I just had a very interesting battle with the Pirates in which I tried out a new set of tactics for defeating superior infantry. The fight turned out well, proving the new tactics and weapons can work.
Spain and Prussia wiped out the United Provinces in Europe around 1721, turning Dutch Guyana, French Guyana, and Ceylon into rebel provinces. The Pirates reappeared on Curacao. This was not desirable, given my investment in the Caribbean. My rather scanty ground forces were fully committed against the French, Iroquois, and Huron-Wyandot in North America. I needed to raise a new army from scratch.
I had been wanting to try out a theory regarding horse artillery for a while. I felt that it should be possible to move my cav arty forward, deliver a salvo of canister against the enemy’s infantry, then limber the guns and move away. I knew that the Pirates would be an infantry force, so they seemed likely candidates for testing my idea.
I brought a general’s bodyguard, a regiment of horse, a mounted tribal auxiliary, a native musket auxiliary, two batteries of 6-pound horse arty, and four regiments of line infantry. The Pirates sallied from their capitol with eight regiments of Pirates mob, four regiments of buccaneers, and a general’s bodyguard. I was still a few turns away from completing research into fire by rank, so I knew the Pirate infantry would outshoot my line infantry. I was outnumbered and outclassed.
The enemy came at me with all of his Pirate mobs on his right (my left) and all of his buccaneers on his left (my right). I decided to give my idea its trial against the buccaneers, since their lack of firearms would give my horse arty more time to limber after firing. I kept my line infantry at the back of the combat zone. I moved my cavalry and skirmishers forward to start the attrition of the enemy’s buccaneers. To make a long story short, my approach worked reasonably well. I used the guns in conjunction with my skirmishers. I put a single volley of round shot down on the enemy’s general, then finished him with my cavalry. The enemy began to fragment at this time. Seven of the Pirate mobs continued moving towards my line infantry. One Pirate mob and two units of buccaneers moved against my guns and skirmishers. Two more units of buccaneers moved into their own rear area to chase my cavalry. This was exactly what I had hoped for.
Two batteries of guns firing canister into a single enemy regiment was proved very effective. Combined with fire from my skirmishers, the shock value was enough to break three of the enemy units. Two more buccaneers were so far in the rear that they were out of the fight for the time being. It didn’t all go my way. I lost 10 skirmishers to a single volley from a Pirate mob. My mounted tribal auxiliary, demonstrating their infuriating tendency to fail to reload during still periods and their equally infuriating parade ground fussiness before firing. I watched while a Pirate mob got off two successive volleys with nary a shot being fired by my MTA, despite the fact that my MTA had gotten into range from behind the Pirates and had the “fire at will” button lit. In a rage, I let them sit and get gunned down. (This is why it’s good I’m no general for real troops)
As the enemy Pirate mobs approached my line infantry, I ran them all towards the right flank. This caused the enemy to turn and become strung out. I further reduced the enemy numbers attacking my line infantry by running my regiment of horse around behind them. The Pirates couldn’t resist running after my cavalry with a couple of units. I put my line infantry behind a stone wall and engaged the Pirate mobs as they came up two-by-two. Fortune smiled on me, because there was a bit of impassible ground on the right of my new line of infantry. I raced back with my horse arty and placed them both on the right of my infantry so they would fire round shot at the Pirate mobs in front of my infantry and canister on any unit trying to flank them on the right. Sure enough, one of the surviving units of buccaneers hustled to catch up with the main battle. Once the buccaneers were around the impassible ground, I let them have it with two batteries of canister. Wow! In one moment, they were a credible threat to my line of infantry. In the next, half of them were dead, and the other half were headed for the hills.
The stone walls put the infantry contest on favorable terms for me. The Pirates were killing one of my infantry per unit per volley, while my guys were killing 5-6 of the Pirates. I managed to place two regiments of foot in a position to fire on the same Pirate mob. It was gratifying to see my line infantry outshooting the enemy for a change. The final part of the contest ended with the Pirates feeding themselves into the meat grinder instead of concentrating their combat power with a single, concerted rush. I traded 250 troops for 850 of the enemy—a rare event when I fight Pirates on the ground anytime before the mid-1730’s.
A few words of caution regarding the use of the horse arty are in order. I used them mostly against the enemy’s melee units. I began unlimbering before the enemy got into range, then waited. The horse arty doesn’t seem to get serious about unlimbering until the gunners get a target assigned; so I picked target with round shot loaded to get the gunners to unlimber, then switched to canister and halted the fire mission. I began limbering as soon as the third round left the battery. The limbering process is much longer than I’d like; self-propelled artillery these guys ain’t. On more than one occasion, my horse arty galloped off as the Pirate infantry were raising their swords. Had the enemy been Pirate mobs, my horse arty would have been shot to pieces while limbering the guns to make their getaway. I did take out one Pirate mob, but they were occupied shooting at my skirmishers, and I used both batteries to route the Pirates before they could shift their fire.
In the future, I might try using dragoons to lure an enemy unit away from the main effort. Hopefully, I could lure the pursuing enemy into a fire sack of my horse arty. Then I could pack everyone up and move them against another unit. We’ll see how this goes in the future.
The musket is for fixing and softening the enemy. The bayonet is for destroying him.
Spain and Prussia wiped out the United Provinces in Europe around 1721, turning Dutch Guyana, French Guyana, and Ceylon into rebel provinces. The Pirates reappeared on Curacao. This was not desirable, given my investment in the Caribbean. My rather scanty ground forces were fully committed against the French, Iroquois, and Huron-Wyandot in North America. I needed to raise a new army from scratch.
I had been wanting to try out a theory regarding horse artillery for a while. I felt that it should be possible to move my cav arty forward, deliver a salvo of canister against the enemy’s infantry, then limber the guns and move away. I knew that the Pirates would be an infantry force, so they seemed likely candidates for testing my idea.
I brought a general’s bodyguard, a regiment of horse, a mounted tribal auxiliary, a native musket auxiliary, two batteries of 6-pound horse arty, and four regiments of line infantry. The Pirates sallied from their capitol with eight regiments of Pirates mob, four regiments of buccaneers, and a general’s bodyguard. I was still a few turns away from completing research into fire by rank, so I knew the Pirate infantry would outshoot my line infantry. I was outnumbered and outclassed.
The enemy came at me with all of his Pirate mobs on his right (my left) and all of his buccaneers on his left (my right). I decided to give my idea its trial against the buccaneers, since their lack of firearms would give my horse arty more time to limber after firing. I kept my line infantry at the back of the combat zone. I moved my cavalry and skirmishers forward to start the attrition of the enemy’s buccaneers. To make a long story short, my approach worked reasonably well. I used the guns in conjunction with my skirmishers. I put a single volley of round shot down on the enemy’s general, then finished him with my cavalry. The enemy began to fragment at this time. Seven of the Pirate mobs continued moving towards my line infantry. One Pirate mob and two units of buccaneers moved against my guns and skirmishers. Two more units of buccaneers moved into their own rear area to chase my cavalry. This was exactly what I had hoped for.
Two batteries of guns firing canister into a single enemy regiment was proved very effective. Combined with fire from my skirmishers, the shock value was enough to break three of the enemy units. Two more buccaneers were so far in the rear that they were out of the fight for the time being. It didn’t all go my way. I lost 10 skirmishers to a single volley from a Pirate mob. My mounted tribal auxiliary, demonstrating their infuriating tendency to fail to reload during still periods and their equally infuriating parade ground fussiness before firing. I watched while a Pirate mob got off two successive volleys with nary a shot being fired by my MTA, despite the fact that my MTA had gotten into range from behind the Pirates and had the “fire at will” button lit. In a rage, I let them sit and get gunned down. (This is why it’s good I’m no general for real troops)
As the enemy Pirate mobs approached my line infantry, I ran them all towards the right flank. This caused the enemy to turn and become strung out. I further reduced the enemy numbers attacking my line infantry by running my regiment of horse around behind them. The Pirates couldn’t resist running after my cavalry with a couple of units. I put my line infantry behind a stone wall and engaged the Pirate mobs as they came up two-by-two. Fortune smiled on me, because there was a bit of impassible ground on the right of my new line of infantry. I raced back with my horse arty and placed them both on the right of my infantry so they would fire round shot at the Pirate mobs in front of my infantry and canister on any unit trying to flank them on the right. Sure enough, one of the surviving units of buccaneers hustled to catch up with the main battle. Once the buccaneers were around the impassible ground, I let them have it with two batteries of canister. Wow! In one moment, they were a credible threat to my line of infantry. In the next, half of them were dead, and the other half were headed for the hills.
The stone walls put the infantry contest on favorable terms for me. The Pirates were killing one of my infantry per unit per volley, while my guys were killing 5-6 of the Pirates. I managed to place two regiments of foot in a position to fire on the same Pirate mob. It was gratifying to see my line infantry outshooting the enemy for a change. The final part of the contest ended with the Pirates feeding themselves into the meat grinder instead of concentrating their combat power with a single, concerted rush. I traded 250 troops for 850 of the enemy—a rare event when I fight Pirates on the ground anytime before the mid-1730’s.
A few words of caution regarding the use of the horse arty are in order. I used them mostly against the enemy’s melee units. I began unlimbering before the enemy got into range, then waited. The horse arty doesn’t seem to get serious about unlimbering until the gunners get a target assigned; so I picked target with round shot loaded to get the gunners to unlimber, then switched to canister and halted the fire mission. I began limbering as soon as the third round left the battery. The limbering process is much longer than I’d like; self-propelled artillery these guys ain’t. On more than one occasion, my horse arty galloped off as the Pirate infantry were raising their swords. Had the enemy been Pirate mobs, my horse arty would have been shot to pieces while limbering the guns to make their getaway. I did take out one Pirate mob, but they were occupied shooting at my skirmishers, and I used both batteries to route the Pirates before they could shift their fire.
In the future, I might try using dragoons to lure an enemy unit away from the main effort. Hopefully, I could lure the pursuing enemy into a fire sack of my horse arty. Then I could pack everyone up and move them against another unit. We’ll see how this goes in the future.
The musket is for fixing and softening the enemy. The bayonet is for destroying him.