Pike and Musket
Empires in Arms
Dug's Empires in Arms
Empires in Arms is an elegant and brilliant strategic game of the Napoleonic Wars. It has had written for it many alternate scenarios of other periods of war. My intent with these rules is two-fold. First, to bring the game to an earlier period of warfare, that of the pike and musket. Second, to create a more complex operational and tactical system.
Pike and Musket Empires in Arms
Until 1700 armies did not rely solely upon musketeers for their infantry. They had at first relied upon blocks of pikemen, gradually supplemented and then superceded by musketeers. These rules are not a scenario, but rather general rules for fielding pike and musket armies in Empires in Arms. Those wishing to read more about the unit types and the end of the pike musket era are referred to “The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough” by David Chandler.
The essential troops at the start of the pike musket era were pikemen and cuirassiers. The pikes pushed against each other hoping to cause the enemy to break. The cuirassiers also strove to break the enemy but mainly waited to pursue a broken army. Given the lack of firepower, casualties were low unless a break occurred. Given the high morale of the units, breaks seldom occurred.
Faced with massed enemy formations a pike’s length away, a method was sought to reach across that gap. Although heavy and inaccurate, muskets offered tremendous armor penetration and were simple to use (simpler then a pike). At the range of a pike the muskets could hardly miss the dense ranks opposing them. However, muskets were vulnerable to the push of pikes and a balance had to be found between the firepower and strength (morale in Empires in Arms) of armies.
Improvements in muskets increased their firepower, making them more capable of breaking enemy formations with shot alone. To protect them, the bayonet was invented. The plug bayonet fit into the barrel of the musket. It made them low-grade pikemen at the cost of their firepower. The invention of the socket bayonet permitted firing with fixed bayonets and eliminated the need for the pikemen. Not until the invention of the minie ball made rifles the universal weapon could firepower be relied upon to break enemy formations.
The major difference in combat in the pike musket era is firepower. Casualties are inflicted not based on the number of units, but on the total firepower. Musketeers, grenadiers and artillery provide firepower. Artillery still does its additional damage before each round.
Land Units
Brigades
Operational Movement
Supply
Sieges
Tactical Reserves
Ships
Naval Combat
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