Tachanka tactics

[Ignatieff]

Can someone explain to me how these were actually used in battle:  static MG platforms or firing on the move? 
 

[argsilverson]

Both.

The main use of them is to follow the speed of the cavalry!

[former user]

I don't know about the historical use
I shall leave that to people who do and I will listen

I use mine as mounted artillery - quick deployment to secure objectives, quick escape, to accompany cavalry - basically SP modern artillery
I guess it depends on the ruleset

[Ignatieff]

Do you give the LMG or HMG capabilities?

[Mark Plant]

Almost all MGs in the RCW were carried on carts. The infantry tended to leave theirs behind the front lines, and the carts were simple affairs of no great speed.

The tachanka was a sprung carriage capable more or less of keeping up with the cavalry. Virtually every cavalry unit in the southern and Polish campaigns had them. Horse artillery had them too.

They could only be fired to the rear. Thus in an advance they were always fired from stationary, because the cart had to be wheeled round.

In a retreat they might be fired on the move to slow down pursuers. This would be only for effect though. Even standing up in a moving vehicle across countryside is a challenge. Hitting anything would be a major miracle.

I would therefore suggest, and I always play, that tachankas should not move and fire.

Tom Hillman, who is better informed about me on these things, has suggested on the RCW Yahoo forum that most tachanka crews not only stopped but dismounted whenever possible. I can see the sense in that: a man standing on a cart in the open steppes is a pretty obvious target. Much better to dismount and move the cart back a bit, unless the enemy is threateningly close obviously.

[former user]

Do you give the LMG or HMG capabilities?

it depends, but it is basically more to the heavy side, and it is not a historical context anyway
I use them to back up my cavalry, since I like cavalry armies

imagine regular human cavalry on raptors supported by irregular lizardmen cavalry on raptors, together with lizardmen tachankas, pulled by raptors.
in addition, field and heavy human artillery pulled by bigger sauropods, complete with staff unit including field kitchen
possibly some armoured component with heavy armoured cars
this project is not completed, and I only tried the tactics out twice to improve tactical organization and decide on how to complete the force   

so if You want to play RCW on Mars or Venus with assault rifles and lizardmen, I may be Your man end of next year

now it is trains for me 

[Bako]

...on raptors supported by irregular lizardmen cavalry on raptors, together with lizardmen tachankas, pulled by raptors.
in addition, field and heavy human artillery pulled by bigger sauropods, complete with staff unit including field kitchen

Holy carp! What a combo-breaker, two favorite subjects meshed?! Of course you realize I'm adding this to my list of ideas now.

[former user]

I can send You pictures of the human cavalry if You want to see (pics are too ba for this forum, sorry)
the lizardmen cavalry is finished, yet not photographed
and the other stuff is in playtest improvised version, since I have other things to do right now and apart from that, took a creative break from the project cause I lacked ideas of how to continue
think I was fed up with building armoured vehicles....

anyway, back to topic

so tachankas as mobile MG platforms, basically for rapid deployment
so mounted artillery after all

there was this picture of a soviet cavalry squadron in another thread, suggesting that the T&O was 3:1 cavalry to MG - would that be correct?

[Ignatieff]

Guys

Great insight (particularly the point of shooting from the rear, and not being able to move and fire), and as for the Lizardmen........give me time! 

Thanks!!!

[Hammers]

Can someone explain to me how these were actually used in battle:  static MG platforms or firing on the move? 
 

May I ask where you get your tchankas? Eureka?

[Prof.Witchheimer]

btw, why tchanka? Actually, it should be called tachanka (rus. - тачанка)

[former user]

thank Prof.
i always wondered myself but accepted it as the "common spelling"

@ignatieff - how appropriate that I will need a lot of time to complete the project myself 

so , how to use them then in games?
rules seem problematic

[Bako]

i always wondered myself but accepted it as the "common spelling"

Maybe where you live...

[former user]

actually not, but in english speaking forums and english text

[Mark Plant]

there was this picture of a soviet cavalry squadron in another thread, suggesting that the T&O was 3:1 cavalry to MG - would that be correct?

If I have this right, the book strength in 1921 for a cavalry regiment of an infantry division was changed to have a mounted-machine-gun squadron (20 "Maxims" machine-gun on Tchankas) and 5 squadrons (instead of 4), each with 176 men and 193 horse.

A cavalry regiment of a cavalry division would have 5 squadrons and 5 sections of HMGs, each of 2 Maxims (so half as much) but the division would have three MG squadrons in an MG Regiment, thereby making up the difference.

My quick look suggests that this is a bit optimistic as an average for the Reds in the Civil War. While hardly an exhaustive search, I found ratios of 1 HMG per 25 up to 1 HMG to 120 men, with most being around 1 HMG per 50-60 sabres.

The Latvian Division integral cavalry regiment had mostly Lewises. Not sure why.