Slitherine

For our last game: Does a Battle group that is fighting as rear support to artillery have to pursue broken opponents? Moving over the artillery. I suppose that that’s the case but it seems a little odd as the BG is suppose to be there to defend the artillery.

I would say they do pursue, since I can find no specific exemption for them and in fact the 3rd bullet under Initial Pursuits on p.131 explicitly deals with pursuit moves by troops defending or capturing guns.

If their initial pursuit move is insufficient for the back rank to completly clear the guns, I would suggest they would move completly through under the last para on p.67 dealing with interpenetrations, since, to be supporting the artillery they have to already be in front edge contact with the rear edge of the guns.

Andy

This is similar to a point that came up in our second game:

Artillery is 40mm deep if in 15mm scale. It is 80mm deep in 25mm scale.

At 40mm deep, MF/HF can move through it (p. 67 "...it has sufficient move for its front edge to reach the far side") since their move is 75mm.

However, in 25mm scale, MF/HF cannot move through the artillery since the normal move is 3MU (75mm). Even if we use inches instead, that only brings the move up to about 76mm. The foot base does not reach the front edge of the artillery.

Could arty be assumed to have a depth of 75mm for interpenetration purposes?

Was this intended? Or should there be some leeway for the foot to be able to pass through? If they did roll up in a pursuit, would they then be able to move through? (I would assume so.)

In the case of pursuit, p131 provides that the supporting troops measure their move from the front edge of the artillery bases, so the suporting troops should have enough move for the front rank to reach the far edge and qualify under p.67, since they are considered to start there. The only question would be whether there is sufficient room on the other for them to move entirely through, as might occur if the routing BG rolled low on its VMD.

For a normal move, rather than a pusuit, as you pont out the 3 MU move of most infantry isn't sufficient for the front rank to reach the other side of an artillery base (when basing for 25mm), so it would seem that p.67 couldn't apply. My only query would be whether you could apply the second bullet point on p.126 (Artillery in Contact with Enemy), which provides that a battle group in a position to provide rear support is treated for all purposes as if it's front edge is the front edge of the artillery, and once again measure the movement distance from the front edge of the artillery base so that the front rank of the supporting unit will always be able to at least partly reach the other side. In this case the rule on p.131 for pursuits would just be seen as a restatement of the general rule on p.126.

Andy

Blathergut wrote:However, in 25mm scale, MF/HF cannot move through the artillery since the normal move is 3MU (75mm). Even if we use inches instead, that only brings the move up to about 76mm. The foot base does not reach the front edge of the artillery.

Could arty be assumed to have a depth of 75mm for interpenetration purposes?

Was this intended? Or should there be some leeway for the foot to be able to pass through? If they did roll up in a pursuit, would they then be able to move through? (I would assume so.)

It is an oversight. Will probably need an erratum.

However, it does not affect the situation in question, because (as has already been pointed out) the supporting BG is treated as if it was level with the front of the artillery.

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However, it does not affect the situation in question, because (as has already been pointed out) the supporting BG is treated as if it was level with the front of the artillery.[/quote]

A late tercio is 60mm deep in 15mm (>2"). If infantry routers rolled a one they would only rout 1" and the pursuing tercio (measuring from the front of the battery) would not clear the artillery. Would you push the routers forward another inch and a half to allow the support to clear the guns?

Kevin D.

It's not part of the rules, but is a helpful reminder to all of what is going on if the bases of supporting foot that do not have guns in front of them are moved up level with the front line of the battery while so deployed.