Shako and musket 1815

The Age of Musket

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1815

Rules for scaled battles of Napoleon's 100 days campaign

Peter Morffew

Forward

These rules are part of a series that covers the era of the Musket . Starting when the smoothbore musket became theprimary weapon for Infantry in the 1690's , to the end of the era when the smoothbore Musket's were being converted torifled muskets or being discarded for more modern weapon's in 1862 during the American Civil War .The Age of Musket series reflects to changes in tactics from the slow and ponderous pace of the infantry in the 18thcentury to the more brisk pace that was to come about in the middle of teh 19th century .These rules are designed to capture the flavour of specific war's or campaign's with the subtle changes and nuance's. Theyare also designed to be easy to use , fast flowing and capable of covering small and large scale games . Happy gaming .

Contents of rules

Troop types -

Description's of the type of troop's of the period

.Unit size -

A description of the maximum size for unit's when using these rules

.Formation's -

A description of the different formation's used within these rules .

Scale -

Description of the scale used in the rules and in a game

Definition's -

A description of word's used within these rules and their definition's .

Setting up the game -

A description of how to set a game , pre-game rules and sequence of play .

Charging

- A description of the rules cover charges and charging

.Response to a charge -

A description of the rules cover unit's that are being charged and their response

.Break through -

A description of the rules for a break through after a charge and the melee

.Melee -

A description of the rules covering the melee .

Movement -

A description of the rules cover movement .

Firing -

A description of the rules covering Artillery and Musket fire

.Morale -

A description of the rules covering morale check's and the morale factor's .

Morale result's -

A list of the morale result's and the reaction's from a morale check

Troop types

Line Infantry

Line Infantry were the main stay of the Main Armies of Europe . Gone were the Musketeers of earlier wars .Fusiliers kept their name in spirit but were still considered to be line troops .

Grenadiers

These were the assault troops for this period . The Grenadiers were the taller men of a Regiment . They carrieda musket and manoeuvred the same as other Infantry on the battle field . Also they carried and axe andGrenades. Most Armies had the Grenadiers attached to the Infantry battalions . Countries such as France haddedicated Grenadier Battalions within the Imperial Guard . Because of this ability to carry out an attack ontroops in or behind cover there is no deduction on their melee factor against troops in cover .

Light Infantry

Every Army in Europe had Light Infantry during this period . Their worth had been seen where they couldform a screen for the main Army and disrupt the enemy as they advanced .

Light Cavalry

These troops were chiefly Hussars , but there were Light Dragoons and Lancers / Uhlans . The Irregular unitswere also light troops , such as the Cossacks .

Medium Cavalry

These troops were Horse , Guards and Dragoons who had lost their role as mounted Infantry and were nowclassed as a Cavalry arm . Other Medium Cavalry units included Guard regiments .

Heavy Cavalry

Heavy Cavalry at this time were the Cuirassiers and Carabineers , some troops just have the front plate forprotection and were the shock Cavalry of most European armies .

Irregular Troops

Irregular units were Cossacks and Trenks Pandours . These were either used for reconnaissance or raidingparties . They tended to be of poor quality on the battle field . They are all classed as Light Cavalry

Battalion guns

The Battalion guns that had been the main stay of the Battalion formation since the turn of the 18th Centurywere dying out either due to cost or the ease at which the could be lost in battle when a Battalion routed .Some nations still had them though .

Field Artillery

Field guns varied in size , but because of their weight the maximum sized tended to be twelve pounder gunsand eighteen pounder Howitzers .The ammunition type was limited to canister for short range and for long range firing round shot and shell .The canister could comprise of musket balls .Field batteries would consist of six , eight or twelve gun teams , depending on the nationality .

Horse Artillery

Horse Artillery had now come into their own as a fast reacting team that could either move into position tostem an attack or quickly move forward to exploit weak point's in the enemies ranks .