Skirmishers in SOW

[Kerflumoxed]

Garnier wrote:

They'd be a lot harder to use if the skirmishers were actually far in front of the flag. It's best for all the men to be behind the flag, so when you double click somewhere, you can be sure the men will all be at or behind the point you click.

Actually, the location of the Colors has no bearing upon the advancement or placement of Skirmishers. They are to advance beyond the main battle line to probe for opposition to prevent the main force from advancing into an unknown enemy or to simply locate the presence of any enemy. "When skirmishers are thrown out to clear the way for, and to protect the advance of the main corps, their movements should be regulated by this corps, as to keep it constantly covered." (Gilham, p. 180)

Infrequently, skirmishers were used to cover a retreat, but that was not their main purpose.

Thanks

Jack

[Kerflumoxed]

ADukes wrote:

Kerflumoxed wrote:

At the same time, why do the Skirmishers remain on the line and the rest of the Battalion fall-back when a Battalion is selected and Skirmisher button selected?

That's how the formation is designed. The whole thing depends on the position of the flag bearer.

I presume you are referring to the game design rather then the actual historical practice since the position of the colors has no historical bearing upon advancement or placement of the skirmishers. Skirmishers can range as far as 500 yards or more in front of the main battle line. Colors, if advanced, would certainly be an easy "capture" if they advanced with or in front of skirmishers rather than remaining with the main body of troops. Plus, the morale effect of seeing the colors rapidly retreating with hurried return of the skirmishers could result in a drop in morale.

Actually, other than "running away" when encountering opposition, the skirmishers act more in accordance with historical accuracy in TC2M than the present game. I would hope that a future patch would correct this inaccuracy to allow the correct deployment and usage of skirmishers.

Thank you,

Jack

[Kerflumoxed]

UglyElmo wrote:

I think you might have to make a movement forward to where you want the skirmisher to go, for the main line to stay put. I will see if it works that way and let you know.

This would explain why the skirmisher stays put and the rest move back, if it is expecting a movement forward for the skirmisher. Let me know if you find out any more as well.

Hi Ugh!

Think you are right. If one could determing how far to move the skirmisher company and compensate for the automatic retrograd, it might work. But, doesn't that negate on aspect of the historical accuracy of the game? :unsure:

I know....I'm just an old grouch! :woohoo:

J

[jbhopkins]

It is like TCM2. If you tell your unit to go into skirmish formation, it will do so right where it is standing. If you want the unit to move forward and form a skirmish line, you direct it to move ahead, THEN assume the formation.

[Kerflumoxed]

Historical game recreation of skirmishers based upon available contemporary manuals, historical writings and "lack" of information (i.e. no brigade skirmishers) in said manuals:

So, going out on the limb, my gut feeling is that one company per regiment is going to over its own regimental front in a brigade "line" formation. All manuals include the information on skirmishers at the company level and the battalion/regimental level. This is found, for example, in Gilham's Article III (School of the Soldier) and Article VI (School of the Battalion). There are no commands or instruction for deployment of skirmishers at the brigade level (ex. Casey's Evolutions of the Line).

Four regiments in a brigade means four companies, each from different regiments, serving as skirmishers. This allows for better control for each regiment. It is possible that the entire line of skirmishers might be commanded by a selected field officer in the manner that a field officer of the day is selected for guard mount. In static situations, a field officer of the day would control an entire line. However, when moving across country, that control will certainly be dropped down to regimental level, not up to brigade level.

Having deployed as skirmishers and advanced as part of living history demonstrations at Vicksburg, Sharpsburg and Chickamauga have allowed me to see how much space a company of skirmishers, deployed at proper intervals, can really cover which is a great expanse of land. Bugle calls for skirmishers is a necessity for covering this wide expanse as voice commands are insufficient. These observations have been confirmed over the years by NPS personnel and other "drill-nuts" as well.

Now, the Game Manual is incorrect when it says: "Brigades or regiments in Skirmish formation spread out to minimize the amount of damage they take from enemy fire." As I have already noted in a previous note in this thread, skirmishers are "...thrown out to clear the way for, and to protect the advance of, the main corps (to keep it) constantly covered." not to minimize casualties. They serve to find the enemy on the advance and to screen the static battalion or brigade from surprice by an advancing enemy...sort of an early warning device.

The proverbial "fly in the ointment" is whether or not this historically depiction can be included a future patch or is it beyond the scope or plausibility of the game. Have to wait for the experts to jump in on this question when the time is right. Nevertheless, under the current system, an accurate depiction of the use skirmishers is not possible.

Now, before the hate mail starts, please note that I think the development of GB is beyond anything that has been previously available and I look forward to many hours of enjoyable play! Norb and crew cannot be too highly commended! Brevet promotions for all are proposed!

Thanks for listening to my diatribe.

J :woohoo:

[UglyElmo]

It looks to me, the game uses skirmishing a brigade as a means to scout ahead for enemy units while the brigade is moving. So you don't want to use this once the enemy is encountered by said brigade.

If you want to skirmish an entire brigade, once the enemy is found, you can skirmish each regiment individually.

I can see an argument both ways. It may not be completely historically accurate, but this way the game easily allows you to use skirmish mode for 2 different purposes:

1. As a scouting function.
2. As a harassment function.

Though most of my men appear to be in a constant state of skirmish . . due to their severe allergic reactions to "lead". :laugh: