Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

In game terms, what's the best unit to have in your arsenal? Any thoughts? Ie, light infantry, or rifles, or 12-lb cannon, or heavy cavalry, or what?


Col. Dirk Smith
1e Bg, 16 Dv, V Corps
Armee du Rhin

My personal view is A grade horse artillery
regards

Colonel Colin Knox,
4e Chassuer a Cheval
1st Brigade
3e Division Cavalerie Legere
IIIe Corps
http://www.aspire.co.nz/colinknoxnwc.htm
Armee du Nord

I like the Russian 12lb batteries myself. Along with that the Imperial Guard cavalry - Gren a' Cheval.

Bill Peters
Armee du Rhin - V Corps, 5ème Division, 20ème légère Brigade de Cavalerie, 13ème Hussar Regiment
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt and ... more to come)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

I would vote Russian 12lb batteries also.[:)]

<b><center><font color="red">
Lieutenant Colonel
2nd Battlion
95th Regiment of Foot
II Corps
Anglo-Allied Army</font id="red"></center></b>


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In my opinion, no single unit is of any use on its own. So the balanced all-arms team is what gets my vote.

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D.S. "Green Horse" Walter, Maréchal d'Empire
Duc des Pyramides, Comte de Normandie
Commandant la [url="http://home.arcor.de/dierk_Walter/NWC/3_VI_AdR_Home.htm"]3e Division Bavaroise[/url], L'Armée du Rhin
Commandant les Grenadiers à Pied de la Vieille Garde, "les Grognards"
Commandant L'Ecole de Mars, L'Armée du Rhin, 2005-2007
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I too would go with a well balanced force, all high quality, and with excellent leaders commanding, of course[8D]

<center>[url="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/a.r.barlow/Napoleonic/nap.htm"]Lieutenant Colonel Antony Barlow[/url]
~ [url="http://www.geocities.com/anglo_allied_army_stats/Anglo_Allied_Army_Cavalry_Corps.htm"]2nd British (Union) Brigade, Anglo-Allied Cavalry Corps[/url] ~
~ [url="http://www.geocities.com/militaireacademie/dragoons.html"]4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards[/url] ~
</center>

Blucher,

regards,


Feldmarschall Jim 'Prinz' Pfluecke
Commander, Austrian Cavalry Reserve
3 Graf O'Reilly Chevauxleger Rgt
Hahn Grenadier Bn

Blucher Jim? Well yes he was worth a few brigades of Hussars I guess.
OK the consensus is all arms to which I agree. So the best unit on a field is a French corps with a division of heavy cavalry attached [:D]
So the French Imperial guard seems to fit the bill.


Colonel Colin Knox,
4e Chassuer a Cheval
1st Brigade
3e Division Cavalerie Legere
IIIe Corps
http://www.aspire.co.nz/colinknoxnwc.htm
Armee du Nord

The thread has to do with UNITs. All of us understand the importance of combined arms.

A 12lb gun PLUS a river in between the enemy destroys combined arms anyway! [:D]

Whether its infantry, cavalry or artillery they all get blown away eventually! [^]

You can have the entire French or Allied army including pioneers (but no boats please). I will take a grand battery of 12lb guns and a river anyday!

Bill Peters
Armee du Rhin - V Corps, 5ème Division, 20ème légère Brigade de Cavalerie, 13ème Hussar Regiment
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt and ... more to come)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by dragoon</i>
<br />In game terms, what's the best unit to have in your arsenal? Any thoughts? Ie, light infantry, or rifles, or 12-lb cannon, or heavy cavalry, or what?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

How about two hundred skirmishers (multiple units) with a leader and a supply wagon in a chateau like Mt. St. Jean? Such nasty beasties they can be...

FM Sir 'Muddy' Jones, KG
2nd Life Guards, Household Cavalry

How about Guard Inf, highest quality, armed with 12pdrs.

Don't laugh you can do that! [:p]

Colonel Al Amos
1erè Brigade Commandant
2ème Division de Dragons

My favorite is the big Britsih Guard Infantry battalions at Waterloo. THey can dish out the firepower like there is no tommorrow.

My second is Guard Horse Artillery. Most flexible unit on the map.

I also have a soft spot for the big 12lb Russian batteries.

Cavalry are much overrated. I assume the members of the animal husbandry units will disagree though[:D]

Marechal Doug Fuller
Duc de Montmorail et Comte de Hainaut
2e' Grenadiers a' Pied de la Vielle Garde
I Corp Commander
AdN

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="3" face="book antiqua" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Al Amos</i>
<br />How about Guard Inf, highest quality, armed with 12pdrs.

Don't laugh you can do that! [:p]

Colonel Al Amos
1erè Brigade Commandant
2ème Division de Dragons


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Hmm, could add that into a future title just for fun.

We can call it Josephine's Battalian! [:D]

Bill Peters
Armee du Rhin - V Corps, 5ème Division, 20ème légère Brigade de Cavalerie, 13ème Hussar Regiment
HPS Napoleonic Scenario Designer (Eckmuhl, Wagram, Jena-Auerstaedt and ... more to come)

[url="http://www.fireandmelee.net"]Fire and Melee Wargame site[/url]

Exhumation researchs show us that the most mortiferous weapon during Napoleonic Wars period was the artillery by far. So my vote go to russian 12lb batteries.

Podporuchik Paco Berenguer
Nizhnegorodskiy Pekotny Polk
26 th Infantry Division
7th Infantry Corps

Arty is the main killer on the battlefield, so yes, Russian 12 gun strong 12lb company. But actually wars consist only of several days of figting with weeks and months of marching, maneuvering, etc. The main loses happen in these actions. So my vote goes to cossacks regiment enforced with one regular squadron of dragoons or hussars and 2 gun strong horse arty section. Eh! If only we had cossacks regiments that could pass through the woods and across the streams with no disorder, that could smim across the creeks and even wide rivers (for example Dnieper and even Berezina just at the time remains of the grand armee was crossing it!), that could fall back with no disorder when meleed, That could outmarch any other cavalry, that could dismount and fight just like jaegers.[V] So my vote goes not to the units that facilitate victory in a single battle, but to those that bring vitory in War.[^]

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<center><b>Eyo Imperatorskogo Velichestva Leib-Kirassirskogo polku
General-Mayor Anton Valeryevich Kosyanenko
Commander of the Second Army of the West </b></center>