Skirmishers in Formation

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bunguster
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Joined: Sat Apr 22, 2017 12:02 pm

Skirmishers in Formation

Post by bunguster »

Hello All, a situation cropped up in last nights SP2 game set in the war of 1812.
The Americans had three skirmish groups which the player organised as a formation. The stats allowed this if no shock had accrued.
What we (The British and Indian allies) found was that this was a very powerful force.
Two groups of Indians in skirmish order backed up by three tribal groups attacked intending to make use of their fisticuff advantages rather than get involved in a firefight.
It soon became apparent that the the skirmish formation had the usual splitting of hits among the three groups plus the skirmish benefit of one level of cover higher plus the benefit of skirmish firing at long/effective range and retaining the 180 degree firing arc.
In addition the commander of the skirmish formation often added a Command Initiative to target the attacking groups one at a time with the result of blowing away the first two attacking groups completely.
The question is have we missed something here? Re-reading the relevant rules sections and the FAQ sheet suggested this was all in order.
Incidentally the only way the Indian allies managed to prevail was for the surviving Tribal groups to play a fortunate 4 card bonus activation in the hope that their normal leader activation came up before the skirmish formation and thus get a double move into fisticuffs using tomahawks to weaken their foes. Thereafter the fisticuff dice rolls favoured the Indians who gained a phyrric victory.
Appreciate any observations by the forum experts.
Regards
Paul C
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Captain Reid
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Re: Skirmishers in Formation

Post by Captain Reid »

I have recently been pondering whether the Formation - always entry for Skirmish Troops is not simply intended to allow them to form a skirmish screen (for a line or column) rather than to allow them to form an extended Unit of multiple Groups of Skirmish Troops alone.

However that may be, it can be a very strong Unit, and especially if you allow unlimited Evades (as per the rules). I always restrict Evading to Units that have not already Activated.
In addition the commander of the skirmish formation often added a Command Initiative to target the attacking groups one at a time with the result of blowing away the first two attacking groups completely.
That's not right though. While an individual Group always targets a single enemy Unit (unless they desire to also target others within 4" of their target and within their arc, Formations cannot do that. They may have their fire concentrated to a particular Unit within their arc, but Units within 4" of that target will still share hits.

Personally I always make Skirmish formations roll for control to stop firing (it's an extended line so harder to control) and need to wheel to change facing (or about face, like Line Troops) and change formation like Line Troops would (hard to describe but I hope relatively obvious how that works in practice).
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bandrsntch
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Re: Skirmishers in Formation

Post by bandrsntch »

I think Captain Reid's 1st comment is crucial. The Formation capability of Skirmisher Units is meant to to allow them to move in conjunction with a Formation and provide screening from fire. I don't believe it's meant to allow forming Formations with other Skirmisher Units. That said, a Level III Leader could easily command three separate Skirmisher Units and do the same thing you state happened.
Peter
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Re: Skirmishers in Formation

Post by Peter »

Using skirmishers to mask formed formations seems to me to be much more a Napoleonic tactic than one from the AWI. I'm no expert, but from what I have read I don't recall this happening.
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Bishop2K7
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Re: Skirmishers in Formation

Post by Bishop2K7 »

Page 17 clearly states that Skirmish Troops can join together as a large Skirmisher Formation. Skirmishers are certainly powerful troops in this game, but they tend to be the most expensive troops as well.
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