Technically Füsiliere were light nfantry, although not generally fighting in dispersed formation. now my question is specific to Prussians since their Füsilier battalions operated as independant formations.

So under the R2E rules... Could one deploy the whole unit as skirmishers like Légère?

THX,

Burkhard

Hello Burkhard

I'm not sure if you are talking 1806 or 1813+ ... though I suspect the latter and this is the period I will talk/type to.

FYI, IMHO & FWIW(!!!) I don't see why the Füsilier battalions should not be able deploy the whole unit as skirmishers like the Légère ... but then I would think that wouldn't I!

Salute
von Peter himself ... anagram king for a day

the use of the word 'technically' is the caveat. Russian Jager were 'technically' light infantry but were often indistinguishable from Line battalions. Of course there are many examples (Borodino is perfect) of massed deployment of skirmisher screens of Jager. Their performance however is the real issue.
I am not in a position to definitively comment on the performance of post 1812 Prussian Fusiliers as skirmishing light infantry. If they were competent to perform sharpshooting duties in the tradition of French Voltigeur/Schutzen/British Riflemen and Light infantry then by all means do it.
Alternatively, do it but downgrade them in Resolve terms and introduce that element of brittleness to their use.

Easily solved i think, try it!

Thanks for the input guys!

Really like Barrys second suggestion of downgrading their quality when deployed as skirmishers. Think I will go for that!

THX,

Burkhard

I'm not sure that I'm convinced of the science behind this ... but if I were to play it in 1813/14 I would expect many of the French Légère to play under the same conditions!

I guess I have been sensitised for too long over the tyranny of army lists and generic assignment of abilities based on a units title.

Salute
von Peter himself

I AM SURE YOU ARE RIGHT

I wish I was so sure!!



Salute
von Peter himself

A few thoughts from me on the topic of late Napoleonic Prussian fusilier battalions:

1). The fusilier battalions of the line infantry were intended to provide the bulk of the light infantry function of Prussian brigades (remember that the term "brigade" means something different for the Prussian army of this period than it means for other nations). The Prussian regulations and training meant that the line infantry fusiliers were well drilled and skilled at this role.

2). I wouldn't penalise line fusilier resolve when deployed as skirmishers in the rules. However, I would pay attention to Prussian practice and not allow a whole fusilier battalion to be deployed in skirmish order like the "grande bandes" sometimes used by the French. Instead, I would place a limit on what proportion of the battalion can be deployed in skirmish order because the Prussians always tried to keep a close order reserve as a rallying point. I don't have my references to hand to suggest what proportion but I'd guess at a maximum of 50% or 75%.

3). Other Prussian troops were also used to provide the light infantry function and I think it would be reasonable to treat each type as being more or less skilled at it. So, for example, I would rate the Silesian Schutzen and East Prussian Jagers more highly than line fusiliers and I would rate the fusilier battalions of reserve regiments less highly than line fusiliers. Similarly, I would rate the "third rank" of musketeer battalions as being less proficient and landwehr as even less skilled (though there are documented examples of them skirmishing successfully). In these weaker cases, I think Barry's suggestion of lowering resolve could work.

4). I've kept one troop type on its own here - volunteer jagers. And that's simply because its the most difficult one to generalise about. They were certainly intended to be used in a skirmish role (green uniforms, rifle armed etc evidence this) but their abilities were variable so you'll have to form a judgement based on what is known of individual detachments' historical performance. As a rough rule of thumb, the quality of a volunteer jager detachment was probably consistent with that of the parent unit to which it was attached. In the rules, I would treat the volunteer jagers detachments using the "specialist light infantry detachment" rules.

Thanks for the input Martin... This has given me more ideas for good!

THX,

Burkhard