Cavalry Charges and rule suggestion

[jpsherfy]

Having just read John Keegan's book "Face of Battle" with its analysis of combat at Waterloo I decided to write to the folks who make these games about a proposed rule change. Or maybe this could be an optional rule. Keegan's research (which is supported by another book I have as well) suggests that while an infantry square was the best formation to receive a cavalry charge, in reality any formed infantry unit that did not panic or get disorganized would be able to withstand and fight off a cavalry charge without grave loss. He makes a strong case that basically a man and horse when faced with determined infantry in any formation with their muskets at the ready (and still loaded) will not charge home. There really being no place for the cavalryman to go.



Keegan goes on to say the crucial thing seems to be the infantry's mental ability to hold their fire until the last minute and to stand firm. WHat this does is it puts the fear of god in the cavalry unit because they have that dreaded knowledge that they will receive a blast from the infantry at point blank range. Now if the infantry gets rattled and fires prematurely this gives the cavalryman great confidence. He knows he can ride in and have little fear of that point blank volley. On the infantry side, they see these massive groups of man and horse and it can rattle them. They imagine the great beast just running them over and so they fire too early or too high and they get scared and break formation giving the cavalry a place to ride into their ranks and start slashing.



The key seems to be rattling the confidence of the infantry and getting them to provide gaps in their ranks for the cavalry to ride into. Keegan basically states if there are no gaps all the rider can do is ride up, wave their sword and ride away and he says this happened at Waterloo.He even gets into unit frontage with the idea being, and I do not recall the numbers exactly, but something like 36 cavalrymen abreast in two ranks will be faced by something like double that of infantry. It makes sense that that if the infantry stand firm, this is not very good odds for the cavalryman. Horses are not going to charge a steady group of men that have bayonets. The horse will not impale himself as much as a rider might urge them on.

Another book I have "Swords Around the Throne" seems to agree with these assessments although I have not read all of what it says.



So with this in mind I thought about the way these games work and to me there is a key missing element. Its not whether or not the infantry is in square but whether or not they can keep there nerve when they are charged. My proposal is that when a cavalry unit charges and enters a hex next to an infantry unit, but not one in square, that infantry unit must make a morale check and if it fails it becomes disorganized or might even rout (if already disorganized). If it does not disorganize, and stands firm, whatever its formation, the cavalry units value is not tripled. If the infantry disorganizes or routs well, then the cavarly will get its attack bonus. It will be tripled and I guess the disorganized unit is 1/2ed if I am reading the rules right. Anyway, I thought I'd see if there are any opinions out there. I did float this to the folks at John Tiller and had an exchange of emails with one of their folks but he seemed reluctant to pursure this. Maybe the reprogramming would be too difficult but my reading seems to indicate this is more realistic. Anybody want to chime in?