The sound you hear....

[Jack ONeill]

okay,

So trying this again, at the request of Brother Kerflumexd.

Gentlemen and fellow Commanders,

I really had hoped this issue had been put to rest, but here it is again. For what it's worth, here are my thoughts on the dreaded Column Charge -

Could someone please try to remember this is a game? It's not perfect and there will be "gamey" things in it and players who may or may not exploit them. There will be fixes, but they may or may not satify everyone.

Next, lets look at it from certain points of view -

YOU are a Battalion Commander in the ACW. Battle is raging around you. YOU are scared to death but doing your job as best you can. The sheer amount of noise is horrifically loud. (Note: As a Re-enacting BTN. Cmdr, I can atest to this. During a firefight at roughly 50 yards range, I stood behind the line trying to see WTF was going on. My Brigade Cmdr was roughly 15 feet away talking to an aide. Even at that short distance, I could not here a word they were saying AND it was obvious they were shouting to each other. Also, the firefight involved 6 re-enacting battalions blazing away, plus a battery somewhere adding to the din.) The smoke is so thick you can't see anything over a few feet away. (Seen that too in re-enacting). Your men are blazing away like mad things and also falling from enemy fire. Suddenly a neatly-pressed 12 year old 2nd. Lieutenant rides up with orders from Brigade to "take those guns over there," then rides off. Thinking quickly, you decide orders are orders and how are you going to do it. Column or Line? Column gets you there faster, Line get less casualties, maybe. YOU send a surviving aide forward to check on the battery position. YOU give the orders and move out. Your best bet is to catch the guns reloading. The aide waves YOU forward. YOU give the commands "Arms Port. Forward at the Double Quick!" As you clear the smoke you are horrified to see the enemy gunners trying to wheel 2 guns in your direction. YOU grit your teeth, knowing this is really gonna suck. Yelling "Charge!," your men run forward. YOU see the Section Cmdr raise his arm, then drop it. The Guns belch flame and smoke...

Now lets look at it from a different point of view -

SOP for both sides was to support the guns with infantry and vice-versa. I believe I read somewhere Tom Jackson reamed out some battery commander for moving his guns away from the supporting Infantry and risking capture. Think it was "With Jackson in the Valley" but maybe not. Anyway, if you want to block the column charge, supoport your guns with infantry. Have your foot charge the charging enemy and at least stop him for a bit. Remember, EVEN IF YOU LOSE THE HAND TO HAND COMBAT, THE ENEMY INFANTRY WILL BE REFORMING LITERALLY AT THE CANNONS MOUTH. Think of your gunners drooling over that fat target. Can you say "Double Cannister, please..."

So, on to more gamey-ness. You decide to charge the guns with more then 1 battalion. Using one to draw off the enemy supporting infantry, then charge the guns with 1 or 2 more battalions. Great idea except - all this takes some time to accomplish. If you are more then a Brigade commander, you have a lot more going on then this. While you are setting up for and exceuting this glorious charge, you might look up to discover one of your flanks has been crushed and overrun by hordes of cheering enemy troops.
Interesting, no?

What I am saying is this. This game has huge, historical aspects to it. You can solve this problem like they did by using historical tactics. I have no problem with the Column Charge. But, my guns are always supported by infantry. I can't think of a time I've lost a gun to either the AI or a Human opponent via the column charge. HOWEVER, I rarely use it. It is very hard for me to suck up the casualties which need to be taken for the gains of taking the guns.

Anyway, my 3 cents.

Sic Semper Avantis

Jack B)