Post by dpd on Jan 27, 2023 2:07:51 GMT
A typical Hussite war wagon had a crew of about 20. Modern reconstructions are large enough to allow enough room for 5 to 6 soldiers in the front of the wagon, resulting in an equivalent "formation" depth of only 3 to 4 ranks - about the same as psiloi.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_fort)
In fact, the missile armed members of the crew (crossbowmen, hand gunners, etc. - about half the crew) were essentially psiloi - firing individual shots at close range (instead of massed volley fire at long range, like bows).
Long range artillery was often placed at intervals in between the lined up wagons, but these should be considered to be separate units from the war wagons themselves.
Therefore, a war wagon crew is equivalent to a thin line of psiloi protected by the wagons themselves from cavalry charges, but are still vulnerable to an assault by a heavy infantry column swarming over the wagon and breaking though its crew formation during melee.
The wagons themselves would move at walking speeds of 2 to 3 mph while on the march, but could maneuver at speeds of about 8 to 10 mph at a trot (depending on the wagon's weight and number of horses in the team) when maneuvering on a battlefield to establish a wagon fort - about 2x to 3x that of soldiers marching on foot.
And unlike artillery which needed to be off loaded, limbered, positioned and aimed (all of which takes time and reduces the artillery's average maneuver speed) - war wagons could go straight from the march to forming a wagon fort without breaking stride. The subsequent chaining of the wagons together and placing the side boards were practiced movements quickly performed.
DBA 3.0 gives the following values for war wagons: against foot = 3, against mounted = 4, range = 5bw, movement = 2 in gg and 1 in bg.
I'm suggesting that this is all wrong.
So I would like to propose the following revised values: against foot = 1, against mounted = 3, range = 0 (no distance shooting), movement = 4 in gg and 2 in bg.
In fact, we should treat war wagons not as almost artillery, but as fortified psiloi.
Thoughts or comments?
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_fort)
In fact, the missile armed members of the crew (crossbowmen, hand gunners, etc. - about half the crew) were essentially psiloi - firing individual shots at close range (instead of massed volley fire at long range, like bows).
Long range artillery was often placed at intervals in between the lined up wagons, but these should be considered to be separate units from the war wagons themselves.
Therefore, a war wagon crew is equivalent to a thin line of psiloi protected by the wagons themselves from cavalry charges, but are still vulnerable to an assault by a heavy infantry column swarming over the wagon and breaking though its crew formation during melee.
The wagons themselves would move at walking speeds of 2 to 3 mph while on the march, but could maneuver at speeds of about 8 to 10 mph at a trot (depending on the wagon's weight and number of horses in the team) when maneuvering on a battlefield to establish a wagon fort - about 2x to 3x that of soldiers marching on foot.
And unlike artillery which needed to be off loaded, limbered, positioned and aimed (all of which takes time and reduces the artillery's average maneuver speed) - war wagons could go straight from the march to forming a wagon fort without breaking stride. The subsequent chaining of the wagons together and placing the side boards were practiced movements quickly performed.
DBA 3.0 gives the following values for war wagons: against foot = 3, against mounted = 4, range = 5bw, movement = 2 in gg and 1 in bg.
I'm suggesting that this is all wrong.
So I would like to propose the following revised values: against foot = 1, against mounted = 3, range = 0 (no distance shooting), movement = 4 in gg and 2 in bg.
In fact, we should treat war wagons not as almost artillery, but as fortified psiloi.
Thoughts or comments?
