"free download of a game example of regulating battalions" Topic

A little while back now I started a thread about regulating battalions; asking if anyone was using them in their rules.

I have since written up an account of how regulating units work in one game example of my rules and how events may impact on both the individual units and the command as a whole.

that discussion is at:

TMP link

and the example is in pdf format at:

link

just scroll down to the bottom of the page to the pdf file: "more examples".

Sounds like an exciting concept. Not for me as I'm a 15mm player but sounds like it could offer some unique insites.

Not for me as I'm a 15mm player

Surely the principle would work for any size of figures?

I don't think the size of table would though

I fail to see how the regulating battalion had an impact in that example; any proper set of command and control rules would have the same effect and it seems to me that you are modelling something that really does not need to be modelled.

Colin,

Please take another look at the text regarding the way that command and control is modelled.

Crucial to this particular example is the reaction of the brigade commander (which is played out by the gamer) and the view of the action that he would have had at the start of the turn.
He does not see the threat and so he is unable to react to it. In this example he may not halt the command or act otherwise.
You may also note that I also described the options he would have had if the threat were a visible one from the outset.

It is the role of the brigade commander that is represented in the functioning of a regulating battalion or directing unit.
Rather, the proper means of command and control to be represented here is one that eminates from the brigade general and the regulating battlion that he is with.

The principle works just the same in 6 or 15mm.

It was the manner in which ALL lines within battle arrays operated in our period …and before and after Napoleon was around too.

Michael,

Your explanation seems to further exemplify the redundancy of modelling the regulating battalion; what matters is the brigade commander, his position and his reaction.

I understand what you are trying to do, but I do feel that you are going the wrong way about it by using the regulating battalion.

what matters is the brigade commander, his position and his reaction

His position would be with the Regulating Battalion. So why not refer to it as such?

Trajanus, because it is not the regulating battalion that is important, it is the brigade commander. The regulating battalion is merely a tool that he uses and, to me, modelling the activity of the brigade through it seems like an unnecessary level of detail when one can get the same results more simply.

Colin,

Can you tell me what is unecessarily modelled simply by terming it the regulating battalion?

The regulating battalion`s or directing unit`s function is not redundant – it regulated the movement of the brigade, division and ultimately whole corps of troops.
I believe it is the most realistic and direct manner of representing command and control of bodies of troops in the period.

Besides this, it gives a gamers a better idea of where that brigade general should be if he needs to manoeuvre his command; whether he simply intends to advance, or wheel on either his right, or left flanks.
Yes, his position may change and the role of each of his battalions may change too, but brigade generals did not habitually float around their commands, hoping to be able to react to any enemy threat; they were expected to be found in one of three locations on either flank of the command when arrayed, or leading at the head of their commands if in grand column or in echeleon.

colinjallen,

My preference for regulating battalions is that it is a command and control mechanism that was used in the period.

No army to my knowledge paced out a fix distance from their Brigade commanders and told battalions they could ignore him if he were further away!

Trajanus, indeed not, but I cannot quite see the relevance of that to this particular thread as nobody was advocating it.

In reply to both yourself and Michael, my reply is that the regulating battalion was indeed a mechanism that was often used in the period. However, do we need to model it? In my opinion no, as I cannot see that it adds anything to the gameplay, especially in the way in which Michael describes its usage in his PDF. Setting the detachment/brigade/division/corps an objective and moving it towards that objective en masse does the same thing without bothering with that level of granularity. If we want to use period command and control mechanisms, why not model the way in which a battalion actually moved when advancing/retiring/moving past an isolated obstacle? After all, that is a key feature of Napoleonic command and control.

I feel that there is a tendency among some gamers to try to model aspects of the Napoleonic battlefield that just do not need to be modelled.

As to the comment that:

"Crucial to this particular example is the reaction of the brigade commander (which is played out by the gamer) and the view of the action that he would have had at the start of the turn.
He does not see the threat and so he is unable to react to it."

The problem here is that what our little model general can "see" is probably not what his real fleash and blood counterpart could see; folds in the ground, smoke, copses etc could all affect his ability to see what was going on, so to argue that the positioning of a little lead man defines what he can see is somewhat naive.

I guess that we are not going to agree on this so it may be best to move on before we turn into the next Hoffie/Hollins or whatever.

OK Colin, we will have to agree to differ in opinion here…

I did consider adding an attack on a brigade`s "reverse flank" in an example.
This was seen as more of a danger to an infantry command than an attack on the "pivot flank" where the regulating general is situated. Essentially this is more of a danger, because the brigade commander & regulating/directing unit is at some distance from the event and so a reaction and counter-manoeuvre by the threatened line is potentially more limited.

Thanks All,

For your interest in this, I understand that there have been at least 66 downloads of the pdf – and most, if not all of those would have originated from here on TMP.

And also …a Merry Christmas to you !

Mike.