What are the finer points of dismounted cavalry?

[Hjalfnar_Feuerwolf]

I just recently started using skirm cav, but I mostly use them to flank around the enemy, dismount them in cover and flanking fire position and hold their position to force the enemy to turn his unit(s) and expose their flanks to the regular infantry.

[maniacalpenny]

Cavalry en masse can be useful but only on certain maps and their utility is weak towards the end of the campaign when miles of layered earthworks dominate the maps. The two best maps for my cavalry in the CSA campaign were Antietam and Chickamauga (I didn't field nearly as many early on the campaign so I'm probably missing a few battles they would have been good). Notably this is only considering unsupported cavalry action en masse (over 4000 at Chickamauga). At Antietam the Union infantry tends to overextend from their artillery to hit your lines in massive numbers, so cavalry running around the flanks can easily dispatch of multiple batteries with relative ease. My cavalry destroyed literally every Union battery on this map, mostly acting independently but occasionally with support from detached skirmishers. At Chickamauga I drove my entire cavalry column through the center of the union line and wreaked havoc on the bottom part of the map, annihilating isolated infantry brigades and capturing the southern VPs, before swinging around the left flank to support an infantry flank on the northern VPs.

 

Other than that, there are plenty of maps they can support your flanks by routing  engaged infantry and occasionally killing batteries, but the brigade inefficiency of cavalry means I avoid bringing them to pretty much every minor battle and at Cold Harbor they were mostly dead weight (and I suspect will remain so for the rest of the campaign).

[Albert Sidney Johnston]

On 8/17/2017 at 5:22 PM, maniacalpenny said:

Cavalry en masse can be useful but only on certain maps and their utility is weak towards the end of the campaign when miles of layered earthworks dominate the maps. The two best maps for my cavalry in the CSA campaign were Antietam and Chickamauga (I didn't field nearly as many early on the campaign so I'm probably missing a few battles they would have been good). Notably this is only considering unsupported cavalry action en masse (over 4000 at Chickamauga). At Antietam the Union infantry tends to overextend from their artillery to hit your lines in massive numbers, so cavalry running around the flanks can easily dispatch of multiple batteries with relative ease. My cavalry destroyed literally every Union battery on this map, mostly acting independently but occasionally with support from detached skirmishers. At Chickamauga I drove my entire cavalry column through the center of the union line and wreaked havoc on the bottom part of the map, annihilating isolated infantry brigades and capturing the southern VPs, before swinging around the left flank to support an infantry flank on the northern VPs.

 

Other than that, there are plenty of maps they can support your flanks by routing  engaged infantry and occasionally killing batteries, but the brigade inefficiency of cavalry means I avoid bringing them to pretty much every minor battle and at Cold Harbor they were mostly dead weight (and I suspect will remain so for the rest of the campaign).

They become useful again at Washington, especially on the initial offensive. There are so many victory points so far apart, and dragoons are simply indispensable. Melee cavalry should be saved for Day 2, when they become endlessly useful. The Union forces come with huge amounts of artillery that are often left completely unguarded. Melee cavalry, especially in large numbers, can absolutely annihilate the Union rear. I brought several thousand soldiers in cavalry, and my only regret is that I didn't bring more.