Artilley with Infantry support (also terrain conforming)

[ravenflight]

Hi all, I've had this happen to me a couple of times and it's my own fault, but just wanted to see if there is a way around it.

Lets say you have two bg's of 2 artillery pieces. You (as an inferior stupid commander in chief) order the pieces to be deployed at the 15" mark but at a slight angle to each other so that they form a deep V (with the point of the V pointing toward the enemy)

Now, after deployment you notice enemy mounted are going to threaten your guns, so want to move some infantry up behind the guns.

Now, because they are in a V, you CANNOT actually line up behind the guns.

Now:

From a game perspective I say 'bad luck... You're an idiot... You should have deployed with a small gap in between".
From a real life perspective I say "The Infantry SHOULD be able to bend to conform. They have, after all, flexibility. They aren't a solid block.

So, there is no provision under the rules for an infantry formation to 'conform' to the back of multiple artillery pieces is there? (or indeed a terrain feature, which could be equally bendy)

[hazelbark]

I would likely as your opponent just say either we will count the guns as defended or adjust their positions.

Can you take a CMT to wheel? Or am I thinking wrong FOG.

[quackstheking]

Remember in giving rear support to the guns, your units for all purposes are actually level with the front of the guns and therefore they are not actually overlapping so there shouldn't be a problem. To all intents and purposes (assuming they are 2 bases deep), they occupy the same space as the guns.

The positioning of putting them behind the guns is just a game mechanism.

Don

[rbodleyscott]

So, there is no provision under the rules for an infantry formation to 'conform' to the back of multiple artillery pieces is there? (or indeed a terrain feature, which could be equally bendy)

Correct, there isn't. So if you want to defend both BGs of guns and can't pivot them back into a solid line, you will need 2 BGs to defend them.

TBH, the smart money is on placing guns where they don't need to be defended. If you do defend a BG of artillery with a BG of pike and shot, you will lose some of your fire-power, and if you then lose the close combat, you will you lose 4 Attrition Points.

Even if you do eventually lose your unsupported guns, it is not as bad as this.