Revised cansiter ranges ?

Revised cansiter ranges ?
I would suggest that canister ranges should be revised. 6 pounder guns should certainly outrange muskets. I have seen horse artillery batteries wiped out by infantry fire in a single move, whereas they should be able to gallop up, unlimber and blast the infantry with impunity. The infantry should then be forced to deploy light companies (or light cavalry) to see the horse battery off.

SGH, I have seen horse artillery batteries wiped out by infantry fire in a single move Blimey! I hope not. :shock: If deployed o/s of effective range infantry fire will not only be halved for long range but they would also suffer the -3 modifier for firing at deployed artillery. Any subsequent volleys will suffer a further -2 for firing last turn. Infantry tend to come off second best in these exchanges. Ranges - when you see canister ranges of up to 400yds or 500yds these generally refer to heavy canister ranges, (i.e. the nine or so heavy canister balls within a cartridge) and these fall into the GdeB effective ranges. GdeB canister represents the very up close and personal mixture of canister (light - stuffed with loads of musket balls); heavy canister and various double shooting techniques. The artillery also has the benefit that at 250yds or less that target is generally very visible and most shots will find their target. DB

Even in grande bande infantry usually come to grief vs artillery at this range. I do still feel that skirmishers are too prone to artillery and also usually come off second best, unless they are rifle armed and out of cannister range. Ants

DCR - In Imperial Bayonets, Nafziger cites information given by Colonel d'Urtubie in his Manual d'Artillerie. A Gribeauval 8 pdr has an effective range with canister of 600m and 700m . . Also given by Nafziger: Year XI 6pdr and 8pdrs are shown as having an effective range of 600yds (size of ball not given). . Effective rate of fire for canister is given as 3 rounds per minute. Musketry effectiveness was demonstrated in a series of tests. By 450yds, the percentage of hits is effectively zero . It seems therefore that canister fired by 6pdrs and over should definately outrange and overpower musketry. Commanders of close order troops would , then be forced to deploy light companies or other means to clear away aggressively deployed batteries. As the rules stand, I have often seen players decline to deploy batteries forward because they will be overwhelmed by musketry .

Much depends on your definition of "effective" - according to Dawson, Dawson & Summerfield (which is the book on artillery) Allix reckoned 3/4 of all balls went uselessly into the ground and many others flew over the target. The Russian tests achieved a 5-7% hit rate out at 400m with 11-15% at 300m. The Austrians were getting the lower rate at just over 300m although the howitzers added another 3%. Much depends on the size of target and the dispart - since that is an in-built elevation into the gun, the French would arc higher than the Austrians. That said, musketry was pretty useless beyond 150m.

SGH, A Gribeauval 8 pdr has an effective range with canister of 600m and 700m . . Also given by Nafziger: Year XI 6pdr and 8pdrs are shown as having an effective range of 600yds (size of ball not given). . Well,....... First I tend to ignore what is rather widely described as "effective" range when referring to weapons - there's no such thing. Ok, I accept the principle but effective ranges are usually calculated on a fine day on good terrain with a smart artillery crew with plenty of time of their hands and they most probably has bacon and eggs for breakfast. :wink: In reality, esp., in combat things are very different - I tend to concentrate on battle ranges not literal effective ranges. E.G. I can remember firing a weapon on the ranges when some DS told me it had an effective range of 800 yards or so....800yds!!! I couldn’t even see 400yards let alone 800!! Scharnhorst 1813 trails are a pretty good starting point but again these are done on a fine day on even firm terrain and they indicate that at 600 paces a 6pdr canister only hit a 200 foot wide target 10 times! As for rate of fire Scharnhorst has this on average at 2 rounds a minute at best. I simply feel that in battle with death, smoke, no sleep and no probably shoes - gunners are far, far less effective than standard trials indicate. However under the rules a 3 model gun battery will demolish a battalion in line in pretty short order... DB

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