An Introduction to BGW: Tactics and Tips
General advice
Reserves: In any of the scenarios I cannot emphasise enough the requirement to keep a
decent sized reserve available. In attack or defence fresh unfatigued units can
save or win the day. A reserve element should consist of ALL arms not just a
weak Quality 2 rated infantry battalion! Keep them out of harms way until the
critical moment as they will be of little use if the enemy are allowed to punish
them with artillery fire or outflanking cavalry charges whilst they wait.for
their moment of glory. Also, rotate fatigued units out of the line whenever and
wherever possible as the adverse modifiers they attract can turn even the
Imperial Guard into a substandard melee unit. Note that when skirmishers are
re-called to their parent battalion they will immediately adopt the fatigue
level of the latter, therefore it is not so important to rest skirmish units -
rather re-call them every now and again. A unit rested for 3-4 game hours can
often play a decisive role later in the day rather than suffer the ignominy of
constant routs.
Version 1.1 update: When skirmishers are re-called to their parent
battalion they do not adopt the fatigue level of the latter. Rather, they
increase the fatigue level of the parent unit by one. This was a much-needed
improvement.
Observation: The old saying of 'Know thy enemy' is still as valid today as it ever was.
You should also know his dispositions including strengths and weaknesses at any
given point in the line. This can be accomplished quite easily with minimal loss
by the adept use of small skirmish formations or detached cavalry squadrons. Go
on...take a look over that next hill, you may lose 25 skirmishers but you may
also find that your next attack will surely fail when they get charged by the
3000 heavy cavalry that are hidden behind the reverse slopes. Observation
becomes critical at dusk and at night as you can`t see beyond 4 hexes. Keep
those lookouts posted! I`ve heard a lot about PBEM players using replacement
leaders (ie Colonel Anonymous) as recon units, good idea but hardly in the
spirit of the game. Try to avoid the temptation to do this (and other little
tricks) otherwise you`ll end up with no PBEM opponents.
Skirmishers: Whether in attack or defence always keep a strong skirmish line in front of
your main force. They can not only reduce casualties in your densely packed line
battalions but can also hinder enemy cavalry movement (when in enough numbers)
and force your enemy to use valuable artillery rounds to clear them away.
Remember to keep skirmishers on the flanks as well as in front as an enemy flank
attack/volley is even more devastating than a frontal one. Make good use of all
your light infantry battalions, I often find that detaching all but 100 can give
you a very strong skirmish line without stripping standard line battalions of
their light companies. Finally, pull the skirmish formations back to their
parent units every now and again to reduce their fatigue levels but bear in mind
that every time you do this you will increase the fatigue level of the parent
battalion by one.
Command and control: Observe Divisional and Brigade Command radius at all times. Endeavour to
keep your formations together and you will find that units quickly rally and
reform. Keep all the leader units busy - have them racing up and down the field,
rallying routed battalions one turn and then leading an assault the next.. The
modifiers they bestow are well worth the time spent taken in good leader
placement. Army and Corps Commanders are especially useful at rallying broken
units due to their excellent leadership ratings. However, beware of using
replacement commanders in critical situations as they are often nowhere near as
good as the original leaders. Finally, don`t stack 2 leaders in the same hex,
this is just a waste of good leadership.
Terrain: The field of battle is covered with defiles, hills, hedges, orchards,
buildings and sunken roads - make use of them! It can be tempting to form a
pretty line going straight across the map with your troops in nice neat
formations, but you will soon find that units in the open will suffer tremendous
casualties as opposed to ones behind cover. When in defence use every obstructed
hex/hexside to your advantage. It hinders cavalry charges and massively reduces
casualties from enemy volleys and melees. Remember: place line battalions in
villages and skirmishers in buildings for maximum protection. Follow
Wellington`s example of using the reverse slopes to protect your densely packed
formations with only handfuls of skirmishers on the ridge tops for observation.
On the attack, keep checking line of sight using the 'visible hexes' command,
you will often find safe areas where the enemy batteries can`t touch you while
you manoeuvre your units into position. One last thing, avoid obstructed hexes
like the plague when advancing as there is nothing worse than having to spend
2-3 more turns reforming disordered units when they are needed instantly.
Infantry
Infantry form the core of both armies and as such you can be tempted to throw
away battalions in risky ventures as after all you`ve got 30 more where that one
came from. Don`t do it! Stop and really analyse if the move/attack you are
making is necessary. example: Why send a brigade to attack the enemy in an area
that isn`t tactically important? A simple manoeuvre like refusing the main
attacks flank may well do the job without you having to suffer casualties.
Be careful that you garrison strongpoints and critical areas of the line with
good quality troops that don`t often break. Prime examples of poor formations
are any of the Dutch-Belgian Brigades in the Anglo-Allied Army. They may look
impressive with 4-5 battalions but if one of them routs and the others are close
by the whole brigade will soon disappear. Use them as a second line of defence
so that when they do make contact at least the enemy are already fatigued and
perhaps even disordered.
Move infantry in column whenever possible, the line formation is just too
fragile for extensive manoeuvering. Finally, only use the square formation when
you find your units under direct threat from enemy cavalry. It requires careful
timing to anticipate the best time to form square and the problem can be
accentuated by units becoming disordered due to enemy threat zones. Again, keep
those lookouts posted and you should avoid having to face this problem in the
first place.
Cavalry
Cavalry come in all shapes and sizes. Some are just made for breaking squares
and counter charging enemy cavalry, others are of little use except for
harrasing, threatening and further routing already broken infantry units. Know
the difference.
The greatest asset cavalry have is their ability to threaten the
charge, this in itself can cause the enemy untold problems with manouevering,
defences, assault lines etc. Before you do commit a cavalry regiment or brigade
to a full-blown charge ensure that they won`t sacrifice themselves at the end of
it. Consider every eventuality and once you have decided to go ahead and charge
stop and think it all through once again! This way you won`t give the
enemy the opportunity to decimate your splendid mounted regiments for the glory
of perhaps taking out 1 artillery battery. Remember that the best charges are
made from the enemy`s flanks where you can sweep along an entire line of his
troops routing unit after unit - cavalry can attack up to 4 times in a single
melee phase. Now thats a charge! Make use of detached squadrons for observation
and wider coverage. Above all try to keep your enemy guessing as to your true
intentions - use the threat...
Cavalry are also very handy for protecting your infantry`s flanks when on the
move. This will hopefully negate the chance of an enemy cavalry charge
decimating your units from the flank. Keep the cavalry out of obstructed
terrain such as orchards, forests and building hexes - they are of little use
here and will quickly succomb to enemy skirmishers as they mill about trying to
move away and reform. Finally, avoid placing your cavalry regts in a position
where they can be quickly surrounded by enemy skirmishers. This can happen ever
so easily after a charge. It is really a game design fault more than anything
else. Would 25 lightly armed men even consider placing themselves behind 500
Heavies - I don`t think so! Do it to them before they do it to you - perhaps
detach a few squadrons of supporting cavalry to ride right through any
troublesome skirmishers before the main attack goes in. This can be accomplished
in the charge phase itself using the 'overrun' tactic.
Version 1.1 update: Cavalry now receive a +2 modifier for taking units in
the flank (as do infantry). This makes cavalry vs cavalry engagements much more
prolific as you can now take an enemy regiment from the flank and have a damn
good chance of driving them back!
Artillery
Properly handled artillery can prove absolutely devastating, poorly handled
they provide easy pickings for enemy skirmishers and cavalry. Keep the cannon
well back unless properly supported. They can be a source of much-needed victory
points to your opponent and rest assured they will be annihilated unless
positioned accurately and safely. Don`t squander valuable rounds on enemy
skirmishers, keep your stocks high for when you really need them. The French
Commander can afford to expend round after round on counter-battery fire, the
allies can`t. Remember this. Also, take note of the fact that when artillery
batteries are overrun if there is a friendly infantry unit in the adjacent hex
the crew will temporarily abandon the guns to take refuge. This is a great
feature which I`m sure Talonsoft are proud of, someone had their thinking hat on
with this one. Finally, artillery strengths are doubled within 2 hexes of enemy
units, if you can safely get your cannon this close then do it, its worth the
effort.
Summary
One last thing that has only been touched on in the above is Combined Arms.
No one unit type can accomplish much without the support of the others. In
both defence and attack keep a well-balanced force in all local areas and you
shouldn`t go far wrong. Swarms of skirmishers, then columns/lines of infantry
with cavalry on the flanks and cannon tucked in behind - endeavour to use this
formation every time. It works.
Rules that I keep pinned on the wall next to the monitor:
1) Having more than 250 skirmishers in any one hex negates their -1 modifier
when they suffer a ranged attack They also will not get the -75% modifier in
casualties.
2) Cavalry threat values are tripled within 2 hexes, doubled within 4
3) Disordered units attacks are reduced by 50%
4) Lancers strength is reduced by 25% when defending in a melee
5) Lancers & Heavies attacks are increased by 25%
6) Skirmishers gain a -2 modifier when defending in a building hex against
ranged fire
7) The threat value exerted in any given hex can be accessed by
right-clicking on the terrain info box
8) If a unit routs, all units in the same hex and those in adjacent
hexes will be forced to make a morale check. Version 1.1 update: now reduces
the chances of 'multi-hex' routing. Therefore don`t count on routing whole
brigades anymore!
9) VP comparsion:
25 Infantry = 1VP
1 Cannon = 4VP
25 Cavalry = 8VP (25 Cossacks = 4VP)
Remember to keep your enemy guessing as to your true intentions and
placements, make use of terrain, rotate front line untis and keep those
reserves. If you`ve made it this far then I thank you and hope this essay has
been of some use.
[Written by Mark Trowbridge. Courtesy of the
Scenario Design Centre.]
