Rules in Action - Artillery, Canister, Losses and Replacement

At the engagement at Romney on Day 2 of the campaign, Colonel Erastus Tyler deployed his two batteries by sections between his infantry to maximize the use of canister in the event of an assault against his position.  An assault did come and the guns inflicted heavy losses against Burks', Taliaferro's and Garnett's Brigades. But the heavy loss inflicted by canister also came with a heavy loss among the gun crews, mostly from musket fire as the enemy infantry closed within range.  Several guns were routed and most of the other guns took heavy losses.

According to the rules of THE WINTER WAR simulation, when a gun crew (usually 15 men in TC2M) is reduced to 7 men or less, the crew is brought up to strength by detaching men from infantry units. The effect of more than half of a crew being untrained (as far as artillery is concerned) infantrymen is that the guns quality and associated attributes are reduced to "0" (green). This makes the battery much less effective, especially with shell and shrapnel.

Both Federal batteries engaged at Romney are known to have started the engagement with a rating of "1" (trained).  Given the losses inflicted upon the enemy, it could be expected that some of the guns crews may have increased quality due to a higher grade (another set of rules in the simulation). However, the heavy loss among crews often negates the affect of the losses inflicted.  Any crew that fell to 7 men or less will be replenished with detached infantry, dropping their quality rating from trained down to green for Day 3 of the campaign.

Other guns crews may have lost less than half of their men and be going into Day 3 with a crew of 9 or 10 men, for example. These crews maintain their quality rating, but are more susceptible to being driven back or routing due to their reduced numbers.

Canister is very effective against infantry, but being at close range can be equally devastating to gun crews and hurt the overall performance of a battery. These are trade offs that the commanders (players) must consider.

The simulation uses an artillery modification, which gives guns increased effectiveness at long range, compared to the standard TC2M settings. Batteries with high quality crews may do better service at long range, avoiding the risk of falling under musket fire. Counter battery fire by these guns may be able to drive off already weakened or low quality enemy gun crews, decreasing the amount of canister faced by an eventual assault. This feature may make it advisable to engage in long range artillery barrages for some time prior to an assault in some cases.

To be fire canister or not to fire canister, that is the question in a campaign simulation, when losses affect the performance of a battery over the course of several days or weeks.

Battery "H" 1st Ohio Light Artillery at Cold Harbor.  This was one of the batteries supporting Tyler's Brigade in Day 2 of THE WINTER WAR command Simulation.