AGEOD Forums

What is the purpose of a Forced March, and when should it be used?
When should it not be used?

Note: Been playing for months, and I never use forced march. Never understood it, so I (stupidly) ignored the issue.

FP

I never use it either. But obviously you get there quicker and lose even more cohesion doing so. I think I would use it if a large force with high starting cohesion (i.e. a chance not to arrive as a perfect rabble) has a chance to take an important objective only if it marches really quick. Don't know how I would know whether this is the case though ...

I use it to try to get a force where i want them to be before end turn.
For example, if the force have a travel time of 18 days to the destination, a force march can lessen it to 14 or 15 so the units will be in position for the next turn.
But depending of the leaders/type of units the % of succes varies a lot.
Forceing march with arty is pretty dificult for example...
Regards !

Forced marches really handy if you are wanting to try and beat the turn clock. However forget about it with small forces - unless the objective is a friendly or ungarrisoned enemy city.

put413 wrote:What is the purpose of a Forced March, and when should it be used?
When should it not be used?

Note: Been playing for months, and I never use forced march. Never understood it, so I (stupidly) ignored the issue.

FP

You will lose extra cohesion and possibly even strength while force marching, but you will get a bit of a movement bonus. I will often use it MO/AR to try and get my men where they need to be faster. Outside of that, I will use it if I:

A) See an opportunity to strike a blow.

B) NEED men at a particular place asap.

I didn't use to use it, but then I discovered that it comes in handy for raiders. It not only can make the difference in getting to the destination, but saving time moving across enemy held terrain means saving cohesion. There are three possible outcomes: total success, success but weakened, failure. I don't think success but weakened causes too much loss to preclude its use, even for lone regiments. I almost always choose a weak raider that can keep running next turn, over a dead raider.

OK!!!!! It Does work, thank you for your kindless.[size=84]

[color="Red"]Spam deleted. Rafiki[/color]

Kaiyureboy wrote:OK!!!!! It Does work, thank you for your kindless.

[color="Red"]Spam deleted. Rafiki[/color]

What a sneaky spammer!!!

Nah, not really

a "forced march"during the acw was at the point of the bayonet which was used to "force"the men to march beyond their usual endurance level not a good way to win the respect and admiration of the rank and file.Jackson used this tactic quite often and so was not universally admired by his men as has been potrayed in the movies some of his men dispiesed him actually.

barkhorn45 wrote:a "forced march"during the acw was at the point of the bayonet which was used to "force"the men to march beyond their usual endurance level not a good way to win the respect and admiration of the rank and file.Jackson used this tactic quite often and so was not universally admired by his men as has been potrayed in the movies some of his men dispiesed him actually.

Whose bayonet? The man on the right forces the man on the left? And vice-versa? Where did you get this info?

And Jackson earned respect the same way other Generals did: Make a splash and hold the field more times than lose it.

deleted

The following is taken from the chapter entitled “Forced Marches” from Captain William DeForest’s fine narrative. DeForest, a line officer in Company D, 12th Connecticut Infantry, penned these memories from his time in Louisiana during the spring and summer of 1863. Though a year before the Red River Campaign was fought, DeForest’s observations are universal in nature and give great insight into the suffering of the men. Though painted from the vantage of the Union ranks, DeForest’s experiences mirrored those of his Confederate foemen to a great extent. They serve as an excellent primer to attain the right frame of mind, as well as to set one’s own expectations of what the event might deliver.

“Oh, the horrors of marching on blistered feet! It is an incessant bastinado applied by one’s own self, from morning to night. I do not mean a single blister, as big as a pea, but a series of blisters, each as large as a dollar, or, to judge by one’s sensations, as large as a cartwheel. I have had them one under the other, on the heel, behind the heel, on the ball of the foot, on every toe, a network, a labyrinth, an archipelago of agony. Heat, hunger, thirst, and fatigue are nothing compared with this torment. When you stand, you seem to be on red-hot iron plates; when you walk, you make grimaces at every step. In the morning the whole regiment starts limping, and by noon the best soldiers become nearly mutinous with suffering. They snarl and swear at each other; they curse the general for ordering such marching; they curse the enemy for running away instead of fighting; they fling themselves down in the dust, refusing to move a step further. Fevered with fatigue and pain, they are actually not themselves. Meantime, the company officers, as sore-footed as anyone, must run about from straggler to straggler, coaxing, arguing, ordering, and perhaps, using the flat of the sabre. Instead of marching in front of my company, I followed immediately in the rear, so that I could see and at once pounce upon everyone who fell out"
I'm on the road right now so can't reference the book i got the point of the bayonet remark but believe it was in reference to reynolds march towards gettysburg

barkhorn45 wrote:The following is taken from the chapter entitled “Forced Marches” from Captain William DeForest’s fine narrative. DeForest, a line officer in Company D, 12th Connecticut Infantry, penned these memories from his time in Louisiana during the spring and summer of 1863. Though a year before the Red River Campaign was fought, DeForest’s observations are universal in nature and give great insight into the suffering of the men. Though painted from the vantage of the Union ranks, DeForest’s experiences mirrored those of his Confederate foemen to a great extent. They serve as an excellent primer to attain the right frame of mind, as well as to set one’s own expectations of what the event might deliver.

“Oh, the horrors of marching on blistered feet! It is an incessant bastinado applied by one’s own self, from morning to night. I do not mean a single blister, as big as a pea, but a series of blisters, each as large as a dollar, or, to judge by one’s sensations, as large as a cartwheel. I have had them one under the other, on the heel, behind the heel, on the ball of the foot, on every toe, a network, a labyrinth, an archipelago of agony. Heat, hunger, thirst, and fatigue are nothing compared with this torment. When you stand, you seem to be on red-hot iron plates; when you walk, you make grimaces at every step. In the morning the whole regiment starts limping, and by noon the best soldiers become nearly mutinous with suffering. They snarl and swear at each other; they curse the general for ordering such marching; they curse the enemy for running away instead of fighting; they fling themselves down in the dust, refusing to move a step further. Fevered with fatigue and pain, they are actually not themselves. Meantime, the company officers, as sore-footed as anyone, must run about from straggler to straggler, coaxing, arguing, ordering, and perhaps, using the flat of the sabre. Instead of marching in front of my company, I followed immediately in the rear, so that I could see and at once pounce upon everyone who fell out"
I'm on the road right now so can't reference the book i got the point of the bayonet remark but believe it was in reference to reynolds march towards gettysburg

I can testify to this having done a lot of long distance cross country trail blazing - it is usually caused in our day and age by ill fitting walking boots and the feet probably getting wet either due to water penetrating boot or feet getting soaked in sweat especially on rough hard ground.
It was not unusual for CSA Armies to march in bare feet. A forced marched would not have been much fun on hard rough ground. Incentive to join Cavalry?

Gray_Lensman wrote:Also, Jackson's men grew accustomed to his eccentricities and fast marches. After awhile, they also took great pride in being referred to as "foot cavalry".

Jackson's men may have become used to his eccentricities, but quite often Jackson's forced marches went way beyond the capabilities of his troops. I have read several accounts of the tremendous 25-27 mile-a-day marches that arrived with up to a 50% straggler rate! These stragglers would then have to spend the remainder of the night catching up with the command, only to start another forced march the next day, or to be thrown into combat with no sleep. I would love to get into a discussion of the merits of "Stonewall".

Sgt_of_the_24th_MI wrote:I would love to get into a discussion of the merits of "Stonewall".

You can find an (old) Jackson discussion here:

http://www.ageod-forum.com/showthread.php?t=2205

I have read a book about Curtis Campaign thst ended in the Battle Of Pea Ridge. After a days fighting Van Dorn pull his troops of the line and in a all night forced march cirlced to the rear of Curtis's defence line. His troops were exhusted by the next morning and this doomed Van Doran's attack. He did have some early sucess but the lack of suppiles mainly cannon amo lead to his defeat, he had left his amo train behind to facilitate speed.The next day when Curtis launched his counter attack after a sucessfull artrillery barage. Van Dorn had no artillery amo to reply with.