Prussian 1866 Artillery Tactics
The following are unofficial rules only and are based on discussions between Martin Soilleux-Cardwell, Andrew Nicoll and Frank Chadwick.
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Hardware: Prussian rifles fire at 4 x range and count as advanced breech-loaders (that is, they hit at 5 or 6 at all ranges). Morale: All artillery are M4. All artillery must make a morale check if they attempt to advance into or deploy within enemy short range. If they fail the morale check they end movement deployed, in disorder, 1" outside enemy short range. Organisation: |
Prussian cavalry and artillery during a Franco-Prussian War game. |
Organisationally each division had 1 x 12pdr sb battery, 1 x 6pdr rifle battery and 2 x 4pdr rifle batteries. So in Volley & Bayonet for each pair of divisions you get 1 with a 12pdr heavy smoothbore battalion and a 4pdr rifle battalion, and the second has get a 6pdr heavy rifle battalion and a 4pdr rifle battalion.
There are normally no corps level guns. However at Nachod they came into action near Wysokow at the very end of the battle. The common practice is to mass the corps level reserve guns together into an Army Reserve. There are no corps level artillery DCs (unlike in 1870). Corps or Army level guns in non-historical games should be extremely rare.
When the Army Reserve artillery arrives on table it forms a single division with its own division commander directly subordinate to the army commander. It is not considered "Army Troops", which means the other corps commanders in the army cannot command it. Only its own division commander (and the army commander himself) may do so.
Tactical deployment:
A player must move a division in road column with it's guns at the rear. Corps or Army level artillery must move at the rear of all other troops of the corps or army.
For arriving on-table deployed, a division's guns will arrive the turn following the last infantry stand. Corps guns will arrive the turn after the last divisional unit arrives. Army guns will arrive the turn after the last corps of the army does.
Tactical Doctrine:
Prussian stationary artillery which is fired on by enemy artillery *immediately* loses its stationary status. That is, if Austrian artillery fires at stationary Prussian artillery, the Prussian gun stand loses it's stationary status *before* it responds. This represents the Prussian gunners shifting position to avoid casualties.
1870:
Following the serious shortcomings in their artillery doctrine in 1866, the Prussians undertook a complete reorganisation of the arm, including entirely new training. Therefore, 1870 Prussian artillery have none of these tactical and morale constraints. They should generally be rated morale 5.