Napoleonic Wargame Club (NWC)

Weel, I for one am guilty of large repeated melee assaults and have accumulated many losses in so doing.

I would have to say that I agree on principle that it would be wiser to fire into the enemy and hope for one of thier lines to break and then exploit that but all in all I am too impatient to sit there and fire volleys at the enemy until one or the other reacts.

Why have an army if it is not to see it die? Men can't live forever you know and yes there will always be new troops tomorrow but god know's who will bear these children that they may be cannon fodder.


Lt. Col. Angelo Abruzzese
12eme Chassuer A Cheval
III Corps D'Armee
Armee du Nord

I learned from a guy by the name of Randy Brooks that in the ACW series and really the rest of the HPS games that Assault is overrated. Only if you have a really good attack (flank, lots of numbers, guns) should you melee. Also to take a crucial objective towards end of game.

Firing is key to the game. Wear down your opponent and then melee him once he disorders.

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]

As an Allied-Anglo officer I have a strong preference for the "line vs. the column". However, I must admit that at certain times, the melee is necessary to drive back the French hordes. Volley fire takes a long time to fatigue units and inflict damage. A well-planned counterattack with bonuses can rout a French stack of columns or lines in short order. So, my answer is that it depends... on the tactical situation. Does that make it any clearer?

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

I agree with Sir Muddy on this one. I personally like to integrate firepower and shock moving back and forth between them as appropriate to the tactical situation.

As for the glorious French columns routing I am not so sure Sir Muddy[:D]



Colonel Colin Knox,
Baron de l'Empire
2e Regiment Gardes d'Honneur
La Jeune Garde
IIIe Corps ADN
http://www.aspire.co.nz/colinknoxnwc.htm

According to Pat Benitar love is a battlefield. If that is true, then melee is the thing to do. [:D]

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

I thought that love is like oxygen Al. [:D] Get too much you get too high ...

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]