What If Games
This is Steven Petrick Posting.
SVC likes to, as a mental exercise, set up "time travel" scenarios when we are eating together as something to discuss. Quite often these run into problems in that my mind does not focus on what, say adding a battery of 155mm guns to the Army of Northern Virginia, effect the change would have on a battle (say Gettysburg), but on the logistics. Do you know how many tons a 155mm Gun (as opposed to a howitzer) weighs? Have you any idea of how many horses it would take to haul the things up the Shenandoah valley? Not to mention the weight of their shells.
It is like re-equipping the Federal Infantry with repeating rifles. The Union could probably have done it, and it would have markedly increased the firepower of Union regiments, but how many wagon loads of ammunition would you have needed to add to their trains (which were already unwieldy)?
Both SVC and I would have loved to add an inherent battery of Dr. Gatling's guns to every Union infantry brigade (note, we recognize that the South would have wanted these as well, but have to face the fact that the South did not have industry to do it). That at least would have somewhat held down the additional numbers of ammo wagons somewhat.
So we play "what-if" games as we eat.
It is a harmless pastime and takes our minds off of other things.
SVC likes to, as a mental exercise, set up "time travel" scenarios when we are eating together as something to discuss. Quite often these run into problems in that my mind does not focus on what, say adding a battery of 155mm guns to the Army of Northern Virginia, effect the change would have on a battle (say Gettysburg), but on the logistics. Do you know how many tons a 155mm Gun (as opposed to a howitzer) weighs? Have you any idea of how many horses it would take to haul the things up the Shenandoah valley? Not to mention the weight of their shells.
It is like re-equipping the Federal Infantry with repeating rifles. The Union could probably have done it, and it would have markedly increased the firepower of Union regiments, but how many wagon loads of ammunition would you have needed to add to their trains (which were already unwieldy)?
Both SVC and I would have loved to add an inherent battery of Dr. Gatling's guns to every Union infantry brigade (note, we recognize that the South would have wanted these as well, but have to face the fact that the South did not have industry to do it). That at least would have somewhat held down the additional numbers of ammo wagons somewhat.
So we play "what-if" games as we eat.
It is a harmless pastime and takes our minds off of other things.
posted by Federation Commander at 5:56 PM
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