Musket Volleys

[Sir Beane]

Okay guys, again this from another forum, you should thank me for hoping forums so much :).

So straight from a CA dev's mouth again

here's the link

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...46#post4407246

Entitled: Entire units of infantry firing at once




So there you go, further confirmation, it's all about the drill :)

and another firing comment regarding multiple ranks firing.

You're getting good at fact-finding Polemists . Different drills allowing more ranks to fire is an excellent way of representing better discipline in certain units.

[geala]

Interesting videos. I'm not really able to interpret however. The fight seems to take place in the War of Independence. At that late time at least the British troops should have the most modern fire mode.

This means imho a combination of platoon fire and volley fire. At least this would be true for the Prussian army. I'm not as sure for the British, but I think they used a similar system. With platoon fire it is of course normal that only parts of the line are firing at the same time. But the fire is steady and without pause, contrary to the outdated rank firing.

By no means rank firing was a modern form of firefight in the 18th century. It was the old form, used already in the 1600s. Some armies were bound to this antique form of fire longer than others, f.e. the French. But the Prussians and British f.e. developed platoon fire relatively early. The Prussian army in the middle of the 18th c. used volley fire (meaning that the entire battalion fires at once) in some circumstances too, f.e. from short distance prior to a bajonet charge. Platoon firing from greater distances was however the norm.

I hope CA got it right and platoon firing is in the game.

[Sir Beane]

Interesting videos. I'm not really able to interpret however. The fight seems to take place in the War of Independence. At that late time at least the British troops should have the most modern fire mode.

This means imho a combination of platoon fire and volley fire. At least this would be true for the Prussian army. I'm not as sure for the British, but I think they used a similar system. With platoon fire it is of course normal that only parts of the line are firing at the same time. But the fire is steady and without pause, contrary to the outdated rank firing.

By no means rank firing was a modern form of firefight in the 18th century. It was the old form, used already in the 1600s. Some armies were bound to this antique form of fire longer than others, f.e. the French. But the Prussians and British f.e. developed platoon fire relatively early. The Prussian army in the middle of the 18th c. used volley fire (meaning that the entire battalion fires at once) in some circumstances too, f.e. from short distance prior to a bajonet charge. Platoon firing from greater distances was however the norm.

I hope CA got it right and platoon firing is in the game.

Platoon firing is definitely in the game: (quote taken from CA's site)

Platoon Firing

This firing plan for musketry ensures an infantry unit keeps up a continual barrage of shots against an enemy.

Nearly all line infantry carry smoothbore, muzzle-loading muskets. These take considerable time to reload after firing: anything up to a minute for poorly trained or nervous troops. During that time, the enemy can close or return fire unmolested. In the time it takes to reload, a unit can be cut down, its half-loaded weapons useless in the face of an aggressive foe. It is sensible to make sure that not everyone in an infantry unit is reloading at the same moment; this, in turn, means that not everyone should be firing at the same time.

Platoon fire is a way of dividing a unit into smaller groups that each fire, reload and fire again in turn. The result is a “rippling fire” down a line formation and, as the last platoon fires its muskets, the first is ready to fire again. A unit can always give some fire to the enemy at all times, even if this is less than a complete volley. When more than one unit is involved all the troops in every first platoon fire, followed by all the second platoons, and so on, creating several rippling barrages down the battle line.

The word “platoon” in this context does not have the modern meaning of being a sub-unit of a military company. Platoon assignment to what was a “fire group” was made on an ad hoc or informal basis, and could mean a whole regiment being assigned to a “platoon”.

[geala]

Thank you. Shame on me, I should read the sticky thread more often and accurately. I'm curious wether CA created platoon fire after the existing systems. The descprition sounds like one end of the line starts and the other end ends the platoon fire what would normally not be the case imho.