First World War Campaigns - Cavalry Charges

[Volcano Man]

I don't see a problem here. Urban areas in FWWC already offer very little in the way of protection, and although there were some cases where infantry took positions in buildings, this was the exception and not the rule. Combat of the period was still more Napoleonic in that regard -- there was very little heavy urban warfare, the combatants often met and fought in the streets and only use the buildings as protection by hiding behind them. Entire infantry battalions didn't occupy buildings, at least not until late war AFAIK. Just read Rommel's "Attacks" to see an example of 1914 warfare in a village where the infantry basically fought in the streets, not house to house. I am not sure why they did this, but my guess is that it was a combination of what was "proper" and because command and control issues.

So, the fighting in the urban areas in 1914 is not the urban warfare you think of from WW2 and modern times. The cavalry would be charging down the streets while the infantry would mostly be fighting in the streets. This is why the urban terrain in FWWC provides so little defensive advantage compared to say PzC or MC series.

With cavalry in FWWC, at least in 1914, the penalty simply comes from built up terrain slowing them down. I mean the only possibly valid complaint would be that cavalry can effectively charge in the forests as well as they can in clear terrain, but this is not entirely true. Cavalry pay heavily for built up terrain, like forests, and if they do charge/assault then odds are that they will be stuck in the forest hex and vulnerable to return fire as they sit during the enemy's turn, because they cannot move very far. In clear terrain they can continue to charge and can retire, while in built up terrain they cannot get very far and suffer the full wrath of return fire as they get bogged down by terrain. Also mounted cavalry do not benefit from terrain advantage when they are fired at, so those cavalry that get stuck charging into a forest will indeed suffer 100% from enemy fire, they will not be protected by the forest/town/city etc.

All of these things are deemed to be sufficient game play mechanics for 1914 warfare, but obviously late war titles would likely have to introduce some penalty (although late war cavalry do change to be less arm blanche and more strategic reconnaissance / mounted infantry, so it likely corrects itself anyway -- we will figure that out once we get there). ;)