How to use: Lancers
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- In this video we have a quick look at lancers in Black Powder and how to get the most out of these powerful, but fragile, units!
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Great stuff! Lancers do look really cool on the table top. The effectiveness of the lance was a hotly debated topic by the British army during the period with the argument that it was ‘easy to turn the lance point with the sword / sabre, and then have the lancer at your mercy’ winning through. However, it is interesting that immediately after the wars the British converted several regiments to Lancers and continued to use the lance through to end of the horse mounted arm.
Well, it would work, if lancers were brits themselfs.
But it would not work on any horse people, like the poles, whome made them mighty for that time.
Ps. You do not stab in maley. You mostly smack, like with staff.
P.Ps. Open up with stab, and then keep on swinging in circles, constantly in motion.
@@jozefkozon4520 That’s an interesting point.👍 Perhaps the British poor impression of lancers came from fighting the French in the Peninsula, but as they experienced other lance armed cavalry, and other views were considered, they decided to include lancers in the British cavalry. However, I suspect the decision in the end was more to do with the look of it 🙄.
Well, from what i gadhered British lancers only performed the least dificult parts, witch is half or so, of piercing manuvers.
ua-cam.com/video/tkXMkJ1rBhg/v-deo.html
Here you have an old (8 years or so) polish basic drill video.
And here is British one
ua-cam.com/video/5Fcp_4rQPlU/v-deo.html
Also, it is prudent to point out, that all of Napoleonian era lancers are derived from polish traditions, either as boroved skill, or literarly having poles riding in formation. And I heard that those of British cavalary that faced Poles, held them in high esteem later. French tradition was not realy noteworthy, since unlike Austrian or German one it did not have time to develop. Proper lance work recquire high proficiency with the horse, mostly, so unless you start early it is unlikely to be efective. All the way or no way.
Thank you, @@jozefkozon4520 👍. I will watch the videos later. This is all very interesting and I very much appreciate your input. I’m already interested in Polish cavalry but so far I’ve only studied it in the 17th century (you can see the wargames force I am building here theviaregia.blogspot.com/). It is good to learn about some of the later history as well. I suppose there is also a tradition of the lance used in the Middle East, stretching all of the way to India. I guess that the British use of the lance may also have been influenced there in later years.
@@fogh Well in that context, i'd sugest you watch british drill first, for maximal impact.
Just in time for my Duchy of Warsaw Cavalry division of 6 regiments!
French army had lancera since the creation of vistula legion or even earlier ( polish legions ).
If we are talking about famous polish regiment of Imperial guard they got their lances during battle of Wagram 1809 when they stole lances from austrian uhlans.
And the main disadvantage of such unit is that you need a lot of time to train them because it is very hard to fight with lance in close combat but a veteran unit is basically unstoppable as a example we can talk about Leipzig battle where few regiments of lancers attack infantry and right after that fight off hords of allied cuirassiers ( if I remember correctly it was 8 regiments + some help from Cossack of the guard).
In the rule system I use, the lancer is one of the most dangerous cav units. They move as light cav & hit as heavy cav - very nasty to be on the receiving end of an attack by them.
That's a great representation of them! Sounds very scary!
Quite a few rules that I am familar grant a bonus on impact, dropping to regular equivalent lights if the melee continued. Some even grant a negative for lancers in melee. I have no idea what would apply if the unit is used again some time later...did they pick their lances up or leave them and get replacements the next day! They appear to be a one-shot unit to me....any suggestions?
@@svhr1959 I get what you are saying, however, gamers need to be able to divorce reality from the game or things get horribly complicated & you can get bogged down in minutiae. One has to assume that in this case the Lancers have been (somehow) re-equipped with more lances after each charge - this simplifies things & stops you going mad trying to work out the details.
You note at one point that there were no French cuirassier regiments in the Peninsula, but that isn't entirely true. Suchet's command in Catalonia included the 13th Cuirassier Regiment, sometimes nicknamed 'the wineskins' for their unusual brown-coloured uniforms.
If you're a cuirassier that's not wearing a cuirass, you're a jumped up dragoon... ;)
@@NapoleonicWargaming The 13e Cuirassier wore cuirass.
@@rodschwager3711Quite right. 'Recollections of Colonel de Gonneville', vol. 2, pp. 7, 51 describes how he left his cuirass in Spain and had to purchase a new one in 1813. Given the frequent mentions he makes of the reputation of cuirassiers and the impact that the sight of their cuirasses had on enemy morale, it suggests that they were definitely not considered as dragoons by the Spanish guerrillas against whom the 13ème Cuirassiers fought.
They also had smaller 15 hand Horses . more nimble and fast sideways movements . Mind you they were well skilled with a rein in one hand and a long thick Lance in the other. Then to juggle that while staying on a fast moving Horse amongst hundreds of themselves.
Great commentary and tactical hints for using these "Specialist" troop types! Well done and thanks for sharing it with us!
How have I not discovered this channel earlier
Haha, welcome now! At least it means you've got a lot to catch up on while i have my January break!
People often talk about the "momentum of the charge" but I've never really understood how this would work. The rider would have to bring his mount to a complete stop in order to start stabbing with the lance. He can't just gallop through the defensive line, impaling the enemy like cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick!
⭐️ really enjoyed this - on a couple of occasions Polish Uhlans were documented as dismounting and attacking on foot using their lances ⭐️
Russian uhlan jager-flankers were armed with rifles that were accurate far beyond the range of smoothbore musketry, and were thus ideal as picket or skirmishing troops. In close order, the first, more prestigious rank would charge home with lances while the second rank would charge with sabers drawn. This mirrors the deployment of traditional Polish uhlans, upon which the Russian uhlans were based and whom the first levies of Russian uhlan regiments were drawn from.
love those Historex uniform cards
Great topic and video. Definitely grabbing the Victrix Lancers...
In the peninsular campaign Suchet had a brigade consisting of the 4e Hussards, 13e cuirassiers and for a short time also a small unit of vistula lancers.
Thats my current project, only the lancers to go. (ill make them wirh a normal unit size though)
so, your video is perfect!
slash backards
the shaft of the spear can be used to attack and defend and there is a second rank of lancers coming if the legionary manages to come behind the tip
28*Centigrade, HA ! Its near 43* C here in Texas today, basically, if you can't get it done before 10 am it doesn't get done. To be honest, I can't even sleep under a fan at 28*C. Lancers are my favorite style of troops so loved this video. Bit of joy to hear you were also an artillerist. There was an incident, reported in Osprey's Elite-196 "Napoleonic Light Cavalry Tactics" p.34 (great illustration p.35) of an action at Katzback in Aug. 1813, in the rain, where the Austrians were drawn up in square, unable to fire and Marbot's 24e French Chasseurs unable to reach them with Sabres. The famous Marbot recalls the 6e Legier Lancier being brought up (red not pink facings, mores the pity) . The lancers were able to stab a breach in the square which the Chasseurs followed up to the destruction of the square. In the same month, Gen. Latour Maubourg at Dresden, the Austrian squares were holding off his Cuirassers, so he ordered up a unit of just 50 Lancers who once again punched a hole in the square that the cuirassiers followed up. One can imagine the slaughter. You forgot to inject the rule that a unit must take a moral check with a minus 1 or 2 if Lancers declare a charge on them, which is understandable when considering long pointy sticks. I do hope your ideas on the subject of moral vs. lancers will be in your upcoming book (which I hope will be available for pre-order?) as I wasn't able to quite see the mathematical consequences of the differences you were pointing out. Well, your long vacation is less than good news for your video fans but I'm sure is well deserved. Do have a great time and stay safe.
We in the UK have a Red weather warning as in some places including where I am it's going to reach 40C on Monday and Tuesday and the vast majority of houses are built for cold with no ceiling fans or aircon. It's going to be disgusting.
Whilst not quite in the Napoleonic wars, an example of lancers beating a square would be at the battle of Aliwal in 1846. The British 16th lancers charged down & destroyed a large square of Sikh infantry that had been organised & trained in the European fashion by a Neapolitan mercenary. They still took nearly 50% casualties doing so though!
Of note, the battle was led by Sir Harry Smith who is often believed to be an inspiration for Sharpe and became a good friend of the Duke of Wellington.
I didnt know that! Sounds fascinating, i'll look it up!
Dresden,the Katsbach maybe one or two more I have forgotten:)
@@NapoleonicWargaming Sir Harry Smith is definitely worth doing a video on! such an interesting character & career! Fought in South America, Served in the peninsula campaign, fought in the USA and witnessed the burning of the White House, fought at Waterloo, served in Africa, and fought in India! He is also one of the few military figures the Duke of Wellington spoke positively about!
Britain did have lancers in the Napoleonic period - during the Spanish campaign the British had Brunswick Lancers - it was only a couple of squadrons, but they did have them. Not beyond that and Britain certainly did not have them in the Waterloo campaign.
They were Brunswickers! 😂 You are right though, have you checked out my ongoing series of The Black Brunswickers?
@@NapoleonicWargaming Yes I try to keep abreast of your videos - some great information and very well-painted figures. really presented stuff.
A squadron formed in two ranks, where the first rank had the lance, the second rank with the sabre. It is often incorrectly stated that the front squadron or squadrons were only equipped with the lance.
Ah, that's an interesting bit of info!
+2 cavalry armor penetration. +1 to lowering infantry defense.
The Lancers in Black Powder are an anti-cavalry unit. Basically at the level of the Dragons. 7 dices + 2AP vs 8 dices and D1.
At the same time, they have the feature of "marauders".
Lancers will destroy any light cavalry and should also win against dragoons. Their very presence means that the enemy must use his cavalry very carefully.
Only cuirassiers are better than them ... but such a clash will not come out unscathed.
Regarding the ratio of lances to sabers. Originally all riders in the squadron had lances, but when they were in position they were easy targets for enemy riders with carabiners (e.g. chasseurs a cheval).
This problem did not exist in the Polish brigades of lancers that fought in the war of 1792. Half of the riders had carabiners at the time.
3:18 Indeed, I plan to add the Dutch Red Lancers from Victrix to my French army. I could also paint them as Poles, but you gotta go for the home team...
I have long awaited the infamous Smurf lancers! Blue death awaits Gargamel! As for actual history Lancers were useful for guarding prisoners on the march - a task often assigned to Cossacks. French gendarme were also armed with lances quite often. Austrian Uhlans are consistently under-rated imo. These Galicians and Hungarian horsemen were among the best in Europe.
Nice one. I'll have to actually watch that movie.
Actually, it was the French light horse that picked up the lances of the Austrian Uhlans.
Very good in the rain.
That may be!!
How to use Lancers.....stick the pointy end in the enemy.
Great video! Two things:
First, video suggestion (shouldnt be too hard due to your start collecting videos) what if I buy the Waterloo starter set and want to expand both armies equally because Im the only one interested in collecting? How do I expand both factions in a fair way to whoever is gonna play each side?
Two, do you have any other social media like Instagram?
Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the kind words! When it comes to social media, I'm afraid I'm an absolute boomer, so while I use Insta (very infrequently) personally, not got a page. Maybe it's something I should do more!?
That's a great idea for a video! I've been thinking of ideas for more getting started, and that's a really good one!
@@NapoleonicWargaming thanks! I do believe an instagram page for the channel would be quite cool, and I hope to see that video as Im soon to be in that same situation 😅🤣
The British expanded the use of the lance immediately after the Napoleonic war and continued their use into the First World War. Napoleon converted 6 regiments of Dragoons to lancers due to their effectiveness.
as always very interesting
Very #strange #peculiar that the Napoleonic Wars would see the truly awesome rise of Cavalry as a Weapon in a time of revolutionary use of musket and canon absolutely...horses that would be used right up until World War 2 amazingly!
Very interesting. Think the Kingdom of Holland lancers went on to become the "Red Lancers" didnt they? (Being lazy and not digging the book out lol). Also I think the irregular/native horse in India used by EIC would use lances too (plus lots of other stuff lol), not sure if they count as "British"?
In a recent video you mentioned using transfers, decals, I think it was for Spanish grenadiers' flames, who makes these? i've often thought there was a market in Napoleonics for these, for fine details, like emblems on cartridge pouches,back packs, water bottles sabretaches, shabraques etc
I can't find thr flame ones, but I'm sure I've seen them! Might be the guys that do the kilt ones... Little Big Men studios do excellent transfers for sabretaches though
Just in case. 15:32 depicts a (most likely) Prussian cuirassier (note "F." on the shabraque). The uniform colours look a bit like those of 5. Kürassier-Regiment.
The image itself, however, is a bit bizarre: if it indeed depicts a Prussian cuirassier, it must pertain to 1815 (the year when the cuirasses were re-issued). But I don't remember any Prussian cuirassier regiment participating in battles that year, nor do I have any information of them having lances in 1815.
They hadn't. The were equipped with lances in 1888, but that's a little bit late for the depicted uniforms. And then, the flag on the lance was black and white, the Prussian colours, not red and white... ;=)
The other thing: Although the uniform looks Prussian, he F on the shabraque makes no sense. The monogram (initials) of the monarch were used in this form, but together with an R for rex; the monogram of Frederick the Great was FR (Fridericus Rex), for example. Beside this, the king of Prussia 1797-1840 was Friedrich Wilhelm III., which monogram was FWR (Fridericus Wilhelmus Rex).
@@hannesmayer3716so, who is that then? Or is it a completely fictitious cuirassier?
I have no idea. Perhaps the painter wanted to depict a Prussian cuirassier, who had just taken a lance from an French lancier, but didn't know the details of the uniform.
@@hannesmayer3716 can ‘F.’ stand for Franz (i.e., Franz I / II of HRE / Austria)?
But then, it is unclear whether the cuirass has a backplate. An Austrian one should not iirc, and should be plain black with white edging for privates and the brass ones for the officers (but an officer's cuirass had a huge brass gorge which we don't see). The helmet also looks odd for an Austrian. The pallasch is not an Austrian one either. And again, the lance.
@@user-in5xz4hq4l : Could be Russian, too. Then the F is a badly drawn A (for Alexander), lacking the right side line. But Russian cuirassiers didn't have lances at this point, either, I think.
Great video. One minor point, the British did have Lancers during this period. The 17th Lancers were established from 1759. So they might not have seen action during the Napoleonic Wars, the British did have them. Like I said a minor point. Excellent video. Cheers 🍻
This Regt when first formed was a designated Light Dragoon unit and did not recieve it's new title of Lancers,as well as actual Lance's,till post Napoleonic
Great vid as always.
@@johntilson4473 Thanks. I didn’t know that and stand correct. Cheers 🍻 😀👍
The British army did have lancers in the 1800 they were not present in Europe so were missing from the napoleonic wars I believe they were in India but could be wrong.
The oldest British Indian Army lancer regiment were the Yellow Boys, Skinner's Horse, named after James Skinner, that finally ended up as the 1st Horse of the independent Indian Army. Skinner served with the Marathas, who were essentially light horsemen, other than the regiments trained by French and British mercenary officers. There were many, many more.
Originally, until they acquired artillery and infantry, the Marathas were light horsemen and made mincemeat of isolated Mughal formations; ironically, as the Mughals, and their predecessors on the Delhi throne, were very strong in mounted archer capability. When the Marathas acquired their middle-aged spread, and added infantry and artillery, they lost; Panipat III was a catastrophe, and they didn't do to well against John Company.
Static res? From heavy cavalry? What is that my good sir?
In black powder units of heavy cavalry get a bonus to their score when calculating who won combat. Usually dragoons get +1 and cuirassiers get +D3 (usually 1 when I'm rolling!)
So I recently "read" (Audible) Sharpe's Gold, it really made me want to wargame some peninsular war skirmishes. As you say in this vid Lancers were excellent for skirmishing. You said before you use a modified version of the Middle-Earth rules for skirmish games. Do you have a version in a Google doc?
I don't yet but I'm putting one together! (It's for Sharpes Company)
Is it based on the Legends of the Old West game? I have the book they did for mass battles but never actually played it
@@freezze12 no, that was bases on mordheim. Its a completely separate system.
In the off chance you're free to respond and give advice a buddy of mine's dming a game inspired by the Napoleonic era. My character, a hussar, just led the hussars to victory against a force of lancers after a flanking maneuvor he'd planned with the cuirassiers failed and ended with the heavy cav being slaughtered. After that he went on a mad ride, mustering the remaining hussars under his leadership since the superior officers are dead and the only other officer is wounded, leading them to destroy the enemy lancers, the enemy artillery, the enemy light infantry and rifles, and forcing the enemy into infantry squares so friendly artillery can slaughter them.
Assuming he isn't killed for the cuirassiers what would you think I should have him take from the enemy lancer's uniform to dab on them, the way Lasalle dabbed on the Mamlukes by wearing mamluke pants?
Ha, that's the hussar spirit I love to see! Erm, I'm not 100% sure tbh. Often distinctive headgear might be taken (for example the Scots Greys wore bearskin after defeating the Maison du Roi, and of course tge bearskins of the British Guard after Waterloo) so he could wear the helmets of the lancers (you could use a spare Perry carabinier head).
Alternatively, Sharpe famously wore a chasseurs overalls, so like lasalle he could wear a lancers dark green trousers.
Or I guess you could model a dead lancer on his base?
@@NapoleonicWargaming Cheers man
every commander needs more pikemen.
What was the film the clip was used from?
Napoleon, 1970
@@davidcollins2648 Thanks
@@davidcollins2648 *Waterloo.
@@lucasfeliphe7028 You are correct. brainfart again.
tHE pOLISH ULANS HAD THE LONGEST ONES AND CHANGED FOR BAMBOO WHICH WHERE LIGHTER uLANS WHERE pOLES,
first
the British dropped the use of Lancers, cuss they was usless.
They where great against disordered troops. but against Block infantry or other Sword armed Cav' they got Desemated.
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/U%C5%82an