As an adjustment to the skirmisher rules we already have in place I wanted to firm up their role and what the can do in battle.
THEIR ROLE
A lot of units had trained soldiers to skirmishz but not all could fight effectively in this fashion.
Then British and the French in particular trained specialist companies of their line and light regiments to fight as Skirmishers which could be deployed in this fashion during the battle to cover their battalions advance. They would march ahead and aim for the officers in the opposing forces.
TARGETING SKIRMISHERS
Battalions would not usually waste ammunition on firing at Skirmishers as they were so spread out you were unlikely to hit many. Therefore Battalions are only able to fire on Skirmishers if there are no other targets within 4cm of their base.
Therefore if both sides have Skirmishers deployed they must target each other before they can proceed to fire on the enemy battalions.
When Skirmishers shoot and hit the enemy, they cause 2 morale damage and no strength damage. This is to represent the skirmishers trying to eliminate the upward chain of command and cause disorder.
TRUE LIGHT INFANTRY
Some battalions are able to fight more effectively as Skirmishers, such as Rifle regiments, Grenzers and Jaegers. As such these units will be developed over time to show this. Possibly with a higher starting morale or ‘ready’ roll.
For more information on true light infantry please see this fantastic video on YouTube by Napoleonic Wargaming which explains light infantry much better than I ever could.
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