Foot movement

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How far should Foot move in a turn?

Poll ended at Sun Jan 10, 2010 7:11 pm

4 inches
10
53%
5 inches
2
11%
6 inches
7
37%
 
Total votes: 19
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flick40
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Foot movement

Post by flick40 » Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:11 pm

Foot movement distance.
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Post by flick40 » Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:20 am

Seems I'm the only vote for 5" and the issue is - currently, 4 - 4. If I were to be the tiebreaker I'm would vote down vs up. 8)
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Post by CoffinDodger » Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:51 am

I've voted for 4" as I feel it already works and reflects the difficulty of moving troops in line at a time where they were barely able to march in cadence.

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Foot Movement while in Line

Post by Churchill » Sat Jan 02, 2010 6:48 pm

Hi all,

The title of the Thread/Poll should have been Foot Movement while in Line, but I knew what you meant Flick40.
Reading Barry's post on this, advance in column to start with, then form into line before you get into musket range.Why do we need a 6" move when those who want to get into contact quicker can advance 8" in column.If you have a 6" move in line then wont this mean 12" while in column??? This would be silly as infantry would be moving as fast as cavalry in march column.
Keep it real and sensible!!! My vote stays at 4" for Foot in Line.

Regards.......Ray.

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Post by SteveRCR » Sun Jan 03, 2010 4:47 am

well as of now when i post it is 8,2 &6

a 50/50 split for a change in movement.

I wonder if table size playes into this, i play on a 9 x 5, do others that voted for an increase play on larger tables and the 4 inch crew play on smaller tables?

Barry posted in the other thread about how they played 30 turns in 11 hours in there grand game. While good, how much more could they have done with a bigger movement range.

I have seen rules with small table move rates and big table rates for larger games.

Why should i and others be penalized by have a larger gaming area then the standard gamer?
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Post by quindia » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:23 pm

I agree with Ray. If you have a larger table, you are blessed with the chance to use columns to maneuver to contact. Infantry need not be deployed into line on the first turn. Alternately, you can design your scenarios so some of your brigades are at the point of exchanging cross words, say 24" apart, while other brigades are marching to the sound of guns.

I have a puny 4x6 table as my permanent home table and to overcome this I general design my games so the defender starts in position and the attacker actually marches onto the board on his first turn. For meeting engagements, both armies march on. This effectively gives me 36 to 48 inches between deployment zones even on my small table. You will have a much more dynamic game than simply lining up two armies and slogging across the table in line.

It seems strange to me that infantry movement in line has produced this much discussion. All of the movement rates are relative and if one is changed might not others need to be haggled over as well? No matter what rates end up in the book, I'm sure people will adjust them for their own games if the rest of the mechanics are to their liking. I say carve something into stone and charge on!
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Post by flick40 » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:33 pm

Why should i and others be penalized by have a larger gaming area then the standard gamer?
I don't think you would be, these aren't competition rules but for friendly games. I can't speak for Barry but I sense he would agree, if opponents are in agreement they can adjust speeds accordingly.

As Quindia pointed out, if we tinker too much with movement for one unit type then we have to look at the others. Then too firing ranges etc. Something has to be put in stone when the rules go to print.
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Post by j1mwallace » Sun Jan 03, 2010 7:25 pm

Fully agree with Ray. faff around with infantry line moves and everything else changes. Ranges, cavalry moves , everything. Also we've tried this out on an 8x4. Too fast and zippy as i said before. I notice a sort of geographic split here between the guys in UK and in the states/Canada. Not all of course. Is it simply a state of mind?
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Post by obriendavid » Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:07 pm

Is everyone remembering that once a unit has fired its first volley they can only move half a move and fire for the rest of the game so I don't see how troops that move 6/3" are zipping around the table. For my own point of view I am happy to stick to the normal 4" movement rate. For those with larger tables another option which we have used on some of our larger tables is to allow troops to make double move distance until they get closer.

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Post by Darkman » Sun Jan 03, 2010 8:39 pm

Hi, I quick question on this point aimed at people who have a better understanding of this period than me.

When lines advanced, how far from the enemy would they be before they started to dress the line. Or would they be advancing and dressing the line all the time.

I thought that they would have men who would act as markers for the line and everyone would advance trying to keep in line with these markers. This would happen until they were at a certain distance from the enemy and then they would arrange the lines properly. Then a slow advance would happen.

I suggested an advance in line of 6 inches but doing this they would be disordered. Then they could stop dress the lines (form marker) then advance at 4 inches a turn. Barrys thoughts were that they should be able to dress the lines easily in a 20 minute turn.

The idea was that it was then up to the player at which point the dressed the lines for the final approach.

Oh I also thought that anyone not in line should be disordered.
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