Troop division

Started by zu Pferd, December 05, 2018, 01:52:55 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

zu Pferd

Division Brigade Regiments Battalions Squadrons ??

I'm creating oob's for 1799 Italian Campaign and looking at the order of battle
I noticed that infantry is listed in Regiments with one to three battalions
Cavalry, regiment with one to four or more squadrons

In the game portion itself do cavalry squadrons combine when a 'charge' is ordered ?
same question as to an Infantry assault...

What is the maximum number of units can I create in the Army Editor

Best Regards

Dr D Ezra Sidran

General Staff supports 3 levels of command, e.g.:

Commander
      Subcommander
            Unit
            Unit

So, it's up to you to decide what's appropriate for your scenario. So, in the OOB you described it may be:

Commander
        Infantry Commander
             Battalion 1
             Battalion 2
        Cavalry Commander
              Squad 1
              Squad 2

Do you have names and strengths down to the battalion and squadron level? Probably not. So you may opt for:

Commander
         Division Commander
               Infantry Regiment
               Infantry Regiment
               Cavalry Reigment

Technically, there isn't a physical limitation to the number of units but I wouldn't want to go over about 50. It would just get too big. A major feature of General Staff is the command structure. So you would order a cavalry regiment to charge and all subordinate units would obey (depending on their leadership, morale, etc.).

Andy ONeill

I think the key to understanding how to map real world units to oob is the strength.
A cavalry unit of 4 squadrons is likely to have 4 times the strength of a cavalry unit of 1 squadron.
This is assuming these are all equally combat effective.
It's possible to have a massive unit and most of it might as well not have turned up because it does nothing.

A combat unit is a discrete unit which would operate independently.
They might not be the same level in an army.
One might be a regiment, another a battalion. You might even have a company of skirmishers.

The flexibility offered by all the variables is indeed a bit daunting at first.
I wouldn't stress on it.
This is supposed to be a game.
Make it enjoyable.

If you're building an oob and don't know the unit commanders name or the number of effective combatants then just make stuff up.
Even if you got everything "right" somehow ( and there is no absolute "right ) then you could well try the scenario and find historically "right" means a dull game.

Many supposedly historical descriptions are largely fiction anyhow.

When I started designing wargames scenarios  (tabletop) I got everything wrong.
Too many units = the game went too slow.
Too big a table - the attacker couldn't possibly get across to the other side.
Too little attackers - the defenders just laughed em off.

It took a while before I got it right.
My advice would be to embrace the fact that you're experimenting.
An enjoyable intellectual challenge.

Scenarios I run are usually kind of inspired by history rather than direct interpretations.
I do not stress over commanders names or how many effective combatants each sub unit had.
Even if you really really want to do Albuerra or whatever.
Start easy and work your way up to it.
Go for some rough representation of part of your massive battle and go with that for a while until you understand the effects.
Then some other part.
Build up.

zu Pferd

Quote from: Dr D Ezra Sidran on December 05, 2018, 02:56:48 PM
General Staff supports 3 levels of command, e.g.:

Thank You Ezra,

I do have a list  here is the link  http://www.napoleon-series.org/military/battles/1799/c_1799x.html
Acerbi lists battalions numbers and totals. If I use division by battalion or squadron I get 50 just for Kray's Austrian
division, so ultimately brigade level for a large map, or I could possibly represent a section of the battle with battalion & squadrons

Artillery constitutes another problem as the link does not list batteries as such or even regimental guns, just totals.
Although I could easily divide by brigade. As Andy pointed out it is a game after all.

Best Regards