Lards
I think that to us Anglo-Saxons (although on my mother's side I am
quite Norman) the pipes would probably mean less than to a Scot (or
even a celt, as the Irish had them as well). It would seem from
Nick's "reseach" that it obviously meant a lot to them in terms of
ensuring a coherent advance and getting their blood up for the
fight. Equally the recognition effect is interesting in a night
attack. Added to that it would seem to confirm my thoughts that the
piper was an appendage of the officer he was with. As such I think
that allowing the officer to move (and not fire or spot or anything
else) his whole Platoon would seem right. Indeed it is similar to
the Blitzkrieg card, and Darren is correct in that it should be
limited by having all of the sections close together and doing the
same thing.
The loss of dice for Germans in melee is based on lots of historical
evidence that the Germans did not like facing Scots troops, indeed I
don't think anyone has ever "liked " that, and frankly 3 dice is a
pretty limited reduction or addition.
Rich
--- In Toofatlardies@..., nick.skinner@w... wrote:
Forgive this long piece, but as the wife is out tonight, I've been
looking online at bagpipes in combat (and will move on to the more
interesting websites that Noddy told me about later). Most of what I
found was complete rubbish - and so is this - but it shows that
choice
of tune should have an important effect....
(I love the bit about the guy who "died but was still
playing"...reminds
me of Mad Mick, the salesman with the boob-job wife whose friend
died
twice playing American football - remember him?)
"Each company was to be played into action by its piper. At El
Alamein
the pipers were given specific tunes to play, usually the company
marches. These varied according to the battalion, from "The Nut
Brown
Maiden" and "The Black Bear" through tunes like "The Atholl
Highlanders"
and "Scotland the Brave" to "Lord Alexander Kennedy," a formidably
difficult tune to play at regulation marching speed, and difficult
for a
novice to play at all.
The battle began at twenty to ten - 2140 in army terms - on October
23,
1942. It opened with an intense artillery bombardment from more
than 800
guns. Twenty minutes later the assaulting infantry crossed the Start
Line.
The enemy reacted swiftly, initially with intense artillery
defensive
fire and as the Infantry approaced their objectives, with heavy and
accurate machine gun fire. All accounts describe how the pipers
strode
forward, apparently unconcerned, through the dust raised by the
bursting
enemy shells. An officer of the 1st Black Watch recalled, "The few
pipers we had were playing their companies forward all the time. I
had
the greatest difficulty in preventing the Pipe Corporal from walking
into the anti-personnel trip wires which you could generally see in
the
moonlight." A 5th Black Watch officer wrote, "The bit I left out was
about the company pipers who played us across No Man's Land. They
were
very good, quite oblivious of the hell going on around them." The
5th
Seaforth was one of the two battalions securing the Start Line. One
officer wrote, "Then we saw a sight that will live forever in our
memories. Line upon line of steel helmeted figures with rifles at
the
'High Port', bayonets catching the moonlight and over all the
wailing of
the pipes." Another 5th Seaforth account relates how the pipers
played
"Highland Laddie" as the battalion attacked later in the night and
how
"we were gripped with an indefinable pride in our division."
The 5th Camerons' task was to secure Inverness so that 7th Black
Watch
could pass through. The Camerons advanced with the pipers playing
in the
lead. One company commander recalls how his company piper, Donald
Macpherson from Broadford, Isle of Skye, had been ordered to
play "The
Inverness Gathering" during the advance. A good tune, maybe, but not
particularly inspiring, so Donald soon broke into "The Cameron Men,"
which saw the company on to their objective. The 7th Black Watch
then
appeared through the dusty moonlight. It was clear that, in the
regimental tradition, the Black Watch blood was up from their battle
cries and shouted slogans. To ensure that the Camerons were not
mistaken
for Germans, Donald was ordered to play "Pibroch o' Donald Dubh"
which
luckily the Black Watch recognized. The 7th Argylls' history,
written by
Capt. Iain C. Cameron of Islay, tells how "Paisley" was mopped up
with
the piper playing the regimental charge "Monymusk", while "A"
company
piper played "Blue Bonnets" during the advance.
Inevitably there were casualties among the pipers. The 5th Black
Watch
history tells how "A" company approached their
objective, "Montrose",
their piper, Duncan MacIntyre, playing in their centre. Suddenly he
was
hit, but carried on playing, breaking into the regimental march,
"Highland Laddie" as the assault went in. He was hit again and died,
still playing. The next morning Duncan was found with his pipes
still
under his arm, his fingers on the chanter".
Nicked from:
therugdoctor2003 wrote:
Being a rabid Anglo-Saxon, I think you're overdoing the effect
here.
With only a musket in hand, I can perceive the morale impact. With
automatic weapons, I'm not so sure.
And imagine how hard it is to hear "flower of Scotland" in the
middle
of an artillery barrage.. The English fans manage to drown out
every
visiting team's national anthem by simple whistles.
So, what about a pipes bonus card, whereby all sections within a
radius of the piper can move. Same as a German blitzkreig card,
i.e.
they can't fire or spot, just go forward.
In terms of melee bonus, I would say that the Scots should be
classed
as "agressive", as would other shock troops, as once in hand to
hand
I'm not sure how much effect the pipes themselves would have.
Perhaps
Germans of average and below fighting ability should have a
supression point inflicted if within a certain radius of the
pipes?
Daz
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