Destroying cannon in HPS games

[fastphil]

Cannon in HPS ACW games can be agravating. You capture the guns and gain victory points, only to lose them if you spike the guns. To destroy them, you have to park a battery next to them and shoot until you score gun hits (nothing more fun that scoring 'fatigue' hits on :censored: uncrewed guns!). This is unrealistic.

An old tried and true method of destroying guns was to burst the barrels by packing them with charges and plugging the end of the barrel (also dangerous if your too close or the fuse is too short! :eek1: ).



I propose that HPS should patch the games to allow an undisrupted unit that began it's turn in the hex with uncrewed guns to destroy them at the cost of movement points and gun ammo (you have to get the powder from somewhere). If that's too easy, allow the process the possiblity to inflict some casualties (to represent a possible screw-up).

Havoc

How do you pronounce 'tomato'? :stir: Just as unrealistic(actually more especially for the Confederacy) is parking guns adjacent to them and destroying them. Union artillery was probably 'the' major source of supply for the Confederacy during the early years of the conflict. HPS makes it easy by letting any unit even a single officer 'capture' them as long as the unit stays with them. This represents the efforts and manpower necessary to remove
them from harms way so that they may be of use in a later battle. Destroyed guns are of no use to either side and not that common occurrence in the Civil War that I have read. I propose that HPS should patch the games to prevent the 'gamey' tactic of To destroy them, you have to park a battery next to them and shoot until you score gun hits (nothing more fun that scoring 'fatigue' hits on :censored: uncrewed guns!). :kill: This is the last thing either side would do. Waste on hand ammo blowing up captured guns(better used for shooting at them that are still shooting at you)-guns that you can use later on. You don't lose the VP for spiking them just part of them reflecting the fact that you will have to take time, effort, and resources to make them useable again. I would prefer a rule allowing you to withdraw captured guns(and getting more VPs) but having to keep a unit with them probably represents that more simply. JMHO:soap: