Re: SG II House Rules - cavalry

>
Some thoughts on 'cavalry' - actually what seems to be proposed is
'dragoons' in the antique sense.

>Firing from mounts
>If the preceeding action was spent stationary fire but die shift up one
>for range. If preceeding action was spent moving then die shift up two
>for range. Support weapons may not be fired from mounted position. 

I'd suggest green amimals need to take a 'panic test' vs rider quality
for
mounted firing as well as coming under fire. Also unlike Humans, animals
take considerable time to be trained to ignore loud noises, so tests
would
need to be made EACH TIME the unit fired or came under fire. Just ask
any
Mounted Police Unit that works in crowds.
 
>Dismounting
>One action to dismount. When the squad dismounts 1 horseholder is
>required for every 4 mounts. 

Can't see any problem here - this seems to reflect a few hundered years
of
experience with mounted troops. The only thing that will reduce the
number
of handlers is a picket line which takes more time to set up and leaves
the
horses vulnerable to enemy action & bolting on mass. High tech is
unlikely
to improve this. 

The down side for mounted/dismounted is the need to have 2 complete sets
of
figures if you are serious. 

Panicked movement:

I'd suggest random direction for each mount each turn/activation, making
a
combat move each turn. Roll for rider vs quality (+/-?) to stay on. Also
roll control each activation and if failed, for consequent mount/rider
casualty. (If you've ever been on a bolting horse, you'll know about
this).
Although horses are herd animals they tend to in whichever direction
they
think is away from the immediate threat and have no real idea about
'friend' & 'enemy', and only later tend to group together. Unless a
horse
is an familiar territory it does not 'go home'. Other herd animals like
cattle tend to stay clumped but also move fairly randomly from the front
of
the herd.

As for quality die for mounts, from what I have read, draft animals used
as
mounts would tend to be the least likely to panick, then ordinary riding
animals, then highly trained mounts and finally totally untrained stock. 

Of course draft animals would tend not to make combat moves, but to plod
along at much the same rate regardless, having been selected for their
phlegmatic disposition, while high quality animals (at least in horses)
tend to be somewhat easier to get going but are often a but too
independant
if the rider is not up to it.  

Just some more thoughts on mounts -  pre 20C earth riding animals
included
cattle, especially bulls (and large boars also) in rural areas of
England.
More common were mules, asses & donkeys (the British Army had large mule
studs until the 1950's I think, and at least some are still in use in
India). Camels - both Dromedary and Bactrian are still ridden, however I
think Bactrian camels are mainly used for draught, maybe they are too
smart
for riding ( and have big pointy teeth). 
Mongols teach their children to ride on sheep and there is at least one
now
rare European (UK?) breed of sheep that is supposedly as big as a pony (
apparently the 40 pound leg of mutton was considered too big for most
households to eat in a sitting). Makes one think of all the terrible New
Zealander Jokes......

anyhow, enought waffling

Bruce Lee