use of cavalry

[cosmique]

hi guys,

just finished my first campaign on the union side on BG difficulty thanks to some tips i found on this forum for some difficult missions

i thought i'll offer something in return

and here we get to how i used my cavalry late in the game

i decided to create two specialized corps ( one on artillery and the other on cavalry)

the first one was sort of a waste but a cavalry corp can be quite usefull.

a few units were able to gain some experience aka 2 or 1 star

i use it to attack routed armies which i think is the way how people use it then i tried something just to have a laugh

and surprisingly it worked quite well.

attacking isolated strong points ( like forts at richmond) with masse cavalry charge ( supported later by the rest of my army)

i think it works somewhat better than infantry charges because of the speed you're able to get through the canons

i don't think it would work that well to breaktrough a solid line of fortifications though.

 

[Celtiberofrog]

Thx,

I do recrute several cav squadrons in a specialized Corps, I must admit that when well equipped with swords they are very usefull for sided charges & melees.

With a timed "fall back" isolated inf units get pretty distabilized and weakened, then inf support can finish off.

[LAVA]

By the time I got to Richmond in my Legendary campaign, I had a full division of cavalry. Though I used them mostly against skirmisher units, they were invaluable for destroying isolated brigades of infantry and artillery. Of course, they are also great for stealing supply wagons. I found in major battles it was nice to put them all into a single division because instead of having to "rope" or click on them individually for control, you only had to click on their division, and all units were selected, allowing greater ease of control. Never thought about trying to charge fortifications en masse, but there were times when I did charge individual units into individual melees (including fortifications) because of their speed of movement.

[cosmique]

i was sending like 6 or 8 cav units of 700 men on a fort with several inf brigades and arty brigades behind i find it more efficient than sending 2 brigades of infantry at 2500 men

though they're a lot more expensive to buy but at the end who cares and so far to take out a fort i didn't find a better way yet.

[contact]

USE OF CAVALRY 

Interesting to read all the above on the merits of cavalry.

Must admit I am not a fan of cavalry in ACW. (Other periods yes).

I prefer infantry and artillery. I always try to move my artillery along with my infantry so the artillery does not get isolated.

If cavalry is near. I will always use infantry to deal with them.

At the battle of Stones River. Playing as the CSA. When attacking the furthest Pike. There were masses of union brigades. But all were dealt with/kept at bay by infantry skirmishers.

I also found in my first effort with UG, my cavalry took heavy casualties. Maybe I didn’t t use them at the correct time etc.

But so far. I am happy to continue with infantry and artillery. It works for me 🤞.

Best wishes to you all.

 

 

[cosmique]

the problem with cavalry is that it has to be used in certain circumstances.

- charging isolated artillery units works perfectly

charging isolated routed infantry is a must for cavalry. With infantry i found it takes ages sometimes to take down a routed unit then its fit for combat again routed then fly away etc..

with cavalry charge the routed infantry just die on the spot.

the weakness of cavalry is that they're somewhat weak when it comes to receive bullets and they tend to fly away quite fast.

attacking any unit able to receive support from nearby infantry or to some extent guns is likely to fail.

i found carabine cavalry to be very difficult to use, i found them of great potential but the micro needed is just too much especially in very big battles.

 

this being said i'd be interested if anyone has managed to win the mission where you've got to raid the confederate supply depot with only cavalry carabine units ( you got a few good guns along)

that's the only mission i keep losing and losing.

[pandakraut]

2 hours ago, cosmique said:

this being said i'd be interested if anyone has managed to win the mission where you've got to raid the confederate supply depot with only cavalry carabine units ( you got a few good guns along)

Here is an example on MG. Similar strategy can be used on legendary. Also, this is a map where you can draw off units from the VP and then just cap it and hit finish as soon as it's available if necessary.

 

[Wilhelm von Seydlitz]

@cosmique thanks for the tip,

I have in my reinforcement corps one division only with cavalry

this works fine, they always hunt the infantry brigades with low morale

(like the Prussian hussars at the old Fritz 😂 )

[cosmique]

On 12/19/2018 at 2:09 AM, pandakraut said:

Here is an example on MG. Similar strategy can be used on legendary. Also, this is a map where you can draw off units from the VP and then just cap it and hit finish as soon as it's available if necessary.

 

pretty impressive it changed my view on how many battles can be played this way

and the advantage there is with this ( though watch the flag)

[cosmique]

On 12/20/2018 at 8:09 PM, Wilhelm von Seydlitz said:

@cosmique thanks for the tip,

I have in my reinforcement corps one division only with cavalry

this works fine, they always hunt the infantry brigades with low morale

(like the Prussian hussars at the old Fritz 😂 )

recently used a 2 stars cav brigade of 500 armed with palmeto against isolated artillery in the last mission i played.

i couldn't believe how fast the artillery went "Kaput"

[contact]

“Not a fan of Cavalry”

Maybe I’m coming round to using cavalry.

I have just finished the battle of Antietam. On Major General level, as the Confederacy.

A Vuctory for the Confederacy of course 👍.

In barracks I had some men over together with dollars and decided to see what I could use them on.

Options were limited. So I went for 1 cavalry unit of 250 armed with singe shot carbine. Plus 1 unit of 325 armed with saber and colt.

Both proved useful. But it was the unit with saber and colt that got my attention.

Seeing they had a 100 factor for  melee, I decided to use them on units that we’re routing and supplies.

Wow 😳. Very impressed. I took over 4000 prisoners which of course gave me an extra 1000 recruits.

From now on I will be looking to use such a unit. A reasonable priced unit in order to obtain a 1000 recruits. Lovely 😎.

It would seem it is a good idea to keep an open mind 🤔.

Next some smaller battles. Culminating in Fredericksburg.

I do enjoy this battle. Just sit and allow the Union troops to continue with costly charges at Marye’s Heights !

Happy war gaming all .

[Jorlaan]

I have found melee cavalry, or dragoons, to be quite useful indeed. On routing units they definitely show their quality as even a few hundred men can wipe out a MUCH larger infantry brigade, causing it to shatter or surrender.

Hitting artillery units with little to no infantry support is also very effective. They will also decimate skirmishers out in the open, especially once that melee stat is up nicely.

I have been finding myself with 1 dragoon early, rising to 2 by Fredericksburg at least as the Confederates.

You also get Nathan Forrest with his skirmisher cavalry fairly early on. Those are good at poking at the enemies flanks/rear and keeping a couple brigades busy and not on the main attack. Gotta be a little more careful in melee with those but I still use em to charge down routing units and the occasional exposed artillery. 

Edited January 22, 2019 by Jorlaan
Added something

[contact]

23 hours ago, Jorlaan said:

I have found melee cavalry, or dragoons, to be quite useful indeed. On routing units they definitely show their quality as even a few hundred men can wipe out a MUCH larger infantry brigade, causing it to shatter or surrender.

Hitting artillery units with little to no infantry support is also very effective. They will also decimate skirmishers out in the open, especially once that melee stat is up nicely.

I have been finding myself with 1 dragoon early, rising to 2 by Fredericksburg at least as the Confederates.

You also get Nathan Forrest with his skirmisher cavalry fairly early on. Those are good at poking at the enemies flanks/rear and keeping a couple brigades busy and not on the main attack. Gotta be a little more careful in melee with those but I still use em to charge down routing units and the occasional exposed artillery. 

Hi,

Sounds good. 

With Fredericksburg looming after some smaller encounters. I will not over do my cavalry. As I will of course have Jeb Stuart’s. Which I have to admit does from previous experience cause the Union troops trouble.

But my opinion has changed towards cavalry though it may depend also on the up coming battles and my strategy.

I do feel I was wrong to almost ignore them previously.

Many thanks

[contact]

On 1/22/2019 at 5:17 PM, Jorlaan said:

I have found melee cavalry, or dragoons, to be quite useful indeed. On routing units they definitely show their quality as even a few hundred men can wipe out a MUCH larger infantry brigade, causing it to shatter or surrender.

Hitting artillery units with little to no infantry support is also very effective. They will also decimate skirmishers out in the open, especially once that melee stat is up nicely.

I have been finding myself with 1 dragoon early, rising to 2 by Fredericksburg at least as the Confederates.

You also get Nathan Forrest with his skirmisher cavalry fairly early on. Those are good at poking at the enemies flanks/rear and keeping a couple brigades busy and not on the main attack. Gotta be a little more careful in melee with those but I still use em to charge down routing units and the occasional exposed artillery. 

Hi,

Sounds good. 

With Fredericksburg looming after some smaller encounters. I will not over do my cavalry. As I will of course have Jeb Stuart’s. Which I have to admit does from previous experience cause the Union troops trouble.

But my opinion has changed towards cavalry though it may depend also on the up coming battles and my strategy.

I do feel I was wrong to almost ignore them previously.

Many thanks

[contact]

Just finished Fredericksburg. On Major General level as CSA.

I had a bit of a surprise.

I mention above I would not use much Cavalry, as I would getJeb’s Stuart’s Cavalry protecting my right flank at Prospect Hill.

Or it was the case when playing on Brigadier General level.

But not there 😐😳.

Presume I was not provided with Jeb’s cavalry as on Major General level 🙃. 

Thanks UG !

Did cause a little trouble. But all went well in the end. Marye’s Heights was a close shave 😐. But held. I did start to pull units away from the Heights to Telegraph Road. Once I felt could hold 👍.

Union troops outnumbered me by a huge amount (of course). But inflicted 43,390 casualties and suffered 13670.

On to Everettsville followed by Stones River. Oh joy 🙃.

Happy gaming!

Edited January 31, 2019 by contact