Tom has said in the issue #6 that the subject of artillery is not about to be wrapped up. There is an awful lot of ground to cover. The deeper I get in the matter the more questions I end up with. I am not the only one to feel that way. I was speaking with Tom recently and exchanged some information with him opn artillery and I fet the same way. Tom came up with the idea of making a list of the questions we have. I think it is a very good idea and I intend to do it in the next issue. Meanwhile I think that we need an interim rule change to adjust the range of the guns the hitting values especially the 6 pounder etc. According to Chandler (the Campaigns of Napoleon) weethe attached double page, the French guns had the following practical ranges. Gun Balls effective range Canister effective range 12 pounder 900 yards 575 yards 8 pounder 800 yards 500 yards 6 pounder 750 yards 400 yards 4 pounder 700 yards 350 yards As seen previously in the Newsletter #4 we have decided to cut the range of guns so a gun could not fire clear across the table. If we take the 12 pounder as a basis and since we have a range of only 63 inches, the other guns in order to be in the same ratio, must have the above effective ranges cut by a similar ratio i.e. 630+900=.7. So, we come up with the following values: 12 pounder 63 inches was 63 inches 8 pounder 56 inches was 54 inches 6 pounder 53 inches was 45 inches 4 pounder 49 inches was 45 inches Note- We didnot make any difference between 4 and 6- pounder. One can see that the above ranges are only minor adjustments. The only significant change is for the 6 pounder as it is said already above. The following firing table should be used: 3 pounder range die roll 0-18 3.4.5.6 18-24 4.5.6 24-36 5.6 36-45 6 4 pounder range die roll 0-18 3,4,5,6 18-30 4,5,6 30-36 4,5,6 36-42 5,6 42-50 6 6 pounder range die roll 0-20 2,3,4,5,6 20-32 3,4,5,6 32-40 4,5,6 40-48 5,6 48-54 6 8 pounder range die roll 0-22 2,3,4,5,6 22-34 3,4,5,6 34-43 3,4,5,6 43-50 5,6 50-57 6 12 pounder range die roll 0-24 2,3,4,5,6 24-36 3,4,5,6 36-45 3,4,5,6 45-54 5,6 54-63 6 NOTES: (1) All ranges in inches, (2) 12 pounders use 4 dice all other 3 dice If we classify the crews as: (1) line, (2) elite, (3) Horse elite we can give the values of 1.5 and 2 points for each artillerist. That gives a value of 4.5 for a line crew of 3 artillerists and 6 points for elite. The purchasing values for each gun become type of gun gun value gun crew horse total points 3 pounder foot line 20 4.5 - 24.5 3 pounder foot elite 20 6 - 26 3 pounder horse elite 20 6 10 36 4 pounder foot line 24 4.5 - 28.5 4 pounder foot elite 24 6 - 30 4 pounder horse elite 24 6 10 40 6 pounder foot line 30 4.5 - 34.5 6 pounder foot elite 30 6 - 36 6 pounder horse elite 30 6 10 46 8 pounder foot line 34 4.5 - 38.5 8 pounder foot elite 34 6 - 40 8 pounder horse elite 34 6 10 50 12 pounder foot line 50 4.5 - 54.5 12 pounder foot elite 50 6 - 56 All horse artillery is classified as elite because of the 3 actions they are capable of in a single turn. The British and French artillerists are also classified as elite because of their ability to move quicker and longer than the other countries. (Their move should be increased to 10 inches). Your comments, opinions and objections (Substantiated) are requested. If any one has a better idea to make a better simple rule please sind it in. Do not forget that the above rule is only a Proposed Interim rle and cannot become effective until a good majority agrees to it. On Artillery (Again!) Proposed Rule Change for Howitzers and Horse Howitzers For sometime Tom had requested the option to have some horse howitzers in our games. I don't see why not; so, the following proposed rule change has for object to give the option to an Army Commander to purchase horse howitzers to complement his horse artillery if he so desires. The proposed rule takes in consideration the National Differences and is limited, at the present time, to the following Countries: (1) England, (2) France, and (3) Prussia. The reason for the limitation is simple. I don't have enough data on had to cover the other countries, so your contributions to fill the gap is requested. Russia is a story in itself with the very complicated family of Licornes. The Licornes should be covered in a separate rule. Let us see what kind of Howitzers the 3 above countries had. (1) England. Englad, as far as I know, had only one type of howitzer used in the field, the so-called 5.5 inch howitzer. It was very light and consequently very easy to move around, only 1641 pounds versus 2065 pounds for the French howitzer. It was also extremely efficient because of the Schrapnel type of shell used. (2)France. France had appartently 3 types of howitzers, the 5.5 in., the 6 in., and the 8 in., apparently only one type has been in continuous usage. It is the 6 in. type also call 24 pounders. It was for instance the only type used at Waterloo (Weller Wellington at Waterloo p. 178). It is therefore historically accurate to limit the French to this type of howitzer. Furthermore I have been unable to find any data on the other types (Help!). To help the situation the bore or caliber of the French 6 inch howitzer was 6.54 inches. (3)Prussia. Prussia had after the disaster of Iena 2 types of howitzers. (1) The 5.8 in. howitzer also called 7 pounder was used in the light batteries, foot and horse batteries alike equipped with the 6 pounder gun. (2) The 6.7 inc. howitzer also called 10 pounder was used in the heavy foot batteries equipped with the 12 pound guns. According to Firepower page 41, the British howitzer had a range of 350 to 1100 yards. According to Napoleon's Campaigns the French howitzer had a range of 750 to 1200 yards. The range of howitzers is given as an indication only, very little data is available on the matter. Please help again!!! It appears that we can classify the howitzers in two categories: (1)the light howitzer about 5.5 inches and (2) the medium howitzer about 6 inches. The small, light howitzer had a shorter range than the heavier type. I suggest that we use our present range for the small 5.5 inc. type and a new longer range would be given to the 6 in. type. The proposed range for the heavy howitzer would be: Minimum 32 inches (small 24 inches) Maximum 54 inches (small 45 inches) Note: I have purposely cut down the maximum effective range to place the large howitzer within the range of the 6 pounder gun in order not to unbalance the game too much. That may not be your opinion. Comments please. The same fire and pattern table would be used for both type since we have already so much trouble to find one pattern! The Burnt pattern would be 2.0 inches for the small type and 2.5 inches for the large type. The British howitzer keeping his 3 inches burst pattern. No change for canister fire. The purchasing values would be: Type Gun Value Crew Value Horse Total points Light Howitzer Foot Line 20 4.5 - 24.5 Light Howitzer Foot Elite 20 6 - 26 Light Howitzer Horse Elite 20 6 5 31 Medium Howitzer Foot Line 25 4.5 - 29.5 Medium Howitzer Foot Elite 25 6 - 31 Medium Howitzer Horse Elite 25 6 4 26 Note 1. All horse howitzers are classified as Elite since they are trained to move faster (20 inches) and make 3 actions. It is their only bonus. Note 2. It should be noted that all horse artillery and howitzers are quite a bit more expensive in points. It is only fair because of their advantage of moving faster and further than foot artillery. If such a system was not used we would end up with nothing but horse artillery! Large Artillert Range Chart (slow: 120K) Jumbo Table (extremely slow: 433K) Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 1 No. 7 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1997 by Jean Lochet This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com