Soldiers marching.

[Badger]

I was wondering for those who are more knowledgeable about this.


How much could your typical group of soldiers march in a day? In an hour?

And what of calvary?

And for later periods how far and how much effort for moving artillery pieces?

[Curufea]

See this link to a previous thread on the same subject-
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55292

[Markdoc]

See this link to a previous thread on the same subject-
http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55292

Yeah, what he said.

But as a rough rule of thumb:

Group carrying supplies on wagons or seige gear, 8-10 miles a day.

Group all or most on foot, carrying their own gear, about 20 miles a day (if they are well disciplined)

Group riding and carrying their own gear around 25 miles a day

Group riding carrying their own gear with plenty of remounts, abot 30 miles

Figure than in the short term the last 3 groups can double their mileage, but they start to straggle, lose men who drop out, pile on the LTE loss, etc and that they can triple the distance for a day or tow by pushing themselves to the absolute limit, but will disintegrate as afighting force after a couple of days like that.

cheers, Mark

[MorpheousXO]

for some reason I always find this kind of info interesting... I should really do some research on actual mass combats, I suppose, and other aspects (travel, logistics, whatnot).

[Edsel]

Group all or most on foot, carrying their own gear, about 20 miles a day (if they are well disciplined)

Group riding and carrying their own gear around 25 miles a day

Yeah being mounted doesn't really give you a lot of extra distance in a day. The primary benefit is that you can carry more stuff. The horses may be faster but they are constrained by terrain that us primates can scramble over. This often prevents them from taking the most direct route.

[Badger]

Yeah, what he said.

But as a rough rule of thumb:

Group carrying supplies on wagons or seige gear, 8-10 miles a day.

Group all or most on foot, carrying their own gear, about 20 miles a day (if they are well disciplined)

Group riding and carrying their own gear around 25 miles a day

Group riding carrying their own gear with plenty of remounts, abot 30 miles

Figure than in the short term the last 3 groups can double their mileage, but they start to straggle, lose men who drop out, pile on the LTE loss, etc and that they can triple the distance for a day or tow by pushing themselves to the absolute limit, but will disintegrate as afighting force after a couple of days like that.

cheers, Mark

Yeah, this was what I was hoping for, kind of a rough estimate. Though I did like that thread, Curufea pulled out. (I usually get more than I expect, here ).

[assault]

Yeah being mounted doesn't really give you a lot of extra distance in a day. The primary benefit is that you can carry more stuff. The horses may be faster but they are constrained by terrain that us primates can scramble over. This often prevents them from taking the most direct route.

Armies usually follow roads where they exist, or established paths/routes where they don't. They don't just wander randomly over the countryside.

The main thing with horses is that you can't push them as hard as you can with men. Infantry will keep marching when horses start dying.

The other thing to consider is the availability of fodder. You either carry grain with you, or you have to allow horses time to graze on available fodder - if it exists.

The main factor inhibiting the movement of large forces (armies) is the speed of their baggage trains. Smaller forces can force march over relatively short times and distances, but big armies usually travel at the speed of an ox- or horse-drawn cart. Usually on poor quality roads, often in lousy weather.

And that's another reason why they tend to follow set routes - you can't just drive these vehicles around anywhere.

It's a wonder armies managed to travel at all.

[McCoy]

And now you understand why "home court" is such an advantage.

[Badger]

Armies usually follow roads where they exist, or established paths/routes where they don't. They don't just wander randomly over the countryside.

The main thing with horses is that you can't push them as hard as you can with men. Infantry will keep marching when horses start dying.

The other thing to consider is the availability of fodder. You either carry grain with you, or you have to allow horses time to graze on available fodder - if it exists.

The main factor inhibiting the movement of large forces (armies) is the speed of their baggage trains. Smaller forces can force march over relatively short times and distances, but big armies usually travel at the speed of an ox- or horse-drawn cart. Usually on poor quality roads, often in lousy weather.

And that's another reason why they tend to follow set routes - you can't just drive these vehicles around anywhere.

It's a wonder armies managed to travel at all.

Right, I had figured all that factored in. I've studied enough civil war to know that much. (I just never hear the distances they talk about )

[Badger]

And now you understand why "home court" is such an advantage.

Not to mention, the "home" team can rest up somewhat while they wait for the game and be all that much stronger


Edit: And of course, an @$$ like me would send a few little calvary units to pull "hit&runs" all down the trail to further bog them down and drop their morale.

ooh, and a minefield in the road. MWAHAHAHA (depending on tech level of course)

[McCoy]

Not to mention, the "home" team can rest up somewhat while they wait for the game and be all that much stronger


Edit: And of course, an @$$ like me would send a few little calvary units to pull "hit&runs" all down the trail to further bog them down and drop their morale.

ooh, and a minefield in the road. MWAHAHAHA (depending on tech level of course)

If your tech level is too low for a mindfield, try caltrops. Better yet, install the mind field in the center of the road, then sew caltrops on the shoulders.

[Badger]

If your tech level is too low for a mindfield, try caltrops. Better yet, install the mind field in the center of the road, then sew caltrops on the shoulders.

ooh caltrops I forgot about those?


MWA HA HA

[Spence]

Remember the weather. As assault mentions above. Most early roads were just dirt, not paved. Even a little rain could turn roads bad. Add in a few hundreds of infantry and cavalry plus ox carts and the road become a quagmire that could reduce the rate of travel to 1 or 2 miles a day. I have read of accounts where heavy items like siege engine parts and cannon actually get swallowed up in the mud. Even open fields could become impassible to carts and sledges. Cavalry and infantry could cross open soggy ground if they dispersed into smaller units and took different routes. Of course that turned your force from an army to penny-packets to be snapped up and destroyed. Choke points like river fords could really slow down an army. Usually the "Campaign Season" was the local "not winter" and "not rainy" season.

[assault]

Usually the "Campaign Season" was the local "not winter" and "not rainy" season.

As an example of an exception, at times in Scandinavian history, winter was the preferred campaign season, because frozen rivers made better roads than what passed for roads during the rest of the year!

But that is an exception.

[Spence]

As an example of an exception, at times in Scandinavian history, winter was the preferred campaign season, because frozen rivers made better roads than what passed for roads during the rest of the year!

But that is an exception.

Excellent point! After you mentioned it I think I remember seeing that somewhere before. But I cannot recall. It does make perfect sense, given the climate and terrain.