant - Division de Cavalerie de la Vieille Garde </i>
NWC
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