The joy of Dragoons

whitehorses · Post by **whitehorses** » Tue May 24, 2011 10:38 pm

Am just exploring FoG(R) for the 1st time, after playing FoG(A) for a good few years, mainly becuse I get to play with my favourite period ECW

Having had WoR & the rules since Sat & got my 1st army drafted (at least on Excel) Dragoons appear to be a bit of an enigma...

Even though they start the game dismounted as Foot, they move as fast as Cavaliers, if you leaves them single-ranked, they can evade charges, they're really not that horrible when shooting muskets, they can (reluctantly) take on other Lights, & Arty if not supported

if so, they appear not to be as black as they were painted

Jer

Scrumpy · Post by **Scrumpy** » Tue May 24, 2011 11:22 pm

They can evade in any formation, they count as skirmishers.

deadtorius · Post by **deadtorius** » Tue May 24, 2011 11:33 pm

put them in terrain, helps if they get charged and want to stay put, although not running is usually a bad idea. They can be a pain or as happens in some of our games they just die quickly and thats that.
Dragoons vs Dragoons, for ECW that is about as much light vs light fight as you will get, can go good can go bad.
If you think they remind you of cavaliers try letting them stand against a cavalier charge, then you will see they are not really cavalier material.
I agree they can shoot well, especially at short range, I gun fire can be deadly in FOGR no matter who is shooting. We prefer to run them in 3's, although 4's will give you one extra die at long range and be equivalent to period pike and shot at short range. Seems you cant make a list without at least one BG of them.

Blathergut · Post by **Blathergut** » Wed May 25, 2011 12:49 am

>They can shoot! They are a pain to horse that can't shoot back.
>They can run away from anything they don't like.
>They are fast...esp. with first move...and can hang up an opposing flank (for a bit at least).
>I'd prefer 4paks (less cohesion tests) but usually can't afford that fourth base!!!

Just keep them away from anything that can shoot!!

whitehorses · Post by **whitehorses** » Wed May 25, 2011 11:41 am

I'm planning to run the plucky Dragoons within a Division of Cavaliers so they can cover each other. And there's lots of both

Think along the lines of Roundway Down

I like Dragoons, they're nippy, annoying & flexible. Especially if you can have a good few of them. Just keep them out of harm's way, unless one can do an 'Okey'....

Jer

kevinj · Post by **kevinj** » Wed May 25, 2011 1:23 pm

I prefer 2s (if allowed) or 4s. My experience is that a single 3 is very vulnerable as 1 hit causes both a CT and a Death Roll, but a pair of 3s can be OK if you use them together.

whitehorses · Post by **whitehorses** » Wed May 25, 2011 10:28 pm

Just bought a big batch of ECW from Kennington, so no excuses not to try the doughty dragoons now

Jer

timmy1 · Post by **timmy1** » Thu May 26, 2011 8:40 pm

Kevin is right. Dragoons in 3s are generally a waste of points. Dragoons in BGs of 4, three in the front rank and one in the rear seem especially effective and have caused me no end of problems.

whitehorses · Post by **whitehorses** » Fri May 27, 2011 2:37 pm

Point noted about the Dragoons - though the amount of extra Dragoons for the '43' Roundway Down list means you can have 3 x BG of 4, which is rather handy

Cheers,
Jer

deadtorius · Post by **deadtorius** » Sat May 28, 2011 12:07 am

just dont expect them to hold anything for you, they are a nuisance but cant hold ground against battle troops. Still 3 little BG's of bothersome shooters should make some ones day a bad one.

Blathergut · Post by **Blathergut** » Sat May 28, 2011 1:34 am

Unlike skirmishers in the ancient battles, you can't ignore anything with a musket! One hit can cause a base loss.