Civil War or Napoleonic Wars

[ClearlyInvsible]

Hey, if you're a General and you've got the balls to fight alongside your men then I've got plenty of respect for you. Lead from the front damn it!

[Duuring]

Commanding is more then charging all the time. Charging all the time means that aides and officers have no idea where you are, which is pretty important considering you're in charge. At some moments you might need to be seen by your men, but not doing so is not a sign of cowardice. It might sound harsh, but an officer, and especially a high one, is just a little bit more valuable then Private Tommy.

The story goes that the Prince of Orange rode around so much on the battlefields of Quatre-bras and Waterloo, leading a charge here and giving an order there, that most of his staff lost track of him.

[ClearlyInvsible]

I'm well aware of that. But if one expects his men to be willing to die for the battle then he should do the same.

[Duuring]

Well, they were there. They catch cannonballs just as easy.

[Archduke Sven]

You'd probably have a better chance of surviving in the Napoleonic Wars. It all depends on your regiment and/or what battle you were in but it would not be uncommon for regiments in the Civil War, more so for Southern forces, to be completely obliterated to <10% strength. Even though conscription was a heavily used system in the Napoleonic Wars in the CSA late-war conscription made regiments simultaneously younger and older as all the young men were killed or maimed; that kind of desperation for bodies to be put on the line did not happen in the Napoleonic Wars.

Oh my god. Pick up a book before creating stupid misconceptions.

In 1814 in France, 16 year olds (Never heard of the Marie Louises?) were called up to join the war, and men as older than 50 also called up. Bullshit that such desperation wasn't in the Napoleonic wars.

Which is why you're a skirmisher, so that way you can use cover more often that marching towards your death via column. Also scavenging.

It was far more dangerous to be a skirmisher. You're almost always in the vanguard, fighting at the very front and constantly in action. Ontop of that you still have to on occasion fight in a line with the line companies. Not to mention that cavalry will wreck you on any given occasion, like the french cuirassiers wiping out a brigade of Russian jaegers at Beresina.

[Tallest]

You'd probably have a better chance of surviving in the Napoleonic Wars. It all depends on your regiment and/or what battle you were in but it would not be uncommon for regiments in the Civil War, more so for Southern forces, to be completely obliterated to <10% strength. Even though conscription was a heavily used system in the Napoleonic Wars in the CSA late-war conscription made regiments simultaneously younger and older as all the young men were killed or maimed; that kind of desperation for bodies to be put on the line did not happen in the Napoleonic Wars.

Oh my god. Pick up a book before creating stupid misconceptions.

In 1814 in France, 16 year olds (Never heard of the Marie Louises?) were called up to join the war, and men as older than 50 also called up. Bullshit that such desperation wasn't in the Napoleonic wars.

Which is why you're a skirmisher, so that way you can use cover more often that marching towards your death via column. Also scavenging.

It was far more dangerous to be a skirmisher. You're almost always in the vanguard, fighting at the very front and constantly in action. Ontop of that you still have to on occasion fight in a line with the line companies. Not to mention that cavalry will wreck you on any given occasion, like the french cuirassiers wiping out a brigade of Russian jaegers at Beresina.

Sven you're so smart <3

[Joker11]

Civil war because fuck the union

[ClearlyInvsible]

Civil war because fuck the union

Traitor! Execute him!

[Menelaos]

Probably would want to be light infantry in either scenario if possible. Industrial workplaces get a bad wrap, but it's probably a lot better to be a factory worker in the ACW. Unless you were conscripted, civilian life probably had positions that would needed to be filled as men are sent away. If it was a choice, I'd rather lose my hearing and join artillery if necessary or a camp laborer.

[usnavy30]

Civil war because fuck the union

Traitor! Execute him!

Dem fighting words

[ChaBoy]

gotta say the Civil War. I mean aside from it being so interesting, look at all the innovation in the war. Cartridges, the first machine guns, improved cannons. One more reason is because the Civil War's patriotism was so strong!

[Skipper]

I take it you mean US civil war (as some people think this is the only civil war that occurred) in which case I'm going to go with Napoleonic wars. I don't care about the US civil war as it has not had as strong impacts as the Napoleonic wars here in Europe.

Also I would most likely be serving in the British army as I am British and my ancestors at the time were too. All the more reason to say Britain as we had the best navy, line infantry, and skirmishers due to the lack of conscription. US civil war I would have to be one of two sides fighting desperately for survival on home soil, and if it is anything like that crap film called Lincoln then I guess it would be boring.

[Duuring]

All the more reason to say Britain as we had the best navy, line infantry, and skirmishers due to the lack of conscription.

No.

[Skipper]

It's tru, Trafalgar ensured Britain's naval dominance and showed that education through naval experience best the French way of studying naval books.

And Britain was the only major nation not to conscript meaning heavy discipline was enacted and the British regiments could withstand about 3 more volleys than other nations.

[Duuring]

It did ensure naval dominance, but the British used just as much book-learning.

How does the use of volunteers mean heavy discipline was enacted? Are you saying conscripts weren't disciplined? Besides, the British weren't the only ones that used volunteer armies.

the British regiments could withstand about 3 more volleys than other nations.

This is history, not N:TW.